Zayla "Bjartskular" Vael; Draconic Arbitrator [OTY WISH CHARACTER]

» Name: Zayla Vael
» Titles: “Bjartskular”, The Last Vael(Formerly), Draconic Arbitrator
» Age: She looks quite young for her age, being 5200 years old; appearing no more older than an 18 year old. To some, she looks even younger.
» Gender: Female
» Affiliation/Rank: Current Matriarch of the Vael family; Arianda’s Mother.

» Alignment: Neutral Good

» Marital Status: Married to Mirin

» Nationality: Earth-Demon?

» Height: 5'7"

» Sexual Orientation: Bi-Sexual

» Hair Color: White

» Eye color: Red

» True Appearance Written: Despite being over 5000 years old, being 5200 exactly, Zayla looks no older than 18 years old. Her skin, like her own mother’s, is dark in hue. Her hair, which extends down slightly past her backside, is white, which she ties up oddly at the top for some reason. Her eyes, meanwhile, are red, bringing a very stark contrast to the rest of her form. Zayla stands at 5’7” and has an occasional inch or two boost in height based on the shoes she is wearing. Her attire varies widely, but most people who see her on the move will see Zayla in what appears to be battle attire. Said attire consists of a mail breastplate hidden underneath leather and cloth armor; which create a sort of dress-like appearance thanks to how the bottom creates a skirt. On the hips of the skirt are small bits of armor that look more decorative than honestly useful. She has gloveless gauntlets on her arms, and small elbow guards attached to the gauntlets. Her upper arms are exposed, which is only within reason thanks to her demonic blood. She also has a skirt of cloth coming off the two armored pieces on her hips. On her legs, Zayla wears almost full leg armor; greaves on her lower leg, a knee cop on her knees, and Cuisses on her thighs. However, instead of metal boots, she has strong leather boots that line the inside of her leg armor; going all the way up to her upper thighs, where they stop and leave some slightly vulnerable skin. Despite appearances, however, the woman is well protected by a shield, the sword, or gunblade, she wields, and the four dragons that are bonded to her heart and soul.

» True Appearance Picture:




» Arianda Vael: Her daughter, and only technical “heir”. She was kidnapped when she was only about 20 years old. For a demon, that wasn’t technically terribly old given how long they could live; and how long Zayla has lived. Zayla has not seen her daughter in over 200 years and is desperate to see her again. Even if Zayla knows where she lives, she knows that, eventually, Ari must come to her.

» Mirin Kikumoto Vael: Zayla’s wife, and the other mother to Arianda Vael. A woman of surprising kindness and sweet disposition despite the fact she was once an extremely accomplished warrior; having killed many a foe. Frankly, Zayla was almost to be one of said foes, but during their clash, Mirin had fallen for someone who could finally best her; the rest, is history. She was the one to bear Ari and is Zayla’s greatest love and support in times of hardship. Throughout the years of Ari’s absence, she has been eternally grateful to have met her.

» Hinoe: A dear friend to Zayla and Mirin, a woman who had spent only three years with Zayla and Mirin but had swiftly grown close to them. To this day, Zayla feels a close connection to the woman, and would love to see her as often as time allows. Not to mention, Hinoe was very close to staying with Zayla and Mirin if not for her own familial obligations; which Zayla understands perfectly.




» Personality:

» Aloof: As she is, Zayla is a very secretive person; along with preferring to keep her distance from most people in general. This was born out of necessity thanks to her time alone after the massacre of her family. The problem is, she has social skills, but because of what had happened to her, she has no desire to honestly interact with people. If need be, she can be nice. However, making friends is not her strong-suit, and sometimes she ends up being a bit blunt on accident when she means well. Overall, she may indeed be a kind woman at heart, but thousands of years alone has caused her to be very reclusive.

» Bookworm: Books. Reading. Zayla positively loves them. She has enjoyed reading ever since she was a child, at least for a demon. This means that, not only does Zayla have a large personal library with the recovered tomes from her family’s own library, but she also reads at every spare opportunity. She’ll even read aloud to some of the baby dragons, even though they understand little of her words. However, she’ll often read with Mirin in bed before they both fall asleep. If you catch Zayla with a book in her hands, it’s probably the most normal thing one will see.

» Kind: Despite Zayla’s relatively cold exterior, she is actually a very kind woman. When one first meets Zayla, they will meet the cold, aloof woman that has become a façade for the outer world. However, get to know Zayla, and you will start to see the honest woman within. A little silly, perhaps, but overall, she is very kind. Some of her mannerisms are also quite a lot like Ari’s own, which is only right, given Ari learned a lot of them from Zayla herself. Regardless, she is a woman who, in the right circumstance, will be the kindest demon anyone may ever know.

» Draconic Fury: There is always a flip side to a coin, like there is always a flip side to the kindness of a person. Zayla, like most beings, gets angry. However, Zayla’s temper has been augmented by the bond she shared with her draconic companion, Scáth, has increased the limits of her anger, her fury. This means that if Zayla becomes honestly and truly angry, run. She is a force to be reckoned with when out of control, and only family should even bother with trying to temper her rage. Such anger is not easy to provoke, but when it is provoked, her anger is absolute.

» Withdrawn: Due to the thousands of years Zayla had spent on her own, with only dragon companions who need only touch her mind to communicate, Zayla had become a rather withdrawn person. She could have become a tiny bit of an introvert, in all truth. Regardless, when Zayla is in an area populated by people, especially people she doesn’t know, the woman will mostly keep to herself; deciding it is best to just leave them be and go on her way. This can cause a few issues, because she doesn’t talk and state her problems or desires as often as she should; but luckily, she has Mirin to help her work on that.

» Loving: Zayla has always had a deep love for her family, and for the four dragons that are bonded to her; along with dragons in general. However, when it comes to falling in love with someone, only Mirin has been able to hold her heart. Regardless, Zayla is an incredibly compassionate woman once you get past the protective shell around her personality. Her capability to love can even be surprising to a demon like Mirin; whose specialty is lust and love.

» Fierce Determination to Protect: Ever since Zayla lost her family in an immense massacre; Zayla has always been extremely determined to protect those she loves. This has become such a huge part of her being that, even though Mirin is an extremely capable warrior, she would still protect her; even while knowing Mirin can handle herself. Zayla simply cannot fathom the thought of losing another loved one; and she certainly will not let it happen ever again.

» Familial Duty: Because of Zayla’s training when she was a child, and when she became older, she has always had an immense sense of duty; especially towards her family. It is the duty of the Vael to protect Dragons. Of course, Zayla would occasionally expand that duty to be able to protect those who cannot protect themselves. However, Zayla’s commitment to her familial duty is a great representation of how she will not lose her family ever again; even if it did waver in the times where she had lost her daughter.

» A Little Goofy: Much like her daughter, if Zayla has warmed up around you, she can be a little silly. Not in the ugly ways, more in the ways she jokes and plays around. This is only shown when Zayla is not putting up her walls to protect herself. When she is safe, and with those she loves, Zayla honestly shows that, like her daughter, she has a fun side under it all.

DEMON APPLICATION CONTINUED

The Early Vael family, long before Zayla was born nor thought of, was a very simple, insular, demon family. Prone to keeping to themselves, the Vael family was prone to falling behind the curve on the technological advancement of the rest of demon world. This, of course, led to disadvantages in clashes where technology was brought. However, the Vael made up for their traditional styles of combat. Mastery of the weapon was the Vael family pinnacle, and magic was what one studied along with the blade. This traditional leaning of combat led to a great many victories, but a great many defeats. As the Vael family mostly kept to themselves, choosing isolation over fraternizing with the rest of demon world as much as possible, the most remote areas to life were their homes. Isolated deserts, abandoned ruins, unforgiving wastelands, and anything else that was hospitable to demon life.

