Aithniel moved toward him, shooting off flames at the bugs and protecting him. Fondness for the sun’s child surged within him as he worked at healing with her nearby, but the protection did not last for long - she moved toward the book and was swarmed by the insects. “No!” The word surged out of him as she was bit and a moment later - a yell from across the body of the dragon let him know who else had been bit by the creatures. “ROS!” Mesec shouted when he heard her yell, his heart faltering as he feared the worst. He was too distracted by the ‘dance until you die’ part of the warning from the dragon to find any sort of entertainment in the way Aithniel was dancing and Ros was angrily stomping and sliding all over the place. He faltered in his movements, just for a second, his wings drooping and his attention on the dancing demigods before he remembered the rest of the warning. They had to defeat the insects and now it was up to him and Isopia to save the lives of the dragon and the others.

Mesec would not lose anyone today.

The great dragon near him rumbled about ink but much like when the ‘book’ was mentioned, the word didn’t mean anything to him but it snapped him out of his distressed daze with renewed determination. Isopia did something he had not know she could do - she transformed into the guise of a raven and flew toward the dragon's head to join in with the healing. The call from Roskuld, encouraging him to get out of the way was ignored. Much as he appreciated her concern, he would not give up and back away. Aithniel and Ros's lives depended on whether they could defeat these insects and, if he needed any more encouragement, Ampere, his father and others were too close for comfort. The swarm could not be allowed to notice them.

As he stepped back to distract the insects, his mind searched for some hint at how to defeat the mysterious ink - but, luckily for them, one of their group managed to figure it out as she was cha-chaing across the forest floor. He heard Ros yell at Isopia to use her water magic against the insects. What was water going to do? He had no idea what ink was but they both seemed to think it was a good idea so he figured he could do whatever he could to help out.

His trick with his wings seemed to be working, which was great, except he seemed to have attracted a lot of the insects. Mesec did not teleport out of the way again, though perhaps it might have been safer for him, he did not want to risk losing the attention of the swarm and letting them move toward the raven. If water was the trick to defeating these creatures, Isopia was the key and he had to keep them distracted from her so that she could use her magic, so that she did not get bitten. With the wall of insects moving toward him, he merely backed away from the dragon - keeping his wings outstretched and the reflection of the shiny silver continuing to act as a beacon. He hoped, then, that with so many of them focused on him that Isopia’s water would hit the swarm, and defeat the ink creatures.

Mesec lingers where he is, stepping back away from the dragon and continue flapping his wings to encourage the swarm to stay focused on him in the hopes that a collective swarm increase the effectiveness of Isopia’s water magic


I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.