( Prophecy - pafp. )

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    Calindan was aware of her eagerness to learn, perhaps she would be a good student, but even a willingness to learn can be crushed by too much pressure. Listening to what she said as she explained the powder, he wondered what exactly it was; a type of enchantment? A vector that held onto the magic she put into it for a longer amount of time? The elf wasn't actually all that bothered about the ashy substance being put onto his face, not much could make him stranger than he already was to these people.


    As the older mage spoke of sending out messages, he realized once again that anyone who was anything important would know of him before long, and that idea was disquieting to him. He liked being the center of attention, but that was when it was on his own terms. This would be a mass of attention that he felt he wasn't worthy of receiving if they went anywhere of importance. He needed to distract himself from the enormity of the situation he now faced, do something useful. After the older mage left, he then turned to Branwyn. "There was a village down the hill from the sanctuary once, it used to use the lake for fishing I think. Is it still there? I need something to wear other than this damned burial armour." he said, hoping that she would get what he was suggesting. He had solid gold earrings in his ears, if nothing else, he could chip part of them off to pay for clothes from the village.


    The lake would also be a good place to practice his magic again, if he got chance. Plenty of water to draw from to change pressures and create small storm fronts, he figured.

    She turned to look back to him when he brought up the lake and a village. She nodded her head seeming a little relieved for once to confirm that yes, something he remembered wasn’t completely changed. “Yes they are.” She couldn’t hide the relief in her voice. “I’m sure anything would be more comfortable than that armor right now.” Branwyn took in the heavy armor that was clearly too cumbersome to really be used for anything, only really useful as a ceremonial piece. “If we leave soon we should be able to get there and back before the sun sets.” Branwyn felt a little bit more at ease since she didn’t have to flounder around for answers about what to say. She retrieved her map and carefully rolled it back up before tucking it under her arm. She looked across the room to where her pack was still leaning up against the wall. The thought didn’t cross her mind that the dragonknight going out and about into the world might upset the other members of their little expedition. Instead she was too busy packing her bag back up, that she didn’t catch the men muttering and looking uneasy when she swung the back on to her shoulders and made her way back over to the elf. Stopping beside him she briefly righted her bag before turning to Calidin to see if he was ready himself. “I think we’re all-” She was cut short by a sharp yell from the huddle of tents.

    “And where do you think you’re going? Don’t you need to tell the Grandmage before you going running off?” A voice called out reminding the young mage of the tone strangers would take with her when she was much younger.

    “A supply run down to the vilage. Tell him where we’ve gone if he asks.” Keeping her answer short she simply nodded her head before marching her way towards the door. What did it matter to them where they went? That wasn’t something they needed to know. She shook her head putting it out of her head.

    Relieved to know that at least some things were as he remembered them, he stood from the throne and made his way down from the podium as Branwyn got her things together. He did in fact notice the gathering of workers some distance away, and frowned at the sight. He was being observed constantly, and their uneasy chattering put it into context that perhaps none of them had even seen an elf before. He almost didn't want to know what the elves had become in this new world; Liandrin had been the largest of the elven kingdoms, but there were two others that survived the invasion. They couldn't all be gone, as the young mage had known what he was, so she must have seen an elf before.


    He wasn't sure that he would ask that question now. The tone of the voice that shouted over to them was a condescending one, something that on a regular day, Calindan would not have tolerated from anyone save perhaps his mentor. The young woman replied before he had chance to shout some choice words in elven, it wouldn't have been a dignified response, but he needed something to do with his anger. He could channel it in his magic when they got to the lake, that was it.


    Following Branwyn out of the sanctum and into the daylight and fresh air was a blessing. They were in the ruins of a courtyard, the main temple had been behind them, so the gate should be... Oh, the north tower had fallen onto it. Well, he supposed he was following her lead then, considering that he didn't know how much the landscape had changed. There was a silence between them, one that Cal was eager to banish. "I would assume that you have questions about me, and about the dragonknights. You can ask, if you want, just- not too many all at once." he offered. Conversation with others always made supply runs go faster when he was a novice, so he saw no reason why it would be different in any way now.

    Having already put her foot in her own mouth quite enough for today she didn’t have anything to say when they stepped out of the ruins, sure she had a lot of questions of course, but she also didn’t want him to fed up with her before they’d even made it to the village. She blinked when he almost seemed to be reading her thoughts, until she quickly nodded her head as she began to carefully pick her way carefully past the remanents of the tower carefully, her face screwed up in concentration trying to decide what to ask, considering the fact she had so many questions buzzing around in her head. “How many dragonknights were there? Were they mostly elves or other races too?” She decided to limit herself to only two questions at a time although she could have thought of far more to ask. She was especially curious of who made up the dragonknights themselves of the few statues that still had identities she hadn’t found any that were human or otherwise, which made perfect sense to her. The races were so isolated now that she had trouble picturing a group composed of more than one or two races in total. It wasn’t an easy path getting out of the now desolated sanctuary, there was very little still standing and even following the path that had cleared earlier it was still was a rather slow hike until they reached a section of wall that had been toppled.


