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rise-my-angel · 1 year

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Binding Opposing Foes

Pairing: Ezra x Female Reader

Length: 15.1k

Warnings: enemies to lovers, magical fantasy au, only one bed, smut, oral (f receiving), p in v, threat of violence, angst with happy ending, hints of a breeding kink

Notes: Made for the lovley @supernaturalgirl20 for the Pedrostories secret santa 💜. The length got away from me as usual, I am so sorry. Hopefully it's something you end up enjoying!

Any hint of peace you awoke with this morning was quickly dashed the second you made it to the market. It was a quiet walk there, through the clearing of trees near your home there was a hint of fog remaining that sat on the forest floor. The air was cool and crisp that was mixed with dew that still dripped from the leaves. You got to enjoy the time it took to get to town only to have it dashed the second you approached your little nook.

The tiny open clearing shoved between two well constructed vendors with fine, rich wood stood out against then soft fabrics hanging down as makeshift walls and one spread onto the floor to cover the stone pathway you occupied. Whatever tables and chests you kept there though, were turned over, tossed around and the tall narrow shelf had been knocked over to forcefully part if it sat in jagged pieces.

The man next to your nook, just arriving had seen the state of your shop and the instant upset plastered all over your face and just chucked before ignoring you once again. You weren’t popular and you knew why, but the other vendors wouldn’t do this. There was only two options as to who would be responsible for it and one of them was quickly approaching, the streak of blonde against his dark hair stood out even from a distance.

If Ezra or his men were responsible for this, at this point you might just give up. Leave town and never come back.

Busying yourself, you now sat on your knees trying to match the broken wood to the remainder of the shelf hoping it wasn’t beyond your ability to fix. You already knew you’d have to repair it yourself, or somehow bargain desperately for a new one and end up dragging it across the market alone anyways.

“Now who would let a misfortune like this fall upon such a prestigious saleswoman?”

You hated when he did this. His polite yet ecliptic vocabulary suddenly turning needlessly formal and condescending as if to mock you for your lack thereof. Glancing up, Ezra stood with an arm resting against the side of the other vendor looking around at the mess. You didn’t need this right now, not from him. “Go away, Ezra.”

You didn’t need to look back up at him to know he grinned at you, the few steps he took inside already putting him rather close to where you knelt. You could see his feet, dirty yet formidable boots just at the bottom of dark trousers the only thing in your eye line.

“Now is that anyway to greet a helping hand?”

Jaw clenching, you refused to give him the satisfaction of having to look up at him from this position, as if he were too good to stand face to face. “What are you gonna do, rip down my rugs from their walls to finish the job? Haven’t you done enough?”

His chuckle that followed infuriated you. He still didn’t even try to meet your eye, instead choosing to pace around the rest of the space inspecting what he could. “Now birdie, you aren’t insinuating that I am responsible for such a mess? I’m insulted, I thought we knew each other better than that.”

Squeezing your eyes tight for just long enough to catch a deep breathe, you opened them only to see the beginnings of the usual early risers wandering into the street. “Why wouldn’t it be you? Either you did it out of spite because I wouldn’t give it to you, or you came looking and trashed everything trying to find it yourself.”

You think he might be directly behind you now, the prickling feeling against your spine that screamed at your vulnerability. “On the contrary, I asked politely if you would be willing to share your goods for a fair trade. Saying no was a valid choice on your part, I have no reason to punish you for it.”

“As if you care about getting permission.” You muttered under your breath but his chuckle would have been warm and comforting if he was anyone else. Ezra side stepped around the shelf and stood at an angle to watch both you and the street.

“I think you’re mistakening me for the only other gentleman petty enough to throw a tantrum such as this.” Ezra knew who did this as much as you did, but blaming him was easier then accepting that the real perpetrator would only escalate from here. “You should be grateful that he still doesn’t know where you live, birdie.”

The sounds of cheery voices got louder as more people trickled into the market, looking to take advantage of the best items and produce before it was picked off. Some of which, started to look your way. Judgmental laughter and whispers that pointed towards you made your eyes sting. You didn’t want to be mocked right now, all you wanted to do was go home, but even then you had to stay and fix your nook. No one else certainly would.

“I have things to do Ezra. We both know you’re not going to help me, so just go rally your men and stampede through the woods or whatever you do.” Alright, that may have been you acting petty this time. You knew what he did for a living in detail just like he did you. It was probably the only reason he was one of the few people who would talk to you in this town, if only to put down your failures for his success

Peeking a glance up, you could see his jaw shifting in thought. His eyes squinting as his head turned up into the rising sunlight, and turn on his heels to leave. Not before suddenly flipping up one of your smallest tables onto its feet, slamming his palm down on the top to show off how unsteady the wobble had become from being tossed over.

A grin once again plastered over his face, he shifted it right in front of you to an innocent wide eyed look. Pointing at the wobbling table as he took his hand off of it, “You should really buy a new one, that’s rather unsafe to have around like this, birdie.”

Ezra didn’t wait for your reply, he knew you wouldn’t. He simply walked out into the market, a light curious look gracing his features as he meandered to other vendors, happily chatting with the likes of who would never give you the time of day.

It didn’t take brains to know that anyone passing by stared at you and whispered to one another as you tried setting everything upright. He was right though. The cheap little tables you owned were in bad shape, the threat of something with any real weight may topple the legs over for good.

The shelf you didn’t know how to fix. Your home was filled with furniture crafted from stone that existed in the cozy hut when you came across it for the first time. You had to plea with the carpenter for days and products of value at least four times greater then the cost of his cheapest work. But you needed something, and that day you had spent the entire afternoon dragging the furniture across the length of the street.

You weren’t quite so sure he would even give you that this time, you were far less liked now than you were then. Most people considered trading with you as cursed, only the ones in specific need or an uncaring courage would even approach you for business.

Even then, they usually traded in spare food or run down fabrics hardly of use to them anymore. Almost never coin. The outsiders or ones passing through town the only ones who bought in coin, but just because they didn’t know of you.

Eventually, you neatly stacked the broken shelf into the back and pushed the tables up against each corner to keep them steady for the remaining day and night until you found a way to fix it.

It was humiliating to leave, your bag of items still strung across your shoulders as full as when you arrived. You were right, the carpenter wanted nothing to do with you. Not even gracing you the privilege of speaking to him inside, rather he elected to lean out the door that was just open enough of fit his body.

You tried elsewhere, offering any trade or coin you had to even buy simple tools to try and fix it yourself, but no one budged. The only people willing to accept anything were produce stands who were constantly flooded with people. It at least let you try and blend in with your quiet asks and gentle payment that you could buy what you could before they realized and told you to get lost.

You chose to do simple foraging for the rest of the day, wandering the patches of field not yet cut down and plowed over by the magistrate. You were always spoiled in lavender here, and it was going to be a sad day when they finally decided to lay it over as more land for his estate.

The sun had set on your journey back. The market empty save for those just passing through in the darkening sky. Chattering and joyous laughter echoed through the stone from the tavern, no doubt the destination of most. Keeping your head down, you only looked up to peek inside your nook to make sure the mess wasn’t back.

In fact it was the opposite. Your tables were gone from the corners and the pathetic pile of broken wood removed. Instead, all set up in the exact way you would lay things out was fresh wood. Walking in you immediately trailed your hand over the tables.

They weren’t just smooth and well carved, they were strong and unmoving. A quality wood was used to make these. And right near your lone stool, sat a shelf. The same woodwork and strength on the make of it, but the shelves now instead of sitting thin and sometimes too high for your reach, they were wider the insides more deep and barley went above your height.

You bit your lip in a contrast of joy and apprehension. This was more than you ever would have asked of these people and it was going to be so wonderful to be able to set everything out so nicely and without accidentally shaking things against the other.

On the other hand, you also didn’t know who did this. You were pretty sure it wasn’t Ezra. He in all likelihood wasn’t the one who threw your stuff around, so he also had no reason to replace it. The only other one who could have done this, would only then replacement as a trick.

If it was him, no doubt the next time you came into town, you’d be summoned to his home, and graced with his generous gift to you only to ask for something in return. But the things he would want you feared. He wasn’t a kind man or even just a good one. Just selfish and greedy with no regard as to how he got what he desired.

The magistrate was not to be trifled with, and not only had you on too many occasions made an enemy of him, but he also had no qualms about his glee from extracting revenge. Ezra wasn’t much different, but at least you were confident enough his revenge for you would be more akin to sabotage then physically harming you. Either way, you walked much quicker home then normal. Checking around you many times to see if you were followed.

By the time you arrived it was pitch black. If someone had been watching you, they wouldn’t be able to get in was the only assurance you had. Your palms were pushed up against the wooden door, only turning your head enough to look out at the darkness around you.

You never could see it yourself, but you felt it. Almost like a shock, a pulsating wave of energy surged through them was the only indication you had of what you were doing. To any onlookers, they would just see a strange golden glow flash over your eyes, and a ripple of the same gold quickly flash around the perimeter of your home like a fire. It flashed into existence in an instance, and circled around your hut and disappeared just as quick the further it went. Like a tail following the light.

You finally went inside, and the only evidence of life to be seen was the gentle orange flow of light peeping through the closed shutters. Your only solace within the small space, but enough to keep your heart and mind from spiralling too far.

While leaning over to peer into the fireplace where a large stirring pot hung above the coals, a memory popped into your head. Ezra had approached you one day outside your hut. You had been placing small piles of feed around the backdoor steps, enticing the curious squirrels to come closer to you.

Just as a particularly friendly one was slowly making it’s way close to you, something behind you had startled it away. It was only a second late that the distinct shuffling of feet in the grass had you whip around, wide eyed and almost immediately out of startled breath.

It was the first time you had seen him alone, no large brutish men at his side waiting for any preferably aggressive order. His bright brown eyes gleaned in the sunlight as he took in your small abode. “Hard to imagine such strange and powerful concoctions have been so beautifully crafted in such an unimpressive structure. You didn’t respond, just clenched your hands in the clothes at your side as he turned his head to look at you nonchalantly. “The inside must truly be a wonder.”

He didn’t make a move to go inside, but you shifted just slightly to have a better chance at beating him to the door if necessary. “What I do is none of your concern.”

Ezra smiled, a typical response to your irritation towards him. “Oh quite the contrary, what you do is of great interest to me. Especially when it is my territory you are encroaching on.” Before you even had a chance to speak, he begun pacing around the outside of your small back garden. “Don’t you give me that look, birdie, you know exactly where I am talking about.”

You did, but calling it his territory wasn’t fair. He had no right to claim what was apart of nature. “You can’t just kick me out because you got there first.”

Ezra’s head tilted to the side, a pretend doubt crossing his features before making his pace direct towards you. “You twist my intentions here, I come here not to conquer, but to bargain.” He stood over you, feeling more tall then he likely was.

He was a large man with a broadness to him that took up much of your view. The glint in his deep brown eyes always crafting an agenda he kept to himself. You had once overheard a conversation about certain...endeavours he engaged in, but they had walked away before you learned anything else. So the softness of his features that framed his face so pleasantly made you all the more angry.

“What could you possibly offer me that I’d want?”

Ezra smirked, leaning close enough to feel every exhale. “Protection.”

Looking back on it, you knew he had been purposely vague. You had yet to have any problems with someone other then Ezra and his men, but he knew better. He knew exactly what would start to happen should and when the magistrate learns of your existence but he didn’t even have the courtesy to warn you.

Your face fell further and further into a glare. “I don’t need protection, and I don’t need pity. You take what you need from these creatures by force, I don’t. I have no reason to be fearful from anything except men like you trying to trick me.”

His face didn’t change, at least from a distance. Up close though, his eyes narrowed just the slightest, a darkness brewing in the corners of them that made you uneasy. You couldn’t show it though. “It’s not your talent I’m doubting birdie, it’s your naivety that has me extending an offer.”

The conversation didn’t last much after that. He knew right away that you felt insulted and took more than a few steps back from you, arms out in surrender. “I mean no offence, simply just looking out for a fellow collector such as myself.”

Your head was beginning to hurt, “You don’t collect anything but to willingly hand it over to men somehow worse than you. I don’t create anything harmful with what I have and I don’t need to shed any blood to get it.”

Ezra opened his mouth but you had enough. “Go away. I have things to do, and I don’t want you lurking around for any of it.”

The darker look faded to a discernible one. It was softer and much more downtrodden, but you struggled to put any distinguishable feeling to it. He raised his hands high in almost a wave as he back away. Reaching the end of what you circled out as your land, Ezra looked towards the piles of left over seeds, then to you as you stood perched on the bottom step. “Best be careful with feeding these ones, get them too familiar and they’ll dig into your garden crops like vultures.”

Ezra had been a continuous adversary every since. Always holding his upper hand over you with confidence and leaving helpful hints or tips only to rub in how much better he has fared in the same work you do.

Only now in present times, you had something over him even as small as it was. A little something that made you keep your shutters closed to the world, and create a barrier from any greedy hands from finding out.

The next time either of you ran into each other, the sun was looming low in the sky and you had at least some modicum of success in what you sold. Mostly trades today but enough coin to procure some winter seeds to add to your storage. Surprisingly, you had very little trouble.

The new woodwork was exactly as it was put, you were able to give people their specific requests. Shockingly, most people who wanted to avoid you suddenly were kind and forgiving when they came to you to help with a specific ailment. They didn’t know why your small vials did more to help than anything the town doctor could treat, but when they needed medicine they always came sneaking over to you.

You always did it, no matter who asked you of it and yet it never changed how far they would go to stay away from you afterwards.

It was right as your hut came into view that you saw him. His broad stature leaning up against the stone wall, a troubled look on his face. You paused in your step, staring at him with wide eyes and a heart beating faster and faster. He typically left you alone here, but the sudden feeling of being watched the night before reared its ugly head.

You stepped slowly, looking at him distrustingly despite him never moving. “You. You were watching me last night. Why? Did you hide here or just follow me home?”

Ezra shrugged to himself as he pushed up off the wall. “It’s been a time since I’ve found my way around here, the work you’ve put into this is quite extensive. You should be proud.” There was no threatening manner as he came to a stop in front of you, but his eyes watched you almost like he was caught between the now, and lost in a distant thought. “The protective charm even moreso.”

Panic flooded your veins and swam all the way into your heart. The townsfolk threw cruses of a witch at you, but all baseless accusations. You didn’t know anyone had seen it for themselves. You wanted to step back, maybe run from him but there was no use. He wasn’t done anyways.

“I have something I would like to talk to you about, but I suggest we do this in the privacy of your own home. It pertains to our...line of work.” Ezra's eyes darted around him with a suspicious glean.

“Why would I ever let you in where I live? You’ve never given me any reason I could possibly trust you-”

Ezra stepped into your personal space so quickly you had no time to back away before he was leaning close into your own face. “I’d keep your voice down, birdie. The trees have ears, afterall.”

So what you thought. You had no doubt Ezra likely had men hidden around him no one could see or even know about. “They know what you know anyways just say what you want then leave.” His eyebrows raised almost in warning to play along with something you didn’t know the rules to. “Just get this over with so I can go inside.”

His eyes once again seemed to squint, scrutinizing something behind you before leaning back into your space, a hand finding it’s way to rest on your arm. As you tried to flinch away, Ezra yanked it back with little force as he spoke low and commanding. “Either you let me inside to speak with you calmly, or I can walk away now and let the magistrates esteemed crew of untrained degenerates finally catch up and do it for me.”

You bit your lip, the thought of how they knew where you lived now darting in your brain. He only could have found it if Ezra was the one to tell him. But standing here in your face, he insisted once more.

“Just a short talk, birdie. One collector to another.” It was so fast you almost missed it. A blink of colour swirling through his eyes and gone again, shined bright in your face the glow of gold that you saw in your own doings.

This was something else entirely. He didn’t just know about you, he recognized it from himself. Looking away you tried to peek to the side to see anyone else around but you stood in the front of your hut alone. You didn’t look at him as you nodded, but he let go of your arm as he stood back to proper height.

You hesitated by the door. There was no going back after this, you couldn’t hide what was inside but you had a heavy feeling in your chest that he was here about that very secret. So you unlocked your door, and made just enough room for him to come inside.

Before closing, you peered out to the treeline. Nothing still in sight, but a shimmer of gold trailed itself along the ground anyways.

Locking behind you, you pressed your back against the door fingers tapping at the wood as he strode around. The ceiling not many inches higher then he was, and his broad frame took up much of the space. Peering at the kitchen which mostly consisted of shelves along the wall stocked full of an assortment of things, and the even smaller counters also full with bowls, pots, and anything and everything you needed to store your medicinal liquids.

The most notable part was the large hanging pot set firm in the fireplace with a few chairs surrounded by far too many books on the floor then you were okay with, but it was small. The half shut door to your washroom was just as uninteresting as anyone elses, and the closed door to where you bed lay went unseen by his investigation. You knew Ezra lived in a proper house, on real owned land with space for anything he desired. This must be pathetic in comparison.

“Cozy, very cozy. I am indeed impressed, once again I might add.” The stiff troubled look on his face had almost died completely now that you both were tucked inside your hut, but you still felt rigid wondering when the first noise from your closed room door would become too distinct for Ezra to not hear.

“What do you want, Ezra?” Your voice smaller and weaker then you wished it was.

His fingers trailed over the stone slabs carved into seats of some kind around a carved in table to the wall. “I had a visit from the lovely magistrate himself this morning. He seeked the answer to a question I knew I shouldn’t answer, but I had only just been rudely awoken. I wasn’t quite ready to be so propositioned to early.”

You had yet to move, but your eyes glanced to the door every few seconds as you let him speak. A thing he was always better at then you. “You see, he’s been using my own, creations,” Ezra almost gestured in a silly manner as if subtly hinting at the one thing you both already knew the other did. “He also, has requested your own kinds on more than one occasion, testing the use of both to see if his own, lets say..indiscretions could be better treated. At first there was no one vial better then the other. Our work was equally matched.”

His head looked up to your worry one, but not in mockery, it appeared to be a compliment. You could insult him all you wanted, but he did work just as hard as you to acquire and create your vials of ailment. You also knew where he was going with this story.

