DRAGONS of the EVERDUSK Realm - Prompt #12 a plant or animal that lives in an inhospitable region
THE DRAGONS OF EVERDUSK - Prompt #12 a plant or animal that lives in an inhospitable region
Standing at the door of the cavern that held the realm gate, the sky looked like the most beautiful sunset or sunrise for as far as they could see. Yuri, Abri, and Arinni stared at the swirling horizon of coral, lavender, pink and periwinkle, they could just make out the serpentine forms of dragons flying. The rest of their family began climbing down the pale stone to the giant aubergine leafed trees. The gravity felt strangely heavy.
“By the light,” Yuri breathed out. “Is this real?”
Abri chuckled in shocked wonder, “Why couldn’t we have been stuck here for twelve thousand years?”
Arinni elbowed him in the ribs, “Because we’d never leave.”
“Auntie Ari, come down. We found an abandoned nest,” Jenna shouted to her from below, the call muffled by her breathing mask.
They climbed down to the trees and walked through the forest. Between two of the immense purple trees, there was a hanging nest made of something that looked like red bamboo woven into a teardrop. Jenna giggled as she climbed into it.
“Look at all the scales!” Betha laughed as she began stacking them and stuffing them into her pack. “Here, catch.” She threw one to her aunt.
Arinni held the strange rib-shaped scale, turning it over in her hands. “It’s so pretty.”
Yuri climbed up and joined them. “Where are your father and brother?” He asked as he packed scales too.
“They are scouting for another nest. The last time we were here this one had a baby in it,” Jenna revealed. “We don’t take scales from nests with eggs and we only take a few if there is a hatchling.”
“What happens to the scales when the babies grow up?” Yuri wondered aloud.
“They get pushed out of the nest... But it’s weird... the mother and hatchling aren’t here,” Jenna worried as she looked out at the sky. “The babies don’t usually fly until they are two hundred.”
“What do they look like up close?” He picked up a scale and studied it, the shape reminded him of the underbelly of a Quetzal.
“Like Greenie but they don’t have wings.” Betha answered as she shouldered her bag.
Jenna climbed down first and looked around, “Where did Auntie Ari and Uncle Abri go?”
Yuri quickly sent a thought to his brothers but could not reach either of them or Karstien. Looking around he used his skills, “Their path leads this way. Following the direction your father and brother took.”
“How do you know?” Betha looked perplexed.
“When a hand or foot touches something it leaves the slightest trace of life-glow. I’ll teach you how to track without obvious footprints.” Yuri easily fell back into his pre-dust role of mentor as they walked. He enjoyed it so much then his thoughts went to the afternoon Daisy blew up the Tech Center in Azimuth and they discovered Lars was a Huntsman, Kaleth had asked him if he would consider teaching or starting a school for Huntsmen. Pushing away the idea of having more than his five students, he just enjoyed teaching his nieces. They found another nest and climbed up. This one had an infant creature that looked like the eel sea guardian with spear points for scales.
Holding hands, Jenna and Betha shined it, then Jenna sat with the four-stone-long creature looped around her. Its head lolled this way and that as she rubbed around its scales.
“Who’s a good baby? Where’s your mommy?” Jenna cooed to it.
Betha only took the older looking scales, “Mommy will be back soon.”
“Won’t the mother be upset with us for being here?” Yuri asked with concern.
“No, they are very docile. Probably because there are very few things that can get past their scales,” Jenna announced. “The eggs and hatchling babies are vulnerable until their scales harden. This little toddler can’t be hurt by us or anything except an adult dragon. If it feels threatened it just crawls under the scale pile.”
Betha nodded, “The dragons are the least dangerous part of the Everdusk, unless you make one mad, then you’re charcoal, and they will eat your ashes.”
“The plants are more predatory than the dragons,” Jenna finished, prying the baby’s mouth open and taking a picture of its teeth, “Look at the baby chompers, so shiny.”
“Aww, itty bitty biters,” Betha giggled and made nom-nom noises as she made faces at the baby dragon.
“The what... Did you say the plants are predatory?” Yuri asked.
“Yes, plants. Don’t worry, Father has kept the dangerous plants away from here for thousands of years,” Jenna said as she rubbed the baby dragon’s chin, baby-talking she giggled “Safe for you and safe for me. Yes, yes, yes...”
“I love Dusk Dragons more than Quetzals. Don’t tell Asha,” Betha cooed in a high-pitched voice.
