Of Past and Future: The Tale of a Traveller
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Fox or the characters of the games. Nintendo owns them. I own Skysoar/Sky, Cloudkeep, Derek and the other characters not in the games.
Chapter 7- The Attack
Five days after Skysoar had told Derek their 'story' Skysoar awoke in the middle of the night. A sudden sense of dread washed over him, making every hair in his body stand on their end. He glanced around and met Derek's startled eyes.
"Did you feel it too, Sky?" Skysoar grabbed the Stormhammer and strapped it to his back.
"Yes. Watch the child. I will go see outside." He made sure Cloudkeep was fine before leaving the wagon. He walked up to one of the guards. The hound greeted him briefly before returning his gaze upon their surroundings.
"Your turn isn't up for an hour, Sky." Skysoar nodded.
"I know. I could not sleep, so I figured you would not mind some help. Have you seen anything?"
"Not yet. I just suddenly got this feeling, like someone just walked over my grave."
"I felt it too. Wait.." Skysoar´s ears twitched. "What was that?" A slight rustle had carried to his sensitive ears. He sniffed the air.
"I cannot smell anything. Something is out there."
A sense of danger made the fur on his spine stand straight up. He grabbed the Stormhammer. Something moved in the darkness before him. He cursed silently the sight of his fox body- though impressive, it was inferior compared to his Draconian sight, lacking his immense low-light vision, not to mention his ability of Infrasight- as a Draconian he could 'see' thermal differences.
Small clicking sounds like stones or dry branches hitting each other were heard. Six dim green lights appeared.
Skysoar stepped back as something entered the light to be seen.
"Wake up! Danger! Attack! Wake up!" Skysoar roared to the camp as two more forms joined the first.
The creatures looked like they had been joined together from several skeletons of varying species, twisted and dark. Long bony claws adorned the fleshless hands of the skeletons. One of the creatures was missing an arm; the second had an extra leg where the tail should have been. Green flames flickered in the empty sockets of their skulls as the skeletons moved to attack.
Skysoar felt a tremor shudder the earth as he moved to confront one of the attackers. Screams and calls echoed in the night as dozens more of the skeletons dug their way out of the earth, dirt falling off the dry and broken bones as the wretched fiends attacked.
The Stormhammer crushed the rib cage of one of the attackers as it tried to attack him. The handle of the weapon felt warm to his touch as the weapon not only crushed, but pulverized the bones the spiked orb impacted. The struck foe crumpled into a pile of shattered bones, the green flames extinguished from the eyes of the skull. Skysoar heard a scream as one of the guards was struck down with wicked, bony claws. As the fox fell, two of the monsters covered the squirming warrior and vanished back underground with their victim. Skysoar spun around, the Stormhammer crushing two of the enemies in one mighty swipe.
"Blunt weapons crush the bones!" Skysoar called out into the chaos, striking the skull clean off one of the skeletons. The body kept fighting even without a head to see the enemy.
"Arrows and blades are just reflected!" A new skeleton fell for the Stormhammer, the entire torso of the creature shattered into small pieces. A sudden high scream from one of the wagons startled Skysoar.
"Cloudkeep!" Skysoar fought his way towards their wagon, but for each monster crushed two more joined the fray. A second scream pierced the shadows.
Waves of red-hot battlerage enveloped Skysoar. Images of Torrent and their daughter flashed through his mind. He had lost Cloudkeep once- he would not lose her again! The Stormhammer seemed to become lighter to wield, crushing several fiends in each powerful swipe. Only after his left wing was attacked Skysoar realized he had reverted back to his Draconian form.
"Out of my way, ner´chass!" A swipe from his muscular tail took out two of the skeletons. A blast from his Thunder breath attack shattered four skeletons, sharp shards of bone exploding everywhere. Skysoar fought his way to the wagons, blasting away a skeleton attacking one of the guards. The guard took one good look at the raging Draconian and ran screaming.
Skysoar entered their wagon, the Stormhammer ready in his cloven hands. A figure in a black cloak was reaching a skeletal arm towards the child in her cradle. Derek was lying unconscious on the side of the wagon.
"Ce´is, cha´larr!" Skysoar roared at the creature, pure thunder ringing in his voice.
