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Archdemon on Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:32 pm
Just a story I've been working on, all moved from FN. Please let me know what you think.
Part 1
* * *
Awareness. It came suddenly and brutally, clawing into her mind so fast that she was stunned. She was trapped, in a confining shell of some hard substance. It was filled with water, and she desperately tried to get out. Her fragile body pressed against the wall of her claustrophobically small prison, her wings crying in pain as the delicate membranes scraped against the surface. She cried, smashing at the walls with her legs and tail, desperately searching for weakness. One of her legs broke through, and her clawed foot felt small stones. Invigorated, she smashed more at the weakness, cracking it open, and pulling herself through.
She appeared to be at the bottom of a lake, a few dim rays of illumination slicing across the murky, pebbled bottom. Kicking her feet and using her tail as a rudder, she moved towards the light. A few fish darted away as she rose. The light grew larger, and through the chilly lake water she felt it’s warmth increase. Her wings flapped, trying to push herself higher in the water. But already she was spent, and as hard as she tried she began to sink. The light faded, and she resigned herself to death. She took in a breath.
To her surprise she did not choke and die. The cool water flooded her lungs, and she felt a small measure of strength return to her. She lay on the bottom for a few minutes, breathing deeply, before trying to reach towards the light once more. She succeeded, and as she burst through the surface the brilliant sapphire light of an overhead cluster of crystals revealed her surroundings. She was in a deep cavern, far from the light of the true sun. She took a careful breath, and the fresh air of the vault filled her lungs and nostrils. The air was tinged with a scent of something intense and spicy. Looking towards shore, she saw a forest of faintly glowing green fungi. A gnawing hunger grasped her, and after a short paddle to shore she devoured a cluster of the small stalks. As quickly as everything else had occurred, and intense sleepiness arrived, and she lay down upon the cap of the largest mushroom, slipping swiftly into a deep sleep.
* * *
She had a dream in that sleep. Another creature like herself appeared; only instead of the deep purple-black of her hide this one was armored in layers of shining silver scales. Then a shadow descended upon the creature, and a smaller one bedecked in greening copper scales flew to earth. They were somewhere aboveground, for a great shining orb hung in the sky over the snowy mountaintop the two wyrms were now perched on. The copper clutched a matte-black egg in its foreclaw.
“It must be removed.” The silver began in a harsh bark.
“I know that,” the copper responded, “but I will not condemn any wyrmlet to death over some bad bloodlines.”
The silver’s crested head flared. “It is an abomination, IskVaeri, and you know what the council decreed should happen to the drakes of the night,” The silver hesitantly added, “and to those who spawned it.”
“I’m aware of the council’s ‘decree’ NerMartivir, but I will not drop my egg from any cliff because of what the pompous golds have decided.” The copper retorted.
The silver sucked in a breath. “Stars damn you, can’t you see? If anyone discovers it, the arbiters will have our skulls,” he quietly added, “and those of our young.”
IskVaeri paused for a moment. “If I hide the egg in the Deep Roads, no arbiter will ever find it.”
”Very well, I do not approve of this, but it is better that than letting it live in our cave.”
The silver then stretched his vast wings and took into the sky, moving towards the rising sun. The copper remained for a few moments, and then she too departed.
* * *
She woke up slowly. The mushroom’s soft surface had shifted slightly, so she had sunk a small bit into the cap. Shaking herself awake, she stretched her legs and set out to explore the rest of her domain.
The pool where she had been born occupied the center of the room, and the light from the bluish stones illuminated the majority of the chamber. The walls were steep and covered with white crystals, which tasted spicy when she ran her tongue across them. At the top of the chamber there was a passage that led somewhere, but she could not see where, and she did not trust her still-weak wings to lift her that high. So she instead trotted around the perimeter of the lake. On the side opposite from the fungus garden she came upon another creature.
It was a dark and scaly thing, much like her, but it lacked eyes and wings, however several tendrils extended from the end of its nose. When she approached, the thing immediately began speaking. She instinctively recognized the beast talk, likely a gift of her blood.
”See here, see here, another creature comes quite near, I wonder what it does seek here, aside from my flesh I hold so dear,” the scaled thing hissed.
Suppressing a bemused smile, she responded, “I was born in a cave, to parents not brave, now I find a beast which raves,”
The thing snorted, and stroked her sides with it’s tendrils. “It speaks as I, I wonder why, for it has wings with which to fly,”
“Do you speak in anything but rhymes?”
”I speak as I can, for all my lifespan, in this little deep-earth pan,”
”What’s your name?”
It paused for a moment. “Few beasts ask such of me, for I am trapped while they are free, and if I give you mine you must give yours to me.”
That startled her. What was her name anyway? She had heard her parent’s strange, lyrical names and doubted that she could give herself a name like that. So she made something up. “I lack a true name I fear, for my parents dear, did not provide me one for here, you can however call me Darkness’s Seer,” She felt very clever when the creature’s mouth tugged upward at the edges.
“A fine name for a beast of night, and now you shall here my plight, for my name is Deeplake Blight.” He settled down on the cave floor, and she did the same. “I shall simply call you Seer, I hope that does not offend you dear, but I must now tell my stories tiers. I was born quite far away, upon a great road of men quite brave. I was then taken as a slave, to pull great carriages of things men crave,” She found the creature’s speech to be on the border of hypnotic and hilarious. “Sold to dark elves I was then, and treated like a clucking hen. Kept alive to spread my seed, to others who where of my breed. Why they did this I know not, for we weren’t destined for their cooking pot. Then we were trained as to inflict scars, pitted against beasts whose evil marred. But one great day a lurking tree, came loose and crushed my master he, leaving me to escape free.” The creature smiled. “Such my tale had thus remained, though you add a new piece to its terrain.”
