Chapter 3: Hidden in plain sight
Historical scholars will often agree that the Dragon Clan had begun its fall from unquestioned supremacy among the races when it had split into the Light Dragon Clan and the Dark Dragon Clan. Scholars will, however, argue about when they were toppled from that position; some suggest it was when they became mere pawns of the Goddess of Desire, others say it was when their original city was destroyed and the King Killed during what was referred to as the 'All Saint's War'. Whatever the truth, one thing remained certain: the Dragons had suffered their most devastating loss of the entire war when Lon Chai fell to Myria's forces.
The Light Dragon Clan, those that had escaped were broken by that loss; many hid among the humans, determined to keep to their pacifistic ways as it was all they had left, others, furious at this loss, forsook pacifism and headed to Scande, the city of the Dark Dragon Clan where they could join their brethren to fight against their enemies; the remainder of the Light Dragon Clan, it could be said, took the darkest path, by changing into their dragon forms and giving into the feral nature of that form, becoming little more than wild beasts.
It was not only the dragons that had suffered for that defeat; ironically Shax had suffered as well. His body had been damaged far worse than anyone could have known. During the battle he had suffered innumerable wounds, but because of Myria's blessings, because of her magics, those wounds had healed almost as quickly as they had been caused. All save the one dealt to his eye. This wound never fully healed and would bleed on occasion, especially when one of the Dragon Clan was close. What seemed truly damaged was not his body, but his mind. In the following years, his hunt for the Dragon Clan became a mad obsession as he did everything and anything to kill dragons. He even went so far as to burn human cities, even those that worshipped Myria, to the ground. Once, when he was destroying one of the aforementioned cities, one of the soldiers under his command had the unmitigated gall to question Shax's orders. Shax simply smashed the offending soldier's skull against the city wall, breaking the soldiers cranium, killing him. It was after this incident that Shax was called before Myria.
The Goddess tower; Myria's base of operations, her home, the place from which she controlled all. It lay in the north, in the Outer Ocean, guarded by the floating fortress, Agua. At the top of the tower was her throne room: the throne was surrounded by a small moat and a large, resplendent garden. The ceiling and walls were made of mirrors that reflected scenes of the world, allowing Myria to see any place, city or person in the world. Shax stepped on the final stair of the tower before the throne room, he walked, his head held high, proud to be before the Goddess. He came before her throne and prostrated himself before the throne. Great white light began to shine from the throne as the Goddess descended into the mortal plane of existence. There she stood, beautiful beyond words, she looked a youthful woman, a teenager maybe, with an ageless beauty. Blond hair cascaded down her back, upside-down white wings shook, she carried a staff atop which was an orb, a light tracing the symbol for infinity within it and her fathomless blue eyes seemed so cold as to be able to freeze all the oceans of the world; she was angry.
Shax looked up to his Goddess, a look of pure bliss and absolute worship on his face. That look changed to one of surprise and pain as he was suddenly lifted off the ground by an invisible force. He grasped at invisible fingers at his neck and was thrown to the ground. He struggled to get up but an invisible force held him down.
"My lady... my Goddess... what have I done to displease you?" He asked desperately.
The Goddess eyes narrowed and Shax was forced down again. He struggled just to raise his head to look up at her.
"I gave you power, I gave you gifts, I gave you my blessings, I made you my Guardian (1) and you have been killing MY people." She said, her tone calm but angry.
"My lady..." He began desperately. "The dragons... they hid... they harboured the enemy..."
"You KILLED your OWN PEOPLE!" She said raising her voice. Lighting flashed and thunder crashed, emphasising her words.
Shax was flung back as he was struck by Her power, though She did not raise a hand to him. He looked up at Her, his lip bleeding. Then he screamed in agony, Her blessings and power slowly being leached out of him.
"My lady... I did it for you..." He cried, reaching out to her. "All for you..."
His gibbering ceased as he flopped on the ground helplessly.
"You are relieved of duty, general. You will no longer command my armies." The Goddess said.
"No... my lady... please... let me serve you..." He cried out in desperation.
"You will be the leader of a group that will hunt down the dragons, no one else." She said.
Shax let out a relieved breath as he welcomed the chance to serve his Goddess. A cloaked and robed figure entered. The figure swayed back and forth as though drunk and stood before Myria and Shax.
