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Shenarra looked up at the moon. She sighed. What would it be like to live on the moon? To see the night in it's full beauty?. A lot better than living here. Shenarra was one of the Desert-Drenaes. Young women given to the main temple in Farghibal, the capital of the Emirate Farayn. 
She lived in a small house behind the temple with 5 other girls. The house was pretty enough and food was abundant, but they weren't allowed to leave the temple; nor speak to strangers. Shenarra looked down. She would never reach the moon. In ancient tales it was said only dragons could go there, and there were no dragons. She sighed. 
Her reflection in the mirror sighed too, a pretty girl. Long black hair, olive brown skin, deep green eyes. She cursed her looks. They had been the main reason she had been given to the temple. That and it meant one less mouth to feed in the orphanage where she had been abandoned. Had her parents known what would happen to her when they left her that dark night? Probably not or they would have brought her to the temple themselves. 

***********

At the same time a young men ran through the streets. His long black hair wet from the sweat from running. The gould was still following. He could feel it. Masnik was his name. The fool who had dared to raise his voice against the evil doings of a man he didn't even know the name off. He had stopped the man from hitting a child half to death. 
"You'll hear from me." the man had said, seemingly amused.
And so he had. A letter, blank, on his doorstep. He had opened it. Stupid, very stupid. The next night the dreams had started. Nightmares, every single night. The first days he had just gotten up with an uneasy feeling, knowing something black had followed him in his sleep. But now, a month later he could see it during the day, stalking behind him. 
A few people were talking outside a coffeeshop. Masnik dashed through them. The people looked back at him. Masnik had learned they didn't see the gould. He had tried once, thinking he was going insane, to not run. The gould had slashed him with long clawlike fingers. Masnik could still see the soft red edges where the wound had been. How good it felt to know he wasn't going crazy, it was also disturbing. Running was his only option and he couldn't keep doing that forever.

***********

Shenarra heard the loud tapping of running shoes on the dusty ground. She heard the temple door open. A soft swinging noise. None of the other girls opened their doors so she was the only one who had heard it. Very soon in her life Shenarra had learned knowledge was power. She had eavesdropped many conversations in the temple, grasping the chance with both hands to learn about the world outside. Tonight was no different from the others. She put on a vale and left the house as silent as she could.
Inside the temple she searched for whoever had entered.

***********

Masnik opened the door to the temple. He hadn't tried this yet. He knew it wouldn't help to pray to the Gods. But still, it wouldn't hurt to try. Maybe one of the priests would know what to do. He went to the back of the temple. He picked the darkest alcove to hide in and kneeled.
After his prayer he stood up and waited for a second. An offering. But what had he left to offer? Masnik searched his pockets and found a piece of string.
"It's all I have, but it will have to do." he said and placed the string on the altar.
He turned round and left the alcove. 

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"Ow!" Shenarra yelled when the man left a praying alcove, stepping right on her foot.
"I'm sorry!" he said.
The man kept looking over his shoulder, as if he was afraid of something. Maybe he was afraid the priests would think he had made her speak. As if that would ever happen.
"Don't worry about the priests, they are al asleep." she said.
"You have to get out of here..." he said, looking like he was possessed.
Shenarra suddenly realised the man was hardly dressed, a ripped shirt and a worn out pair of pants. He looked over his shoulder again. Maybe he was a madman. Shenarra cursed herself for looking for him. 
"We aren't safe here..." he said, looking confused.
"I'm fine. You go, hide yourself." she told him.
"I'm not crazy, it's coming!"
Suddenly the temple doors flew open and a creature blacker than the night entered. it was long and too thin to be a human. It's face was stretched out with two big eyes in the middle. The eyes burned black. Shenarra had never seen a thing like it, but the eyes seemed to absorb the light in the temple.
The man grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to the end of the temple.
"The exit! quick. We need a way out."
Shenarra suddenly realised the danger she was in. This wasn't just an exotic fairy tale. This was real. She ran away into the direction of the house. But wait! that would only lead them to a dead end. She turned and entered the dark hallway that would get them to the priests rooms.
"Aaaaaahhhhh!" she screamed. 
"What are you doing?" the man asked.
"Waking the priests.", she said and started screaming again.
Doors opened and heads looked out. Suddenly a shriek, painful to hear erupted and Sheranna knew the thing had reached the first priests. They would stop it.
A male voice started yelling in terror. Sheranna stood silent, too afraid to run. If not even the priests could stop it...

