The First Animus
Darkness will Fall, Secrets will be Hidden.
Do not be Deceived by the Father of Lies, Dragonets.
You must Continue on, to Save us All.
Dragons will Die, Dragons will Lie.
But do not Forget, what Happened many Years Ago.
Your Greatest Weapon.
. . . Shall Be your Greatest Threat you will Ever Face.
The rainforest was normal as usual. The humidity did not change one bit in the last hour, and had not for three days since the storm. Yet, there was a slight rain last night, and everything was somewhat cold for most of the day - until the afternoon of course. It was not necessarily hot, but not cold either.
In this part of the rainforest, quietness loomed eerily over the atmosphere. This would usually be calming and tranquil to one dragon if he or she got used to it over time. But this time, every part of the continent felt unsafe. . . . Darkstalker was just here, leaving a death threat that if Deathbringer did not hand over all the NightWings to him, and did not join him . . . he would kill the new King of the RainWings and NightWings. It had been a day since that incident, and even still, all the residents were shaken. In the dragon history, a queen was only supposed to rule a tribe, but Deathbringer had to take the task after . . . what had happened to the previous ruler. That rule did not matter to Darkstalker, he only wanted to rule the continent . . . and everything else in the world, maybe more, maybe beyond . . . .
That is what everyone wanted. No matter how good of a person they were, they all wanted to rule the world in their own way, in their own vision. The only way to achieve it, and to make it happen, was by the poison they called a tool of salvation, and triumph over all of their enemies: . . . Animus Magic. The curse, the beautiful, the great, the evil, the soul taker, Animus Magic was the one thing everyone craved to have. If offered to someone, all would kill to have it. That is what Darkstalker was doing last week with the dragons in Jade Mountain Academy. They had powers now, and they loved it. They were probably passing it down to everyone they know and love, so they can be an Animus as well.
. . . That was the true reason why he hid himself. He too had this power, hatched with it because of his ancestry. He did not dare tell his deepest, darkest secret to anyone whatsoever, not even to the ones he loved. His sisters, his brothers, his friends, no one. But, at this point, after everything that had happened, he did not have any reason to tell anyone the truth, because he already was alone. Even still, his secret was his to keep, and no one deserved to know.
Stay in the background, stay out of trouble. Those are the phrases he kept telling himself every day of his life - because, why would anyone care about him? He was weak, he was soft, feeble, and knew everyone looked down on him, even by his own family. There was no reason for him to be here, and no reason to be in anyone's lives. He often wondered why he stayed in his home, pondering why he bothered to go to the academy. He was alone, he was always alone, and realized this world was never meant for him.
All of that changed when Darkstalker rose once again. His Second Coming was inevitable, and knew this would surely be the end. Somehow he got involved. Somehow he was a part of this story, but regretted ever fantasizing he was the hero of any story. Maybe it had something to do with his curiosity. Maybe it had something to do with his fantasies of being the hero. There was no purpose for him to be here, but somehow, someway . . . Fate made it so.
Turtle, the SeaWing, one of the many sons of the tyrant Queen Coral, sat in the rainforest, surrounded by grass, flowers, and trees. His legs were crossed, his left elbow resting on his knee, head resting in his palm. He sat in silence, trying to contemplate how he got himself into this. He never wanted to meet Darkstalker, he never wanted to be a part of the New Dragonets of Destiny, and he never wanted to be a part of this problem, but something forced him to. Maybe it really was Fate, or maybe it was his own actions, seeing an opportunity to do the right thing, and he took it. See, before Darkstalker even laid eyes on him, Turtle grabbed a stick, and enchanted it, so that whenever he had it on him, he would be invisible to Darkstalker. At the same time however, Turtle knew the great dragon could sense him, he just couldn't see him.
Turtle placed that very stick down in front of him, and sat there, staring at it. The object was a relic of his many other Animus Touched objects. He wouldn't have enchanted all of them to be somewhat of an ancient artifact if he had found out every time an Animus uses their magic, it takes away a piece of their soul. He didn't know why he kept those items, he didn't know why he kept enchanting things. Maybe because it made him feel special, like he had a purpose in life, but it still felt wrong - he still felt scared.
Maybe that was why. He was scared, he was worried something horrible would happen to him, that was why he kept all those objects. He could just use them to fight back. Even still, the stick was another symbol of his loneliness. The power he hid from everyone around him, now exposed in these objects. If it was true that a piece of his soul was taken from him every time he used his magic . . . then he was staring at it right now in this little piece of wood.
