Daily sketch #254 // Pandora's box: Big day (Patreon)

Hey guys,

Took me a while to get ready to submit today's sketch, but I hope you enjoy it! Some heavy lifting this time, featuring the glorious dragon, Thane Caerulea. Also accompanied by a story, as always, by Aksan <3

Thank you so much, it's been wonderful getting stories to go with these sketches!
I'm posting it below, for anyone interested in a good read :)

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“Big day,” the foreperson said. An awkward silence had eventually forced her to make small talk as she leant on one of the huge boulders.

“Big day,” Stephanie echoed automatically. Her attention was focused on fussing her horse. Cassandra was a tidy dun with a look in her eyes that betrayed her for the moody teen she was. Despite Cassandra’s best efforts however Stephanie adored the mare, in fact this was in no small part because of her uncaring manner, it made her a near unflappable stead.

“Big day, indeed,” rumbled another voice. Towering over even the boulders, the castle’s lord had arrived.

“My lord!” the foreperson exclaimed with a start.

The dragon waited for a following remark, eventually he cocked his head and gestured to prompt it.

“Everything is in place, my lord,” she eventually said.

“Yes. These six?” he asked, gesturing at the enormous stones. Even at sixteen tonnes the stones suddenly looked small beside him.

“Exactly, my lord,” the foreperson said with intense nodding, “We broke them down as far as you said, but we can still break them down more if you need.”

“And what is that supposed to imply?” he asked coldly.

“Oh, no! My–” the foreperson spluttered, “I’d never mean to–”

The Dragon’s laughter cut her off and he smiled down at her, “It’s fine. But just to be sure, these aren’t going to break in half on me or anything if you’ve been making ready to break them?”

“No, no, my lord, I’m sorry,” the foreperson said, glancing towards the cave mouth, “They are perfectly safe my lord.”

“All good then,” he said softly, “You can go sort your other preparations if you want to.”

Stephanie checked Cassandra’s tack as the Foreperson ran out to supposed tasks outside. “Very odd tradition,” she voiced, watching the Old Blood limber up.

“People like it, and I don’t mind giving people something that they like for an hour or two of my time,” he replied between breaths, “Though I guess it feels more of a tradition to me, I was alive for the last time.”

“How many hundred years ago?” Stephanie asked with a smirk.

“Many, many,” he paused and looked her and Cassandra over curiously, “It’s odd to see you two not in your ranger attire.”

“Much like you, we do actually have lives beyond our armour,” she sighed, “Even if you aren’t paying attention.”

“If my paying attention was required for things to be, the world would surely fall,” he grumbled.

“At least the Inigne wouldn’t,” Stephanie jabbed.

“What were we talking about a life beyond our armour?” he said with a warmth that wouldn’t rise to the bait, “Having one is reliant on keeping peace. We can’t have peace if we ignore them.”

Stephanie sighed deeply, not wanting to fall back into this argument. “Why am I here again?” she asked orthogonally.

“Because I need a guide,” he said, smiling a little.

“When did you forget your way around your own castle?” she said with a shake of her head.

The huge dragon laughed heartily and took a deep breath and set to his task. Even Cassandra started a little as, with an admittedly great effort, one of the boulders was hefted up. Sitting on the dragon’s shoulders it blotted the sun from the grand cave entrance. As her eyes began to pick out detail, Stephanie realised why she was here. Bowed beneath the grand stone his chin was pinned to his chest. Usually so pristine and untouched, his horns now roughened as they scraped and scratched the huge boulder.

“Ah,” Stephanie said softly; actively voicing a realisation was a novel action.

“So,” he paused to adjust, “Shall we?”

“Shit, yes!” she said and leapt up into the saddle.

“Lan-”

“Sorry, my lord!” Cassandra trotted gladly past the statuesque display and towards the huge cave mouth. Stephanie found herself holding back her stead while the dragon turned, keeping at least Cassandra’s black tail within her lord’s limited awareness. Blinding for a moment, the sun and amplifying snow outside the cave soon rendered a crowd visible to her. Raising a hand triumphantly she got little response.

Thane Caerulea, emerged into the light with the sixteen tonne stone, titanic, strong, victorious over gravity. This had the crowd cheering and whooping. Stephanie smiled to herself as she walked ahead of him, amazed at the pace his huge stature could achieve even so weighed down.

For many this was the point that these building efforts became real. Not the huge hole they’d carved in the mountain, but their lord emerging from it. The viscera of the mountain being drawn from it, defeated.

The crowds thinned out as they made their way away from the cave mouth. Though he was right that people had wanted to see it, those that had were limited in number. Crossing under the high walkways of the, much quieter, gate courtyard they headed for the space beside the smithy and artisans cottages. These grand boulders would soon be broken down into building blocks, this short journey a convenience at best.

She wondered for a moment how much the display might be for her lord himself, getting to repeat the grand deeds of his past. The thought was scattered soon however as Cassandra snorted and veered right. In their path the farrier was tending to the hooves of one of the castle yaks. The words that were exchanged between her and the farrier were less than suitable for a public occasion like this, especially as the enthused crowd began to pile up behind them.

“Language!” roared the dragon behind them, tiring of their squabbling as he still held the grand weight.

The pair’s spat evaporated at the rumbling sound of his voice. The soft smoky scent that followed spurred their action. The yak was suddenly moved, the confused beast hopping its way out of the path with a half finished foot.

“This. This is why we have our own farrier,” Stephanie murmured to herself, the weight upon her lord sparing her his glare.

Crosses had been marked on the floor as they reached their destination and The Thane chuckled as he first saw one.

“You might want to get some distance,” he said as he settled himself over one. Stephanie didn’t need to be told twice and Cassandra neatly moved to a safe place. A flourishing half-pass executed with a look of sheer disdain.

Being dwarfed by the stones was one thing, trees, buildings, they all did that. Being dwarfed by a stone was just geology. Seeing him heft it, as spectacular as it was, she couldn’t help but assign the stone a light feeling. The mind didn’t want to see a figure change the very landscape so quickly, so drastically.

Whatever lies her mind had told her crashed down as the stone did. Cassandra jolted and the yak bellowed, seemingly noiselessly, as the rumbling crash rang around the castle, drowning out all else. Her lord had hardly dropped the stone but the sheer weight of it had shaken the mountain beneath them.

His breathing was laboured as he stood and stretched. The crowd hummed and murmured, still reeling from the effect of sixteen tonnes hitting the ground. “Well then everybody,” he began when his breath had barely returned to him, “Five more to go!”