Disclaimer: We all know what belongs to who, so don't sue me.
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The next sight to meet the Traveler's eyes was the image of a beautiful, clear, blue sky. He slowly sat up, his eyes blinking from the sudden change to sunlight, hoping that he had been returned to his own body but realizing that it was highly unlikely, remembering the damage he had sustained. A massive expanse of large hills, cliffs, and tall mountains stood behind him. A large relatively flat valley of green grass and small forests began several leagues away to his front. The sight was beautiful, tranquil; so much so that the Traveler started to think he had died and that this was the afterlife that many hoped for. The thought was soon crushed as the pumping of dragon wings met his ears. He jerked his head towards the sound, scanning for the source. A mid-sized dragon covered in steel grey armor suddenly peeled out of the sky above, diving towards the ground. The dragon flared its wings at the last moment and landed with a heavy thud on the ground from its fast decent. A figure jumped down from the dragon's back, one that matched the build of the Neomorphs that he had seen previously, this one possessed grey armor that matched the dragon's. The two began to walk off towards a small rocky cliff that lay several yards away. The Traveler thought it best to follow, creeping behind the two even though he doubted they could see him.
The dragon and Neomorph stopped in front of the cliff staring into its face for a moment before the Neomorph approached the cliff face and placed its hand on it. A surge of magic and a synthetic buzz came from the contact before several lines of blue light appeared and traced a small piece of the cliff face, which promptly began to slide apart, allowing the dragon and Neomorph inside. The Traveler quickly jumped up and sprinted after them, following them into a dark and foreboding corridor, lit only by torches set along its length that emptied into a massive chamber which was empty of all but a great ring of fire placed in the center to provide light…
There was nothing else there, the Neomorph and dragon were gone…the chamber appeared to lead nowhere with no doors and no other indicators of any form of entrance of any kind that he could detect. The Traveler's eyes darted left and right searching for anything unusual that could hold his answer as he started into the chamber, scrutinizing the walls for anything that could mark an entrance. Suddenly the blue mark on his chest began to glow once more, he glanced at it for a moment before looking up and spotting an identical glowing mark on a wall to his right. The Traveler stepped towards it, extending his hand towards the symbol. A wave of blue light radiated outward as his palm made contact, revealing a large vault-like door, which unlocked with a whir of metallic groans and slid itself open. A long, well illuminated hallway lay beyond, which appeared to the Traveler to definitely be an artificial construction, one far more advanced than was even possible in his homeland, with a ceiling that stretched forty feet above him. He slowly walked forward, taking in the things around him as he pushed on.
A stomp of metal feet met the Traveler's ears and he twirled towards the source. Two fifteen foot tall likenesses of a Neomorph stood on either side of the hallway, halberd-like weapons held planted in their right hand, their bodies covered by grey metal armor. One appeared like a male, the other like a female. The males eyes glowed blue while the female's glowed green. The Traveler slowly walked towards them. Suddenly the two beings turned their massive heads to look down at him as if they could see the one before them. The Traveler then stood stunned for a moment as the two's posture instantly turned rigid with their left hand crossed over their chest in a salute. He nervously nodded at them before proceeding. As he approached the end of the corridor, a dragon sized door pinged open before him. The Traveler stepped cautiously inside to find himself inside an elevator large enough to fit several dragons easily.
The doors slid shut almost as soon as the Traveler entered as the elevator began its trip downward. The ride only took a few seconds before the door pinged again and opened revealing the beginning of what undoubtedly some sort of military facility. Neomorphs could be seen throughout what appeared to be the facility's lobby. The Traveler spotted the Neomorph and dragon from earlier speaking to what appeared to be a hologram at the far side of the room. The Traveler silently crept up close to them as quickly as he could, catching the last snippets of their conversation.
"…and you have no idea what is going on?", the obviously male tone of the Neomorph was saying.
The hologram sighed, "No, I have no idea, Rasvar. Patriarch is being usually quiet about what the meeting is about, but from both his and Matriarch's expressions I would say that something is deeply troubling them. You both should head in, Patriarch wishes to begin.", the hologram finished, her right hand gesturing towards a nearby door.
