A Legend... or Destruction?

[Relairah]

OoC: *Squeals* Omg I love it! XD this just keeps getting better lol *cracks knuckles*

iC:

Sedra only smirked at Zenithe's response, letting him finish. "Well, perhaps you're right. But who knows? Perhaps it is merely fate and it is no more of my own choosing than yours. Xavelthius was a fool. And I must do what I can to rectify that entire mistake." He paused then, moving toward one of the men present and reaching out his palm. The man handed him a very old appearing scroll. "You must mean this scroll here..." he said with a nod as he opened it and briefly scanned over the dark etchings within. "You see... I have made somewhat of a status collecting precious and ancient artifacts. You might even be impressed by my collection. But that's neither here nor there." He paused once more, returning the scroll and moving back to where he had been.

"Regardless of what may or may not come, it doesn't change my own ambitions. Everyone tries to change fate. And prophecies and the future aren't really certain. Don't forget, Guardian, it was you who released Xavelthius and lead him to your grandfather. So perhaps it is you who is trying to fulfill the prophesy, hmm?" Sedra said no more for a moment, as though he were refraining from it. Which he was.

Zenithe had shared valuable information. Sedra had heard of the events that lead to Xavelthius' death and the emergence of the first Twilight Guardian from his pawns. But Zenithe had just confirmed it. And with that information came a new desire to either seal Zenithe or do away with him entirely. Though of course there was the problem of that thief coming after him. Still, once restored to full power, Sedra was confident that wouldn't be an issue. And further, it was of no consequence to him that it had been him that had lead Jolene and Zenithe to the box in the first place. Of course... he hadn't known when he'd hired the thief that one of the Guardians himself would be her companion. But perhaps fate had its own way of fighting back against those that tried to bend it. He himself did indeed intend to change the prophecy, though all attempts thus far had certainly been thwarted.

But with this... the first Twilight Guardian in front of him. He couldn't help seeing it as a wide-open opportunity; one that he was not going to pass up.



Jolene silently stayed where she was, listening as Zenithe had instructed her, breath baited and waiting for his cue. As she listened, everything... every part of the puzzle was falling into place. It all seemed orchestrated somehow. Though she just couldn't see how this Sedra had done that much planning. Though given what she'd known about him... it didn't seem past his abilities. But as she heard Sedra's response to Zenithe, she frowned to herself. He still had something up his sleeve. She could feel it. Zenithe still wasn't restored and she doubted he could draw on his full power right now... especially since the chains she had heard mention of would be draining him. Jolene bit at her lip, her fiery orange gaze staring holes into the walls in between herself and Zenithe. Even if she hadn't had the psychic connection with him, she could've made out most of the conversation with her heightened senses. But... she was glad for the connection.

[Xenoxice]

Zenithe seemed to ignore Sidrith's words as he focused his attention elsewhere.  "My love..... whatever happens here, you must make certain that Sidrith doesn't reach his full power.  If he does, the world will be in great danger and it will be very difficult to stop him at that point.  I have no way to help at this point.... I'm bound and can't move.  If I try to use any of my abilities it will only drain my strength faster and give him more power.  I'm sorry this falls on your shoulders.... it was never your battle to fight.  But fight hard, and know I'm always here." His pupils narrowed as he looked up at Sidrith with a smirk.  "Well?  Let's see what you got Sid.  I don't have all day to wait for you."  His words taunting as his will and resolve to stand firm remained as strong as ever.  "Come now Jolene, let's see what you can do with those new weapons of yours!"

[Relairah]

OoC: *Quotes the Joker* And here we go...

iC:



Jolene listened as Zenithe once more sent a warning her way. Briefly, a flash of the events that had happened surrounding Xavelthius came to her mind. Zenithe had said something similar when Xavelthius had first been released from his prison. They had barely been able to defeat him. And he had been a renegade Sun Dragon? Did that mean the Sun Dragons had once been more powerful than the Guardians of the Night? She had no idea if the prophecy Zenithe had uttered had anything to do with events long in the past... but she knew he was probably right. After all, he knew far more about the matter than she did.

