Magic T3 - Dark Explorations

Her companions shrill cry had Suzaku turning to look towards the cavern entrance, her small doppelganger tumbling out, panic in her calls and the impression of been unable to see. Curious, given that between her fire and dark heritage, darkened areas rarely bothered her, her dark magic allowing her to see with ease. Calming her small companion, Suzaku approached the cave, wings folded tight as she tried to peer into its depths.... to no avail. She send one of her ember only for it to cast no light and be swallowed by the darkness... Oh this would be interesting.

True to her companions warning, this darkness was anything but normal, with her normal dark heritage sight and even with her fire heritage there was literally nothing...a rather odd sensation for a dragon who'd never been affected by the darkness, her companion nestled on her back, at the base of her dorsal spine, if she turned though the light from the entrance could still be seen. At first, Suzaku relied on touch to test where she was going, a stone here... and bloody wall there.... after walking into one too many, she sat back on her haunches the darkness all around, so deep and thick that she could feel it pressing against from all sides. Still... she wouldn't give up, who new what was further in... and she had been working on her dark magic.... barring her teeth in a smile she pulled on it, the dark magic flowing through her... normally she used it or change form, but she doubted any form would more suited than her normal form. Her companion landed on her head, curiosity vibrating from her much smaller self.

Her magic settled around her, familiar and yet not, a different aspect to what she'd used prior' slowly she started to wade into the darkness, it took concentration not to use her eyes, to rely fully on her dark magic. But slowly, step by step it settled, and the cave once so dark took on shape amidst the darkness... and in its deeper caverns, a present both familiar, ancient and unknown... and the reason for the deep shadows. Deeper into the cave she went, no longer crashing into the walls as her dark magic surged to reveal the pathways... and other things, ghosts of those who had lost their way, treasures.... and the ancient Matron who was more than aware of the dragons making her way through the caverns.

Her dark magic flared as the path opened up into a massive space, Suzaku drawing to a halt as the darkness that both encompassed it and hid it from view, also showed her its secrets, and the matron lounging by the midnight pool in the center, a mass of pure darkness, silent, still and watchful as the primordial entity of darkness that watched Suzaku... and her companion who'd come fluttering along, using the dark magic in the same way as her larger self now that Suzaku had figured it out. 

The matron extended a dark limb, its details non-existent but for the shape in the darkness, and Suzaku's companion landed, chattering away, a question pressing against Suzaku as she also approached the darkness. "Ah.... well..... She's called Zhu." Her crest raised and flattened. "Most assume she's unnamed because that's how she prefers it." Her companion, Zhu blew a small flame which vanished immediately in the pressing darkness. But neither her nor Suzaku now minded the pure shadows, their dark magic swirling around them in the cavern, and they settled next to the matron, the darkness a comfort for them as the dark lake moved slightly.