"Thank you, Chimera.", came the Rasvar's response before both he and the dragon started through the door she indicated. The Traveler followed, watching as dozens of other Neomorphs shuffled in the same corridor, all of them wearing various armor camouflage patterns. Regardless of the pattern, however, they all saluted Rasvar and the dragon with a bow of their head and an arm crossed over their chest as the two passed by. The two led their hidden guest through several more passages and hallways before they arrived at one guarded by regal looking soldiers with very ornate and glowing helmets. They all wore silver and ruby red armor with glowing orbs of orange placed on various armor plates around their bodies.
An honor guard maybe?... the Traveler thought. Another group of footsteps sounded out behind him, he whirled around to behold a group of four soldiers covered with intimidating black armor, flowing red eyes, and all bearing the upside down white V symbol of his first dream. Rasvar and the dragon turned as well, both appearing startled at the appearance of the group.
"We didn't expect to see you here, Vasir.", said a mental feminine voice, appearing to originate from the dragon beside Rasvar.
The figure at the head of the black group instantly smiled as he spotted the two, "It is a pleasure to see you both again, Orya. I have to say that I did not expect to see the head of the Peacekeeping Forces here either."
"If you are here," Rasvar began, his tone grave as he glanced over at Orya, "than the situation must be much worse than we initially thought."
"One does not call both the Head Rider and Master Assassin here unless the situation is very grave indeed.", the one known as Vasir responded with equal gravity. "Do you have any clue what this is about?"
"No," Rasvar began, shaking his head, "we asked Chimera, but she knows nothing of the matter."
"Then we'd better get inside, the sooner we get to the bottom of this the better." Rasvar and Orya nodded at Vasir's words and fell beside his group as the honor guards stepped aside to allow them to enter. The Traveler followed close behind.
The room beyond appeared to be a command center of some sort with a large holographic table in the center. Several empty chairs marked the edge of the room with what looked to be some sort of terminals in front of them. Other chairs bordered the table itself, where the Traveler again recognized the sapphire and emerald figures from his previous dreams. Several others stood around them and the group appeared to be deep in conversation.
"Master Assassin Vasir and Saber Team reporting as ordered, Patriarch!", Vasir suddenly said before he and his group inclined their heads and saluted.
"Rasvar Bladerunner and Orya Sharpfang reporting as ordered, Patriarch!", Rasvar said simultaneously, Rasvar assuming a similar position to the Assassins while Orya just bowed her head in respect.
The sapphire figure looked up at the group before him before wearily saying, "At ease…join us at the table, commanders, we have much to discuss." The one apparently called Patriarch appeared near exhaustion to the Traveler and the emerald figure next to him looked much the same. Their heads hung lower than he remembered, as if the weight of the universe rested on their shoulders. They moved much more sluggishly than he had seen before and their predator-like eyes appeared darkened and burdened.
Rasvar, Orya, Vasir, and Saber team quickly shuffled over and placed themselves around the large table before staring expectantly at Patriarch and the one beside him. Patriarch gave his emerald companion a weary nod, asking her to begin in his stead.
"I assume everyone here is well aware of the enemy we face, correct, and that the AI assigned to assist in the destruction of the enemy's commander has gone rampant?", the female began.
"Yes, Matriarch!", came the instant reply of everyone present.
"Then you all know the gravity of the situation that we have found ourselves in. Even with our assistance, our allies have been forced back to their inner and last defense belt in only a few short months. We have even taken in several thousand refugees from them and placed them here, along with a population of their successors. So the question becomes, what is to be done? Are we to just fight our enemy till they flush us out of every world we possess? No, I think not. Now, I'm sure we all have heard of the massive debates raging in their ruling council and some whispers of infighting among the rival groups?", Matriarch gave all assembled a questioning glance, which was met by a succession of nods from each of them. "Up to this point we have not known the reason for the disturbances…until now…"
"We have just returned from a summit with our allies fleet command," Patriarch continued, "and the cause of the disturbances wrenches our hearts as much as it does theirs." Patriarch closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh before sweeping his gaze over all those assembled. "Operations Reclaimer and Final Dawn have been given a green light. The order was just sent out to all commands a few moments ago. All remaining forces are falling back to reinforce the Maginot Line. What remains of our forces shall be redeployed to Nexus to buy our allies the time to initiate Operation Final Dawn." Patriarch suddenly stopped and turned his gaze over to Matriarch who picked up where he left off, her eyes and his alighting with an ancient fire that looked as if it could never be tamed.