During the Vael family's wanderings to secure a home fit for their desires of isolation, they came across great winged beasts that could breathe fire. The only term fit for such majestic, but terrifying, beasts was "Dragon". However, these beasts only existed on the plane of demon world, completely separate from the already existing dragons in the world of the living. They were, essentially, beasts that thrived and evolved on Demon World. Whomever, or whatever, created them had created them in the image of what most consider to be the traditional dragon; four legs being the greatest indication for this. Wings, tails, heads, and bodies normally accompanied said legs, of course. However, these beasts were no lame creature. In fact, these dragons had immense intelligence, and too sought a form of solitude from demons at large. After all, a dragon skull was quite the fantastic trophy.

The Vael family had no way to prepare when encountering such creatures, and no way to properly fight them without causing untold mayhem. Frankly speaking, the Vael did their best to try and distance themselves. However, it did not take long before the beasts notice the presence of the wayward demons, and confronted them. Tense air was all that surrounded the demons and the demon world dragons, nothing but instincts to defend themselves preventing the moment of attack. Soon, however, a singular demon came forth, an elder by the name of Andrea, and attempted to converse with the dragons. Surprised by their intelligence, discussions swiftly began between the dragons and the Vael family. Discussions of peace, deals, and perhaps even more. The Vael were quite taken with the beasts before them. Not to hunt them, far from it. They wished to be with the beasts, to live amongst them in solitude and safety. From this, an accord was struck.

The accord in particular was one of a magically binding nature. The Vael, and these dragons, created a bond between them with kinds of magic that have been long lost to the Vael family. The bond did not alter the demons of the Vael family, nor those to come, in any way. Strictly speaking, it blessed the dragons with the ability to converse in humanoid dialect, instead of their own fiercer tongues. Not to mention, it also brought on the capability for future Vael children to be blessed with a dragon egg and become bonded with the dragon that hatched from the egg. However, it wasn't so simple.

After even more discussions, it was conceived that the dragon inside of the egg should choose their "rider", for a lack of a better term, and decide whom they wished to be with. This way, ill partnerships would not be formed. A piece of magic was then conceived, magic that would allow the dragon to remain unhatched in it's egg indefinitely; until it found it's rider. The egg would also be incredibly hard to break open, requiring a great deal of force; but that came at the risk of harming, if not killing, the dragon inside. From there came the issue of how to connect the hatched dragon and the Vael child. A bond would need to be created, a bond that would link the minds of the dragon and Vael; a bond that would empower them both, and cause them to become partners of mind, body, and soul. This bit of magic was most complex, and multiple Vael spellcasters nearly lost their lives in order to conceive it. Woven into every unborn dragon that was gifted to the Vael, into the very dragon itself, was a spell that would activate the moment it hatched for the child. It would place a unique seal upon the dragon and the Vael child in question, creating a bond stronger than normal marks and seals created. The intention was to make it so that, even at great lengths, a rider and their dragon could stay in contact. Of course, like everything, such contact had its limits. However, the implications were far greater than one could ever dream.

Most of those bonded to the dragons would slowly begin to adopt features from the extended bond. Some Vael gained scales, other simply gained strength akin to their beasts, and a few very rare cases could even breathe the element their dragons could breathe. Ones prowess would even be slightly enhanced thanks to the link. However, it was a two way street. Their dragon also grew in power along with their rider, gaining abilities they may not have possessed as a wild dragon. As time passed, it became tradition to present Vael who had come of age, or had completed extensive training, would come and be chosen by one of the dragon eggs that the family still possessed. Even more traditional, each Vael, when they became old enough, were taught the complex spells that were used to imbue the dragon eggs with the magic that would help felicitate the bond. While the magic would last indefinitely, without an outside source of energy, if anyone failed to pass on the tradition, it could very easily be simply... wiped out.

As further time passed the Vael, and their Unique dragons, became even more reclusive to the rest of Demon World. Their village in isolation grew, settling down in what was figured to be the best place for them. Their culture grew until the notion of needing a "Village Chief" became quite clear. Eventually, a system was put in place to elect a leader by popular vote; and the ability to usurp if anyone became displeased. Of course, it was swiftly decided that the one to become village chief should be an elder, if only to prevent the inexperienced from being in a position of greater power. The rider, and dragon if they had one, would become the de facto leader of the Vael until they stepped down, died, was impeached, or was somehow removed from their position. In fact, the woman, Andrea, who had started the Vael family upon this path of living with, and bonding with, dragons became the very first Matriarch of the Vael. Of course, the male demons of the family who became chief were oft called Patriarch in contrast.

In the thousands of years to come, the Vael family became a secretive and insular family; allowing no more than themselves and choice outsiders to be near them. Otherwise, they kept to themselves and kept their family and the dragons that lived with them safe. After all, the Vael family, while well skilled in the methods of traditional combat and weapon forging, were still abysmally behind on technology; and not even a great beast like the dragons of demon world could contend with such advancements. However, their isolation kept them safe, and the Vael family thrived for many a year; happy with their lot in life. As always, nothing every lasts that long.



Zayla was born a little bit over 5000 years ago, around 5200 years, and was born to the Vael's as an extremely promising child; a prodigy in fact. She seemed to have a great affinity with dragons, even as she was only a babe. It was regular to find smaller dragons, and baby dragons, cuddled up to her in her cradle as if she was a precious gem to be protected. She was born to two Vael’s whose names only Zayla knows but never speaks of; given they weren’t terribly kind parents. Her years as a babe were quite long in comparison to some other demons. It was theorized, at the time, she took upon the traits of the dragons around her just slightly; causing a longer infantile phase, at least for a demon. This resulted in Zayla spending her time as a baby for around the normal human timespan, which was around three to four years. However, after her maturity into what could be referred to as a demon teenager, her training began with gusto.

Zayla’s youth isn’t what one would call loving or fantastic. Because of her prodigal status, and her ability to sit around with dragons and have them act completely tame without any connection, she was brought into training at around 7 human years, which was a very early age to start training: even for a demon. Even though Zayla had the equivalent body of an older teenager, it didn’t stop the training from being abysmal. Working with blades, magic, dragon training, and various other methods to train her mind and body. Truth be told, Zayla was glad for this extremely rigorous training later in life; because it made her far more prepared than the rest of her family, surprisingly enough. Not to mention, it led to Zayla being powerful far earlier than any other Vael child at the time. This training regime was, honestly speaking, the reason why she was alive even to the modern day.

During her training, Zayla endured all sorts of hardships. Paramount among them was how her parents treated her. They treated her with love and adoration at first. However, as Zayla got older, and her training went on and became even more rigorous, their relationship started to become filled with snake’s venom. It was like the loving parents had been swiftly replaced with vindictive demons who desired only Zayla’s success, and not her happiness. This led to Zayla flagging even farther in her training, reducing her effectivity overall. Not only was it disheartening, but it was also immensely frustrating. As far as Zayla could tell, her parents no longer believed in her; and she wasn’t sure she had the will to keep trying to be as great as the family believed her to be.

However, in the shape of a living blessing, Zayla’s aunt, whose name was Arianor, had helped the young prodigy of a demon recover her confidence with honest love and compassion that her parents had ceased to give her. It was honestly what had saved Zayla in her youth, and her aunt, on her mother’s side, had gained her complete unconditional love and gratitude.

As Zayla matured, she became stronger from rigorous hours and days of training. Her techniques with weaponry had increased in immense leaps and strides, showing how easily she had taken to various fighting forms and weapons overall. However, it seemed like her favorite was any type of sword, and especially swordsmanship in general. This led to Zayla working mostly with a sword when she could, and occasionally adding work in with a shield. However, the demon wasn’t focusing on only the sword. She worked on a whole range of weapons; with very little of them being what one would call modern for today’s standards. Regardless, the demon loved her work with weaponry.

It took about 20 years before Zayla had fully matured and her training was complete enough for her to come of age and hopefully be chosen by a dragon egg and have an eternal partner for her life; aside from any demon she may take for a mate/wife/husband. It was so that Zayla awaited for her time after her training was relatively complete; resuming a steady stream of training to keep herself in shape and on form.



