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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

First off, let me introduce this author's note by saying that yes, I am indeed back but, no, I shall not be updating as frequently as I had once upon a time. This is primarily because of my working on finishing a novel that I hope to see published by the end of the year of which you can read the opening chapter in a prospective film format on my writer's portfolio website, which can be found through the links page of my blog, Bibliotheca Somniare Corvus. A direct link to my blog can be found on my author's page where I invite everyone to read my bi-daily postings on the likes of Disney Villains and whatever latest film happens to catch my fancy enough to write a review for it.


From a Dusty Attic

By Corvus no Genmu


"Drabbles of a Dragon Commander"

In the mirror, he saw a man, obsidian hair brushed back and garbed in overly elegant attire that was both royally formal and fully prepared for an inevitable battle on the fields of war. At his back, glowering down upon the pathetic wretch that was his human half is his true form. Not fully a dragon nor fully a human, but a strangely amazing mixture of the two that was neither one nor the other. A Dragon Knight as the intelligent races named his breed, at least those of kinder tongue.

Did that really make him so worthy of being an emperor?

Not just his species but by his very blood, the blood of a murdered king who had cheated on his own queen to sire a son with a dragon in disguise? He had never come to personally know either of them for neither had a hand in raising him. His birth mother had been murdered almost within days following his hatching and to protect him from further murderous machination he had been given to those he still referred to as his parents despite whatever the wizard Maxos said otherwise of the fact.

Blood might make a family but so too does the heart and though his went out to his birth parents, what right did he have to try and reclaim a throne? Because his human father was a king and his draconic mother was… what an emissary of her people, rare and illustrious though they might be? Because it was his older half-siblings who had done the deed in murdering the king and even now were at each other's throats? Is it because demonic madness was evident in all three of them and that he, the spared child, would make the better ruler despite his own inhumanity, physical though it was? He had not yet faced any of them personally on the fields of battle but as the wizard forewarned, he had earned their attention.

The commander wondered again at the human image in the reflecting glass and wondered if it was because of this weak and pathetic form that he had to endure such displeasure that was being both a commander and a conquering emperor. His generals, four in all with three being human and the fourth of the lizard race, were like teenagers clawing over each other for top spot on the metaphorical totem pole though none held any rank or sway over the others.

Though if he were honest with himself, it wasn't quite fair of him to throw the younger Scarlett in amongst the greater headaches that were her fellow generals. Yet even he, for all his draconic patience, could stand her foolhardy attempts at denying the obvious for so long. Honestly, he had only passed the rights for marriage to all, regardless of race or gender, just so she could stop beating around the bloody bush about her own sexual orientation, interesting though it likely would be to hear of her past and future escapades.

Really, the girl was just so damn excitable that it was frightening at how easily she could make him smile never mind breaking down into loud guffaws once out of everyone's earshot.

As to the remaining three… Henry was a general of the former emperor and did not hesitate in comparing father and son at every opportunity and Catherine was a former queen herself and one of a matriarchal country so her hypocrisy was as rampant as her tongue was sharp against all things male. He'd have tossed them both in a room and locked the door just to spare his ears from their irritating voices if he didn't think he would end up losing two generals for the attempt.

Then there was his personal favorite of his three less favored generals. The lizard Edmund whose ego was perhaps outmatched only by Catherine's feministic animosity but only by a margin so slim as to almost be nonexistent. Catherine at least made men twice her size break down and cry while Edmund managed to anger anything and everything with a lick of sensibility to them. It was amazing as it was frightening that the insufferable know-it-all was the one general the commander could easily get along with…

Of course, what emperor is without a council? Each and every one of them almost an anthropomorphic representation of the politic aspects that their individual race virtually proclaims dominion over. A council consisting of five of the six ruling races of the world as, according to Maxos, the half-dragon commander represented the human side of the equation and so no human emissary was necessary.

It was hard to tell whether it was senility or a strange form of racism that allowed Maxos to make such demented leaps of judgment.

"At least that damnable wizard can't possibly make my life any more difficult than it already is…" he muttered before exiting his chambers and heading to the bridge of the Raven for what could only be another eventful day of conquest.

