Element Galz

(original characters created waaaay back when)

Water Fire Air and Earth

Marell - Water - standing at Akelara

Fante - Fire - standing at Akelara

Eunoë - Air - standing at Akelara

Weronika - Earth - standing at Akelara

They were young children when they first met. Each of them was from a different city in the kingdom of Urdanh, and each was extraordinary in their own way. Icy haired Fante (pronounced fan-TEH) from the southern village was left by her mother at birth - no other dark skinned child had ever had the white hair of an elder at birth. Marell (MAR-ell) had such dark blue eyes that she was always shunned as a toddler, no one has yet to see the whites of her eyes, if they exist at all. Eunoë (you-no-EH) never made a sound since she was brought into the world, yet there is always the sound of laughter or sorrow when she is happy or sad... Weronika (ver-OH-nika) of the east never smiled until a weapon was put into her hands.

Since they were all girls, they were sent to a proper school for orphans. Though families might be found, one look at any of them would certainly be all needed to convince one that they belonged together. Though priests had been brought in to see if there were curses upon Eunoë and Marell, they could find no evil dwelling in their hearts. Passion, yes, and power. But no evil.

In fact their purity of cause, their singularity of being, was what compelled one of the high priests of Urdanh to summon them to his side. Urdanh had always had a polythestic pantheon, but it had been centuries since the gods and goddesses had smiled upon them and blessed their land - or indeed, since it had been accursed either. Sciences and social goals had begun to replace the old ways.

The cleric watched as the four girls were groomed for their duties in the church. Each to their own portion of the elements - it had been ages since the priests could truly distinguish a person's aura. Most of the population of Urdanh had a mix of the seven elements. But these girls? They were almost entirely pure, one for each of the physical elements. It was a time of rejoicing among the church goers. They had finally located the avatars of their gods again!

And it was a time that the ruling class - not just the king and his family, but the rich land owners and merchants - dreaded. For their power would wane again. Surely.

"Does the goddess speak to you?" Asked Eunoë with her curious wordless speech. She never moved her lips except to smile or frown, and never opened her mouth but to eat. They were eating, politely as they had all been taught.

"To me, my god says 'the spear travels farthest'," Weronika said. She punctuated this by pushing her knife into the air.

"And to me, she says 'purity and force'," Marell asserted, "the waves of the ocean call to me. But a good bath is enough for the moment." They laughed, and Eunoë's curious giggle rang through the air again.

"What about you, Eunoë?" Asked Fante, "my god has always lit my way, saying nothing. Kept me protected."

Eunoë looked at her friends, and nodded. "She never speaks either, but there is always a song without words in my mind. It grows louder when I am doing the right thing, and it leaves me if I fail."

"What are we meant to succeed or fail at, I wonder?" Asked Weronika. "If it involves bringing blood from stones, I think I can manage."

"Or perhaps burning the enemies from our lands?" Fante grinned. "I'll have that covered."

"I would hope that a flood or gale would help," Marell said, losing her concentration on being polite and leaning on her elbow. Eunoë brushed her hand across a bit and Marell's elbow slipped off the edge of the table. The others laughed, as the two glared at each other. While not perfect, Eunoë was often shown off as their leader, even if she didn't feel like the part.

"I think Weronika should be our representitive," Eunoë would say, "because she always knows what to say and she always makes the men nod their heads. They merely stare at the rest of us."

"Maybe if we all dressed like a smithy's apprentice," Fante said, gazing with smiling eyes at the earth-god's chosen.

"I can arrange that," Weronika said. "Perhaps we should - we're always put into such ridiculous clothing for those meetings."

Eunoë waved her hand again and looked away. "I like those dresses and gowns."

"Of course you do, you don't mind the cold air racing around below them," Fante grumbled. "I like to have warm things around me."

"Then warm them up yourself!" Marell said. "In fact, you should warm all of our clothing. I expect to have a nice toasty bed when I retire tonight."

The musical laughter drifting through the air showed the priests that the four were having a nice evening dinner together. The girls rarely argued or fought - they got over that when they were younger. Now they were more a team, than anything else. Trained from their youngest memories to be prim and proper girls, however as children they were also showed their abilities could be used to do more than just protect themselves or communicate. By the time they were twelve or so (Fante was the youngest, and Weronika the eldest, with two years between them) they had been fully initiated into the priesthoods of their elements.

They spent the rest of the evening playing word games and studying. They would be given tests later in the week, and it wouldn't do for any of them to be left behind.

