Hello all out there on the fabulous Interwebs! While I have always been a fan of fan fiction, I have never really had any thoughts or stories that I wanted to tell. I would always come up with some Idea or other, but inevitably give up part way through out of lack of time, laziness or simply losing the work. But recently…a story has come into my head and is refusing to leave, so I figured now would be a time to get it all down on virtual paper. Who knows, maybe I'll be better at this than I think! So here we go Chapter 1 of
Dreams of the Ancients
(And hopefully I get better at naming)
Chapter 1-Dead Gods
He had lost time of how long he had been sealed in the rock. How long it had been since the denizens of this world prayed to him. How long it had been since they made it, The Beast. How long it had been since he heard their pitiful cries and lamentations to save them, and he was forced to listen and watched as it killed every last one of them, only for it to start feeding from him.
All he knew was that he was more tired than he had been in millennia. The Beast would not let him die, it was the only way it could maintain its cursed existence. He wanted nothing more than to go home…wherever that was anymore. So he did the only thing he could. He Called for someone…ANYONE…to come help him. He could feel his call echo across the city, through the Planet, and then out into the Cosmos. He did not know who the Call would go to, he only hoped that whoever it was would free him from all of this.
2189 CE-?
Karyn Shepard was standing on a vast expanse of sand under a wind-swept foreign sky. She could feel something calling to her…a voice older than time itself, the language lost to the very ages that had passed. Slowly, Shepard walked through a derelict city. The surfaces of the structures had been worn smooth by the whipping sand. Before long she came to a massive structure carved into a cliff face. Even with the alien design, Karyn instinctively knew it was a temple of some kind. She entered reverently only to find the place deserted. At the back of the hall, a tunnel stretched into the cliff face. She walked through tunnel and entered into a cavern. Only one thing was in the cave, a pillar of roughhewn rock with the head and torso of someone sticking out of it. Karyn couldn't tell much about the body, only that it looked human and that he seemed Middle-Eastern.
Karyn approached the man, knelt and began praying in a language she did not know. Every word, every syllable, flowed perfectly from her mind. Before long, she could feel something happening. Everything began to become crisper…clearer somehow. The man's eyes slowly opened. The voice from earlier…HIS voice…rang out deep and resonant.
"Release me"
The ground shook and cracked at his very voice. The earth split beneath the Commander and as she fell, an unearthly howl resounded from somewhere far in the distance.
The Citadel: Commander Shepard's Apartment
Shepard's eyes flew open as she lay in her bed, her breath ragged and a thin layer of sweat coating her body. A small groan came from the body next to her and the Commander looked at her bondmate. Dr. Liara T'Soni, Asari Scientist, Shadow Broker and the woman who won the Commander's heart, turned on her side still fast asleep. Shepard sat up in bed and looked at the beautiful Asari. A small smile spread on her lips as she gently cupped the woman's face. Liara barely stirred letting a slight mumble escape her lips. "Mmm…short for…Spectre". Shepard's smile widened and she cautiously slipped from bed, hoping not to wake Liara.
Shepard slowly looked around her and Liara's apartment. It had been nearly a year since Tiberius Towers had been rebuilt, with funds (and design plans) discretely supplied by the Shadow Broker. And even though it seemed a bit ostentatious for her, Shepard had to admit that the penthouse apartment was absolutely stunning. It resembled her old apartment greatly, but with a few changes. The old upstairs guest room had been replaced with a small exercise room, complete with the old pull up bar and punching bag. The dividing wall was left out from the redesign giving the living room a more open feel with a pit fire place where the old wall stood. The bar remained at Liara's insistence, stating that it was for just in case they held another massive party like they did at the end of the Reaper War. Aside from these, very little had changed about the apartment. Of course, that wasn't taking into account the Shadow Broker's personal room. A massive cavern of an office, punctuated by a main desk and terminal, countless sub terminals and servers, and a wall covered in monitors displaying all the information at the Shadow Brok- no, Liara's fingers. Shepard never really liked that room, it reminded her to much of the old Broker's base.
Quietly, Shepard went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face before giving herself a good long look. It had been three years since the deaths of the Reapers. Shepard's red hair had grown from its former chin length to just above her shoulders. The scars from the Lazarus Project had healed well, but the wounds she sustained from Harbinger and the Crucible's detonation shined like beacons to her. A slight gash along her cheek from when she landed after being thrown by Harbinger's main laser and a jagged line cutting across her forehead and through one of her eyebrows. Her green eyes, before seeming strong and sure, now carried the weight of all she had seen and done in the war. Hearing her enemies screams, watching countless innocents being murdered or rounded up for processing, watching her all of her friends die, watching Anderson…Shepard gave a ragged sigh. So many bad memories…so many terrible dreams.
