Dragons of Terragon: The Light of Night

Chapter Seven: The Lunar Gathering of Pacification and Prosperity

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Breathe, you stupid dragon, BREATHE. And breathe he did, but not on his own accord. Otherwise, he would've been gasping. Instead, he found himself breathing very calmly and controlled. He couldn't move his head, or anything for that matter, but he was able to see many other dragon species in the line of sight provided, and they towered over him. It took him a second to realize it, but once he did, there was no way he could get it out of his head: he was in the mind of the Luminbrille Cherud. And it was awesome.

Rougeoyer could only hope that Amaryllis had also merged with the Flos Cherude, who sat beside Éclat, the Luminbrille. Rougeoyer didn't remember the Flos' Cherude's name, but it was something Bat. What really caught Rougeoyer's focus was the leaves plastered on Éclat's paws, leaving the fingers exposed. Panther claws were then placed on top of the leaves. It was a nice addition to the Luminbrille's clawless paws, which were especially necessary for someone as important for a Cherude.

No more details on the dragons were spotted as the Cherude turned his head from his paws to the rather large flower in front of him.

The Flower of the Gods was giant, bigger than even the largest Cherud present. The petals were massive and iridescent, shimmering in the moonlight with soft, multicoloured light. The stem of the flower was silver and connected to a small island in the middle of the lake.

The Cheruds stood on the outer ring of the water and awaited for a response from the flower, patient and worried for the worst.

When the moonlight hit the flower, the Cheruds somehow looked even more focused. Some shifted their weight, while others, like Cherude Éclat, tried to remain perfectly still. The petals of the flower swayed for a moment, then began seemingly absorbing the nearby moonlight. Rougeoyer wanted to walk over to the flower and attempt to touch it's petals out of curiosity, but, luckly, the the Luminbrille Cherude held still.

A projection using the moonlight began forming above the flower, hazy and faded. First, it showed the head of two dragons: Mayry and Hayry. All of the Cherudes bowed their heads in respect until the next vision. The two dragon heads danced above the flower before dispersing. They only came back together to form a flame... no, a ball of fire, that wisped around the Flower of the Gods before coming down on it was such force that the flower itself was ruffled.

Then it began. The petals started to droop as the stem grew weak. The Cherudes scurried in a panic, some reaching out to the petals only to recoil, thinking that it would only offend the Gods even more. Rougeoyer could barely focus with Éclat moving so spastically.

"Who in Terragon is responsible for this!?" screeched one of the Cherudes, unseen by Rougeoyer.

"It's the Caelums! They rarely see each other, and don't even keep up matrimony when the young are grown! The Gods do not wish their children to be split!"

Éclat turned towards the Caelum's Cherude, who growled aggressively, extending their wings to cast a shadow upon the Flos and Luminbrille Cherude. In an involuntary response, Éclat glowed in the darkness.

"Hah!" roared the Caelum, "we don't eat our own mates, you Tenebris scum! You can't possibly pin this on us!"

"Are you both daft?!" hissed the Tenebris Cherude, "North Glacies will eat their own children. We at least eat our mate for sustenance, while North Glacies will eat the children because they're in a constant state of anger!"

"Oh, shut it you sad excuse for a mass of blubber!" The North Glacie Cheruds slammed their claw against the dirt, growling. Éclat stepped closer towards the Flos Cherude protectively, ears and feelers perked upwards. "You skinned dragons don't know what we do, you're too busy clawing at your cave walls."

"They have a point!" called out the South Glacie Cherude.

"Oh, shut it, you're just as solitary as us!"

The South Glacie looked hurt. "We're not Aqualis, you unintelligent elephant seal, maybe you should educate yourself to species other than your own!"

"You dare bring us into this prosperous argument?!" screeched the supposed Aqualis Cherude, thought wasn't anywhere to be seen. Funny, up until this moment, Rougeoyer didn't think to question how the Aqualis even attended these sorts of meetings, considering they inhabited the deep oceans. "Unlike you filthy peasants, we Aqualis have a reason to be loners, considering we have an entire ocean to protect so you land livers can spend your days without worrying about an attack from the ocean-"

     "Is that a threat?!" hissed another Cherude, presumably the Cursor Cherude due to the whispery tone of their voice.

     "Please, Cursors aren't worth our precious time. Now, the Silva perhaps..."

    The sound of rustling wind came from the Silva's throat. "Bold words from someone stuck at the bottom of the ocean. I'd think the Lumibrille and Flos would have a better chance of taking anyone down."

A few Cherudes shared a chuckle while the others growled. "You're clearly underestimating our abilities," Éclat warned, tail raised as his feelers fell back. The Flos Cherude turned to him with a tad bit of surprise.

     "Yeah, one of them blinded one of my greatest scouts!" cried out the Caelum Cherude. Rougeoyer's stomach sank. So he did permanently blind that Caelum. Of course, he was asking for it, so it wasn't completely his fault... right?

    "You must've gotten too close," the Flos Cherude noted, "we have no reason to attack your species."

     "Yeah, fight like a real dragon and start taking on a Tempestas," called out the Cursor Cherude.

     "Right, because you so much more of a dragon, you legged snake," mumbled Éclat.

       "We have fangs!"

       "We have a collected tribe!"

       "Honestly, neither of you are dragons," the North Glacie laughed, "you're oversized salamanders."

       The Cursor Cherude hissed and lept at the North Glacie, fangs and claws out, ready to kill. Éclat stumbled backwards in surprise and immediately pushed the Flos Cherude away from the combat. The North Glacie and Cursor fell into The Caelum Cherude, who roared in fury and blasted flames at them both. The other Cherudes saw this as aggressive and joined in the fight, except for the Flos and Luminbrille Cherude, who played it smart and raced away from the scene, knowing they were outsized.

      Rougeoyer felt his, or rather Éclat's, heart pounding. The Flower of the Gods was destroyed, or at the very least dying. But, how? How could an organism that was directly tended to by Gods be dying? Could Gods die?

      Éclat and the Flos Cherude stood on a ledge, overlooking the other Cherudes battle upon sacred ground. Ones who had came with protection would be leaving with nothing but bodies. Blood pooled against the dirt, as if rejecting the violence itself.  The Flos Cherude nudged Éclat, who turned to face them. The Flos Cherude nodded in sync with Éclat and Rougeoyer's world went black.

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       "The Gods have abandoned us!"

      Rougeoyer stumbled to his feet, trying to get used to controlling his body once more. He quickly turned towards Amaryllis, racing to nudge her on her own feet. Of course, he stumbled on his way there, nearly falling on top of her. The Luminbrille was too worried about Amaryllis to hear the chaos within the village.

       "There is nothing left for us!"

       "We're all terrible children!"

       "The Gods want a fresh start!"

       "Silence!" cried out a familiar voice. Rougeoyer turned upwards to see Largeur on his hind legs, paws in the air. His blue hue was bright and definitely hurting the Luminbrilles' sensitive eyes.

       "We are not a swarm of flies, or a pack of lizards, we are dragons!" Largeur announced, "We do not act like this!"

       "Come on, I need to clear my head," Rougeoyer hissed, nudging the still groggy Amaryllis into the forest.