Zaxarie

The red washed off as easily as any other mess Hedy had ever gotten into. His paws trembled as he soothed the water and soap through his thick fur. The weight of the Eisgar’s eyes felt heavy on his shoulders, the language barrier standing firmly between them. He couldn’t explain himself. He couldn’t apologize for the grisly scene or explain that he’d— well, he had meant to do what he did, to get rid of the uragh encroaching on the Great Library’s territory. But he hadn’t meant to make such a mess or such a terrible first impression. After he’d washed and dried and put his knife away in the saddlebags that someone had rescued from the woolly nyk-nyka that had bucked him off, the Eisgar escorting him led him towards the great, imposing Hall. Hedy fidgeted, his paws searching any outlet for his nerves as the door swung open, and he was admitted inside. Wide eyes turned in every direction, at the shelves that formed walls in every direction and glass cases containing scrolls or other

TW: Blood, animal death The dig site, as large and all-encompassing as it seemed when Hedy had been up to his head in the mud, rock, and clay, vanished behind him just the same as Wellstone, the same as all of Scatterstar proper when he’d been asked to make the journey north and make himself useful. He’d been hard at work doing the tedious bit no one really wanted to do, but as more and more of the buried sculpture came to light, the more he wanted to see. Hedy had always been one to get into the dirt and muck without hesitation, ready to get his paws dirty. But he’d been asked to take on a different task. A borrowed woolly nyk-nyka surged beneath him, carried him north through the wilds along with a pack of other Archaeologists, headed to put their best foot forward with the Great Library. They wanted fortifications and promises of extra hands to take care of their beloved and precious collection if any of the Eisgar were to leave to help with the digging. Hedy wasn’t sure what

The pressure of the deep ocean was nothing to a colossal Ocean dragon like Egg, but there was still relief to be found when he rose to shallower waters; a light, airy feeling as he escaped the weight of the deep. His fins rippled in the frigid waters, long body flexing as he pushed nearer to the stars that swam on the other side of the water’s edge. He crested with a powerful toss of his head, water spraying into the air as he snaked his way across the surface of the water. Egg plowed through to the thick packed ice, clawed feet digging in as he hefted himself up out of the water. Overhead, a streak of green caught his eyes. Egg looked up, mesmerized as curtains of light gleamed across the night sky, blue and green as summer seas. The aurora broke and reformed like waves on the water, ribbons of light casting an iridescent glow onto the ice below. Egg’s great maw opened, and he tipped his head up, wondering what it would taste like if only he could catch it in his teeth and drag it

The race was harder than Vista expected. All the months of training should probably have been a clue: long days spent pushing herself and her nyk-nyka and the nights spent in the depths of the RumSum Underground, listening to curios of all walks of life talk about previous races, about the dangers present on the plains, about how to survive the harsh ride ahead of her for both her sake and her mount’s. Vista had taken it all in, and still hadn’t been prepared for the longer days spent mostly alone with nothing to distract her but the road in front of her. The brush around her grew scraggly and sparse, giving way to long stretches of dry, cracked earth. Ahead, the Bone Flats stretched as far as the eye could see, hot and unforgiving, promising to punish her if she took her eyes off the proverbial prize for more than a moment. With that thought in mind, she reluctantly pulled on the reins, bringing Duet up and slowing their speed first to a trot and then to a total stop. It would