The Night of the Red Claws

Elias Cinderstorm - A short sorcerer with dark long straight hair, right side of his torso and his right arm is covered in red scales, signifying his draconic heritage. Well built, athletic.

Snow Ardos - A tall, mottled purple skinned tiefling, always accompanied by his white barn owl familiar -Quartz. Snow is a Wizard, of a rather slim build.

It rained heavily that night. Lady Moon hidden beneath a thick layer of storm clouds helped none, as the only thing that lit Elias's way were thunderbolts and the tiny flickering flame he coddled in his palm.

He was limping, Using his glaive as a crutch or a walking cane. His heart was thumping akin to the thunder's roar. He was close, he knew it. He recognized that rock, and the stream that crossed the path. "Just a little bit more," he argued with himself as he fought with the insurmountable tiredness that weighed on his shoulders and eyelids. "Just a little bit more."

It took him about an hour, but then the relief washed away the exhaustion as he saw the tip of snow's tower. He pushed forward, barely stepping on his right leg as he hobbled towards it. The Climb up the few stairs was a pain, but the sorcerer was extra careful not to slip on the wet stone and he reached the wooden door.

Elias leaned himself on the door and started to catch his breath, but then he slammed his fist against the door, and he shouted out "SNOW! Please open the door, It's me, It's Elias, please!" The desperation in his voice was clearly audible and surprisingly unlike him.

He banged on the doors a few more times, and then they opened, and Elias fell in.

"What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." Snow said with a candle in his palm. He was wrapped in a purple bathrobe and looked extremely groggy.

Elias picked himself up from the floor, resting most of his body weight on the glaive. "Snow, you, you gotta help me." He got closer to him, grabbing him by the bathrobe, his voice pleading, desperate. Trembling.

Snow snapped his fingers and the lights in the room lit up with blue, cold flames. "Alright, just sit down and tell me what happened." He answered with his warm though concerned voice.

Elias stumbled forwards, grabbing onto the nearest chair and sat down. He let out a relieved sigh, as he's been walking for almost a week with no rest. He put down his hood revealing that his head's right side was almost entirely covered in scales, most of the ones on his face have been forcefully plucked, leaving red marks and scabs. His eye now fully yellow, Iris crimson red, with a vertical pupil. But the most defining new feature of his face was a single horn growing alongside the top of his scalp ending in a sharp point.

"Oh gods." Snow whispered.

"I..." Elias started and rubbed his eyes in embarrassment, his voice cracked as he continued "It, has been growing, I couldn't hold it back. It's been slowly overtaking me." The two buttons holding up his cloak were undone and the cloak fell to the ground behind him. "Bout of anger here and there, I couldn't hold them back. They're growing stronger, and I feel like I'm on a hair trigger. But a week ago..." Elias paused as the fresh painful memory flashed in his eyes. "I was out of money, no food. Starving, honestly. It went so bad that I blacked out, but when I came back I was face deep in a deer carcass, and then it started to spread again. But the second I felt it cover the rest of my leg.." Then there was a moment of silence as a single tear rolled down his cheek as he hung down his head. Both of his hands went down to his right leg and pulled up the leg of his trousers up. Revealing a clawed, dragonlike digitigrade leg, all covered with dark red scales, tipped with sharp talons. "I could feel my bones break, hear muscle and sinew rip as my leg turned to.. this."

Snow sat there frozen in place, his eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar, struggling to let out a single word. Last time they saw each other Elias's scales were barely getting onto his thigh, and now, all it took was two years.

"Elias, I don't know what to say" he finally closed his mouth, his long tail swished behind the chair. He leaned in and took a look at the leg. A big sigh later the Tiefling had straightened his back once more and looked at the sorcerer's face. "Elias, you look like shit, let me prepare you a bed, we can talk about it in the morning, when you're rested, when was the last time you slept? Showered? Eaten?" He questioned.

"Maybe six days ago? And I ran out of rations two days ago. I've been in a lot of rush." Elias replied with a heavy sigh."I don't smell that bad."

"Oh sweetheart, you smell absolutely abhorrent, repugnant, even." he said and stood up, the tail still swishing in concern. Snow put his palm on Elias's shoulder, who flinched upon the touch. "Come, take a shower. I'll leave you some clothes, and make you some food."