"My son, Evans, awaits the day when his power can create a body for him; for now he inhabits the bodies of the willing, roaming the world and learning. I have removed my blessings from you so that you may be a better host for his power... do you accept, Shax?"
Shax stood, weakened, but still very strong and bowed before his beloved Goddess, prepared to accept this new charge. The cloaked figure collapsed, dust and ashes seeping out from the fallen robe. White energy crackled and black lightning danced about the pile of ash and dust and the energy rose, almost resembling a living creature. The energy lanced out entering into Shax's body through every available orifice and as it did so Shax's deadeye became a ruby red colour. The energy had assimilated itself into his body, but he continued to writhe in agony as his body changed; muscles grew and it looked like his skin would burst and with a feral scream it all stopped. Shax rose, his dead ruby eye focused on Myria: he and Evans had become one person, god and mortal fused together. Evans had seeded himself into Shax and they were now inextricably linked until the host died.
"Mother,"Shax said, his voice was his own, overlapped by that of Evans'. "I will serve you unto death."
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The war's path had changed after the fall of Lon Chai spreading to west and south. As the king had asked Liem was taking Ryu away from the war, so they went east, towards Winlan. Liem knew that the king would die, the opponent he had faced would be far stronger than he (2) and the grief and despair felt by the king would also prove his undoing; he had lost long before the battle had begun. Liem knew what his duty was now: protect the prince, no matter what the cost. For Elle's part, this was a fantasy come true of sorts; she, Liem and Ryu would pose as a family as they traveled. She knew all her friends would have been jealous and she truly hoped she would see them again one day. They came to Winlan (3) and were welcomed by the king himself; they had recognized they were Dragon Clan from Liem and Elle's style of dress and the Dragon Clan were ever allies of the Clan of the Wind. They were never told of Ryu's lineage, for the child's own protection.For a few years they remained using their skills, Liem's abilities as a soldier and amateur blacksmith and Elle's skills as a maid, to survive. However, that peace did not last long as Myria's army turned their eyes towards Winlan. As war came to that vaunted city, Liem and Elle left with Ryu. So to disguise themselves they wore common clothes, they appeared human and could speak common exceedingly well; therefore they would pass for humans and would be able to pass through human lands freely.
They traveled further east, across the Winlan Bridge; from there they went southeast and found themselves at a village called Tuntar. However, they never lived in the village; instead they constructed a small hut just across the river from Tuntar. It was an idyllic existence for another few years until famine and plague struck the area. Elle and Ryu were infected by the plague, for even dragons are not immune to a contagion's touch. Fortunately Ryu lived, but unfortunately Elle did not. Liem was heart broken for he had come to love the woman and she had been as a mother to Ryu. But life had to continue and Liem began to teach Ryu many things, including swordplay, reading and writing in both common and Dragon tongues. Liem could not prevent Ryu from going out to Tuntar, to search for other children; Liem did his best to protect Ryu, to warn him about how he may be treated as an outsider and so Ryu thought the best place to look would be among the war orphans as they, they too, were outcasts. However, it did not work out as he had hoped.
"Bugger off, sand-squint." The larger boy said as he shoved Ryu to the ground.
Ryu, six years old, hit the ground hard. He was small, but strong for his age. He wore a red headband over his dragon birthmark, though Liem never told him why. His bleu hair was a bit mussed up, but he never really cared about his appearance anyways. He wore a cloth jerkin, a leather vest, trousers and boots. Compared to these orphans he was very richly dressed.
"You're not welcome here sand-squint." The larger boy said.
A sand-squint was a rather ugly bird with the nasty habit of putting its eggs in other birds' nests for others to raise.
The larger human boy was named Kuroki; he was eight years old and rather stocky. He wore tattered leather clothes and no shoes. He had black hair and dark eyes. Given his personality he might have turned out to be a real bully, but he was the leader of this little band of four war orphans and this responsibility tempered his disposition. He was trying to protect his friends, even though it was a bit misguided.
There was a forest clan orphan, named Rennard. He was unusual for a Forest Clansman as he had snow-white fur and had an appearance akin to a fox, while forest clansmen were more lupine or canine in nature. He wore simple cast-off clothing given by passers-by, due to another oddity of his: he always looked like his eyes were closed, thus people had the impression that he was blind. People took pity on him and gave him toys, money, clothes and sometimes even food because of it. In actuality he could see as well, if not better, than most other people and he took advantage of others misconceptions for the simple purpose of his own survival. He was very intelligent and logical minded for a child of seven.
