The Book of the Twins

I - Hoard

Mylre eyed Iodys as she reorganised a section of their hoard, while they lounged on a steam vent. It was a comfortable spot in the cavern, the rock worn smooth by their own fire and polished to a soft patina by repeated use.

“It looks fine.” They rumbled, tail flicking a few coins into the centre of the room.

Iodys hissed at them, Mylre chuckled. They loved teasing their twin sister, her bouts of irritation were always amusing.

“If you don’t help keep this organised-“

“I know exactly where everything is.” They got up, “And you are paranoid.” They strutted towards their sister, “Nothing is going to challenge us.”

Cooperation was rare amongst the Red, amongst dragons in general, and twins were even rarer. But it happened on occasion, and they two of them were inseparable. Mylre the Bright and Iodys the Quiet, twin red dragon queens, powerful, and unstoppable, lording over this stretch of sunny, windy mountainside sitting primly on the Rift of Worlds. It was a prime spot, their island wasn’t actively volcanic, not anymore, they were too far from the Rift itself, but the vents still worked, and once reopened, the crevices plunged deep into the mantle of the Plane of Fire.

It was a comfortable place to live, and quite the acquisition to have taken from the old geezer of a Bronze who hadn’t stood a chance against two Reds in their prime, for all his posturing about Justice and Tyranny.

“No, but that doesn’t mean we cannot keep a clean abode or make sure to double check.”

Mylre scoffed, “I’m right! Few are foolish enough to challenge one dragon in their lair, let alone two. Face it, sis, we’re unstoppable!”

“Not if you keep boasting as much.” She hissed back, nipping at the air near Mylre’s neck.

Mylre nipped back, and Iodys slammed her forelimb onto their nose, effectively muzzling them. Mylre retaliated, feeling the sparkle of aggression and competition flare in their mind as they pounced on their sibling. Iodys ducked and rolled, swiping her tail across their face as they passed. They huffed, offended, shaking off the sting of the barbs.

“That’s what you get for starting a fight.” Iodys grinned, victorious.

Mylre grumbled in response and went back to sit on the vent.

Iodys paced around again, hopping up onto an old chimney and looked over their hoard, “There’s something missing here.” She indicated empty spot.

They sat up on their haunches to lean back and consider the space, hummed and lay back down.

“Don’t sulk.”

“I’m not sulking!” They flared their frill in offense.

Something clattered near the entrance. Both twins’ gazes looked to the entrance.

“I’ll go.” Mylre said, stalking out, hunched down low and ready to leap into the air to incinerate the bold and foolish intruder.

The clatter repeated itself and was joined by a metallic clink. Mylre watched the hook catch purchase on the stone.
They sat and waited, watching the rope go taught, shake a few times, they let this happen for a few minutes, then approached to cut the rope and simply let the presumptuous idiot fall to its death.

Instead, Mylre got a face full of magic. Roaring, they took to the sky, shaking the frost from their eyes. Beneath them was a boat, a metal one, but with a wooden deck. They could see the small figures running about on it. Pirates, how unoriginal.

Mylre swooped and scorched the vessel’s length, catching the entire deck crew. Some were still standing when they came by for another pass. A few had frozen in terror, good, that was the correct reaction. They dodged a bolt of magic and a few arrows bit into the softer underside of its body. They growled and dove for the vessel’s stern, crashing into it hard. The entire boat tilted under their weight, a few more shots came their way and some enterprising pirate came at them with a sword. A flick of their tail was enough to send it into the water to drown.

It took a few more minutes for the boat to be cleared of all bandits, it was on fire, but Mylre took the time to walk its corridors, plundering the valuables before they sunk to deep. They gathered together a chest of assorted valuables, the fancy light-touched sword the pirate leader had been carrying, and a few shiny trinkets. Mylre hated swimming, but maybe Iodys would bother dragging the wreck to shore for more. She was always one to take advantage of a fight that was already won.

They lashed their spoils together took a step back and unfolded out of their humanoid form before taking to the sky, precious loot held tight.

Book of the Twins II - Sparks

Mylre had their eyes on the prize, staring at the book in their hands. Iodys was bent over them, large draconic head all but shoving their humanoid shoulders out of the way.

“Stop it.” They slapped their sister’s nose, “I’ll stop reading if you shove.”

They needed to be this small to read the letters and turn the pages, Iodys shoving herself in their space wasn’t helping.

They were reading a book plundered from a passing ship that had had the bad idea of docking on their rock and reeking of active magic. Iodys had identified it as interesting, and they had both descended upon the boat. The mages fought well, but didn’t last and their treasure now belonged to the twins.

Including this journal, written in an explorer’s hand, and it was getting shakier as Mylre read on.

The explorer was now on the water, sailing towards the Shadowfellian equivalent of Suntal, seeking the Fortress of Memories. And the tale was riveting.

The tale itself was that the explorer was seeking a way to repent for a terrible wrong. Mylre had skimmed the first part of the book, until the explorer had described the Fortress:

“Like a dragon she is, the Raven Queen. She hoards in her realm countless treasures, memories and mementos. Things to remember the past by. She gathers them, and keeps them, a curated museum of pain, and suffering, and glittering promise.” Mylre had all but salivated at the prospect of treasure, and Iodys had suddenly become very interested.

“Go back!” Iodys rumbled, “Read that part again!”

Mylre shifted were they sat between their sister’s forelimbs, leaning up against her neck, and reseated the book in their hands. They indulged Iodys, mostly because they wanted to read about the old Yuan-Ti ruins again too. The explorer had stumbled from shore onto a beach and ventured into a jungle to reach the tower. He’d gotten lost three times already on his way here and each time was both hilarious and absolutely gripping. Mylre was on the edge of their seat on Iody’s left forelimb, and Iodys was rumbling excitedly as they read.

“And the ritual circle sprawled in front of me, for love of light I could not describe the horror I found there.” Mylre read, “The bodies half glittering with scale, discarded, all twisted up like children’s wire dolls. The implements still gleaming, I ignored them, though they vibrated with magic.”

“I think he’s hallucinating.” Iodys muttered, “He kept seeing things, and before he got hit by his dead dwarf friend, he hadn’t seen another living soul.”

Mylre nodded.

It was well into the night when Mylre shelved the journal into their growing little library, and trotted back out into the main room of the lair to settle down on their favourite vent again, settling their scales against the warm stone.

“We should try and take on this other dragon queen.” Iodys muttered, circling her sleeping place, trying to curl herself up properly.

Mylre rumbled in agreement, it would be difficult, if the Raven Queen was as powerful as the stories described, and as the quality of her hoard implied. But if they prepared, put together a strategy, no castle was impenetrable, and the Fortress would be taken, or besieged. Mylre mulled these ideas over like a pleasant meal before drifting off to sleep, with sweet dreams of conquest and plunder.