His tale completed, Blight stood up and stretched his legs. “Such is the tale of Deeplake blight, and he wishes well to the daughter of the night, but he must tend his stomach’s plight.” Then he slipped into the lake and was gone.
* * *
Part 2
* * *
After a few minutes spent assimilating all that Blight had told her, Seer quickly reviewed what he had said. From what he had said, men sounded like big, lazy creatures, apparently getting others to do their work. While Blight had been sketchy on the details, being blind after all, her mental image of them was pinkish blobs of fat. By the time she’d stopped laughing to herself, her hunger had returned, nippy and demanding. She returned to circumnavigating the lake. A few moths with bellies glowing all colors of the rainbow appeared, flitting about just above her reach. The intoxicating spicy scent of the room grew ever more intense as she traveled along, until she found it’s nexus.
The smell originated from a cluster of papery spheres hanging from the walls. The same bright moths frequently entered them, though what they were doing was lost to her. The lowest nest was a full body-length above her head. She tried a few short jumps, but the thing was just beyond her reach. Finally, she backed up a short distance and made a running leap, flapping her wings a few times. She grasped the papery thing, and just as her claws sunk into it a dozen of the moths, their lights shining crimson, dove at her. One landed on her wing and sunk some kind of stinger into the sensitive tissue. She hissed in pain, running all the way to the mushroom forest before the vicious things gave up their chase.
As she broke into the sphere, which tasted very much like the fungi she had dined upon earlier, she discovered it had hundreds of little compartments in the shape of pentagons. Inside tiny grubs lay, and at the bottom of the sphere a reservoir of viscous, amber fluid lay. Taking an exploratory lick, she recoiled almost immediately. It was spicy! She had soon devoured the whole thing, and the intoxicating taste of the food once again opened the door to slumber.
* * *
The dream was different this time. It showed a grand cave, the entrance open to the sun, sparkling light reflected off mountains of gold and gems. At the center of the chamber, the vast silver she now recognized as her father sat, watching with bemusement at the hatchlings playing in the sea of wealth at his feet. There were six of the little dragons, all of them metallic in hue, running and tussling and rolling in the golden pieces of metal. The young ones stopped abruptly as something blocked the light from the entrance, for there was a vast drake easily twice her father’s size, his scales colored in the most brilliant golden hue. This dragon was obviously one of importance, for her father immediately stood up as straight and tall as he could. The great wyrm surveyed the cave before stepping in.
“Greetings Aurixen, I trust your flight was quick and safe?” Her father inquired.
The gold snorted. “Swiftly I flew, but it is a shame that men have spread so fast. I was nearly turned into a pincushion after I flew down the wrong valley.” The gold seemed to catch his breath, and then inquired, “where is your lovely mate, NerMartivir?”
Her father stiffened momentarily. “She’s… she took a trip to the Moonsea. She said she just needed some rest.”
The gold’s eyes flashed, and he stared at the hatchlings. “Did you not have seven eggs, my old friend? Or have you let one wyrmling escape?”
”It succumbed to the first frost. Was most tragic.”
Circling her father like a hunting cat, the gold continued, “The oracles tell me an archdemon has been born. All signs points to it. We have had to take… measures, to ensure our safety.”
Her father gasped. “You cannot be having a culling.”
”Oh but we can, old friend. That is why the council has chosen us, to protect us from the horrors of The Great Shadow. You wouldn’t happen to know anything of this, would you?”
Her father tensed. “I won’t let you take my children. My duty commands it.”
The gold laughed, a horrid and evil sound. “Now, now, to kill an arbiter is to violate the very laws you helped set forth seven centuries ago. It would be most… regrettable to remove your most noble bloodline from this earth.”
”A culling will solve nothing. It’s sad that for all your mages ‘omnipotence’ they cannot simply find the wyrmling responsible, or even know the bloodline.” He hissed angrily.
The gold’s eyes hardened. “Your end will be quick, old friend.” And then he leapt.
Her father must have suspected treachery, for he immediately roared archaic and lyrical words, and the gold seemed to explode as blood burst from every orifice. Her father followed up with a blast of lightning that seared Aurixen’s wing, and leaped forward to finish him. The gold was quick, though, and smashed his fangs down on her father’s wing, rending scale and muscle like a madman slicing butter. Her father roared in agony, slashing at the vast gold with his claws, but the lacerations didn’t even slow the gold. Eager to end the fight, the gold slammed her father’s head with his own, knocking the younger wyrm unconscious. He then staggered away, heading toward the terrified cluster of hatchlings. She awoke just as he let loose a great jet of flame into their midst.
* * *
As her eyes flashed open, she noticed a peculiar sound coming from the roof of the cave. It was a series of metallic clangs, then a curious whirring sound. It repeated for a bit, then stopped. Then a light dropped from the hole in the ceiling. She couldn’t see what it was connected to, only a long cord that held the light. Then a few words in some unknown language descended down the shaft. Not waiting for some threat to appear, she slid into the lake as quietly as she could. A few pale fish darted away, but she ignored them and swam beneath the shaft. Some dark shapes were descending from above, but the bright yellow illumination from the light prevented her from making out the shapes. She could, however, see that they stood on two legs against the wall of the cave, all connected by rope. Then one of them let go and was slowly lowered towards the water. He stopped only half a body-length above. She couldn’t make out his features, but his skin was dark and had some sort of covering. She tensed on the bottom, waiting. And then she sprung.
