Daily artwork #395 // Pandora's box: Snow Upon The Tower (Patreon)

Hey guys, 

Today for something different and for a dragon I hope I don't need to introduce (unless you're new!) - the thane. This time featuring him experiencing the touch of snow for the first time.

It's been a while since I drew him and I've dearly missed it :)

Of course, the art is accompanied by a story by Aksan! Hope you'll enjoy the read.

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A huge, black-scaled finger beckoned Lucy out onto the battlements. Hastily, she gathered her dress around herself and formed a magical umbrella to keep the snow off of her silver-copper hair in its soft, preened curls. With a little more magic to keep her flowing dress from dragging on the wet stones that The Tower left behind him, she ran to catch up.

“You said you wanted to speak with me,” he rumbled to the mountains, “I hope you don’t mind a walk in this weather.”

“It is as inconsequential to me as it is to you,” she chuckled, settling into a brisk walk at his hip. “And yes, I did. I’ll admit, I’ve been in this castle for a half dozen months now, it’s been very strange not to have properly meet its lord.”

“There have always been more pressing things after all.”

“And I am sorry about that,” the mage mumbled, hanging her head for a moment.

“No need to be,” The Thane assured her, “I have heard, and she has accepted enough apologies from you. Do not carry any guilt.” Her dark painted lips curled subtly towards a smile. “And don’t feel the need to make any pretence of being strangers. I know you’ve studied the dyads enough to know better.”

Lucy’s smile gave way to an open mouthed wordlessness that hung for a few moments before she finally managed, “I didn’t think it was too obvious.”

“You are not one to let any part of her world go unresearched,” the dragon said with a certain fondness. “There was a letter from Brogan that beat you to the castle mentioning your research into us.”

“I wanted to know who I would be serving if I came out here,” she said a little defensively.

“And I do not fault it at all,” he said, letting warmth wash over her guardedness, “But it speaks to who you are. For what it’s worth I’m glad you found us to your liking; I’ve quite missed the company of mages.”

Bafflement bunched the shaped brows on the snow-white face. “Your other half is one of, perhaps even the most powerful mage ever to live, how is that not the company of mages?”

“She isn’t a mage,” The Thane said solemnly. A long pause grew between them, one too nervous, the other too reluctant. Eventually, the dragon decided that this new resident deserved a better answer. “Her relationship with magic is not so clean nor so simple as yours. Her relationship with the power she holds is complicated to say the least of it.” In the back of Lucy’s mind the weight of knowing that The Shadow would be hearing these words bore heavy. “It’s hard to blame her, after how she came into this world.”

“I will admit, I saw a different side of her while you were away to the North,” the mage said, feeling like she was needing all too much effort to keep her breath steady. “She was more than willing to embrace her power to ensure your safety.”

The huge, gold-crowned head nodded, the few tears he allowed himself lost in the water running down his snout as he drew them to a halt overlooking the abyss. For warmth, for a sight through one of the lower crenelations, and for perhaps a little comfort, she pressed into his side to look out over the bridge and the mountains. The hand that came to rest on her back was a surprise, but a pleasant one, drawing a smile up towards the solemn, onyx features, soon infecting them too.

“What I wanted to talk to you about, if I may?” she began, giving up on craning her neck and looking out over the snowy vista.

“Of course,” he said with a soft, snort of heat that ruffled her curls. A subtle movement of her hand returned them to their expertly crafted natural look. “You aren’t out here getting rained on just for my company after all.”

“Not that your company wouldn’t be wo–” Lucy paused and frowned, extending a hand past the forcefield of her umbrella to confirm. “Rained on?”

“One of the less written about side effects of being a dragon,” came his amused reply.

“It’s snowing,” she proclaimed indignantly. “Does your inner flame really deprive you of such simple pleasures as snow?”

“Five centuries in these mountains and I have never been snowed on,” The Thane stated with a bittersweet smile.

“We shall have to fix that,” Lucy declared, her shoulders rolling back and her demeanour shifting as she took a few steps back from him.

His head tipped slowly, the light laugh coming as a grumble from those huge lungs. It didn’t take long for him to realise her seriousness though as mana began to spill from her fingers like paint from a brush. Watching the sky above, he saw the moth-like, fluffy chunks of snow begin to encroach further and further upon him. A glance to the mage showed the strain it took to fight his inner flame. Before he could say anything to stop her she raised a hand for patience, shifting and resettling herself to change tack. Settling to wait, he followed her gaze as now she exercised precision, focusing on one beautiful imperfect flake as it drifted down towards him. His darkened purple eyes followed it as she protected and guided it onto the tip of his snout, drifting shut as it alighted upon him.

Sustained, protected from its natural urge to dissolve, the snowflake was a point of ice upon a form forged of fire. Creeping tendrils of cold extended, attempting to embrace his snout, driven back by the heat of his breath. Scales prickled, the cold infiltrating under them in an uneven tide before it finally admitted defeat. Cold water, its even sensation replacing the fibrous form of the snow, spread over his snout. A single, subtle track of cold water made its way down towards his lip with the last of her magic. With the next hot exhalation it was all but gone.

“Thank you,” he purred, softly and warmly, his eyes fond and adoring as they reopened towards her.

“It was nothing,” she said, trying to play off the gentle slump of her shoulders.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” The Thane asked with a smile, “I feel like you’ve got me in a good mood for making requests.”

“I worry I might need that,” the mage chuckled nervously, “I wanted to talk to you about your daughter.”

“Which one?”