Chapter One: Resurgence
The sea breeze combed gently through her hair, like the soothing touch of her mother whenever she was troubled and could not sleep, or the gentle caress of the lover she had never met, but always thought of.
She smiled at her own thoughts, shaking her head. She considered them rather silly, since she was already well past the age of such fantasizing. But there were times, like now, when she wondered what it would be like to have a lover beside her, her hand in his as they strolled down the beach, watching the sun set and stain sea and sky with red and gold, weaving a tapestry of incredible and otherworldly beauty.
She paused, stopping to watch as the sun dipped behind the horizon, going down into its watery cradle for its rest from its sojourns. She would return to the palace when the evening horns sounded to announce the coming of twilight and the entrance of the stars, the moon, and all the entities of the High Court of the Night. As she continued to look, the sky went from red, to crimson, to scarlet, and finally to purple, and the deep blue vastness of evening started to spread its blanket across the firmament.
But then, as the sun sent out one last flash of brilliance before disappearing entirely, a bitterly cold wind suddenly sprang up and blew against her, casting sand into her eyes. She immediately closed her eyes against the grit – a natural reaction.
And when she opened her eyes, everything was different. There was no moon, and there were no stars, though there was no cloud in the sky to hide them. The heavens above her were, instead, nothing but plain and flat and blank. It seemed as if the sky had been ripped off, and there was nothing but the yawning void beyond it.
She turned around, wanting to ask someone what was going on, but what she saw behind her was ruins upon ruins, buildings toppled over, and their foundations overgrown with plants and vines.
She opened her mouth, wanting to speak, to cry out, to scream, but no sound emerged from her throat.
She felt herself moving forward, though not out of her own volition. She felt herself moving over the broken pediment of what had once been the path that led from the palace to the beach, felt her scales rasping over pebbles and cracked stone, but there was no pain, when there should have been pain.
She continued on, her body seeming to know which direction to go. It was as if some other entity had control over her body, and she was just a passenger in it, seeing all these things through her eyes, though she did not – could not – control a single nerve of her body.
She moved through passageways both familiar and unknown, walked through doors she had seen before and never encountered. At length, she arrived at a chamber hidden deep within the palace in a room that she had never known was even there.
She sensed something in the chamber, though she could see nothing. She could feel something cold here, something slimy and foul and disgusting. She could almost smell the evil of its presence; smell the stench of its abominable spirit. Whatever it was, it was something unnatural, something created through the use of the darkest and most twisted magic.
She sensed movement in the center of the chamber, and realized that, whatever it was that she was sensing, had taken notice of her presence.
"Ah, so we meet at last."
The voice sent ice through her veins, and she shuddered.
She heard the sound of movement in the darkness. It did not sound like the hissing of scales, a sound she was familiar and comfortable with. It sounded more like the flesh of a dead animal being dragged over rough stone, and it was not a sound she liked to hear. It reminded her too much of…of what?
"It reminds you of how my creator destroyed your home," the voice said, the words coming out of the shadows like sharp icicles. A pair of ruby eyes flashed briefly in the depths of the chamber. "It reminds you too much of how Nagapura fell."
She shivered violently as memories tore through her mind: memories of fire, of magic, of pain and blood and death, so much death.
She could feel the way the creature's smile shifted the air around her, feel how grotesque it was, how monstrous. "Yes, death: precious, delicious death. And soon, soon, your blood will release the final bindings, and then it will be your soul that I feed on first."
She sensed something enormous, something powerful, lunge at her through the gloom, but before she could react, she felt sharp teeth close around her neck, crushing her windpipe in its grasp, choking all breath, all life, out of her-
"Chandra! Wake up!"
Chandrakanta woke with a start, almost sitting up in her bed as she did so. Her hands immediately went around her neck, to see if that dreadful…thing, whatever it had been…still had her in its grasp.
A hand clasped her wrists gently, and a quiet, familiar voice spoke to her in a soothing manner. "You are awake now, Chandra. There is nothing for you to fear."
Chandrakanta glanced up, and gazed upon the beautiful and ageless face of Charle Frahma. She smiled at the Wingly, and sighed. "Yes, I am. Thank you."
Charle nodded in response, and then gave her a concerned look. "It sounded like a very bad dream, Chandra. What was it about?"
"I…do not want to talk of it at the moment, Charle," Chandrakanta replied as she got out of bed, her tail hitting the carpet next to her bed with nary a sound. She turned, and smiled slightly at the Wingly. "It is not that I do not trust you with this. Of all the people I have come to know here at Ulara, you are the only one whom I know I can trust with anything at all. But at the moment…" She shook her head. "I am sorry, but I find it somewhat difficult to speak of this dream."