Then he gave her the command she'd been waiting for. She nodded to no one, more out of instinct, and moved down the hall toward the room where the men were all located. Her footsteps were silent in the large house and she covered the distance both swiftly and with ease. As she went, she positioned the needles he had given her between her fingers, preparing to throw them.

The men at the edges of the doors saw her coming and immediately went on guard and came at her. A smirk graced her lips and her eyes flashed, all of her training and instincts instantly coming to play. With her other hand, she flung daggers deep into their chests, retrieving one of them as she passed the guard before he fell and continuing forward into the room.

Sedra's lip curled into a snarl as he saw the guards step out of the room. Well, perhaps he hadn't expected Jolene to find them so quickly. No matter. In but a moment, he grasped the box he had shown earlier, whispering words before he placed it at Zenithe's feet, opening the lid. Immediately, Zenithe would feel a pull like that of a vacuum or a vortex sucking at not only his being but his essence. The chains about his person would begin to glow brightly. Clearly, the process of drawing his power away had been intensified to a swifter effect. "She's too late," he said darkly.

As Jolene entered the room, guards dove toward her, preventing her from getting to her ultimate opponent or to her beloved. She had to fling the needles in her hands, each one taking down its target before they had a chance to react. But she'd only been able to hold four and she immediately reached for her remaining weapons, clashing with one guard and sinking her knee deep into his gut before whirling and taking down another. That was seven down. And she stopped as the last one was pointing a gun straight into her face. From the corner of her eyes, she saw the events with the box. No one could mistake the brilliant light filling the room.

[Xenoxice]

As Zenithe's gaze turned to look towards where Jolene was coming from, the corner of his eyes saw the box that had been laid at his feet. As the chains glowed brightly he knew the longer he stayed in the chains, the more of his power Sidrith would obtain. With a smirk, Zenithe chuckled even in his odd predicament. "We'll just see about that." Feeling the pull from the chains at his power and the box at his being, he knew if he allowed himself to be pulled more into the box instead, the majority of his strength would be sealed with him instead of siphoned away. So Zenithe intentionally made the decision to allow himself to be pulled more strongly by the box than his power would by the chains around him. Knowing Sid wouldn't dare interrupt the process even if he discovered what he was doing for risk of losing every ounce of strength that had been taken away. The pull felt stronger and stronger and the chains becoming weaker as he shifted his body and his essence towards the box. He glanced over at toward Jolene one final time before giving a small nod toward her. "It's up to you right now..." those were his final words before in a brilliant flash he seemed to disappear completely in an instant.

It seemed to last only a split moment but when Zenithe opened his eyes he felt himself slowly drifting around in all direction in what felt like an empty void without gravity.  Great.... now how in the hell am I supposed to get out of this... his voice seemed cool and calculating, knowing he was sealed away and yet staying calm knowing panicking would do nothing to help him.

[Relairah]

Sedra ignored Zenithe's words as his form was finally pulled into the box and his strength absorbed. As soon as it was done, the light continued, encircling Sedra's form and glowing a brilliant gold in color. He began shifting, his body elongating as claws and scales and horns replaced what was once human. Only once he was a full dragon again did the light dim, though it was clear power emanated from his being.



All of it happened so fast. Jolene felt entirely helpless to do anything. "Zenithe. Zenithe! Zenithe?" she shouted in her mind, searching for the familiar presence that was no longer there. "No!" she screamed out loud. "Zenithe!" With a small flick of her wrist, the final guard sank to his knees, a dagger embedded in his chest and the gun clattering away and she dashed toward the empty chair as if somehow he would still be there. "Where is he? What have you done?!" she demanded, glaring at Sidrith.

Sidrith had a wide grin on his dragon face. "I have absorbed him. Your precious Guardian will never escape and the Twilight guardians will become nothing. His power is now mine and I will restore what was rightfully mine in the first place. But first I must gather the remaining Sun Dragons whom I have told to keep hidden until my awakening. You see I was their leader when this all began. There's nothing you can do, little thief."

