(OoC: Co-written with Rohane Alista)
Ice Haven, Wilderness of Silverdale
In a remote cabin in the most remote areas of the southernmost nation in Mystria, unbeknownst to everyone but a select few, an event that would change history would occur. And it seemed like almost the whims of the gods, or rather, just one of them.
Glacia Invernos had used this cabin as a little retreat in the past, and figured it would be a good fit for what she had planned. The blue-haired, pale skinned elf sat patiently while waiting for her guest to get ready.
Her guest was moving across the floor, a piece of chalk in hand, sketching symbols as he went. His green-blonde hair bobbed on occasion as he looked back and forth between the markings and a small book in his left hand, occasionally making small changes. In surprisingly little time, a circle of runes surrounded the bed Glacia would be laying on, several other lines and arrays of runes stretching out from that central one. Vlad stood after adding one last array on the floor, looking at the walls. “Alright. We need to ward this place, but otherwise,” he muttered to himself before calling out. “Glacia, I’m almost done! If you need to do anything else, now is the time.”
“Oh!” Glacia floated over to Vlad, “That was quicker than I expected, but I guess after Alvis you’ve gotten some more practice,” she giggled. “I don’t have anything else I need to do, I’ve been waiting for this for some time.”
“Yeah, well,” the man sighed, giving her a strained smile. “I’ve gotten more practice with rune inscription lately. I’ve begun to work on a way to bind them to myself in a way I can release without having to be stabbed by things. Wards have got to go up, you can put in a few if you want, just don’t overlap… who knows what would happen with that?”
“I think avoiding being stabbed is preferable when it isn’t necessary,” Glacia winked, “But sure, I’ll see about a few myself,” she said as she summoned her spellbook to help out. “Good thing you taught me a bit about this beforehand, huh?”
“It’s just good to know a little, just in case,” Vlad nodded. “You’re pretty bright, anyways, I figured you’d pick it up pretty quick. Glacia… are you sure about this? You know this is a pretty big deal, right?”
Glacia sighed, she knew he would try to talk to her out of this, “Vlad… I have made up my mind on this. I didn’t decide to go through with this on a whim, y’know; I thought about it quite a lot, actually. You know me well enough by now to know I wouldn’t ask to do this if I wasn’t committed to it, right?”
“I know you well enough that if I refused to help you’d grow even more stubborn and try it yourself,” he shook his head. “I’m not totally opposed, I just… it’s a big change, and it takes a lot. I just want to make sure you really understand what you’re getting into, alright?”
“Of course I do, Vlad,” Glacia gave a soft smile. “I saw what happened with Alv when you did it with him, and after a few days he was back to normal… no, better than normal, I haven’t seen him that happy in a long time! And, y’know… maybe I’d like to be a part of that too with both of you.”
Vlad sighed, placing a ward and pointing to the bed. “Right, you’re determined… it’s alright, we’ll do this. It’s not like I want you feeling left out or anything anyways. So come on, up and onto the bed. At least you get to be comfy for it, kinda.”
Glacia sat on the bed, looking a bit excited about this, “Gotcha, Vlad!” She seemed almost giddy about the process, in spite of what needed to be done.
Vlad stepped carefully over the lines of runes and handed Glacia a small bronze dagger; it gave off the feeling of something that shouldn’t be picked up idly, the carved dragon on the handle seeming to move slightly as Vlad held it out to her, the rubies in the pommel almost looking like they glowed in the light. “This is the most important step. When I tell you to… you need to stab yourself, right in the heart. It absolutely has to be you, and it absolutely needs to be dead center in the heart. Got it?”
Glacia took a deep breath about it, then slowly nodded, “I understand…” she had been terrified about it when she heard about it the first time, but the more she understood the ritual, she got the point of it. “I’ll be ready for it, Vlad.”
“Good,” Vlad nodded, heading back to a circle which he sat in. “I’ve set up a nature draining array; we’re likely to kill a few trees, but it will make sure we don’t end up defenseless. I’ve also automated your portion of the drain, so you should be able to just relax. I’ll contribute my own magic to reinforce it and help make sure it shapes you as a dragon correctly. You are in dragon elf form, right? I can’t tell a difference.”
Glacia knew Nelvana would be upset a bit about the trees, but planned to help her fix up some of the damages afterwards. “Oh, right, I suppose you can’t,” Glacia giggled; her divine powers did allow her to manifest as any type of elf she wanted to, and while she was born primarily an arctic elf, she had dragon elf ancestry that she was able to tap into for this. However, she looked like her normal self. “But don’t worry, I wouldn’t screw up something that important, I’m currently a dragon elf.”
“Good. It worked for Alvis, so it should hopefully work for you,” Vlad nodded. “The soul is a slippery thing, I only really get some of the more esoteric bits, unfortunately. Alright… alright, we’re ready. Last chance, Glacia.”