“But not long ago, something changed. He would praise my work up and down, each time showering me with gloat and greed for my offering, only to then show me my work he had been using. And find out it was actually yours.” He paced very slowly around the small space once more as he now looked anywhere but you, a deep furrow in his brow as he spoke again.

“Not a very observant man for someone claiming to be as prestigious as he. He was quite rattled by the revelation, and just today has demanded I find out how you’ve done it and either bring you to him myself, or take your work from you by force.”

Unknowingly you had slunk back against the door, trying to make yourself smaller as the stupidity fell over you. Everything should have been so obvious but it wasn’t until now.

His men had always called what they did hunting dragons, but it dawned on you that Ezra never did. He only called what he did collecting, much in the way you just said you collect from the creatures you work alongside of.

Your mixture of slow and steady kindness and finally a shared understanding of over worldly ability, did take what you needed as you left gifts in return. Tales of dragons painted them as fierce destructive creatures but most lived in saved solitude, wanting peace as much as you did.

Something about the almost ethereal bodies of water that sat within the caves held some properties not found in the nature around you otherwise. Their eyes casted gold matching displays of shimmer, and you now realized that it must have reflected in their eyes making you one in the same.

“He doesn’t know about you. That I never spoke of.” You were still pressed up against the door, but Ezra stood in the middle of the room, nonthreatening and doing no more then gently tracing his eyes and fingertips along innocent surfaces. Your muscles were stiff as you pushed off, pulling your bag over your shoulders.

He watched you hang it across the corner of a bookshelf, no real space around you to put it anywhere proper. You weren’t sure you were brave enough to come closer, in fact you weren’t sure you ever wanted to be near him again after this. He knew about you because he was one in the same and yet he continued to align against you for money.

Your voice was quiet, tight and rigid as you almost spoke through your teeth knowing where this tale was headed. “But he wants to know what I’ve done to make my vials so drastically different.” Your eyes met this time, and he appeared a tad guilty for reasons you couldn’t discern. “And you’re here to get that information by force. Right? That’s how your men do all of their work.”

Your body jolted upright as Ezra suddenly stalked towards you, slinking coyfully like a snake for attack. “My men, are merely brutes who once worked for the great magistrate himself. Gifted to me for protection after being gifted the firsts of my work. They work by force, I however, am far more interested in the journey then skipping right to the climax.”

His smirk had a darker tone lurking behind it, but not one of danger. You didn’t know why he was toying with you that way though. Just taking advantage of towering over you in such a small inescapable space. If he heard how hard you swallowed your nerves, he didn’t move or peep a word on it. “I offered you protection once, and by now I’d have assumed you understood it wasn’t from me. Not a quick as you claim you are.”

You wanted to be angry at his condescension, but your brain hazed over with a confusing fog that offered no solace. “Why would you care, you don’t even like me.”

A dark tone remained, but also glazing over with a much more familiar amused grin. “Now when have I ever claimed such a thing, birdie?” He gave a full laugh at your deepening glare. You knew he was toying with you, but why did he have to do it here in the sanctity of your own home?

Ezra had the audacity to reveal a huge secret about him and expose that he knows one of yours, and yet here he stood giving you the same treatment he always has as if nothing’s changed. Unfortunately for you, opportunity struck at the worst time possible.

Tiny chirps echoed from the closed bedroom door, before morphing into squeaky roar like growls as your other secret vied for attention. There was no escaping this one. Ezra of all people, knew exactly what that sound was. His head swivelled to face the door, a curious look spreading across him as he took a step to the side. He faced you but was making his way over.

“Now what on earth I ask, could possibly make such a notable sound hiding away in the only room I have yet to be shown?”

You fidgeted in place, crossing and uncrossing your arms before finally sighing deeply with your head hanging low. “You know exactly what that is.”

Looking back up, Ezra wasn’t looking at you in superiority, nor nefarious and smugly. No he was looking at you in an almost curious awe. He didn’t make any other steps towards your door but neither did you. He was sent here for one reason, and if not for you he’d likely take this as compensation. The magistrate wouldn’t do any good with it. He has no idea how to work with a dragons ability, he’d end up killing it.

Your voice was just a tiny whisper. “You’re just going to take it from me.”

If you didn’t know better you’d say Ezra looked sad, almost shameful for giving you such distrust. He only said two words, and you knew that no matter if you were equally matched, he was bigger and stronger and he would overpower any fight back.

“Show me.”

Chest constricting, you disguised your panic and pounding fear with a steeled, flat gaze. You made the small way to your bedroom door hand paused at the handle and other palm pressed against the wood wishing you could apologize to your companion in advance for what you were bringing in. You felt Ezra presence at your back, but sighed without turning your head to him.

“He’s gentle with me, but please don’t be forceful with him. He panics easily.” The man gave no response and you weren’t sure if it was out of focused curiosity, or he simply didn’t care about your request. Pushing the handle, you walked into the room as you opened the door to see what the fuss was all about.

He was small, still a baby. Not even a foot long in length or even wingspan, and skinny with little scales to show off. His high pitched roars only were able to come out as somewhat of a coo, which purred softly at the sight of you, only to cause him to hiss and fling his small body back against your bed as Ezra came in behind you.

Instantly you knelt down closer to his height on the bed, a shushing noise coming from you. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Come on, it’s alright.” At this point you tried not to help him up, he wanted to do it himself getting used to his wingspan proportioned oddly with his small stature.

Ezra behind you sounded in awe, a tone akin to a dry croak as he whispered with no trace of malice or intent. “How on earth did you secure such a creature?”

Your tiny friend tilted his head at you, making you smile. You sat down on your knees to allow him to hobble up close, communicating in a cooing that you had come to learn was suspicion. Ezra appeared in your side view, but only slightly bent at the knees as his hands rested on them. He seemed to understand the creature was wary of him and didn’t come over to quickly. “This is why you’ve come up with such powerful creations. You’re not just trying to add to their properties, you’re creating alongside them.”

Your friend hopped to look at Ezra with another head tilt. Seemingly taking his respect and curiosity as no hostile intentions. Slowly Ezra bent down more to crouch beside you as you spoke. “Not really them, just this one. I didn’t even realize I had him until I came home one day from the caves. He must have snuck into my bag and hide until he knew it was safe.”

Ezra furrowed his brows as he peered at you without quite taking his eyes off the infant dragon. He knew you weren’t talking about anything you did. The only other humans who dared to venture into a dragons cave was himself and the brainless brawn that had been assigned to assist him. “I was in another cavern then you. I don’t even think you knew I was there. Your men were yelling and screaming somewhere not too for away at what sounded like a very angry adult dragon. I also could hear you yelling at your men in even louder anger but it was too muffled through the cave walls to understand.”

The infant dragon stepped closer to the edge of the bed, his feet carried him closer to the safety of your familiarity, but his small slit gaze eyed Ezra and his hands that rested in front of his body still not breaching the bed’s edge. “I don’t know why he was alone, but I think the sounds scared him. Something must have made him trust me, because I hadn’t even realized I had company until we were here.”

For one, the man beside you was rather silent. His usual ability to find endless things to speak on suddenly quelled by the strange series of events unfolded in such a short amount of time. So you took over his role, filling the void with the only thing you could.

Hoping desperately that if you softened the blow to him, just maybe he could convince the magistrate to at least to try and not harm him. “There's so much more they can do, Ezra. It’s like their waters is just one aspect of their ability. Just drops of blood or a tear, even the flame is something else all together. Like the ones we see is just defensive, but I’ve seen him gently blow out a blue almost green colour. It’s like they have all of this just inside of them, but-”

Ezra interrupted with an affection you’ve never heard from him. “But it’s like they need someone with out abilities to create something out of it.”

Your tiny friend finally took tiny hops over to him, his gaze falling from what he likely thought was a flaring dangerous slit in his eyes back over to the brightness inside them. Ezra still didn’t reach out to touch him, and it didn’t go unnoticed how respectful he was being.

A side you’ve never seen before, or not at least to this extent. He was competitive with you to an infuriating degree, but you had to give him credit that never once has he tried to sabotage your own work. You were starting to think it should count for something.

The silence was palpable but not uncomfortable. He and the dragon looked at one another, almost communicating in the same ways you did with the small creature. It left an odd feeling in your chest. How close you both were in such a vulnerable moment that almost no person gave you the time of day to experience.

A fondness crept up in your throat that you didn’t appreciate, he was only being kind to manipulate you into giving you or your companion up without a fuss or fight. You needed to remember that as you watched Ezra smile so genuinely at the dragons little huff. His wings flapping and a hop in place you knew what he was asking for. “I assume your new partner wishes to find a home near your fireplace.”

You turned to look at his side profile only to startle at how close he was, looking directly at you. “Judging by how cool it is in this room, especially now that the sun’s left us.” Not thinking twice, a motherly instinct took over as you stood up instantly and put a hand hovering over the creatures back, prompting him to the edge of the bed.

“Come on, let’s try this again. You’ve gotten so much better at it since last week.” You bent over closer to his head to murmur much quieter. “It’s not going to hurt you remember? That’s why we put the rug down, you can do it.”

Wiggling in place, the small creature flapped it’s wing and jumped. Only to fair a few centimeters in distance before losing his steadiness and tumbled to the ground. Just like you reminded him, he wasn’t hurt by it. But embarrassed? Absolutely. Much like a cat, he scrambled onto the wooden floor and took off in a pattering sound to his favourite spot curled up just in front of the fire away from the scene of the so called humiliation.

Which just so happened to be in the middle of the largest free space. You’ve learned quite quickly to forge a path around tight gaps and strange angles to climb over.

Ezra came right beside you, his arm so close to touching yours that you felt the warmth radiating from his skin. His voice deep and almost a raspy quiet near your ear. “It’s miraculous what you’ve done. These aren’t easy creatures to gain so much trust in, but this one looks at you like a mother. And you love him like one back.”

Your head whipped around to him in shock. His voice was an admiration never given to you before from him, and his eyes swam with a genuine affection you couldn’t quite name. His dark eyes bore into yours unwavering. As if he saw right through whatever walls were in place and carved it’s way right to your insides, and it was too much for you to handle.

Looking away, you crossed your arms over your stomach and shuffled your feet. You weren’t sure if he even heard your tiny plea. “I’m going to miss him.”

But he did, and Ezra’s face fell into a conflicted frown that let a kind of heart wrench peek out from it. You hadn’t gotten but a few feet into the main room again when you both heard it at the same time. A bundle of voices in uniform tones.

For the briefest of moments, you had seized up. They had never found you before, and you hadn’t thought to take any precautions when leading Ezra inside. He on the other hand, wasted no time.

His large stature allowed him to get to the front window shutters in but a few steps, his body flat against the wall as he peeked out of the cracks. A distinct golden flash in his eyes. You don’t know why, but for just a moment, you wondered if yours looked just as beautiful or if it was just an extension of his own.

Shaking it off quickly you stepped over to the door next to the window he looked out of. Hands fumbling with the locks, not even having the foresight use the very abilities they likely were seeking you out for.

Whipping around your eyes blazed in fury, “You said you were here alone, you told me you came here alone that I wasn’t going to be taken by force,” Fire blazed in your eye but your trembling voice, the unsteady shake of your hands told a story of hurt and betrayal. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you, you just wanted one thing from me-”

Ezra invaded your personal space with a dangerous look of warning as he seemed to command you silent with a slip of your name past his lips. “This was not my doing. I told you he would rather steal you from your own home, but I implored him to let me go in place.”

You shook your head and tried to back away, but there was really nowhere to go. The hut was small and the door was pressed up against a flat wall. “You’re the only one who knows, about me, about here.” Ezra's hands reached out in the air to placate you but realization dawned in your eyes. “It was you, last night you were the one watching me, you destroyed my stuff? For what? To scare me into thinking it wasn’t you? To trick me into gaining your trust so you can lead them right to me?”

Your voice grew and grew into a shattering panic, but Ezra all put pushed you against the wall with his step forward. Dark eyes infuriated and a snarl willing itself onto his face. “I protected you. I kept his men away from you, don’t you dare stand there and accuse me of forcing you into anything.”

The sounds of voices grew louder and as you turned to open the door to attempt a protective charm, Ezra snatched your wrist in mid air and gripped it tight. “Ezra I-”

“Already have done it myself.” At your shifty gaze to the door again he pulled your wrist in closer. “You were panicked and froze, I took up the mantle myself.”

He still refused to let go of your arm when you tried to pull back again. His body was still and unmoving as much as his heavy gaze on you as if this didn’t at all phase him. “I didn’t freeze, let me go I’ve casted one several times-”

His face leaned into a mere inch or two from your face, he hand pulling your arm behind him enough that it forced your chest far closer into his own. The slightest sensation of this thumb running over your skin sent a shiver through you as did his low tone. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing, birdie. I am perfectly capable of taking care of you.”

A tiny hiss spat out, and the two of you looked to the fireplace to see the tiny creature lifting his head up just enough to watch Ezra with hostility. Hand still in mid hair, he let go of you and lowered his own slowly in the creature’s view. It seemed satisfactory as he once again curled his long neck up onto his body looking like a lumpy ball on the floor.

A beat of silence passed between you. There wasn’t an aggressive attack towards you nor was there more shouting or orders passed around. Ezra’s hands sat on his hips as he looked down slightly, giving you a modicum of space. “I wouldn’t worry much, those appear to be meager footmen not soldiers of any effectiveness. They’ll simply watch and pray for you to come out willingly until dawn hits and they need to return.”

Luckily your new friend seemed unaffected by any of this. Sleeping soundly in front of a cozy warm fire, uncaring about the current situation. Most likely he’d stay asleep until early morning when he knocks over things in your tiny kitchen seeking easy food.

“You uhm,” your fingertips tapped against your legs as you avoided eye contact. “You’ll need to stay. I might not be able to make a new one in time if you leave. Especially empty handed.”

Ezra nodded understandingly, he turned to the room and once again found himself milling about the small space, not even needing to watch his feet as he comfortably stepped over the green lump on the floor. “Good thing you have such generous accommodations for such an occasion.” You rolled your eyes as your body relaxed in a slump. “I’ve always felt as if the rough edge of a stone stool makes for a tremendous resting spot.”

Your arms crossed against your stomach once more as you walked into the other side of the room, not like it made much of a distance between you granted. “I- you’ve been...kind..today. Other days, I don’t really..it’s been a strange evening.”

“That it has.” His calm unchanging demeanour was either an inhuman blessing or a purposeful tool to stay one level above you. But you had no energy to fight him for it.

You ended up by the kitchen and tapped your fingers against the little counter space untouched by clutter. “I don’t have much to offer, but I have a little bit of stew and some day old bread I got from the market today...”

It was awkward, offering him such normal things in your evening routine, but he was kind enough not to make jabs at you for it. He did however, narrow his eyes slightly. “Now birdie I know for a fact that very seller makes his bread fresh into the evening.”

You shrugged your shoulders, but turned to busy yourself in gathering what was left of the stew made the day before. “Not like he is going to sell his finest or freshest to me of all people.” You muttered just under your breath, but not enough for Ezra’s fine hearing to catch it. “Him or anyone else.”

Your back was turned, missing the frown he gave as well as his quick appearance behind you. You almost jumped at the sight of him so close. His large hands quick to hold onto your arms gently to keep anything from spilling over.

Without removing his hands, they slid down the length of your upper arms to your hands as he kept eye contact. “I’ll assume you can trust to let me handle the act of pouring liquid into pot and scooping it back out.”

This time your eye roll was less annoyed and for closer to playful as you nodded, and let him take it from you. Only turning long enough to realize he would need a ladle, and seeing you already grabbed one for him.

“I’ll leave you to the bread.”

The next little while was actually quite peaceful. Ezra’s comfortable silence as he knelt by the fireplace watching for a boil. Not even the interruptions of silence as he mindlessly chattered at the sleeping dragon bothered you.

He steered clear from today's events. Choosing to go about the casualness of his day, and prompting you with genuine questions about yourself. Questions you found yourself easily answering without hesitation. It wasn’t long until it felt like a real conversation, and it didn’t even occur to you how strange it was compared to the usual hostility between you both. How easily warmth and laughter was shared when your greivences were set aside.

Ezra was quicker than you to get used to it, he was almost making you second guess the ways he interacted with you. Making you wonder how much of that hostility stemmed from just you. There was a guilt there, the wonder of how much of his hostility did you deserve for the way you’ve treated him first.

That was a feeling which grew louder the longer as the evening turned into night. You couldn’t let him sleep out here, there was no space for his broad stature and the only thing not with a stone base was your bed. It would be large enough, but the idea made your heart beat and your nerves to tighten.

You’re head was muddled about him tonight but the idea of treating him as uncaring as you might have not too long ago suddenly didn’t sit right with you. Ezra had been milling about your space, commenting on your storage and ingredients, how well you’ve utilized such a small space for how much you do.

He was mostly stalling as it grew closer for you both to go to bed, he didn’t want to make you feel awkward by going to sleep as you watched him find whatever space he could make for himself. Choosing to stay awake and preoccupied to spare you that, only you may not have given him that chance.

You whispered his name, once, twice, until you knew he couldn’t hear you from your nervous spot at your door. You feared chickening out, so your mind blurted it out for you. “You should sleep in here.”

He looked at you, a raise of his eyebrows at you hands wringing together in front of your open door, body standing to the side enough that would allow him room. “I understand perfectly, birdie. This is your sanctuary not mine, I have no need for-”

“No, like...in here, with a bed..” His intense eyes with that unblinking stoicism had you nibbling on your bottom lip trying to sound more confident then you felt. “It’s...I told you that you’ve been kind to me today, even when I don’t really deserve it.”

You weren’t looking at him, so you missed Ezra chomping at the bit to argue with you on that point, but you powered through those nerves anyways. “You shouldn’t sleep out here, that wouldn’t be fair. It’s the least I can do.”