So Zenithe was gone? Once more she reached out in her mind. Only to feel nothing. Rage burned in her chest. Her cat form could do nothing! And Zenithe had told her it would be no simple task to become a dragon. But she must! It was his final words to her. To do something. She couldn't let Sidrith do as he planned. With a scream, she lunged toward Sidrith. "NO! I won't let you!" It didn't even register in her mind quite yet that already scales were forming across her skin. Her nails were claws but not those of a feline's. They were large and thick, actually piercing into Sidrith's flesh.

Sidrith growled and leaped back. "He bonded with you?!" he screeched. Sidrith had suspected some sort of union. But had no way to confirm. But now it was as clear as day. Her transformation was overcoming her, her eyes burning with her emotions all plain to see. And since it was Zenithe's power specifically that was channeling through Sidrith, he knew it was only boosting her drawing from it and using it. She was coming at him again, already the main parts of her body growing and stretching. She screamed with each pop, but was relentless, slashing at him like a barbarian.

Sidrith had nowhere to go. His guards were dead and the house on its way to being destroyed. He had planned on merely killing her. But now he saw that was not going to be as simple as he thought previously. With a blast of light from his mouth he attacked back at her. She only dodged lithely. Then she stopped, panting as more pain clearly rammed through her body and screaming ensued once more. Now was his chance. He pounced toward her, seeking to land a fatal blow. But instead she bit back and he growled again as he felt a heavy blow against his middle.

Already her tail had formed and her transformation was almost complete. His eyes glowed, balls of energy bursting from him in her direction. He blinked and in a flash of brilliant red light she vanished, appearing once more at his side. He was astonished. What had just happened?! Sidrith rose into the air, bursting through the roof and the building quaking. Her wings flapped, but she remained where she was, a look of surprise etching into her features. He laughed heartily. "Well it was fun, girl, but it seems your body can't quite handle such a change." With that he was gone...

Jolene watched as Sidrith flew away, slowly growing smaller as his form sank into the distance. She whimpered, her breath short. Despite all of her efforts, she remained grounded. But more than that, she looked down at herself, her neck twisting in ways that shouldn't be possible as she then turned to see more. She was a dragon?! Brilliant bronze and amber scales covered her form which now included a long curved neck, a round body, round legs, and an enormous reptilian tail. Amber plates lined her back and tail and her claws were a sharp gold. But further... she actually had wings. They were webbed, the skin a soft tan and dark brown where it marked bones that had grown out of her back. They felt tender and weak and dropped pathetically. She attempted to move them to little avail. She wasn't even sure what muscles to focus on.

A broken piece of glass at her feet revealed her face. It was long like a horse's with round cheeks and it appeared as though she didn't have ears, though she heard quite well. Instead it looked as though feathers of some sort grew upward along her cheeks in a fanning way and burst outward at the top of her head, orange-red in color and the same plates on her back seemed to go all the way up her neck to the top of her head. Small pointed horns started right at the top of her nose and grew in size until they met with the plates and blinking back at her were the same orange eyes though with a tint of red in their depths. She stepped back, her eyes settling on the box where Zenithe had been sealed.

She felt tears burning within her. Was it like with Xavelthius where she could just open the box and set him free? She tried... but the light inside continued to glow. A mere soft orb that floated in the box. She closed it, despairing. She let him get sealed. And Sidrith had gotten away. She had failed.

[Xenoxice]