Charle sat on the bed, gazing at her for a long moment, before she finally stood up. "I understand, Chandra." In a few moments, her tone shifted from worried to cheerful, as if trying to lift the air of foreboding that lingered in the air. "Now then, why don't you and I go down for some breakfast, hm? I suppose you must be hungry…"
Chandrakanta smiled, and waved her hand. "You go ahead, Charle. I will just get myself ready, and then I will go down."
Charle nodded, and headed out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Chandrakanta sighed, and drifted towards the window, gazing out upon the lovely, rose-filled gardens of Ulara. But her gaze lingered only briefly upon the flowers, for she was soon looking out to the western horizon, towards a land that lived still in her memory, though by now, it was nothing more than ashes and dust and ruins.
She thought of her dream, and shivered. There was something there, sleeping in the ruins of Nagapura: something that was foul, and evil, and powerful in magic.
She straightened, and proceeded to dress herself. She would have to speak to Charle about her dream soon, and what she should do about it.
Charle stepped on the teleportation plate that led from Chandrakanta's room to the floor below, knowing that her friend and ward would follow in a few moments, as she had promised. At the moment, what bothered Charle was the matter of Chandrakanta's dream.
She had always known, right from the start, that Chandrakanta was prone to dreaming. The poor thing had a particularly traumatic past, one that would forever live in Charle's conscience as among the greatest crimes her brother, Melbu, had committed.
She sighed, and closed her eyes against the pain of memory. The Rape of Nagapura, as it had come to be recorded in the precious annals and books of Wingly history that were kept in Ulara, was among the greatest atrocities committed by her brother. And though she had nothing to do with him and everything he did, she still felt that she should have done something more, other than establish Ulara and offer aid and succor to those who came looking for it from her.
She could never truly pay for the crimes that her brother had committed. The least she could do, during the Dragon Wars and in the many long years afterwards, was to open Ulara to anyone who needed help and was worthy of it. That was why she had offered to guard Chandrakanta, daughter of the Green Dragon Feyrbrand, and extended aid to Rose, the former Dark Dragoon.
But between Rose and Chandrakanta, it was with the latter that she had the longest friendship. Certainly, she was fond of Rose in her own way, but Chandrakanta was something like the daughter she never had. Rose was too strong and hardheaded to want any mothering, so Charle lavished all her motherly affections on the Naga Princess.
When she first met Chandrakanta, it had been in the middle of the Dragon Wars, when the battles were raging the hottest and causing the most sorrow in the world. At that time, Charle had only heard of her: the heir to the ancient Throne of Nagapura, and immortal after the manner of her people, for she knew the secret workings of magic that would keep mortal flesh from succumbing to the natural ravages of time that eventually led to death. She had been sent to Ulara by her own father, who had hoped that somehow, Charle's influence would keep his daughter safe – and to prevent her from doing anything rash.
And Feyrbrand had been right, particularly where it concerned the last part. Though he sacrificed himself willingly in order to aid the Humans by allowing them to become Dragoons, his daughter, upon learning of it, went into such a fit of rage that, had she not been in Ulara, Syuviel would have met an untimely and violent death.
Memory flickered through Charle's mind, that one particular moment in time brought back to her by the force of reminiscence…
"There is nothing we can do, Lady Charle," said the Wingly spy who had brought her the news. "The Humans and Dragons have united. They will be the force who shall defend Humans and defeat Melbu."
Charle nodded, taking the news with much relief and some regret. "I see. That is good news indeed."
The messenger looked up, puzzled. "Surely you do not mean that, Lady. After all, it is your brother-"
"He ceased to be my brother when he abused our god-sent powers and bent them towards evil," Charle interrupted, her voice harsher than she had intended. She sighed, and shook her head. "No, the person whom the others call leader, and the Humans call tyrant, is not my brother. He is not Melbu. Once, a long time ago, perhaps, but now he is gone. For me, Melbu – the one I once called brother, friend, and companion – is dead."
"Lady…"
"Go," Charle commanded, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. "You may take your rest here for the night, and you may take as many provisions as you need for the journey back to Kadessa. I trust you will know what to do when you get there."
The Wingly gazed at her for a moment, but in the end, he bowed, and murmured his thanks before turning around and leaving.
Left alone in her study, Charle sighed, and bowed her head over her folded hands. The unification of Dragons and Humans could mean only one thing: Feyrbrand, Regole, and all the others had yielded their corporal bodies and their freedom so that they would be governed by another species. That meant, then, that Chandrakanta's father was-
"Charle?"
Charle looked up to see Chandrakanta approaching her. She was not in her normal form – she had adopted that of a young Human woman, with legs instead of the tail that she usually balanced herself on. It was, Charle knew, for the sake of convenience, because it was difficult to go up and down stairs, and even to use teleportation plates, when one had a tail instead of legs.
