[Exalted] The Dragon's Spite

I2: I've Been Summoned Into A Strange New World With Only The Cheat Skill Of Being Able To Control Shadows!

The calm of the forest was broken by a colossal splash coming out the deep, dark pool. Inaan surfaced, gasping, and pulled herself from the water.

It was cold. And everything around her was green. This was not natural. There was only this much greenery in Cahzor after a wyldstorm.

"I don't think I'm in Cahzor anymore," she said, squeezing water out of her hair.

This was not a landscape like any she had known before. The buildings were entirely grown over, covered in trees that were as green as just after rain. And there were flowers blooming everywhere, forcing their way between the mud-covered street-stones and cascading over the facades of hollow shells. The mountains in the distance were covered in shining white sand, which after a moment's thought Inaan realised had to be this 'snow' that Meira had mentioned. Ice that fell from the sky, lying on the stone without melting? Ridiculous, and yet somehow true!

Down in the valley below was a walled city rising up from the overgrown ruins. There were fields around it, far greener than the fields back home. And there was even a curving river running through the circular walls and out the other side!

"Beautiful!" Inaan breathed, throwing her arms out. She inhaled, tasting smells she barely knew and more, stranger ones. The water burbled; birds sang; creatures moved in the undergrowth. A handsome fox poked its head out of the greenery, and barked at her.

The sound of something in pain ahead drew her attention. Pushing her way through hanging vines and moss-covered rubble, walking a road which was more grass than stone, she followed the sound.

"Hello? There's no need to be scared, I'm coming!" she called out.

"This way, this way!" a young boyish voice replied. "Please, it hurts, it hurts!"

A child trapped? No, not quite she realised when she found the clearing. A fox-headed dragon was stuck in a vicious-looking steel trap. But perhaps it was still a child, because it was not a very large dragon.

"Oh, you poor thing!"

"Please, get me out of this. There are cruel men here in the woods. They want to capture dragons like me! They sell us to the demon lord! We used to be friends with the men who lived in the woods around here, but they've been corrupted!"

Inaan's heart fell. This was exactly what the goddess Lela had told her about. A young dragon, trapped and in pain, needed her help — and thwarting the evils of the demon lord was even more important!

The jaws of the trap were solid and heavily sprung. She strained against them, but barely managed to budge them and the poor dragon only whined at the pressure against his wound.

"Help, help. It hurts!" begged the dragon.

She felt the goddess's presence with her. "Do not be afraid," she heard Lela whisper in her ear. "The power is within you. Just breathe, and think of the calm and quiet hours of the morning."

Inaan closed her eyes. It made it easier. She thought of the time after sunset as the city cooled down, the feeling of walking at night, the pleasantness of waking in the early hours to light a candle and read. She could feel the same coolness on her hands, like the goddess had her hands around her wrists, and as she strained this time the steel jaws moved easily.

She opened her eyes to find that she had pried the heavy trap open easily, and that gentle swirls of darkness flowed over her skin like ink.

"Darkness magic," the dragon breathed, carefully pulling himself out of the trap. "I don't believe it. No one has seen that power in a very long time. Humans would say that this magic is evil."

"Not you?" Inaan said, feeling faint. She had power now. Real power. The power of the goddess. "The goddess Lela sent me to defeat the demon lord."

"Like I said, the men around here have been corrupted. They're servants of the demon lord. They'd call the power of the night evil. But I don't think you're evil." The dragon blinked, his fox-like face screwing up in sympathy. "I think you might be the only hope we have."

Maybe she was. Inaan saw immediately why the goddess Lela needed someone. Why this world, so beautiful and lush, needed help. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Silkai," said the dragon, whiskers twitching as he carefully tested his weight on his injured paw. He yelped. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just…"

"You can't walk like that," Inaan said, squatting down beside him. She had always been good with animals. Animals were nice. Not like people. She tore strips off the bottom of her soaked gown to bind up the dragon Silkai's wounds, and then fashioned a crude sash to carry him. "There, how is that?"

"Much better!" He licked her face. "I'm only a young dragon," he said thankfully, "but I swear I'll be your friend forever. I've never met a human as kind as you."

"Anyone should have done it," Inaan said, feeling a blush rise.

"But you were the one who did this," Silkai said, shifting around to make himself more comfortable. "And to show I'm your friend, I'll tell you a secret of the dragons. There is an ancient blade hidden in this glade. This is what the men who trapped me were looking for. They wanted to catch me and force me to tell them this. It is no longer safe here, but it'll be safe in your hands."

Inaan followed his instructions to find a thick branch and lever up one of the overgrown paving stones. Underneath them was a blade sized perfectly for her, light and crafted from keen metal despite its age, which shimmered with every colour of the rainbow like an oil slick. She put Silkai down to practice with it, and immediately felt that its balance and weight was perfect for her. With just a single slash she managed to cut a falling leaf in half, sending each half fluttering to the ground.

"Perfect," laughed Silkai. "Perfect! It has been waiting so long for you. But take the sheath too, for it has its own magic and it will hide it from evil people. If you are serving the goddess Lela, I think I will have to help you — and that means we will need to go among men and find out what we can."

"Agreed," Inaan said firmly.

---

It was not a short walk down to the walled city she had seen that lay down in the valley, but Silkai was an entertaining companion — and cute certainly. He had every advantage of a pet, but could talk too.

The walls of the city were overgrowth, with trees sprouting from the gatehouse. Still, the wood of the gate seemed solid and well-maintained, even if the gates were open. On the other side was a brightly coloured bazaar, with the sound of many raised voices.

"Be on your guard," Silkai said. "There are many servants of the demon lord in a place like this." He had shrunken himself down to the size that he could hide in her pocket, and she could feel that he was scared. But that just meant that she had to be brave to protect him.

The local jansi's guards — or whoever ruled this place, she supposed — paid no attention to her as she walked through, eyes wide and wary, looking for any signs of demons here. How was she meant to know? The food, the culture, even the music was so strange.

But then she caught sight of an armoured figure maybe a year or two older than her, and she knew. She knew that person was a threat! She knew people like this, and she had to be on her guard. And she was onto something because they stepped away from their friends and stepped right towards her, their attention on no one else but her!

---

Article:

Who does Inaan recognise as a clear and obvious rival-type character who she utterly despises on first sight?
[ ] A Beautiful Young Spearwoman with bright red hair, who looked like exactly the sort to rub in her face that her dragon blood had made itself known and Inaan's hadn't.
[ ] An Arrogant Young Martial Arts Master, who had the face of someone who would belittle Inaan and tell her that she wouldn't account to anything.
[ ] A Haughty Young Heiress, whose every posture screamed to Inaan that she would betray her just to advantage herself in some petty matter.