the-dragon-blade

[the-dragon-blade]

Everyone was celebrating the festivities of the Snowdown. Smiles, laughter, gifts and drinks till the late nights of the hour and till the morning comes. It was beautiful, it was peaceful, kind, loving.

Igris'Ir took no part of it. His red eyes observed a town down the hill, lit up even in the middle of the night with lanterns and torches, and he could almost hear the people and the music.

Almost.

In truth, it was dead silent where he was right now, sitting on the nicest rock he could find up the hill's plateau, with the nicest view. The shadows were heavy, for the moon shone brightly, enlarged and red in the sky, a crescent of omen and death.

Dead silent besides the hums of a song that came from his lips, as he wiped the blood off his blade meticulously.

"My heart is strong...my faith goes on...

But if my world is threatened...

I'll fight the fight...they'll pay the price..."

Around him lay a hundred demons.

Around him lay a hundred corpses.

Cut and torn to a thousand pieces, a pool of blood, of guts, of scorching ash. For as long as the world exists, they will be those that seek to feed on it.

And as long as they exist, Igris'Ir will continue to feast.

[the-dragon-blade]

"Cometh The Hour"

//Sometimes I get the hardcore Igris muse out of the blue.

[the-dragon-blade]

FEAST, GLADLY / MOON STEALER / WARM BLOODED

i hold werewolves as both a symbol of transformation and of self-actualization; they are the other, and the beast, and they are us. this art was created for october’s print club; it was also created for me (and for you).

[the-dragon-blade]

At some point during the night, with the downpour not stopping for a second, Igris senses a presence close to him.

He opened his eyes slowly, his gaze falling on a great grey wolf, right at the entrance of the alcove. Her eyes were piercing him, but she neither growled nor was she positioned aggressively. She simply observed. Him, and her cubs.

Igris made no movement at all, and said nothing either. He simply smiled. It had been the best case scenario, thankfully.

Many minutes passed like this, with neither of them moving nearly at all. Then, she approached, smelled him, smelled the cubs one by one, the dragonborn letting her do her thing without interruptions. And finally, she laid next to him and close to the fire herself.

He closed his eyes once more after that, it was still a long time till dawn..

[the-dragon-blade]

The large man was staring up at the murky, dark sky, as water fell endlessly from it. He had found a little cave, barely an alcove into the mountain side, keeping himself somewhat dry, even as he sat on the damp earth.

Water from the sky didn't bother him, you couldn't drown in it, it couldn't grab your legs and pull you deep till you were lost in the darkness.

He raised a hand over his chest, as if Instinctively protecting himself, although there was no change in his expression...

Suddenly, little yelps pulled him out of his thoughts. He lowered his eyes to see a few wolf cubs hiding behind the rocks, drenched to the bone. Their mother was nowhere in sight, nor could he smell her. At best, they were separated. At worst....

They probably got attracted to his glow and heat in their desperate search for warmth. Experiencing this kind of storm wasn't good for such little things, getting sick without even a mother's protection meant death.

But, they were too afraid to approach...until one of them made its way to him. Carefully, scared, jumping back and forth a lot of times. Yelping constantly as if trying to seem big and strong and dangerous.

Igris couldn't help a little chuckle. "If only you could see how much of a tiny furball you are, you brave little thing.." Yet, he didn't move at all, simply stayed still as the minutes passed, keeping his gaze to the little cub.

Eventually, even among the many sounds of his siblings, possible protests, warnings and fears, he made his way to Igris. He smelled her, touched him, and ran around him. This went on for a few minutes, and the other cubs followed their brother into the welcome dry alcove.

The dragonborn gave them time to get used to the place, and him. To communicate with each other, to decide, to get comfortable. He then pet the first one carefully, and even though the little one jumped back scared the first time, he approached slowly for the second, and leaned into the giant's hand.

He took some jerky from his pack and shared it with them. Little things were nearly crying as they were eating. He also breathed a small fire into some of the wood, offering them some more warmth.

It wasn't long before they were all perched on him in one way or another, sleeping. The man sighed with a small smile, closing his eyes as well.

[the-dragon-blade]

Anne Michaels, from "Infinite Gradation," originally published in October 2017

[the-dragon-blade]

"Such a gorgeous moon tonight as well..."

[the-dragon-blade]

Igris has a nasty fire breath.

Now, he is still human sized, so he doesn't have the lung capacity of a 'true' dragon, he can't do it constantly or multiple times per day.

But power wise, it's pretty nasty. It's a concentrated ray of fire, an incinerating beam of raw heat that explodes on impact.

In rare circumstances of some enemy of unbreakable defense, he can release all of it in one go, in a much stronger, much more destructive version. That one leaves him drained and it takes more than one day to recover his fire afterwards.

He had to resort to the empowered version against an immortal enemy once, destroying their body so completely that it would take at least a few years for them to regenerate.

For Igris that is more than a win. If they find themselves in his path again, he will do it again. He grows exponentially stronger with every challenge he conquers.

[the-dragon-blade]

"I want you to know."

*stares at the screen*

"You're hot."

*finger guns*

"Except you, Purply. But I like your wife."

[the-dragon-blade]

He finds a nice rock to sit on, one with a good view of the land below. He leans back, crossing his legs and getting comfortable.

Igris smiles as he watches everything for a few moments, enjoying the morning light. He then takes his flute to his lips, closing his eyes and starting to play..

[the-dragon-blade]

Igris'Ir's main weapon is Gra'ki'Cyl. She is a greataxe that was soulbound to him when he unlocked his full potential with his adulthood ceremony.

