Dragons of the Desert {Locke/Aeos}

[Aeos]

Nightfall in the Nabatan Desert.

Aeos had followed Locke out of the Nabatan village out into the desert. Under the cover of starlight the two dragons left the human civilization behind, their destination was to Locke's sanctuary. The two of them agreed to make the journey by flight. Aeos heart was stammering. This trip was full of firsts for him. This was the first time he was going to transform in front of another dragon. First time he was going to witness a building made by dragons. His palms were moist with sweat. He had nothing to be nervous about, Locke was a friend. A fellow dragon. But yet he still felt uneasy. Soon he would merge with the spirit of his stone. The part of him that he kept hidden away from people. Are we ready? The voice of the stone asked in an excited tone. The spirit and host's bond had deepened as time went on. No longer did it speak in the same monotone from a few months ago. Now the voice spoke with emotion and clarity.

He sighed. He closed his eyes as the crisp desert air blew past him. He took a deep breath of the familiar air, slowly trying to relax. He tossed the bag with his belongings aside. Once he felt comfortable enough he began tapping into the power of his stone. His eyes changed and took on a more lizard like expression. This helped him to see in the dark.

He turned his head over to Locke. He just wanted confirmation on one thing before he did this.

"Locke.. are you sure we weren't followed?"

[Locke]

"Locke... are you sure we weren't followed?"

"Aye. I've checked, and I can't see, hear, or smell anyone. The coast is clear. We're safe."

Locke took off his bag, placing it near Aeos's, and then cracked his joints, bending his neck and arms and twisting his spine. There was always a bit of anxiety that came with shifting. He didn't usually become his true form often, and certainly not in front of other dragons. The manakete kicked sand over the two bags, hiding them from view, and then stepped away from Aeos, standing by himself on the peak of a small sand dune.

"قوة الأرض ... التدفق من خلال عروقي. الطاقة من الأرض ... تنشيط روحي. قد الأرض تعيش إلى الأبد، ويمكن أن الأرض تبكي أبدا. قد تكون التربة خصبة والصخور تكون قوية. قد تعكس قلوبنا السلام، وعقولنا تعكس الحب. قد الحرم تسقط أبدا، طالما أنا الجارديان لها."

"Power of the earth... Flow through my veins. Energy of the earth... Invigorate my spirit. May the earth live forever, and may the ground never weep. May the soil be fertile and the rock be strong. May our hearts reflect peace, and our minds reflect love. May the Sanctuary never fall, so long as I am its Guardian."

The night suddenly became brighter, as Locke's body was suffused in a dark golden glow. Sand was whipped up and circled his form, whose edges began to warp and bend, as if they were no more solid than a stream of falling water. Then came an intense burst of sound that only a dragon could hear, so low was its frequency. The earth directly around Locke trembled and shuddered, and suddenly the light faded, leaving no sign of the green-haired 'man' anywhere.

Instead, a proud dragon stood before Aeos. Fourteen meters long at full stretch, and and with a seventeen-meter wingspan, Locke was no diminutive dragon. His grey scales, gleaming dully with an opalescent sheen, appeared as if made from the mineral Labradorite, so strangely did they shine in the moonlight. Spines, erupting regularly from the spine, and randomly all over the rest of the body, looked like stalagmites and stalactites, straight from caverns underground. Five sleek, sharp horns extended backwards from the dragon's head, accenting the two rows of razor-sharp teeth and fangs. Wickedly curved claws and a quad-barbed tail gave this dragon a deadly and vicious appearance, but the green eyes, exactly the color of Locke's 'human' hair, glimmered with friendship and compassion.

Locke gave a satisfied shake of his head and waited for Aeos.

[Aeos]

Aeos watched as Locke transformed. He was slightly awestruck at Locke's dragon self. He had a strange mix of fear, respect, and pride for Locke. Especially since Aeos still stood on the sand in his human form. The relatively tall man had never felt so short. He had to trust Locke's words. There are no humans around to judge him. No humans around that could fear him. There was only Locke and he had shown him his true self. Aeos had to do the same.