"…And we shall be joining them.", Matriarch said, her tone low and mournful. The entire room erupted into a roar of yells and incredulous questions, deafening the Traveler with the sheer volume of them. The roar of voices echoed about the room for a few moments before Matriarch raised her hand, instantly silencing the entire room.
"Or, more specifically," she began after the room quieted and she glanced down at Patriarch with a gentle and loving gaze, "Xytan and I shall be going." The room was silent for several moments as those assembled seemed to be stunned at the revelation.
Suddenly, Vasir spoke up, his voice taking a saddened keel, "You're staying here, Patriarch?" The eyes of the one known as Patriarch and Xytan glowed as he turned to face Vasir.
"Yes, my mate and I are needed here if our plan to keep our world alive is to succeed.", a voice said from Xavier's mouth, sounding far older and wiser than Xytan's own. Then the glowing arched over Xytan's whole body, bright blue lines tracing the curves of his form, before the one known as Matriarch began to glow as well, except hers glowed emerald green. Suddenly two apparitions of dragons appeared as if they had been flying above, one was made of sapphire blue light, the other emerald green. The two flared their wings as they landed, the white spots that marked their eyes scanning all those assembled. An aura of power and great knowledge seemed to emanate from them as they landed with two loud thuds.
"We have decided to remain.", said a female voice emanating from the emerald dragon. "We have decided to stay, to preserve our world, to lend our strength to those who remain, so that those who have taken refuge here may not fall. Xytan and Sytma have chosen to lead the forces that are being sent to Nexus."
The voices changed, the blue male one taking over, "Do not be deceived, my children, this is our darkest hour. The flood of the enemy has forced us to destroy the very things we once swore to defend to the last, but Matriarch and I assure you that, as long as we exist, Necroya shall live."
"So what are your orders, Patriarch?", Rasvar asked. The blue apparition turned its gaze to him before speaking.
"Every last soldier that remains shall be sent to Nexus, to hold the line there so that our allies have the time they need to activate Operation Final Dawn. Meanwhile, every last man, woman, and child that remains here has a task, one for which I will call for when it occurs." The mental voice then grew lower, its head bowed low in loss, sorrow permeating its being as it finished, "All hope is lost…our end has come…we can do no more for our brothers here, we can only give of ourselves when the time comes." The entire room bowed their head in mournful determination before another spoke up.
"Couldn't we ask Könungr and Drotting for assistance in this matter?", he asked hopefully.
"We have already tried to speak to them," Matriarch's apparition said her tone laced with disdain, "however resentment still festers in them from the Mourning War. They declined even to speak with us. We are on our own, forsaken, forgotten by those who we swore to defend, abandoned to the annals of history. If fate has decreed that our time is up, so be it, but we shall not forsake our duty to those who reside here." She then stared deep into the eyes of those gathered around the table, "Never forget the oaths you have sworn, for they make us who we are, without them, we are lost…without purpose. Much is riding on us, my children, and only we can see this through till the end."
"As you say, so it shall be, Matriarch!", the entire room said simultaneously.
"Good," the two apparitions replied simultaneously, "return to your commands, fulfill your duty, to both our land…and to each other." Those assembled only nodded as they began to disperse towards the exits, even Xytan and Sytma left, all carrying themselves with a purpose, their bodies primed and ready for battle. Vasir and his team followed them, along with Rasvar and Orya before being stopped by Patriarch's words.