Oh but if the commander had known… He'd have the wizard burned at the stake for the madness that was to follow.


I should have killed him. I should have killed him the first time he had shown his bearded mug, awesome ship or not!

The Dragon Commander stood in his throne room, his hands clasped at his back as he regarded the ten dignitaries before him, five of which were members of his own council and the remainder princesses of their respected races. Brides-to-be at his choosing and yet not for he had could not deny them in their entirety. Not unless he wanted to deal with the political fallout that Maxos had so expertly trapped him in.

He even had the gall to compare me to Edmund! That I hold no love for anyone that isn't a part of my race! Bah! He delights in calling me dragon at every opportunity and chooses now to mention my human half? Were he in his true form, the emperor had no doubt that smoke would have blackened the ceiling by now. He took a deep breath and released it slowly, a faint glow of draconic fire deep in his throat as he exhaled. He regarded the princesses standing beside their respected councilors. He had heard all that they had to say for themselves and was giving them each a final lookover before he made his "choice" to Maxos.

The undead princess Ophelia… He wondered again at the oddity that there was such a number to them that the undead could be counted as a "race" given that they were made up almost entirely by the races of man, elf, and the occasional dwarf. Looking at the fair Ophelia, her skull hidden beneath a dark cowl, his eyes narrowed. Too quick for any of the dignitaries to notice, his pupils thinned to draconian slits and he saw the disease that was ravaging the living bones before him.

So… the undead can die after all… He closed his eyes with a small sigh. Much as he felt for her plight, he would not marry an undead. Never mind the sheer perversity of the act but the idea of sharing his bed with what was, quite literally, a skeleton… Brrrr!

The dwarven princess Aida… Humorously taller than Felstaff and arguably well… ahem… blessed amongst the princesses. Still, Aida was no less a dwarf for her sharp tongue and mountainous greed. She had all but proclaimed her desire to marry him for his upcoming status as emperor of the world and his draconic power. And yet…

She is damaged. Not physically but her heart is trapped in poisonous barbed wire. He could see it even without dragon's sight and he despaired for her. Whatever her father had done to her… has made her dangerous both to herself and to others. Her hatred for him will do her no good.

The lizard princess Camilla, who aside from her royal duties served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in her native lands. Impressive but hardly surprising given the pragmatic lizards…

I appreciate her honesty as well, his lips twitched as he fought down a smile, I can hardly be blamed for turning her down when she herself is both unwilling and uncaring in joining me in holy matrimony. Besides… He frowned the slightest bit, a faint draconic growl echoing in the recesses of his soul. I dare not imagine what our children would look like… Dragon and lizard indeed!

Let it never be denied that a dragon's pride would swallow so poor a comparison.

Then there was the last of the princesses, Lohannah of the elves. While he had little affection for Oberon, for surely no other grown man could reach the whining pitch of a child, the Commander had to admit that the man was quite astute in her description. She was truly the most beautiful of the princesses but whereas the man spoke entirely of her appearance, the Dragon Commander was referring to something deeper than the skin.

The undead spoke of destiny by the gods, the dwarf of power, the lizard of politics… but it is the elf that speaks of love being the reason for a union between us. That love should be my reason for taking her hand in mine. That she would actually say she'd rather not be chosen at all if not because of the chance at love impressed him greatly, especially considering the scathing looks she received from most others in the room. She truly and honestly cared for him not for his status as emperor or his being a Dragon Knight but because of who he is and what he was setting out to do for the world and its various peoples. True hers was a smitten love, one born of tales told and pictures seen but even in the presence of the real thing she did not falter on her stance.

Maxos had said that love had very little to do with his marriage but perhaps it would be best if he were proven wrong.

And the Dragon Commander did so delight in proving that wizard wrong…


"Commander, a matter has arisen that impels me to seek your benevolence! Once more, a young girl is made to suffer at the hands of male overlords!"