    Sighing a little to herself she slipped past the stone pillars to the small wagon path that been worn down through the forest. She glanced at the elf she was traveling with. She wasn’t sure how the locals from the village would react to the fact he was an elf. She was a little afraid that they might react suspiciously to him. “Do you want to borrow my hood?Um..If you didn’t want to draw too much attention. Of course you don’t have to.” She extended the offer waving her hands in front of her as she spoke struggling to explain her reasoning and not accidentally offend him hopefully with her suggestion.

    "I don't know how many still exist today, but humans used to be the minority. There were human dragonknights, but many were elven, dwarven or tiefling. One of the council while I was a boy was half-orcish, so there were all kinds. There were hundreds of us before the giants rose up, each protecting a given area or mentoring novices or exploring the uncharted lands, whatever the council decided. I think after the war, there were maybe fifty still alive, four or five of which had lost their dragons in the fighting, so they would have lasted another year at most. Most who survived were novices who weren't allowed to fight, the rest of us were newer knights, not even fifty years as dragonknights." he explained, wondering how much the tales actually told them. Names weren't known, he knew that much, but what about their extended lifespan, or the details of the bond with a dragon? He could probably guess by her reaction to what he said, or from her next questions.


    At the offer of the hood, he shook his head as he replied. "I'll stick out anyway, I don't think it will do much use to try and hide myself. Give them enough gold and they won't tell anyone you don't want them to tell." he said, gesturing to his earrings as he mentioned gold. It wasn't exactly a detail one would notice of him at first, especially with his hair not neatly tied up, as it would obscure the glint of gold that trailed up his ears. A mark of extreme wealth, it was a fraction of his collection, which he assumed had ended up in a museum somewhere or stolen from his quarters in Dalgadarn by treasure hunters. The jewellery also was a telltale sign of him being a prince, the coin-sized gold circle displaying the symbol of Liandrin.


    Branwyn couldn’t hide her momentary surprise when he mentioned that there was actually a wide amount of kinds of dragonknights. She couldn’t exactly picture most of these races from more then illustrations she’d seen, but she thought it would have been incredible to see none the less. She inclined her head to the side clearly curious when he mentioned how some knights would have only outlived their dragon by a year. With how old the stories were about them she wasn’t surprised that none of this was ever really mentioned in the stories she’d grown up with. “If you’re bonded with a dragon do you live as long as they would naturally?” She inquired tipping her head as she looked over the elf. “How much would your rate of aging have to slow to match that of dragon’s?” She read somewhere once that dragonknights seemed ageless riding on their dragons, but she hadn’t thought it to be quite that literal, but it did make a little bit of sense. She looked ahead of herself, her mind still buzzing with thoughts. There were probably Bette questions she could be asking while she had the chance, but she asked whatever she was curious about at the moment.


    The young mage shrugged her shoulders a tiny bit looking at the gold earrings that she could occasionally catch a glimpse of every once and a while. “Suit yourself then. I think a hood does the job well enough.” She tugged her hood back over her head. She would rather blend in then stand out, even if her hood didn’t actually help her really blend in. Turning a corner in the path she smiled when the forest opened up ahead of them, the lake water sparkling in the distance with several boats dotting it. Smiling to herself she looked around glad to get out in nature after being in the dreary ruins for several hours. Glancing over at her traveling companion gauging his own reaction before turning to look ahead again to keep herself from tripping over a tree branch in the path. Hopping over it she continued on her way towards the lake.

    The elf was quite busy picking a path through the ruins as he responded to the questions. "Yes, the binding changes your lifespan, because it changes your soul and mind. Elves are the longest-lived of all the races, but even we only live three hundred years. Binding to a dragon doubles that, the average is about six hundred years. Unthinkable for some of you humans, I imagine." he said, adding with a slight chuckle; "I'm nowhere near that old. I was only seventy when I went into stasis." he remarked, before realising that that too might seem very old to a human. They only lived eighty or ninety years, didn't they?


    "Problem with that is that you are bound to your dragon so tightly that if one of you dies, if affects the other so much. I've heard that it's like losing all colour that was in your world. A dragonknight without a dragon just wastes away, a dragon without a dragonknight no longer has any humanity." He continued, his train of thought knocked right off the tracks as the lake came into view. Calindan didn't think he would miss it so much; fresh air, natural light, a slight breeze. Most importantly, the opportunity to use magic! The thought came so easily as they made their way towards the lake, a tune worming it's way so easily into his head. 'Just a small storm, just to test things out' he thought, whistling a tune as he walked, allowing himself to truly focus on the rather ominous tune and channel magic through it. He focused on what he wanted as the tune continued; a darkening sky, harsher breeze, climbing pressure of the air, perhaps even a little bit of lightning if it got some momentum.