" . . . What is even the point of this?" Turtle asked himself. "Why am I here? How did I get here? Stupid, stupid. You should have just stayed home, back in the academy, and none of this would have happened to you. Why . . . why do I even try to be the hero of any story? . . . Why do I try to make friends with anyone?"
"HEY, TURTLE!" Shouted a voice that had snuck up behind him.
Turtle jumped and let out a yelp, turned around. "Kinkajou! Don't scare me like that."
Kinkajou giggled. "I just wanted to see another good friend of mine."
She laughed again, and Turtle let out a frustrated sigh. He saw the stick on the ground, and quickly picked it up and hid it behind his back. "What are you doing here specifically?"
The young RainWing kept her smile as she tilted her head. "What's that behind your back?"
" . . . Nothing."
"Aw, come on, let me see." She stepped forward, reaching her hand out to grab whatever her friend was hiding.
Turtle backed away. "It's nothing, really. Why are you here?"
"Well, I just figured that since I woke up after a few days and after seeing a giant dragon in the Rainforest Kingdom, I thought I would come and see you since you're the only one of my friends that are here right now. Let me see the thing."
"No!"
Turtle tried to dodge her, but Kinkajou managed to grab him, and pull the stick out of his hand.
She examined it, then chuckled, and said: "This is it?"
"Kinkajou," Turtle said, trying to keep his annoyance down, "that stick is more important to me than you think."
"But it's just a stick."
"I know it's just a stick."
"Then why are you so protective of it?" Turtle was about to say something, but stopped himself, and looked at the ground. Kinkajou walked up to him, grabbing his hand saying: "Hey, I'm just messing with you. I like seeing you, Turtle."
That last sentence made Turtle look at her, feeling something related to happiness that she actually cared for him as a friend.
"It's just," he said, " . . . that stick is more important that meets the eye."
"How so?" Kinkajou asked in a kind of sarcastic way.
" . . . I don't want to say."
A moment of hesitation, then the RainWing giggled, and handed him the stick back. "Here." He took it from her. "So what's the big deal with that gigantic dragon anyway?"
Turtle was hesitant, but plucked up courage to say: " . . . His name is Darkstalker. He was considered the strongest Animus dragon that ever lived. I say 'was' because he lived thousands of years ago . . . but he's back."
"How?"
" . . . Moonwatcher forced me, and all the other Animus dragons in the world to release him. She said she had to help him rise up from his 'resting place.'"
Kinkajou stared at him, then chuckled. "You can't be serious, can you?" He looked at her, guilt in his eyes. Her smile faded. "You're serious."
" . . . Yes."
Kinkajou dropped her head, tears starting to form. "Why would Moon do that?"
"I don't know. She stole a piece of Darkstalker's talisman from a dragon named Chameleon to help us bring him back."
"A talisman?"
"Yes. See, when Darkstalker was around, he knew using Animus Magic takes away a piece of your soul, so he transported all of his powers into a scroll . . . so his powers would be almost unlimited. He could write down anything on it, and turned himself into some kind of god, almost. But, because a piece of the scroll was taken, it is no longer unlimited, it just has the same limitations as any other Animus. Who knows what kind of powers Darkstalker already gave himself before he was put to rest."
"So, if Darkstalker put all of his magic into the scroll, does that mean he is still an Animus?"
"Well, kind of yes and no. As I said, he put all of his magic into the scroll so it can be unlimited, and whatever he wrote down, he has that power now."
"Did he use it to make himself huge?"
"No, I think that's just due to his age."
"How does Animus Magic work exactly? Where did it come from?"
" . . . That would be a very long story. Let's just say: As far as our history goes, no one truly knows where Animus Magic originated from. The leader of the Scorching only found a dragon with that potential, and he was considered the very first Animus dragon to ever live."
"What was his name?"
"I don't know. The name was probably forgotten in time."
"Weird."
Turtle hesitated, putting his hands to his face, and tears welled up in his eyes. " . . . You don't know how sorry I am, Kinkajou. All of this is my fault. Everything Darkstalker will do, all the horrible things he did in the past, every dragon will have to relive all of that . . . and it's all because of me. Even all the other Animus."