***********

Masnik ran into the girl before him. She had stopped. 
"Come on!" he told her and took her hands, "We have to get out of here."
"Out?" the thought hadn't occurred to Shenarra yet that this could be her way out.
"Yes, what's the fastest way out of this place. We need to be quick. It won't be able to hurt us during the day, not yet anyway."
"The back door is just up ahead. You know what the thing is?"
"It's a gould."
"I thought goulds needed to be summoned."
"Oh, it was. It's supposed to kill me."
"Who did you kill to deserve that?"
"No-one, I saved a girl from a beating by some old man, a magician apparently."
"Strange, all they did here was stuff us full of stories, saying goulds could only be summoned when someone was killed."
"I didn't kill anyone."
"So you say, how do I know you're not lying?"
"Because I'm just a carpenter k."
"Like carpenters never did anything wrong..."
"Well, not any ones I know."
Shenarra opened the door and followed the stranger out. She stopped again. The stranger stopped too and looked at her.
"Aren't you coming?" his eyes were so sad and alone...
"I shouldn't leave the temple, I shouldn't even be talking to you..."
Masnik started walking away from her. It would probably be better for her if she stayed. She was safe here. She would never be safe when he was with her.
"What's your name?" she called.
"Masnik." he replied without looking back, he shouldn't make this more painful...
Suddenly a cold feeling came over Shenarra. A feeling colder than anything she had ever felt before. Se turned around and saw the gould. It was looking at her, sniffing her. It opened his mouth.
"Masnik!" she was able to shout before she fainted.
Masnik turned. The sight of the big gould hanging above the girl made Masnik angry. The gould had nothing to do with the temple girl. he came for him, Masnik.
"You! Leave her alone!" Masnik yelled.
The gould looked up and stared in his direction. Finally he came up and started walking toward Masnik. This was the exact time Shenarra decided to wake up.
"Nooo!" she yelled.
The gould looked back again. It didn't quite seem to know what to do or who to kill first. Suddenly a bird started singing and the gould vanished. The sun was coming up.
"I'm coming with you." Shenarra said.
"Wouldn't you be safer here?"
"You saw it, for some reason it wants me too. You know what to do when it gets here, I don't!"
"Well, we're safe during the day, for now and we have to get as far away from here as possible."

***********

The desert outside Farghibal was hot and dry. The sand under their feet made weird sandy noises Shenarra had never heard before. Plus she got to kick. Part of being a Servant of the Gods was always being friendly and smiling and never showing signs of anger. Well she was quite frustrated now and kicking pebbles helped.
"How far are we going?" she asked.
"Not far, there's a small encampment of Bedouins nearby. We'll ride with them till the nearest oasis. I hadn't tried leaving town yet, this might just do the trick." Masnik said.
Shenarra started kicking pebbles again. Suddenly she saw a nice big orange-glowing rock. Almost like it had a little sunset inside. She wanted to run toward it, but fell. She grabbed Masnik's arm, but he lost his balance too. Shenarra stretched out her arms. One hand touched the glowing stone and suddenly she and Masnik were someplace else.
"Hello?" a voice said, "Are you here for the dragons?"
"Dragons?" Shenarra asked.
"Yes, the dragon eggs, there are still some spots open." the woman, now visible replied.
"Can they fly to the moon?"
"They can fly wherever they want to. Just make sure you know where you are going."
"How strong are they?" Masnik asked.
"Strong enough." the woman answered cryptically.
"I take it you like the idea," she said, "Please follow me."
The two of them were led to a large, vaulted chamber. inside eggs of all sizes lay. other people were waiting and soon the eggs started to crack. When the first one did, a mythical creature appeared. Though somewhat draconic, the creatures lacked limbs of any kind. They hovered through the air and seemed rather powerful.
"I shall take you as mine." A sapphire female said to Shenarra, "My name is Tanith."
"You are mine, Masnik." A gold male added, "My name is Wain."

Shenarra's Sapphire Tanith (m)
Dragons with quick minds and sharp thoughts, they are not afraid to hurt to get to the bottom of things. Powers: spiritual cleasning and they can help people get over bad situations.
Chances of Bonding: medium-low.

 

Masnik's Gold Wain (f)
Pretty. All are female and high in the list, but low in the rares. Very protective.
Powers: leadership, and can tame the wildest heart. 1 out of every 10

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Shenarra and Masnik are candidates at Gem Dragon Adoptions
Music playing is Arabian Nights
Back to Lantessama Isle