Hiding behind Rennard was a six year old human girl named Topaz. She was very shy, even around the other orphans. She wore a cloth robe, cinched with a leather belt. It was a little too big for her as the sleeves went past her hands. She had auburn hair and was very kind to mostly anybody who would approach her, even if she said very little. There was a strange aura about her, something no one could quite place or understand, but they knew it was there. At the moment it was hard to tell if she was afraid of Ryu, a stranger trying to approach the group or what the beating that Kuroki had just given Ryu.
Last but not least, was the Woren child of four, named Lionne. Lionne was of the rarer breed of Worens. While most Worens were tiger-human hybrids, there were rare breeds, such as panther-human hybrids and lion-human hybrids. Lionne was of the latter kind, with golden brown fur, fine blond hair and golden, feline eyes. She wore tattered cloth, but clothing was really her concern as the weather was most comfortable for fur bearing folk. She was always a happy child and the folk of Tuntar appreciated her cheeriness. She was simply too cute and cuddly to get rid of. There was another reason the people of Tuntar liked her so much: whenever they had a vermin problem Lionne was happy to catch them. It was something she was very good at for a young child and she got a free meal out of catching such vermin, cockroaches and rats being very filling. She also had a short attention span, as she wasn't interested in Kuroki and Ryu's little exchange and more or less interested in a bug scuttling in front of her, which was about to become lunch.
Kuroki to a step towards Ryu, determined to teach him a lesson. A shadow fell over him and Kuroki turned to see Liem standing over him. Liem now wore hunter's togs, to fit in better, however, his katana was always with him. He had earned the villagers' respect and he showed them many tricks to defend themselves from animals and armies. To Liem, they were not the enemy, even if they were human; they were people, simple farmers and hunters like the Light Dragon Clan had been. He had never taught Ryu about his draconic heritage, so Ryu never even knew he was a dragon; Liem hoped that such things like Clan wouldn't matter, he was trying to teach Ryu to see past things like that.
"There are better ways to use strength than to push around those weaker oneself." Liem said.
Liem had a slight accent when speaking Common; Ryu on the other hand was fluent enough in both Dragon and Common that he had no accent.
"What's it matter? I do what I want." Kuroki replied.
"Do you like this placed, Tuntar?" Liem asked.
"Sure, it's our home." Rennard said.
Behind him Topaz nodded in agreement.
"Would you like to learn how to protect it?" Liem asked, helping Ryu to his feet.
"Why? They don't want us." Kuroki said bitterly.
"In protecting this village, they will need you, they will appreciate you. Is that not sufficient reason?"
"Well... It couldn't hurt..." Rennard mused.
"Wha' do we gotta do?" Kuroki asked.
"I will teach you how to fight and defend yourselves and this village and you, boy, will learn. Be at the abandoned house in the southwestern part of the village tomorrow at noon break and I will begin your training." Liem said stepping on the bug that Lionne was so focused on.
She looked up at Liem and uttered a little 'mya'.
"Ryu lets go. We have work to finish." Liem said as he began to walk towards his cabin.
"Yes sir." Ryu replied, dusting himself off and following after Liem.
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"When it starts... whatever it is... it always starts small, so small that the origin almost always goes unnoticed. Almost." (Green Arrow: Quiver)Music: 'Elle's Theme' (Game: Terranigma)
1)- Guardian, like Garr and his ilk. However, Shax is what you would call a prototype Guardian and is, thus, stronger faster and more powerful than Garr was. Shax is also much more... shall we say, unstable.
2)- If you would like to make a RPG level comparison, Maru was at level 10 and Shax was level 60
3)- Winlan has a culture like that of medieval Britain, complete with British accents.
I would kindly ask all my readers to be patient and remind them that I am writing two other stories at the same time as this one as well as working during the day. And Zypher, be patient your character will appear eventually, though if you wish I could send you the profile I created of her via e-mail. In fact if anyone would like to try their hand at drawing the main 'heroes' of this story I will gladly send you the profiles I created, though I warn you: there are major spoilers in those profiles.