Suddenly Arinni ‘s scream echoed to them. Yuri was at the nest opening in a minute. The weird terrain and thin air made it hard to tell where the sound came from. “Girls, go back to the portal.”
“Be careful, Uncle Yuri,” they chorused after him as he sprinted in the direction he thought the sound came from.
They looked at each other.
“What do you think she found; fang vine, tangle creep, or vampire roses?” Betha asked.
Jenna shrugged, “The vampire rose forest briar is too far away. Tangle creeps don’t spread to the forest, so probably fang vine, I hope she didn’t get stung.” She pulled on her backpack and gave the baby dragon one last affectionate rub. “Grow big and strong, little one. Maybe, I’ll see you next time.”
<*><*><*>
Arinni followed Abri into the forest after Kaleth and Karstien. She stopped to admire some unusual flowers and when she turned, Abri was gone.
“Abrieth? Kaleth? Karstien?” She shouted as loudly as she could, but no one answered.
Looking around, she caught a glimpse of movement and hurried in that direction. In a few minutes, she was in a densely treed area and couldn’t see the hillside that held the portal. She shouted for her family again, but the thin weird air seemed to absorb the sound. There was movement and she turned. A wall of pale orange vines moved. The leaves looked like feathers as one reached toward her. Awed, she reached out and touched it.
“Hello. Aren’t you friendly?”
The feather frond changed to a more red color as she caressed the back of it. It tickled as it gently wrapped her hand, patting and gently drawing the leaves across the exposed skin of her wrist.
The Flame of Aetheria exploded around Arinni and she shrieked in surprised terror for a moment. The lovely vine was reduced to puce colored ash as Kars rushed up to her.
“Are you okay? Did it sting you?” He demanded.
“N-no,” she panted as he examined her wrist and wiped the ash off.
“She’s unharmed, Father,” Kars announced.
Kaleth nodded. “We didn’t mean to frighten you. The plant touching you is called fang vine. It seems docile then it stings its victims with a hallucinogenic toxin and constricts them to death. I try to keep it cleared from the nesting area but the dragons like its roots and sometimes a frond will get carried back and start a new vine.”
“Step back, I need to burn off the rest.” Kars waved his hand and the Flame of Aetheria seemed to follow the fang vine twisting through the trees, but it burned only the dangerous plant.
Meanwhile, Arinni turned to Kaleth, “Where is Abrieth? I lost him in the woods.”
Yuri burst through the foliage from the direction of the nests. “What happened? Why did you scream?”
“She’s fine, Karstien used the Flame to save her from a predatory plant but we’ve lost Abrieth. Where are the girls?” Kaleth looked for his daughters.
“I told them to go back to the portal.” Yuri reached for his twin, then scowled.
“Mind-speaking doesn’t work here.” Karstien revealed. “We need to spread out and find Abri before something eats him.”
“Where is Shadz?” Arinni asked.
“He’s gathering medicinals we can’t get anywhere else,” Kars revealed.
They began to move in a search pattern.
Yuri found Abrieth’s trail going in circles. It stopped and Yuri picked up a strange orangish feather. As he examined it, he realized it was a leaf and tossed it aside.
Calling out to his brother, Yuri asked, “Kaleth, his trail ends here. Is it possible that someone or something took him? Could Damien have ambushed him?”
“My youngest son has never set foot in this realm, and only an oracle can open the gate. He knows not where the scales for the armor comes from. He would rape this place,” Kaleth growled, then he bent to pick up the leaf. Turning suddenly, he scanned the trees and swore. “There.” He pointed at a bundle of pale orange, it looked like a cocoon. “Abri is in there.”
Yuri started up the tree but Kaleth caught his arm. “We need to mind the vines, they have thorns that inject a hallucinogenic toxin. The vine will strike you if you accost the pod.” Pulling aside his facemask, Kaleth bellowed his son’s name, “Karstien! Here!”
Karstien and Arinni burst through the underbrush in one direction as Shadz came running from another. They stood at the base of the tree, Abrieth’ face mask and goggles were on the ground with one of his boots.
“We need to free Abrieth. Can you burn it?” Kaleth pointed.
“Yes, Father.” Karstien leaped into the air while Shadz cast stepping glyphs for the prince to step on. As soon as his sword touched the vines they combusted with the blue Flame of Aetheria. Yuri started climbing opposite Kaleth. The vine cocoon turned to ash and Abrieth fell out covered in soot. His brothers caught him and climbed down quickly. Shadz pulled and extra breathing mask and goggles out of his backpack and put them on Abri who was breathing in shallow gasps, then he poured Water of Light on three small round wounds.