It took another two years before Zayla was considered ready by the eldest dragon -- which just happened to be the Chief's dragon -- and the current Vael Chief, The Matriarch, to come and be presented before the current set of eggs that may choose a Vael child to bond with or not. The process was extremely formal and required Zayla to be in a very specific garb; something akin to a shrine-maiden’s outfit, in fact. Of course, Zayla wasn’t the only Vael child to be in line for being chosen.

The ceremony that followed was extravagant and likely born out of years of continuous performance; attempting to liven it up a bit for the sake of everyone there. Unfortunately, it tended to annoy the dragons and certain Vael more often than not. However, as the ceremony progressed, most of the hopeful Vael Children who were present to be chosen as a bonded Vael were all ignored by every single present egg; hopes crushed as none hatched for them. There was one girl who had an egg hatch for her, a distant relative of Zayla’s in fact, but everyone else who was present was not chosen by a dragon. Soon, however, it was Zayla’s turn.

During Zayla’s choosing of her egg, something happened that was extremely unique; even for a situation like that of the Vael family. Normally, when a Vael is chosen to be bonded with, they will only receive one dragon from one egg. This meant that each Vael wouldn’t become overtly powerful from number of bonds alone; after all, the strength of a bonded Vael is increased thanks to their close bond with their dragon, which goes the other way for the bonded dragon as well.

However, during Zayla's turn, long after all but that relative of Zayla’s had left, Zayla reached out to touch a single black egg. During and after her contact with the egg, a bright glow emanated from three more much smaller eggs. The three smaller eggs rolled forward of their own accord and burst open in musical harmony with the larger black egg that Zayla had touched. Before anyone could do anything, each dragon had immediately touched Zayla and all four had bonded to the woman. If not for Zayla’s own already great strength, and her affinity with dragons, she very well could have died from the flood of pain, energy, and the sheer amount of thoughts and emotions from new minds.

In those instants after, Zayla had fallen unconscious, her four dragons curled up around her; the bigger black dragon cradling Zayla’s head on its curled up body. While Zayla lay unconscious, it was decided that, without her knowledge or immediate consent, she would keep the four dragons; no matter how unprecedented that was. Zayla was the first Vael since the Danava that created the dragons and charged them with this purpose to be bonded with more than one dragon. She was also mostly given this honor because the three smaller dragons would likely be only familiars due to their size and overall capability to gain power. Meanwhile, Zayla’s dragon, the one that chose her, would become much stronger than anyone could honestly guess. Regardless, that left Zayla with a very happy life starting as one of the bonded. Once Zayla was awake, she named the black dragon, who was a girl, Scáth. The other three dragon were named Azdaha, Saphira, and Dracul.


After becoming bonded with her dragons, Zayla started a life of learning to take care of all of them at once, which caused her to be quite busy outside of her training hours. Because of this, she took little notice of what was happening inside of the family at large. People were growing… jaded about something Zayla was not privy too. However, she was far more concerned about properly raising her four dragons. Because of how baby dragons were trained, it caused them to be left out in the wild where they fended for themselves with little intervention from elder dragons or Vael unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, they were allowed to mature on their own; becoming stronger and older from pure field experience before training started with their demon.

This led to all four of Zayla’s dragons growing well, and becoming very strong, intelligent, and cunning thanks to their time spent growing in the wild with the occasional visits from Zayla. Once they were allowed together again, completely, they began full training in earnest. It would take another few months before Scáth was old enough for Zayla to rid her. However, that didn’t mean all the dragons couldn’t train in air and ground combat. With the help of an elder dragon, Zayla’s four dragons learned swiftly, and all quickly became the pride and joy of the Vael family. As Zayla matured, everyone continued to whisper rumors about believing that Zayla would become the next matriarch, that she was the strongest Vael since the last matriarch, who was approaching a very ripe age and was fixing to retire. Such rumors gained Zayla the title of “Bjartskular”, bright scales, due to how bright her future many elders believed it to be. These ware just that, rumors, and Zayla refused to let them go to her head. Regardless, it made things much more difficult for the demon to fully get along with her fellow family members based around the pure fact that none of them liked the idea of Zayla becoming matriarch; not even Zayla herself.

Her only friend at the time remained the only other Vael child who had successfully bonded with a dragon at the same time she had. Of course, at first, the girl was a little jealous that Zayla had four dragons; but it was something swiftly overcome by spending time together. Contrary to everyone’s believe, Zayla didn’t like feeling special, and she didn’t like getting all sorts of special attention. Even if her parents liked it, Zayla just wanted to be able to live her life and do things with her dragons; protect her family. This girl, she understood, and this understanding turned into friendship, which blossomed into something more as their time together went on.

This demon was not Mirin, in fact it was a member of Zayla’s own family; albeit distantly. Demons, depending on their traditions, didn’t care for incest or anything like that. Love was love, and there was no shame in it. This is what lead to Zayla and Kiria becoming very close and tantamount to lovers due to all the time they spent together. One tentative test, a simple kiss out of curiosity, was all it took; and they sparked the fire. Frankly speaking, those years while her and Kiria were together were the best she had aside from being with her dragons out on missions or training. The two demon girls were honestly inseparable and often went out on missions together when allowed; even their patrols were synced up. It was an odd mix, as all the old demons of the Vael family would gossip about, but neither of them cared. Love is such a pure element that very little can taint it… very little indeed.


This was a confluence of events that none had expected. Even if the Vael family had been omniscient, they would never have seen this coming from inside themselves. Some of the Vael who had not gotten an egg and was never made to understand that they could try again next year, had left for their own pastures. This had caused a bit of tension in the family, but the issues were overall ignored due to the family’s intense desires for perfection. However, that didn’t stop some families from trying to search.

Frankly speaking, it was as if the demons who had left simply… disappeared. It took a few decades before the families finally stopped searching, and everything seemed to have calmed. At this time, Zayla and Kiria were at the point where they were essentially married; bonded for life. They even had been trying to conceive, with a surprising lack of success. Regardless, the two women were happy, and their dragons had all become fully grown in the expanse of many years of training and growing together. It was during one of those happy nights where everything… everything went wrong.

A sect of demons, filled with a few ex-Vael’s who had been stripped of their names after this horrible night, had come upon the Vael family in the dead of night; killing with extreme prejudice. The alarm hadn’t even been sounded because, the Matriarch had been killed by her own son while she was sleeping; her dragon slaughtered like a pig. Zayla only knew something was wrong when a piercing shriek exploded through her mind like a lance; a being crying out in its last moments, or in fear. Eyes open, head reeling from her slumber, and Kiria rising beside her, Zayla set her eyes upon a column of smoke, raging fire, and the beginning of the end.

Zayla tried to make Kiria leave with the dragons, knowing that she very well could have been with child; they had no way of knowing right now, especially given how long they had been trying before now. No matter what, Zayla could not lose her; but Kiria refused to leave, opting to stay and fight. She could not convince her nor make her leave, and Zayla knew it could be either a terrible choice or the right one.

As the night wound on and on, the corpses of he family piled higher, unbonded dragons fled into the night to hidden havens of their own, and even bonded dragons were either fleeing or dying with the partner of their heart. It was disgusting, and Zayla even recognized someone on the opposing side. In a furious rage, Zayla set to beating back the invaders who were trying to kill her family, claim their treasures, and steal their dragon eggs or dragons. She wouldn’t let either of those happen. In the end, however, everything fell apart.

It was as if someone knew exactly where everyone would be, exactly who would be on guard, and exactly what to do in order to completely flabbergast and kill the Vael. As the night wore on and on, even Zayla had to watch as her own parents were cut down; their dragons long falling before them. To think such strong people, such strong beasts, could be felled… but demons were strong and destructive in their own right. As it was, Zayla hardened her nerves and kept fighting, her dragons and Zayla herself earning a collection of minor wounds; but nothing serious. And her lover, her wife at the time, fought alongside her.

Eventually, corpses lines the burning streets and buildings of the small village that was the Vael family; men, women, children, and dragons spared not an iota of mercy. They were to be wiped out, completely massacred by these rogue demons who decided that their way of life was not to be tolerated. And soon, far too soon, only five bonded dragons remained; and two Vael, Zayla and Kiria. They were alone now, surrounded by the demons who desired to kill them so dearly, but could get no closer thanks to how Zayla had slain every single being who meant her, or those around her, harm. However, even Zayla was not without her faults.