Your muscles felt like they tingled at the tender smile on his lips, making his way over to the lantern by the kitchen and blowing it out. You stood frozen watching him, his broad frame taking up so much room in this small space and his watchful eyes barley moving from you. He stood in front of you, his chest so close to yours and his face searching for an answer you didn’t know the question too.

You seemed to square up as he leaned in, your eyes wide and unknowing to you, but flashing over with a desire he knew all too well. He was so close his nose almost brushed against yours before he raised his chin just over your shoulder to blow out the lantern by your heads.

Now the only thing keeping the hut alight was the glow of the embers in the fireplace, and the much smaller flame in the one lantern in your bedroom. Ezra gestured for you to go ahead of him, casually pressing it against your lower back as he followed you inside.

You quickly moved away from the side of the bed he was near to stand by the window, opening the shutters slightly more. Glancing over at him you just tilted your head to the sky outside, “So it’s not completely dark.”

Ezra broke his gaze on you as he knelt down to take his boots off, as you merely slipped off the flat ones you wore in seconds. For a moment before he stood back up, your hands automatically went to untie the strings of your front before realizing you weren’t alone. Ezra had looked up to see a hesitation, hands fiddling with drawstrings that would reveal far more skin then he’s ever seen on you.

Moving right up to the bed, Ezra just nodded for you to go around to your side. “I take no issue with keeping everything on if that’s what you are most comfortable with.” He peeled off his outer layer to show only his thinner long sleeved shirt underneath. The collar of the shirt undone and perhaps undone a far bit more then a commoner might deem acceptable. Without any other obstructing articles of clothing on his upper body, the skin exposed on much of the middle of his chest hummed with the orange glow of the room.

Nothing else was taken off as he climbed under the sheets, his body leaning to sit up and watch. “It’s your bed, birdie. I want you to be relaxed.”

“Relaxed?”

Ezra lowered his head in almost a lecturing appearance, “Comfortable, birdie. I want you to be comfortable. Just lay down for me.”

Why were your nerves so on fire? Why were you feeling this way towards Ezra of all people, no one in this town ever gave you enough mind to stir up this tightening warmth inside of you until here and now. But you climbed in otherwise. Slowly moving down to rest on your side as he watched you.

“Ezra?” With a shake of his head whatever thought he was lost in went back out of focus. “The light? Could you?”

Craning his head to the side, Ezra twisted just enough to blow it out. Setting the room dark, with the only light being streaks of a blueish tint from the moonlight.

It didn’t take long for both of your eyes to adjust, and it was hard to ignore that the bed wasn’t large enough to create a wide gap between you, and that you both lay on your sides facing one another not yet asleep.

The length of Ezra’s hand was the maximum amount of distance between your bodies and even in the moonlight you could see his brown eyes and their penetrating gaze on you. You tried to look away from his eyes, but instead of just closing them, you lowered them only to find yourself looking at the outline of chest that was exposed.

Neither of you said anything, but there was no fooling. You both knew the other was wide awake. Your body felt tense as if it screamed at you to move more, but you laid so perfectly still that the arm pressed under you ached in the pressure. He was close and his features were so much more predominant in this glow.

Not just the blonde against the dark hair, but his nose that framed his softness so handsomely that it made looking away from him a difficult task. His lips were hard to see, but you kept fighting to push back the images of how plump and soft they always were.

You didn’t notice that you had started to shiver, but it wasn’t from the cold. Your nerves shook from this strange warm need and the fight against how complicated it made you feel. “It’s cold, birdie. Come closer, I run a twinge warmer then the average.”

His whisper was raspy and it stunned you how badly you wanted to hear it again, so you didn’t move. Your free hand dug into the sheets in front of you as he spoke still quiet but more firm.

“Always so stubborn for me.”

Ezra moved a tad closer as he reached out to press against your back and lean you into him. His chest was so warm, and his arms were as large as the rest of him. You hadn’t thought about it when your fingertips reached up, a few of them hooking into the exposed collar of his shirt further down his chest. A spark buzzing into your body as you felt the brush of his chest against you.

His own hand trailed up and down your back, exploring a place he’s never been. “Better?”

It felt natural as you pressed a little closer to his front, a mutter of “You’re warm,” let a smile break out on his face that you couldn’t see.

“Good.” It was a few minutes of silence, but his hand tracing your back over your clothes and the occasional shift and reaffirming your fingers hold on the edge of his open collar told you both neither was asleep Just like he usually did, it was Ezra who broke the quiet. “I wish you’d have learned by now, birdie that I don’t hate you. Quite the contrary.”

Such an emotional side wanted so badly to cling onto that as the truth, and as it turned out, having your body pressed against his in your own bed let that emotion win out. So you nodded with a hum.

“You see how someone who does much of what you do, only I get treated without being insulted, shunned or talked down too. And I certainly haven’t made that feel much better for you by just letting myself play off of your easy annoyance with me. Though your face being rather cute when you’re grumpy may have played a role.”

As much as you could you turned your head up to see him, but his own was tilted upward watching the shine of streaked moonlight against the ceiling as his hold on your back grew more solid. His press of you against his front much more distinct. “Most of these townsfolk have been cruel, and I am truly sorry for my own actions in that. You deserve to be treated better then to be outcasted like a curse.”

You didn’t know why you did it, but you leaned back to catch his eye line better, your hand now pressing against his chest as it trailed back and forth from the broad strength of his torso to the softer stomach underneath and back. It wasn’t your mind that made the choice, it was an action guided by heart.

Something Ezra had done for much of the day. But you still asked. “How would I deserve to be treated?” It was innocent, a genuine question. This town has pushed you into the mud and laughed when you struggled to stand up.

Ezra’s jaw tensed, his body growing quite tense beneath your hand, and in response, you pressed more firmly against his chest to gently run down his torso hopefully more soothingly. It was a resolve of his will power that snapped.

The second you trailed your hand just a tad further down, brushing over his shirt enough to just barley graze the coarse hair leading to a much different kind of touch. Maybe you hadn’t realized it, it was dark and you were quite gentle up until then.

But the slightest pressure of your fingers close to his growing need erupted a boiling point within him. In a flash, Ezra grabbed your hand and flipped your body to fall flat on your back as he pressed up against your side, his upper body learning over yours to hold your hand down in his grasp. “It’s a dangerous game to toy with a man’s greed, birdie.”

Your chest heaved to match the quickness of your heart. Where his body touched yours felt like a flame but one without the agony. You could better see him this way, his eyes dark with an undoubtable lust and his lips slightly parted with grit as he shamelessly looked over you.

Did you mean it? Your sudden courageous touch closer to a part of him you thought he’d never care to give you? Was it what you always wanted but struggled to understand it? Your brain was so muddled as the authoritative press he had against your hand pinning it and you into place had part parts of you screaming.

Your thighs rubbed together trying to quell the screams but it only caused his dark eyes to look down to the shuffling. His grip slowly released your fingers until they barley touched. Just as they parted Ezra almost violently pulled the sheets away from you. So quick you were unable to hide the desire the parts of you Ezra dreamt about most spoke.

He pressed a palm onto the sheets closer to your waist as he raised his body enough to better lean over you. “If you’re toying with me, birdie, this is nothing short of cruel.”

It flew out of you in a breathe, no planned out thought behind it, only pure instinct. Your body writhed along the sheets just enough where you just barley felt your hips brush against his. “What do I deserve, Ezra?”

His jaw clenched more as he leaned down, his nose brushing against yours and tracing it’s length. “Want? Or need?” When you didn’t answer a second later, Ezra moved his hand to dance over your waist and hips with a clenched hand needing more. “You can’t just want this, birdie. I need you to need it. I need you to tell it to me. Tell me you need this. Need me.”

Just a single doubt of if this was a plot passed through you, but he played dirty if that was the case. He lowered his hips just enough for you to feel quite a hefty weighted pressure against your own hips. Not just heavy, but no doubt, something much more sizable then the very few you’d seen before.

“I need you.” He was greedy and it wasn’t quite enough, but he knew you’d know what to give him.

“Please?”

Christ almighty it wasn’t even a beg, it was such a sweet little ask. Almost innocent sounding if his cock wasn’t pushing into your hips begging for you to spread your legs. But it was a please that growled through him.

His hand perched on the sheets rose up and grasped your jaw, his breathe hitting your skin as his lips brushed against yours with his sole response. “Thank you.” The only thing you felt next, was his lips harshly against yours, an aggressive commanding kiss that left you breathless with his greed.

The very first thing you realized about Ezra as a lover, was he was unforgivingly passionate. His lips were soft but paired with a force that demanded you let him guide you. His kiss become more aggressive with each passing breathe until his tongue brushed against your lips.

Your senses felt overwhelmed, all you could feel, hear, even taste was Ezra. Your hands grasped meekly at his shoulders while his own large ones encompassed your hips as he swung his legs over to hold himself over top of you. He squeezed handfuls in such a greedy tight grip that you couldn’t move them much.

What he wanted. He didn’t grind his covered cock against you now, but he kept your hips pinned to his as he continued to keep the weight of it pressed into you. Let you feel him grow harder right against where he intended to devour.

A small whimper left your mouth as he brushed his tongue once again at your mouth and he took his opening, sliding his tongue inside and brushing it against yours before pulling back and starting all over again. He coaxed you each time to explore his mouth as much as he did yours, one of his hands releasing your hip to cup the back of your head.

Pushing you up more into his mouth, keeping you connected as he gave a muffled moan as you finally felt the confidence to taste him as well. It wasn’t graceful or even delicate, no this kiss was messy. Ezra not caring for technique or talent, but keeping the taste of you with him any way possible.

More then once you tried to pull back with a gasp of breathe only for him to follow your mouth once again. Your hands finally started to move, once again trailing the path you started only this time without the trepidation.

Fingertips dancing at the bottom of his shirt, Ezra gave you no doubt. Pulling away from your mouth, a string of spit just barley there before breaking as he sat upright not taking his shirt off, but grabbing your hands and sliding them under the fabric for you. He leaned back into you, pressing his cock harder into your centre. Grasping your neck and jaw he turned you to his pleasure as his mouth moved up your neck, leaving a cool path in it’s wake as he nibbled a patch and then soothed it with his tongue before moving on.

Your hips now free arched up into him with a gasp, the sting of his bite racked your body with an overwhelming need that made your hair stand on end. His unwavering focus left him barley separating from you as his beard and moustache rubbed into the sensitive skin he created.

A stutter trembled out of your mouth as you felt his cock much more clearly. Your hands holding onto his waist as you moved slightly against him, feeling him grow harder against you. It also though, left you in great wonder as to where he truly started and ended. The firm pressure against you felt so much larger than you could imagine and you found a shameless greed fly through you wondering how heavy it would feel on your tongue.

But the moment passed as your hands finally ran down to feel the coarse hair that set him off before. In a fleeting moment you suddenly pushed yourself up, forcing Ezra to sit upright once again his mouth draped open and swollen from his force. Your eyes this time held no insecurity.

You shoved his shirt up the length of his torso before leaning up as much as possible to pull it off before he took over and yanked it the rest of the way. You felt a rush of desire at how truly large he was. Broad shoulders and chest with arms that could hold you down with no real force. Down and down was a softer stomach that was where your palms kept running over, dipping to the coarse hair and soothing back upward as he just watched you.

Quickly he forced you back, his hands slamming down onto either side of your head as he rasped out, “It’s truly a crime that you’ve kept this breathtaking sight from the world.” His eyes slipping shut with a moan as your nails scratched ever so slightly below his waistline.

“Oh? You have any intentions of sharing this with others?” Ezra’s eyes snapped open, the moonlight hitting his back hid the incredulous look on his face in shadow, but you certainly felt it as he sat back up grasping your thighs.

“You misunderstand me birdie. I was being generous, what I meant was how much I can’t believe you hid any of this from me.” His hands grabbed the bottom of your skirts and bunched it up in his hands. “You’ve given yourself to me, and I am a selfish man.” He dragged it up and up exposing your skin to the cool air. “And I don’t share.”

Pulling it up as much as he could, you had to move quick to sit up in time as he pulled it off of you completely. The only thing keeping you from him now was a flimsy piece of fabric he had every intention of keeping for himself. Like he said, Ezra was a selfish man and if this is the only time he can ever share this with you, then he damn well is going to keep a small part of it with him.

You were quiet for a moment as he looked you over. His visibility much better then yours as the blue tint of the moon painted itself all over your skin. His hands once again on your thighs, he squeezed the flesh just as tightly as he did your hips.

His voice was tight, strained. “You have no idea the pain it’s putting me in to stay gentle with you. You have the audacity to just lay there, showing me damn near everything I’ve ever dreamt about you but I’m still wrong.”

Your face fell, spiralling down into a sea of what flaws he possibly hated so much to even point out. His grip on your thighs, his own face staring at your own chest tried to convince you otherwise. As did his own words. “Every night I imagine you just like this, you always slink up to meet me halfway, nails dragging over my chest with a knowing greedy look in your eye like an animal waiting to strike. But you now? You just lay there, looking at me with the most genuine eyes I’ve ever been graced with, and this...quiet uncertainty like I’m going to just take this all back.”

You could feel your lungs constrict, a shame once again setting in that maybe this has all been your fault. That this rivalry towards one another has been one sided the whole time and that you should consider yourself lucky to be blessed with his patience for you.

In theory, you followed what his dreams played out, but your palms smoothed up his chest not scratching nails, and there was no sultry look about you, but a genuine heart wrench. Your hands gently cupped the sides of his face, his facial hair scratching your palms beneath. “I, this isn’t your fault and I’m sorry.”

Ezra raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in question. One of your hands danced along his collarbone to avoid this face. “Maybe it’s all been in my head, or it’s changed between us, or I just treated you this way for no reason but..it’s different, tonight- I don’t know how to, it’s.” You stopped, took a deep breathe as he patiently waiting for your thoughts to collect. “I don’t know if I want to go back to what we were after you walk out of here. I don’t know if I can go back to it.”

Ezra didn’t respond, merely leaned down enough to gently kiss you, not pushing or pulling at you, just a chaste press of his lips against yours. “I had no intention of going back, birdie. I finally got you to open up to me, and like I said, I’m too selfish to let that slip away.”

Shuffling back on his knees, Ezra grabbed your underwear and tugged it down. His eyes watching you the entire time. Your heart was almost too loud in your head but you pushed that way regardless. You lifted your hips, and let him pull it off, baring you to the cool air entirely.

Sitting up on his knees, Ezra balled the fabric up in one fist, while pushing open your legs for him. You felt exposed, nervous at what he may think or see but you felt the pressuring shove to keep your legs spread wide the second you attempted to close them.

“I promised something you deserve. Will you let me show it to you?” You nodded but your heart grew louder, thumping against your chest as he didn’t crawl back up to you. No, instead holding your legs out just slightly wider then his own broad frame as he leaned into the core between your thighs.

You didn’t say anything, and Ezra had no intention on talking, not this typical way that is. His large hands spread your thighs as far as they could go to fit him, and your gasp of surprise caused a grin to form on Ezra’s face that could only be described as smug.

With no warning, Ezra pulled you forward enough to lean his head against your mound, the sound and sensation of him inhaling your scent sending shivers throughout. “Now that, is more divine than anything you or I could conjure out of thin air.”

Your strength left you, back falling against the sheets losing sight of him completely as you were only now bent at the hips, at the will of the man you least thought would ever choose this with you. The tip of his nose nudged against your clit a few times, your hips jerking as tiny sparks of pleasure came alive. With one more tease left in him, Ezra shoved his face right between your legs, dragging his tongue up from your entrance and back up to your clit as he ran his mouth over it as if a kiss.

Your moan turning into a whine as your legs were shoved just out of his way. Ezra’s eyes bore over your body as he took no slow enjoyment of making a show taking his pants off. There was no patience to drag his need out for you any longer.

He didn’t give you a view for long, just enough to see the how large he was all over, and just a hinting outline of his cock that even for a flash, hung thick and heavy between his legs. But he once again took what he needed. This time no second was spared as he devoured you.

His tongue tracing a path from your clit to your entrance and teasing you each time. Edging himself just enough inside you to garner a taste as it seized your legs up in tension, but the whines of your mouth had him smirking into your skin. “Ezra, please,”

You didn’t know what you needed, but he did. Oh did he know.

Ezra finally pushing his tongue inside of you, licking and tasting you as his hands once again grasped your thighs to push open. There was a twisting, burning fire flaming hotter and hotter with every stroke of his tongue and your moans weren’t the only ones.

The vibrations from his own sounds contrasted with the otherwise softness of his mouth and tongue tasting between your legs but it was an overwhelming fire that threatened to take you, and he wished it too. Your arms grasping at the sides of your head as if in an agony of desire while he rode the wave of your writhing against the sheets.

He seemed to mumble endlessly into you, nothing you could make out. There was a ringing in your ears that only heard the sounds of Ezra pushing you more and more towards the waters edge. A wet tasting as he refused to leave you to even speak his prayers of thanks for you to hear.

His eyes darted open to see your hands dancing to find a grounding, and one of his took ahold of the closest to him. As he moved his body upwards, his mouth took focus on your desperate clit and it echoed your need through the air. His hand holding yours forced it onto your breast and squeezed tightly. Moving and encouraging you to pull and tease in tandem with his tongue on you.

The other refusing to leave anything out, his larger hand took up so much more of you as he gave your breast such rougher touch then your own. But just as he nibbled oh so lightly at your sensitive clit, he grasped your nipple and tugged. A tight hold and rough tug that had you cry loudly.

He did it again, and again each time his greedy licks turning into a much more feral buzzing in his body. A snarl left his mouth as you cried his name out, the only beg you knew and he yanked your hips up to his mouth more. His cock leaking onto your sheets as it pressed up against the bed, but he could ignore it. He couldn’t ignore how he licked into you with such aggression.

A hand on your hip shifting only to roughly press against your clit once more and rub into you with a firm pressure refusing to give. He could sense your orgasm, your body tensing up as your cries turned to breathy gasps. Your insides like a coil ready to be let go, “Ezra, I-I’m-”

He barley tore his mouth away. His lips brushing against your soaked folds with every breath, he could only hiss out through gritted teeth. “I know, give it to me, I need to taste you.” You stuttered trying to give any response but he couldn’t stop himself. “This cunt, this-” shoving his face once again to aggressively lick into you before speaking again, “magnificent cunt, let me taste all of you. And you can have me.”