It grows in power alongside him, and is almost like a part of his body. While Igris can use all weapons efficiently, Gra'Ki'Cyl is by far his favorite, obviously enough.

If separated, he will always sense her direction, and if used by another, she will be dysfunctional.

Gra'ki'Cyl additional can change shape if submerged in magma, a gift from the Sun goddess. Currently she has the shape of a one sided, wide and large greatsword.

[the-dragon-blade]

He chuckled yet again, this time with a little wider of a smile and a tone of happiness.

"You think so? I certainly try, even a destroyer needs to dress to impress, no?", Igris'Ir winked, but right after, he stretched and yawned.

"Don't take it too literally, though, I'm not some madman nor a god. Words are beautiful, but the pragmatic reality is that I'm just a warrior that gets the itch to fight more often than not.

I just travel around and look for messy places to butt my nose in, really."

He remained silent for a few moments as if observing her face.

"You're pretty when you smile, I thought you would be. It's more fun this way, isn't it?"

"Now, let's take it from the start again. Want me to buy you a drink? You look like you have some fun stories to tell. And I promise I'll call you 'bread' only affectionately!"

The man leaned on his hand, observing her reaction with some amusement. Oh, she hasn't expected that, had she? Civilized people were so amusing, it was like they couldn't understand others at all, dancing on tunes woven by their laws, whether those are military, governmental or societal.

They never spoke their hearts as if it would make them vulnerable and weak. To fear one's own heart, what a shame.

"Don't be so surprised, Sky. Names have power, all of them, even those that are so common to you that you wouldn't even consider them.

As for me, it means something close to....'Ashen Flame'. I am the inferno, I am the ashes that remain after the fire. I am the judgment, the destruction and the purification."

"What do you think?"

[the-dragon-blade]

He snorted, his grimace showing exactly how he felt before his words even came. He made no attempt to hide any of it, as if the very idea bothered him in a deep level.

"Shaman, priest, healer, I don't care how you call it. Your mind is fractured, seek someone's help." His patience was running out for this circus act. Not the blade, the blade was cool. Just...the...rest of it.

This guy had come in while they were making bread jokes, threatened violence, and now was twirling his blade while talking about religion and dances. Ugh....he smelled as old as he acted.

"Bah, whatever. Keep....dancing, the mood is ruined already.", Igris huffed and rolled his eyes, walking back to his table. He needed to wash whatever this was away with alcohol.

(( this was all I could think when @the-storm-chaser explained the situation to me earlier. @the-dragon-blade @witches-and-weirdos

[the-dragon-blade]

Fear and Hunger Progress:

Got Darcy.

Killed Crowmauler.

Gave her Miasma.

Killed Salmonsnake. Got its soul. Gave it to myself, gave the armguards to Darcy.

Killed the iron Shakespeare.

I'm on a goddamn fucking roll.

[the-dragon-blade]

The man leaned on his hand, observing her reaction with some amusement. Oh, she hasn't expected that, had she? Civilized people were so amusing, it was like they couldn't understand others at all, dancing on tunes woven by their laws, whether those are military, governmental or societal.

They never spoke their hearts as if it would make them vulnerable and weak. To fear one's own heart, what a shame.

"Don't be so surprised, Sky. Names have power, all of them, even those that are so common to you that you wouldn't even consider them.

As for me, it means something close to....'Ashen Flame'. I am the inferno, I am the ashes that remain after the fire. I am the judgment, the destruction and the purification."

"What do you think?"

"That sounds like something your Ma has said.", he chuckled as he leaned back, a much softer smile on him now.

"Mine says stuff like that all the time too, although I'm terrible at listening. Always giving her headaches.", he raised his gaze up, reminiscing the memory.

"Sky is a beautiful name.", he commented, returning his red eyes to her. He raised his arm, gesturing at everything above him.

"The Sky encompasses the entire Earth, it is endless, as wide and far as one's imagination dare hold. It is full of adventure, of possibilities. Yours is an endless soul, blessed to hold your fate in your hands.", he mused, lowering his hand. "It is a beautiful name."

"As for me, I am called Igris'Ir. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady of the Endless Sky."

[the-dragon-blade]

"I swear, city folk just thrive on being miserable."

[the-dragon-blade]

"That sounds like something your Ma has said.", he chuckled as he leaned back, a much softer smile on him now.

"Mine says stuff like that all the time too, although I'm terrible at listening. Always giving her headaches.", he raised his gaze up, reminiscing the memory.

"Sky is a beautiful name.", he commented, returning his red eyes to her. He raised his arm, gesturing at everything above him.

"The Sky encompasses the entire Earth, it is endless, as wide and far as one's imagination dare hold. It is full of adventure, of possibilities. Yours is an endless soul, blessed to hold your fate in your hands.", he mused, lowering his hand. "It is a beautiful name."

"As for me, I am called Igris'Ir. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, lady of the Endless Sky."

Continued from Here

She was almost hesitant before the dragonborn broke out into laughter, causing the woman to sigh. She had thought wrong apparently, immadiately going to rub her temple. Spiteful comments for the sake of being spite wasn't exactly her forte, that he had correctly deduced.

As her gazed returned to him, her eyes widened somewhat at the display, somewhat caught offguard. Flames? No...akin to though? Her lips pulled into a thin line, abeit softening slight as the glow died down.

'Where I come from, we were taught to say nothing if we didn't have anything decent to say, so forgive my poor attempt.' She sighed, glancing to the side. 'It's Sky to you...not the most meaningful word in the world.' There was a pause before she looked back at him.

'...Yours?'

@the-dragon-blade