The elf couldn’t have seen much. She surfaced in less than a second, propelled by immense power, grabbing the elf, and plunging beneath the water before the others above could clear their eyes. The squirming creature now in her grasp was larger than her, but clumsy and awkward as a result of its surprise. She slashed at it with her claws and hind legs, and it’s blood filled the water in a green cloud. Bursts of bubbles streamed from its mouth as she ripped though it’s weak outer covering of hardened skin into the soft flesh beneath. It’s struggles slowed, and her fangs plunged into its neck. She shook the limp humanoid like a doll, tearing it open. A cloud of blood and viscera filled the water.
It wasn’t long, however, before a small, barbed stick slashed through the water next to her. More soon followed, a few clacking off her scales, their speed greatly reduced by the water’s resistance. But this meant the humanoids above had seen her, and she swam towards the fungus gardens. As she pulled herself free of the lake, she saw that two more had lowered from above, long recurved pieces of wood in their hands. More barbed sticks lanced towards her, and one stabbed into her leg. She screeched in pain, her leg now immovable, and fell to the ground. Blood welled from the wound. Through her fading vision, she saw the humanoids drop into the water, one carrying a net, the other with a strange box. Her last thought before blacking out was what these dark-skinned creatures were called.
* * *
Part 3
* * *
Unlike her previous slumbers, no disturbing dreams accompanied her slumber this time. Instead, she drifted about in a haze of pain and noise, not knowing where she was. A few times stabbing agony in her right leg sent her semiconscious mind into a madness of half-thoughts, chaotic bursts of emotion bubbling through her mind without reason or use. A few times she saw blurry shapes of dark-skinned people inspecting her, a few times touching her. Murmured voices of languages she didn’t understand surrounded her. Blackness.
* * *
As she blinked herself awake, the first thing that came to mind was how horrid it smelled. The air of… whatever strange container she was in… stank of blood, sweat, and fear. Her vision was still swimming; she saw a few indistinct shapes outside the metal bars of the box she was in. Her ears began to function again, and the murmur of strange voices, the clatter of metal, and the voices of dozens of exotic beasts filled her ears. Finally her eyes cleared, and just outside the cage a trio of squat men stood. They had thick beards that looked like woven silver, and skin the color of bronze. One of them, bedecked in jewelry, prodded her once with a gauntleted finger, felt her wing tissue, and then muttered something to the slender, dark skinned elf. The woman turned, and then hissed in beast tongue, “They want to see that you’re healthy, so I’m going to let you out. But if you try anything, I’m going to let the priests cut you open for remedies.” The elf’s voice cut like a knife, which was likely why she didn’t try anything when the elf opened the cage and let he step out. The jeweled man felt her wings, legs, and claws. He even looked at her teeth.
After about ten minutes of pointless inspection, the dwarf talked a bit more with the elf, and finally turned to her once more.
With an accent thicker than fifty mushroom stalks, the dwarf said “The elf tells me you are intelligent and worth more coin. So I ask you, you can speak, yes?” The fact he spoke in draconic stunned her briefly. So far only her parents had spoken in the lyrical language, and their musical speech had been far from this Dwarf’s attempts at it.
”I can speak, sir,” she mumbled out, amazed that she hadn’t mauled the words.
The dwarf smiled, and handed the elf two sacks that stank of metal. The other two dwarves put her back into strange cage. She was carried to a cart not far away, and placed in a small slot in the side of the cart. Blackness.
* * *
She saw the copper this time, soaring over a vast sea. The overhead glow of a blue and black-purple moon shrouded the landscape in a blanket of shadowy illumination. Her mother swooped down, and she saw a ragged, snowy coastline. A forest of bluish pines covered the ground, rushing past as the copper dove. Far in the distance a vast metal… ship it looked like… shot hundreds of bolts of blue lightning towards the featureless white wasteland ahead. She saw the lightning originated from six vast disks attached to the strange vessel. It didn’t look hostile, but as the copper flew toward it she felt her heart jump up to her throat. The bolts of electricity looked lethal, even to a dragonelle as big as her mother.
Yet even as the copper weaved through the artificial lightning, she didn’t seem concerned. A few very near misses startled her, but more by the sudden flash of light than the potential danger. Just as she looked to be clear, another bolt lance out and struck her between the wings. The copper pumped her powerful wing muscles for a few moments, then stabilized and drifted a few moments. There wasn’t even a burn. Her scales had shunted the lethal lightning from her body like a rock in the midst of a river. Idly the thought entered her head that her father could exhale lightning entered her mind. But the thought was stifled when her mother dove towards a lone icy spire rising out of the ground. She saw a small… tunnel of sorts through the ice. Before she could blink her mother dove down the tunnel. A short series of maddening turns through the black tunnels and her mother stopped at the edge of a deep shaft. The copper gazed down, then set her black egg on the edge of the shaft. Gently she pushed it over. There was a splash far below. Her mother turned away. The dream faded.