“We need to get him back to Asha before he wakes to the hallucinations.” Shadz announced in a low voice. “I’ll sprint ahead and summon her.”
Kaleth hefted Abri over his shoulder, “I’ll take him. Finish gathering what we came for. We don’t have much time.”
“We can come back,” Yuri argued.
“Not for another century or so.” Karstien revealed as they walked back to the portal. “The Farlanders taught Grandfather how to come here, but they forgot to mention that the portal only stays open for two days maximum, usually a lot less, and can’t be reopened for a long time. Before I was born, Father spent a whole century here alone.”
“But the air,” Yuri was shocked.
“Use your farsight... See the white blooms on those peaks. They produce oxygen and you can wear their petals over your face... If you look to the left of the minaret peak, you can still see his house covered with them.” Kars pointed to the distant place days travel away.
“How many realms has your father lived in?” Yuri asked cautiously.
“Most of them for at least a decade. What dimensions did the ancient Guardians live in?” Kars asked then he climbed a tree and cut two bundles of bright red shoots that looked like a tuft-flower.
“I do not remember,” Yuri lied and mimicked his nephew. “What are these?”
“They grow back burned skin.” Karstien bound the four together. “Each will strand will make a large bottle.”
“How do you know?” Arinni asked as they hurried to keep up with Kaleth.
“Father figured it out the hard way.” Kars revealed it all so nonchalantly, like he thought it was normal for his father to do such things. It shocked Yuri and Arinni who glanced at each other then followed him silently. Jenna and Betha were piling giant yellow and purple striped bean pods by the portal. When they arrived. Panting, Kaleth put Abrieth down by Yuri and the giant warriors both picked up their equally large brother and carried him to the healers.
“Aww, no, what happened?” Betha demanded as Kaleth disappeared through the portal with Yuri helping him carry Abrieth.
“Fang vine,” Kars answered. “You’ve been busy gathering erberher.”
“Good, you found the n’dak’ti.” Shadz pronounced the name with two clicks of his tongue, he added his own four bundles of the red tufts to Kars.
“I also got samples of everything for Auntie Moyra and Healer Mylo to figure out if we can grow it,” Jenna announced.
Arinni stared at the strange pods. “What is all this?”
“Medicine,” Shadz answered. “My prince, Mylo and the others will be here soon.” He looked at his chrono before tucking it back in his pocket, “We have seventeen more hours before portal instability begins.”
Karstien nodded, “Then we need to get as much as we can.”
“Kars, we only found four nests this time,” Betha’s voice revealed the scowl covered by her face gear.
“This time? You’ve let them come here, with all the risks?” Arinni demanded shocked.
They all stared at her oddly. Slowly, Jenna explained, “It is the duty of the House of Adamos to provide and care for those under our protection, for we have gifts others do not. Our family has been searching and gathering from the realms since Father was a youth.”
“I know but I did not realize, it included risking the children of our house,” Arinni gasped.
“Auntie Ari, some of the places are dangerous, but they are also special and have fragile biomes. We protect them as much as harvest them responsibly,” Jenna responded.
“It is dangerous but so is going to school or walking around the forest at home,” Betha added as she stood with her hand on her sword hilt.
“Aunt Arinni , there are only five beyond our house who know of this place and without an oracle, they can’t come here,” Karstien shrugged. “My sisters understand their responsibilities better than most their age.”
“I did not mean to imply they did not but this place...” She protested.
“It’s fine, Aunt Arinni , we know the dangers and what we are after. We’ll be done and back before anyone misses us.” Jenna insisted.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Snake-like dragons with large scales that are almost indestructible. No obvious gender.
Genetics and Reproduction
When two Everdusk Dragons mate, they both lay an egg. They shed their scales to protect eggs and hatchlings until the hatchling's scales harden.
Growth Rate & Stages
It takes roughly a century for a hatchling to reach maturity according to Lord Kaleth's observations.
Ecology and Habitats
the Everdusk realm has a very low oxygen content atmosphere on the planet, and there are extreme auroras from the nebula surrounding a protostar. No other planets are visible.
Dietary Needs and Habits
They eat mostly vegetation.
Biological Cycle
It is unknown how long Everdusk Dragons live.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
It is unknown how Everdusk dragons communicate with each other.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Genetic Descendants
Conservation Status
only exists in Everdusk Realm
Related Ethnicities
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