As Zayla engaged a particularly difficult enemy, her dragons and Kiria’s circling them above, a demon ran out from behind Zayla. The demon aimed to finally land a blow on the woman, even if it meant death. And indeed, it did mean death; just not that of the demon who was attacking. Not immediately anyway. When he strove forward to impale Zayla, Kiria got in the way of his blade, intending to parry it away but, instead, found herself being stabbed straight through the heart. Surprise marred her features; and the demon before her. But he recovered faster, twisting his blade and cutting downwards; earning a shriek of pain from Kiria, and an immense roar from up above. However, both sounds were nowhere near as loud as the roaring inside of Zayla’s own ears.

As if the demon before her never posed a threat, she dispatched the being, and swifly dispatched the demon who was attempting to send Kiria to the grave. In that instant, Zayla dropped her weapons and Kiria’s dragon slammed down to the ground; launching into a fiery torrent of a rage, uncontrollable, unyielding. There Zayla grasped her dying lover, watching as the light of life flickered in her eyes and blood poured down out of the woman from the rend in her chest and from her mouth. Zayla would have tried to heal her, but before the spells came to her mind, Kira had reached up, gave Zayla the last kiss she could ever have given her… and the light of life passed from her eyes and from her being.

It was like a hole had been bored inside of Zayla’s chest… a hole bigger than Zayla could have thought would fit inside of her chest, inside of her heart. Silent tears dripped from her eyes and onto the still form of Kiria as the woman’s dragon fought to its own death, taking more with them than anyone else in the battle had; aside from Zayla. Soon… Kiria’s dragon was gone as well, driven mad by the death of the partner of its heart. Now… it was only Zayla. Her lover, gone, her possible child, gone, her parents and family? GONE. It was as if Zayla felt something break within herself, and intense desire to maim, maul, and murder tore through her being as if she was truly becoming the beasts she had bonded with so many years ago. And, when a demon came forth to strike her down as she mourned her lover, the demon lost their head in one, swift zealous motion. Zayla was standing before the demon's head had even hit the ground. Zayla was beyond furious, beyond angry, beyond the emotions of rage and anger that should be tearing through her being. Instead, she felt emptiness... and that emptiness turned to a boiling hot inferno that threatened to consume her entire being in nothing but FURY. She looked so calm, so… without emotion, but the raging inferno of emotions inside her threatened to overflow, to break her body like a sad excuse for a shell. She grabbed her weapon, left her shield, and her emotions overflowed in a terrifying cry; a cry that sounded almost like the roar of a majestic beast. She set to work, to avenge her family.

It was like Zayla had truly become a dragon in this one moment, her hands became deadly claws, her mouth the powerful maw of a dragon, and even her breath like that of pure fire. She tore through everyone that remained alive in the enclosure, everyone who intended to hurt her, everyone who had killed her family, and everyone who had taken her happiness away. There was nothing but blood... blood, screams, death, and the stench of iron; and the screech of gore crows as he battle settled. And then, it was over… Zayla kneeled there, above the corpse of her late lover, a stream of silent tears disturbing the blood that was on her face. Her dragons descended to comfort her, help her where she needed. Zayla picked up her lover, used magic to repair her body so that Kiria looked as if she had never been injured… and then Zayla set about the daunting task of burying her entire family… alone save for the partners of her heart. At the end of it all, a graveyard full of an entire family, Zayla realized one single truth; something that filled her being and hurt her soul.

She truly was the last of her family; the Last Vael.


After her entire family had been massacred by a sect of jealous demons who had engineered methods to kill them in ways that no Vael nor dragon could anticipate, Zayla was so close to being alone; her only company that of her dragons. Those five, Zayla and her four dragons, were the last remaining of the Vael family: of the Vael legacy. Of course, the unbonded dragons still lived, they fled the moment the Matriarch had perished. However, they clearly had not returned, having no one to call them back, for Zayla was nowhere near strong enough to be able to use the Matriarch’s methods to return the unbonded dragons. Instead, after the long and arduous process of burying every single member of her family, her parents and Kiria having the most grandeur for their graves, Zayla set to salvaging what she could from her destroyed home.

During Zayla’s process of salvaging food, supplies, and what useful tomes her main dragon could carry in her saddle bags, she stumbled upon a rather old tome in the “elder’s only” section of the library. Inside the tome was information on a set of rings, a set of twelve, that could grant the user a set of three powers as possibilities; but what caught Zayla’s attention was their ability to resurrect someone. The demon clung to this bit of information, desperate in her desire for her family to return; desperate to see her lover again and resume their life together. Perhaps the rings were only capable of resurrecting a single person, but that was enough for the now heartbroken demon; the only fire being brought to her heart since she started the process of burying her entire family. Zayla didn’t know where to search, other than Earth. Zayla couldn’t have prepared any more swiftly, but she still did her best to prepare as swiftly as possible.

Supplies, every book on Earth her family had, books on natural methods of survival, along with some of her family’s most powerful methods of dragon concealment. She could never take everything, so the rest she hid well in the ruins of her family home; and the rest she took with her in saddlebags. A lamenting look towards home was all Zayla allowed herself before she, and her three smaller dragons, hopped on top of Scáth and flew for the horizon; Zayla weaving a portal through worlds to a safe place they could land and use as a base. Zayla found this place based on a rather interesting check through her family’s library; an area called Europe. At this period of human history they weren’t so widespread, so Zayla found herself an isolated forest and mountain that were close to the Mediterranean sea; and offered her a great hiding place for herself and her four dragons. Of course, Scáth would always be difficult to hide.

Because of Zayla’s near constant search for the whereabouts of the rings, rumors that may lead her to them, she may have accidentally help start the rumors about dragons in very early humanity. She couldn’t account for the Asians, because her dragons didn’t look anything like the ones Zayla had with her, but she started seeing a more frequent uptake in the years that followed. Humans worshipping dragons, finding “evidence” of dragons, and a whole bunch of other things that caused Zayla to try and only travel by night when she could. After all, she needn’t expose herself to humanity.

In all her years of searching, which was now starting to become close to a millennia, she had only one lead; an odd island off the cost of Japan. From her research, she had discovered it’s name; Yamatai. Even if Zayla had learned a good chunk of human languages, so that way she could converse with locals while disguised, the records she found of this island seemed to be rather… sparse. There were multiple tales of their Queen, Queen Himeko, being a great Shaman; commanding magic that her subjects couldn’t comprehend. Not to mention, some of this magic sounded a bit strange. Some demons had come to earth in the past, but to pose as a Queen or become one? That was even stranger. However, Zayla took her chances with rumors and set out on a long arduous journey to locate Yamatai.

Sadly, it was a relatively unsuccessful journey, one fraught with danger and not fitting for the rumors she had heard. However, in her search for Yamatai, as it was a random attempt, Zayla found herself stumble upon what appeared to be a hidden crypt. There was no language on the crypt itself, just what appeared to be dust, buried bodies, and a rather odd assembly of hieroglyphs. She couldn’t make heads nor tails of it. However, she had this extremely odd sense of power from the depths of the crypt; so Zayla ventured into it.

Dust. That’s all there seemed to be in this crypt, something akin to what Zayla would call Grave Dust; or something of the type. All the while, the feeling of power became stronger with every step until Zayla, and her three smaller dragons, had found themselves in a large open room. In front of her was an odd assortment of graves, symbols, and a small pedestal; a stone box cut out of the stone pedestal. Upon approaching the box, it snapped open, revealing what appeared to be… a ring. Without even touching it, only seeing it, Zayla had an idea that this was one of the twelve rings she was looking for. And, while Zayla stared at it, afraid to touch it due to how much this entire area felt like a trap, one of her small dragons surged forward and went to take the ring for her.