"You're sure that this will work?" Asked the man, eyes shifting from one granite face to the next. "I mean, if we kill them, the world will still be --"

"Will you cease this prattle?" Said one of those stone faces. An older merchant, richer than many single villages in the south. "Of course the world will be fine. There are no such things as gods or avatars. These children they've been parading are merely figureheads."

Though he spoke as if he knew the truth, that he believed in his words, the others at this meeting weren't so secure. All had been brought up as good god-fearing worshipers of one or another of the Seven, and thus were made quite uncomfortable at his assertion. If the avatars were killed, they would be either bringing down the age of the gods entirely, or they were going to usher in the worst wrath humanity had ever known.

They sent the assassin on his way. Doubtful that he would be successful, the second was sent another day later, with different plans.

"Two of them," Marell said. Weronika nodded and wiped the blade clean.

"Two of them. Perhaps there will be others." She said, grimly.

The wind carried Eunoë's voice, "their spirits whisper. Can you hear them?"

"Only you," Fante announced, "what are they saying?"

"I am not a spirit avatar," Eunoë sighed, and came down from the rooftop. Their cloistered existence had come to an end the week before, when they were announced to the kingdom during the harvest festival. The commoners took it with gusto. The middle and higher class didn't think much of it.

"They should ask for proof," Fante said, "and here it is." She kicked at the body of the assassin she'd caught at her door. He was burnt beyond recognition, while the other had two precise wounds from Weronika's sword. Marell and Eunoë worried that they would be next.

But they truly had nothing to worry about. After all, they were a foursome, and they were powerful. Still, they slept with their doors barred and with enchantments upon the windows.

Not much time had passed before the word of these new Avatars spread. Because they had been properly trained, brought up to be gracious and giving, as well as observant and practical, the girls knew that they would need their wits about them when they were to be brought around the countryside. A tour of the major Churches in the area to start, and then wider and wider spiraling outwards. Even small villages would be thrilled to see this, every worshipper would be glad to know their faith was not without proof.

And in this time, while the foursome were carted here and there in well-guarded caravans, there were some two dozen assassination attempts. Some wound up injuring a guard or killing a carry-beast, one put a priest into a body cast. But not one even came close to touching the girls.

Not because of the guards. Not because animals stepped in the way. No. It was Eunoë's ability to sense on the wind, Weronika could feel footsteps on the ground, Marell caught their motion through fog or stream. Fante lit the night up with pure flame from her hands and eyes that one time, and drove almost every living thing away for fear of her power.

Beyond that, too, were the faithful. Hundreds of them would gather. Some who couldn't read the notices about it in the city square were told by their friends who could. Some of the merchants thought it excellent - they could always make their money selling to anyone who came by. The upper crust though... the ones who owned big boats or transport hubs, they were not happy at all. How many of them ever tithed the church properly? Or even went to a church? Some wore tokens of belief, symbols of the Seven long ingrained in their culture - but they weren't real.

Until now.

Travel to the biggest of cities was harder than the girls expected - but only because they'd been brought up in a modest area not so full of people. The sounds, the sights, they wanted more than almost anything to just be kids running around a huge city for the first time... They wouldn't get lost, how could they - they were always surrounded by their priests and guards. But neither could they get closer than a few paces to any given cart before they were inundated by cheering, plump faced people. From the drab wanderers, skinny waifs, they got pleading looks, any blessing was better than what they had. From the mage families they were given a cold shoulder, though they didn't really recognize it as such for a bit.

When any assassin chooses to attempt something as bold as a daylight, crowded market strike, Weronika commented later, "they are either insane, or remarkably confident they would succeed." The stunned masses backed away as a group of mages, strong wizards by the looks of them, flicked away the guards and priests before the girls could react.

However, when Fante pointed her finger in what would have been a devastating attack, a plume of bright flame erupting from her nicely manicured nail... It struck the black-haired mage full in the chest. It surrounded him, consuming air and burning small pieces of paper and other stray items around him.

But he was unharmed. The fire subsided, and Fante's eyes grew wide with incomprehension. How could this be? While the mage's friends popped small devices and vanished to wherever they'd come from, the Avatars looked at each other for an explanation.

"What was that!? How did he do that?!" Fante was angry, that night, ignoring her meal and having noted that her 'sisters' were barely picking at their own. "He just brushed his shoulders free of soot - I've torched whole trees, solid walls with that much power!"

Eunoë made a silence, indicating that her friend pause and stand down. Sometimes a sound wasn't needed, like clearing the throat or coughing or clapping for attention. Sometimes, silence said volumes more.

"I think," the Avatar spoke through the very air, "that he may ... be like one of us."