"Rasvar, Orya, Vasir, we ask that you remain outside. There is something of great importance to the future of our people that we wish to discuss in a few moments. A duty only the three of you can accomplish.", he said. Those mentioned nodded at his words before stepping outside. Then the blue and green lightened dragons turned their heads to the Traveler and spoke.
"So were the seeds of redemption planted, the plan for both Alagëasia's destruction and survival devised…", Matriarch began.
"From the beginning we had watched, protected those who lived on in this land, its inhabitants ignorant of the troubles of the outside world…no longer. Our strength had been spent, our numbers depleted…", Patriarch added.
"And so were the seeds of darkness planted, our vigilant gaze torn from the land whose peace we fought to preserve. Our children forsaken to the annals of death and time as we…Two of the Four…were condemned to only watch as fate conspired against them."
Then both spoke as one, "The day had come. Betrayed by the ones we guarded, forgotten by a land for whom our blood was shed, abandoned to our fate by those who we once called brothers in blood. So was everything we loved and cherished torn from us. So was all hope lost..."
"..No longer…", came a final whisper before the world around the Traveler faded to black…
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Ryan's eyes slowly fluttered awake as his mind returned to awareness. The world around him blurred for a few moments, before revealing him to be in a wooden hovel with a couple small chairs and a table against the far wall. The air smelled of oak and pine, undoubtedly from the tree and furniture around him. Warm, soft blankets wrapped around his frame as he lay in a small, humble bed. His brain softly pounded against his skull, as if trying to escape from its confinement. Ryan slowly tried to sit up, grunting in pain as the soreness of his body consumed him before he sunk back down to the mattress sighing in relief as the discomfort relented. He slowly rubbed his hands with his eyes as he tried to focus his mind, trying to find someone, anyone to contact to see what was going on.
His efforts were instantly by a flood of worry and relief from his partner of mind and heart as her mind sensed his awakening. The worry lingered for a few moments before disappearing, replaced by feelings of love and contentment. Ryan continued to lay there for several moments, Samanya's emotions eliminating any thought of movement. The Rider and dragon reveled in the contact, content in the happiness and safety that lie within each other's embrance.
"I'm glad to see your awake.", Samanya said, relief and obvious remnants of fear and worry lacing her voice. " At one point Yamula and Turyan were worried that you wouldn't recover. I was…I was…". Ryan only silenced her with a mental nudge, her voice and mind telling him just how close to death he had gone.
"It's all right.", Ryan said soothingly, "I'm still here…and I always will be, that I promise you." Samanya's feelings only doubled at his words, flooding the Rider with emotions to the point that he couldn't tell which were hers and which were his. At this moment, though, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was alive, and that they were together.
Unfortunately the contact was not to last as the door to Ryan's room slammed open. Ryan lazily turned his head to the side to find Yamula, with a plate of food and glass of water in her hands, and the elven captain from before standing in the doorway, troubled and yet…relieved expressions on their faces.
"It's good to see you awake, Williamsson. Captain Turyan and I were not sure if you would recover.", Yamula said softly as she, after laying the food and drink by his bed, and her companion moved towards the chairs and pulled two of the seats over to his beside before sitting down. "I'm even surprised that you awoke at all, those blades that entered your back were coved in the poison of a rarely found mushroom, called Death's Friend by your people. The poison usually kills almost instantly, too fast to be treated by magic or any other means."
"And what does that mean?", Ryan asked wearily.
"It means that whatever gods you may believe in are certainly looking out for you, young one. To my knowledge no one has ever been touched by the deadly plant's poison and lived.", the obviously male captain.
Turyan, Ryan thought. Ryan then grimaced as his head pulsed once more.
"How long was I out?", Ryan asked as he rubbed his head to try and clear the pain.
"A little over a day.", Turyan replied, "there certainly must be some luck about you, considering what has occurred."
"Oh…I'm feeling so lucky right now…", he said sarcastically, almost mumbling under his breath.
"You should," Turyan continued, "something in your body somehow delayed the poison's effects, preventing you from following the example of the others that have felt its sting. The delay granted us the time we needed to identify and extract the poison from your body magically, saving your life, although some must have managed to remain inside you, enough to still reduce you to a comatose state.", he finished, his arms lying on his lap in a businesslike expression.
