Aerybeth rode alone with her thoughts through the chilled winds over the frozen landscape of Northreand, heading due south from Sunreaver's Command where minutes before her first meeting as a Blood Knight with the Sun's Wrath Commander had concluded. Recounting the events in her head brought a wry smirk to her face and she let out a self-deriding snort.
~Well, I don't think I could have botched that up any more than I did. Well, I suppose it could have been worse if I had struck the Knight Lord in return...but my sharp words likely wounded more and left him with a lesser offense than a good punch in return would have been. Be thankful, Aery, that you are now sent to get information from the Black Flight. It is sure to be more entertaining than staring at the walls of some frozen Brig up here.~
Thoughts of her punitive assignment turned her mind back to business, and she slowed Lightwing's flight through the arctic air with guiding squeezes of her legs until her cloak merely stirred behind her, rather than whipping about in gale force wind. The hippogryph squawked and glanced back at his rider in annoyance as he settled into the new pace. Aery stroked the soft golden brown and white plumage of Lightwing's neck before focusing upon the touch of arcane that was the birthright of her people. With a difficulty that never eased with practice she called up a vanity cantrip; one of the few minor workings that required no vocalization to work. She held up the insubstantial but reflective summoned disk, and was not surprised by what she saw. Her hair, of course, was in wild disarray from the flight, though that wasn't the first thing she noticed. Between her brows, the skin was red and sore, frozen blood clinging to her skin where before there had been small mangled tears where she caught the blow of an angered and guantleted fist. A quick minor healing spell had closed up the wounds before her blood had the chance to stain her tabard, and now she flicked away the frozen remnants with a free hand, grunting in annoyance as she had to pull a few crimson shards from her long eyebrows.
And then she blinked, looking into her own gaze in shock. From beneath her at times annoyingly long lashes one of her eyes gazed back at her, shining a brilliant emerald green, as it had from the day of that mission back in Hellfire Peninsula. That was to be expected. Her left eye, however, was brillant bloody crimson, a result of obviously burst blood vessels in the eye itself. She blinked in surprise, and then blinked again, thinking perhaps the blood was on the surface only. No such luck was hers, however, and she exhaled in annoyance, letting the passing of air make a nickering sound as it passed her lips. ~ By Uther's hammer, I look like a frelling boat's lamps.~
A blast of particularly cold air took her attention away from the weird sight, and she could now see ahead of her the ancient and now beseiged structure of the temple of Wyrmrest. The view never failed to make an impression upon her; it was a timeless structure, designed by minds the world had long been bereft of, and now manned and defended by the dragons those makers had named guardians of the world. The grand eternal structure was also fighting off a sustained attack by those same guardians; the presence of Blue Flight patrols in the Dragonblight were a fact of life. It was time to make the run. The Blood Knight let go of the concentration needed to maintain the cantrip, and the disk obediently dissipated as she leaned down to take up a grip upon Lightwing's reins. The beast lent his flight a small hiccup to indicate that he was aware of the reins again, and with that Aery pushed him into a dive to both regain their speed and lose the altitude that would gain the attention of the seiging azure dragons whose shadows now dotted the snow swept plains all about them.
Blood Elf and Hippogryph whipped along the ground, not even a stone's throw above the old road that once linked the grand complex of Ulduar with titan works to the south. The dry snow was whipped up into swirling flurries in the wake of their passage as they both relied upon speed and comparable small size to avoid scaled notice. Ever closer the goal became, now blocking view of all points south and much of the sky, Aerybeth could not help but look upon the stone edifice in wonder until they were nearly upon it. Close to the last minute, the crimson and black armored woman gave Lightwing two guiding nudges with her legs, one to put on more speed, and the other to fly up as she laid down upon his back and held on tightly.
Lightwing followed the directions, and brilliantly at that. The hippogryph pitched the angle of their flight back until they flew nearly vertically up along the side of the draconic temple. Their flight continually slowed, further speed an impossibility at this angle, a small pit developed in Aery's gut as she could feel a stall approaching as the ledge of the uppermost level came into view, their approach slowing further and further until with a relieved release of the breath she had been holding she could feel the Hippogryph's claws gain purchase upon the ledge. She worked the buckles of her saddle, releasing herself from the grip of belt and harness before she slid to the floor, standing somewhat stiff legged and back arched after the long cold flight. She patted Lightwing thankfully and smoothed his plumage down as she took out a treat for him, one of a number of berries from Outland that had been found pleasing to the Hippogryph's palate. ~ My thanks, friend. Well flown. Well flown indeed. Rest for awhile now. ~
Leaving her mount on the landing, Aerybeth strode into the temple, the open air construction making it easy for her to find her goal as she walked the stiffness from her limbs. The ambassador of the Black dragonflight, the Lady Nalice, was difficult to miss. She was taller than a real human woman, and her hair was a hue of black so deep that Aery had only seen others achieve it with magical help. The set of the black dragon's features was cruel, but her eyes looked simultaneously bored and amused with everything before her. Aerybeth approached her with sealed note in hand, and inclined her head to indicate respect, if not friendship.
The dark female dragon did not even open the letter. She held it in hand, and seemed put off at being approached directly, though she quickly offered a cruel smile as she regarded the elven woman before her. "Well, Wild Eyes. You don't tremble in my presence, so either you're a fool, stupidly brave, or stronger than you look." She crumpled up the letter and tossed it over the side to be snatched away by frozen breeze. Aerybeth did not watch it go, instead maintaining eye contact and cursing her attention span for having missed the opportunity to heal her eye before meeting the black dragon as she continued speaking, arrogance dripping from her every word. "It matters not to me who sent you, or what you are really here to do. We are friends to none, but this is war. I have uses for you, and if you please me, maybe you will live long enough to get what you want out of me."
Subject: Duty Hurts - The Dragonblight Assignment 
Wed Jul 22, 2009 12:24 pm