The Dragon Commander wondered, not for the first time, if he drank enough alcohol that he could be spared the trials and tribulations of his general, Catherine. Unfortunately, he knew that no such elixir existed in this or any world that could make a dragon knight drunk enough to be excused at hearing his feministic general's latest tirade against male oppression. At least her issues were valid in their concerns though she did her best to bury them with an ever sharp and poisonous tongue.

"It's these horrid arranged marriages! Long have they been a thorn in my side, and now one of your own councilors, that toad of a Trinculo, is giving away his daughter like she were a pretty piece of furniture, to some decrepit old duke because the alliance will benefit him financially."

The Dragon Commander was far from surprised by this and crossed his arms, waiting for the barb that he knew was coming and, like always, preparing to let it slide harmlessly off his skin like fire on a dragon's scales.

"The girl's twelve, for Seven's sake, and that grey goat she must marry a hundred if he's a day! It's detestable, it's vile… but oh, why am I even talking to you? You're just the same—picked the princess that sat on the biggest pot of gold and moved on! Well I've had it! That girl in your chamber is beyond saving but—"

The sound of punctured steel echoed in the startled and frightened silence that followed in the wake of that declaration. The Dragon Commander stood before Catherine as he had been, still firmly clothed in his human form save for his eyes that shone with draconic intensity as he slowly removed his clenched fist from the steel wall of the cantina. Smoke wafted from his clenched teeth as the back of his throat burned with the shimmering light of draconic fire. To her credit, Catherine remained standing with her ever-present glare firmly set upon her face though a bead of sweat trailed down from her scalp.

"With. Me. Catherine." He growled at the former queen. Without another word, he turned and made his way through the ship, crewman scattering like frightened mice at his approach as Catherine followed in his wake, head held high even as Scarlet watched worryingly whilst Henry hummed a funeral song. Edmund took another drink of his brandy and continued reading his latest correspondence, uncaring for anything else beyond the words scribed upon the parchments.

The Dragon Commander led her into Maxos' library and was glad to find the wizard absent as he stood before the lit fireplace, the flames doing little to cool his own temper though the hypnotic dance aided his control in maintaining his human form. He remained glaring at the flames until the door slid shut behind Catherine and when he spoke, it was with a faint growl of the dragon in his blood.

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you Catherine. You can gripe about your fellow generals who have their own fair share of problems on and off this ship, you can snipe about the politicians whose company I'm delighted to depart after every ungodly meeting, and you can even bitch all that you want of me, my decisions, and even my gender. But if there is one thing that I will not abide from you are any barbarous words spoken of my wife. While you were there at my wedding, you were most certainly not there to hear the princesses speak with me on the joys of our union."

He heard her scoff quietly but chose to ignore it as he continued.

"Contrary to what you might assume, Lohannah offered her hand to me willingly and gladly because of love. An affection she had grown from seeing my portrait and hearing of my deeds but one she wanted to nourish into something more. She stated with utmost conviction that it should be that same desire that guides my heart to hers only and if I had other reasons to beguile my decision, then she would rather not be chosen at all. She said this in front of her fellow ladies of royalty, in front of politicians, who all scoffed at the very idea of love in a marriage outside of the peasantry. And do you know the first action I undertook on the day of our marriage?"

He turned to Catherine then, the fire gone from his throat but the draconic rage still in his eyes.

"I commissioned that a chamber be made for her aboard the Raven, equal if not greater than my own so that she could take comfort in a place so far from the familiarities of her home and so that she might be assured with the knowledge that she was not expected to complete any form of wifely duties so long as this war continues. When she asked of me whether I would allow her to decorate the room as she saw fit, I answered by seeing to it that everything she had left behind was brought and placed in her chamber. I could not bring the entirety but I did what I could and was delighted by the joy on her face when I presented it to her anew. She can ask anything she wants of me and if it were in my power, I would see it done in an instant if not sooner just to see such happiness again."

He approached her until he was standing before Catherine, his eyes narrowed and his voice grim.

"If ever I hear another despairing word about Lohannah, regardless if it be by your tongue or another's, I will not hesitate to see them and you thrown bodily off my ship. In point of fact, it shall henceforth be your responsibility to see to it that such ill comments are never made again and that evidence of the contrary are presented with every opportunity lest I follow through on my word starting with them followed shortly by you. Do I make myself perfectly clear, Catherine?"