Elias sniffled and stood up, he stumbled at first, but then Followed Snow up the stairs, which were a mighty challenge for the sorcerer. But eventually, one step at a time, they got to the bathroom section of the tower.

Snow opened one of the drawers pulling out some of Elias's old clothing he's stashed for later. Elias took them and closed himself off in the bathroom. The journey to the mirror was difficult, He rested his palms on the sink and took a deep deep breath, and then looked forward. In front of him was a shell of a man. Dirty, face full of old scabs, with eyebags big enough to sleep on. He moved his claw to pick at the scales, but a single thought of displeasing Snow knocked that idea out of the park. Each piece of garment slowly, over time, fell into the laundry bin. He scratched his ass and stepped into the shower.

Despite the leg working fine now, Elias remembered the moment very vividly. He was standing above the mangled corpse of the deer. Then there was an audible SNAP, and incredible warmth around his breaking tibia. He collapsed to the ground grasping at the leg with a scream stuck in his throat. His breathing fastened as he could feel the flesh in his calf move, snapping like strings on a guitar. Bundle. By. Bundle. Everything in front of Elias's eyes went pure white, as the pain was overwhelming. Then the leg snapped again, another bone, as if a twig. He felt as if his leg was about to burst open as the bones shifted and regrew in horrific tempo. Creating a new joint underneath his palm felt like It was full to the brim with molten steel, just taking its shape, Not yet ready to be cooled down.

The burning sensation of the flesh fusing back together at a new angle. Fresh skin stinging. Until it just. stopped, Leaving a pulsing pain, exaggerated by the slightest movement of a brand new muscle.

He fought back hard to keep composure, to not break in the shower. He grabbed the soap and started washing himself as he started to slowly crumble. He managed to clean all the gunk inbetween his scales and wash his hair without collapsing completely. Small victories. The Sorcerer walked out of the bathroom, dressed, and almost bumped into Snow.

"See, you look better already. You feel any better?" Snow questioned, shifting his weight to the other leg.

"Not exactly," Elias replied shortly. The confidence that once resided in this man seemed to be fleeting, or gone. He wasn't even looking Snow in the eyes like he used to.

But it was clear that he felt better in his presence, there was maybe a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"Come, I've made some food." Snow started, walked in a little closer to Elias and gently, ever so slowly took his palm. "We'll take care of this first thing in the morning. I promise." he whispered softly. Elias's hand gripped his tightly.

They stumbled to the kitchen, which smelled of freshly cooked meat among many other herbs that were strung all over to dry. Elias sat on the stool, where a fresh meal of cooked chicken, potatoes and some greens was waiting for him. He didn't even wait for cutlery, and started almost literally inhaling the food.

Snow was behind him the entire time, leaning against the opposite counter, smiling fondly, but there was a hint of worry to that kind face. They Left the kitchen shortly after, as Elias was wiping his face and claws with a piece of cloth. They climbed another flight of stairs to the guest bedroom.

"I made the bed with what I had, Get some sleep please." Snow opened the door and then rubbed Elias's shoulder, Whos palm immediately cupped his.

"Can I sleep with you? I don't want to stay alone again." He spoke, looking up to him for the first time since he entered. Elias put down his drake leg on the floor, and the claws clicked against the wood.

"Of course. I can't say no to you Elias." Snow smiled softly and tilted his head. He extended his palm back to the sorcerer. He took it, without a single second of hesitation. They walked up the last floor, and Snow opened the doors to his room. The room was cluttered but in an organised way, There were towers of books and piles of scrolls scattered across the floor in very premeditated spaces. "Remember the rules?" he asked before letting Elias in.

"Yes, be careful and don't touch anything." He said and was let inside. The boys hobbled over to the bed and Elias sighed another sigh of relief as his buttcheeks touched the soft bedding. Snow slipped under the covers, holding them up for Elias to slip under, and so he did. Though They laid a little bit apart from eachother, sorcerer kept his distance.

"I'm sorry," Elias whispered.

"For what? You haven't done anything bad." Snow hummed.

Elias sighed. "I'm a bother, a failure. I shouldn't be waking you up at night... I.."

"I will hear this no longer." Tiefling interrupted him, "You are not a bother nor a failure." He said and pulled Elias to himself by his hips.

