A Wizard's Dream

Tempest

Vagran stood solemnly at the edge of a cliff, his immense wings opening sporadically to counter the force of the wind. The foothills sprawled out beneath the precipice, their pastel contours brightening with every rise and melting into the shadow with each dip. Air currents combed through their fur – the tall, seed-bearing stalks of grass and wheat – animating them and bringing them to life until the breeze ran out of fabric, retiring from his labour by the crimson channel of River Rust.

Darkness encroached upon the land. Angry clouds arrived from the north, carrying news of Mount Zancon's eruption. The metal peak discharged with savage ferocity unmatched by others from the Ural Range. His clouds rumbled with the fury of the mountain who spawned them, threatening to vent their ire at the ground below.

The thunderoc's eyes were transfixed on the churning ashen fog filling the northern skies. They held no fear, only a sparking fascination that evoked a like response. For all the gloomy looks, it was the teal lining behind the surface froth that stoked the storm's wrath. The tempest hid it from view as well as he could, lest it warn the land dwellers of what was to come.

The simmering haze parted, giving voice to the swirling maelstrom brewing behind him. A bolt of lightning flashed through the fissure, accompanied by the tempest's thunderous applause. Hetraced a blistering path through the gloomy sky until he met his end at the thunderoc's wing. The bird arched to absorb the intense charge before settling back on his talons, nourished and content. Another charged bolt crackled through the sky before being tamed by Vagran's lightning form. More followed. As if the tempest couldn't believe that his furore was being withstood, relished even, by a puny obstacle standing on the ground. The roc grew brighterwith each successive strike, his pellucid feathers igniting from their power, drawing a glistening outline of a giant bird standing his ground against a vengeful storm.

Asja emerged from the shelter of the stones, her eyes transfixed on the sparkling scene. She rushed to the bird during a brief pause, but her outstretched hand failed to reach his plumes. They built up a charge directed against her, only to be met by her own rivalling flash. The blast threw her back across the ground and pushed the giant bird over the cliff edge into the expanse below.

Vagran shrieked as he plummeted through the air towards the rolling hills at the foot of the cliff. His wings flailed with fury and frenzy, desperate to avoid contact with the ground. But the ground rejected him, repelling his charged body back towards the sky. And he soared through the air higher and higher, his iridescent wings fully outstretched, steady and unmoving.

The storm beckoned.

He dived inside, cutting through the shapeshifting fog before losing himself in the lightning powerhouse hidden behind. The sky roared with distant thunder, brightening repeatedly in tune with his growl. And the storm rumbled on, passing through the Mount Edars skies without further troubling the land. The Mount Croms skylight had neared the end of his journey before a silhouette of the giant bird appeared in the waning lustre of the southern skies. He sought to land by the hillside stones, but couldn't get close, feeling them resist him with resounding vigour. Only when his feathers changed from azure to sapphire hue – shifting the flux that coursed through their seams – was he welcomed by the vigilant stones.

The girl still lay on the ground where the exploding charge had left her. Settling on his talons, he watched over her, quiet and content in the waning day, his hunger satisfied by the retreating storm.