Chapter 7 - Leaving Thelessia
"These Are Pretty Much Aesthetic."

Delaney brought Britiana through the shadows to a place not far from where the Dragon Hunters were camped. She then cloaked her in shadows. She had a feeling that cloaking her in shadows would hide her presence from the holographic device they used for tracking. "Stay here, I'll be back soon," she said.

Britiana nodded.

Delaney then used the shadows again to appear in the middle of the camp cloaked in shadows. She took out a vial of liquid. She poured some into their liquor barrel, then poured some in the cups they were drinking out of, on food they were eating.

Most didn't notice anything, but some were very vigilant, seeming to feel the disturbance she made in the air. She would completely stop, but the cloak put her partially in another dimension and they couldn't discern her at all when she wasn't moving or interacting with reality.

She then shadowwalked back to Britiana. "Want to watch? It'll probably be pretty gruesome," she said.

Britiana tilted her head and blinked thoughtfully. "Yes," she said. Delaney nodded and took her through the shadows again and arrived at the camp near the spacecraft. She looked at the spacecraft curiously.

"Don't move around too much," Delaney warned her. Britiana silently agreed, her face  serious. She was still studying the spacecraft when she heard the guttural shouting. She glanced around and saw several of the hunters clutching at their chests, spitting dark blood, shouting for help, drawing weapons, trying to figure out what's going on.

It was already too late. Just three Dragons and more than forty Hunters, they never doubted their victory in this Hunt. They feared nothing from the locals on this planet. They had no reason to be on guard, especially not from poison. They were warriors bred to hunt Dragons. Their constitutions were superb.

Shadowbane laughed at their superb constitutions. 

After being ingested, the shadowbane worked even more quickly than from wounds. 

Delaney took advantage of the confusion a bit and added to it, pushing a Hunter that was already staggering, and tripping another. When she saw one pulling out a familiar communication device, she kicked it out of his hand. Within fifteen minutes they were incapacitated if not dead.

"Should I finish them off?” Delaney asked Britiana as she dropped their cloaks.

"No. They deserve whatever pain is happening to them. The Plague was a thousand times worse," Britiana said. She subconsciously played with the pendant wrapped around her wrist. There were records inside showing the horror of the beginning days of the Plague. The rapid aging was bad enough, but being forced into changing into Dragon form against one's will was so unimaginably painful. These chyanashim deserve much more than the relatively quick death from the shadowbane.

"Can you help me collect their weapons and armor?" she asked as she turned her attention to the spaceship. As she was waiting, she was determining the best way to deal with the spaceship. She pulled out a small table, a writing brush, and some ink. Then she began drawing on the ship. As she wrote she also chanted some words in Emphyralian Draconic.

Delaney watched, fascinated for a moment. She was super excited. Even though her magic was at a higher level than the other girl's, the kind of magic she was using was so different and interesting. She couldn't wait to start learning. She knew her aunts would feel the same way.

She began gathering weapons and stripping armor from the bodies of the Hunters. The weapons and armor were a range of different colors and textures. It was frankly dazzling. "Are outsiders able to learn your language?" she asked as they both worked. She'd noticed that Britiana only spoke when she was done drawing a particular pattern.

"Hmm. If you and your family choose to settle on Emphyralis, you  are welcome to learn whatever you want," she answered.

Delaney asked a few more questions, and they chatted while each worked. When she had piled everything up that looked like it was made from Dragon parts, she chanted her own spell, "Exalant Omnia!" she said and threw dark matter on the bodies. They began to evaporate into a black mist that soon disappeared. They didn't even get the benefit of a fire burial.

Britiana stood back from the ship after one final stroke of her brush. She said another magic word and the magic arrays lit up. The ship shimmered and began to shrink. When it was about the size of a fist, she picked it up and tucked it into her skirt folds.

"Impressive magic. How did you learn it here on Thelessia?" Delaney asked.

Britiana smiled and held up her hand and shook it, showing the pendant. "This moonsong crystal was made into a chronicle crystal so that Darius and I could learn about Emphyralis, including magic," she said. "Why don't you go see if Sariya and Darius need help? I'll head back to the village on my own," she said.

Although Darius could easily communicate with her, he wouldn't let her know if he was in trouble unless absolutely necessary.

Delaney raised a brow. "Are you sure? It's a long walk back," she said.

Britiana's eyes scrunched up when she smiled. "It's a short flight," she said and stretched as her wings unfolded from her back, surprising Delaney. Britiana giggled. "Just kidding. These are pretty much aesthetic," she said and continued changing into her Dragon form. She then jumped into the sky and flapped her wings, gaining altitude heading back toward the village.

Delaney laughed as her hair was blown by the wind produced by the wings. Feeling lighter than she had for a long time, she walked into the shadows to find Darius and Sariya.