The vision of what outline you could see and the heavy bulge once pressed against you spun in your minds eye as you grappled with words. “I want, fuck I want it, I want you.”

He still kept his pace but spoke with such ferocity to make you answer him. “What do you want, birdie.” You didn’t answer him again right away and he slapped the outside of your thigh. Not so hard it hurt but enough to make you jump. “Tell me what you want, whatever it is I’ll give it to you but I need you to say it.”

Ezra hissed the words out and you forced yours through a gasp for air. “Your cock. I want your cock, inside me-please, god please, I need you to fill me.” You couldn’t even understand what you were saying, your orgasm teetering on the edge spilling out any desires you lusted for.

He stopped though, his grip so tight bruises already asked to form, as his breath spat into you, “You need me to fill you up? Is that what you need?”

“Yes, please Ezra please,”

He pulled you over the edge in an instant. His tongue inside of you making a mess as he dragged it out of you and up to your clit once more, soaking you so much you could hear it. His mouth licked at your clit in short tight circles until it hit you like a wave.

Nothing of matter cried out from your mouth, just pure pleasure as your back arched up and Ezra slinked back down to drink from you until he could feel your breathe settle from it’s frenzy.

A man not of patience he shoved himself up your body and kissed you, even more sloppy then your first. Your own taste on his tongue and essence smearing over your face where it still sat fresh on his as he licked into your mouth with the exact same treatment.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and your hands grasped one shoulder blade and another through his thick hair as your legs wrapped higher on his hips. As he moved his hand down you felt his tip press up against your soaking wet cunt. Rubbing the thickness up and down smearing your own wetness and mixing it with the precum already on his cock.

Biting at your lip you dug your nails into his skin as he kept prodding his cock inside of you not even an inch. “Tell me again, birdie.”

Before you could beg, he pulled from your mouth to look you in the eye as much as could be for so close. “Tell me you’ll have me now and tomorrow.” Your heart lurched in your chest, but you couldn’t remember the conflicts that plagued your relationship for so long.

You could only hear a sincerity and a rough need edging on his tone. “Tell me this can be us now, and I’ll fill you up with me. I’ll fill you with every inch of my cock, and then I’ll fill you with my cum. Spill it all inside of you, maybe keep my cock shoved in there to force you to keep every drop.”

His cock was almost properly pushing inside of you, but you knew he needed the words out loud. Gently, you raked your nails through his hair, and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips, his nose and back again all while he held his cock still. “This is us, this is all us.” You whispered against his mouth and a shaky breathe left him. “Now fill me Ezra, I want you, I need it all inside me.”

He gave you no time to adjust, your cunt was so soaked as well as his cock that his entire thick length shoved into you with no resistance. You moaned the others names out, Ezra falling into your neck with moans and your head tossed back grasping onto him.

Ezra didn’t pound into you as you thought he would. Instead he slowly dragged his cock along your walls, teasing every nerve inside of you as he slid in and out. Never leaving you, but making you relive how thick and deep he was every time.

The wetness was almost obscene as the thrusted in and out of you. Without removing his head from your neck, he blindly pulled your legs higher along his hips and it let his cock slide deeper. You clenched around him as the stroked along a razors edge that startled you with how good it felt. His mouth dragged itself up to your ear as he kept his pace slow yet deep.

“So good, you are unfair to me, birdie.” His voice rasped out, higher in pitch the more he thrusted into you. “You squeeze my cock so fucking good, fitting my cock as if we were created to lock together. You’re always so good, so talented, so fucking clever.”

His thrusts pounded a little harder, and when you cried out louder, Ezra pained himself to pull back to a gentle slide inside of you. “You take such good care of the things you love. Now, will you let me take care of you? Spill my seed deep inside of you? Once? Twice? Will you let me fill your cunt up with my cum until it just can’t fit anymore of me?”

Your bodies were covered in a sheen of sweat, his hair curling in dampness as you pulled his face to look at you eye to eye. His dark eyes blown wide open and his mouth unable to close from the mounting pleasure in both of you. He never slowed his pace, and you wrapped your legs around him more, closer to his own legs to try and bring him deeper.

“Please, fill me up Ezra.” You pulled him into a kiss breaking off only to mumble against hips lips before kissing him again. “I’m yours to have, please. Cum inside me, please just this one please.” The burning pleasure filled your limbs as you could only move against his thrusting hips to seek out your orgasm before it could be taken away, not that he would dare deprive himself of it.

You rambled, not knowing what you were saying but driving him mad through it all. “I’m yours, whenever, wherever. Fuck me until until you’ve had enough of me, until it takes, please cum inside me you can have whatever you want.”

Ezra grasped your face harshly, kissing and licking into your mouth as your orgasm swam into the shores. The fire between your legs making you almost cry in tears, leaning up into his warm touch, letting his kiss consume you as all you felt was his cock slick against your walls.

Your head was high in the clouds, surrounded by white noise of his creating. You were too far off to sense how insane you drove him. Neither of you could have expected his feral, snarling desire to keep you all for himself. But you told him to fuck you until it took, and it lost him.

There was no discernible drive behind it, not that he knew of at the moment, but it consumed with with the concept of fucking you every chance he gets, spilling his cum deep into you without any care to take precautions over it.

That thought pushed him over the edge. His hips pushing shallow thrusts deep inside you as he buried his head into your neck with a tight hold moving throughout your body. His cum spilling inside of you, warm and so deep you buried your own face into his hair as your clenching walls milked him for all he could give you.

You thought he may be mumbling something onto your skin, but whatever it was seemed to be another language. You were too far gone anyways, burrowing yourself into his arms as you both stayed there. Hips locked together, neither of you understanding why either of you held this back the way you did.

You didn’t talk about that though. Once you both came back down, Ezra pulled up, giving you one last kiss, but not of deep lust, just a simmered passion that left you chasing his lips after.

You also didn’t speak of the very reason he had to stay that night, likely still out there until the sun arises. Ezra didn’t care about them, he didn’t elaborate but he was very clear that he didn’t ever come to you with intention of handing you over. For once, you truly believed him, and he had such a genuine smile of happiness of true peace between you.

The rest of the night was quiet, intimate. Ezra watching with fond curiosity as you sat with the tiny dragon now awake with company. Watching you both work together, whispers at him and coos and purrs at you, a golden glow shining in the small space in front of the fire pit as you showed Ezra the charms you had been teaching him or working on together.

He tried some of them too, with varied success but never once did he become short or annoyed by your own success. He just watched you guide and praise the small creature, support him to work with you, prompting what you know he can do.

His smile only warmed up fonder as he quickest of images replaced the one in front of him. One where the creature in front of you was something much more human. One with dark curls and a growing patch of blonde standing out against a softer face that much more resembled you.

It wasn’t a thought that lingered, but he didn’t chase it away. This was new for the both of you. He treasured how much you understood each other once the walls dropped.

You had mentioned that once the sun came up you’d have to figure a plan out. “He’s small, and he’ll stay small for quite a while, but this just isn’t..”

“This isn’t a place to raise him.” Ezra brave enough to run a finger over his wings and not get growled or snapped at finally. “We’ll find somewhere. I’ve passed a fair few places before settling here, any one of them could give you both a real home.”

You watched the creature, you didn’t look at him but there was a watery weight in your eyes. “Just the two of us? You’re life is here, right?” Ezra smiled but you didn’t cut your brain off. “You’ve done enough, you’re life shouldn’t be uprooted for a baby dragon, not for the only person who you’ve competed against for years.”

You tried to steel your face impassively. But Ezra didn’t falter from such a casual relaxation. “Well now how could you two travelers even consider leaving your own companion behind? Frankly I’m offended.”

Your head shot up in panic, only to fall flat at the playful jest on his face. “You don’t have to though, really.”

Ezra furrowed his brow before hauling himself up more. His heart leaping as you so harmoniously reached for him as soon as he cupped your cheeks for a kiss. Pulling way he nudged his nose against yours, “You know better then anyone, I’m a stubborn man.” You laughed out loud, your forehead affectionately resting against his. “You aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon, birdie.”

A chirp croaked out below you both. Ezra poked at the little green attention seeker. “Yeah, yeah same to you, you winged nightmare.” The dragon shaking it’s head with a squeaky growl, hopping away from you both completely. Once again turning himself into a lumpy green pile on the ground ruminating by the fire.

You and Ezra both laughed, and it once again struck him at how parental it felt. The image of a baby, looking much like your best traits together, cradled in your arms and you in his own came back up.

He wouldn’t push that thought, wouldn’t read too heavily into it until a true life has settled with you, somewhere far from the noise and nonsense that drove a wedge between you both in the first place. He never hated you, or even disliked you but Ezra understood why his own attitude didn’t lend itself to healing.

It was hopeful now, such an intimate domesticity between him and you felt as if it was what was truly meant to be. What was behind the animosity previously getting in the way.

Maybe though, he would wait a while before telling you he was the one who had all of your market belongings replaced. He did it out of a burning need to give you something you needed, something good you deserved.

But he had a feeling you would still accuse him of ruining it in the first place as an excuse to get you new things. The magistrate clearly ordered it done to intimidate you instead of doing literally anything else more effective. But Ezra can’t lie to himself.

He absolutely had thought about doing exactly that just to try and get your attention.

#ezra prospect x reader #ezra prospect x female reader #ezra prospect x f!reader #pedrostoriesgift22 #pedrostories #ezra prospect x you #pedro pascal x reader #prospect imagine

166 notes · View notes

katiajewelbox · 2 years

Text

Words used in the writing of “weird fiction” author Clark Ashton Smith

Abbadon the angel of the "bottomless pit" of Rev. ix. 11; hell (see Gehenna)

abdominous big-bellied ("an abdominous jar of uncolored glass")

abjuration a renunciation under oath; a formal rejection or denial

abrogation a nullifying; a doing away with something [L. normal'>abrogare- to repeal]

acidulous sour; bitter; painstaking [L.- acidulus- slightly sour]

adamant

a stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; the hardest iron or steel 2. Poetic: unbreakable hardness (adj.-adamantine)

addorsed Her.- placed back-to-back, as two animals or figures

adipocere a soft or waxy substance of a light-brown color into which the flesh of dead animals is converted under certain conditions of temperature and humidity

adits entrances or passageways

adumbration

a faint sketch or outline 2. foreshadowing; advance indication 3. overshadowing

adytum an inner or secret shrine; sanctum [L. from Gk. normal'>adyton]

agate a waxy quartz in which the colors are in bands, or are blended in clouds

aigretted tufted as with feathers or gems

alabastrine of a pure white color, like alabaster

alembic a chemical vessel formerly used in distillation, usually of glass or copper (see cucurbit)

aliment food for body or mind

almandine n. a transparent deep red or violet garnet, a precious crystallized stone

aludel a pear-shaped vessel of glass

amaranth n. 1. a plant of the genus Amaranthus, with colorful leaves and, in some instances, showy, tassellike heads of flowers, as the love-lies-bleeding, pigweed, etc. 2. Poetic: an imaginary flower that never fades

amaranthine never-fading, or, of a deep-purple or purplish-red color

ambergris a solid, opaque, ash-colored substance used in perfumery

amethysts purple sapphires.

amphora a tall, two-handled jar for wine or oil, with a narrow neck [L. from Gk. amphoreus]

ana n. a collection of notes or scraps of literature bearing on a particular person, place, or subject

anaglyph an ornament in low relief; a cameo [Gk.- normal'>anaglyphon, from ana, up, & glyphein, to cut out]

Anakim a race of giants in Palestine

anchorite a hermit; a recluse (see eremite)

androsphinx a sphinx with a human head (distinguished from ram-headed or hawk-headed sphinxes)

animadversions disparaging comments; censure (see objurgations)

ankylose abnormal stiffening of a joint; a consolidation of two bones or parts of bones

anlace a broad two-edged dagger or short sword

annulated furnished with or surrounded by rings

antemundane unearthly

anthropophagic cannibalistic

antimony a silver-white, hard, crystalline metallic element, related to arsenic and tin

antinomian related to the doctrine that faith frees the Christian from the obligations of the moral law

antipodes a place or region on the opposite side of the earth, or its inhabitants

aphelion the point in orbit farthest from the sun

apotheosis

deification; exaltation to divine honors 2. a glorification of any kind

appanage an allowance to the younger branches of a sovereign house from revenues of the country; hence, whatever falls to one from rank or station in life [F.- apanage]

apperception Psychol.- perception that reflects upon the act of perceiving; spontaneous insight

apterous lacking wings

arabesque n. 1. a complex, elaborate design of intertwined flowers, foliage, geometrical patterns, etc. painted or carved in low relief 2. adj.- fanciful, ornamental

araucarias large cone-bearing evergreen trees

arcane known to only a few; esoteric [L.- normal'>arcanus- hidden] (see holocryptic & recondite)

archaeopteryx a bird of the Jurassic period which had teeth, a lizard-like tail, and well-developed wings

archimage a chief magician; great wizard [L. from Gk. normal'>archimagos- chief of the magi]

architrave

Archit.- a chief beam, resting on columns 2. an ornament arching over a door or window

armillary Astron.- an ancient instrument consisting of concentric rings in the form of a skeleton sphere, representing the relative positions of the ecliptic and other celestial circles

arrack a strong Oriental liquor

arras a hanging for the walls of a room, esp. a tapestry

aspergillum the brush used for sprinkling holy water on the people

asphodels a lily plant, bearing white or yellow flowers

astrolabe formerly an instrument for obtaining the altitude of planets and stars

ataxia disturbance of bodily functions, as in the paroxysms of disease

atelier a workshop, especially of an artist; studio

athanor a digesting furnace, formerly used in alchemy, so constructed as to maintain a uniform and constant heat

attar the fragrant oil extracted from the petals of flowers, esp. from roses

augury a portent or omen; the foretelling of events by signs or omens

aureate

golden; guilded 2. splendid (see next entry)

auroral dawning; roseate

auriphrygiate ornamented with embroidery in gold ("auriphrygiate domes") [L.]

austral southern

auto-da-fe the public pronouncement and execution of the sentence of the Inquisition, with attendant ceremonies, such as the burning of heretics at the stake

bagatelle a trifle; a thing of no importance

baleful

hurtful; malignant. 2. Archaic: sorrowful, miserable (see malefic)

banyan an East Indian fig-bearing tree which sends down from its branches roots that develop into new trunks, thus producing a thick and shady grove

barbican an outer fortification; rampart

baroque

irregularly shaped, as a baroque pearl 2. fantastically overdecorated; theatrical

basilisk fabled reptile of the Arabian desert whose breath and look were fatal (see cockatrice)

bastinado mode of punishment in Oriental countries, esp. Mohammedan, by beating the feet

bayadere a dancing-girl, especially one serving in an Indian temple

beryl aquamarine or emerald variety of beryllium, used as gems

besoms brooms; bundles of twigs

bezel the part of a ring which surrounds and holds the stone

bifurcation a division into two branches

bituminous containing bitumen; volatile

blandishments flattering speech or actions (see inveigle)

blazonries

Her.- artfully depicted coats of arms 2. brilliant displays

boreal northern; pertaining to the north, esp. the north wind

boscage a mass of growing trees or shrubs; a thicket [OF., OHG- busc- a thicket.]

bourn

Archaic: a limit or boundary: the bourn of man’s life 2. Poetic: realm or region

burgeoning budding; sprouting forth

burnoose a woolen cloak with hood, worn by Arabs and Moors

buskin a high shoe or half-boot (see cothurn)

byssus among the ancients, a linen, silk, or cotton cloth of exceedingly fine texture (used by the Egyptians in mummy-wrapping)

cabalistic containing an occult meaning; mystical

cachinnation immoderate laughter

cacodaemon a devil or evil spirit [Gk.- kakodaimon, from kakos- bad, evil + daimon- spirit]

caftan a long, wide-sleeved robe fastened by a belt or a sash

cairn a mound or heap of stones for a memorial

calamite a fossil plant of the Paleozoic era, growing to a height of 100 feet or more

calenture

a tropical fever with delirium 2. Poetic: to have illusions

calyx Bot.- the outermost series of leaf-like parts of a flower, usually green but frequently colored, which encloses and supports the corolla

cantraips incantations or charms; pieces of witchcraft (Scot., from cantrip)

caparisoned fitted with decorative trappings; decked out

capriole an upward leap made by a trained horse while standing [F., from Ital.- capriola]

capstan an apparatus for hoisting anchors

captious difficult to please; apt to find fault

carapace the bony outer case on turtles, lobsters and other animals

carmine red or purplish-red; crimson

carnelian n. a clear red chalchedony, often cut as a gem

cartouche on Egyptian monuments or papyri, a group of hieroglyphics in a small oblong area

caryatid Archit.- a figure of a woman dressed in long robes, serving to support an entablature

cassava

a tropical American shrub with thick roots from which an edible starch is obtained 2. bread made from this starch

cassia

a genus of plants, from some species of which is extracted the cathartic drug senna 2. Chinese cinnamon, a variety made by using cassia bark as an adulterating agent

castradoes eunuchs ("the fat castradoes diddered in their cloth-of-gold")

catafalque a temporary raised structure that supports a coffin [F.]

catatonia a state of muscular rigidity; stupor

causey a paved pathway or street [F. caucie, from L. calciare- to make a road]

celerity quickness of motion

centurial occurring once in a century

ceremented wearing grave-clothes; covered in cere-cloth

cerulean of a deep, clear blue; azure [L.- caelum, heaven, caeruleus, dark blue]

chaffer v. 1. to bargain; to haggle or negotiate 2. to talk much and idly

chalcedony a cryptocrystalline, translucent quartz, having a wax-like luster, and comprising onyx, agate, sard, cat’s eye, jasper and carnelian

chalices Botany: cup-shaped flowers

charpoy bedstead or cot of India, with a bamboo frame

chasmal gaping

chatelaine the mistress of a chateau

chatoyant adj. 1. possessing a changeable luster, like that of a cat’s eye in the dark 2. Cat’s Eye, a chrysoberyl gemstone displaying an undulating or wavy light

chimera- Myth.