Shepard closed her eyes. This most recent dream was new however. What the hell was all of that? The planet, the man in the pillar, all of it seemed so surreal. Then why did she feel something…something like a pull from deep within her gut. A pull that resonated with a booming ancient voice. Shepard's head swam and she had to steady herself against the mirror. Her head was pounding so hard, she didn't even notice the quiet sound of Liara joining her in the bathroom. The Asari was dressed in a knee length white shirt and was sleepily blinking her eyes at the bright light. "Shepard? Is everything alright?", she asked with an edge of worry to her voice. Shepard rubbed the bridge of her nose, wishing her headache would go away, before she answered. "Yeah…sorry I didn't mean to wake you. Just bad dreams again", she said while wrapping her bondmate in her arms. "Goddess, I'm sorry Shepard", Liara said while she gave Shepard a quick kiss. "What was it about?"
Shepard sighed. She didn't know how to explain the dream she had to Liara, and certainly not this gut feeling. "I don't really remember. I was in some city. It had been deserted…I think. I felt called into this old…temple and…*sigh* I don't know. I can't remember." Liara looked at her bondmate. "That's…certainly an odd dream. What brought it on?" Shepard shook her head. "I don't know. I just…It just kinda happened." Liara smiled and took Shepard's hand, leading her down the stairs and into the kitchen. A small smile formed on Shepard's lips. This was a recent ritual of the couple's. Every night Shepard had one of her nightmares and woke Liara, they would go into the kitchen, drink a glass of water and just hold each other while watching the almost constant traffic on Silversun Strip. Liara felt that it helped center Shepard, give her something to make her see that everything she did for the war was worth it. That for good or bad…life would continue. The first few nights, all Shepard saw was the death and destruction caused by the Reapers and the voices of those she failed in the sound of traffic. Slowly, it all faded until she saw the sheer life of the Citadel after the war. But it was all she had been seeing for the last year and a half.
Many planets were still badly damaged even after Shepard's year-long coma. She had grown so use to the Citadel since she retired, that she was beginning to wonder if maybe a part of her just missed traveling the Galaxy. "I think I need a holiday", she said with a sigh. Liara smiled before interlacing her fingers in Shepard's hand. "Says the retired Savior of the Galaxy. Still, maybe you're right. I've been so busy as the Broker, I think I've forgotten what it is to just relax. I'll ask Feron to take over for a while and then you and I can take a much deserved vacation. Is there anywhere you would like to go?" Shepard instantly responded. "Earth. I haven't been back since I recovered. After that, Thessia. I'm sure you miss it. From there, I don't know. Wherever we want."
"That sounds absolutely wonderful", Liara said before yawning. Shepard chuckled and kissed her crests. "I'm sorry I woke you. I'm sure your exhausted…Miss Shadow Broker. We'll sort things in the morning." The two returned to bed, Shepard's heart joyous at the thought of their trip tomorrow. Before long, both were asleep with no dreams to disturb them.
Shepard felt something pinch her neck and slowly opened her eyes. She rubbed at her neck and her hand came away with a small smear of blood on it. Shepard blinked and her eyes tried to focus on the hand, but her vision was blurry. I should…check... Check what? Shepard's head swam. She couldn't think straight. Nevertheless, she swung her legs out of bed and walked out of the bedroom. The front door was wide open. Karyn stared at it stupidly. She had closed it when they got home earlier…hadn't she? She walked down the steps to go and close the door, but right as she got reached the ground, her legs gave out and she tumbled down barely catching herself. The floor all of a sudden seemed very inviting and she lay her head down on the soft carpet, facing the kitchen. She barely noticed as a volus walked out of the shadows and bent next to her.
"*HKSSSHHH* The Master has called for you." He said before hurriedly whispering to others just out of sight. Somewhere a part of Shepard knew something was wrong. She tried to pushed herself up, only for her arms to give out before she could even get part way up. Someone flipped her over and grabbed her under the shoulders while another grabbed her legs. "Liara", Shepard called out. But her voice was too weak to reach the sleeping Asari.
And there ends Chapter 1 (Now edited for proper formatting!). Who is the Master? What was with the dream? And how will Shepard get free? Come back next week for Chapter 2! Reviews and suggestions appreciated!