It was like Zayla could feel the life being drained from her own dragon. Doing all she could to keep it alive in the brief moments of contact, Zayla yanked the small beast away from the thing that could kill it; miraculously keeping on of the partners of her heart alive. While looking at the ring, Zayla could only feel revulsion crawl into her throat; bile on the edge of escaping from her in a torrent of sick. However, she kept herself grounded, and slowly nursed that one small dragon back to a form of awareness. Alive, but sleeping for the time-being, Zayla gently tucked the small dragon into a pocket of her cloak, where she could keep track of it. Then, she turned to the ring… It had to be destroyed; Twelve Ring or no.

Try what she may, Zayla couldn’t get the ring to crack, budge, or break. It seemed invulnerable to everything; and Zayla didn’t dare touch the ring. However, on a whim, she touched the stone it was encased in, jolting back when she expected something terrible to happen. Nothing. Zayla tilted her head some, grabbing the carved stone box and snapping it shut. She cast a quick sealing spell, so that the box couldn’t be opened on accident. Afterwards, she wrapped it in leather and stored it in a saddlebag once she had gotten back to her dragon.

These rings… they could take life. Perhaps together, all twelve could grant the rumored power. However, she had no intentions to keep searching for such dangerous jewelry, even if seeing her love, her family, again was the reward, and the price… She refused. She also decided to keep the ring with her for safekeeping. She would find a good place to hide it on earth, eventually, but for now, she would wander the globe, mapping Earth in its entirety; finding save havens for the day she could return home to Demon world, find a family, and return with them. They deserved a proper hiding place, where none would find, nor search, for them. Earth was likely their last bastion of freedom after what had happened to her family; how they were slaughtered. And while hiding was on her mind, Zayla had decided to hide the ring in a separate area in Antarctica; where she could keep track of it and go check on it. She hid it deep within the volcanic caves of Antarctica, warded and protected, where she hoped none would find it. After all, such a dangerous object… she didn’t want anyone to be harmed by it.


During the years Zayla spent cataloguing and mapping Earth, which likely took around two thousand to three thousand years, Zayla had found herself growing lonely. Even if she had her four dragons, her constant companions of her heart and mind; she had no love. She had no family. It was a dismal existence, one born out of her own willingness for solitude and her own desire to stay free. However, it was not without its rewards. During her travels, from the top of the globe to the bottom, and almost all around, Zayla had found a few good places for her dragons to live with her. First, what she thought to be the most prospective, Antarctica. A barren land of ice, ice, and more ice. There were the fair share of animals that inhabited the cold land, but there were also a great deal of caves beneath said ice; where a volcano had carved out rock and stone for its own uses. Being the most prospective place, Zayla did wish to consider it last; given how isolated it was from the rest of Earth. Sure, there should be ample food in the oceans, because her Dragons wouldn’t be bothered by the icy water, but Zayla didn’t want to disturb the natural habitat too much.

However, all the other areas Zayla considered, like the Arctic, various uninhabited islands, and some forested areas in the largest countries on the word, had humans that were far too close. Every single other area she had considered wasn’t remote enough, nowhere near as remote as Antarctica. Zayla didn’t much like the idea, because even demons weren’t terribly fond of the cold. However, the demon figured they could use some artificial heating, and the body heat of dragons, once they had found a proper home. Zayla set out to create this little home for her dragons and herself, making herself a little two story home for when she eventually found a way to settle down; and find someone to settle down with. Within one of the safest caves created by the volcano, which was no longer active by this time, Zayla had hollowed out recesses and created links to other caves so that her dragons had enough room to move around and have their own nests without needing to worry about crowding Zayla's own home.

After Zayla had finished creating the only home she would have for the coming future, the demon set her sights back on her ancestral home and demon world; where she returned with her four dragons. By this time, her old village had long since fell into ruin, and the graves of her family were marred by time and unruly visitors. She fixed up the gravestones the best she could, paying her respects, and then set off on another journey.

This second journey consisted of finding the remaining wild dragons that had found solace on demon world, somehow, so that she may ascertain their state of being, assure their safety, and then leave the beasts to themselves. She knew only too well that, if she planned to live on Earth, bringing a species of dragons that were completely foreign, and potentially destructive to the ecosystem, would not be a good idea. Instead, she decided it would be best to make sure the left over dragons had affairs set in place; and possibly obtain the last enchanted clutch of eggs for what Zayla hoped would be the next set of bonded Vael. It was too much to hope for, but she knew some eggs had remained on the night of her family's massacre... they had to be out there somewhere. Truth be told, Zayla was getting lonely, she wanted a family again; so this second journey also involved finding a mate of her own. Because of this, Zayla was trying to find any dragons that could become a mate to Scáth, if only briefly, so that she could have a dragon egg for the time when Zayla had a family of her own... if that ever came to be again. She was successful in that regard, for Scáth, but not for herself. She wasn't searching for a wife of her own, not on purpose, but she was also checking on the wild dragons of demon world in general. They were dangerous beasts after all and Zayla desired to make it so that their affairs would be set in line.

Frankly speaking, Zayla still did wish to try and uphold some of her family's traditions; protecting the wild dragons. However, all of these wild dragons no long had any trust in the Vael blood, given so many had been slaughtered in her family's downfall. Meaning that such a longheld family tradition was broken the moment the Vael family had fallen. However, some of these wild dragons were best suited to living alone thanks to their capability to survive on their own. During the middle years of her adventures, she had finally tracked down the tiny clutch of eggs, numbering only two, and repossessed them to her family once more; having to tear through a rather nasty group of demon smugglers. This meant that if Zayla was ever lucky enough to have children, to have a family again... she would be able to carry on one family tradition at least. However, during her journey, Zayla encountered a very odd woman who seemed to fancy herself a dragon slayer.

To put it lightly, this woman was of noble demon blood, of a past Queen or King who had been dethroned, and now served only herself. Not to mention, she was a nigh infallible warrior, one who had taken to the hobby of dragon hunting to prove herself. Even though she had never slain any dragons, which was thanks to their hiding from everyone so well, Zayla was hot on this woman’s trail; interrupting her search for the dragons in order to stop this woman from making a grave mistake or possibly getting herself killed. During her hunt for the woman, she found out about her appearance and her name, Mirin. An odd name, by all accounts, but Zayla couldn’t help but shake the way she liked it; how it rolled off her tongue. Perhaps she was entranced by an idea, but she would eventually find this Mirin; and while Mirin had found a dragon.

When Zayla found Mirin, finally, she had finally come upon her intended quarry; and ancient dragon, with a sizable form that would grand Mirin the glory she desired. However, Zayla had rushed between Mirin and the elder dragon, who was regarding the pair with mute curiosity. Zayla looked back at the dragon, a silent understanding passing between them, and then Zayla brandished her weapons. She gave Mirin one challenge, defeat Zayla, and she could claim the dragon; but if she lost, she would never hunt dragons again. However, what was only to be a simple fight became so much more. See, this Mirin Kikumoto was known as an undefeated warrior. During the entire time she had brought herself to fame in battles and duels, she had never lost one. Her trusty weapon, a demon forged Nagamaki made with demon metals, was the only tool she had ever used in battle; and she was formidable with it. However, so was Zayla.

At this point, Zayla was approaching 4500 years old, and she was a widely experienced master of the blade; having learned a few human fighting styles during her time on Earth, when she was able to speak to locals without positively scaring the bajesus out of them. It was all strictly part of research, but she enjoyed learning such amazing fighting styles from such reputable masters. However, the fight between Mirin and Zayla lasted for an entire day. Each woman would not yield ground, and their eyes never left the eyes of the other. During their fight, something started to change in the battle. Mirin appeared to be losing her foothold, and she also seemed to look as if she didn’t want to hurt Zayla. It was as if the woman was beginning to admire Zayla, in a way. It was odd… but Zayla was starting to feel the same way as their battle progressed. However, the two of them continued to fight, and as they fought, their battle became far more flirtatious in an odd way. Each strike they landed was intended to draw the other closer instead of farther away. However, as their battle wore on, Zayla had won the upper hand, knocked Mirin’s Nagamaki from her grip, and held the woman at sword point; Mirin on the ground, on her back, and Zayla standing above her.