But still, there were marks of her true heritage upon her: not the least of all the delicate green shimmer that tinted her golden-tan skin, and the slits that were her pupils in her eyes of burnished gold. The ebony shade of her hair was not all that uncommon amongst humans, but the sheen it possessed, like that of snake scales slicked with water, was quite unusual.
Chandrakanta approached her. "Was that your informant from Kadessa?"
"Yes, that was him," Charle responded. Already, she was readying herself for the question that was to follow.
Chandrakanta smiled – a smile that echoed hope, the hope that Charle did not feel. "And what news did he bring? Did he say anything about my father, or of the others? Surely they must be doing well; the last information we received indicates that they were doing marvelously."
Charle sat down in a chair slowly, and gazed at Chandrakanta with an apologetic gaze. "The Dragons and Humans have united their powers. Your father, and most of his kin – save for the ancient Lord of Dragons – have thrown their lot in with the Humans."
The silence, Charle thought, was perhaps the most unbearable. It dangled between her and Chandrakanta like a knife suspended in midair, simply waiting to be cut from its string before it fell down and sliced through the calm.
It was movement, not words, which broke the stillness. Chandrakanta whirled around, and started towards the door, the magic that she had cast around her form seeming to disintegrate in what Charle realized was the heat and fury of her emotions.
"Chandra!" Charle called, standing up and chasing after the young Naga. "Chandra! Where are you going?"
"I am going to my father – or whoever holds his soul now," Chandrakanta replied, her words spoken through tightly clenched teeth. "Who do those Humans think they are? They have no right to do that to my father! They have no right to-"
Charle reached, out grasping Chandrakanta by the arm. "Chandra, listen to me! There is nothing you can do now. It is over!"
"There is still something I can do!" Chandrakanta cried, wrenching her arm out of Charle's grasp, though she did not move away anymore. She whirled around, and Charle could see the glimmer of hot tears in Chandrakanta's eyes. "If I can get my hands on my father's spirit, on the jewel that contains it, then I know that I can bring him back! It is not a simple spell, true, but I know that I can do it!"
She paused, and the tears streamed down her face in earnest, and she did nothing to wipe them away. "I want my father back, Charle. The war has taken everything away from me: my brothers, my sisters, my mother, and now my father. I want him back, Charle. I want him back."
"Forgive me for being late, Charle."
Charle looked up, and smiled as Chandrakanta stepped off the teleportation plate – once more, assuming the form of a Human, as was necessary. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better now," Chandrakanta replied softly as she joined Charle at the table, and the servants brought in a variety of fruits and cereals for the two to eat.
Charle leaned forward, offering a small smile. "Would you like to tell me about your dream?"
Chandrakanta seemed to hold her breath for a moment, before she nodded, and told Charle all about what she had dreamt.
As she listened to the story that Chandrakanta told her, she felt herself turning paler and paler, as the pieces of an old puzzle slowly began to fit in her mind. She had listened to Melbu when they were younger, listened to him make plans for the future. Most of them were radical and impractical, and Charle had just laughed them off, thinking them the dreams and ambitions of someone who was younger and hence less knowledgeable of the world than she.
But there had been one particular dream, one particular aspiration, that stuck out the most, amongst all the talk and dreaming that had swiftly turned to madness: "I want to be like Soa, Charle. I want to make my own Great Tree, with my own one hundred and eight species. I want to make my own world, with my own creatures."
"Charle?"
Charle snapped back to attention, and looked up at Chandrakanta, who was looking back at her with a worried and intent gaze. "Yes?"
"I was asking you what you thought of my dream," the Naga princess repeated.
"Oh! Your dream." Charle fell silent then. What did she tell Chandrakanta? What was she supposed to say? That she had dreamt of something that Charle thought her brother would never be able to do, but seemed to have done after all?
"Charle?"
Charle looked up at Chandrakanta, and there was a weak smile on her face. She reached out, and touched Chandrakanta's hand. "Chandra, you, of all people, understand the nature of some types of knowledge. You know that there are times when it is better for things to remain unknown and unsaid, especially when that knowledge could possibly bring about the ruin of the world."
Chandrakanta nodded; she understood, because she, like Charle, bore the burden of the knowledge that the Naga had kept to themselves – the knowledge that Melbu had attacked Nagapura for.
"Well then, listen carefully, because there is something that I have to tell you that no one else except Melbu and I knew about…"
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
wildmage58 - Thank you for complimenting my story. It has been quite a while since I last wrote any stories for Legend of Dragoon, and to know that it is appreciated it something that truly does warm my heart. Again, I thank you for taking the time to read my work.
The Sharra - Yes, it is a new idea, and while it something that I am rather proud of, at the same time it makes me somewhat nervous. I do not know how people will receive this idea, given that it is rather radical. Still, I thank you for saying that it was described beautifully, and for saying that you will keep an eye on its progress. I hope that this new chapter has not disappointed you.