Zenithe felt completely disconnected from the world outside of this dark empty void.  And yet something seemed to stir within him.  His blade was still around his waist.  Sidrith had never removed it since he had been chained up.  Looking around and seeing nothing but darkness he shook his head.  Just perfect.... how can I get out..... He heard what seemed to be a whisper and looked at the sheathe of his sword which seemed to have that gentle green glow coming from within it.  Removing the blade he held it like a knight marching at attention, the blade straight up, flat side facing him and closed his eyes.  Zenithe.... the voice had called his name quietly.  You absorbed most of my power before to awaken as the prophecy foretold but not all of it... the voice seemed to grow a little fainter with each word.  I can help you get out of here, but after this I will no longer be able to assist you again... my spirit will vanish and finish becoming one with yours... you must control.. the power.. by yourself.... the ancient ones... are.. with... you... The voice trailed off into silence as the sword began glowing brighter and more brilliantly.  In that moment he knew just who the spirit in his blade belonged to.  A high pitched whistle began to ring slowly and grew louder and louder as the light began to increase not only in intensity but size as well.  It became almost ear splitting but being a dragon had its benefits.  Capable of listening to even the highest frequencies and noises without much pain.  He felt a small presence.  Very familiar but.... different.  Jolene!  He cried out in his mind.  A single tear falling as the light suddenly seemed to explode with that single tear.  It felt as though the world around him was in shattered pieces falling perfectly back into place.  He felt himself standing on solid ground but gravity seemed to be powerful that it overwhelmed him and his sword fell from his hands, collapsing to his knees with heavily labored breaths.  "I'm.... free...." he said between breaths with a shaky and weak voice.  His eyes opened and slowly focused as he groggily looked around the room, feeling as weak as he had after his battle with Xavelthius before, only still in his human form instead, aside from his tail that typically hung out from behind him.  His eyes soon widened greatly as they fell upon the dragon form standing tall above him.  "You're....."  His voice spoke wearily.  "Magnificent.... love..." he smiled in his exhaustion as he struggled to stay conscious.  He had no idea what even happened to the box he had been sealed away in since he had emerged from inside of it.  With a deep breath, he closed his eyes and slumped forward, letting his head hang low as he attempted to rest a moment.

[Relairah]

How long had the battle lasted between herself and Sidrith? There was no way to know for certain, but already the sky was changing in the distance... evident beyond the building. Jolene wasn't sure if she had helped at all. She wasn't even sure what happened. She just knew that she heard Zenithe's voice. Had it been out loud or in her mind? She looked up, brow furrowing as she looked to the box once more. It was glowing, the light growing more and more brilliant just like it had before he had been sealed. Then, as if unable to contain its contents any longer, the lid burst back, light pouring out of it and filling the room to blinding proportions. Tendrils wrapped and centered about the floor in one spot just in front of the box and the next thing she knew, Zenithe was before her as if he'd never been sealed. Though she could clearly tell how drained he was.

She gasped, a more murmured draconian sound, and dipped her head. "Zenithe!" She instinctively moved to catch his body in the curve of her neck. "Zenithe! I can't believe you're okay. How did you get out?" Jolene was flabbergasted.

[Xenoxice]

Zenithe found a strange sense of comfort and peace he hadn't had with Jolene before as she caught him in the curve of her neck. The last time being near another dragon in their natural form in such a manner was when he was merely a child with his mother. "I had help..." he spoke using his link with Jolene as his voice was too weary to attempt words but his mind still attentive enough to speak when his body could not. "The spirit in my blade... it's gone now. Finally completely merged with mine. But I found out what, or rather who it was." His eyes cracked open as his vision struggled to focus. Very slowly glancing over Jolene's form as his eyes widened a little more to get a better look. "The ancient ones... Sidrith seeks to change prophecy and read into what he wishes to see instead of taking it word for word... They knew he would attempt to seal me away like that and that I would battle Xavelthius... they embedded a fraction of their strength into the ores I used to make my sword. Revealing themselves when the time was right to fulfill each step of the prophecy. But there's something else.." Zenithe's words seemed to trail off a bit as his eyes closed once more.  "The hour of Twilight is not mine alone.  It is ours.  You, Jolene, along with myself are now the original pro-creators of the Twilight Guardians.  It is OUR bloodline.  You will have to learn how to fight and use your new form so we may battle together as one.  I can teach you all I know, but I must rest first.  Sidrith will probably begin recruiting his followers soon.  But while he does you must train.  One day should be enough to regain enough strength for my normal shift."  Each word he spoke even with his mind seemed to become more and more strained.  It was apparent his struggle to stay conscious increased with each passing second.  It wasn't long before Zenithe lost consciousness and fell completely lax over Jolene's neck where he had never moved from.