It was a tense moment, and no one seemed to breathe. And, in that moment of what one could only call an odd realization, Zayla had withdrawn her sword, sheathed the blade, and helped Mirin to her feet; who also retrieved her own weapon and sheathed it. For a long time, the two women only stood staring at each other. They drew closer, and Mirin was even starting to blush quite a deep scarlet. To this day, Zayla found that their moment of confession was extremely puzzling. Even the dragon, who had watched the entire duel, was puzzled by what happened next. Instead of what one may consider normal, asking the other out or some such, they simply looked at each other. And then, the dragon blinked, and was wholly surprised by the sight before it. They were… Kissing? WHAT?! Well, whatever had happened during that battle, during that intense exchange of blades and hearts, had lead to something neither woman could have honestly predicted.; even if Mirin would one day reveal that a woman of the court predicted that Mirin would one day meet the love of her life in a battle she couldn’t win, but would be happy to lose. Frankly speaking, no matter which way you look at it, it fit in an odd way for a woman who was once unbeatable to fall in love with the one woman who could. Then again, demons are just weird that way.

What the blossoming of this many year long relationship lead to was Mirin joined Zayla in her quest to find the remaining dragons on Demon world, ascertain their state of being, and then leave them to their own devices. During their travels, it was quite obvious that even Zayla's own dragons were beginning to like Mirin quite a great deal as well. Whether that was because of Zayla’s influence, or not, was yet to be seen. However, the next four hundred years of Zayla’s life were panning out to be a very, very happy one. And one likely involving Mirin, and their coming family, a great deal.

Of Love and Parenthood

Upon returning to their hiding place in Antarctica, where Zayla had made a home on Earth, Zayla and Mirin had started to live their own lives together. They spent so many years together, growing closer and closer. So much so that it was often that they would be found sparring intensely, dancing in their own unique way. Their time together soon became more than just the desire to be together, more than just the desire to have one another; it borne the desire to be family. To be joined by the most sacred of methods that any being could join together. Even if most demons don't always view marriage as a necessity to long term relationships, and normally marked their dear lovers instead, Zayla and Mirin took the full effort to become married in full. They took traditions old and new, melded them into what they wanted for their own small wedding, and were wed under a cold winter's moon. They had bands of matrimony made from high karat gold upon their left ring fingers and were happier than ever they had been. Zayla could only think of such happiness when she was with Kiria... However, even if Zayla still did miss her lover of old... Mirin… Why, she was the love of Zayla's entire life. A strong pink-haired demon with a great deal of uncontainable love and lust that Zayla was often the target of. The next four hundred years of their lives, even if they were filled with multiple challenges, trials, and tribulation, were the happiest of their lives.

This all culminated to Zayla and Mirin spending one night, during Mirin’s own birthday in fact, loving each other; spending time with each other in a way they hadn’t done since their wedding night. In that night, as if consummating their marriage for a second time, they marked each other with demon seals; and Zayla shared and infused Mirin with some of her blood and genetics. Frankly speaking, it was a heat of the moment deal, one driven by pure emotion and desire as they gave each other seals where only they would see them when they were together. That night led to Mirin becoming pregnant with Zayla’s child, and in nine swift months, the pair of demons had a daughter of their own, which they named Arianda. She was the first child of the Vael family in almost five thousand years; since the fall of the Vael family. For Zayla and Mirin, it was the most joyous moment of their lives. And, in the next twenty years, they spent a great deal of time training Arianda in the ways of their families; and in the ways of the Vael family.

Zayla let Mirin handle Arianda’s training in weaponry, as Mirin was far better at teaching someone inexperienced in comparison to Zayla. Frankly speaking, it led to Arianda being endowed with a weapon by Mirin’s remaining family; a pair of scissors made from the same metal used to create Mirin’s own Nagamaki. It was an odd weapon choice, and both Mirin and Zayla vaguely wished Arianda would go with a sword… but it was hard to deny the odd expertise Arianda had with the weapon; especially given Arianda had swiftly gained the capability to shift the form of the scissors into other weapons, a feat that astonished both parents.

In those twenty years of training, living as a family, and being together, Zayla had also introduced Arianda to the dragons of the Vael family; the four dragons Zayla always had with her, Scáth and her “sisters and brothers”. Not to mention, Zayla also introduced Ari to the tiny clutch of eggs, no more than two, and even the egg that Ari herself would have been chosen by, she was old enough. Ari, much like Zayla, was a prospective young demon; and was well on her way to being paired with a dragon once her training had been completed. However, no matter how happy and ethereal those moments of their lives were, not all happiness was to last.

Happiness, Torn

Even if Zayla and Mirin were rather detached from demon world, there will still rumors circulating thanks to those who had seen Mirin and Zayla visit demon world to visit Mirin’s remaining parents. Rumors of their daughter, and her prowess... and of her impressionable youth. Frankly speaking, Arianda was a bit of a late bloomer despite her own prowess. Because of this, sights were set on her by some of the most horrible beings in demon world, those who could twist her to what they desired; a weapon for war. During one of the trips where Zayla and Mirin were visiting Mirin’s family, they heard a scream from Arianda’s room, and rushed in to find only a pool of blood, an arm that wasn’t Ari’s, and a broken window. She had been… Kidnapped. Arinapped? Kidnapped.

It was almost as if that hole from nearly five thousand years ago had opened in Zayla’s heart again, and Mirin also felt it too; the woman essentially clinging to her wife for stability. However, they couldn’t stand there and stare while the captors of their daughter got away. No matter their heartache nor pain, they had to give chase. In an instant, the two women burst out of the broken window, Scáth catching the pair of women in the air as they flew off in the general direction of Ari’s captors, where they had fled. However, they lost the trace, and were forced to return home. After returning to their home in Antarctica, in the warm caves of the Vael family, Zayla and Mirin started the arduous task of searching for Arianda. Zayla, given her dragons ability to fly, would search demon world. As it was bigger than Earth, it would be harder to cover on foot, giving Zayla a distinct advantage in searching it's breadth. Meanwhile, entrusted with a map of Earth, Mirin had the daunting task of searching the globe in disguise; on the off chance that she may find Arianda on Earth. With that, and a charm to allow Mirin to call Zayla to her side in an instant, Zayla set off to demon world with Scáth and her other three dragons; meanwhile, Mirin began her own search of Earth.

Zayla and Mirin spent their next near 130 years going back and forth between searching demon world and Earth before returning home to spend time with each other, they had found not a trace of Ari. However, in the last year of those long 130 years, Zayla had stumbled upon what appeared to be a prison complex of sorts; inside of which she sensed her daughter. She had no idea what tortured had been wrought upon her, but there was no denying the difference she felt. Regardless, Zayla set to assaulting the complex; her distraction giving Ari a chance for Ari to escape. However, Ari’s mind had been broken during her time captured by these demons, who were making her into a weapon for war. Zayla had no way of knowing that her daughter wouldn’t recognize her at all, nor her dragons. All Zayla found, after she had broken into the complex, was a piece of red cloak, Ari’s own blood, and the clear evidence that Arianda had used her scissors to escape.

After wasting the area, and finding research notes, she figured out what it had been for; and had proceeded to raze the area to the ground out of sheer rage. However, it proved only one thing. Her daughter, her only child, was out there; and she didn’t remember a thing of who she was, nor her family. She could only do her best to find and keep track of her. However, she knew Arianda could take care of herself. She is Zayla's daughter, after all.

What Seemed Like A Hopeless Future

Eventually, Zayla had returned to Mirin for good, to tell her wife of what she had found, along with Mirin also recounting her tale of searching through earth and finding naught, and of her desire to not try to search for Ari; out of the simple possibility that Ari remembers nothing of them. Nor does she likely remember anything about herself outside of the purpose to be a weapon. It was an extremely difficult thing, but Zayla had convinced Mirin that they best thing they could do was to lie low; and stay with each other. In hindsight, it wasn’t the greatest of plans, but if Ari’s mind had been shattered by torture, she there was no way to get her to remember them aside from time. However, none would expect the amount of time needed was another 150 years, plus some change.