The other three froze in place, Marell finally placing her fork down on the plate before her, amid the uneaten bread and meat. "Eunoë, please... please be wrong." It was as much a prayer as a hope, but neither could help the situation.

For the mage, Zardanal, was an Avatar - and with him, among his three companions were a more minor version of his own Absence element - negating magic and causing chaos; a mage whose Mind domain might have been blooming; as well as a true demon-blooded man.

The girls slept poorly for nights, after this. They were strong, but they were not so strong that they could simply defeat another of the Gods' chosen. That much was not only obvious, but a point of contention still remained.

Who were they? And why were they trying to kill the girls?

With a little research done in a large Church library, as several decoy caravans were sent around to towns to distract the mages, the girls found some answers to their burning questions.

They learned (like the Mages had done) that the Gods and Demons ruled in cycles on this world. For seven generations the Demons had domain. For seventy years each, the seven Gods experienced a time to dominate. And in times past there had been no Gods to rule, no Demons. They laid fallow like a field, as humans had their turn to explore their own realms. But once those days were done, the Gods came back to claim their true domain.

Though the girls were smart, they weren't able to read into the texts the way that Pheleteri could. They were still young, they didn't really have a real-world experience outside their Church upbringing. That might become their downfall, if not for the quick thinking of one Priest.

He arranged for certain measures to be taken - not out of fear for the girls' lives, because he knew they could take care of themselves better than any normal man could. But more because it would be best to know where all the Avatars were. He was positive that the man who survived Fante's attack was one, and had claimed to have a glimpse of the auras of the others.

An edict was passed, not long after, that sent out warnings for these mages. Many people had gotten good looks at them, in the market place.

But it would be almost two years before they moved again, or were really heard from. That gave the girls not only a bit of a respite but more flavor to their lives. It wasn't 'danger', so much as curiosity and the thrill of an even fight (at least for Weronika and Fante, who wanted a rematch).

It was true, all the Avatars needed to be found now. Defined, first - Marell as Water, Eunoë as Air, Fante as Fire, and Weronika as Earth. But who were these mages? No one quite knew their names, though some in the Mage's guild could swear they'd seen one of the women (but would say nothing, nothing about her, which was telling in and of itself). A shamed priest came forward to announce that the white-haired man accompanying the group was named Isange - and he promptly had a heart attack that everyone was sure was magically induced.

When they were discovered again, however, that was something the girls really weren't prepared for at all.

The Avatars of the Elements were hardly sixteen years old, when tales of the Demons started coming to the Church. The group of girls would go from city to city now and again, but they were also trying to prepare themselves for what they knew was coming next. They knew it would be a fight - and it wasn't going to just be between them and the other Avatars, those Mages.

Demons were involved, things summoned from the netherworld, undead, darkness and chaos incarnate. And dragons. Well, not so much 'dragons' but these creatures which people in the far off countryside described as having too many mouths, too many wings, and tails that ripped flesh from bone. Survivors of the attacks from these monsters were rare indeed.

"It must be them," Weronika said, sharpening a sword she'd created from a solid emerald-stone. She had worked hard on making each of them a blade, and had some help from a mage who seemed worried about his own fate in this mess. Better, he said, to be on the side that stands for goodness and right, instead of the one which tempts men into vile acts.

He had tales, which he was discouraged from telling the girls. They came to him anyway, late at night to hear them. His great-great grandfather, who had allied himself with Time and thus imbued himself and his children with lengthy lives, had been alive when Demons ruled. If Fante's skin could have blanched, she would be paler than Weronika at some of the things he detailed.

So this aged mage aided Weronkia in creating elemental foci, blades which responded only to their individual user. For Weronika it was this green, almost translucent blade of emerald. It was sharp - they were all physically sharp, but this one was perhaps the sharpest of the batch. Like a gemstone, an edge of diamond hardness, almost impossible to break. To Weronika it was perfectly balanced and easy to weild. To anyone else who attempted to even pick it up, it almost fused itself to the floor and wouldn't budge. When she swung at a solid rock, the stone shattered to powder with the might of the blow.

For Fante, they started with brass but there were so many other things in her glowing, almost molten seeming blade. The metal never stopped moving, and to touch it would burn anyone but Fante's dark hand. From it came a heat that only the other Avatars could easily bear. It could be said to leap with flames that danced the same as Fante's fiery eyes. This blade left traces of flame in the air when she swung it, heat that remained even hours after she'd done so.

For Marell was a rich blue sodalite blade - normally very brittle stone, but with the magics imbued into it by the old mage and Weronika it would never break by mere physical means. From it was a soft yet powerful encompassing magic. Marell could use this blade to subdue, capture, water pouring from it that could maintain a shape such as a fist, a cage, a sheet. To try and pick this sword up and not be Marell, all but impossible for it lost any cohesive shape and became water when anyone tried, reforming quickly.

