Part 1: Sun
Chapter 1
Elarion and her blooming flower
afraid of wilt, injustice, and death
searched in the darkness
for his light
the eyes of the hungry dragon burned
- from Elarion's Poem
"There are centuries of history.
Generations of wrongs and crimes
on both sides."
- Harrow, Human king of Katolis
Humans were an abomination.
All creatures of the continent of Xadia - all creatures of the world - were born with magic. Connected to a primal source. A gift from the world, from their blood.
Humans had no such connection. They were born without magic, without the blessing that was bestowed upon every other living being.
They must be cursed, to be deprived so. Deemed unworthy.
Even the insects and worms had magic. The humans were lower than these.
But a human with magic was an even worse abomination.
They were not born with an arcanum, a connection to a primal source of magic, and therefore should not seek one.
It was their lot in life, their destiny.
A human with their own magic?
It was against the nature of things. A crime against the natural order.
It could not be tolerated.
The dragons, the rulers of the sky, the most powerful beings - and therefore the highest - in all of Xadia, would not tolerate it.
Humans would learn their place.
Villagers screamed as fire rained down in streams. Houses - more like straw huts, really - ignited, and people raced out into the streets, clutching their children and their belongings close to their chests. Ashes and cinders, smoke and bits of rubble drawn up from currents spurred by great, monstrous wings, filled the air. Clogged it. Choked her lungs.
She coughed fitfully into her arm as she ran down the street - more of a dirt path - between the houses, trying to clear her lungs. But all that did was smear the black soot even further on her skin. Small fires of burning debris littered the path, and she had to dodge them along with the -
ROARRRR!
She screamed and ducked, throwing herself out of the way as best she could. Away from a dark shadow and the bright, red stream that the shadow unleashed.
A dragon - a sun dragon - flew above her. It's fire scorched the ground where she had been standing just a moment before.
She could still feel the heat on her back. She wondered at the fact that the heat alone hadn't ignited her clothes, even without touching her.
Perhaps she was protected.
But she didn't feel protected.
She could barely sense it above the winter clouds and the thick smoke covering the sky.
A lot of good it did her, now.
Of course it was a sun dragon that attacked, she thought derisively. She scrambled back upright and continued running, nearly tripping over a burning pile of wood and straw before righting herself at the last minute.
Her ears were filled with a cacophony of chaotic sound. Crashes as homes collapsed, the pounding of feet, shrieks, people calling out each other's names in desperation. A young child screaming through sobs for his dad.
This was all her fault.
She tried to call up what she remembered, but her concentration was shaky. Her wobbly rune and stuttered incantation only managed to disperse half of the fire that had caught what had been used as a school house. Which promptly was fully on fire again, the leftover half spreading in an instant to whatever parts of the building hadn't been entirely burnt.
She wanted to collapse in exhaustion, even though it was barely evening and she really hadn't been running for that long.
The tears and burning in her eyes wasn't just from the ashes in the air.
"Elarion!"
Someone behind her yelled her name, and she turned toward the voice. Her mother ran toward her through the flames, her long skirt fisted in her hands so she wouldn't trip. The woman was also coughing, her face streaked with soot.
"Mom!" Elarion bolted to meet her.
"Oh, thank the stars!" Her mom grabbed her hand, tugging her down another street, one that lead away from the village and the fires. "Come! Everyone is going to the river!"
"But, Mom! I can try to - !"
The woman cut her off. "You are not risking yourself like that, Elarion!" Despite the heat from the surrounding flames, Elarion felt a shiver run through her. They kept running, the girl pulled by her mother down the street and into the open fields. Grass hit their boots as they left the village behind them.
Another roar, one Elarion imagined had the power to make the earth quake if the winged beast willed it so, shook the air at their backs. Her mom pulled both of them down, and they hit the grass on their stomachs. Elarion looked back.
The red dragon was breathing a line of fire at the village's edge, igniting the grass there just beyond the rubble and whatever few beams were left standing, licking at the feet of the people who were just now escaping.
Her mother pulled her up, and they started running again down the shallow slope of hill that lead to the village's water source.
Running, while her home burned like a great bonfire.
The dragon hadn't followed them, much to the humans' surprise and great relief. It just set fire to the village itself, gave a "warning" breath of flames at their retreat, and left.
It had been early evening when the sun dragon attacked. The evening had now turned to night.
Once the dragon was gone, people had done their best to cart water in whatever container they found salvageable - which weren't many - up the hill to douse the flames. But mostly, the fires had to burn out on their own.
More fires - but smaller ones, controlled - lit up haphazardly all along the river, family groups huddling together around them for light and warmth.
Elarion sat by the crackling campfire, poking and shifting the bits of wood inside the flames with the end of a long stick. Her elbow was propped on one raised knee, her cheek resting on her fist as she gazed into the flickering light, her eyes glazed and distant.
"Elarion. Hey." Her mom's soft voice lifted her from her reverie. She blinked and looked upward as her mom sat in the grass beside her, the woman's skirt ruffling as she settled. "What's on your mind, sweetheart?" Her mom brushed wayward curl's from Elarion's face and tucked them behind her ear.
Elarion sighed heavily. "Besides the obvious?" she drawled, gesturing with her head and eyes toward the remains of the village. She moved the stick from the fire and dropped it, then curled her arms around her knees and settled her chin on her arms.
Her mom gently laid a warm arm across her shoulders. "It's not your fault. You know that, don't you? None of this is."
"But it is." She willed her voice not to crack, but to no avail. "It is - if I hadn't - " Her words were chopped up by sobs.
"If you hadn't," Mom soothed, gently wiping away Elarion's tears with her thumb, "then we wouldn't be here." Elarion turned to face her mother, slightly straightening, but keeping her hands around her knees. "There wouldn't be half a village to burn. Their choices aren't yours, Elarion."
"I know that," Elarion murmured, her voice airy. She gave a shuddering breath and wiped her eyes. Her mom nodded and smiled down at her, giving her shoulders a comforting squeeze.
Elarion hesitated, then softly asked, "...Was anyone hurt too badly...?"
"No one is dead," her mother answered. "But some people have serious burns." The woman held up a hand, stopping the words Elarion was opening her mouth to say. "They cleaned them in the river. That will do for now. We can do more in the morning." Mom smoothed her palm down Elarion's curls. "Remember what I told you."
Their choices aren't yours. Her mother's words echoed in her head.
And she knew that, she did...but.
She couldn't help the nagging feeling that she had brought this upon them.
As her mother lied down beside her, Elarion looked up at the sky. The sky that had just been filled with clouds and smoke.
Now, stars scattered across the clear, dark blue expanse. One, Elarion noticed, shone brighter than the others, blinking like a heartbeat.
Thinking back to a science lesson she'd had at school, Elarion remembered what it was called.
The midnight star.
Author's note:
So, as you have probably noticed, this is a story about before what I'm calling the Great Xadian Split, based on Elarion's poem and some questions I had: just how long had the crimes/wrongs been going on? When and how did it all start?
I'm not entirely sure what direction I'll take this, but I do have a general idea. Hope you enjoy it!
Please let me know what you think!