Dreams of Ancient Times...

[Nyxl]

It was a very small cave inside the titanium mines, seperated from the tunnels by a half-hidden wooden panel. There were a few boxes and a stool. Upside, a long and wide shaft ran to the top of the rock, in the open. It was a nice place in the mine, when one wanted to rest a little without being bothered by the walking deads. And none the least, there was fresh air.

 

The panel moved aside, and an Elf stepped in. He put the wooden door back in place, and went immediately sit on the stool. He stretched his arms and legs with a sigh of relief. It was ominous, the atmosphere of those caves. Stench of old, wet bone powder, a bit muddy by the titanium lodes, because of the miners working there. But the Elf liked this place. You could really earn much money, just by mining titanium ore. And if you were strong enough to deal with the skeletons, that brought the fighting experience, plus the bones for the powder you needed for potions. A whole cycle of training could take place in those caves : mining, fighting, potionmaking, and if you were able to bring on some coal, smelting as well.

 

He remembered, how he was looking for the mine, a few days ago...

 

* * *

 

Nyxl was sitting by the storage door, in Portland City. He was tired and frustrated. He's spent a few hours exploring the countryside, looking for the entrance to those titanium mines everybody was speaking about. Could not find it.

 

Then, he caught a glimpse of long silvery hair. The Lady Wonder was coming this way, probably to do some storage management. The Elf did not hesitate long. After all, he was in very good terms with the Eternal Guardians, up to now.

 

"Excuse me, my Lady, I've been looking for the Titanium Mine all day long. Could you indicate me the entrance, please ?"

"Sure, take out your map, I'll show you..."

 

He was delighted when she pointed the cluster of ponds, to the west, digging lightly a finger on the north side of the largest one.

 

"There it is, on a small mound."

"I'm so grateful, you can't imagine, I've been probing the mountains all around the area, not thinking a single moment it was in the middle of..."

 

She giggled, and nodded knowingly...

 

* * *

 

Nyxl remembered when, later that very day, he met Wonder again within the storage building. He had fallen on a knee and had kissed one of the lady's hands.

 

"I love you, my Lady, that place is wonderful, let me offer you my very first load of titanium ores to show my gratitude." had he said. She had blushed a little, and ruffled his hair. When he had opened his bag, showing the ore, she had declined the gift, saying he could put it to good use. Well, he had sold the ores to another Eternal Guardian, a few days later, when he had gathered a decent amount of those...

 

The Eternal Guardians. Nice people. He knew many of them. Hise was one. He met him by chance, when EG were having a hide & seek contest. The Elf found this one in a warehouse in Corren, hiding among balls of straw. He had entered the building because he had heard someone sneeze ! Merry fellows...

 

But there were so many changes, recently. A quarrel with another member had made the Lady teh banned 0n3na leave, and she looked a bit troubled for some days. teh banned 0n3na. Bah, EG or not, the Elf still liked her.

 

The Elf looked up and saw the stars and the moon. There was an eerie light in that boxroom. He extended a hand to the sky, outside, as if he could touch the stars. He smiled. This time, he could not see through his flesh, he was solid. In the beginning, he was so very transparent, ethereal, barely able to get a grasp on things...

 

Taking flesh again, as an Elf...

 

He dozed, then fell asleep.

 

* * *

[Nyxl]

The young Silver Tatsu was gliding in the sky, just happy to live, to exist. The air was good to his long, slender body, and sometimes, he would just burst in laughters, out of sheer pleasure. Flying was an amazing and wonderful experience...

 

As a Tatsu, he did not have wings, like several other ethnies of Dragons. He just glided in the air, as if he was "falling into the sky". He extended his limbs, to feel the wind rush through his hands and feet. He had three fingers per hand, three toes per feet, another distinctive feature of his brethren.

 

He did not care about being different. He was a Tatsu, a Wise Dragon, a Protector. Well, technically, he was too young to be assigned to the protection of a family. He had so much to learn, yet. But there was turmoil in the mortal lands below, and his parents had sent him away because a Great War seemed about to begin...

 

And there he was. In the cold and misty mountains in the far west, where few Humans lived. A sudden streak of light caught his attention, and he flew nearer, to see an older Tatsu, just like him. Huh ? Not exactly like him ! It was a White Tatsu, a Dragoness. As soon as she noticed him, she darted forward, in a hostile way. The Silver Dragon did not want a useless brawl and deliberately went down, to ground gently on a slope, against a firtrees forest. When the Dragoness reached him, he rolled on his back, offering his throat and belly in sign of submission...

 

"What do we have here ? A youngling who's been taught manners ? Interesting... What is your name, young one ?"