a fire-breathing monster, depicted as part lion, part goat, and part dragon 2. a vain fancy; a mere phantasm of the imagination

chiton gown or tunic worn by men and women in ancient Greece

chryselephantine made or covered with gold or ivory, as certain Greek statues

chrysolite an olive-green, translucent mineral, called peridot when used as a semiprecious stone

chrysoprase an apple-green variety of quartz

Cimmerian dark; gloomy (from the Cimmerii, a people whose land Homer described as a region of perpetual mist and darkness)

cinnabar

cystallized red mercuric sulfide, artificially used a red pigment. 2. brilliant red

Circean fascinating but poisonous; magical (from Circe, a sorceress in Greek myth)

circumambient extending around, or being on all sides; encompassing

circumpolar revolving around the poles without setting, as circumpolar stars

claymore a double-edged Scottish broadsword

clepsydra Anciently: a water-clock

cockatrice a basilisk; a fabulous monster whose breath and glance were believed to be fatal, said to have been hatched by a serpent from a cock’s egg

coeval of the same age

coign Archaic: a projecting angle or stone; a corner

coir a type of yarn made from the husk of cocoanuts

colonnades Archit.- a range of columns connected by an entablature

colossi statues of gigantic size, such as the statue of Apollo which anciently stood at the entrance to the port of Rhodes

comestation Obs.- reveling or feasting [L.- comessatio, a Bacchanalian procession]

comestibles food; edibles (see viands)

commensal one who eats at the same table

comminatory threatening punishment or vengeance (minatory- menacing)

condign well-deserved

confrere a fraternity brother

consanguinity

blood relationship; common ancestry 2. close relationship; affinity

contumely scornful or insulting language; haughtiness ("contumelies")

coracle a small fishing boat of hide on a wicker frame [Welsh normal'>corwgl, from corwg- a frame, boat]

corollas the inner circle of flower leaves, usually colored

corposant a ball of electric light observed on dark tempestuous nights about the rigging of a ship; St. Elmo’s light

corundum aluminum oxide, second only to the diamond in hardness. Pure, transparent varieties are the ruby, sapphire, Oriental amethyst, and Oriental topaz.

coruscating giving out sparkles of light (coruscations- sudden flashes)

cothurn a high, thick-soled boot worn by actors in ancient Greek tragedies

couchant lying down; reclining (see recumbent)

courtier a member of the court circle

crenelations battlements; fortifications

crepuscular

pertaining to twilight; glimmering 2. becoming active or flying in the twilight

cresset a kind of iron basket holding a beacon light

cromlech an ancient mortuary monument consisting of two or more large unhewn stones fixed upright in the ground, supporting a flat horizontal stone (see dolmen)

crotali snakes of a genus like that of the rattlesnake (crotalus)

crozier a staff, about 5 feet in length, surmounted by an ornamental cross

cucurbit

a gourd-shaped chemical vessel 2. the body of an alembic 3. any plant of the gourd family

cuneiform wedge-shaped, as in some ancient Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian inscriptions

cupel a shallow, absorbent vessel, used in refining gold and silver ores

cupola a dome; hemispherical roof

cutaneous on or affecting the skin

cycad a tropical plant of fern-like appearance

damascened decorated with wavy or variegated patterns

damask n. a silk fabric, having some parts raised in the form of flowers and other figures

damaskeen v. to ornament with wavy markings produced by inlaying or incrusting with metal ("damaskeening the slopes beyond the city with bright flowers of azure and vermilion")

decoction an extract or essence made by boiling animal or vegetable matter

decrescent

decreasing; waning, as a decrescent moon 2. Her.- the declining moon, used as a bearing

delimitable capable of being gauged, marked, or decided upon (from delimit)

deliquescent liquifying in the air

demiurge

in Plato’s philosophy, a secondary deity, the creative spirit who made the world 2. in Gnostic philosophy, a subordinate god, often considered the originator of evil 3. in Greek history, a magistrate in certain Peloponnesian states (adj.- demiurgic- godlike)

desuetude disuse; a state of being no longer practiced or customary

dewlaps the fold of skin hanging from the throat of oxen or cattle

diablerie demonology; sorcery [OF. diablerie, from diable- devil]

diadem a crown; a symbol of royalty

diaphanous transparent or translucent; pellucid [Med. L.- normal'>diaphanus- transparent]

diaphragmic dividing; partitioning (from diaphragm)

diluvial pertaining to a flood or deluge

dissolution decomposition; death [L. dissolutio, from dissolutus, pp. of normal'>dissolvere, to loosen]

diurnal relating to the daytime; daily (opposed to nocturnal)

divagate to wander or stray aimlessly; to digress (n.- divagation, "divagance")

divertissements diversions; amusements

divestiture the removal of rights or honors; the act of removing something

divination the act or art of foretelling the future or unknown

doleful

expressing grief, as, a doleful cry 2. melancholy (see dolorous, funereal, lugubrious)

dolmen a prehistoric, sepulchral monumuent of large uncut stones, set on end and covered with a single huge stone, so as to form a chamber, and often covered with earth; cromlech

dolomite a calcium magnesium carbonate occurring in white to pale-pink crystals; limestone or marble with much magnesium carbonate in it

dolorous sorrowful; mournful; pathetic [ME.- dolerous, L.- dolorosus- painful, mournful]

drupe a soft, fleshy fruit enclosing a hard-shelled seed, as in the peach or cherry

ebullition

the condition of any liquid when bubbles are rapidly forming in its mass and rising to the surface 2. a violent outburst (ebullience- a boiling over; agitation; exuberance)

effluence a flowing out; emanation [L.- effluens]

effluvium a noxious or evil-smelling exhalation from decaying matter

effulgence a shining forth brilliantly; brightness; splendor

eider the soft, fine breast feathers of a large eider duck

eidolon an unreal or spectral form; an image

eldritch ghastly; hideous; weird

electrum

an amber-colored alloy of gold and silver, used by the ancient Greeks for coins 2. Obs.- amber

eloignment removal to a distance; a carrying off [OF esloignier- carry off ]

embrasure an opening in a wall or parapet, through which cannon are pointed

empery Poetic: sovereignty; dominion

Empusa Botany: a genus of prehistoric fungi ("empusae")

empyreal celestial; pertaining to the highest heaven, where the pure element of fire was supposed by the ancients to exist [Gk. empyros- in the fire]

energumen a person supposedly possessed by evil spirits; a demoniac

entablature a platform supported by columns

epiphany a bodily manifestation, as of a deity

epiphytic growing non-parasitically on another plant, as certain orchids, mosses, and lichens

equerry an officer having charge of the horses of a dignitary

equivocal of doubtful significance; capable of a double interpretation; purposely vague

eremite one who lives in a wilderness or in retirement; a hermit ("eremitic")

erigible capable of being erected [Rare]

erubescent reddish; blushing (see rubescent)

estrade an elevated part of the floor of a room; platform

esurient hungry; needy

ethereous seeming to pervade all space

etiolated whitened; blanched

evanescent passing away gradually or imperceptibly (evanescence)

eventide Poetic: evening time

exanimate deprived of life; inanimate

excoriate to denounce scathingly

exigent demanding; pressing or urgent

exiguous small; minute; slender [L. exiguus- scanty, small ]

fakir a Moslem itinerant beggar, often one claiming to perform miracles (also sp. faquir)

fane a sanctuary; temple

feculent foul with impure substances; muddy

fecundity fertility; richness of invention

femora thigh-bones

fen marsh; bog

ferine relating to or resembling a wild beast; savage (feral)

ferruginous of the color of iron rust; dusky

Fescennine ribald; licentious (from town of Fescennium in Etruria, known for its wild festivals)

fetid emitting an offensive odor (see noisome)

filagree delicate ornamental work formed of intertwisted gold or silver wire

filiated threadlike

firkins wooden vessels ("vermilion fungoid blossoms large as firkins")

flagitious deeply criminal; grossly wicked (see nefandous & nefarious)

flambeaux burning torches

flange a spreading or flaring part; a projecting rim or edge

fleur-de-lis a heraldic figure representing either a lily or the head of a lance

flibbertigibbet an impulsive, flighty, or garrulous person

floe a mass of floating ice

florescence a blooming; the state of being in blossom

fortalice a fortified place; a stronghold [Med. L normal'>fortalitia]

foulder Obs.- to thunder or flash like lightning ("fouldered" ... see fulgor & levin)

frangipanni a perfume prepared from, or imitating the odor of a West Indian tree

franzanita a shrub of the genus Arctosa Phylos; the fruit of one of these shrubs

fretted ornamented with angular or interlocked lines

friable easily crumbled

frore Archaic or Poetic: frozen; frosty

fulgor Archaic: dazzling brightness (fulguration- a sudden brightening … adj.- fulgurant, fulgurating)

fulminating

exploding 2. shouting accusations 3. thundering and lightening [Rare]

fulsome offensively flattering or insincere; excessive (see unctuous)

fulvous reddish-yellow; tawny

fumitory a climbing plant with clusters of pink or purple flowers

funereal mournful; depressingly sad or gloomy

fust a strong musty smell

gamboge a reddish-yellow Oriental gum-resin from certain tropical trees, used as a yellow pigment

garnet

a glasslike mineral of various colors, sometimes cut as a gem 2. deep red

garniture , trimming; embellishment

garth Archaic: a yard; garden [ME.]

Gehenna hell-fire; the place of future punishment

genuflection a bending of the knee, as in worship

geomancy divination by figures or lines formed by a handful of earth cast on the ground

ghazal

a piece of Arabic music with a frequent refrain 2. a form of Persian verse

glabrous smooth

glaucous yellowish-green ("glaucous twilight")

glutinous gluey; sticky

gibbous irregularly rounded or bulging, as the moon when in a phase between half-moon and full

gnomon the style or pin of a sun dial

gossamers fine threads or webs of silk

gracile slender

gramary Archaic: occult lore; magic ("gramaries")

grandiloquence the use of pompous, bombastic words and expressions (see magniloquent & orotund)

greaves dregs of melted tallow

grimalkin an old female cat

guerdon an earned privilege or reward

gules Her.- the tincture red: in a blazon without color, indicated by parallel vertical lines [OF. from L. gula, the throat] ("the leaping of flames that flung their bloody gules")

gymnosophic pertaining to a Hindu sect of ascetics who wore little or no clothing; nude

halcyon calm; peaceful

hamadryad a wood nymph whose life is connected with that of the tree she inhabits

harrow

to tear; to wound 2. to make uncomfortable; to distress

haruspication divination by a normal'>haruspex, a lesser priest or soothsayer in ancient Rome whose business was to inspect the entrails of animals killed in sacrifice [L., lit., an inspector of entrails]

hebetude dullness; stupidity

hecatomb Anciently: a sacrifice of a hundred oxen as an offering to the gods; hence, any great slaughter

Hesperian

western 2. Poetic: of the Hesperides, daughters of Hesperus, guardians of the fabulous garden of golden apples, watched over by an enchanted dragon, at the earth’s western extremity

hesternal pertaining to yesterday ("my own memories grow dim like the fires of hesternal wanderings")

heteroclitic deviating from the ordinary form ("heteroclitic runes")

hieratic consecrated to sacred uses (see sacerdotal)

hierophant Anciently: an expounder of religious mysteries or rites

hippodrome Anciently: a place in which chariot races were performed

holocryptic wholly concealed; arcanic

hornbeam a small variety of the birch tree

houri a nymph of the Moslem Paradise

hummocks small elevations; piles or ridges of ice

hyaline resembling glass; transparent (hyalescence- the state of being glassy)

hydromancy divination by the observation of water

hyperborean frigid; of the far north

hyssop a fragrant, bushy plant of the mint family

ichor Myth.- the ethereal fluid supposed to flow in the veins of the gods

ignescent bursting into flame; emitting sparks of fire [L. normal'>ignescens, ppr. of ignescere- to take fire]

imbricated overlapping, like tiles on a roof, scales of fish, or leaves in a bud ("imbricated leafage")

immedicable incurable (see irremediable)

immemorial beyond memory; originating beyond the reach of records or tradition

immensurable not to be measured; immeasurable (see incommensurable)

immitigable severe or extreme; incapable of appeasement

immomentous unimportant [Rare]

immortelles flowers that retain their color long after they are harvested

immured enclosed or imprisoned (immurement)

impalpable intangible; unreal

incalescent increasing in heat [L.- incalescens, entis, ppr. of incalescere, grow hot... Rare]

incarnadined tinged with the color of flesh; reddened

inchoate begun, but existing in only a rudimentary form [L.- normal'>inchoatus, pp. of inchoare- to begin]

incognizable not capable of being recognized ("incognizably distorted stars")

incommensurable lacking a common measure or standard of comparison; greatly out of proportion

incubus

nightmare 2. an imaginary demon, formerly supposed to cause nightmare, or to have sexual intercourse with the sleeper 3. anything that oppresses

incunablia the earliest traces of an art, race, or development; early specimens of printing and engraving

indepictable indescribable

indesecrate never visited by man; unexplored ("her indesecrate horizons")

indissoluble

incapable of being dissolved, melted, or liquefied 2. firm; lasting (adv.-indissolubly)

indurate hardened; made callous or stubborn (see obdurate)

ineffable inexpressible

ineluctable inescapable; irresistable

inenarrable that cannot be narrated or told

infoliate v. to cover or overspread with leaves [Rare]

infrangible unbreakable [F.] ("the infrangible solitude of remote places")

innominable not to be named (innominate- nameless)

inscrutable incomprehensible; unfathomable

insuperable insurmountable; not to be overcome

integument any natural outer covering, as the skin of an animal, coat of a seed, etc.

interlocutor an interpreter or questioner

interlunar at the time when the moon is invisible; between the old and the new moon

inveigle to lead on with deception; to entice (see wheedling… n.- inveiglement)

investiture a formal investing with authority (Obs.- vestiture...in Zool., a covering of scales or hair)

inveterate

firmly established; of long standing 2. Obs.- bitter; also, ancient (adv.- inveterately)

invidious envious; provoking evil

involitient not capable of exercising the will; mindless [Rare] (volitient- exercising volition)

involuted

intricate; confusingly mingled 2. Botany: rolled inward at the edges

invultuation an evil spell

iridescent having rainbow-like colors; shimmering [Gk. iris, a rainbow, and escent- prismatic]

irrefragable incapable of being refuted; unanswerable

irremeable admitting of no return

irremediable

not to be remedied 2. not to be corrected or redressed

irresoluble

that cannot be resolved; insoluble 2. that cannot be relieved

isoteric having the same number and arrangement of electrons ("isoteric luster")

ithyphallic relating to the phallus used in the festivals of Bacchus; hence, obscene or lewd

jacinth a reddish-orange precious stone; a hyacinth

jasper an opaque variety of quartz, of red, yellow, or brown, and admitting of high polish

jetty black

ka in Egyptian myth, the spiritual self, believed to dwell in images, and to survive in the tomb

kava a Polynesian shrub of the pepper family, and beverage made from it

lacunae gaps; blank spaces

lambent softly radiant (n.- lambency…"lambence")

lamia Myth.- a female vampire preying upon infants; witch ("lamiae")

lancinating piercing, as a shooting pain

Laocoon Myth.- the priest of Apollo at Troy, who warned the Trojans against the wooden horse, and was killed with his two sons, by two serpents sent by Athena

lapidaries those who cut, engrave and set precious stones

lazuli blue spar; lapis lazuli, a semi-precious stone used by the ancients for decoration

legerdemain

sleight of hand; tricks of a stage magician 2. trickery of any sort

leman Archaic: a sweetheart or lover; esp. a mistress

lentor

tenacity [Rare] 2. slowness of movement; sluggishness ("the lentor of Lethe")

leonine pertaining to a lion; fierce

Lethean imparting forgetfulness, or, the anxious foreboding of oblivion

levin Archaic: lightning [ME.- levene]

