Chapter 1
I am a Wyvern.
A draconian, you might think. A wyrm. And as a human once said, "A great bloody fire breathin' lizard."
I am a girl, not a lizard.
My name is Rheanilesti Khoryonelle. Rhea, if you like.
Who am I, really?
One born of the magic, along with my 'brother' and 'sister,' Trendexere Kholl and Malystryxx Kheli, Tren and Malys to each other. And to me.
A wild magic birthed us. A strange magic, the likes of which will never be seen again, arrived as a firestorm in Carona Forest. And I know we were created from that firestorm.
How?
So many questions. And we do not know the answers.
I stare at my reflection in the healing spring at the back of our cave. Pale ivory skin. Long, silver-bluish hair that shimmers in the light. Clear eyes, like pure pools of amber. And a sense that it is just a veil, a costume for what is underneath.
We were 'dumped' here, with nothing but our clothes, our identities, and the knowledge that we were wyverns. And the instinct that we had to guard this shielded cave, this dwelling place of ours. Something the humans call an 'atelier.' The few that have managed to find this hidden pocket of rock have fled from our magic.
I wonder what we have to guard? The only things we have found are a few old books, which my brother and sister are off translating. None of them fit the descriptions of what humans call [relics.]
I wonder...
"Rhea!"
"Tren! Where have you two been?"
"Rhea! C'mon! We've found something really great in one of the books!" As usual, Tren ignores my queston and pulls me outside.
I stop dead.
"What the-"
All other words are lost in Malys' Solar Blast.
And all goes black.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
He was alone - alone in a space that was blacker than night.
Or maybe not so alone.
At his side lay Mint, bleeding badly, her breathing shallow.
And the monster. The monster that had been prowling after them for so long... that had attacked Mint... nd it was coming closer, closer.
They stood in a pool of light, the only visible things in the fathomless dark. And still the monster came.
*******
Rue tossed and turned in his sleep, his face a mask of rage and fear.
*******
A huge beast, it was a monstrous Saber Wolf that breathed flame. It's fur, red as the blood on its fangs, rippled and shone darkly as it moved into the light.
It had found them.
A roar! Then the monstrous beast leapt.
Rue only had time for a glimpse of the bloody maw before it fizzled silently out, stopped in midleap and disintegrating before his eyes in a jet of white flames.
Then three beings flickered into life, but he could not see them for the light, the light that was constantly shifting from blue to red to a darkness that somehow hurt the eyes more than any brilliance could.
Then, though his eyes remained closed, a single vision registered.
A small pendant, three gems in a gold setting. A rusty red, smoky silver, and a green as profound as the leaves of the forest.
A hissing crackle of words, deadly as lightning, invaded his senses.
"Relic of the Dragons."
And another.
"Wyvernshope."
I am a Wyvern.
A draconian, you might think. A wyrm. And as a human once said, "A great bloody fire breathin' lizard."
I am a girl, not a lizard.
My name is Rheanilesti Khoryonelle. Rhea, if you like.
Who am I, really?
One born of the magic, along with my 'brother' and 'sister,' Trendexere Kholl and Malystryxx Kheli, Tren and Malys to each other. And to me.
A wild magic birthed us. A strange magic, the likes of which will never be seen again, arrived as a firestorm in Carona Forest. And I know we were created from that firestorm.
How?
So many questions. And we do not know the answers.
I stare at my reflection in the healing spring at the back of our cave. Pale ivory skin. Long, silver-bluish hair that shimmers in the light. Clear eyes, like pure pools of amber. And a sense that it is just a veil, a costume for what is underneath.
We were 'dumped' here, with nothing but our clothes, our identities, and the knowledge that we were wyverns. And the instinct that we had to guard this shielded cave, this dwelling place of ours. Something the humans call an 'atelier.' The few that have managed to find this hidden pocket of rock have fled from our magic.
I wonder what we have to guard? The only things we have found are a few old books, which my brother and sister are off translating. None of them fit the descriptions of what humans call [relics.]
I wonder...
"Rhea!"
"Tren! Where have you two been?"
"Rhea! C'mon! We've found something really great in one of the books!" As usual, Tren ignores my queston and pulls me outside.
I stop dead.
"What the-"
All other words are lost in Malys' Solar Blast.
And all goes black.
*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_
He was alone - alone in a space that was blacker than night.
Or maybe not so alone.
At his side lay Mint, bleeding badly, her breathing shallow.
And the monster. The monster that had been prowling after them for so long... that had attacked Mint... nd it was coming closer, closer.
They stood in a pool of light, the only visible things in the fathomless dark. And still the monster came.
*******
Rue tossed and turned in his sleep, his face a mask of rage and fear.
*******
A huge beast, it was a monstrous Saber Wolf that breathed flame. It's fur, red as the blood on its fangs, rippled and shone darkly as it moved into the light.
It had found them.
A roar! Then the monstrous beast leapt.
Rue only had time for a glimpse of the bloody maw before it fizzled silently out, stopped in midleap and disintegrating before his eyes in a jet of white flames.
Then three beings flickered into life, but he could not see them for the light, the light that was constantly shifting from blue to red to a darkness that somehow hurt the eyes more than any brilliance could.
Then, though his eyes remained closed, a single vision registered.
A small pendant, three gems in a gold setting. A rusty red, smoky silver, and a green as profound as the leaves of the forest.
A hissing crackle of words, deadly as lightning, invaded his senses.
"Relic of the Dragons."
And another.
"Wyvernshope."