Ask The Art of War

[Katherine Stargazer]

The lightning crashed again against the blade, blinding and deafening Kat. She fell to her hands and knees as the rock below her rumbled unhappily. She waited, shivering in the cold night air, for the pain to pass, the lights to clear from her eyes, and the ringing to quiet down.

As she blinked spots out of her eyes, the smell of ozone thick in her nose, she caught a glimpse yet again of the aurora. It was truly magnificent, and yet now there was something else about it. Wisps like dead souls flew away, comet tails following as they dashed off into the mountains. However, the worst was yet to come as she finally regained her equilibrium. She looked up, and the aurora was suddenly gone.

In the sky, something dark moved against the stars. The little dots of light flickered in and out of existence like something was blocking their light. Kat couldn't quite make it out, though it became clearer the more she looked. A snake flew in the sky, utterly silent. Its skin was black and dotted with white, like the night sky behind it, and it was so terribly long.

Kat was transfixed, this time with fear. She had wanted a Star-Adder as an object of intimidation, but she hadn't wanted to meet one in person, certainly not one of this size. She was stock-still on the final blade of the mountain, nowhere to go and utterly exposed. Her only saving grace was that she hadn't been spotted yet.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore was beginning to wonder what in the world was going on. Eventually the sky cleared and Lore glanced up. She saw something that caused her jaw to hang: a star adder. She had never seen one in real life and decided that she didn’t want to meet one tonight. “Kat, get down from there, we need to go back,” she hissed at Kat, who was still standing on the peak of the mountain, looking up at the star adder with a mixture of awe and fear on her face.

@Shax

 

[Katherine Stargazer]

Kat stared at the slowly slithering creature as it flew through the sky. It was truly beautiful, in a primal way. It almost seemed to glow now that she watched it. The constant movement of its body makes the patterns of its hide twinkle like the stars it sits amongst.

Her body jerked at Lore's words, and she shakily backed up from the mountain peak's precipice. Her eyes remained locked on the silent serpent as it slowly floated along. She couldn't see where it ended, its tail seemingly going off eternally into the distance. Her mind knew that was just an illusion, yet her heart quailed under its immensity.

Just before she made it back and managed to find someplace to hide in, she thought she caught a glimpse of its burnt orange eye, watching her fall behind the mountain's rocks. She shivered and looked at Lore in fear. Kat wanted to speak, yet nothing came out of her mouth but air. Steeling herself, she began her descent back down to the camp, hoping against hope that they wouldn't have to fight that creature in the dark.

@Reylo4evr

 

[Lore Togrud]

Lore was glad when Kat finally snapped out of it. She ran behind the girl, throwing glances over her shoulder as they ran back down to the cave. When Kat was safely back in the cave, Lore stood there for a minute. "Stay here, please, I'll keep watch over the flying snake thing," she knew what it was, but somehow thought that making it sound silly would make it less scary or crazy.

She turned on her heel and walked back up to her lookout. She kept glancing over her shoulder at the snake. It didn't seem to be getting any closer; just swimming in the sky. Lore hoped it stayed like that.

@Shax

 

[Katherine Stargazer]

Kat let out heavy breaths as she tried to get herself back under control. She could see something in the air around them, though that might not have been the right word. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but she knew something was off. Like she stood in gentle waves lapping at her feet, yet all over her body.

She shivered before putting it out of her mind. Now was not time to tangle with the deadly serpent, but it would have to be dealt with one way or another. The team can't proceed safely if the creature is hunting them, but if they try and bring it down now, they will get into a very loud and destructive fight in the dark where anyone could be watching.

So she tapped Lore on the shoulder and made some hand signs under the light of the moons, indicating they should return to camp and try not the lure the monster towards them. Firmly yet gently, Kat put her hand on her friend's arm and started pulling her away, instinctively finding a path down the mountain.

@Reylo4evr