Liassic Geol: pertaining to the Lias, bluish rocks which are the oldest strata of the Jurassic Period

littoral the shore; the region on the shore of the sea or a large lake

locution a mode of speech; a phrase

loess Geol: a pale, yellowish clay or loam

lubricious lascivious (see salacious)

lubricity slipperiness; hence, shiftiness; instability

lucent shining; luminous

lucubration laborious study or writing [often in pl.] (humorous usage suggesting pedantry)

lugubrious expressing sorrow

luminary any body that gives light, or, a famous intellectual, as, normal'>luminaries of Europe

lunation Astron.- the interval between two returns of the new moon

lune a geometrical figure in the shape of a crescent or half-moon

lustrum a period of five years

machicolation a vertical opening in the floor of a projecting gallery or parapet for hurling missiles or pouring boiling lead onto the enemy

machinations plots; artful schemes

madder

a climbing plant; esp. Rubia tinctorum, a vine with small yellow flowers and berries 2. the red root of this plant, or a red dye made from it 3. bright red; crimson

magistral n. 1. a sovereign remedy [Obs.] 2. adj.- Phar.- specially prepared; not kept on hand

magniloquent lofty, pompous, or grandiose in speech or style of expression (adv.-magniloquently)

malachite a green mineral, found in massive encrustations, that can be polished for ornamental uses

malefic harmful; evil (maleficent- causing injury; maleficial... "malefical"... see next entry)

malign of an evil nature or character

malisons Archaic: maledictions; curses; invocations of evil

Mandragora a genus of herbaceous plants of the nightshade family, which have narcotic properties

mandrake

a poisonous plant, genus mandragora, found in the Mediterranean regions: it has a short stem, purple or white flowers, and a thick root, often forked; deadly nightshade 2. the root, formerly thought to resemble the human shape

mangonel a military apparatus formerly used for throwing stones [OF]

mantle n. 1. a cloak or loose, sleeveless garment 2. anything that covers or conceals

manumission emancipation; being released from bondage (v.- manumit- to release from slavery)

marah bitter water

marcescent withered; wizened

marish marshy; boggy

marmoreal made of or resembling marble

matutinal pertaining to or occurring in the morning [L. from normal'>Matuta, the goddess of morning]

mauve a purple dye and pigment; any of several delicate shades of purple

melange an unsorted medley of things; a literary miscellany

melanite a velvet-black variety of garnet

Memnon a gigantic statue of an Egyptian king at Thebes, said to emit a musical note at first dawn

menhir a tall, rude or sculptured stone of unknown antiquity

mephitic noxious; pestilential

mere a pond or pool

meretricious

pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute 2. alluring by false, showy charms; tawdry

meridian noontime; the highest point of anything

miasmal poisonous; vaporous (also miasmatic-- "miasmata")

midge

a common name for gnats 2. a dwarf

migniard Obs.- delicate; frail

minaret a high slender tower, with one or more projecting balconies

missal a black-letter or manuscript book of early date resembling the old Mass books

moiety a half; a small portion

monads Biol.- any simple, single-celled organisms; atoms (atomies)

moraine Geol.- a ridge or heap of earth, stones, sand, or other debris carried by a glacier

morbidezza in painting, delicacy or softness of flesh tints

mordant caustic; cynical

moribund at the point of death; dying

mortuary pertaining to the burial of the dead; relating to or reminiscent of the dead

moted containing fine floating dust or specks

mottlings blotches or spots of different color or shades of color (see variegated)

multifarious having great diversity or variety

multitudinous vast in number

murrain a malignant fever affecting domestic animals; any plague or pestilence

must wine or juice pressed from the grape but not fermented

myrmidon a faithful adherent; an unscrupulous follower

myrrh aromatic gum resin, from several trees and shrubs of Arabia and Abyssinia

nacarat bright orange-red color

nacre mother-of-pearl; the brilliant internal layer of oysters or other shells ("minarets of nacre")

nebulous cloudy; hazy [L.- nebulosus, from nebula- a cloud, mist, vapor] (n.- nebulosity)

necromancy divination by means of communication with the dead; the black art

necrophagous subsisting on carrion [Gk.- nekrophagos- eating dead bodies] ("necrophagism")

necrophore a burying beetle

necropolis an extensive cemetery that is ornamentally laid out

nefandous blasphemous in character; not to be named

nefarious abominable; atrociously sinful or villainous

neophyte a new convert; novice (see novitiate & proselytes)

nescience ignorance; esp. that due either to the nature of the human mind or of external things

nethermost deepest

noctambulistic like a sleepwalker; somnambulist ("her noctambulistic paces")

noctiluca

anything which shines in the darkness; phosphorous 2. small phosphorescent marine organisms that cause parts of the sea to appear luminous

noctilucent luminous by night

noctuary an account of what passes in the night: the converse of normal'>diary [Rare]

noisome offensive to the smell or other senses

novitiate the period of probation of a novice in a religious order; a novice

nyctalopia the faculty or defect of seeing only in darkness

nympholepsy an ecstatic frenzy, said to have taken possession of one who looked upon a nymph; hence, an emotional state caused by unrealizable desire ("satyrs mad with nympholepsy")

obdurate unmoved by feelings of humanity or pity

obeisance a bow of reverence or respect

obelisk a monument of rectangular form, generally forming a low pyramid structure

objurgations rebukes; scoldings

obliquely indirectly; evasively (adj.- obliquitous)

obloquy censorious speech; vilification; also, the state of one who is spoken ill of

obsequial cringing; servile

obsequies funeral services or preparations

obsidian a glossy, black volcanic rock

obstreporous boisterous or unruly; vociferous

occlude to obstruct; to shut in or out

occultation Astron.- concealment of one celestial body by another interposed in the line of vision

ocher an earthy clay, colored with iron oxides and varying in color from pale yellow to deep orange or brownish-red (adj.- ocherous- of a yellow or red color)

odalisques female slaves; concubines

offal carrion; rubbish of any kind

oleaginous pertaining to oil; oily

olibanum Oriental frankincense

omnivalent (omniscient- all-knowing, + omniverous- taking in everything, as an omniverous reader)

opalescent resembling an opal in play of colors; iridescent

ophidian snakelike; pertaining to serpents

orchidaceous like an orchid in showiness, beauty, etc.

orichalch in ancient Greece, an alloy of copper and zinc, resembling gold (orichalchum…see similor)

orlop the lowest deck of a ship; esp. a warship

orotund

full; mellow; resonant; strong: said of the voice 2. pompous: said of a style of writing

oscitancy the act of gaping or yawning; drowsiness

osier any of various related species of willow, whose twigs are used in making baskets

ossuary a charnel house

ostent

Obs.- appearance; manner 2. manifestation; portent [Rare]

oubliette a secret dungeon with an entrance only through the top

pandanus Asiatic shrublike trees of the screw pine family

pandemonium

the abode of all demons; the infernal regions 2. extreme disorder or uproar

pannakins small pans or cups

parapegms in ancient Greece, a table, usually of brass, fixed to a pillar, on which laws and proclamations were engraved; also, a table set in a public place, containing an account of the rising and setting of the stars, eclipses, seasons, etc. ("the brazen tablets of astronomical parapegms")

pards Archaic: leopards

parhelia mock-suns, sometimes white and sometimes tinted with prismatic colors

parterre a flower garden having beds arranged in a pattern [F- normal'>par- by + L.- terra- earth]

pell Obs.- a roll of parchment

pentacle a figure of five straight lines, making a star; in magic, a circle with figures and symbols

penumbra a partial shadow; a margin of shadow caused by the partial interception of light from an illuminating body, as in an eclipse (adj.- penumbral- incompletely illuminated)

perambulations traveling surveys or inspections (see peregrinate)

perdurable very durable; lasting

peregrinate to travel from place to place; to wander (n.- peregrinations)

pernoctation the act of passing the whole night ("saintly pernoctations of prayer and austerity")

peroration the concluding part of a speech

perspicatious quick-sighted; seeing through or understanding something promptly

phantasmagoria a changing, incoherent series of apparitions or phantasms

philtres magical drafts supposed to excite sexual love

Phlegethonian Myth.- fiery, like Phlegethon, one of the five rivers of Hades ("without sound or other ostent than the Phlegethonian luster that surrounds its body and members")

phylactery

an amulet worn as a preservative from danger or disease among the Jews 2. a strip of parchment inscribed with religious texts and enclosed in a leather case

pilaster a square pillar projecting from a wall to a short distance

pinnate Bot: having the shape or arrangement of a feather; said of compound leaves

pismires ants

planturous abundant ("planturous lyricism")

plenilune Poetic: the full moon [L.- plenus- full + luna- moon]

plenipotentiary n. an ambassador

plexus an interwoven arrangement of parts; a network

plummet a piece of lead or other metal attached to a line, used for sounding the water’s depth

porphyry an Egyptian rock with red and white feldspar crystals embedded in a fine-grained, dark-red or purplish ground mass [Gk.- porphyros- purple] ("porphyritic")

porrected projecting; extending horizontally

postern a back gate; a private entrance

poulaine a medieval shoe with a long pointed toe

preciptancy extreme haste; falling or rushing headlong

prescience knowledge of events before they happen

preternatural beyond what is natural, as opposed to supernatural (above nature)

primordial from the earliest time; original

profulgent Poetic: gleaming; brilliant

promontory a high point of land extending into the sea beyond the line of coast; headland

proselytes new converts to a religion

psammite fine-grained, clayey sandstone

puissant powerful; mighty

pullulation germination; breeding

purlieus environs; the part lying adjacent to a property [F.- normal'>lieu- a place]

purpureal purplish (see violescent)

purulent containing or discharging pus; suppurating

pusillanimous cowardly; faint-hearted

pylon Archit.- a truncated pyramid, or two of these, forming a gateway to an Egyptian temple

pythonomorph one of the Pythonomorpha, a group of extinct marine reptiles from the Cretaceous rocks of America and Europe. Some species were more than 50 feet long. ("huge pythonomorphs with fabulous golden coils")

quadrireme ancient Greek or Roman warship with four banks of oars

quinquangular having five angles or corners [Obs.] ("paven with immense quinquangular flags")

quintessential having in concentrated form the essential part; purest

quotidian occurring or returning every day; daily

raddling patterns formed by weaving or twisting together ("fantastic raddlings of ebony")

ramified divided or branched out

rattans the long, tough, flexible stems of a palm tree; the palm trees themselves

ravelled Archaic: tangled; confused

recherche choice; rare

recondite remote from easy perception; secret; hidden [L.- normal'>reconditus, pp. of recondere, put away]

recrudescence a breaking out afresh, as of a disease or wound

recumbent reclining or leaning; idle

regnant reigning; dominant, as a queen regnant

renascent reborn; showing new life and strength [L.]

retiarii n. pl. in ancient Rome, gladiators furnished with a net and a trident; hence, spiders or marine organisms with netlike meshes [L- rete- a net]

reticulation a network of crisscrossed lines or veins, as in leaves

revenant one who or that which returns; a ghost

rime congealed dew or vapor; hoarfrost

roc Myth.- in Arabian and Persian legend, a fabulous bird of prey, so huge and strong that it could carry off the largest of animals

roseate

rose-colored; rosy 2. cheerful; bright

rubescent reddened or becoming red

rubicund inclining to redness; reddish; ruddy

ruddled marked or colored with red ocher

rufous of a reddish or brownish-red color; rust-colored

runlet

a small brook or stream 2. A small barrel, or the measure of wine it contains, about 18 gallons (alternate spelling of rundlet)

runneled interspersed with rivulets or small brooks

russet reddish-brown [L.- russus- reddish]

rutilant of a shining red color [L- rutilare- to have a reddish glow] ("Like Satan’s rutilant hair, trailing on the wind of Gehenna…")

sacerdotal pertaining to priests or the priesthood

sacrosanct considered holy; inviolable

salacious lustful; lecherous

saltant leaping; jumping; dancing [L.]

salubriousness healthfulness

samite an old rich silk, interwoven with gold and embroidered

sang-froid calmness in trying circumstances

sanguinary accompanied by much bloodshed; bloodthirsty; or, characterized by vigorous activity

sanguine having the color of blood; ruddy; said esp. of complexions

sanies a thin, reddish discharge from wounds or sores; bloody matter

sapience wisdom; sageness

saraband a stately Spanish dance in triple time, of the 17th century

sarcophagous carniverous

sard the deep brownish-red variety of chalchedony

saturnine of a grave or morose disposition

savant a man of learning who is eminent in his acquirements

scatheful harmful; injurious

scaurs cliffs or rocky places on the sides of a hill

scintillant sparkling [L. scintillans, ppr. of scintillare- to sparkle]

scoriac adj.- littered with fragmentary lava [Rare] (from scoriaceous)

sedge grasslike growths, usually in tufts or clumps, near marshes or swamps (adj.- sedgy)

sedulously in a diligent manner

seines large nets for catching fish

selenic lunar [Gk. selene, the moon… Selene, the goddess of the moon]

sempervirent evergreen; always fresh [L.- semper- always + normal'>virens, ppr. of virere- to be green or verdant]

sendal a light, thin, silken fabric

senescence the process or state of growing old

sententious full of judicious observations; having brevity and weight of meaning

sepia

a dark-brown pigment prepared from the inky fluid secreted by cuttlefish 2. a dark reddish-brown color

septagonal having seven angles and seven sides (coinage- a combination of septangular and heptagonal)

sepulchral suggestive of the grave; low or hollow in tone; dismal in aspect

seraglio a harem

sere withered; dried up

serried compacted in rows or ranks

shagreen an Oriental leather or parchment, usually dyed green

shoal

a shallow place in a river, sea, etc. 2. a sandbank or sandbar

sibilant making a hissing sound (n.- sibilation)

sibyl a prophetess; a sorceress (adj.- sibylline)

sidereal

pertaining to the stars or constellations; starry 2. measured by means of the stars ("intersidereal," "transidereal")

similor an alloy of copper and zinc, resembling gold and used in making jewelry

simoom a hot, dry, dust-laden wind of the desert (also sp. simoon)

simulacra an image, made in the likeness of a being; a shadowy semblance

sinuous winding; undulating

sistrum a jingling instrument used by the ancient Egyptians in religious ceremonies ("sistra")

somnolent drowsy

sonority high-soundedness; resonance

sortilege the act of drawing lots; divination by lots

spar any of various crystalline minerals which easily break into fragments with polished surfaces

spindrift the blinding spray of salt water blown from the surface of the sea in hurricanes

sternutations sneezings

stertorous characterized by a deep snoring sound or labored breathing

stridors a shrill, creaking, screechy or grating noise

stridulations small, harsh creaking noises, as made by some insects

succubus a female demon, fabled to have intercourse with men in their sleep

sultana a sultan’s wife, daughter or sister

supernal related to things above us; celestial

supplicative gesturing with entreaty; humbly begging

susurrous whispering; a soft, murmuring sound ("the dry, susurrous voice")

suzerain a ruler, esp. a feudal lord or baron (suzerainty) [F.]

sward land thickly covered with grass

swart of a dark hue; moderately black; tawny (see umber)

sybaritic devoted to pleasure and luxurious ease [Gk [from Sybaris, a town proverbial for its luxury]

Sybarites an inhabitant of Sybaris; voluptuary

sycophant a servile flatterer

syenite a granitic rock of grayish color, found near Syene in Upper Egypt

sylvan pertaining to a wood or forest

syncope sudden faintness, with loss of sensation

tabouret a stool or small seat, without arms or back

tamarack black variety of the coniferous larch tree, remarkable for its elegant form

tarboosh a red woolen skullcap; fez

telluric pertaining to the earth (see terrene)

tenebrific making dark or gloomy (tenebrous)

teratology Biol.- that branch of science which deals with monsters or malformations

terebinth the turpentine tree; also, a name for various resinous exudations

termagant a brawling, turbulent woman (see virago)

terraqueous consisting of land and water, as the earth

terrene

earthy; terrestrial 2. worldly; mundane

thallophytes members of the lowest phylum of plants (algae, bacteria, lichens, and fungi)

thaumaturgy the act of performing something wonderful; magic [Gk.- normal'>thaumatourgia]

thrall bondage; figuratively: one controlled by a passion or a vice

thuribles censers in the shape of a covered vase

tocsin an alarm bell ("tocsin of doom")

tonsure the round, bare place on the heads of Roman Catholic monks ("tonsured")

topaz the yellow sapphire

topiarized shaped by clipping or pruning

torrefaction the act of torrefying or the state of being torrefied (roasted or scorched) [F]

tourmaline a semiprecious mineral with a resinous luster, used as gem [F]

translucent transmitting light, but not rendering objects beyond distinctly visible

trellising

structures of thin wooden or metal strips crossing each other in a pattern of squares, diamonds, etc., on which vines or other creeping plants are trained 2. a bower or archway of this 3. Her.- latticework

tremulous trembling

trilithon a monument of two upright stones topped by a projecting block or arch

trivet a three-legged stand for holding vessels in a fireplace

trouvere one of a class of poets in northern France from the 11th to 14th centuries, distinguished from the troubadours of southern France by the narrative and epic character of their works

tumescence a swelling; a swollen part (adj.- tumid… see turgescence)

tureen a deep, covered dish, as for a soup

turgescence a swollen or enlarged condition

tutelary adj.- guardian; protecting

ultramundane beyond the world, the solar system, or the present life

ultrastellar from beyond the stars

ululation a howling, as of a wolf or dog; a wailing

umber of a dusky hue; brownish

umbrageous

shady or shaded 2. easily offended 3. Obs.- obscure (umbrageously)

unctuous characterized by a smug pretence of spiritual feeling or fervor; unduly suave

undine Myth.- a female water spirit, corresponding to the naiads

unforelimnable (a coinage)

usufruct the right of using another’s property for profit, without spoiling its substance

vacilant fluctuating; wavering (v.- vacilate)

valediction a bidding of farewell

variegated

Marked with various colors or tints 2. Exhibiting different forms, styles, or varieties

verdigris the green or bluish patina formed on copper, bronze or brass surfaces long exposed

veridical veracious; truth-telling [L.- veridicus- speaking the truth]

verisimilitude a semblance of truth or reality

vermiculated adorned with traceries resembling the tracks of worms

vermilion

bright-red mercuric sulfide, used as a pigment 2. scarlet; brilliantly red

vertiginous dizzying; affected by vertigo

vestment clothing or covering, esp. a garment or robe of office

viands articles of food; choice dishes

vicinal neighboring; adjoining

villanelle a short poem of several stanzas (usually 5) of three lines each, and a final stanza of 4 lines: it has only two rhymes throughout

violescent tending to a violet color

virago

a bold, shrewish woman 2. Archaic: a strong, large, manlike woman; an amazon

viscid semi-fluid and sticky

vitriolene (coinage… describes spacesuits; see next entry)

vitriolic extremely biting or caustic; sharp and bitter (from vitriol)…[L.- vitreus- glassy]

vizier the title of high political officers in Turkish and other Mohammedan states

vocable a word considered as a unit of sounds or letters, without regard to meaning

volitation the act of flying; flight

volumen a roll of manuscript

volute Archit.- a spiral scroll used as an ornament in Ionic and Corinthian capitals

wafture something conveyed through water or air, as an odor

wattling a fleshy process, often brightly colored, hanging from the neck of a bird

weft a woven fabric; web

weir an obstruction placed in a stream to raise or divert the water

welkin Archaic or Poetic: the vault of the sky; the heavens

wheedling persuading by flattery or gentle pleading; coaxing

wilderment Poetic: bewilderment; confusion

Will-o’-the-wisp

Ignis fatuus; a phosphorescent light seen in the air over marshy places 2. Figuratively: a delusion; deceptive attraction

windlass a mechanism for lifting by rope, usually with a cranking attachment

withes willow or osier twigs; vines [ME.- wythes]

wraith an apparition of a person, believed to be alive, seen shortly before or after his death; specter

wried (coinage... "wried and twisted constellations")

wyvern Her.- a monster with two wings, two legs, a tapering body and a barbed tail

yoke Figuratively: enslavement

zircon a mineral occurring in lustrous brown or grey prisms, used as a gem

PRIMARY SOURCES

Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary. 2nd Ed., 1983. Brittanica World Language Ed. of Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary. 2 Vols., 1960.