* * *
Her nose itched. A powerful smell now filled the cart, a stench of ozone and fire. The cart creaked to a halt, and the doors at the back flung open. The jeweled dwarf extracted her from the box, and then chained her to his gauntlet with a collar of blackened metal. She saw the purpose at once. Even if she killed him, she wouldn’t be able move far enough to escape. He led her out into the blinding light, and for the first time she beheld the sun. The blinding white orb hung in the air, illuminating everything. Then she saw it.
Crouched in the center of the mess of carts, merchants, and soldiers a colossal vessel stood. She recognized it at once from her dream. Shaped like an angular shark, with the six humming disks sparking even while landed, the great airship eclipsed everything else. The pulling on her chain indicated that the dwarf was walking towards it. She reluctantly followed him, weaving around strange beasts and pale surface-world men, all talking in a thousand strange tongues that babbled like an underground river. But in an instant they were at the ship, boarding from a ramp that led to a dull metal corridor decorated with strangely glowing runes. The dwarf began to talk as they walked, going on about ‘steam turbines’ and ‘bonded malefecium’ and a thousand similarly confusing subjects that she didn’t understand. He lead through a hundred decks filled with hissing pipes and rune-covered rooms where dwarves chanted archaic verses of some ancient language.
After what seemed like a walk that lasted for eternity, she found that they were on the top of an airship. It was amazing. She could see everything for miles, the dwarven encampment, the frozen wasteland, and in the far distance a glittering silver tower. The dwarf noticed her interest, and briefly interjected, “That’s a IskClaxa,” she flinched involuntarily at the sound of her mother’s first name. “Takes energy from the moons and infuses holy water with it to form Lyrian. You’ll learn all about that soon.” The dwarf paused as the airship lurched into the sky. Then a roar came from the rear of the vessel as flames erupted from several extended nodules, and the airship began to gain speed. It wasn’t fast, and she could easily beat it’s velocity, but the fact the massive thing was in the air made it an awesome sight to behold. The dwarf pulled on her chain, leading her through a few passages to a… library was the word. Hundreds of scrolls and leather-bound books adorned the shelves. The dwarf selected a chair covered with the leathery hide of some reptile, and then began to ramble anew.
”Long ago there was a great empire that managed to achieve harmony between all the old races, that is, the Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, and Angels. They achieved things we cannot imagine today. But the gods of chaos and destruction saw fit to create three new races, the Humans, the Archdemons, and the Devils. These races thrived where the others failed, reveling in slaughter and plague. They came from the mountains, the dark seas, and the depths of the earth to pillage and destroy. They tore down the great empire, and offered the shattered pieces to their pagan lords.” The dwarf stopped. Absently he picked up a scroll and unfurled it upon the floor. It showed a map, the pages stained and yellowed with age, the dozens of cities and towns across a massive continent. The dwarf let her study it for a few moments before continuing. “The broken shards of the great empire immediately took up the fight against these invaders. Elves and dwarves clashed with the hordes of men, dragons and archdemons rent the skies with primal energy and ripped each other to ribbons in battles of tooth and claw, while the angels and devils tore planes apart. But the limitless numbers of the invaders began to press in on the remains. The dark gods had forged their children well. Humans had ambition and inventiveness that created new tools of slaughter; archdemons coordinated the hordes with their tactical intelligence, and demons corrupted and weakened societies, turning the damned into even more of their own. One by one the last bastions of light and hope were turned to gory abattoirs.” The dwarf paused for a long time, his eyes filled with sorrow.
He didn’t continue for the longest time. She glanced through a nearby pile of books, inspected a few maps of different lands, none of which she understood, and finally lay down with her head resting on her claws. She was just about to sleep when the dwarf spoke up again.
”The gods of light saw the massacre of their creations, and crafted tools for them to use. Mind you, these were no tools of wood and steel. They were books and scrolls of arcane teachings. To the elves they gave the magics of the wilds, to help them to hide and spy from the vast forests of the land. They endowed the dwarves with the magic of creation, to forge citadels and arms for future battles. They gifted the dragons with elemental power, to destroy the hordes of their enemies. And finally they gave the angels magic of restoration, to heal the scars after the apocalyptic war that would come. The old races retreated to their hiding places and awaited the call to battle.” The dwarf’s eyes became distant, but he did not cease talking. “But the new races and gods did not stay idle. The humans, armed with magic of illusion, infiltrated the fortresses of their foes. Archdemons divined the locations of their great enemies, while devils corrupted every man who dared to walk alone at night, with their offers of power, wealth, women, godhood! It was too much. The deities of good came together, and decided that they must act. The armies of good were amassed, and the shining ranks marched towards the greatest strongholds of darkness.” He paused, and then pointed to a dark splash of ink upon the large map. “That is where they made their last stand. A horde of millions greeted them. That single battle lasted for six days. In the end, the angels used the most powerful magic they had, a spell that would unmake their polar opposites, the devils. Even as the hordes descended on the angel’s ritual, they chanted. Legend says that they slaughtered every member of the army of light, but with his dying breath the great angel Adarus the Just finished the spell. In a cataclysmic explosion the angels and devils were wiped from the face of the earth, but they also erased the memory of every living being in the world.” The dwarf sighed. “The gods still tell this story, in one incarnation or other, to their high priests. After that event, each race retreated to it’s home, and all was forgotten. Every few centuries or so, some empire would form, but each race would bicker and eventually all the empires fell again. When we reach our destination, you will learn more.” The dwarf slipped into a sleep, and moments later she felt the blanket of slumber settle over her body once more.