"My parents named me Niklosyan Sophisthesis Photosilas, Silver Tatsu. But I'd rather be called Niklos, if you don't mind, my Lady."

"Well, Niklos, what bring you to my lair ?"

"I didn't know this mountain was your lair. My parents sent me here to look for peace and learn some wisdom on my own."

"I know the name Sophisthesis, it is an ancient and honourable family. As long as you do not cause trouble here, you'll be welcome. If you are nice, I might allow you to dwell on my lair."

"Thank you, my Lady. May I ask your name ?"

"You may indeed, young Niklos. I am Kaliopi Musearis Litharcheos, White Tatsu and retired from the world."

"Kaliopi ? The one Kaliopi ? By the Dragon Kings ! I've heard of you ! You're a Legend !"

"Mmh, I may be old, but I don't feel old enough to become a myth, youngling."

"Huh, I'm sorry, I meant no offense, err..."

 

And the Silver Tatsu really looked sorry, judging by the funny glow in his wide, gorgeous eyes. Kaliopi smiled, and extended a hand to scratch gently the vulnerable belly.

 

"Peace, young one, I'm not offended."

"Hey ! Heeeeeey, that tickles !"

 

He could not help but twist and laugh under the decisive gesture of the Dragoness. She seemed to enjoy that kind of game for a moment, then she stopped. Niklos took the time to stand up, still giggling. Suddenly, he extended his head, and rubbed his neck against hers, a Dragon kiss. It was a spontanous show of affection Kaliopi did not expect at all.

 

"I never thought I would find wisdom in such a pleasant fashion, my Lady, I'm happy to meet you."

"You're bold, Niklos !"

"I am, as I'm eager to be your pupil. You are known to be the wisest of all Tatsues ! Please, will you be my teacher ?"

"Mmh... This is so sudden, and I haven't had an apprentice for centuries... What could an old hag like me teach a young and fresh being like you ?"

"Hag ? Old ? Huh ? All I see is a beautiful Dragoness that shines in her maturity like a sun in the morning sky !"

 

The scales on her neck became slightly pink - which is the Dragon way to blush. She thought for a moment, this young one knows how to make praises. And the sweetest part of it was that he really meant it, it was plain obvious on his face. She sighed, and nodded...

 

"All right, Niklos, women always like to be complimented. And I'm still a woman, aren't I ? We shall see what can be made out of you..."

[Nyxl]

Years went by. Kaliopi was a gentle teacher, and Niklos as gentle a student. As the young Silver Tatsu grew in wisdom and knowledge, the White Dragoness found for herself a second youth. For that, she was ever grateful to her young friend, though she never admitted it aloud. Niklos had become her errand Dragon, and on one errand, he received word about his parents. Both had been killed by Humans, among others, in that awful war that raged so briefly. When he came back to Kaliopi, he was crippled inside, not understanding why Humans would hate and destroy Dragons.

 

Kaliopi tried to explain to him, that sometimes, people needed only to be different to earn hatred and fear and destruction. He could not grasp that concept of xenophoby or racism. His mind was too soft to admit the roughness of all this. In the end, she reverted to mere cuddles and hugs and kisses and other friendly displays, to soothe his angst.

 

As time flowed, he grew calmer, yet the peace was gone. He became somewhat the playful Tatsu he's been, but there always was a hint of his inner torment in his eyes. His humor, once spontanous, became clever. He showed great skill in irony, but was always careful not to be sarcastic. Irony is enjoyable, sarcasm is just useless. And one day...

 

"Niklos, what are you still doing here ? I've taught everything I know and yet, you've been hanging around for months..."

"Are you casting me away, my Lady ?"

"No ! No, I'm not. I'm just wondering..."

"There are still things I want to learn from you."

 

She suddenly realized he was no more a kid. The Silver Tatsu looked at her in a different way, nowadays. Yes, there was still the genuine admiration and affection from the first day. But there was more.

 

"Niklos, I'm not sure I understand..."

"My Lady Kaliopi... I need you."

"Do not forget your manners !"

"I do not. Teach me love, Kaliopi. Teach me how to love you..."

 

The Dragoness felt her back tickling. Niklos came to her, and kissed her, Dragon fashion, and rested his chin on her back. Her scales were bright pink.

 

"My Lady, for years I've been looking for the meaning of life, for you told me nobody could teach me that for sure, that I had to make my own answers. I've been your pupil, your servant, your helper, your friend. I have the feeling that I have to be your lover to understand life. I want to be completely yours."

 

What a claim. Her heart was pounding fiercely in her chest. This was something she could never foretell. How long had it been ? Aww, long enough for her to forget. She was... horny, yes. With a jolt, she escaped his grasp and took off.

 

"Catch me if you can, then we'll discuss this matter further !"