[Relairah]

Jolene wasn't sure how to respond to each word he spoke. Ever since she had met him things had become so much more than she could have ever even imagined. She had become privy to a world she hadn't really even knew was in existence, to a certain extent, and now here she was a fully-transformed dragon. It was almost unreal. Like she was about to wake up in the pub where she had first grasped his shoulder and demanded his attention and find it all some outlandish dream. That seemed so far and so long ago now...

He was talking of the prophecy. Of ancient dragons and spirits and she realized that there was only one thing she was certain of. Zenithe. She only wished she could somehow help restore his energy. He had already helped her and given her so much and she felt that even though he constantly told her it wasn't the case, she had offered nothing in return. And now what could she do besides let him rest while she trained?

She believed him. She slowly lowered herself, curling her body around him as he passed out. She wondered if at this very moment, her being in dragon form was still drawing energy from him. But part of her was afraid to try and transform out of it right now. What if she couldn't? The pain had already taken much but she had been too focused on Sidrith and possibly losing Zenithe to care. She waited, entirely conflicted. She wasn't as worried about moving through town in dragon form. She knew at this point the townsfolk would probably not panic as much as even a few days before. And she needed to hunt. But she didn't want to simply leave Zenithe here.

Carefully, she attempted to gently grasp his cloak with her mouth and lift him onto her body. Perhaps she could carry him to somewhere more covered and safe. Dragon Jolene attempted her wings once more only to find another pathetic flap. If she had to break her way through, so be it. She was grateful her dragon form was more of a slender build than of the more bellied beasts she'd heard of or seen depicted. But still even then her size was enormous. Nevertheless, she was determined to make it back into the forest where they would have not only the cover, but also plenty of training grounds given the trees and other aspects of nature.

[Xenoxice]

((OoC: I'm going to time skip a bit here to the next night to keep things rolling .))

iC:

Eyes opening slowly to a starry night sky, Zenithe looked around to realize he wasn't where he remembered being before.  The house they were in was gone and the trees told him they were back in the forest.  But it certainly felt warmer than the previous night.  Gathering this he figured he must have been unconscious for at least twenty-four hours.  It sure felt like he had.  A headache from hell and he still felt weak.  At least it wasn't as bad as when he had fought Xavelthius and he could barely move for days.  He wanted to see if his estimate had been correct for enough recovery time.  Shifting into his normal dragon form did seem a little more strenuous than usual but that was expected.  The smooth snake like scales shining across his back in the moonlight made him smile.  He did miss this form and events as of late seem to have prevented him from being in it as much as he had liked.  Giving a few flaps of his wings to push off the ground in a test flight, he hovered in place for a few moments below the tree line before landing with a loud crack of some branches nearby that his wings had hit.  Good.... at least I have enough strength to fly.  That's all I need for now...  Looking around but not seeing his beloved, he narrowed his eyes a bit, staring up into the stars.  "Jolene... I'm awake now.  Wherever you are, please head back this way.  We have very important things to do."  He simply waited in his dragon form with a smile across his large maw.  "This will be something you don't want to miss!"

[Relairah]

Jolene had felt an instant source of relief when she had found her way back into the forest and had gone deep until she'd found a clearing of sorts, though she hadn't left Zenithe in the open for fear of Sidrith coming back for them and discovering them too easily. She had left him near it and then went to hunt and do as he'd said: train. There was much she needed to learn and adjust to in this form and she had resolved not to transform back unless it was necessary. At least for the time being. The mere idea of transforming back and forth was more than exhausting and while she was hardly one prone to give in to fear of anything and in fact, typically ran head first into danger... this was something different. And she didn't have the time she'd had in the past to take months or even years to perfect the task and all its complications. She wanted to wait until Zenithe could be right beside her for every part of it.

She was not far from him when he awoke, having managed to strengthen herself already and had even learned to poise herself on her hind legs using her tail for balance and to summon the weapons transformed into her person that Zenithe had given her to use. That, at least, was painless.