His glaring visage meeting her own in a stalemate of impenetrable wills that were fighting for dominance over the other until, at last, her eyes fell away from his.

"Understood."

He growled, deeply and filled with draconic ire at the unspoken challenge to his authority once more. "Understood…?"

"… My emperor."

"Better. Now get out." He turned away from her and snatched up a piece of blank parchment. "I have to see about drafting a law for consent on both parties in an arranged marriage. Perhaps even an age requirement."


It was the middle of the night when his chamber door opened. Though far from a light sleeper, the fact that it opened at all was surprising as there was only one person on aboard the Raven that could open that door and for all his strategic planning and mastery in the art of war, the Dragon Commander had no idea why she was there. In all honesty, he had expected her to try and enter his chambers on the first night of their union, but she had kept true to their mutual agreement that a honeymoon worth having was to be done in peace and not in war.

So he waited in the darkness, listening as his wife's bare feet treaded lightly like the hooves of a doe upon the carpeted floor of his chamber as she made her way to his bed. She stood at his bedside in silence for a long moment and he wondered if she was planning on watching him sleep when he heard her release a trembling sigh of relief alongside a whispered elfish prayer of gratitude.

He felt her weight, far too light for anyone let alone a woman of her stature, upon the wide expanse of his bed. The sheets ruffled as she burrowed beneath them and settled herself at his side. He felt her hand reach out and clasp his wrist, tightening just enough to feel the beating of his heart. She took a shuddering breath and pressed her face against his shoulder and his eyes snapped open as he felt the salty wetness upon his bare skin.

"Lohannah?" He turned to face her and even with human eyes, he could see the tears glistening in hers.

She flinched and hastily turned away, rubbing at her eyes, "I—Forgive me, my darling, I didn't mean to disturb your slumber—"

She was silenced as his hand clasped her shoulder gently but firmly. She turned to face him as his other hand reached out to her cheek and wiped away a teardrop upon a solitary finger. He stared at the drop in silence, his eyes shifting in the darkness unseen by his wife. In it he saw that which produced it, the nightmare that awoke his wife screaming into the night.

In it, he saw himself flying back to the Raven in a scene reminiscent of this very day. Bloodied and injured but whereas he had arrived quite alive and already healing in the real world, in his wife's nightmare he had come crashing aboard the Raven… dying.

She had snuck into his chamber, into his very bed, with tears in her eyes… because she had feared him dead?

He pulled her to him and pressed his lips gently against hers. Her eyes widened but flickered close as she returned it with the same gentleness.


Scarlet looked up at her commander, eagerly awaiting his response to her words. The Dragon Commander had only just recently returned from another victorious campaign and had only just transformed back to his human guise when she had all but leapt upon him with news that she felt he needed to hear. And heard them he did and he spent a good long moment staring uncomprehendingly at her, as though her words were naught but gibberish from her tongue. To be fair, she had spoken with more than her usual rushed gusto.

"… I beg your pardon but I must have misheard you. Did you say that Edmund… is in love?"

Scarlet, not trusting herself to not gush girlishly at the very idea for there was far more to it than just that, nodded.

"Edmund. He whom I'm quite sure is the dictionary definition of vanity and condescension. Is in love. More than that, the very person is not only an elf of distinction but whom also reciprocates his affections equally if not even more so?"

She nodded again.

"… I think I will first consult with Maxos on matters of possible apocalypses before speaking with Edmund."

She blinked. She hadn't honestly been expecting that. "Apocalypses, Commander?"

"Of course. If Edmund being in love is not one of the signs of an approaching doomsday, I can think of no other."


He stood in the abysmal heart of the Raven, staring at the hellish visage of the very demon that was both its heart and the very reason for his half-sibling's descent into madness. The monster was large enough to gobble the Dragon Knight whole though it was quite chained in place and obviously pained by the wizard Maxos picking at its mind. And yet here it was attempting to bargain with him, to attain for itself the nourishment it so desired.