The creature stood up straight and turned around, revealing a tall, whole skeleton of a wolf in a tattered black Mage robe. It spoke in a dry and cold voice.
"Who are you, mortal, to disturb the great shadow lord?" Red flames burnt within the skeleton, outlining the black bones in a burning inferno.
"I am Skysoar Stormwing, The Traveler. Step back into the shadows whence you came from, lich!" Skysoar´s eyes glowed with a golden flame as he spread his wings and raised the Stormhammer. The lich raised its hand.
"Die, mortal fool!" A bolt of raw energy shot out at Skysoar. The lightning bolt crackled through Skysoar´s body, jolting through his teeth and arcing between his horns as he laughed at the attack.
"You attack a Blue Draconian with a lightning spell? Fool!" The lich seemed amazed to see Skysoar still standing, let alone laughing at it.
"Lightning is my element, nerch´wynn! You only gave me more power!" Skysoar growled, raising the Stormhammer like a torch.
"Dachar! En´nach´eld´scharr!" Otherworldly golden light flashed through the weapon, illuminating the wagon in a divine radiance. The luminance seemed to scorch the lich, the red flames within the creature suddenly extinguished. The lich stumbled and screeched in a panicky tone as the holy light burnt away the dark magic binding the long dead corpse together and to the will of the Undead mage. A bodiless scream echoed in the night, slashing the air as the bones of the lich shattered and crumpled. Outside the wagon the skeletons fell one by one as the will controlling them was banished from existence.
Skysoar stepped over the smoking remains of the lich to see if Cloudkeep had been hurt. She was fine, staring at Skysoar with her blue eyes.
"Scha´dar ren´garr, dal´rann?" Skysoar asked the child and stroke her silky fur. The child giggled and grabbed his scaly finger. He smiled at the child, baring rows of sharp teeth.
A startled gasp from his right told Skysoar that Derek had awoken.
"Leave the child alone, you.."
"Draconian." Skysoar finished for Derek. "Calm down, Derek, it is only I." Skysoar rumbled, turning to face the scared hare.
"Sky? Can it.. but.. how?"
Skysoar sighed as the golden light in his mace flickered and died. "We need to talk, my friend."
*~*~*
Derek had surprisingly enough taken seeing Skysoar in his true form quite well. At least he had not escaped screaming for his mother, as one of the guards had. Skysoar and Derek were conversing in their wagon of the past of the Draconian warrior.
"So you found a small child from a destroyed caravan. But why would a Draconian take a fox child as a protégéé?" Skysoar took in a deep breath.
"I swore an oath of honor to a dying man, Derek. I swore by my right hand and by the name of my god Dachar, the Dragon of Ages. Even if I had wanted to, I could not have just left her there. And.. and I believe she is the reincarnation of my lost daughter, Cloudkeep. The first time I held her in my arms, I could feel it. She is just like Cloudkeep was. Her white fur, those blue eyes.. She even smells like Cloudkeep did. My Draconian instincts took immediately over, and now she is my daughter, though not by blood.. but she is a daughter that I may not be able to keep. I know nothing of raising a child like her, nor do I know enough of this world I have been tossed into.. Heck, I do not even know the name of this world."
"Cerinia."
Skysoar just looked oddly at Derek.
"You are in Cerinia, Skysoar Stormwing. I hope you have enjoyed your stay this far. Now I only have one question left."
"What is it?"
"What were those creatures that attacked us? I have never seen anything like them before."
Skysoar sighed deeply. "You had been lucky, Derek. The smaller fiends were animated skeletons controlled by the lich leading them."
"The lich is an Undead monster left from a powerful dead black mage, containing all the knowledge and power the mage had gathered in life, with the ability to raise skeletons and other lesser Undead –zombies, wraiths, lesser vampires and other generally nasty creatures- to protect and aid it. It is attracted to sources of magical energy and life force. It must have sensed the magic flowing through my body –Draconians are highly magical creatures, not to mention the enchantments on the Stormhammer- and it surely felt the life energy from Cloudkeep. She is healthy and young, full of life- her life force would have sustained and strengthened the monster for a long time." Skysoar shivered lightly as unlocked memories flashed through his mind. Images of bodies of children and women, nearly mummified after the lich had drained the life from them flickered before his eyes.