[Nyxl]

Niklos was amazed, and reacted slowly, but when he began to pursue her, he was determined. But Kaliopi knew all the secrets, and mastered time and space. At one moment, she was flying on one spot, the next, she was flying way further, way faster. But the Silver Tatsu did not stop, and gave all his strength in that race...

 

"What am I doing ?" though Kaliopi. She was a young Dragoness again, testing a wannabe suitor to see if he was worth her favors. She glided higher, diving in the clouds. There was a storm, and lightnings were tearing the sky apart, and thunder was deafening, all around her. The rain was sheer delight to her warmed skin, and she heard her own laughter, not believing it...

 

Then a louder crack, and Niklos' bellow. She froze high up in the sky and turned back, in time to see the silvery shape hurt the firtrees and the ground. She screamed, fearing that her playful attitude might cause the loss of the first real friend she had in centuries. She quickly landed by the Tatsu's still body. He was resting on his side, jaws slightly open, eyes closed. In a sudden fit of panic, she began to shake him, to pat him all over his back, his neck, his belly, his tail to look for injuries. He was bruised all over, but no wounds.

 

Kaliopi's eyes grew wide, and her skin reddened anew. Niklos was looking at her with a mischievous smile, holding the edge of her tail.

 

"Gotcha !"

"Niklos ! That's not fair !"

"Hey, I caught you, you did not tell anything else !"

"You sly little..."

"Yes, you taught me well."

 

She giggled.

 

"All right, you're the winner. Take me whole before I change my mind, my lovely one..."

 

She took off slowly, and he followed her, taking gently her tail between his jaws, like some trophy he would not let go. This time she did not try to outfly him, but she guided him above the clouds, were the sun was shining bright. He came forward, flying at her side, then they curled around each other, and she let him in with a sigh of pleasure. They flew under the sun, as one, feeling warm, feeling good, feeling love. As they came, together, she cried, and he screamed. And they fell down, letting the growing speed increase their shared extacy...

 

Piercing the veil of clouds, they parted and landed clumsily near Kaliopi's lair. They went inside, cuddling and fondling each other.

 

"Now, my beautiful one, we'll take a human shape."

"Why so ?"

"Remember how you wondered why Humans had so many fingers on their hands ?"

"Yes ?"

"I'll show you another use..."

 

Using the innate power of Tatsues, she shapeshifted to a gracious Elven woman, a slender, athletic body with long white hair and bright blue eyes. She looked like a mature and marvelous woman, and her smile was bewitching. Niklos used the same spell and became a pale Elf with black hair and dark eyes. He was like a full grown-up man, with a strong body. He looked at his hands, in wonder. Kaliopi drew him deeper in the cave, where there was a huge library. In that library, there were sofas with cushions...

 

"Now, stop looking at your hands, put them on me and explore me with all your senses..."

 

So he did, discovering her new loveliness while she was stroking him the right way to have him burn of desire again. The feeling, the desire was the same, but the sensations were strange. His skin was set ablaze, and he felt her body react to his caresses. She laid on a sofa, spreading arms and legs to invite him. And they made love as Elves, with their human-like bodies. Niklos did not think for a moment that having five fingers on a hand was ridiculous or useless...

 

The human kiss was a marvelous discovery, too. Lips joining, it was like making love without having sex. Then you could kiss not only the lips of the other. Also the forehead, the eyelids, the cheeks, the neck, the shoulders, the hands, the breasts, the belly, the legs, the sex. The range of sensations was far greater than those of a Dragon shape...

 

Niklos realized he had become addicted to human way of loving. And he had worked himself into it. They lied, exhausted, into each other's arms.

 

"My marvelous Lady, now I'm yours forever."

"Don't say forever, Niklos... Never and forever are no wise words, and it is for wisdom you came to me at first, remember ?"

"Yes, Kaliopi. Let's say I want to be with you."

"You've been mine for lots of years. But now I am yours as well. I hope you'll never realize how much you've given to me, so you'll give me more and more..."

"Anything to please you."

 

She laughed. And the sound that came out of her mouth was like a heavenly music, for human genuine laughter is a blessing to the ears. And a loving laughter was a blessing over the blessings. Niklos thought for a moment, the Goddess Aluwen must have laughed when she created life...

[Nyxl]

They were lovers from that moment on. Part time as Tatsues, part time as Elves. Both were good, both were wonderful, and they found they could learn and teach each other things they did not knew before, through dreams, fantasies, hopes, and stories they made for themselves...

 

It last seven months, then Kaliopi became ill. She sent him to fetch some rare herbs for a special remedy, and when he came back, he found her in her Elven shape, in the library. She was looking asleep, lying on their couch, and there was a letter on the table in the middle of the room. He read it, putting the wanted herbs aside...

