~ Dumatella carolinensis ~

Surrounding the shore, beyond the large stone walls, was a mass of floating lights in the sky. Giant, thin containers full of fire soared through the black painted sky, following the wind.

Long live the Ruler, they cried as they drifted further and further away from the villagers. Adults and their children stood by their windows and watched as time went by, the light distancing itself within the hues of blue and white fluff, and soon, they were gone.

Below that same sky were foreigners, people who came once a year to celebrate.

They stood near the shore, clinging to the thin cloth around their skin as the wind softly whistled past them.

The waves rushed up the sand, taking rocks and algae into its vast abyss, missing the feet of the unknown.

To the east were large boulders, housing many small critters and most recently, blankets; People now sat atop the rocks, sharing food and light. From the petite girl in her fathers arms to the man with three eyes under an umbrella, everything was normal.

The screams of laughter that echoed out of the castle doors were met with a tall slim man. His black pants and lengthy silk top matched everyone else's attire perfectly. His long gold hemmed sleeves were longer than his arms and hung elegantly at his side as he walked down the cold stone corridor, illuminated by candles hanging along the walls.

With piercing kholed eyes darting across the crowd, he pushed open the large wooden doors and sauntered into the crowded room.

Stone walls stood high around the somber green field.

"Ussurian-" A man called out as the said man walked by, "-he's expecting a great performance.”

Ussurian shook his head with a knowing smirk, "Of course he is, when is he not watching me?" He ran a hand through his short trimmed hair, causing some of it to fall on top of his stout horns.

As he squeezed through the people, he could feel a familiar gaze on the back of his neck. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

Ignoring the fleeting eyes, he made his way to the back of the room and up to the podium.

There, he stood for a moment, pale eyes sweeping over the crowd as the villagers looked back at him expectantly.

Some stood behind their merchant stands and others under tents, hidden from the fresh air that came down from the open ceiling.

"Who's ready to celebrate?”  

Once those words escaped his mouth, the crowd looked up as large pale sparks emitted from the man's hands and filled up the empty sky. Loud crackling sounds traveled across the mass of people as the white sparks swirled multiple times before slowly taking shape into a wolf. The shape ran across the sky, it's long legs extending over the stars. Suddenly, more sparks joined the sky and the wolf was now chasing a small grey rabbit.

Once again, the crowd cheered.

They stood with mouths open as the shapes in the sky molded into one, creating a bright colourful swirl. This time, it changed into a fire red and slowly cascaded down towards the crowd in small pieces, almost like rain. As it approached the tops of the tents, it quickly reformed itself into a dragon. The large scaly form swooped down, passed crates and tents before shooting back up to the sky, blowing up only moments later in a friendzy of colour.

As Ussurian continued throughout the night, lighting up the sky, those eyes never left him.

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