“I meant what I said,” Glacia frowned; there was no longer a sign of Skathi’s influence in her eyes nowadays, this was all her choice, her decision. One that most wouldn’t understand at first, but she knew, deeply, was something she needed to do. “I am going through with this, Vlad.”
He held up his hands as he shook his head. “Hey, people get cold feet on the precipice sometimes,” he justified. “Ok, we’re going to start slow, but this thing will absolutely start drawing power at an insane rate if you don’t at least try and control the flow. I’ll help, of course,” he informed her, placing his hands inside two small circles on the floor in front of him. “And… here we go…”
Glacia took in a deep breath, relaxing herself and focusing her own magical energy. This wasn’t the first ritual they had done together, so she had already gotten a sense of his practices and what to do during them, albeit none were on the scale of this one. Considering how personal Vlad had considered this one - he requested that they not bring others for this - she understood how much this meant to him.
Vlad focused his energy into the two circles, and they began to light up, the magic swiftly flowing down and activating the circles around Glacia’s bed. “Alright, it should be working now, how does it feel? It looks good so far, so if it doesn’t hurt I’ll turn it up a little.”
“Oh, I’m feeling fine,” Glacia lightly smiled, not being bothered by it at all. “You can turn it up, I can manage it!”
The man nodded, steadily pushing more energy in, the light increasing in brightness, the flow of his magic increasing more rapidly. “Glacia, how is it going? I’m starting to get a bit of a cascade, are you still fine?”
Glacia could feel the magical effects a bit harder now, but it was nothing she couldn’t handle, “Keep going, I’m fine, Vlad! Don’t worry!”
He nodded again, moving his right hand out of the circle to activate a different circle, before returning to his former position. The nature draining arrays activated with a low whine, as Vlad poured more magic in, his eyes suddenly going wide as he felt the ritual pulling more than he was willing to get it, far too fast, the floor under his own circle starting to crack. “Fuck.”
“W-what is wrong,” Glacia looked worried, “Um… this… didn’t happen with Alvis, did it…”
“Glacia, watch your magic consumption,” Vlad said, digging his fingers into the floor. “It’s drawing too much from me, I’m not going to be able to control the flow anymore in just a moment. You need to brace yourself!” He warned, watching cracks spread across the floor, think snaking ones. “Forget about Alvis, think about you and I, right here and now! This moment needs all your focus!”
Glacia snapped to attention, “R-right!” She focused herself, as her magical energy had been wavering a bit with this; did she do something wrong here? No, not the time to doubt this, she needed to get it under control! She concentrated as hard as she could, but there still seemed to be something off about this.
Vlad quickly glanced over the runes, seeing something with the innermost circle under her bed that caused him to groan. “Fucking gods damn this,” he launched into a stream of expletives, doubling down on how much magic he poured into the ritual, while also increasing the power on the draining arrays as much as he could. “We need more, Glacia! Moderate your flow, I’ll handle this, it’s rejecting your soul!”
Glacia winced, before doing as he said; she was certain that her strategy would’ve worked, but maybe she really couldn’t replicate a soul such as that? Regardless, she followed Vlad’s instructions to the letter, trying to keep things under control as best she could.
It had been slow, hard to notice at first, but it was becoming obvious that the amount of mana in the room was getting dangerous; even as some of the arrays tried to drain it into the rituals, the magical energy in the air whipped like a strong wind, crackling against the wards, pulling at the floor and the people inside, but in spite of it all, Vlad appeared totally focused on the ritual itself. He continued to try to use his magic to keep the ritual from collapsing, using his influence to find and strengthen the parts of Glacia most currently identifiable as a dragon, when he had an idea. “Glacia! Tell me what a dragon IS to you! What does a dragon do? What defines one?”
“A-a dragon…” Glacia was now visibly sweating, trying to told it together, “Is a mighty being, one that can be a great protector or a great destroyer! They like treasure and caves, and have great powers of physical and magical might! But most of all… a dragon is what you are, Vlad!”
“Focus on that thought, then!” Vlad told her, closing his eyes to hide from her that they were starting to turn red. “If a dragon is me, then think about that! It isn’t perfect but it’s helping me find… more… pieces!” he grunted, his muscles starting to twitch on their own.
Glacia concentrated on the thought about Vlad; even more than Alvis, Vlad is what she thought of when it came to being a dragon, really… and what she needed to focus on. Everything she had learned from him over this past time, all the experiences, they all came to mind for her now. That was what a dragon was. And what she wanted to be, too. And if that didn’t work, she didn’t know what would.
Vlad let out a deep breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. It wasn’t a lot, but Glacia’s thoughts and desires had made the pieces of her that were like a dragon, or wanted to be like a dragon, or could be made like a dragon with little effort easier to find, to bind together with the ritual, to use as a base. Vlad opened his eyes, fully red now, looking like they were swimming in fire as he looked through the mana choking the room to Glacia. “Now,” he commanded, his voice low, but cutting through the chaos with ease.