 

"My dear Niklosyan, my pupil, my friend, and my love,

 

You've been the most happy thing that happened to me in my whole life. You made my Fall into a delightful Spring, once again. You've made me feel a young Dragoness again, and I'll never be able to repay you for that, my beautiful one. But it was Fall, and after Fall comes Winter. I can feel that my time has come, that's why I sent you away. I did not want to die in your arms, to cause you more pain than what was necessary. When you'll find me, I'll be as the Elven Lady you've learnt to love as much, as blazingly as the White Dragoness you so admired. I want you to shake off your grief as soon as you can, do not lock yourself. I want you to live, to learn and to love again. Do me this favor, as a last service, do not forsake happiness in my name, life is not worth it...

 

Let me have a tiny place in your soul, it is all I need to go in peace. And wherever I go, I'll love you ever."

 

- Kaliopi, now becoming a myth -

 

Niklos rushed to the couch, and put a hand on Kaliopi's forehead. Cold, so cold. He could not admit it, but she had passed away, calmly, silently, without pain. She looked so quiet, with a soft smile on her lips, as if she was waiting for his kisses to wake up. He did kiss her, but she would not wake up. Niklos cried for a long time, and he discovered that tears of grief, in a human body, were exquisite...

 

* * *

 

Nyxl woke up, biting hard his own fist. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands over the eyelids, not wanting to cry, not wanting to let the tears out. He sobbed dryly. Then he grew calm again, and sighed.

 

How sweet it would be, to forget. But it was a promise, wasn't it ? He would remember her forever, he would, in Aluwen's name. Most of the time, the memories would be happy ones, lovely ones. Then sometimes, like now, the feeling of loss would become unbearable. It was time for him to find company...

 

A few days later, he was at the silver lode, in Crystal Caves, exchanging a few words with another miner. He had sensed a Dragon spirit in this one...

 

"...So, tell me, your guild leader is an Empress, right ?"

"Yep, sure she is ! Interested in joining ?"

"Well, I don't know. I'm a sort of lone wolf, I like doing my own stuff on my own. I don't know if I would be useful..."

 

But Niklosyan's next steps were already written...

[Kayliana]

...

Edited May 8, 2019 by Kayliana

[Nyxl]

The smell of coal. Nyxl was getting used to it, eventually. But he could not get tired of the smell of silver ore. Quite understandable, regarding his true self. He drew his pickaxe anew and stabbed gently the lode, grabbing a few chunk of raw ore. After a few minutes, when he had gathered quite a heap of silver, he stopped mining and opened his bag. The black, dusty stones were waiting for him to call his magic.

 

He prepared the usual ritual, putting some coal in the middle of a circle of silver ore, and cast his spell. The coal cracked and blazed and dissolve, and when the sudden flame was gone, the ore had been smelted into one perfectly shaped bar. The Elf waited for the bar to cool down, and reiterated the ritual, until he had no coal left. Putting the silver bars at the bottom of his bag, he got ready to head for the coal deposit, south of the silver lode. That's when he heard a distinct feminine voice...

 

"Grum! Mikotaj! It is Kayliana calling, do you hear me?"

 

Mmh. Did he sense a little bit of panic in the voice ?

 

Nyxl did not hesitate at all. A Lady in need, what could he do but help ? He stood up too fast, hurting his head on the low ceiling of the lode.

 

"Yeouch !"

 

Rubbing his bump, he went back in the caves, in the approximate direction of the voice...

 

* * *

 

Kayliana was as puzzled as angry. She could not find Estillo, and she was standing by a huge cluster of crystals of different colors, in a circle of stalagmites. She heard a light step, coming from the east. So light she wouldn't have heard it at all, hadn't she been an Elf. Then, between two of the stone pillars, she saw the eyes. Thin, dark pupils like moon crescent on silvery ovals. The eyes blinked, and were normal brown eyes with small pupils, pupils becoming smaller because of light reflection on the crystal. Another Elf, that came in the circle...

 

"Are thou in need, my Lady ?"

"Ah, well, company at least. I'm sort of lost in this parts."

 

She looked at him. All clad in black, yet his face was incredibly pale, regardless of coal dirt. He gave a genial smile and extended a hand...

 

"Well, I'd be glad to show you the way to any place you wish in the Crystal Caves."

 

Then he realized his hand was dirty and raised an eyebrow, a little annoyed. He shrugged, then offered the arm, waiting for Kayliana's reaction.

 

"I am called Kayliana Elica Nestriondies Trionita Skirmonst. What is your name ?"

"I am Nyxl, and Nyxl means me..."

[Kayliana]

...

Edited May 8, 2019 by Kayliana