* * *
Part 1
* * *
Awareness. It came suddenly and brutally, clawing into her mind so fast that she was stunned. She was trapped, in a confining shell of some hard substance. It was filled with water, and she desperately tried to get out. Her fragile body pressed against the wall of her claustrophobically small prison, her wings crying in pain as the delicate membranes scraped against the surface. She cried, smashing at the walls with her legs and tail, desperately searching for weakness. One of her legs broke through, and her clawed foot felt small stones. Invigorated, she smashed more at the weakness, cracking it open, and pulling herself through.
She appeared to be at the bottom of a lake, a few dim rays of illumination slicing across the murky, pebbled bottom. Kicking her feet and using her tail as a rudder, she moved towards the light. A few fish darted away as she rose. The light grew larger, and through the chilly lake water she felt it’s warmth increase. Her wings flapped, trying to push herself higher in the water. But already she was spent, and as hard as she tried she began to sink. The light faded, and she resigned herself to death. She took in a breath.
To her surprise she did not choke and die. The cool water flooded her lungs, and she felt a small measure of strength return to her. She lay on the bottom for a few minutes, breathing deeply, before trying to reach towards the light once more. She succeeded, and as she burst through the surface the brilliant sapphire light of an overhead cluster of crystals revealed her surroundings. She was in a deep cavern, far from the light of the true sun. She took a careful breath, and the fresh air of the vault filled her lungs and nostrils. The air was tinged with a scent of something intense and spicy. Looking towards shore, she saw a forest of faintly glowing green fungi. A gnawing hunger grasped her, and after a short paddle to shore she devoured a cluster of the small stalks. As quickly as everything else had occurred, and intense sleepiness arrived, and she lay down upon the cap of the largest mushroom, slipping swiftly into a deep sleep.
* * *
She had a dream in that sleep. Another creature like herself appeared; only instead of the deep purple-black of her hide this one was armored in layers of shining silver scales. Then a shadow descended upon the creature, and a smaller one bedecked in greening copper scales flew to earth. They were somewhere aboveground, for a great shining orb hung in the sky over the snowy mountaintop the two wyrms were now perched on. The copper clutched a matte-black egg in its foreclaw.
“It must be removed.” The silver began in a harsh bark.
“I know that,” the copper responded, “but I will not condemn any wyrmlet to death over some bad bloodlines.”
The silver’s crested head flared. “It is an abomination, IskVaeri, and you know what the council decreed should happen to the drakes of the night,” The silver hesitantly added, “and to those who spawned it.”
“I’m aware of the council’s ‘decree’ NerMartivir, but I will not drop my egg from any cliff because of what the pompous golds have decided.” The copper retorted.
The silver sucked in a breath. “Stars damn you, can’t you see? If anyone discovers it, the arbiters will have our skulls,” he quietly added, “and those of our young.”
IskVaeri paused for a moment. “If I hide the egg in the Deep Roads, no arbiter will ever find it.”
”Very well, I do not approve of this, but it is better that than letting it live in our cave.”
The silver then stretched his vast wings and took into the sky, moving towards the rising sun. The copper remained for a few moments, and then she too departed.
* * *
She woke up slowly. The mushroom’s soft surface had shifted slightly, so she had sunk a small bit into the cap. Shaking herself awake, she stretched her legs and set out to explore the rest of her domain.
The pool where she had been born occupied the center of the room, and the light from the bluish stones illuminated the majority of the chamber. The walls were steep and covered with white crystals, which tasted spicy when she ran her tongue across them. At the top of the chamber there was a passage that led somewhere, but she could not see where, and she did not trust her still-weak wings to lift her that high. So she instead trotted around the perimeter of the lake. On the side opposite from the fungus garden she came upon another creature.
It was a dark and scaly thing, much like her, but it lacked eyes and wings, however several tendrils extended from the end of its nose. When she approached, the thing immediately began speaking. She instinctively recognized the beast talk, likely a gift of her blood.
”See here, see here, another creature comes quite near, I wonder what it does seek here, aside from my flesh I hold so dear,” the scaled thing hissed.
Suppressing a bemused smile, she responded, “I was born in a cave, to parents not brave, now I find a beast which raves,”
The thing snorted, and stroked her sides with it’s tendrils. “It speaks as I, I wonder why, for it has wings with which to fly,”
“Do you speak in anything but rhymes?”
”I speak as I can, for all my lifespan, in this little deep-earth pan,”
”What’s your name?”
It paused for a moment. “Few beasts ask such of me, for I am trapped while they are free, and if I give you mine you must give yours to me.”
That startled her. What was her name anyway? She had heard her parent’s strange, lyrical names and doubted that she could give herself a name like that. So she made something up. “I lack a true name I fear, for my parents dear, did not provide me one for here, you can however call me Darkness’s Seer,” She felt very clever when the creature’s mouth tugged upward at the edges.
“A fine name for a beast of night, and now you shall here my plight, for my name is Deeplake Blight.” He settled down on the cave floor, and she did the same. “I shall simply call you Seer, I hope that does not offend you dear, but I must now tell my stories tiers. I was born quite far away, upon a great road of men quite brave. I was then taken as a slave, to pull great carriages of things men crave,” She found the creature’s speech to be on the border of hypnotic and hilarious. “Sold to dark elves I was then, and treated like a clucking hen. Kept alive to spread my seed, to others who where of my breed. Why they did this I know not, for we weren’t destined for their cooking pot. Then we were trained as to inflict scars, pitted against beasts whose evil marred. But one great day a lurking tree, came loose and crushed my master he, leaving me to escape free.” The creature smiled. “Such my tale had thus remained, though you add a new piece to its terrain.”