During that time, Zayla had watched over herself, Mirin, her dragons, and Arianda; and only Arianda she watched from afar. Her three small dragons were her methods of keeping track of her daughter, who had gotten herself involved with the wrong crowd. However, it was impressive to see the demon grow, and eventually change into an actual woman; no longer fueled by anger and hate. Frankly speaking, Zayla had no idea if she would ever see her own daughter again, in person at least. But she treasured every moment that they might one day have. And she especially treasured the moments she had with her dragons and Mirin.

However, during their time of mostly keeping to their home, and Zayla occasionally patrolling Antarctica to make sure that they weren’t found on accident, a red-head by the name of Hinoe appeared to have ventured onto Antarctica with the intent to kill a beast that was a great danger to those close to Antarctica. Zayla had watched the woman from afar, intrigued by her intentions, and then eventually by the beast she had come to face. Savage and ruthless, it appeared to be a formidable enemy; but so was the woman. She fought hard, destroying the monster after a rough tussle. However, the demon noticed a problem with the woman. She had collapsed, likely succumbing to her wounds and the cold. There was no thought, Zayla simply rushed in and scooped up the woman; making sure the creature was dead before she rejoined her wife and dragons in their hidden home.

Once the red-head had fully come to, likely extremely confused to find herself in a house, and soon came to know the situation she was in; and everything that Zayla could answer. Not to mention, Zayla and Mirin found themselves growing quite fond of this woman, whose name they officially learned; Hinoe. She had a quest of her own, and a family to which she had a duty to, however, Hinoe spent three long years with Zayla and Mirin; in which the three grew close. Frankly speaking, Zayla and Mirin had even started to become a bit intimate with Hinoe. Evening cuddles, a bit of fooling around here and there, and just the general gist of three women sharing a roof. Not to mention, Hinoe also got to meet Zayla’s dragons. Those three years, in which Zayla still did keep track of her lost daughter, were a blessing amidst the turbulent storm of the time in which Arianda was separate from their family.

However, near the end of those three long years, Zayla and Mirin had decided that they wished for Hinoe to stay longer; because they both knew she needed to leave eventually. Before Zayla and Mirin had the chance to ask for Hinoe to stay, to essentially marry her too, Hinoe had finally come to the decision she was going to leave the next day. It was a little melancholic and left the two demons desiring more of Hinoe than they had ever had. However, on the morning of Hinoe’s departure, Zayla and Mirin left Hinoe with loving kisses, and the heartfelt desire for her to return one day. And one day, indeed, she did… but that was in a far-flung future. Afterwards, Zayla and Mirin returned to their daunting tasks of trying to look out for their daughter.

The brightening of Paths

However, in more recent years, likely in the past year in fact, Zayla had a premonition of sorts. It was an odd vision, born randomly out of a nightmare that Zayla had not received in years. She was reliving the death of her family. However, in the middle of it, she was pulled away from the dream, as if lifted out of it by her shirt collar. It was odd, extremely so, because Zayla felt as if she was facing the first of her kind, and even Andrea herself; the first Vael. In a ringing voice, though no mouths moved, she heard a multi-voiced creature speak out a sort of prophecy.

She saw brief visions of Arianda, looking worse than ever, the demon improving herself, encountering a great deal of hardships, remembering her past, unlocking the keys to both past and future, and the very same demon returning to her. She awoke, in the morning, with that final vision stuck in her head. She awoke Mirin, told her of the news, and, ever since, Mirin and Zayla waited for the return of their daughter with pseudo patience. They knew they couldn’t force Arianda to come sooner. Even if Zayla was positively over the moon for Arianda to return and receive the egg she was once likely to receive as a young demon... She had to find her own path, and when she was ready, she would return to the family; and Zayla would find her purpose in life again. Well, aside from hiding a random ring of death, dragons, and the Vael family from the entire world. She knew that, perhaps, their family would help make Earth a better place.

She couldn’t wait to see what the future may hold.

END OF THE DEMON APPLICATION

» Equipment: Sword and Shield made from a mix of metals from Demon world and augmented with Dragon scales; may need an separate equipment sheet for these. Along with a weapon she made later in life due to her curiosities with later mortal weaponry, a gunblade.



» Natural Abilities

» Dragon Control/Dragon Bond: Due to Zayla being bonded with dragons in a special Vael ritual, she has the ability to communicate and perform certain actions with her four dragons; one being the large dragon she bonded with, and the other three being smaller, less powerful, dragons. Because of their bond, they can share energy with each other in small amounts; allowing, for example, for Scáth to fuel Zayla with extra energy to perform a specific spell she couldn’t perform alone.

Because of the nature of the bond, they also can feel each other’s pain; and sometimes need to close their minds to each other in order to shield the other from unnecessary pain. Regardless, this bond formed between Zayla and her dragons is impossible to break due to the nature of its formation. It’s akin to an unbreakable vow. Regardless, the dragons and Zayla can live independent of each other; but will feel immense sorrow, and may even go mad, if one of them dies. However, Zayla refuses to let that happen to any of them.

» Weapons Master: Due to Zayla’s many years of training with her family as a younger demon, and the years she had spent learning how to use weapons of various type and size, he has become a veritable weapons master. Even though Zayla’s favorite weapon pair is a longsword, which she carries a custom one around, and a shield, she can virtually pick up any weapon and use it.

Because of this, and her multitude of years training on her own, with her family, and even with the various masters she was able to gain the help of while in disguise during her years searching Earth for one of the twelve rings of death, Zayla has gained a style unique to her own. Sometimes, one could compare some of her movements to that of a lithe beast rather than that of a woman; her blade flashing as she danced through battles with the ease and grace of learned years. Over all, because Zayla can use any weapon with ease, even if she had only just picked it up, she is proud to call herself a veritable "weapon master".

» Possessive Augmentation Mastery: Due to Zayla’s extensive years of taking on disguises, both in clothes and in body, she has Possessive Shifting as the major for her Possessive Influence; meanwhile, her speed is the secondary and, therefore, the lesser of the two.



» Possessive Powers: War Maiden's Armory. A simple name, but one that encompasses Zayla's entire being. Perhaps Zayla's possessive powers may have been something quite different at her birth, or perhaps not; she has no way of knowing. However, Zayla's entire life as a younger demon had been dedicated to the mastery of weaponry. Her dedication was so great that she eventually formed her own powers off her own ability to harness any weapon of any kind; creating a nigh infinite armory of weapons that was limited only by her ingenuity, creativity, and her expertise with weaponry. It was this ability that has allowed Zayla to be quite the threat on a battlefield. She can pick up any weapon, conjure almost any weapon frankly, and utilize it as if she had wielded it for years as a master. Her Armory, fashioned only for her, was what gave Zayla the great capability to turn the tide.

This works in tandem with her great capability of possessive Shifting and her own energy; allowing the demon to create weapons with little effort. Of course, it is limited, as all things are, but it allows Zayla to create weapons with great durability; likely greater than that of normally forged weaponry. Of course, like all things, they are breakable with enough damage dealt to them. It should be known that she normally utilizes her weapon creation when she does not wish to wield the sword and shield that were her normal weapons.

» Armament Creation: Because of Zayla's possessive powers of weapon creation, forming weapons with small bits of her body and energy, she can create virtually any weapon under the sun; as long as it can be held in one or two hands. Not to mention, the weapon can also be an odd mix of two weapons in order to create a very specific implement for Zayla's needs. Because of the rather intense need for mastery in such situations where she may create a very different weapon, Zayla thrives immensely on the battlefield.

However, the ability is not without its limits. She can only create one weapon per post at untrained possessive influence, scaling with her possessive influence by one additional weapon that she can conjure per post; meaning that Zayla could switch between multiple weapons in one post if needed, or simply create multiple. However, after reaching her maximum, Zayla must wait until the next post before she can create any more weapons.