And for Eunoë, a strange mixture of Howlite stone and steel. It was paler than steel, when seen at odd angles the stone with its white and black webbing would replace the shine of steel. This blade moved away from any but Eunoë, moving so she hardly had to touch it herself, bobbing through the air with the swiftness and surety that only one who knew exactly where to hit, could have. When she did heft the blade, rare indeed, it gave off a howling that could bowl over small objects with its force.

But would it be enough?

Something alerted the girls to the presence of their enemy's dragons, and they just knew that the men and women and their bizarre multi-headed monsters were not 'nice people' now that there was an edict signing off their arrests. Something clearly had happened. But all the soldiers and judges came back unharmed... Had they changed?

"Hardly," Weronika spat, "there must be some magic at work here we have not seen. These creatures must be stopped. If they ally with--"

"They are already allied with the demonic forces," Eunoë said, quietly of course. "We must just ... even the odds now."

"How?" Asked Marell. "We have no such beasts, there are no divine creatures but ourselves."

"We could find our own dragons," Fante announced. "Those creatures clearly did not spring from this world. There must be another explanation. Demons were said to have come from another world, another place anyway. That is why they want to own it."

"Then ... how should we find such dragons?" Eunoë asked, pondering it herself.

The answer would come upon them sooner than they realized...

"She has fur," Weronika muttered to Marell, who blinked and faintly nodded. Fante smiled broadly and welcomed the odd creature - and her dragon - into the courtyard where they'd grown up. Eunoë watched the dragon, more intensely than the woman who rode it.

Aliza was her name, and she rode a pure silver-smooth dragon who she addressed as Sasazik. But Aliza ... was not Human, in fact she was quite furry and had a tail to boot. She had a long sword in a sheath at her back, a smaller one at her hip, she was clearly a warrior. But she also held a strong sparkle of magic about herself. She actually sparkled: when she moved, she seemed to leave a trail of bright bits in the air, as sunlight would hit dust specks in a darkened room.

"I know I am ... foreign to you," Aliza spoke with a strange accent, "but know this, war has spread across worlds. I know of this place because it is where creatures from my world have been brought - and not dragons," she tossed her head toward the great silver beast behind her. "The demons and other creatures you have been seeing came through my world too. We followed some of them, it seems they're multiplying somehow."

"Then we share an enemy, we share a fight," Fante said, and Eunoë nodded deeply. Her own whispery air-driven voice carried clearly around them.

"If you can find dragons for us, like yours," she said, "we would not only be grateful, we would be able to help you more easily here and if you wish, your home as well."

Aliza's bright green eyes narrowed with pleasure, her big ears perked through her even bigger mop of pampas-colored hair. "Good, that's good. I do know of a place, it may take a little time, but we ... well, we have time. That's one thing that dragons can do, at least some of them..."

"I don't understand?" Weronika said, tilting her head.

"Time travel," Eunoë said, her lips forming a smirk, "I do believe she means to have the dragons come from another time."

"As well as another place," Aliza confirmed. She appraised Eunoë with her own smirk. "You catch on fast."

"She always does," Marell chuckled. "When can we find these dragons?"

"I can take you. If you prepare - you'll want clothing for ... well, some time away. Dragons hatch and need attention for a while, they aren't going to be adults for a few years."

"Years?" Fante gasped, but the others put in more confident accession.

"Of course, years. We hadn't seen any of these many-headed monsters until long after they'd arrived," Marell commented, "and if what she says is true, we'll have that time. We will be older, but we will be strong and have dragons by our side."

"With luck," Aliza reminded them, "not all dragons wish to bond. But I suspect you will find what you need. I know a place, it will have some very, very interesting dragons for you..."

Within hours, the girls had packed up what they hoped to carry, and Eunoë very briefly explained to their 'keepers' what was going to happen. She asked that Aliza present some kind of proof that they'd return.

The feline-woman thought on it a moment, and took the longer of her two swords from its sheath. "I will return for this. I will be bringing your avatars home, safe and sound." She promised. "And," she glanced at one of the women in the room who obviously showed magical talent, "I'd like to learn a little of your world's magical practices to see if I'm any good at them here... My mate might too."

As they exited, to mount up - another dragon appeared, this one a gorgeous smoothly pale brown color. Malai and Jalentir, they were Aliza's partners in most ways. Jalentir and Sasazik were both male dragons, the silver a bit bigger than the brown. But both were massive, and Malai ... well, Malai struck the girls as being quite handsome even if he was a furry cat!