He closed his dragon shaped eyes. Aeos had no fancy incantation to activate the power of his stone. Perhaps that is one of the difference between the two dragons or perhaps between the two tribes. He felt the spirits of the wind gather around him, slowly he tapped into the power of his stone. The power of his other side. He could feel the forces of nature well up with in him, the power of magic, the power of his spirit communing with the elements. A faint glow could be seen over the black haired man. His human form began to change, his hair began to recede into the tiny horns he mentioned earlier. His skin turned into scales and wings started to form upon his back. He folded his wings over his form and let the power of nature continue to fill him with strength. When he lifted his wings out into the open, Aeos stood before Locke on all fours. Gone was the human appearance he had grown so accustomed too.

Before him stood a tanned slightly golden tinted dragon. He was about sixteen meters long from tip to tail with a massive wing span that appeared to be well over twenty meters long. The wings connected from a joint on his "shoulder" and extended all the way down to his "ankles". Aeos gave them a few flaps, kicking up sand into the air in the process. He was able to fold them down in a comfortable position. His whole body appeared to be smooth and spike less. He found it difficult to stand on his hind legs in order to imitate a human position. So he was forced to go back onto all fours. His limbs were long and built for climbing up cliffs and hanging. His back limbs with the wings part way fused to his ankles allowed him to shift his direction quickly in the air. The top part of his wings were covered in light coating of protective scales, while the underside was lighter and softer looking like leather. His horns and claws were black as his human hair was. Aeos' eyes still retained their brilliant shade of green. His snout was long and hid his teeth.

He shook his head. It was difficult for him to keep control of himself in this state. He felt like he could take on any challenges as a dragon. This was his true self. He had to fight every urge to tackle Locke and pin him down in another wrestling match. But he knew he couldn't just do that.

"My.. body want me to soar among the clouds and roar to the heavens. It also wants me to pin you down in a display of strength. I feel as if I can take on all of the worlds problems and hurl them into the sun. All of this power.." He felt himself shaking.

"It is hard.. to contain." It is hard to keep my sanity. He opened his mouth and felt traces of his concentrated wind magic seep out. Much like how a fire dragon would billow smoke just after breathing fire. His set of sharp pointy teeth clearly seen among the light, along with a large lizard like tongue.
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OOC- I've an image in the signature

[Locke]

There was a brief moment of silence and stillness, and then Locke witnessed Aeos slowly glow and then transform as he did, his human form expanding into that of a large and powerful dragon. It was clear from his form that Aeos was at home in the skies - his huge wings appeared to allow him to glide easily, and he possessed long limbs that appeared suitable for attacking in flight, hanging onto outcroppings, and giving a boost for liftoff.

As Aeos spoke to him, Locke gave a friendly hiss, swiping his tail and rubbing it against Aeos's leg as he replied.

""Yes, Aeos. There is much power within us. But containing it is not an issue for me - instead, I struggle to let it free. I have been in my human form for far too long... I wish all could understand the majesty of our form and the grace we possess. Not brutish power, made for senseless killing, but adaptations to our environment, just like them."

Locke gave a roar, and his power echoed from the earth as it shook briefly. The earth recognized him... This was his home, his true form, his true being.

"Aeos! Let us rise! Let us fly! We can fight, or wrestle, or show our power when we arrive. For now -- let us leave the land of humans far in the distance and sail to the land of dragons!"

Locke took a few bounds forward, his body moving lithely over the sand with no impediment to his movement, and then flapped his wings once, pushing off of the dune and then using the strong beating of his wings to provide loft. In a brief whirl of sand, the earth dragon was obscured for a moment until he appeared, silhouetted in the sky, circling low above the sky dragon. Locke whipped his tail back and forth, wheeling in pleasure at the sensation of flying. It was wonderful indeed.