"Thanks for helping me.", Ryan said appreciatively, looking up into the two elves' eyes.
"We did our duty, Rider, nothing more. We do not require your thanks for doing something we would do for any other.", Turyan replied. The elf then looked over at Yamula, who only gave him a short nod. "I take my leave then," the elven captain said, surprisingly to Ryan, before turning and, with a short bow and a mumble of, "…Rider." he left, leaving only him and Yamula alone.
"So…" Ryan began to ask, "what's so important that you would need to have him leave the room?"
"No real reason actually, there was just no other reason for him to remain here and he has other duties to attend to.", Yamula replied dismissively. "Before I also leave I have a message to relay to you from your teachers. They have heard of your incident and, instead of you coming to them, they are coming here to take both Samanya and yourself back to Ellesméra."
"That's nice of them.", Samanya quipped in the back of Ryan's mind. Ryan only let a small smile show in response.
"What happened to the Eldunarí?", Ryan asked.
"Samanya has it with her.", Yamula replied.
"Burell and Pallin…what happened to them?", he nervously asked, almost not wishing to hear the answer.
"They survived actually, with a few wounds of course, but they lasted long enough for Turyan's company to rescue them."
"Good.", Ryan said, relieved that at least the two of them survived when all the rest had died to protect him. He had enough blood on his conscience without adding Burell and Pallin to the list. Yamula's chair then weakly screeched against the floor, marking her departure from the room. Ryan wasted no time in diving into the food and drink that was set before him, wolfing down huge bites as if there were no tomorrow.
"By the way…", Samanya suddenly began to ask, "what was that dream you were having about?" Ryan paused his eating for a moment as he thought of an appropriate response.
"It was another one of those vivid ones. The ones with the Neomorphs in them.", Ryan replied before returning to his food, feeling unconcerned with the entire matter.
"I saw it too.", Samanya said. Ryan paused in mid-bite in surprise, astonishment creeping over his features.
"You saw it too? Did you have the same dream I did?", he asked, incredulous over the whole situation.
"Something about an Operation Reclaimer and Final Dawn right?"
"Yes…", Ryan responded, mouth agape at the fact that they both had the same dream. "Did you by chance see it through our connection?"
"No…my mind was separate from yours at the time. I checked after I woke up just to make sure. Ryan…my mark was glowing again when I woke up. It must be at least part of the reason why we're having these dreams.", Samanya answered, her tone thoughtful.
"But then what does your mark mean?", Ryan said, frustrated over the mystery behind both his arrival and Samanya's hatching for him. "There must be some sort of significance to it, otherwise it would just be some odd coloration and it certainly wouldn't glow.", he added as he resumed eating.
"Your guess is as good as mine, little one. I can come up with no logical explanation except that these dreams must tell us some reason behind your arrival here and mine as well.", Samanya added in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Figuring that out is easy. The, why me, and what are they trying to tell me, part is much harder to try and figure out.", Ryan said wearily after wolfing down the last tidbits of his meal and laying back down on the mattress beneath him.
"Perhaps time is the answer.", Samanya said soothingly.
"Perhaps…but time is a luxury that we can scarcely afford and with our training fast approaching, it won't be long before we end up on a battlefield together. Then, time will no longer matter.", Ryan said with a stifled yawn.
"We shall see…but for now, you need to rest. It would not due for you to meet Oromis and Glaedr in your current condition.", Samanya finished, an unspoken order present in her speech. Ryan was all too happy to oblige, his eyes drifting slowly shut as the world faded from his awareness. Before the comforting embrace of sleep consumed him, however, a soft whisper sounded out in his mind. The voice behind it was male, weary, and burdened. It whispered…
No, the day has come,
We are forsaken,
There's no time anymore.
Light, will pass us by,
We are forsaken,
We're the last of our kind.
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A/N: That last part came from the lyrics of Forsaken by Within Temptation. I thought them fitting.
R&R!