Narrative: Fire and Ice - Pt. I WHO: Ashton Hartley/Celebrimbor Helyanwë (Mentions of Jack Cavanaugh) WHEN: Sunday, Aug 31 [Backdated] WHERE: Alaska NPC:Yseult/Kaltharta the Icy
Mr. Cavanaugh had dropped him off at the edge of the forested expanse of wilderness and huge mountains. The air was cold this far north, even in the height of summer, and Ashton felt a chilled breeze move through his hair and across his skin as Mr. Cavanaugh drove the SUV away, promising he'd return at dusk to pick him up. Five hours, Ashton thought, glancing at his out-of-signal phone for the time. He had five hours to locate and talk with the mighty ice dragon who lived in these mountains.
From his vantage point on the high ridge, Ashton could see the valley that Mr. Cavanaugh had told him belonged to Yseult. The very mountain he was standing on belonged to her. This was her territory and though he was expected, Ashton couldn't help but feel a little edgy, that distinct feeling that he was only a visitor, not allowed to go where he was not invited and do what he was not given permission to do. Not that Ashton had a burning desire to hunt the large animals that roamed - he'd not want to embarrass himself and his lack of sufficient hunting skills in front of an adult dragon - but he knew he must be respectful. Their kind were few, a mere handful remaining and scattered to the corners of the world for their own continued survival. Ashton didn't wish to do anything that would upset this dragon, for surely she would see him to his end with no trouble.
Hearing the tires of the vehicle Mr. Cavanaugh and he had come in get further and further away down the old abandoned road, Ashton straightened his shoulders and lifted his head. He was not going to back out. He was a black dragon, fierce and mighty, and he would meet with Yseult with dignity.
He crouched down on the edge of the cliff, human hands gripping the rock as green eyes flashed to silver. Black leathery wings morphed from his back as though the coat he wore had been his wings folded against himself all this time. The wings grew and so did he, the transformation happening flawlessly and without clothes tearing, cellphone dropping, or even the gold chain and hanging axe around his neck being lost. Everything Ashton had on or carried in his pockets became a part of the dragon, and on his chest, designed in thick and nearly impenetrable black scales, was the shape of the axe Barclay had given him. Strength and growth.
The black dragon, now whole and in his true form, tightened his grip on the rock ledge until obsidian talons broke the stone. Celebrimbor tipped his head back and roared, announcing his presence and intent to enter her sky. With a wingspan of nearly ten meters, Celebrimbor dropped off the ledge, pebbles and broken rock falling with him as he dipped, caught the rising current of air, and soared into the sky.
A sound answered him, a chilling of air from above, and a light blue and sleek form joined him in the air. Yseult.
She swerved, cutting across his path and inspecting him even as he got his first full look of her. She was beautiful, strong, longer than Celebrimbor from nose tip to tail tip, and her wings looked nearly translucent, as though made of the very element she was the master of. Without realizing when it started, Celebrimbor knew he was being herded through the sky by this ice queen. She was escorting him over her turf and he went willingly, subconsciously allowing himself to be taken along in her wake, instinctively deigning to give respect and submission to the older dragon.
Their destination was the tallest and most grand mountain in the area and Celebrimbor dipped when she dipped, slanted his wing sails when she did, and mimicked the way she used her tail for precise balance and control. Her body sparkled on the sun while his seemed to absorb all light that hit him. Suddenly, Yseult took a dive, straight towards the rock, and Celebrimbor braced himself to follow, trusting and knowing she was testing him, and like magic, the two dragons disappeared through a veil of glamour that had concealed the entrance, straight into the enormous lair of Kaltharta the Icy.
"Welcome!" She said brightly once they were inside, her claws making scraping sounds as she came to land, leaving her wings spread and white eyes locked on him.
Celebrimbor landed before her, noticing the double rows of icicles that had formed around her muzzle and crown of horns. All around they were surrounded by glass and crystal, mirrors and translucent precious stones and diamonds. Celebrimbor saw distorted partial images of himself everywhere he turned, and as he came to settle, keeping his wings lower than hers, he realized that she was looking at him expectantly.
Remembering himself and Mr. Cavanaugh's words of advice, Celebrimbor bowed his head, a graceful curve of his neck as he deferred to her greatness and superiority as ruler of her domain he was only guest of, and her greater knowledge and age. "Thank you for allowing me to come, Great Icy One."
A rumble of amusement met his words, and the pale blue female inclined her head, accepting his bow, "Young One," she spoke the words in the tongue of their kind, the Draconic Language sounding like life to Celebrimbor's ears. "We speak our own language to one another. The other is for the humans. You have something for me?" It wasn't so much a question as a statement. "Show me."
Obediently, Celebrmibor shifted form, shrinking back to his human image of the Icelandic boy in a black long coat. No matter how tall Ashton was in this form, he was still dwarfed by the size of the ice dragon. The cold already starting to bite at his weak human flesh, Ashton reached into his coat and pulled out a small box that had been kept there, guarded and hidden even from Mr. Cavanaugh from seeing on their trip to Alaska, and Ashton carefully opened the wooden lid to reveal the gift he had brought.
Camden, back in Maine, didn't have a huge variety of crystal to choose from, but Ashton and Barclay had searched high and low for the most appropriate gift. Inside the box rested a small crystal bird at rest. Ashton presented it to the enormous dragon while still in the box, bowing his head again.
The ice dragon brought her head down and peered at the gift, frost touching Ashton's skin, and he closed his eyes, unsure if it would please her, that maybe he would be frozen here for all time if it didn't, and before he could look again, he felt warm hands, human hands, touching his own to accept the gift. Kaltharta had transformed to her human image, like him, and Ashton looked up in surprise to find the older blonde woman smiling at him as she took the bird from the box and cradled it to her smooth cheek.
"Oh, Young One. It's perfection." She praised, turning to her collection to find the most ideal placement of her new addition. "Now," Yseult nodded, petting the bird as it rested on a mirror shelf. "What shall we discuss?"