[Aeos]

Aeos nodded at Locke. It was strange how they were. Aeos had difficulty maintaining control over his strengths while Locke wished for it to be free. Locke roared out and Aeos could feel the earth respond to him. Perhaps the wind will do the same once he takes flight. Aeos grabbed both bags from the sand. Made no sense to leave them here out in the desert. He delicately hooked both bag straps around his feet. Then used his front limbs to push off. He flapped his wings a few times and he was given some height.

A few moments later Aeos was in the air circling around Locke. He let out a roar of his own. One that seemed to echo through the air in vigor. He found himself spinning, twirling, looping through the air. Happy to be in his element. The brisk wind was refreshing on his scales and face.

He made sure to keep a firm grip on the bags as he flew.

"Yes. Let us leave the world of humans behind us. Lead the way and I shall follow."

What Aeos wouldn't give to simply pick a direction and fly away forever. Fly to a place far beyond the horizon away from all humans. How he wished he could stay in the air forever without the need of food or rest. He felt as if he could. He felt that as a dragon he could do anything. Regardless of what logic or obstacles came his way.

[Locke]

The Earth manakete set off, his wings beating powerfully as he wheeled and banked, using the pull in his mind to guide him to the Sanctuary. He soared proudly, even while aware that in the sky, Aeos was in his element. Locke was just happy to be able to fill his frame, feel the power of his draconic being surging out to every nook and cranny.

"It is not long now. We must fly only a little while longer, and we will arrive at the Sanctuary. There there is food, preserved and stored away. There there is water, clean and cool. There there is rest, and safety. It is a place that the weary may take comfort in, that soothes the soul and restores the body. The Sanctuary is truly a wonderful place."

As he flew, Locke looked down at the sand. It was arranged in dunes, gently waving like always, but this time... Something was odd. The tracks of wild beasts seemed to fall away as they neared the Sanctuary, as if they were avoiding something.

When the ancient building came into view, Locke saw what he feared most. Around the building, a long trail ran, with two parallel lines. It was a giant sand scorpion, a deadly predator that terrorized other desert denizens. But not dragons; Locke was eager to show Aeos his might.

And so he descended, coming to land in front of the creature, which looked like a toy in comparison to the dragon.

With a roar, Locke lunged forward, his teeth crunching into the beast's cephalothorax as his claws rent the armored abdomen asunder. As the creature's innards spilled onto the sand, Locke crunched down the mouthful of scorpion head, relishing the taste. He'd always loved it. What a delight to have.

[Aeos]

He flew behind Locke as the earth dragon led the way to the sanctuary. As much as he wanted to simply fly ahead and beat him there, Aeos had no idea where this place was. He occasionally glanced down at the ground below. The soft Nabatan sand looked like stationary ocean waves from up here. It had been far too long since he had felt the desert wind under his wings.

"I could go for some food." We could ALWAYS go for some food. He grinned. Food was something both halves of him almost always agreed on. Wonder what kind of food. Oooh.. think he has some cactus fruit tucked away? Aeos needed to stop himself. The last time he had cactus fruit it ended up being a bad experience for him. He shook his head. He was supposed to be paying attention to flying and figuring out how to get to the sanctuary. Oooh what if it's dried shark fins. We haven't had that in decades. He couldn't help thinking about food. Dobut it. This area.. where we are flying to... is not near the ocean. Perhaps we could get some fresh water eels if the sanctuary water is underground enough.

"I cannot wait to see it... Er the sanctuary... not just the food." He had to correct himself. Yes. Seriously. Fly faster! Aeos felt good about being in his full dragon form. In the form he could talk and act how he always wanted. How the other part of him always wanted. This was the first time in a long time he had felt this good, this comfortable inside his own scales. Just then Locke dove down towards the earth, he had seen something. One look at the ground and Aeos could see what it was. SCORPION! Forget the shark fins! Dive man! DIVE! The wind dragons body twisted gracefully through the air then dove down towards the ground. He gave a few flaps of his wings shortly before hitting the ground so he could land properly.