"But,"

"No buts." He stopped Elias again as he slotted his arm underneath the sorcerer's neck, his second palm grazed the delicate skin of his hip.

The shorter one huffed in frustration, but the wizard only cuddled himself up to him. Snow has forgotten how Warm Elias was.

"I didn't want to impose myself on you. But I didn't know where else to go." Elias pressed on, his palms clutching into fists. "I wanted to be alone, and now look at me." the claw grasped his human palm clenching on it, the claws started slowly digging into his skin, but then snow's palm dissolved the tension by separating them.

Snow sighed and cuddled himself up even closer to him. "Elias You were never alone. You knew you could come here because there's someone who loves you." He said, and his palm moved up to gently touch his jaw. "I love you."

Elias froze, his breath was wavering, his heart pounding like a hammer. But there was something else. In his pants, just above the buttcheeks something was wiggling.

There was a moment of silence before snow picked up again.

"Elias, do..." He paused for a short second. "Do you have a tail?" Snow questioned and moved his palm to the wiggling thing.

"Yea, it's been there for a while, just dont touch it cause.." As soon as Snow did touch it, Elias jolted, his spine straightening, as he let out a pitiful whimper. "Its delicate"

"It's adorable." Snow hummed and left the nubby tail alone, mildly distracted by the wagging against his stomach. Elias didn't comment on the matter any further, as he didn't want Snow to touch the tail any more. They laid there in silence for a while, Snow remained awake up until the point where he could say that his friend had passed out peacefully. He wrapped his long tail around Elias's ankle and finally Yawned, all the exhaustion and sleepiness finally hitting him again. He closed his eyes and so he was gone too.

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Elias turned around, letting out a quiet groan. His hand fell onto the empty space that snow was supposed to be in. He immediately opened his eyes and jerked himself upright with a loud gasp. Just to notice Snow was reading a book on a chair nearby. With a relieved sigh he fell back down onto the fluffy pillows.

"I was wondering when you're going to wake up." Snow hummed and picked up a white porcelain cup of fresh smelling coffee. He put down his thick, blue book onto the counter with a surprisingly loud thud. "Sorry, I couldn't stay in bed for so long, my back started aching." He explained himself as he took a single sip and grimaced.

"How long have I slept?" Elias asked without moving from the mountains of pillows. He wasn't looking as exhausted anymore, though it was clear he needed a kiss on the forehead and another two days of rest. His hand rose to pick at the scales on his face once again, but Snow cleared his throat and Elias's hand fell back down onto the bed.

"Well, it's well past noon." He said and very carefully circled the desk, in a manner that looked like it was practised million times and has reached perfection. None of the stacks of books, scrolls or various items were disturbed. "But you look like you need a few more of these to fully get back to health." Snow hummed, resting his buttcheeks on the other side of the desk.

Elias propped himself up again. Used his claw to comb his hair onto the right side, to cover as many scales as he could, but then he was reminded of the horn poking out, so he flipped them to the left. He uncovered himself from underneath the covers and looked at the Drake-like leg, covered in opalising crimson scales.

"You know you should start using it. It's gonna get atrophied and then you're going to have problems with it." Snow said and pointed to the leg. And Elias knew he was right, But his nerve endings still burned with the memory, it was living in between his synapses.

Elias moved the leg, its three toes bent and straightened as Elias commanded them to.

"You're right, I should start getting used to it." Elias hissed and moved to the edge of the bed, where the claws touched the cold wood. He straightened his shirt, and made a movement to stand up, trying to weigh on the legs equally. At first he swayed, he took a step and almost collapsed but managed to catch himself on the bedframe. "Ahn. Fuck." He straightened up again with effort, but this time Snow approached him and offered him his hand. Elias took it up with his claw, and with his support they managed to get to the door without bumping any of the towers.

"See, You're a natural." Snow encouraged him with a warm smile, seeing that, Elias's shoulders relaxed a little bit, though he still was nervously clutching at his palm. They approached the spiral stairs "Come on, it's just a few steps to the kitchen." Snow continued to hold his palm. Elias grabbed the railing, and they went down, step by step. His claws were clicking against the hardwood stairs. Slowly yet with determination they finally managed to get down two flights of stairs.

"Why must you have so many stairs?" Elias groaned as he entered the kitchen and sat on a stool.

