The shadowy recess that you stumble into is lit, dimly, by a banked fire to one side. Something, though, is blocking much of the already dim light from getting to you.
"You! Intruder!" the voice is dangerous, vicious in its intensity, "Do you have the guts to even attempt to bond one of these beasts?"
With a growl, and a narrowing of your eyes, you spit out, "What do you -think-?"
The laughter that erupts at that is mocking, "Oh, so brave you are! Come then, and see if you can claim the loyalty of one of the beasts."
Moving cautiously forward, you finally make out the shape of a large, and fairly deep, basin of warm sand sitting in front of the fire... and perched above it, somehow, is a creature that could easily be mistaken for a demon.
Her dark blue-violet eyes narrow as you approach, large wings rustling faintly as they shift position slightly, and perched on her shoulders are small creatures that look like creatures out of a nightmare. One hisses at you with its two heads, long claws hooked firmly into the woman's shoulder - not that she seems to notice or care - and tails whipping from side to side, each tipped with a dangerously curved blade. Two other small beasts perch on her, one on her left shoulder, and the other clinging carefully to her 'wingshoulder'.
Looking down at the basin, you notice a circle of small black-gold eggs, all leaning against the other, a few of them rocking slowly. Yet when you reach for one, the woman's hand darts out swiftly and grabs your wrist.
"Hold, intruder," she bares her sharp teeth in a vicious mockery of a smile, "There are some things you should know first."
"I'm the guard here, for now... So I'd like to make it very clear to you right off the bat. No pawing through these eggs," she snarls,"I don't want to have to deal with the little monsters that hatch on my own, I've got enough... besides, mine are likely to eat any of the beasts that you abandon. Greedy as you might be... never take any more than three." A vicious grin spreads across her face, "Any more than that, and you're likely to have an eternal war on your hands... and the one that proves the weakest will be killed and eaten. Also, I know that there are a few truly rare colors in here somewhere - you'll have to dig hard to find them - and you should know that the rares will not tolerate any of the lessers, and only one other rare. Having any more of the beasts with you will lead to a slaughter, with the strongest the victor."
The woman releases your wrist, settling back into her former position, "Well? What are you waiting for, creep? Lets just see whether you can handle one of these hatchlings."
As she watches you consider the circle of eggs, she suddenly smirks, "Oh, right, I forgot to mention. As you can probably tell from the little beasties that follow me, there are more than one type that you can bond too... the trick is finding their eggs. Those eggs," she nods at the exposed eggs, "are Hayerzaen's. And hers alone. So you won't find much of anything special in that bunch."
The one you take to be Hayerzaen hisses at you, her wings spreading slightly as she does. One head and one tail, though spikes bedeck her all over... and with a straight, unicorn-like horn jutting from her forehead.
"Elsewhere in that basin, of course," the woman continues after snarling at Hayerzaen, "she hid another clutch of her eggs. I'm not sure what they look like, yet, but I do know that they'll have some rather interesting markings. I'm also not sure how many clutches are hidden in that basin, exactly, but I know there's at least one of each type."
The two headed one warbles, giving the woman a look as it does.
She just snorts, "Oh, right, and Kenjras reminds me to say that, if you want a specific color or some fancy-smancy design that you're positive won't show up in these eggs, to pick an egg out, doesn't matter which one, then give it to me, saying what you want. And remember to be -exact- mind you! I'm not going to exert my magic for some 'oh... I want bright blue, I guess..." sort of answer!" |