"Will you be sharing that?" He asked with a bit of a grin. There was a bit of tension in the air as Aeos watched Locke munch on scorpion flesh. He felt his tail flick and his wings get tucked in. If Locke said no to sharing, then the two of them would have to settle this the old fashioned way. Which is what Aeos wanted. He wanted to fully let go of his inhibitions, to wrestle, to show his might, to fly, to cast his breath magic, to do all of these things all at once if he could. Here he did not feel threatened or challenged. So there was no need to be so aggressive like he could be. Instead he was filled with more of an emotion that was something akin to a child's enthusiasm and urge to play.

[Locke]

Aeos landed quite well, not crashing at all but landing gracefully on the earth. It was impressive, for a dragon who claimed to be terrible at landings. Meanwhile, Locke finished his scorpion head, shaking the bits from his jaws before laughing, a booming sound, and uttering a challenge to Aeos. Fueled by the food in him, Locke felt full of energy, and he relished the chance to spar with his fellow dragon. Not a vicious battle, like the tribal wars he had read of in the ancient books. Not a fearsome fight against those dragon-slaying weapons of legend. Just a friendly match, between dragons. It would be fun!

"Sure, I'll share... But you have to prove your worth to me afterward. I don't give... Favors."

With a swipe of his tail, Locke sent the rest of the carcass over to Aeos, then flew up, landing on one of the ancient perches to rest while he waited. The sentries used to perch here, watching and guarding the temple of the Great Earth Dragon. But now, Locke was the only sentry.

Stretching his limbs and wings, Locke gave an experimental huff, watching with relish as a blast of earthen breath erupted from his mouth before fading off. Good. He was glad that the centuries of disuse hadn't affected his ability to channel his element. That would make him very unhappy.

The Earth manakete's tail whipped back and forth, the four barbs on the end glinting in the moonlight. Soon... Soon, he would be able to burn off some of this energy with his new friend.

[Aeos]

Aeos was given the remains of the giant scorpion. Under the condition that they both would be sparring later. Aeos had a bit of a grin on him. He was going to do two things he enjoyed. Eat something good and then wrestle the energy off. Aeos grabbed one of the scorpion's giant claws and began to eat it. He cracked at the hard outer shell with his maw, and began eating the meat inside it in great delight.

"It's so good!" It reminded him of how his human body ate crab, always starting with the claws first. Once he had his fill of scorpion claw he moved down to the legs. He pulled out four of them and stuffed them into his mouth, he looked like he had long large whiskers. Heh.. were a cat now. Eventually, he ate each of the four legs one by one once he had his fun.

He sighed. It had been too long since his last meal of giant scorpion meat. He gently lied on his back and savored the feeling of moonlight on his scales. Once he felt comfortable enough he pulled back up and stretched out his wings. Now he could fully appreciate the area around him. He walked up towards the sanctuary. This was the first time he was witnessing a building made by dragons. He knew there were a few of them in the port city, but he did not have a chance to explore them. He traced a claw over at the ancient pillars. There was so much history here. History that he knew very little about. Locke was centuries older then he was, what kind of stories did he have to tell. He would have to ask later right now it was time for a sparring match.

He then flew up and landed on another sentry pillar. He could only imagine how this place was in it's prime a whole slew of dragons coming and going through this place. He gripped the pillar lightly and let out a small burst of his wind breath out his nose. Locke had issued him a challenge. Now this was going to be interesting, and earth dragon vs an air dragon. Aeos knew he had to look out for that barbed tail. Aeos jumped off the pillar and took to the sky, he flew and circled around. One... two... three! Now! He began to dive through air towards Locke, intending to ram the earth dragon off the pillar in a bit of sporting fun.

