Sand brushed lightly over his eye lids, the wind blowing softly against his scales and making the golden heat of three fierce suns bearable. Renekton lay still, feet buried in the sand and head resting against the iron gates, arms sagged lazily at his sides. His post as gatekeeper required him to be vigilant and imposing, but the heat oozed to his bones until they felt like stone, joints locking together and making it near impossible to stay standing. He envied Nasus, inside the Great Library, where it was never hot nor cold. And while his brother was far from delicate, the curator wouldn't last an hour at Renekton's post in the blazing heat. His scaly lips twitched in a smile at the thought of his sibling sweating and panting, tongue lolling out of his mouth and whining at the gate to come back inside.
But just as Nasus did for him every half an hour, Renekton would certainly have brought him a gourd of water.
"Pardon me," A voice asked. His brow furrowed in irritation, talons twitching in the sand. "Be this the Great Library?"
"This be," He replied accordingly, burning red eyes slowly opening to stare lazily at the man standing before him. He wore pristine white robes, gaping hood thrown over his head and hiding any facial features from the gatekeeper. The gold bands around the cuffs and foot and hood told him this man was of noble blood, most likely deeming himself worthy of Nasus' teachings with or without Renekton's judgement. "Who be you, stranger of white?"
"I be Prince Adom, son of Queen Bahiti," The man replied with such an air of pride it made his scales crawl. "I desire entrance to your great edifice."
Renekton slowly got to his feet, grasping at the bars of the gate to help push himself upwards, though his tail and toes remained buried. "Yes, my prince, but in the Great Library, the titles of humans are meaningless." The man looked displeased, scowling at the reptilian guard.
"You dare, gatekeeper?!"
"I dare, my prince." His scarlet eyes never fully unlidded; his slit pupils merely widened as he opened his mind, and outwardly groaned. The man's soul was ripe with unpleasant intent, his spirit a writhing mess of hatred and selfish desires. The memories flooded into Renekton, filling him to the brim with a dark lust for power, and total disregard for human affection. His mother, the queen, refused him the crown, naming his brother, Jumoke the heir to the throne. He sought power, but lacked the knowledge to gain it, so wanted Nasus' guidance so he may become an almighty king and wreak revenge upon his family whom he believed had wronged him.
Renekton's fury rose; this human came scrounging across the desert, considering his petty plights and narcissistic desires worthy of his brother's time. He truly believed himself to be above that of any other human, or Anthropomorph, seeking to waste Nasus' teachings for his tyrannical gain.
The gatekeeper growled threateningly. "Beastly child, away from this place!" Again, the prince looked outraged.
"You dare insult your prince. You dare call your prince beastly!" The jab was not lost, merely beneath him, deigning the spoilt boy undeserving of his time or his brother's.
"I dare, though you are no prince of mine!," He snarled, sand raising as his toes curled. "You mortals scuttle to our gates with your inferior desires and lust for power. Woe is me, only a select few have made it past my gaze." His eyes narrowed hatefully at the well dressed man. "You are not worthy of my brother. You are barely worthy to walk the same ground as him, let alone the same halls! Begone before I lose what little patience I have left." Prince Adom looked astonished, enraged and tearful all at once, like an infant being scolded by his tutor.
"Beastly creature," He hollered. "You preach to me of your expectations, you taunt us mortals with your knowledge and power yet swipe it away when we do reach! Tell me, Renekton, gatekeeper of the Great Library, where is the justice in that?," The prince demanded.
"Justice?" He should have stopped himself, composed himself, firmly told the boy to leave once again then gone to seek solace from his brother. But the rage grew inside, and his spines rose with them, talons gripping into bulky fists. "Blasted child, you know of no justice! We offer you knowledge, we offer you power! We offer you the means of an ideal world, for the chance to reform a rotting planet where we could create our own. But you..." His voice dropped from an indignant shriek to a hostile rumble in his throat, shoulders hunching and making the prince take a step back. "You... humans..." They did not ask to be here. He and Nasus were placed here; all they'd ever known was the library and the gate. They never ventured further, they simply stayed. As they always had. Their lives were never changing, always stable and constant, the only form of repose they had was each other. That was all they ever needed. To hold Nasus against his chest in a moment of despair, or to rest his head on his brother's knee in a moment of depression.
He protected his brother and judged those who may do him harm. But the darkness, the evil of mortal men that he must endure time and time again did so outweigh his love for Nasus. The weight was heavier than the sun's heat, that still beat upon his hide even now, as his blood boiled by his own volition. "It's all the same!" His tail swept from the sand, his blade hooked over the tip until he snatched it, spinning in a vicious arch and cutting the prince's scream short. Royal blood drenched the scorching sand, flesh and meat falling away, as did his depression. Brief but certain, he felt his spirit rise and he laughed with great mirth at the elevating feeling.
"Lavish brutality!"
"Brother!" The shout spread over the desert like waves on a beach, but now the sun seemed to have turned to ice, as Renekton froze and a shiver ran down his spine. "Brother, what have you done?" Nasus flung the gate open, running and grasping the reptile's wrist as though he might still save the human strewn across the desert floor.
"I..." He had no answer. He stared at the crimson juice gushing every which way, seeping into the golden sand to be buried and blown away. He suddenly felt sick, arms trembling in Nasus' grip and the dark weight anchored down his shoulders once again. "I... I have... I have..." His weapon fell from his hand and he fell to his knees, his sibling never once releasing his arm. "My god... Nasus... what have I done?" His brother's paw looped around the back of his head to his neck, pressing his cheek to his chest. Nasus cradled Renekton there outside the gate, and the reptile soon coiled his arms around the canine's waist, burrowing against his stomach as if he could hide there from what he'd done. No, from the knowledge that he enjoyed what he'd done. "Nasus, what have I done?"
"Something terrible." With his free paw, Nasus shielded his brother's gaze from the carnage he had created, now coated in a thick layer of sand. He stared into the violet sky glaring above them. "But it will not happen again. Renekton; tell me it will not happen again!," He pleaded with him, yet could not look his sibling in the eye. The gatekeeper was not looking up anyway, rather staring blindly into the shaded darkness of the curator's abdomen. But even now, he couldn't lie to Nasus.
"I... I... help me!," He cried, clinging tighter and tighter. "My god, help me, brother! It felt good! I felt such joy! I embraced the jaws of death, and for a brief moment, I truly believed it was me!"
He held onto Renekton as his brother's tears fell to the blood soaked ground, rocking him back and forth, opening his soul and welcoming the reptile into it. But what he saw, he did not like. What he saw was not Renekton's soul; not stoic, docile, leisurely Renekton. What he saw was a greying abyss, starless and empty, reaching towards the center of his spirit. The void reached for him and he flung himself away, rearing back and tossing it out of his psyche, startling a weeping Renekton.
Nasus trembled, eyes wide and mind closed, but still refusing to let go of his brother. The overlapping, never ending evil; the constant exposure to their minds, it was poisoning dear Renekton. His brother was sick, and he had to take care of him.
"Come, brother." He carefully took the reptile's hands in his, helping him stand but not letting go. "We must return inside." Renekton gave a despairing glance back to the prince's corpse, and Nasus glared at the hateful pile of meat. "The vultures will dispose of it. It is not your fault." Still holding Renekton's hands, he guided him inside to the cool inside of the library, with every intention of nursing him back to health. For he would always stand by his brother's side. "It is not your fault."
Adom -Receives help from the gods.
Jumoke – Loved by all.
If I'm going to name a nasty, evil character... I'm going to make it a damn well ironic name.
Hail to the princess, baby!