At the feel of Zenithe's presence in her mind, she lowered to all fours, a draconian smile filling her lips and she immediately headed his way, reaching him within minutes. On seeing him in dragon form for the first time since before Xavelthius, she couldn't help feeling more excitement. As she approached she slowed, reaching to touch his face with her own. "How do you feel?"

[Xenoxice]

Listening and waiting for Jolene to return, Zenithe sat down on his hind legs patiently.  Hearing her come bounding back was of great comfort to him given it wasn't her usual footsteps, but something of much greater size.  He knew she was still in her dragon form and smirked to himself.  Seeing her in front of him, now for the first time, both of them being in roughly equal size in these forms gave him a shiver of joy.  When she touched her face to his, it almost made him melt inside.  The last time he had felt another dragon touch him in such a manner was when he was but a mere child still learning his own shifting form and his mother comforted him.  "Weak still, but strong enough to teach you the necessities you will need to know.  And the first thing is what any and every dragon learns to do first.... Fly."  He stood up and turned to walk towards a nearby clearing so the trees wouldn't get in the way of her practice.  "Come, it won't be as hard as you might think actually."  As he approached the clearing, he looked back to make sure Jolene was behind him and turned around to face her, wings folded neatly by his sides.  "Okay, the first thing you need to know is that a dragon's body is an incredible creation.  So here's an interesting fact and a little of our history.  As the largest land and sky creatures in the world, our bodies have adapted over eons to ease the process of our every day activities.  The first dragons actually had a difficult time flying because they had to control each individual muscle in their wings consciously much like you do your fingers, only with very, VERY fine tune precision as the slightest movement while in the air can drastically change what occurs.  But now, our bodies are born and created in such a way that the process is almost entirely sub-conscious, much like your heart beating, and attempting to control them consciously will actually result in failure.  I'm sure you've tried to flap your wings at least a few times by now and found it extraordinarily difficult?"  He paused for a moment as he smirked a bit on one side of his mouth and continued.  "The only muscles you need to concentrate on are the ones where your wings connect directly to your back.  Don't mind anything past that point."

Very slowly, Zenithe's wings began to unfold and expand to his full wing span.  "To make it easier to understand, the muscles in that area are actually not that different from the ones in your back in human form directly between your shoulder blades.  Concentrate on what it feels like in your human form to try and push your shoulders and elbows apart, without actually moving them by using only the muscles in your back.  Do that very slowly and you should be able to achieve a full wing span.  The rest of the muscles in our wings are controlled on the sub-conscious level based on what it is we're trying to achieve.  Our bodies work WITH our minds to make things easier.  Once you achieve full wing span..." Zenithe paused a moment to lightly flap his wings up and down.  "Imagine the sensation of pushing your shoulders back and forth as a human.  Do that and then gradually speed up the frequency and strength of the wing beats until you feel your weight begin to lift off your legs.  Once you achieve that, VERY lightly push off the ground with all fours and maintain the strength and rate of flaps you had when you started feeling your weight lift.  Do this... and you should be able to hover."  As Zenithe instructed her, he showed her with his own demonstration step by step.  "The wings are the most powerful muscles in a dragons body, capable of handling your own as well as carrying up to nearly forty and even fifty times your own weight.  The bones in them are just as strong.  Once mastered, your wings can effortlessly turn a city's outer stone wall into a cloud of dust and debris just by gliding along side it and letting your wing tip rip through it.  So you can imagine the amount of force and strength involved in a fight between dragons when wings start to break.  So don't ever think that your wings aren't strong enough to fly high or very fast.  Once you can hover with relative ease, we'll start with actual flying!"

[Relairah]

Jolene nodded and followed after Zenithe into the clearing, listening to him and observing him closely. She couldn't help feeling a slight twinge of embarrassment as he knew right off the bat what she'd been trying to do and the reason she'd been unable to fly. She wasn't that surprised he'd noticed the fact she hadn't flown... she would've expected at least that.