His tale completed, Blight stood up and stretched his legs. “Such is the tale of Deeplake blight, and he wishes well to the daughter of the night, but he must tend his stomach’s plight.” Then he slipped into the lake and was gone.
* * *
Part 2
* * *
After a few minutes spent assimilating all that Blight had told her, Seer quickly reviewed what he had said. From what he had said, men sounded like big, lazy creatures, apparently getting others to do their work. While Blight had been sketchy on the details, being blind after all, her mental image of them was pinkish blobs of fat. By the time she’d stopped laughing to herself, her hunger had returned, nippy and demanding. She returned to circumnavigating the lake. A few moths with bellies glowing all colors of the rainbow appeared, flitting about just above her reach. The intoxicating spicy scent of the room grew ever more intense as she traveled along, until she found it’s nexus.
The smell originated from a cluster of papery spheres hanging from the walls. The same bright moths frequently entered them, though what they were doing was lost to her. The lowest nest was a full body-length above her head. She tried a few short jumps, but the thing was just beyond her reach. Finally, she backed up a short distance and made a running leap, flapping her wings a few times. She grasped the papery thing, and just as her claws sunk into it a dozen of the moths, their lights shining crimson, dove at her. One landed on her wing and sunk some kind of stinger into the sensitive tissue. She hissed in pain, running all the way to the mushroom forest before the vicious things gave up their chase.
As she broke into the sphere, which tasted very much like the fungi she had dined upon earlier, she discovered it had hundreds of little compartments in the shape of pentagons. Inside tiny grubs lay, and at the bottom of the sphere a reservoir of viscous, amber fluid lay. Taking an exploratory lick, she recoiled almost immediately. It was spicy! She had soon devoured the whole thing, and the intoxicating taste of the food once again opened the door to slumber.
* * *
The dream was different this time. It showed a grand cave, the entrance open to the sun, sparkling light reflected off mountains of gold and gems. At the center of the chamber, the vast silver she now recognized as her father sat, watching with bemusement at the hatchlings playing in the sea of wealth at his feet. There were six of the little dragons, all of them metallic in hue, running and tussling and rolling in the golden pieces of metal. The young ones stopped abruptly as something blocked the light from the entrance, for there was a vast drake easily twice her father’s size, his scales colored in the most brilliant golden hue. This dragon was obviously one of importance, for her father immediately stood up as straight and tall as he could. The great wyrm surveyed the cave before stepping in.
“Greetings Aurixen, I trust your flight was quick and safe?” Her father inquired.
The gold snorted. “Swiftly I flew, but it is a shame that men have spread so fast. I was nearly turned into a pincushion after I flew down the wrong valley.” The gold seemed to catch his breath, and then inquired, “where is your lovely mate, NerMartivir?”
Her father stiffened momentarily. “She’s… she took a trip to the Moonsea. She said she just needed some rest.”
The gold’s eyes flashed, and he stared at the hatchlings. “Did you not have seven eggs, my old friend? Or have you let one wyrmling escape?”
”It succumbed to the first frost. Was most tragic.”
Circling her father like a hunting cat, the gold continued, “The oracles tell me an archdemon has been born. All signs points to it. We have had to take… measures, to ensure our safety.”
Her father gasped. “You cannot be having a culling.”
”Oh but we can, old friend. That is why the council has chosen us, to protect us from the horrors of The Great Shadow. You wouldn’t happen to know anything of this, would you?”
Her father tensed. “I won’t let you take my children. My duty commands it.”
The gold laughed, a horrid and evil sound. “Now, now, to kill an arbiter is to violate the very laws you helped set forth seven centuries ago. It would be most… regrettable to remove your most noble bloodline from this earth.”
”A culling will solve nothing. It’s sad that for all your mages ‘omnipotence’ they cannot simply find the wyrmling responsible, or even know the bloodline.” He hissed angrily.
The gold’s eyes hardened. “Your end will be quick, old friend.” And then he leapt.
Her father must have suspected treachery, for he immediately roared archaic and lyrical words, and the gold seemed to explode as blood burst from every orifice. Her father followed up with a blast of lightning that seared Aurixen’s wing, and leaped forward to finish him. The gold was quick, though, and smashed his fangs down on her father’s wing, rending scale and muscle like a madman slicing butter. Her father roared in agony, slashing at the vast gold with his claws, but the lacerations didn’t even slow the gold. Eager to end the fight, the gold slammed her father’s head with his own, knocking the younger wyrm unconscious. He then staggered away, heading toward the terrified cluster of hatchlings. She awoke just as he let loose a great jet of flame into their midst.
* * *
As her eyes flashed open, she noticed a peculiar sound coming from the roof of the cave. It was a series of metallic clangs, then a curious whirring sound. It repeated for a bit, then stopped. Then a light dropped from the hole in the ceiling. She couldn’t see what it was connected to, only a long cord that held the light. Then a few words in some unknown language descended down the shaft. Not waiting for some threat to appear, she slid into the lake as quietly as she could. A few pale fish darted away, but she ignored them and swam beneath the shaft. Some dark shapes were descending from above, but the bright yellow illumination from the light prevented her from making out the shapes. She could, however, see that they stood on two legs against the wall of the cave, all connected by rope. Then one of them let go and was slowly lowered towards the water. He stopped only half a body-length above. She couldn’t make out his features, but his skin was dark and had some sort of covering. She tensed on the bottom, waiting. And then she sprung.
