Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
He'd never felt comfortable in the Obsidian Cathedral the whole one time he'd been there but now he could say that he still wasn't. Tal sidled into the black, mirrored cavern with its freaky pews and too-perfect cube like he was expecting trouble, eyes darting around the perimeter and hand on his Dagger.
Admittedly, hearing that Sah 's fire magic was maybe on the fritz and finding that cavern of spooky crystals that might or might not have been looking at them had put him decidedly on edge.
Boreal had caught her human's anxiety but the big dragon was, generally, far harder to perturb and she maintained a calm and steady presence in the back of his mind as she ambled along next to Lily and Pad, head raised to test the air but finding nothing to spook over.
"Gotta admit, I'm not wild about this part o' th'quest," Tal grumbled back to his frenemy, eyeing the altar with reluctance.
The second Sah stepped into the Cathedral, he let out a sharp gasp. Wincing, he reached up to rub over his heart. Embers sparked behind his eyes as molten lava filled his veins. "What the fuck...?" The Abandoned gasped out, breathless. Sitting down with his back against the wall of the Cathedral, he ground his teeth in frustration.
"I'm just going to sit here. Do your thing." Closing his eyes, Sah started to do his best to meditate. Lilly came over and laid her head in his lap for her bonded to pet. Pad, meanwhile, stood protectively in front of the two, his hackles raised. This was beyond insane in the Abandoned's opinion. Unacceptable and uncalled for. What was it about this Goddess that had his fire magic so desperate to be near her?
Picturing the stars and praying to Safrin were all that Sah could think to do. And as Tal eyed the altar, the Abandoned did just that.
Whatever qualms Tal might have had, at least he wasn't dealing with whatever Sah was. He paused immediately and glanced back at his human companion when the Abandoned stopped and swore, pale eyes searching the other man's face for the source of his obvious discomfort. "Yeah... take it easy," he mumbled, reaching out to give his frenemy's forearm a brief squeeze before he sent Boreal a mental command that, for once, she obeyed.
Man and dragon moved quickly towards the altar, opting for speed rather than caution under the circumstances. Tal stuck his hand into his Bag of Holding and brought out the black iron incense holder shaped like a curled dragon, and a supply of incense to go with it. He brushed the altar's surface clean with his sleeve and placed the incense holder exactly in its center. He started to fuss with the cones of incense as well, but a glance back at Sah had him biting his lip and then settling for pushing them together into a small pile in front of the holder.
"Right. Uh, Tanau? If you're listening..." He trailed off, bowing his head as he made his offering and a prayer to go with it for the Longheat deity. Boreal stood guard, wings mantled and tail twitching as she hopped up onto one of the front pews and cast her pale gaze around the room, her nostrils faintly glowing with the fire she held ready in her throat.
Tal finally opened his eyes and pushed to his feet, tilting his chin at the dragon who turned and bounded back towards the wolves. She swallowed her fire and nosed Sah's hair with a smoky muzzle, checking after him in her own way as her human picked his careful way back along the aisle.
Whether it was by Safrin's direction action or simply the reminding his magic that the Abandoned belonged to the starry Goddess, but the fire plaguing Sah simmered down. He had no way of knowing which it was, but he was grateful nonetheless. As their bonded relaxed, the two wolves did as well.
Ther Wild Thunder opened his eyes as he heard Boreal approach, giving the dragon a grateful smile and reaching up to scratch under her chin. "I'm alright." Lilly stood so that Sah could return to his feet. Brushing some stray rocks off of his pants, he glanced over at Tal. "Ready?"
His fire magic was still off, and he was eager to leave. But at least it wasn't as overwhelming as before.
Boreal rumbled happily as he chin was scratched, then lowered her broad head and pressed it gently against Sah's chest. She stepped back as Tal cleared his throat awkwardly and shook herself before touching noses with Lilly and Pad, reassured that their human was feeling better as he got to his feet once more.
Tal rubbed the back of his neck, looking up at the shiny black ceiling until his frenemy was ready to go, but when he looked back down to the hunter and saw him looking steadier the courier relaxed a little. "Honestly kinda glad Tanau didn't show up," he admitted. "After the limbo incident..." He grimaced and shrugged. "But yeah, I think I'm done here. Let's hit the hot springs. Maybe bein' surrounded by water'll help calm your fire magic down?"
Sah felt a rush of affection for Boreal as she stepped back. How was such an incredible being was bound to Tal, he'd never know. But they balanced each other out so maybe that was it. Boreal was undoubtedly the better half though.
The Wild Thunder snickered, recalling what he'd heard of that particular incident. "I still wish I'd seen that." Rolling out his shoulders, Sah nodded, "Sounds good." The hot springs sounded divine at the moment. Heading to the exit, Lilly stuck to her bonded's heels. Pad sped out ahead of them, grumbling excitedly. With a huff of laughter, Sah glanced at his moody companion, "Spoiled wolf." Nodding toward the exit he called back to Tal, "Come on."
