Of Shadows And Stars

The sizzle of oil and the smell of searing steak filled my ears and nose as I worked. Scola stood beside me, chopping some potato like veggies with the serrated edge of her claw and dropping them into a silver pot within the stone dip that I dared to call a sink.

She had returned just a few minutes ago to help and showed me where she placed all of the vegetables and fruits we had collected together. Beneath the stone sink was a midsized box. An ice box to be precise. It was fairly large, and was cold enough to keep everything within it not only cool, but fresh. It had apparently been taken from the hold of a large warship that had passed alongside the edge of the continent by some subordinates of the current matriarch of the seas, Cetea, who had then gifted it to a much younger Tyvelia in the hopes she would grow much stronger.

'However now it will see some practical use.'

It was also enchanted, along with everything else I had picked up from the pile. Every single thing I picked up had some form of enchantment, whether powerful or weak. I had learnt this from Tyvelia after pulling out the fifth enchanted item I had put away earlier. Which also made me wonder about the nature of the emotions I had felt.

Taking the pot Scola had put the potatoes in, I filled it with water and placed it on the stove top, which was a large flat stone. Below, where cackling flames spewed embers, the steak cuts I had made were being cooked.

The entire stove itself was powered by crystals called burnstone. These crystals shone with a dark red glow while the flames themselves burst out intermittently in shades of orange, red, white and yellow. They are apparently items from the Volcanic Escarpment granted to her by Agir, the previous matriarch of the fire dragons.

In the time I had spent, Tyvelia had spoken up a little, with her regaling me with tales of how certain items fell into her hands, or how she had pried them from the claws and fingers of her opponents.

The one however that interested me the most was a dragon of the void who had descended to earth in search of his Irn. He would arrogantly challenge a much younger and less mature Tyvelia, who despite being so immature, was still a Matriach.

His fate was…

Not particularly amusing.

…

High above the treetops, a dark shape flew over the dark green canopy. The light of the moon glinted against a number of pearl-like scales that were scattered upon his wings and back. Purple hues faded and dulled across his body as the steam of re-entry robbed him of his connection to the void. However his glowing blue eyes did not lose their luster, shining like gems within a milky aether.

And his head resembled exactly that. Like a skull picked clean and washed by the waves of time, his snout and face was entirely white.

He was a dragon of the void, and his name was Kai'Sa.

His eyes peered through the depths of the canopy, effortless seeing through the dense underbrush.

He had stared into the black abyss and the depths of nebulae before. Such a thing for him was effortlessly done.

However as he searched, the light above him disappeared along with the comforting glow of the distant stars.

With a powerful flap of his wings he halted his momentum, his long black tail, like that of a lion, curled up beneath him.

The secondary wings upon his back flared out, displaying the myriad of blues and purples that were dotted with little white star like scales as he compensated for the sudden stop.

He arched his neck to look up at the being almost as dark as him that dared to blot out the stars, and when he saw them, his eyes narrowed as the black mane that ran around his neck began to expand and fan out.

Above him, hovered a snake like being with torn bat-like wings. Beneath its neck hung hundreds of arms like an ugly beard.

It's eel-like tail whipped violently as its eyeless face gazed down at him.

His pure white face contorted into a snarl as he bared his fangs. He knew of such creatures, there was a reason his people normally remained in orbit of this world. This world, Taos, was the ancestral home world of all dragons.

And this particular one that hovered above him was the last of her kind.

"Leave."

She growled a single word at him in the universal language. Every dragon understood it. It was the only word all dragons understood beside the chants of battle. And he chose at that moment to make a massive mistake.

No, he shook his head. Flaring out his wings, the tension in the skies began to build and he ascended to her height.

"You are the Matriarch of none, am I correct?"

Tyvelia flew silent, making no attempt to answer. For a moment he questioned whether he had spoken the sister language correctly. Despite it being a dead language that had died out with its people, the matriarch of the void had her children learn it. For one the Void and Shadows had both been cut from the same fabric. Each of them however, was embellished differently. They had been sister peoples, and when the tribe of the dark ones fell, it had been the Void led by Iacon, along with the Abyss led by Nautun, that had avenged them.

So as to why this fallen matriarch now impeded him was something he did not understand.

"Leave."

"You are the matriarch of none, you hold no power here."

Kai'Sa raised his neck high with pride. He held no respect for this shadow of the former matriarch.

Tyvelia on the other hand reared herself up slightly, taken aback by the words of her opponent.

All the other matriarchs, both past and present, had never, ever, treated her with such disrespect.

*RRAAAAIIIIEEEEEE!!!*

A loud screech echoed through the empty skies, causing every prowling predator and wandering beast scurrying for cover.

Even Kai'Sa Narrowed his eyes at the sound. His hearing was poor, being a creature of the void. However, that, he understood quite clearly. This was a challenge, and one that bet his life. He had stepped over her extraordinarily high bottom line in a matter of moments.

For a moment, the only sound was the intermittent flap of wings as the two opponents faced each other.

The bright full moon sat behind Tyvelia, its light shining through the tears in her wings showing the full extent of her wounds.

Now, Kai'Sa's eyes widened at the sight of her scarred body. And for a moment, he began to consider whether or not he had made a mistake by challenging such a being.

However none of that mattered now.

Sucking in his breath, with the flickering stars as his audience, the pearl-like scales scattered across his body began to glow with power.

His mouth contorted into a thinly split smile as a bluish silver light began to glow from within. Small wisps of steam began to flow from between his teeth as Tyvelia's hackles began to raise mid flight, the beat of her wings beginning to change to a more conservative and sporadic rhythm.

Her claws twitched as boiling silence pervaded the air.

And with the snap of his jaw and a silvery blue flash, all hell broke loose.