SECONDARY SOURCES

The American Heritage Dictionary, 1994. Funk & Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary, 1993.

Many thanks to Ralph Grasso for sharing this!

#clark ashton smith #vocab #vocabulary #english vocabulary #expand your vocabulary #words #fancy words #elegant language #english language #word of the day #weird fiction #HP Lovecraft #science fiction #fantasy literature #english literature

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goldlighter · 2 years

Text

𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇

following the mansion incident in the arklay mountains on July 24th 1998, five survivors escaped. however, following the night they had endured - the trouble had only just begun. the arklay mountains laboratory was completely destroyed by the explosion, but the ensuing fire also spread throughout the forest, where the local fire department and national guard troops struggled to contain the fire - destroying about 750 acres of forest, and along with it any evidence that had been left behind. the investigation could not solely rely on the survivors' testimonies, rendering it impossible to advance any legal procedures. in addition, the survivors reported an internal betrayal ( which were impossible to confirm given q/esker’s apparent death ) which spelled trouble for the RPD.

c/hris, j/ill and r/ebecca submitted their reports on the incident in an attempt to expose umbrella, however due to both the destruction of all and any evidence save testimonies and the corruption of police chief brian irons, their reports were dismissed. thus began iron’s campaign to smear the surviving members of S.T.A.R.S - being bribed by umbrella and the present threat of exposure for both the company, Irons, and the truth behind the RPD. the public of raccoon city were disturbed by the events recently, reports of cannibalism and monsters in the arklay forests, and with the surviving S.T.A.R.S members stories of zombies and umbrella’s lies, it only caused more. due to this, it was easy for irons to dismiss the survivors as crazy, and in order to cover his own tracks, attempted to smear their reputations. With no one else to testify, and unwilling to put any hint of suspicion on o/swell e. spencer - who was able to sue for property damage in the millions - the media of raccoon city ran with the story that S.T.A.R.S were wildly incompetent and it was their personal failure in the investigation of the “serial killers” that had lead to the "the worst loss of lives in the city’s history”.

The body count was as follows:

s.t.a.r.s

a/lbert w/esker ( alpha team ) stabbed in stomach by the tyrant in the research lab basement and killed instantly. cause of death thought to be shock due to internal organ trauma.

j/oseph f/rost ( alpha team ) bitten to death by cerberus in the mountain forest. direct cause of death was a broken spine suffered in the attack. e/nrico m/arini ( bravo team ) instantly killed by gunshot wound to the chest in the below central courtyard (garden). the killer was determined to be a/lbert w/esker based on circumstantial evidence.

k/enneth j. s/ullivan ( bravo team ) heavily injured body found in the mansion on the first floor. cause of death was zombie-inflicted head and neck injuries.

r/ichard a/iken ( bravo team ) died shortly after being found in front of the mansion attic. body was covered with claw wounds, severe scratches and bite wounds from the left shoulder to the right leg. the direct cause of death is thought to be venom from the snake “yawn”, though conflicting reports state he survived and was later devoured by the “neptune” shark.

f/orest s/peyer ( bravo team ) body found on the mansion's second floor terrace. direct cause of death: blood loss due to claw attack.

e/dward d/ewey ( bravo team ) died after boarded the ecliptic express after being attacked by the cerberus.

k/evin d/ooley ( bravo team ) only right wrist and below was found in the arklay mountains. likely killed by cerebrus encounter after team split up.

umbrella pharmaceuticals

46 mansion & dormitory personnel ( estimated ) became “zombies” due to viral infection ( t-virus ) and most were shot dead by S.T.A.R.S. officers. however, from documents discovered in the mansion, at least one suicide was confirmed.

25 laboratory personnel ( estimated ) nearly all died from attacks by other workers who were infected by the virus and turned into zombies. due to early knowledge that the virus had leaked out, the number of workers committing suicide were greater that of the mansion.

7 researchers visiting from headquarters ( estimated ) all of these were missing and unaccounted for, with no bodies found. in some cases, they could be held isolated by umbrella, so confirmation of their whereabouts must be carried out urgently.

22 test subjects type a ( names unconfirmed ) people turned into hunters through virus injection. nearly all were shot dead by S.T.A.R.S. officers. thought to have been homeless people or people with an otherwise irregular place of living, so identity verification would be extremely difficult.

1 test subject type b ( name unconfirmed ) a test subject who became a tyrant through experimental treatments and infected with the t-virus. it wasn't possible to find the body due to the lab explosion, making identity verification impossible.

civilians

raccoon city residents - 4 families, 13 people ( estimated ) victims of attacks by infected people or cerberus escaped from the research facility.

travellers from other states - 7 people ( estimated ) thought to have been attacked by cerberus while mountain climbing. all except two were lone climbers.

confident that they had no evidence, and with a smear campaign under way, irons felt secure that there would be no further issues. however, during this time, chris began his own investigation - into irons and umbrella. he had kept with him evidence from the arklay Mmnsion ( shown here in the S.T.A.R.S office ) of the wooden crest, the golden crest, and the "doom book", though none of this implicated umbrella.

up until this point, he had not believed irons had any involvement with the mansion incident or umbrella ( despite being well aware of his unsavoury personality ) - but is refusal to acknowledge or act upon the reports given by him or jill, as well as the treatment of the surviving S.T.A.R.S made chris’s paranoia extend now to the RPD. he requested that the federal bureau of investigation carry out an investigation into the raccoon city police department and irons - and in an attempt to make himself less of a visible threat and allow him more time to expose the truth, chris began displaying far more aggressive behaviour. eventually, he was suspended after punching a fellow officer for spilling coffee accidentally on him - leaving jill confused as he refused to talk to her or the others about his change in behaviour ( jill wrote in her diary about one incident - august 13th, chris has been causing a lot of trouble recently. what’s with him? he seldom talks to the other police members and is constantly irritated. the other day, he punched elran of the boy’s crime department just for accidentally splashing chris’s face with coffee. i immediately stopped chris, but when he saw me by just gave me a wink and walk away. i wonder what happened to him…). chris then began investigating umbrella alone, eventually finding reports on the g-virus which matched the one that had been taken off w/esker's "corpse" in the mansion. as the S.T.A.R.S continued to grow more unruly, irons had the team disbanded and replaced by a standard SWAT team.

prior to leaving the city on august 15th, chris invited jill to his apartment and finally told her the truth - showing her his findings ( jills diary - august 15th, midnight. chris, who has been on a leave of absence for a “vacation,” called me so i visited his apartment. as soon as i walked into his room, he showed me a couple of pieces of paper. they were part of a virus research report entitled as simply as “g”. then chris told me that “the nightmare still continues.” he went on to say that, “it’s not over yet.” ever since that day, he has been fighting all by himself without rest, without even telling me ). he decided then to go to europe in order to fight umbrella, leaving the city before the outbreak though he did not know what was about to occur - with august 24th being his last day in raccoon city. barry promised to join him after moving his family to the safety of canada, whilst jill stayed in raccoon to find out more information - leaving her to battle through the outbreak and survive, rescued by barry in a helicopter before they too departed for europe. unwilling to involve his sister in fear for her safety, chris continued to send letters to claire, knowing cut off communication would worry her - however his letters did not manage to convince her, who was able to tell something was wrong by his unusual attitude coupled with the media’s coverage of S.T.A.R.S, and once he stopped sending these letters began worrying her until she took her own action.

once chris left raccoon city, he first started out in france before heading to italy, germany, austria - all the whilse continuing to investigating and look for rumours or leads on umbrella. he was completely unaware about the destruction raccoon city until it was reported by the news. during all of this however, he was still being monitored by umbrella and tracked. after september 24th when the outbreak began, communication from chris to the raccoon city police force is abruptly cut off - likely when irons began locking down the station.

on december 27th 1998, chris was somewhere near budapest when he was contacted by newly recruited government agent l/eon s. kennedy and informed of claire’s capture and detainment on rockfort island as his sister was escaping - running into w/esker once more, almost losing his life in the fight until alexia distracted wesker from succeeding. following claire to antarctica, he confronted and killed alexia, but was nearly killed by w/esker again until the base self-destructed. promising to destroy umbrella to claire, he reunited with jill, barry and rebecca. the remaining stars ( now four of them, with brad’s murder by nemesis ) continued their attacks and investigation against umbrella across europe. In 2003, chris and jill infiltrated the southern russia facility and destroying the remnants of the collapsing umbrella along with the B.O.W, talos - though they did not pursue w/esker in favour of looking after an orphaned girl caught in the attack called anna.

the same year, chris and the other survivors helped found the civilian counter terrorism organization BSAA (bioterrorism security assessment alliance) along with clive r. o'brian before reluctantly abandoning the city of terragrigia in the outbreak. the former S.T.A.R.S, now BSAA members kept close, now bonded by their experiences, but barry opted to become an adviser for the BSAA and rebecca began to teach in various schools. only chris and jill remained to combat the bioterror outbreaks.

References used:

BIO HAZARD Directors Cut Official Perfect Guide

V-Jump Books [Game Series] BIO HAZARD Directors Cut

BIOHAZARD UMBRELLA CHRONICLES: Prelude to the Fall

R/esident Evil 3: Nemesis

R/esident Evil

R/esident Evil 2

#► 𝐃𝐎𝐂𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃: headcanon.

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sanjaylodh · 4 months

Text

the weather is colorful

what season is this

Results for Rajpur Sonarpur, Kolkata, West Bengal

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Light Thunderstorms and Rain

26°C°F

Precipitation: 35%

Humidity: 75%

Wind: 6 km/h

Weather

Tuesday, 5:00 pm

Light Thunderstorms and Rain

TemperaturePrecipitationWind

What Is Weather? - UCAR Center for Science Education

UCAR Center for Science Education

https://scied.ucar.edu › how-weather-works › weather

What Is Weather?

Rain and dull clouds, windy blue skies, cold snow, and sticky heat are very different conditions, yet they are all weather.

Weather is the mix of events that happen each day in our atmosphere. Weather is different in different parts of the world and changes over minutes, hours, days and weeks. Most weather happens in the troposphere, the part of Earth’s atmosphere that is closest to the ground.

Weather

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WEATHER

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, including temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind, humidity, precipitation, and cloud cover. It differs from climate, which is all weather conditions for a particular location averaged over about 30 years. Weather is influenced by latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography. It impacts the way people dress each day and the types of structures built.

Explore weather and its impacts with this curated collection of classroom resources.

Weather

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Weather

Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream. Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (−40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earth's orbit can affect the amount and distribution of solar energy received by Earth, thus influencing long-term climate and global climate change.

Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes, as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earth's surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. Earth's weather system is a chaotic system; as a result, small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture and industry have modified weather patterns.

Studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, the weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind.

No matter what the weather may be, it is because of this weather that there are many lives here on this earth, both in water and in soil.

Translate Hindi

मौसम है रंगीन

यह मौसम क्या है

राजपुर सोनारपुर, कोलकाता, पश्चिम बंगाल के लिए परिणाम

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हल्की आंधी और बारिश

26°C°F

वर्षा: 35%

आर्द्रता: 75%

हवा: 6 किमी/घंटा

मौसम

मंगलवार, शाम 5:00 बजे

हल्की आंधी और बारिश

तापमानवर्षापवन

मौसम क्या है? - विज्ञान शिक्षा के लिए यूसीएआर केंद्र

विज्ञान शिक्षा के लिए यूसीएआर केंद्र

https://scied.ucar.edu ›मौसम कैसे काम करता है› मौसम

मौसम क्या है?

बारिश और सुस्त बादल, तेज़ हवा वाला नीला आसमान, ठंडी बर्फ़ और चिपचिपी गर्मी बहुत अलग स्थितियाँ हैं, फिर भी ये सभी मौसम हैं।

मौसम हमारे वायुमंडल में प्रतिदिन घटित होने वाली घटनाओं का मिश्रण है। दुनिया के अलग-अलग हिस्सों में मौसम अलग-अलग होता है और मिनटों, घंटों, दिनों और हफ्तों में बदलता रहता है। अधिकांश मौसम क्षोभमंडल में होता है, पृथ्वी के वायुमंडल का वह भाग जो ज़मीन के सबसे निकट होता है।

मौसम

नेशनल ज्योग्राफिक सोसायटी

https://www.nationalgeographic.org ›विषय›संसाधन...

मौसम

मौसम वायुमंडल की स्थिति है, जिसमें तापमान, वायुमंडलीय दबाव, हवा, आर्द्रता, वर्षा और बादल आवरण शामिल हैं। यह जलवायु से भिन्न है, जो किसी विशेष स्थान के लिए लगभग 30 वर्षों में औसत सभी मौसम की स्थिति है। मौसम अक्षांश, ऊंचाई और स्थानीय और क्षेत्रीय भूगोल से प्रभावित होता है। यह लोगों के हर दिन कपड़े पहनने के तरीके और निर्मित संरचनाओं के प्रकार को प्रभावित करता है।

कक्षा संसाधनों के इस संग्रहित संग्रह के साथ मौसम और उसके प्रभावों का अन्वेषण करें।

मौसम

विकिपीडिया

https://en.wikipedia.org ›विकी› मौसम

मौसम वायुमंडल की स्थिति है, उदाहरण के लिए यह वर्णन करता है कि यह किस हद तक गर्म या ठंडा, गीला या सूखा, शांत या तूफानी, साफ या बादल है।[1] पृथ्वी पर, अधिकांश मौसम संबंधी घटनाएं ग्रह के वायुमंडल की सबसे निचली परत, क्षोभमंडल, [2][3] में समतापमंडल के ठीक नीचे घटित होती हैं। मौसम दिन-प्रतिदिन के तापमान, वर्षा और अन्य वायुमंडलीय स्थितियों को संदर्भित करता है, जबकि जलवायु लंबी अवधि में वायुमंडलीय स्थितियों के औसत को संदर्भित करता है। [4] जब बिना योग्यता के उपयोग किया जाता है, तो "मौसम" का अर्थ आम तौर पर पृथ्वी का मौसम समझा जाता है।

मौसम एक स्थान से दूसरे स्थान के बीच हवा के दबाव, तापमान और नमी के अंतर से संचालित होता है। ये अंतर किसी विशेष स्थान पर सूर्य के कोण के कारण हो सकते हैं, जो अक्षांश के साथ बदलता रहता है। ध्रुवीय और उष्णकटिबंधीय हवा के बीच मजबूत तापमान विरोधाभास सबसे बड़े पैमाने पर वायुमंडलीय परिसंचरण को जन्म देता है: हेडली सेल, फेरेल सेल, ध्रुवीय सेल और जेट स्ट्रीम। मध्य अक्षांशों में मौसम प्रणालियाँ, जैसे अतिरिक्त उष्णकटिबंधीय चक्रवात, जेट स्ट्रीम प्रवाह की अस्थिरता के कारण होते हैं। क्योंकि पृथ्वी की धुरी उसके कक्षीय तल (जिसे क्रांतिवृत्त कहा जाता है) के सापेक्ष झुका हुआ है, वर्ष के अलग-अलग समय में सूर्य का प्रकाश अलग-अलग कोणों पर आपतित होता है। पृथ्वी की सतह पर, तापमान आमतौर पर सालाना ±40 डिग्री सेल्सियस (-40 डिग्री ��ारेनहाइट से 104 डिग्री फारेनहाइट) तक होता है। हजारों वर्षों में, पृथ्वी की कक्षा में परिवर्तन पृथ्वी द्वारा प्राप्त सौर ऊर्जा की मात्रा और वितरण को प्रभावित कर सकते हैं, इस प्रकार दीर्घकालिक जलवायु और वैश्विक जलवायु परिवर्तन को प्रभावित कर सकते हैं।

सतह के तापमान में अंतर के कारण दबाव में अंतर होता है। उच्च ऊंचाई कम ऊंचाई की तुलना में ठंडी होती है, क्योंकि अधिकांश वायुमंडलीय ताप पृथ्वी की सतह के संपर्क के कारण होता है जबकि अंतरिक्ष में विकिरण संबंधी हानियां ज्यादातर स्थिर होती हैं। मौसम का पूर्वानुमान भविष्य के समय और किसी स्थान के लिए वातावरण की स्थिति की भविष्यवाणी करने के लिए विज्ञान और प्रौद्योगिकी का अनुप्रयोग है। पृथ्वी की मौसम प्रणाली एक अराजक प्रणाली है; परिणामस्वरूप, सिस्टम के एक हिस्से में छोटे परिवर्तन पूरे सिस्टम पर बड़े प्रभाव डाल सकते हैं। मौसम को नियंत्रित करने के मानव प्रयास पूरे इतिहास में होते रहे हैं, और इस बात के प्रमाण हैं कि कृषि और उद्योग जैसी मानवीय गतिविधियों ने मौसम के पैटर्न को संशोधित किया है।

अन्य ग्रहों पर मौसम कैसे काम करता है इसका अध्ययन यह समझने में सहायक रहा है कि पृथ्वी पर मौसम कैसे काम करता है। सौर मंडल में एक प्रसिद्ध मील का पत्थर, बृहस्पति का ग्रेट रेड स्पॉट, एक एंटीसाइक्लोनिक तूफान है, जिसके बारे में माना जाता है कि यह कम से कम 300 वर्षों से अस्तित्व में है। हालाँकि, मौसम ग्रह पिंडों तक ही सीमित नहीं है। एक तारे का कोरोना लगातार अंतरिक्ष में खो रहा है, जिससे पूरे सौर मंडल में एक बहुत ही पतला वातावरण बन रहा है। सूर्य से उत्सर्जित द्रव्यमान की गति को सौर पवन के रूप में जाना जाता है।

मौसम चाहे जैसी भी हो मगर इसी मौसम के चलते ही यहाँ इस पृथ्वी में कई जीवन पानी में भी मिट्टी में भी

#nasa #google #youtube

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mybookof-you · 8 months

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"The Classic Maya corollary to this was the darkness of space associated with the Milky Way called the White-Bone Snake that was styled as the human backbone. When the Milky Way took its position lying flat along the horizon, the dark area of space above it was Ek Way, the Black Transformer and cosmic portal to the Otherworld. When the Milky Way assumed one of its two annual North-South positions when it crossed the ecliptic, it became the Raised-Up Sky, the Cosmic Monster as the World Tree."