Glacia’s hand carrying the knife did not shake nor quiver, as she lifted the dagger, and with one swift, decisive blow, stabbed herself straight in the heart. The warrior goddess had the right precision, and she was no stranger to attacking the weak points of someone, it was her speciality. But she never expected to use such skills on herself, “GAHHHH…” she tried her best to withstand the pain, but nobody, not even a goddess, could remain stoic at a time like this as the blood trickled down.
“I know it hurts! You have to stay focused! Think about being a dragon, what that would mean to you! What will you do?” Vlad strained against the ritual, once again threatening to collapse as Glacia’s focus wavered with the stab. “I know your consciousness is fading! Fight it!” He continued, removing his left hand from its circle and grabbing something out; a light blue stone, the color of a barely freezing creek, and he tossed it towards her with startling accuracy. “Think about it and hold that damned stone!”
Glacia caught it with her right hand, her left still holding onto the dagger as she held it, “A-a dragon… I would…” she coughed, the blood flowing from her, “I would… be… like…” the stone glowed in her hands, “Y-you…”
The light from the stone quickly became blinding, but Vlad stared through it anyways; he couldn’t see her, but he felt like he needed to try, to keep his focus fully on Glacia, seeing her through a ritual that had gone horribly wrong. “Remove the dagger! Glacia, don’t faint on me! Keep thinking about what you’ll become, who you’re going to be! Damnit, why is it still draining so much from her?” He asked himself.
Glacia was barely able to concentrate anymore, but nevertheless, she removed the dagger, “Vlad… it’s… I will become…” she barely seemed to be able to say it, but in her mind, she still knew it, clear as day, it didn’t waver even now.
It was enough to give Vlad hope, and he knew what to do; this time, he could help save someone whose danger was his own fault. He took a deep breath, leaving his circle, making his way to Glacia, moving slowly but steadily against the magic-fuelled winds, until he reached her on the bed, and he put his hands on top of her right, where the stone was. “Don’t worry, Glacia. It’ll be ok. I’ve got you, I promise,” he said, exhaling as he let his magic go wild, flowing unrestrained directly into her and the ritual itself.
Glacia seemed barely able to open her eyes or speak, but knowing Vlad was there still made her able to focus enough as the energy flowered in her, the only thing she had left was the thoughts of why she chose to do all this. Would that be enough? Or did she prove inadequate again? As she was losing consciousness from the pain and the energy flow, that thought pervaded her mind. “V-vlad…”
Vlad groaned, able to feel himself growing weaker, as the magic flowed out of him, but he could feel the end, too; he didn’t know quite exactly how it worked, but Glacia’s very nature was changing rapidly, and she was past the moment where her life hung in the balance in moments as his magic continued to flow. Now it was to make sure she would still be herself, not some twisted or weakened version, and then that she would be healthy, and then that she would be strong; all of it guided by their now intermingled magic. He wasn’t sure if mixing their magic so directly would have a permanent effect on Glacia, but he hoped if it did, it would at least be a positive one, as he slumped over. “We’re… almost done… good job…”
Glacia seemed to almost be acting on autopilot now, as she seemed quite drained from the experience, the blood still seeping, “What… is… left…” she barely got the words out from the strain.
“From you…” Vlad steadied his breathing, picking himself up again. “Not much. How do you feel? In your head, I mean. Still you? Anything different?”
“I…” she held her head, “Think I… feel like me… but… a lil’ hungry… for raw meat… also head is feeling heavy…”
“That sounds exactly like what I expected after Alvis,” Vlad chuckled softly. “Rest, sleep. You earned it. And we are never doing something like this again.”
“Heehee…” Glacia coughed, “Think I’ll… take a nap…” she collapsed suddenly on the bed, still bleeding from the wound as she slipped into unconsciousness.
“I’m surprised the bleeding didn’t stop yet,” Vlad groaned, standing with great effort, leaving the room and coming back with a first aid kit. “... I wish Narris was here for this part,” he muttered, looking away as much as possible as he patched up the dagger wound, lifting Glacia after. “This bed won’t do. Come on, let’s put you somewhere a little less broken,” he said to her sleeping form as he carried her to a different room.
Glacia seemed to be snoring a bit, as she had enough strength to cuddle up with him in his arms; maybe it was just instinctual, or part of her domains, but whatever the reason, that seemed to remain intact from the ritual.
He tucked her into a small bed he had prepared for himself in another room, disentangling himself from her as he patted her on the head. “What do I do now? I kind of don’t want to call the others until you’re awake,” he sighed, sitting in a chair near the bed. “Well, maybe I’ll just… keep an eye… on you,” he told Glacia’s sleeping form as his eyes slid shut, and he slowly slumped to the side.