» Energy Convergence: By focusing energy at the tip of her weapon, she can briefly convert her energy into what can almost be considered a laser; when it is honestly a blast of her energy focused through any weapon she is currently using. Of course, due to the nature of this ability, and because she can't fire off such an attack instantly, it takes about a post before it can be fired off. If need be, Zayla can hold the attack for an entire post or two, allowing her to redirect the ray of energy before she needs to let the attack fade; incurring a cooldown period of a post before it can be used again. However, if it was held for two posts, Zayla must wait two posts before she can use the ray again.

» War Maiden's Dance:


» War Maiden's Bastion: -Bastion based around weaponry or some such instead of fire. Caps at elite, and cannot be raised above, needs a HUGE cooldown(Perhaps ten posts)





» Possessive Drive Appearance: Upon using her Possessive Drive, Zayla appears to age physically, growing a couple inches in height to around 5’9”. Not to mention, Zayla’s clothes completely change. She loses her armor and gains a good chunk of clothing that covers most of her body. She gains a robe of sorts, as if displaying her status as the Matriarch of The Vael family; albeit that’s not what it is. The attire was weaved with dragon scales and strong fibers; intending to make Zayla far more durable in the process. She also gains a mask that covers her mouth and nose, intended for nothing more than style. Her overall attire is white, but her hair grows to be almost the same length as she is tall, with each end of her hair turning to a dark blue or black. Not to mention, her right eye retains its normal hue, while her left eye turns blue. She has a white cloak that seems to almost hang on air, clasped in front of her now ample bosom, which shows a tiny bit from behind parts of her robe. She also doesn’t wear any shoes in this form but has an odd form of thigh highs that rise close to the robe. In this form, Zayla rarely talks, which could likely be the purpose of the mask. However, when she does talk, her voice is much different than expected as if filtered to be something else due to the mask. While in this form, Zayla also gains two ephemeral dragons that assist her in battle; intended to be pure manifestations of her power and purpose in life.

» Possessive Drive Appearance Picture:



» Possessive Drive Benefits:

» Increased Durability: Because of Zayla’s lack of defensive weapons in this form, Zayla’s durability is naturally increased. While in this form, she cannot increase her durability any further, and she also cannot increase it past elite; as the bar between elite and master are far too great to bridge with a simple ability. There is no cooldown for this ability, as it activates passively whenever Zayla enters her Possessive Drive. Due to how this form works, her durability is increased in a simple, and flat, 100%. In better terms, her durability is increased mostly in the time she can endure attacks. For the time the ability is up, if she is in her possessive drive and has energy, she gains an equivalent of the lowest durability of the next skill level; with the caveat that, if Zayla’s defenses are somehow undermined, she cannot regain the durability of this form. This means that Zayla would return to her normal levels of durability if her increased durability is undermined or otherwise taken down in some way.

» Mask of Arbitration: Despite Zayla’s ability as a bit of a linguist, she doesn’t know every possible language in the world. Her “Mask of Arbitration” allows Zayla to be able to converse with any being in existence only if their language has existed, and originated, on Earth, The Soul Society, or in Demon world. If someone has a language that does not originate from Earth, The Soul Society, or Demon world, Zayla’s mask will not work to help her communicate. In cases like this, Zayla would simply have to rely on instincts and trying to find a means of communication. Otherwise, the mask does nothing to help Zayla in any form of combat. It is simply a means of communicating with anyone and everyone on Earth, The Soul Society, and Demon world.

» Skoll and Hati: The twin ethereal dragons that Zayla has with her in this form, and only in this form, are a representation of her own powers; along with a representation of the beings who had been with her for nearly her entire life, dragons and Armaments. She has named the twin dragons Skoll and Hati; after a Norse myth she learned of during her travels. Sure, Skoll and Hati were a pair of wolves that chased the sun and moon, but dragons were just as majestic as such legends as far as Zayla was concerned. Not to mention, Skoll and Hati can communicate to others on their own via consent based telepathy, but do not share Zayla’s encyclopedia of languages. However, they help Zayla communicate to the beast kind of the world.

» Skoll: Skoll is the silver dragon with red highlights, matching the normal hue of Zayla’s eyes. A faithful companion that only appears in her possessive Drive; a manifestation of her powers and herself. Much like Zayla’s smaller dragon, it only matches a fraction of Zayla’s own powers. However, it’s use is in its powers.

» Skoll’s Draconic Attributes:

» Hati: The second ethereal dragon under Zayla’s command in her possessive drive; a manifestation of Zayla herself, along with being a conduit for Zayla’s own powers. Because of the nature of Zayla herself, Hati doesn’t have any ability to breath an element, or even help with arbitration. Instead, Hati undertakes the aspects of Zayla, and takes the ability of shifting to such a level that she can become almost anything Zayla may need in combat. While she cannot become a shield, Hati can easily become a weapon of some sort, or a tool, or even something farm more simple.

» Hati’s Shifting: Even though Hati is indeed a dragon, she doesn’t breath fire, ice, or any other element. Instead, Hati turns herself into weapons or other implements of battle that Zayla might need. The Ethereal dragon is essentially taking Zayla’s capability to shapeshift and turning them into overdrive; allowing the little dragon to become hardened weapons of demon steel and dragon scale. However, of course, Hati's shifting is not able to become anything that would not be traditionally considered a weapon. For example, Hati couldn't become a pencil just because you could use a pencil to stab someone. Not to mention, it must also be handheld. In other words, Zayla cannot turn Hati into a cannon. Because of this ability, Zayla can make any weapon within reason. This means that Zayla could turn Hati into a two handed greatsword, a gunblade, and even something far more abstract. However, she cannot use it to create two weapons. As Hati is relatively small, she cannot be split in two and turned into different weapons; and nor can she be turned into a shield normally. Most of the time, Zayla, and by extension Hati, would rather become a single actual weapon; a means of protecting via offensive combat and using her mastery of weapons to create defensive patterns with that single weapon alone versus using a shield.

However, when needed, Hati can transform into a shield, a type of personal handheld armor and not a weapon, that is intended to protect and ONLY to protect. Given the nature of Hati and her desire to only become weapons, this transformation is rather taxing no matter how effective it is. Exceeding the durability of normal weapons and being pierced only by those who have much greater ability than Zayla, this shield is intended only for the purpose of protection. It has no other use than that. However, given how taxing it is the shield can only be used for one to two posts before Hati transforms back and needs to rest. Afterwards, Hati needs a rest period of at least two posts, and up to three, depending on how taxing the defense was. However, given Zayla’s desire to use other methods to deflect attacks than a shield, it is reserved for protecting others when weapons fail Zayla in this form. Otherwise, Zayla can shift Hati to any weapon with very little restraint, only being held back by weapon complexity. The more complex the weapon, the more difficult to make.

» Cosmic Beam: A power of Zayla’s own, separate from the two dragons she gains in this form. Thanks to Zayla’s heightened state of control and power granted by her possessive drive Zayla can control her energy far better than normal. With this Ability, Zayla can create a confluence of energy in the sky and call it down like a beam towards her opponent. The intent is pure damage alone. In essence, it’s much more like an orbital strike laser beam. However, it's extremely taxing in its energy use and preparation. Because of this, it takes one posts of preparation before Zayla can use it the next post. However, Zayla can prepare it while doing something else. If she is forced to prepare it while also fighting with a weapon, she needs to double the preparation time to two posts; and then she can use it the next post after the two-post preparation. However, it can be completely interrupted if Zayla’s focus is appropriately broken by a heavy attack or some other great distraction. Otherwise, it can be interrupted if someone can interfere with the coalescing energy in the sky with energy of their own, a strong burst of energy, or some other form of ability that can properly counter energy accumulation.








General Skills

• Durability: Adept
  
• General Speed: Advanced
  
• Strength: Advanced
  
• Martial Skill: Master(OTY Wish)
  

Demon Skills

• Za Koa Core: Advanced
  
• Possessive Magic: Adept
  
• Possessive Augment: Elite
  
• Possessive Influence: Advanced
  

Will Skills

• Willpower/Determination: Elite
  
• Mental Deduction: Advanced
  
• Focus: Advanced
  

END OF THE DEMON APPLICATION