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lowkeynando · 1 year

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Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. [1] On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the troposphere, [2][3] just below the stratosphere. Weather refers to day-to-day temperature, precipitation, and other atmospheric conditions, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. [41 When used without qualification, "weather" is generally understood to mean the weather of Earth Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature, and moisture differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to the Sun's angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell, the polar cell, and the jet stream.

Weather systems in the middle latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet streamflow. Because Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane (called the ecliptic), sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of the year. On Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ‡40 °C (-40 °F to 104 °F) annually. Overs CLONES

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malebeautyforumlifestyle · 1 year

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mindhuestudio · 2 years

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So, it's near the solstice, which means the evening ecliptic is rather southerly; right now the Moon is even further south because of where it is in its orbit; the full moon is always flat, uninteresting and painfully bright... but this particular full Moon is only 356,060 kilometers away, so that means it's a SUPERMOON and will darn your socks, recaulk your bathroom tile and amend your taxes for a better refund while you gaze upon its resplendent glory. So I'd better get out and see it or I'll kick myself in the morning, amirite? Or, it'll be 15% bigger and 30% brighter, which is interesting but not earth-shattering, but the big deal for me is that there were finally no f%^*+ing clouds obscuring my astronomical observations. I had to set up my tripod at an angle on the back stairs so I could catch the very southern Moon as it slunk between the two houses behind me, but I still got pics for you. The iPhone camera decided that it would focus on either one side or the other of this very bright blob I wanted to photograph, so you have one shot with Oceanus Procellarum in focus and one with Mare Crisium in focus -- plus a higher-contrast low-light shot that does a pretty good job at showing how visible Mare Frigoris is, which is another indication of how low on the southern horizon this SUPERMOON was. Everything else is kinda washed out and meh, but that's what happens when your noontime sun angle provides no shadows for contrast and depth. LOL. Backyard astronomer problems. Plus, Sloan was super excited about the SUPERMOON, so just before bedtime we went trekking around the neighborhood to find a place where the just-risen Moon was visible. We found one right next to @colettebakery, shameless plug there for you. He was suitably impressed. Bonus pic of pj-clad Mr. Sloan, Herr Pferd, the intersection of Bow St. and Main St., and, of course, the SUPERMOON. #iphoneastrophotography #lunarphotography #themoon #20xbinoculars #shallowskyastronomy #supermoon #fullmoon #marefrigoris #noclouds https://www.instagram.com/p/CexLhyRMrmD/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#iphoneastrophotography #lunarphotography #themoon #20xbinoculars #shallowskyastronomy #supermoon #fullmoon #marefrigoris #noclouds

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bad-end · 6 years

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the ecliptic (5/11) - brumaire

brumaire| 3087 words

elsword | EE, AP

priest!AU: a peaceful life for two people waiting for the rain.

The crops in the garden today hung low on their branches and bent their backs low in the dirt with the heavy toil of the corruption beating down. There was no reason to stand in the garden and watch each day, but Erbluhen always stood there anyway. Maybe one of these days, the crops would bloom and he would find himself blessed by Ishmael.

Behind him, Aspostaia fetched the oversized sunhat he had discarded to the side from the fencepost and placed it on Erbluhen's head. He whipped around and gasped, "Sia, when did you get there?"

"Surprise." Apostasia said with almost a smile in his voice, "Come inside." He held the door open.

"Oh," Erbluhen smiled, "Welcome back. Did you have a safe trip?"

Apostasia nodded languidly and held out a scroll of parchment, "Letter for you."

The smile disappeared. He stared at the letter in Apostasia's hand and his expression fell as he accepted it. It was like someone who was expecting failure and had it delivered to him on a silver platter. "Well, thank you.... Did you go to the old camp today?"

A nod.

"Why?" Erbluhen thumbed the outlines of the parchment, dragging out the moment he would have to break open the seal, "There's nothing there."

"I went to make sure the dead stayed dead."

"We.. burned the bodies. There's nothing to reanimate." The thought made his stomach churn. His former companions, reanimated. While it wasn't impossible, the thought that it could occur made him sick.

"This place plays with your perceptions and your memories. Had to check and make sure they didn't spread this far."

"You're... I know you're right. I just don't want to believe it."

Although that was what he said, he was more focused on the letter in his hands. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears and ramming itself against his chest. The personal seal in the shape of a spear made his breath hitch. Arme Thaumaturgy had written his reply. No doubt it was about the promise. Erbluhen hadn't forgotten the promise, but with the way things were going, he wouldn't be back before the first flowers of spring.

With a deep sigh, he broke the seal. The navy blue ink shimmered off the parchment. He could see the richness of the pigment and Arme bent over his desk as he so painstakingly wrote the letter. Arme's beautiful calligraphy only made his chest tighten even worse. He could only afford a quick scan since any longer a gaze would make it hard to breathe.

In the letter, Arme accused him of something or another. Despite the harshness of Arme's words, the worry leapt off the page. The ink gathered in some places as the writer hesitated and held back on his words. Words scratched out indicated that Arme had to rewrite his words, choosing words that were more gentle so as to not insult Erbluhen completely

But he couldn't do as Arme said in these letters. Instead of responding or pouring over the details, he folded the parchment back up and followed Apostasia into the house.

The smell of warm tea and powdered sugar drowned any other smell of the living room. The dust that had made itself home so many months before disappeared as soon as Erbluhen got his hands on some cleaning supplies.

Apostasia poured him a cup of tea in one of the three delicate cups that did not belong in the wild. His eyes fell upon the cup that was meant for him. The glint of the candle against the warm, honey-coloured tea made a shiver run up his spine.

He thought it odd that there was no question about the letter or where it had arrived. He reasoned it as Apostasia being polite, and that he chose to respect his privacy. Either way, telling Apostasia about Arme would make a complicated story, and he'd rather not open another can of worms. This peaceful life was just fine.

"I'll get started on dinner, " Erbluhen smiled, placing the folded parchment on the table, "I was able to get some of the potatoes today, so let's have some baked potatoes."

Apostasia sipped from his own black and silver cup. His eyes had fallen soft and were focused on Erbluhen instead. Meanwhile, the priest reached for the same apron to tie around his waist. He was babbling about potato dishes he knew how to make even though they didn't have many ingredients at all.

They were mostly simple dishes, stuff he could make in large numbers to feed the mouths that begged at the church, but filling nonetheless. Apostasia listened as if he was speaking in revelations.

A week or so had passed since Apostaia invited him to move in. Erbluhen quickly took over the household chores Apostasia neglected in his solitary life. Dusting, sweeping, cooking, cleaning, laundry and gardening was no match for the likes of him. When he was offered help, Erbluhen rejected it all vehemently. It was all his. No one else was supposed to touch anything else.

All the chores were just an excuse. The restlessness settled in any moment he was not moving. He was waiting for something. Even though he knew what it was, he didn't know when. There was nothing he could do until then but to keep working and keeping himself busy.

In the meantime, he had discovered the tiny house had not one, but three bedrooms on the second floor. Apostasia's room could barely be qualified as a room. It was a tiny hole in the wall with a single blanket over a rotted wooden floor with an unreachable, slit-sized window. "Don't you want at least some candles in here?" Erbluhen asked, and received a negative response.

Erbluhen's room was the room in the back of the house. It wasn't spacious, but it had the biggest window and the best source of light. When the weather shifted and the fog lifted just a bit, the sun almost shone through. The bay window had a comfortably extended sill, where Erbluhen had taken to overlooking the garden in the back. Sometimes he would sit there for hours, seeing something nostalgic even though he had never been here before.

A green, lush garden and surrounding forest decorated the barren garden in his mind.

The last room was locked. Apostasia said he had lost the keys a long time ago.

But sleeping in a real bed, eating at the table, talking peacefully with Apostasia and doing these daily chores made his restlessness even worse. There was someone missing. The three rooms, the table with three chairs, the three teacups with only two being used, Erbluhen could only think about that person stuck in the capital, worrying about him in the wild.

After a modest dinner of baked potatoes, Erbluhen took the letter from the table and shoved it in a drawer in the corner of his room.

A week turned into two, and slowly the daily chores became normal. Breakfast was followed by a break, and then they would go for a walk around the garden or maybe even into the forest. Erbluhen would pluck carrots or potatoes or whatever had managed to grow that day and they would put them in a basket for lunch or dinner. When the weather permitted them, they would do laundry. They would have lunch afterwards and Erbluhen would try to bake something for tea time with almost no sugar and the little potato flour they had. Eventually, they would have dinner and retire to their own rooms.

Thankfully, Erbluhen noted, the small well by Apostasia's house seemed to have a comfortable amount of safe water.

But other than that, there wasn't much to do, and when they had nothing to do, Erbluhen prodded at Apostasia's buttons: Where he had come from, what he could remember, what he thought the world was like before the corruption, and especially what he meant when he said that he 'had been here since the world began'.

Apostasia stayed tight-lipped, even as Erbluhen threaded his fingers in Apostsia's hair and pulled them into long braids and placed an affectionate, chaste kiss at the top of his crown when they bid each other good night.

Every couple of days, Apostasia would return to the abandoned camp. "This place plays on your memory, I need to make sure it's safe here, so stay." Erlubhen did, dusting furniture he had dusted a hundred times before, or wiping dishes he had wiped a thousand times already.

What he was really waiting for was the letter. When he saw it in Apostasia's hand upon his return, the nerves would return. The colour of his usual joy drained from his face with only the dread remaining. His throat seized up, and he would cough and find his voice dying in his throat.

Apostasia asked, "...There are no pigeons here, how are the letters arriving?"

Erbluhen recited a practiced response with a hollow smile, "Ishmael's shrines are all connected. The pillars from which they are built remember where they were born. All it needs it to be linked to Ishmael through the blood of her kin."

Cryptic, he thought, but he thought of the rock Erbluhen had given to Chase and Rune and understood. "Chase and Rune won't be coming back."

"My friend in the capital will make sure of it. I don't want them coming back here and risking their lives."

Without letting Apostasia ask another question, Erbluhen broke the seal. His expression fell as usual, and the farther he read, the more downtrodden his expression became.

Apostasia wanted to not care, but something in his chest he thought had stopped hundreds of years ago begged him to reconsider. "Who's writing all of them?"

Erbluhen swallowed and searched for right words "My partner. He's one of the most important people in the world to me."

"One... of?"

" Arme Thaumaturgy, the goddess herself, and you."

"... Doesn't that sound contradictory? You would favour an outcast and a goddess at once?"

"I would. I decide whose important to me, and that's not something else anyone else can decide for me."

With his faith reaffirmed, Erbluhen returned to his letter.

How the letters made Erbluhen so upset made Apostasia upset too. He knew Erbluhen kept them all in a drawer somewhere as if clinging to the one thing linking him to his old life but didn't want anyone to find out. "Why didn't you deliver messages to the capital earlier, back at the camp?"

"To tell you the truth, in the chaos of it all, I had forgotten."

But Erbluhen looked more like he was trying to convince himself, so Apostasia changed the unpleasant topic, "What's the capital like?

"It's the biggest human settlement in the past several hundred years that we know of. It's protected by Ishmael's protection and tall white walls surrounding the settlement. You can see the church from miles away." Erbluhen sighed, "I would have liked to take you there one day. The streets are wide, and the people are kind. It's rare for us to need anything.

"But I don't know the way back. We wouldn't be able to go now."

Again, Erbluhen looked like he was trying to convince himself first.

The weather permitted them to do laundry one day. The clouds covering the sun had lifted a bit, and Erbluhen scrambled to get the clotheslines up. All their dirty clothes, not that there were many, hung from the laundry line, blowing in the wind.

Erbluhen watched the way the wind played with the fabric, and how it tossed Apostasia's hair into a messy bundle and laughed such a lively laugh he had not heard for weeks. Apostasia brushed the hair from his face and watched Erbluhen surrender himself to the breeze. He looked so at peace, Apostasia thought that if he wasn't careful, Erbluhen would disappear without warning.

Apostasia said suddenly, "We should go to the church."

Erbluhen opened his eyes slowly, "I'm ready when you are."

With a brighter sky above them, their path seemed only half as long. Unlike the last time, the branches were absent from the undergrowth, and the trees parted easily as they crossed. They had arrived in the church by the early afternoon.

The sun was shining from above. Erbluhen basked in the warmth of it all. The air was crisp and fresh. He took deep, big breathes as the stale air cycled out of him. He didn't go inside like Apostasia would have expected him to. A prayer, perhaps, to his goddess. But he didn't do that, he merely sat down on the grassy hill the church stood on and ran his fingers against the grass and invited Apostasia to join him. Erbluhen stared into the green horizon as if seeing a mirage, but broke it off and leaned against Apostasia instead.

"Thank you, " He buried his face into Apostasia's shoulder, "I've been having a great time. I'm glad to have met you. I'm glad you came with me when I asked."

He wasn't there. Sure, he was there physically, but the soul that made Erbluhen the light that he was, wasn't there. Erbluhen wasn't talking to him but through him. Panic shot through Apostasia's spine, and he whirled around to seize Erbluhen's shoulders, squeezing them too roughly with his nails digging too deep into his skin and his face leaned too far forwards to invade ERbluhen's private space. The pain was good. It would remind him that he was still alive.

Apostasia's eyes, which had once been so hollow, had never before been so full of emotion, but Erbluhen's warm, emerald coloured eyes as sweet as honey, had grown dull and cold. Apostasia could see nothing in the void that had shrouded them.

"Come back," Apostasia whispered with the desperation of a pleading child, "Don't go, not yet. Stay with me just a little longer. Come back, Erbluhen, stay here. Don't go to her. It's not your time yet.

"Sorry-I... spaced out?" Erbluhen blinked, several times, and when the flush of his cheeks turned pink again, and the sun had returned to his expression, Apostasia finally sighed of relief and let go, "Did you say something?"

Apostasia lied, "No, nothing at all."

But he leaned his head on Erbluhen's shoulder and closed his eyes.

They sat in that position until the sun over the church began to set and the brilliant evening glow set the heavens ablaze.

The next couple of days passed eventlessly, but eventually, rain fell from the heavens above. They were small patters at first, and eventually, a rolling thunderstorm had formed in the badlands. The pellets pounded against the windows. So far, Erbluhen had relied on Apostasia's judgement on whether water or safe or not and thus it was the first time he had seen rain in several months.

He glanced at the laundry on the living room table and sighed. Even though he had finished washing it earlier, there was no point in hanging it up now. By tomorrow, they would have started smelling. Oh well, they'd just have to do them again.

Apostasia's footsteps behind him disturbed whatever thoughts he had. Instead of moping about the pie, Erbluhen smacked his cheeks to shake the thoughts out and turned around to greet him. "Sia, let's bake a pie. It'll be fun."

Apostasia played along, "... I don't have a recipe."

"It's just pie. We'll figure it out together." Erbluhen rolled up his sleeves and handed Apostasia the apron, "I was gonna do laundry, but it's raining and we can't go out anyway, so help me!"

Apostasia pulled apart the curtains to check. Indeed, water was trailing down the window panes, and the rain didn't seem like it was going away any time soon. "Alright then, let's bake a pie."

Baking a pie was rather difficult without a recipe, and it took most of the day and several failed attempts, but Erbluhen made sure a rather lopsided pie was sitting on the counter, ready to be consumed. Erbluhen looked more lively than he had in weeks, and Apostasia sighed in relief as he watched Erbluhen poke and prod at it to make sure it was the right amount of baked.

Erbluhen served him a slice of pie, "Try it!"

The sweet of the sugar and the sour of the dough in the pie made the taste not quite right. By all means, it was a pie in look, but Erbluhen had made do with the actual ingredients. It was a little sour and a little undercooked, but they had done well for a no-recipe attempt. In any case, Apostasia was a poor judge of taste to begin with. "Erbluhen, you should-"

But Erbluhen had spaced out again. Apostasia placed ah and over Erbluhen's hand, and the moment they made contact, the priest jerked out of his trance.

"Don't forget about the laundry."

"Oh! It's raining today, so let's do it tomorrow. When the weather is better."

"Alright," Apostasia said with hesitation, "I'll remind you tomorrow."

"Thank you. Anything else?"

"Have some pie, you worked hard on it. It's not bad."

Erbluhen shook his head, "I'm not hungry. Later, for sure."

But by bedtime, Erbluhen still wasn't hungry, and he didn't want to pressure Erbluhen into doing anything he didn't want to do. Still, he couldn't fall asleep and spent the night staring at the light that filtered through his thin slit of a window.

The stairs creaked underneath Erbluhen's weight. His own breath was peppered by small coughs. Although he was trying to be as silent as possible, the efforts had failed.

Concerned, Apostasia followed him under the guise of shadows. The rain hadn't made the house any colder, but in the den, Erbluhen had lit the fireplace.

The drawer of personal letters was set down in front of the fireplace, and Erbluhen was feeding each letter individually into the flames. The way his eyes reflected the flames sent a shiver down Apostasia's shrine, but tomorrow they would do laundry, he reminded himself.

Tomorrow, the rain would stop, and tomorrow, they would do laundry.

He left Erbluhen and his letters at the fireplace, and returned to his dark room, wishing for a tomorrow that would never come.

A letter arrived at the collapsed shrine in the abandoned camp in the middle of the corrupted lands that Ishmael had forsaken for a priest she no longer claimed as her own.

.a -

.uoy rof emoc I litnu ecalp taht evael t'nod

『 if just ONE THING is eliminated, then this world will continue on. 』

#elsword #v: priest!au #f: the ecliptic #tsu tries to fic #ok when i said at the end i meant by the end #next chapter will have a character focus shift so say bye bye to ap and ee for a bit

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