Turtle sat down, softly crying to himself. Kinkajou sat next to him, and did something Turtle never thought he would experience in his life: She gave him a hug. All of a sudden, his tears went away, and removed his hands from his face. This was a feeling of affection he had never known before, nowhere near the fake signs of love his mother always gave him. This was true compassion for one another.
She stopped hugging him, then said with a kind smile: "Do you want to go for a walk or flight? To get your mind off of things? Because to me, it seems as if you have gone through a lot of stuff recently."
Turtle looked at her, and gave the smallest smile he could make. "I think I would like that . . . very much."
Turtle.
Turtle jerked his head, suddenly aware of his surroundings.
"Are you alright?" Kinkajou asked.
" . . . I thought I just heard- nevermind."
She tilted her head at him, but shrugged and stood up. "Where do you want to go to? The beach? It's a nice view. There's also a very beautiful waterfall not far away from here."
Turtle.
Once again, he looked around, afraid this time, but still saw no one.
"Turtle?"
"I swear I thought I heard someone say my name," Turtle said, becoming frantic.
" . . . What do you mean?"
He let out a frustrated sigh. "Maybe I'm just hearing things. It's been a very long few weeks for me."
" . . . Okay."
Turtle could see the confusion and concern in her face, so he reassured her by saying: "How about we go to the waterfall? That sounds lovely."
Kinkajou stared at him, but smiled. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
Turtle, come here.
"Uh, I'll be right there, just give me a second."
Kinkajou sighed. "Oh my gosh, fine, but hurry up." She started to walk off, but turned back to tease. "And if you want to bring your imaginary friend with you, I'm happy to let him or her come with." She turned and disappeared into the trees.
Turtle smiled, then the fear came back. He looked around, trying to find whoever was saying his name. The strange thing was that it seemed like he wasn't hearing the voice in his ears . . . it was as if he was hearing it in his mind. At that thought, his terror rose, thinking that it could be Darkstalker. He looked up to search for the towering figure, but saw shadows loom over him, surround him, engulf him. Instead of the cold, heat came, and it terrified him more.
That was when he heard leaves being crushed behind him. Trying to stand brave, Turtle turned around. There, coming out of the darkness itself . . . was another dragon. Turtle was scared to the bone.
The dragon wore a black cloak, covering almost its entire body; its wings were black and purple; the hood engulfed its face in shadow, and Turtle could only see its mouth; it had purple scales; fire raged on inside its maw; the dragon stood motionless, and stared the SeaWing down with crimson red eyes.
Turtle stared in horror at the towering dragon, not believing what he was seeing. He felt terror he had never felt before, but most of all, unsafe, as if his cries for help would be utterly pointless to even try. There was nothing he could do.
Very, very reluctantly, Turtle asked: " . . . W-Who . . . who are you?"
" . . . I hast been called many names over thousands among millions of years . . . many hast called me by whatever thy please. I am cursed, I am hated, rejected, and, blessed with the joy of thy sins."
"W-What?"
"I hast been following thee for a long time, Turtle. I hast seen thy struggles, thy fantasies, thy dreams of possessing a real family. Of having someone who cares about thee . . . of someone who finally can show thee affection . . . of being, a hero."
"H-H-How do you know my n-name?"
"Hast thou not listen to a word I say? Most may look down on thee, see thee as a mistake . . . but I see potential, Turtle the SeaWing. Thou art special . . . and more powerful than thou would ever think. Animus Magic brought to its full potential. Thou already hast that opportunity to bring it to the highest strength. But thou don't. Why?"
Turtle now felt more unsafe than before - why would this dragon want to know about his magic? How did it know he had Animus Magic? Who was this dragon? " . . . B-Because . . . I don't want to lose my soul."
"Many hast already lost their souls to the magic before, as all hast every time they encounter me."
"What? What are you talking about?"
" . . . Thou never knewest where Animus Magic came from."
"What are you saying?"
The cloaked dragon stared him down, then slowly walked towards him, all the while Turtle had never felt moreconcerned for his life than ever. Terror came over him in the form of this mysterious dragon, and thought he could hear actual fire blazing around him, along with bloodcurdling screams of countless dragons.
" . . . I will show thee the truth of the ultimate power . . . the greatest power ever known to the history of all dragons."
The cloaked dragon put its claw on Turtle's forehead, and he instantly felt pain. It was unbearable, nothing like he had ever experienced before. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but his mouth kept shut . . . and his eyes turned black, with fiery orange pupils as he was teleported to another time . . . .