They split up, Marell and Fante with Malai, and Eunoë with Weronika clung to Aliza's harness. None of the girls had trouble with heights, though Marell would have preferred a slightly slower pace. Eunoë of course loved every moment in the raw, windy sky.

Finally, they were off into the air, the dragons moved through space and time, toward a world filled with magic. Akelara, it was known to host huge, long limbed dragons. Their trip was quick but it felt like eternity. The darkness of the Nexus was overwhelming, but because they were Avatars of their gods, the girls certainly stood up to it well enough. The spirits of the dead, and many that merely wandered through, were there. If 'there' was a good way to describe the place-between-places. Akelara was a welcome change from the eerie darkness, and even more so - the hatching sands.

Weronika stood in pure, absolute awe at the edge of the sands. She whispered, "do you realize what this is?" She knelt and put her hand, palm flat, onto the jagged surface of the 'sands'. "This is ... these are gems, stones, shattered into bits..."

"Well I'm not standing on that," Fante laughed. But Weronika continued to kneel, her fingers were not cut by the sharp edges, her palm remained soft (well, as soft as a strong forge-worthy hand could be), as she picked up a scoop of the multicolored gems and closed her eyes.

"This place is perfect for us," Weronika stated, putting the ground-up gems back into their place. She didn't need to dust her hands off, nothing stuck to her if she didn't want it.

"I agree," Eunoë said, "now let us find a place to put our things, and wait for those eggs to hatch."

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Water Fire Air and Earth

Marell - Water - standing at Akelara

Fante - Fire - standing at Akelara

Eunoë - Air - standing at Akelara - Zalera

Weronika - Earth - standing at Akelara - Khadena

***

The foursome stood together, but they knew in their hearts it would only be one or perhaps two of them to find a dragon bond just now. With the strength of will to emerge from their shells finally overtaking the shell's hardness, the group of orbs broke open one by one and began to show colorful hatchlings. A couple of them were having trouble emerging, helped by their siblings and then two continued to discuss something privately - or maybe they were just resting.

Oh, ignore those two, Weronika! Weronika found herself confronted with a deep green dragoness with bright blue wings, a Summer Day in all her proud glory. A few paces behind her sat the shattered remains of her shell. A Night and a Dawn together have endless useless things to talk about. Romantics, all of them.

"There's nothing wrong with being a romantic, Khadena." Weronika chided the dragoness before her. "Besides, you don't know what they're talking about, so let's not make snap judgments, okay?"

Khadena snorted, flipped her wings closed tightly, then began nudging her bondmate off the sands and towards the food. If you say so.

The new pair drifted away from the hatching area, past Weronika's companions.

I like the looks of them, they are your sisters, now they are mine.

"Sisters for battle, yes," Weronika commented gently, "Will you be up to fighting soon?"

The little (little?) dragonet fiercely clawed at the bowl of cut meats that the hatching dragons needed to gain their strength, made a high-pitched rowr sound, and caused Weronika to burst out laughing with joy.

Later, as the rest of the hatching went on and others cleaned up, the other three came to admire Khadena. "She's so beautiful," Fante said, her skin is like your sword, emerald bright."

The slumbering dragonet twitched her tail, but did not rise, as her bond broadly smiled.

"We'll be here for a while, so we'll help you with her if you need it," Eunoë whispered, trying not to wake the green colored creature. Weronika, had she been anyone else, would have turned down the offer in arrogance. But she knew that they would all need help and all work together. That's how they lived. It was the only way they knew.

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It was not too long after Weronika and Khadena bonded, that another batch of hatchings was about to erupt in the place. It was a good thing they decided to all remain, and all go to the sands when the hatching was announced!

"Hey, Eunoë!" Fante pointed behind her sister, "Looks like you've got a friend."

As Eunoë turned, the blue-gray hatchling sprung up from her crouch and leapt through the air, landing neatly in the girl's arms, a wriggling bundle of sleek hide, delicate wings, and an extra-ticklish mane (as Eunoë discovered as the dragoness shoved her face into Eunoë's to give the girl a good lick).

::I've licked, you're mine now.:: The dragoness giggled as her bond sneezed from her mane tickling the girl's nose. ::I'm Zalera, by the way, and you're my bond for ever and ever!::

Eunoë smiled so broadly, her friends wondered whether she'd ever stop. There was nothing more to it than this: they were bonded, thoroughly, and now Weronika would have a true companion in the dragon dens! Neither of the other two bonded, but they were fine with that - the experiences of the others would help them know just what to do, later.

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And now we're up to date 6.27.21!!