As he talked her through the process, the muscles, the bones... she had brief flashbacks of the fight between Xavelthius and Salathen. She couldn't imagine the sort of pain Zenithe's grandfather had been in just before his death as Xavelthius had ripped into his wing. She almost shuddered at the thought... physically having them herself now. But she pushed it aside. She needed to focus.

Step by step, Jolene did exactly as Zenithe said, the idea of moving her human shoulder and elbow much easier for her to grasp than her previous attempts to flap wings and muscles she had no idea how to even process. Slowly, she followed suit, almost ecstatic as she felt her wings expand gloriously outward and finally give a powerful full flap. She could actually flap them! Her flaps gradually grew in speed and she felt it as they pushed the air currents, her body giving way and she did just as he said, jumping into the air with a little more force than she had first anticipated. She was still adjusting to her new strength. But it was better than being disappointed to find herself not even getting off the ground.

Finally, she was airborne, and she smiled at Zenithe, her fiery gaze glowing with excitement. "Well I hope the flying part comes quickly." Jolene had always been fascinated with new things... and her curiosity was at least being satiated with this part of her new form and abilities. It seemed at least for a moment, her concern with Sidrith was gone. But she knew they couldn't simply get lost in merriment together and leave whatever Sidrith had planned. Fate itself didn't speak of that. First, though, she needed to master flying... so Jolene waited for the next part of Zenithe's lesson.

[Xenoxice]

As Zenithe remained hovering just above the ground with Jolene just in front of him, he gave a slightly toothy grin. "Now the next part, is the easiest. You simply control your flight by your neck and head. Every muscle in your body will line up appropriately and move according to what you want simply by the movement of those two things. Your body will naturally follow suit. Straighten your neck out completely and look forward to fly in the direction you want to go in a straight line. Tilt your head to the left or right to bank in the respective directions and turn.  Arch your neck like you're doing now to slow down and stop into a hover or to simply slow down for a landing. And lean it completely back to do a backward loop while flying.  Eventually you'll get used to more advanced flying tactics for combat such as a tilt and minor arch to turn and stop at the same time or really any combination of two movements... Now...." Widening his smirk further into more of a mischievous grin.  "Give it all you got and lets see what you can do with that determined attitude of yours!"  With those words Zenithe did exactly as he had instructed Jolene to do, straightening his neck and looking straight up as he gave a single powerful burst with his wings, darting into the sky with great speed.

[Relairah]

Jolene was already beginning to see just how powerful her wings really were. Or rather, that a dragon's were. Even drained, Zenithe still made at least flying look so effortless... like he had even when they first met. And for herself, she didn't even feel a strain at all. Of course, she suspected that since as a human, she kept herself fit, healthy, and trained, it coincided in her dragon form. But even so. She grew excited to test exactly what she could do.

Once more Zenithe talked through every step, and she listened, absorbing every detail like she was starving for it. And finally, he was shooting upward into the air. She grinned back at him, "I'll accept that as a challenge!" she said back at him. Then, as soon as he shot skyward, she followed suit, already having at least gotten the hang of the hover and the being airborne. Now it was just navigation. And tolerating the changes in altitude. But she remembered a long time ago Zenithe explaining some of that... she was built for it now, and it would only require some training and getting accustomed.

Jolene shot skyward, truly curious to explore every single aspect of flying. She almost wanted to challenge her mate to a race... though thought at the same time she was getting ahead of herself. First, she needed to demonstrate she could do exactly as he'd instructed for going different directions. She enjoyed testing out even the smallest movements and how her body indeed followed suit. She leveled herself once she was at a sufficient height above the trees and then proceeded to turn this way and that almost in a loose and very curved zig-zag, then sharpening the movements. Her body was indeed lithe and capable... especially for its size. Then... she glanced at Zenithe, before imitating something she'd both seen him do and felt him do while riding him in human form. She angled her wings, tucking them a little closer, and stretched her body in as straight a form as she could, while then giving powerful motions that caused her to shoot forward at an incredible speed. She wanted to see just how fast she could go.