"It's a tower, Elias." Snow snickered and turned on the stove, putting a pretty kettle on top of it, for tea. Snow took a small porcelain cup for himself and a bigger mug for Elias, And as he was preparing the tea leaves for them, Elias's claws clicked against the floor. The Sorcerer approached the tiefling from behind, embracing him gently, clutching on his clothing. "Still feeling bad, hm?"

"Yeah." Elias replied shortly, pushing his cheek against Snow's back. Snow sighed, his palms moved onto Elias's, their fingers interwoven. "Thank you, I don't know what I would've done without you." he said and his thumbs gently grazed Snow's hands.

"I haven't done much yet." Snow replied. He has done some reading, contacted a friend, but everything was still up in the air.

"But youre here, for me." Elias chimed, for the first time since he entered with something other than a sad or upset tone. Snow turned around slowly and embraced Elias in a hug, but they didnt pat eachother on the back in the awkward male fashion. The hug lasted for a while, at least until the water went off. Elias blindly reached out and turned off the burner with his claw. Afterwards he sighed and let go of Snow, but he cupped Elias's face in his hands, and touched his forehead with his own. They both closed their eyes, enjoying the moment. Elias exhaled softly, Snow lifted his head and left a small smooch on his forehead, just under the horn.

Snow carefully and meticulously brewed their tea, added sugar to his own, honey and a slice of lemon to Elias's. Snow remembered how to treat him. Sorcerer took his mug, blew a little into the mug, to cool it down and took a sip. Afterward was only a pleased humm. The earthy notes of the tea, mixed with the dense sweetness of honey and mild sourness of the lemon washed over his throat, soothing it.

Meanwhile Snow watched as Elias was melting away sitting in his stool, tips of his claws tapping against the floor tiles happily.

"That's what I like to see." Snow hummed and took a sip of his tea, revelling in its rich flavour.

Elias looked up from his mug. "What do you mean?" a hint of confusion painted on his face.

"You, happy, even if for a second." Snow mused and smugly lifted the teacup to his lips.

Elias pouted almost immediately, turning his face away, even if just to hide the blush on his cheeks.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. Let me cherish this moment, in your time of struggle." Snow bent forward almost to Elias's eye level. Elias finally gave in and looked the tiefling in the eyes. "Good." he hummed.

Elias went back to his mug, drinking from it once more, now that the liquid has cooled a little.

But Snow thought that this was the perfect time to Let him know.

"Elias. I think my colleague has found a way to help you. Temporarily." He spoke in a soft, tender voice as if to not rustle too many feathers on Elias's back.

Sorcerer's head meanwhile shot up almost immediately. "What? How?" they questioned, full of surprise and shock. He thought himself completely irreparable, but now, the hope returned.

The wizard nodded slowly "He says that there's a series of artifacts, and one of them, the necklace of draconic temperance, was used in some dragonborn ritual, where they inhibited their draconic heritage." He started, mixing his tea with a spoon. "But the problem is, to make it you need expensive and rare reagents, and even then the power of the necklace expires after it absorbs enough draconic essence."

Elias rose from his chair almost as if in a hurry. "We, We have to try. We must! It's my only chance."

"Steady there. It's still currently under testing and investigation. I should know more tomorrow." He drank the rest of his tea and put the cup aside. "This is the best I've found so far."

"You wizards and your wizardy stuff." Elias said dismissively, even though his heart was pounding. He drank his tea in a hurry and put the mug in the sink after throwing out the leaves. "So now we wait, yeah?"

The entire afternoon and evening were taken by Snow helping Elias get comfortable walking on his own, not putting the entire weight of his body to one side. By the afternoon Sorcerer could slowly walk without Snow holding him up, as it seems the brand new joints needed a little stretch before they could be properly used.

By the evening Elias walked on his own and at a moderate walking speed, even though it still kind of looked as if he was limping on one leg. The big discovery for Elias was that he could now pick stuff up with his leg as the toes were prehensile enough for him to comfortably grab stuff with his claws and pass it up.

In the evening the boys went to bed again. Elias no longer staying far away from Snow, now nicely slotted by his hips, in a tight warm cuddle.

"Thank you again for.. Well everything." Elias hummed while idly playing with wizard's fingers.

Snow's other hand was once again grazing on Elias's hip, gently tracing a bit of the v-line that was poking from his underwear. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me, Elias."