The Dragon Commander had thought Maxos mad but never would he have thought the man to be as much a fool as this demon thought him, a "mere" half-breed, to be.

The demon would grant him its powers for the dreams of his soldiers, it would offer him the favor of one of the races for the souls of another, or even grant unto him the ultimate power of demon-kind should the emperor be so kind as to offer his wife to it.

The Dragon Commander was not disgusted. He was not appalled nor was he contemplative. Why, he wasn't even afraid of this hellish monstrosity of a demonic avian. At the first offer, he was concerned. At the second offer, he had become agitated, but at the last and final one… the Dragon Commander had become angry.

No, that was too kindly phrased.

He was pissed.

The demon's smile faltered as the emperor-to-be took his true form and went down on both knees, hands clasped tightly in prayer. "What…?"

"In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti…"

The demon flinched, bloodied spittle flying from its fanged mouth as it gasped in pain. "Not… Possible! You could not possible know—"

"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…"

The demon did something it had not done even during the agonizing torture of being bound in the heart of the ship that shared its name.

It screamed.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven…" The Dragon Knight turned his gaze upwards not to the demon, but to He who is far above. That did not stop the dragon-half from watching the demon writhe and struggle against the invisible chains that bound it.

"Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us…"

"STOP! I beg of you!" cried the demon, bloodied wounds opening across its obsidian hide that smoked as though burnt by an ethereal flame.

The Dragon Knight quieted. The demon panted for breath and watched in silence as the commander resumed his human form once more and made to leave the abysmal heart of the Raven.

"How… How could you know…? She had no chance to teach you the words!"

The emperor paused just outside the swirling portal.

"Do not presume that we are deaf to Him even in the shell, demon scum. Though I know not her face, I know the voice of my mother and the prayers she sung to me as I slept. You will not find in me the same weakness as my half-siblings and do not think them beyond saving. Now that I know of the hellish darkness that afflicts their souls, I will see to it that they are freed from your clutches and redeemed for the atrocities you bade them to commit to our father and to themselves! I will bring them back into the Light even if I have to drag them the entire way."


He stood before the prison cell, looking down at the woman who writhed about on the ground as she screamed herself hoarse though she had no tongue with which to speak, to add words to her madness. She had seen to it herself on the day so long ago when she and her siblings united under a bloody banner of madness and slew their father dead before setting their sights upon each other and beginning a war the likes of which had enveloped the entirety of the world.

"Leave us."

The aged wizard cleared his throat. "It would be better if—"

"As several of your suggestions have involved the murder of my siblings you'll forgive me if I ignore them from this point forward. Do not forget wizard, that I can smell the blood of my brother on your hands just as well as my father's on hers. You took my brother from me because I thought you merciful as I when clearly you are not. You have consorted too long with that demon in the heart of this ship and forget that mercy ends with life, not death. You may think me a fool but I'll be damned if I let your sin spread further by taking my sister's life because you deem it "necessary." So I say again, leave us."

Maxos' glare was like twin suns in the darkness of the prison cells and with a flash of azure light, he was gone, back to the library and his precious books that were torn free from the mind of a primordial demon of war and madness. With the wizard gone, his half-sister's wild trashing intensified and he silently thanked the crewman who had sensibly kept her arms strapped tightly within the bindings of a specially crafted jacket made and constructed with his deranged half-sister in mind.

Sybille the Silent as the people had come to call her. She who had cut out her own tongue in the vain hope of silencing the voices babbling in her mind and even now continued to scream for their silence in the presence of her young half-brother. At his approach, the cell door slid open and Sybille's gaze turned to him, eyes wide with madness and fear. She lunged at him but the chain that bound her to the wall pulled itself taught and she bit harmlessly down about the air in front of his nose.

He didn't even flinch at her blatantly obvious attack and merely watched in silence as she exhausted herself trying to attack him until she sunk to her knees, panting for breath as her long tresses of ebony hair pooled about her. He had no idea what to say, what to do, to try and alleviate her pain but he knew a good place to start.