The elf couldn’t have seen much. She surfaced in less than a second, propelled by immense power, grabbing the elf, and plunging beneath the water before the others above could clear their eyes. The squirming creature now in her grasp was larger than her, but clumsy and awkward as a result of its surprise. She slashed at it with her claws and hind legs, and it’s blood filled the water in a green cloud. Bursts of bubbles streamed from its mouth as she ripped though it’s weak outer covering of hardened skin into the soft flesh beneath. It’s struggles slowed, and her fangs plunged into its neck. She shook the limp humanoid like a doll, tearing it open. A cloud of blood and viscera filled the water.
It wasn’t long, however, before a small, barbed stick slashed through the water next to her. More soon followed, a few clacking off her scales, their speed greatly reduced by the water’s resistance. But this meant the humanoids above had seen her, and she swam towards the fungus gardens. As she pulled herself free of the lake, she saw that two more had lowered from above, long recurved pieces of wood in their hands. More barbed sticks lanced towards her, and one stabbed into her leg. She screeched in pain, her leg now immovable, and fell to the ground. Blood welled from the wound. Through her fading vision, she saw the humanoids drop into the water, one carrying a net, the other with a strange box. Her last thought before blacking out was what these dark-skinned creatures were called.
* * *
Part 3
* * *
Unlike her previous slumbers, no disturbing dreams accompanied her slumber this time. Instead, she drifted about in a haze of pain and noise, not knowing where she was. A few times stabbing agony in her right leg sent her semiconscious mind into a madness of half-thoughts, chaotic bursts of emotion bubbling through her mind without reason or use. A few times she saw blurry shapes of dark-skinned people inspecting her, a few times touching her. Murmured voices of languages she didn’t understand surrounded her. Blackness.
* * *
As she blinked herself awake, the first thing that came to mind was how horrid it smelled. The air of… whatever strange container she was in… stank of blood, sweat, and fear. Her vision was still swimming; she saw a few indistinct shapes outside the metal bars of the box she was in. Her ears began to function again, and the murmur of strange voices, the clatter of metal, and the voices of dozens of exotic beasts filled her ears. Finally her eyes cleared, and just outside the cage a trio of squat men stood. They had thick beards that looked like woven silver, and skin the color of bronze. One of them, bedecked in jewelry, prodded her once with a gauntleted finger, felt her wing tissue, and then muttered something to the slender, dark skinned elf. The woman turned, and then hissed in beast tongue, “They want to see that you’re healthy, so I’m going to let you out. But if you try anything, I’m going to let the priests cut you open for remedies.” The elf’s voice cut like a knife, which was likely why she didn’t try anything when the elf opened the cage and let he step out. The jeweled man felt her wings, legs, and claws. He even looked at her teeth.
After about ten minutes of pointless inspection, the dwarf talked a bit more with the elf, and finally turned to her once more.
With an accent thicker than fifty mushroom stalks, the dwarf said “The elf tells me you are intelligent and worth more coin. So I ask you, you can speak, yes?” The fact he spoke in draconic stunned her briefly. So far only her parents had spoken in the lyrical language, and their musical speech had been far from this Dwarf’s attempts at it.
”I can speak, sir,” she mumbled out, amazed that she hadn’t mauled the words.
The dwarf smiled, and handed the elf two sacks that stank of metal. The other two dwarves put her back into strange cage. She was carried to a cart not far away, and placed in a small slot in the side of the cart. Blackness.
* * *
She saw the copper this time, soaring over a vast sea. The overhead glow of a blue and black-purple moon shrouded the landscape in a blanket of shadowy illumination. Her mother swooped down, and she saw a ragged, snowy coastline. A forest of bluish pines covered the ground, rushing past as the copper dove. Far in the distance a vast metal… ship it looked like… shot hundreds of bolts of blue lightning towards the featureless white wasteland ahead. She saw the lightning originated from six vast disks attached to the strange vessel. It didn’t look hostile, but as the copper flew toward it she felt her heart jump up to her throat. The bolts of electricity looked lethal, even to a dragonelle as big as her mother.
Yet even as the copper weaved through the artificial lightning, she didn’t seem concerned. A few very near misses startled her, but more by the sudden flash of light than the potential danger. Just as she looked to be clear, another bolt lance out and struck her between the wings. The copper pumped her powerful wing muscles for a few moments, then stabilized and drifted a few moments. There wasn’t even a burn. Her scales had shunted the lethal lightning from her body like a rock in the midst of a river. Idly the thought entered her head that her father could exhale lightning entered her mind. But the thought was stifled when her mother dove towards a lone icy spire rising out of the ground. She saw a small… tunnel of sorts through the ice. Before she could blink her mother dove down the tunnel. A short series of maddening turns through the black tunnels and her mother stopped at the edge of a deep shaft. The copper gazed down, then set her black egg on the edge of the shaft. Gently she pushed it over. There was a splash far below. Her mother turned away. The dream faded.