[Locke]

"Not so fast!"

As his companion barreled toward him, a dive bomb imminent, Locke too dove, but the Earth dragon plummeted towards the sand, letting his claws sink into the shifting ground as he swept it aside, making a small dip around him. Then, he began beating his wings, sliding backwards involuntarily as the force drove him away. His goal, though, was not to scoot away on his rear, but instead to raise a large cloud of sand. Which he did. The particulates, which would be blinding and gritty to the Air dragon, also gave Locke time to collect himself and leap into the air without fear of assault. He wasn't as nimble in the air as Aeos, but he was fast. And he felt the power of his breath building in his chest, waiting to be blasted forth. Patience. Patience was a virtue. He could not let loose just yet.

So as he beat a rapid tempo and rose into the sky, Locke settled for a roar, which echoed across the sand as the shimmering manakete looked towards his friendly rival.

"I'll give you the fight you want in the air, but once we get to the ground, you'd better watch out, Aeos!"

It was true. For any acrobatics the Dragon could pull in the air, the Manakete could match and hopefully exceed it on land. He loved the earth, and had learned how to focus and become one with the earth. The earth held many secrets that he would love to exploit.

[Aeos]

The young wind dragon was forced to pull out of his dive when the wave of dust and sand came at him. His snout or his underside wasn't spared the sudden rush of sand. He flapped his large wings and went higher into the night sky avoiding the rest of the dust and grit. He rubbed his eyes and snout to shake away any loose particles. Then blew out a small breath of air out of his nostrils to clear them out. If there was one thing he disliked it was when things traveled up his nose. He also wasn't fond of things coming out of his nose, especially when his human form suffered through a cold.

"T'would not want it any other way" He shouted back to his playmate. He kept his wings open almost hovering in the air and looking down at Locke. Up in the air he got a better view of his dragon companion. Locke had an impressive amount of spikes scattered across his body. Aeos was going to have trouble dealing with him on land. Aeos body was mostly smooth with exception to the small horns that were on his head. This smoothness helped for him to glide through the air with ease. His scales were hard but they did not to the same degree as Locke's earthen scales. His other half mused to itself.

Under normal circumstances he would have let the other part of him take over. His other side, the more aggressive, prideful, confident version of himself, but not tonight. Tonight both sides of him agreed to try and keep a mostly level headed approach to things. This was his first spar against another dragon. He wanted to learn from it, not charge in blindly and do something that would cost him. But he could not fight through all of his instincts. He could feel the small traces of wind magic trailing out of his mouth, the precursor to one of his breath attacks. Locke jumped into the air and took to the sky.

[Locke]

"Here I come - better be ready!"

The earth manakete charged towards Aeos, beating his wings strongly, and then tucked them back, shooting forward like a torpedo before curling into a ball. As he neared, he tucked his soft parts away, exposing his spike-covered, stony hide, and plunging without any sort of direction or guidance towards Aeos. As he plummeted, his body spinning and whirling as the air currents pushed against him, his mind wandered. There was nothing else to do.

But the product of his mental digression was much more fruitful than he had ever imagined. The mace! The Mace of the Guardian was still there, still lying in its holder, waiting for a Guardian to wield it... The mace, that glorious instrument of destruction, that masterfully crafted work of art... The Mace of the Guardian had seen use in the Scouring. It was a weapon of the highest caliber, and now it sat unused in a crumbling temple...

He would wield the Mace. He was the Guardian; it was his weapon. He would wander the world with it, and he would fight as a human and rise to power. That power would be helpful... For what, he did not yet know. He would do more wandering, more traveling, before he figured that out. He just knew that, as Aeos had said... in order to survive in the world of humans, he must become like them on some level. So he would appear to be one of them - a wandering fighter, armed with a memorable mace.

Now, back to the task at hand - he was either getting close to Aeos or the ground. He couldn't see which from his curled-up position.