"Life force? You mean.. it would have.. killed.."
"Yes. It is like a vampire, but instead of blood it drains pure life out of its victims. I have seen it happen before. You do not want to see the results. The powerful magic of the lich is usually more than enough to protect it, as it has powerful spells at its disposal, not to mention the ability of regeneration. Most damage received will regrow nearly instantly, making it near impossible to destroy."
"Are you saying that that.. thing will come back? I thought you destroyed it!" Derek glanced around nervously, as if waiting to see the burning skeleton return for vengeance.
"I did destroy it. It was basically a corpse bound together with black magic, controlled by the soul of a dead mage. The attack that destroyed it was not a physical attack. I channeled pure sacred energy through the Stormhammer at the lich. The divine attack did not attack the being directly, but it destroyed the magic binding the creature together. Without dark magic to support it, the lich crumpled completely with no chances of regeneration."
"You said it had powerful spells. Didn't it use them? You seem unharmed.."
Skysoar snorted out wisps of smoke from his nostrils. "It did. Luckily it did not know of my heritage, as there are no Draconians in this world. It tried to defeat me with a lightning bolt spell."
Derek did not answer, but just eyed Skysoar quizzically.
"I am a blue Draconian, Derek. Not only do I fit in the decor, but I am also able to spew out lightning bolts-" Skysoar spat out a small bolt of electricity, igniting a nearby candle. Jolts of energy arced between his teeth as he grinned at Derek. "-And I am completely immune to electricity, magical or not. The blast only gave me more strength. Other types of Draconian have the same properties with their own elements, such as the Red and the Gold with fire or the White and Silver with ice."
Derek grinned dryly. "Yet another reason not to piss a Draconian off. We should go out to see if any others were harmed. They should also be given time to get used to you."
Skysoar snorted again. Wisps of blue smoke blew out of his nose. "I doubt they will get used to me.. Considering that I am a blue, eight-and-a-half-foot tall Draconian- and that does not count the wings and horns- with a thunder breath attack and enough power in my left hand to crush stone. Not to mention the fact that I carry a mace most of your kind could not even lift, and I can crush stone with it. Oh, will they ever get used to me.."
"Maybe you do have a point. Could you change back to your fox form?"
Skysoar stood up, towering over the five-foot-tall hare. He felt his horns and wings get sucked back into his body as he shrunk and grew fur all over his body. Seconds later his clothes seemed to grow out of his skin.
Derek had visibly paled and he shook forcefully when Skysoar had returned to his disguise.
"That.. that was about the most gruesome thing I have ever seen, and I have seen much during my years!"
Skysoar snorted again and shrugged. This time smoke did not flow out from any of his orifices. "I do not know of how it looks, but it surely feels worse than it can look."
He raised his hand. "Thrall, Zor´Schrann."
In a flicker of silvery light the Stormhammer materialized in his raised hand. Derek flinched and looked at the weapon nearly afraid. Skysoar grinned at him.
"It is enchanted, Derek. It comes to me if I call it. This way I do not have to look for it."
Derek laughed nervously. "I have to get me a travel chest like that!"
===$$$===
Translations of Draconian words and sentences:
"Ner'chass "
Roughly translated into "hollowskull". A rather effective way of describing an Undead skeleton, not to mention carrying a meaning like "moron".
"Ce´is, cha´larr"
Direct translation is "Stand down, Unholy one". Basically meaning something like "Stop, monster."
"Nerch´wynn"
The entire message would lose all the bite in translation, but basically the word is a rather unfriendly remark of the parentage of the target. "Nerch´wynn" if the target is male, "nerch´rann" if female.
"Dachar! En´nach´eld´scharr!"
"Dachar! Destroy this fiend!"
"Scha´dar ren´garr, dal´rann?"
"Did you miss me, little girl/daughter?"
"Dal´rann" stands for 'daughter', 'little girl' or simply female child. "Dal" is the Draconian world for 'young' or 'child', whereas "rann" means 'female'. The Draconian word for 'male' is "wynn", thus "dal´wynn" means 'son', 'little boy' or, simply, 'male child'.
"Thrall, Zor´Schrann"
"Come, Stormhammer/Hammer of Storm"