* * *
Her nose itched. A powerful smell now filled the cart, a stench of ozone and fire. The cart creaked to a halt, and the doors at the back flung open. The jeweled dwarf extracted her from the box, and then chained her to his gauntlet with a collar of blackened metal. She saw the purpose at once. Even if she killed him, she wouldn’t be able move far enough to escape. He led her out into the blinding light, and for the first time she beheld the sun. The blinding white orb hung in the air, illuminating everything. Then she saw it.
Crouched in the center of the mess of carts, merchants, and soldiers a colossal vessel stood. She recognized it at once from her dream. Shaped like an angular shark, with the six humming disks sparking even while landed, the great airship eclipsed everything else. The pulling on her chain indicated that the dwarf was walking towards it. She reluctantly followed him, weaving around strange beasts and pale surface-world men, all talking in a thousand strange tongues that babbled like an underground river. But in an instant they were at the ship, boarding from a ramp that led to a dull metal corridor decorated with strangely glowing runes. The dwarf began to talk as they walked, going on about ‘steam turbines’ and ‘bonded malefecium’ and a thousand similarly confusing subjects that she didn’t understand. He lead through a hundred decks filled with hissing pipes and rune-covered rooms where dwarves chanted archaic verses of some ancient language.
After what seemed like a walk that lasted for eternity, she found that they were on the top of an airship. It was amazing. She could see everything for miles, the dwarven encampment, the frozen wasteland, and in the far distance a glittering silver tower. The dwarf noticed her interest, and briefly interjected, “That’s a IskClaxa,” she flinched involuntarily at the sound of her mother’s first name. “Takes energy from the moons and infuses holy water with it to form Lyrian. You’ll learn all about that soon.” The dwarf paused as the airship lurched into the sky. Then a roar came from the rear of the vessel as flames erupted from several extended nodules, and the airship began to gain speed. It wasn’t fast, and she could easily beat it’s velocity, but the fact the massive thing was in the air made it an awesome sight to behold. The dwarf pulled on her chain, leading her through a few passages to a… library was the word. Hundreds of scrolls and leather-bound books adorned the shelves. The dwarf selected a chair covered with the leathery hide of some reptile, and then began to ramble anew.
”Long ago there was a great empire that managed to achieve harmony between all the old races, that is, the Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, and Angels. They achieved things we cannot imagine today. But the gods of chaos and destruction saw fit to create three new races, the Humans, the Archdemons, and the Devils. These races thrived where the others failed, reveling in slaughter and plague. They came from the mountains, the dark seas, and the depths of the earth to pillage and destroy. They tore down the great empire, and offered the shattered pieces to their pagan lords.” The dwarf stopped. Absently he picked up a scroll and unfurled it upon the floor. It showed a map, the pages stained and yellowed with age, the dozens of cities and towns across a massive continent. The dwarf let her study it for a few moments before continuing. “The broken shards of the great empire immediately took up the fight against these invaders. Elves and dwarves clashed with the hordes of men, dragons and archdemons rent the skies with primal energy and ripped each other to ribbons in battles of tooth and claw, while the angels and devils tore planes apart. But the limitless numbers of the invaders began to press in on the remains. The dark gods had forged their children well. Humans had ambition and inventiveness that created new tools of slaughter; archdemons coordinated the hordes with their tactical intelligence, and demons corrupted and weakened societies, turning the damned into even more of their own. One by one the last bastions of light and hope were turned to gory abattoirs.” The dwarf paused for a long time, his eyes filled with sorrow.
He didn’t continue for the longest time. She glanced through a nearby pile of books, inspected a few maps of different lands, none of which she understood, and finally lay down with her head resting on her claws. She was just about to sleep when the dwarf spoke up again.
”The gods of light saw the massacre of their creations, and crafted tools for them to use. Mind you, these were no tools of wood and steel. They were books and scrolls of arcane teachings. To the elves they gave the magics of the wilds, to help them to hide and spy from the vast forests of the land. They endowed the dwarves with the magic of creation, to forge citadels and arms for future battles. They gifted the dragons with elemental power, to destroy the hordes of their enemies. And finally they gave the angels magic of restoration, to heal the scars after the apocalyptic war that would come. The old races retreated to their hiding places and awaited the call to battle.” The dwarf’s eyes became distant, but he did not cease talking. “But the new races and gods did not stay idle. The humans, armed with magic of illusion, infiltrated the fortresses of their foes. Archdemons divined the locations of their great enemies, while devils corrupted every man who dared to walk alone at night, with their offers of power, wealth, women, godhood! It was too much. The deities of good came together, and decided that they must act. The armies of good were amassed, and the shining ranks marched towards the greatest strongholds of darkness.” He paused, and then pointed to a dark splash of ink upon the large map. “That is where they made their last stand. A horde of millions greeted them. That single battle lasted for six days. In the end, the angels used the most powerful magic they had, a spell that would unmake their polar opposites, the devils. Even as the hordes descended on the angel’s ritual, they chanted. Legend says that they slaughtered every member of the army of light, but with his dying breath the great angel Adarus the Just finished the spell. In a cataclysmic explosion the angels and devils were wiped from the face of the earth, but they also erased the memory of every living being in the world.” The dwarf sighed. “The gods still tell this story, in one incarnation or other, to their high priests. After that event, each race retreated to it’s home, and all was forgotten. Every few centuries or so, some empire would form, but each race would bicker and eventually all the empires fell again. When we reach our destination, you will learn more.” The dwarf slipped into a sleep, and moments later she felt the blanket of slumber settle over her body once more.
* * *