[Aeos]

When did he get so fast? The wind dragon wondered as he now had to deal with Locke's attack. The dragon was coming at him like some sort of large spiked ball. Part of him was impressed with his fellow dragon's speed the other part of him screamed to move out the way. And so Aeos did, he turned to the side so he could avoid Lock's spiked hide. Aeos seized the opportunity to gain some more height and position himself. From out of his mouth he fired a large orb of concentrated wind magic. The green sphere of wind almost collided with the earth dragon in mid air. But the young dragon had missed it's mark and the blast fell to the sand below. Causing a mini-maelstrom of sand to be kicked up. The spot where the blast hit the ground had a faint green glow to it.

Seems our long range accuracy needs work. Aeos wasted no time. He tucked in his wings in an attempt to get closer he wanted to hit Locke's ball shaped form before he hit the ground. Aeos fired another blast, he missed again. This time the green tinted breath magic landed in a dune nearby. He fired another one and that grazed one of the spikes on his comrade's body. Ground. GROUND. GROUND! The dragon opened his wings to avoid ramming head first into the ground. Instead he had a rough landing and slid around the sand until he stopped. He collided into a particularly large dune and ended up being half buried in the sand. The only thing visible to the outside at the moment was his wings and tail. IT'S UP OUR NOSE! The dragon flailed around wildly, kicking up plenty of sand and dust around him. He pulled his head free from the sand and blew out wind magic from his nostrils in an attempt to get most of the sand out. To an observer the whole thing was probably very humorous.

[Locke]

Locke felt a gust of powerful wind rush by him, and then he hit the ground, the impact and the swirling sand hiding him as he burrowed down deep under the sand, until he was completely obscured. He felt vibrations all around him - all he could see was sand - and then when they began to cease, he erupted from the ground, thrashing his spiked tail and beating his wings, sending sand flying everywhere in an eruption akin to a baby volcano exploding.

As he burst forth from the ground, Locke sent sand, rock, and flint shards everywhere, and then let forth with a blast of his breath magic, full force, towards him. The quirk with Locke's magic was that it drew from the surrounding environment - in the rocky mountains, the fertile valleys, and the murmuring deserts, his attack would take different forms. In the desert, it burst forth as a stream of sand, ranging from tiny to unusually large grains, which streamed in a straight line straight at Aeos.

"Aeos! Feel the might of the earth!"

The Earth Manakete cut off his stream of breath and stood, fangs bared, lashing his tail across the earth as he waited for Aeos to respond. The Air Dragon was fierce, yes, but Locke was at home here in the desert sands, and he wouldn't give up this spar without a fight to rival any other. Indeed, he had not had a fight like this for many centuries. It was refreshing, to spar as a dragon with a dragon.

[Aeos]

After he had finally gotten the sand out of his nose more sand came to greet him. Locke's breath attack was impressive. It channeled the power of the earth around it, in this case it was mostly sand and the occasional rock. The young air dragon pulled his wings over his head to act as a kind of shield for his face. His front arms worked to rub the sand off of his eyes. Locke was proving to be quite the opponent. Then again he was the only dragon opponent he had ever fought at this point.

Once the stream of sand was over, Aeos began his counter attack. He channeled the power of his element through his scales in order to blow the sand away. His semi-golden form shimmering through the grains. He could see Locke standing tall, ready to make his next move. However Aeos did not advance towards him instead he concentrated the power of his element back into his mouth. He was to fire another breath attack this time as a steady stream of condensed wind magic. He fired the short beam of wind magic at Locke, hoping to hit him squarely in the chest. His aim was better on the ground then it was in the air.

Once the blast was shot the wind dragon flapped his wings to give himself some height. And also to see if the had sustained any major damages from the blast. His wings were sore and in some pain but not damaged. Most of the grains of sand slid off of the scaly side of his wings. He flew out towards his rival hoping to pin him down while he was still reeling from the blast.