    If interrupted too harshly, the clouds would dissipate, and the pressure would fall again, but he guessed that the other mage would know it was him responsible, but he did not know if she would act to stop him. He wasn't aiming for the ships on the lake, all he wanted was a little rain and lightning and thunder, those sounds that comforted him so.

    “Six hundred years.” She echoed him her voice wavering. She knew elves lived long lives, but being able to live over half an eon was just mind blowing to her. Shaking her head she brought herself back to reality. She couldn’t help, but laugh little herself when he admitted he was only seventy years old. “Only seventy really? You could have fooled me.” She briefly smiled, before looking ahead to the lake shore in the distance. It was a calm beautiful day, with the water gently laying against the shore. It was a scene that an artist probably would have stopped to capture. She could hear the low whistle drifting through the air. All too quickly the weather took a turn. She reached a hand up to snatch her hood before it flew off of her head with the breeze starting to pick up. The sky started to darken as well, clouds appearing where there were none. She frowned feeling the crackling in the air, feeling the faint magical energy that could felt in the air. She put her hand out as if to grasp at it herself. Her green eyes glanced at her companion while clutching her hood even tighter as the wind got stronger yet. She knew that the elf beside her was tha cause of the sudden weather change since it only happened after he seemed to be whistling his own little spell. She listened to his ominous song. She turned her eyes uneasily towards the lake afraid that she would see the lake churning in large waves that would put the boats out on it in danger. She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the boats were only rocking a little from side to side in the middle of the lake.


    “If you sink any boats you’re going to need a lot more gold to pay people off then you thought.” Stray whisks of ginger hair flew out from under hood as the sound of thunder rumbled overhead and the sky opened up. She sunk down under her hood trying to keep herself from getting wet. Still she peaked out from under her hood to look at the storm brewing over head. It was quite impressive magic, even if she was a bit nervous that he might accidentally capsize a boat with his storms. She watched lake as the path curved to move parallel with the lake. She shivered a little under her cloak from the cold air moving off the water. So much for a beautiful walk through nature. She blew hot air into her hands before they disappeared beneath her cloak again although jumping a little to the side as flash of lightening caught her off guard.

    ( Not to be dramatic or anything, but I'm crawling out of the pit of hell to post this. I'm super swamped trying to do seminar readings & also a decent essay bibliography that I doubt I'll be posting again until Friday afternoon when everything's been sent in, just warning you! )


    Was she mocking him with that comment about his age? The smile on her face told him that 'no, she just finds it amusing that you would speak that way' and the elf was never really one to hold grudges anyway, no matter what his temper was like around certain subjects. He took no notice of the other mage's reaction to the storm until she spoke up, at which point he turned to her, seeing her hidden under the hood of her cloak was understandable, but a thought came to mind. If she hid from the wind like this here, what would she be like when flying? A smile broke out across his face at that, but he did see the logic in her point, and reduced the intensity of the weather. He had done what he wanted and confirmed that he still had his magic.


    The difference to his appearance was probably already notable, the downpour of rain had plastered stray strands of hair to his face and despite what would traditionally be 'bad' weather, he was grinning. "I wasn't aiming for the boats, I have enough control to avoid them." he replied, though he wasn't entirely sure that he hadn't got a little carried away there. His smile faltering, he cleared his throat before speaking again. "I got what I wanted anyway, the town's this way." he said, continuing on ahead of her down the path, turning around to walk backwards for a time and gesture Branwyn to follow. Clearly far more confident now that he had his magic to hand, and he wasn't surrounded and outnumbered by unfamiliar people, he forged on towards the village as the weather began to clear up once again.

    She shivered a little beneath her heavy cloak as the raindrops flew in her face. The dragonknight she was traveling with seemed more then happy to be in this storm. He was practially grinning from ear to ear, enjoying himself a lot more than she was. Branwyn sighed as the rain and wind started to die down and the dark clouds parted themselves for the sun to shine through again. Pulling her hood away from her face. Sighing to herself as he took the lead striding ahead down the path. The young mage had to take much larger steps to keep up with the elf. As they neared the village she had to hold back a bit of laughter as she saw several men standing on the docks outside the village looking up towards the sky and scratching their heads. She huffed as she fell behind him again and had to pick up her pace. “Some of us aren’t blessed with long strides like you.” She called after him finally able to catch up. Despite the slight confusion about the odd weather patterns, most people were distracted by the sudden appearance of armor clad dragonknight. If news didn’t spread like wildfire from the capital itself she was sure that there would be rumors swirling from sightings of the dragonknight from this village alone.


    She moved through the small muddy path winding through the village. There were definitely quite a few eyes that turned their way. This village was isolated enough to make any visitors a notable event, especially strange when the visitor was as strange as her traveling companion. Branwyn continued to look down the path. She pointed to the small row of merchant shops that were set up somewhat haphazardly in an uneven little row down an off shot of the main path. “That would be the place to find what we’re looking for.” Branwyn turned sharply down the path. An older man waved her towards his small little shop. The mage waved in return drifting towards his shop.