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Welcome. I interrupted my ongoing work on "Memories of a Lizard" for this short series and now it is time to reap what I've sown. It tells of Nevlamas how Lylat knows him. Those of you that are familiar with the Star Fox Chronicles of our fellow user Ryan-masterpaladin-Lewis will surely understand what I am talking about, the rest: Have fun reading those first. Just as Reiji and Adair and Data Reaper and god knows who, I have now written my own part of named story, the backrounds of my own character that became part of the greater whole a long time ago. Thank you.

1: Tereny

_"It is somehow ironic: The more

innocent you seem, the more you

taint yourself with hypocrisy."_

He had visited and explored more than thirty worlds in the past, but now he faced the most amazing sight of his entire life in the very heart of Lylat City. Ironic, yes, but also fascinating.

Tereny Fox had grown up in a multicultural environment, where the race of a person was of almost no importance. His own vulpine blood had resulted in nothing but the nickname Cloudy - an allusion to the famous mercenary Fox McCloud, whose face was stunningly similar to his own. But that a specific race completely separated itself from everyone else was something that even the adventurous poet had only seen a few times before, always at the fringe of civilisation. Reptiles!

A tribe of lizards had settled down in this area - probably a former town park - and had transformed this once quiet spot of land into their personal refuge. Into a downright city within the city. A thick, small grove in the heart of the patch of grass was now the basement of a confusing chaos of tree houses (with up to three floors), rope ladders, chain bridges and hanging gardens. And that was only the part he could see from his position.

He had spent most of his life on Corneria; He had seen sky-scratching giants of steel an the most advanced technology of the whole known universe. That someone had the idea to bind several ropes around a huge plate of wood before hanging it into a tree on such a planet was close to absurdity. "Something worth watching", this was how the citizens of the steel-made macropolis around him had name the settlement. They hadn't lied.

Tereny forced his gaze away from the amazing construction and began to cross the no-man's-land between Lylat City and the village ahead with brisk steps. The sun shone brightly that day and made his fur shine like velvet. He carried a data-slate and a small blaster gun within his belt - things that were always with him. Everything else he owned rested in a chamber of a cheap inn somewhere in the sea of houses behind him. Unimportant. His muse drove him forwards. His artistic spirits began to sing. A tribe of lizards, guarding a dark secret. Or maybe a magical treasure? No, better no magic; that wouldn't wash.

While he approached the settlement, he saw, that it wasn't as unguarded as he had expected it to be: A primitive, quadratic wall protected it - as if a wooden barricade would stop anyone! The only entrance Tereny could see was guarded by a watchpost. The lizard was almost naked, wearing barely more than a loin cloth made of.... fur? Barbaric! His chest however was decorated with numerous necklaces and amulets. In his right paw rested a plain, but cruel-looking spear. A melee weapon in a time of guns that could enslave even light - the whole concept seemed ridiculous for a moment. But then he noticed the warden's gaze, his tensed muscles and he realized: If he did anything suspicious he would be dead before he could even draw his own weapon.

He reminded himself to watch over his prejudices. Even the highest ranks of Corneria's military were still using swords to fight. Admittedly, until now everything appeared to be quite... exotic, but that didn't necessarily mean that those lizards were as backward as they seemed to be. This visit was highly inspiring after all.

The warden definetly didn't share Tereny's innocent curiosity. "What do you want here?", he asked harshly. At least he spoke a clear Lylat.

"Greetings. My name's Tereny Fox. I come from..."

"I didn't ask where you come from. What brings you here?"

Very well, then with his silver tongue: "I am a poet, a worshipper of the fine arts and the forces of nature." That seemed to please the warden, so he continued: "I seek to escape the steely juggernaut around us and to find sanctuary here, to be blessed by inspiration once more." Not bad at all, he thought. He had to memorize that sentence.

"A true artist!", yes, the guard was indeed pleased: "But if you are no warrior, why do you carry a weapon with you?"

"I have to defend myself while I'm travelling. You know how dangerous it is out there." Warrior. That was what he had said. Not soldier, warrior.

The watchpost shifted his weight on his other foot and clamped the spear behind his ellbows. "Well, fine. I think we can provide sanctuary for an....", he wrung his hands: "... artist on the run. But your weapon needs to stay here of course." Tereny hand the gun over to him - after some hesitation - and he attached it to one of his countless necklaces.

"All right. Lastly a sincere warning: I let you pass because I always dreamed of a poem or a story about our sanctuary, but not everyone in there is such a big friend of poetry. But above all: They don't like strangers." A pause. "Maybe it would be better if someone would show you round. There must be a small, red-scaled boy somewhere around here. A bubbly lil' boy, impossible to overlook him. His name is Nevlamas. I am sure that he will take over that task with pleasure.

--

"And the two back there, the ones glaring hostilely at you, those are Xil and An'dar and back there is a stair that brings you further upwards and that house back there, there do the big ones train all day and flail at each other with sticks and over there...."

Laughing, Tereny raised his hands to stop the uninterrupted flood or words the boy produced. Bubbly. Oh yes. "All right, all right", he said, still grinning: "That training room of yours! I'd really like to see that. Could you bring me there?"

"Yeah. Oh yeah, of course! Come, over here!", the boy grabbed his arm and dragged him closer to the flat tree hall ahead. They passed one of the gardens - a levitating, wooden plate that had been covered with soil before several plants had been seeded - but Nevlamas simply dragged him further. His enthusiasm accepted no stagnation.

Something was strange with that building, that was Tereny's first impression. But only after entering the building - there was no door - could he say, what it was. The sounds. The tone of colliding wood could be heard over a large distance, but all the other, typical fighting sounds were missing completely. The lizards fought in absolute silence.

Their faces showed silent concentration, tension, but no exhaustion. Even his fine-tuned snout could not find the taste of sweat in the air. Then he remembered that reptiles didn't sweat at all. The olfactoric level of the room was virtually empty.

The optical one however was interesting enough. The interior was simple, but it contained several windows and was flooded with light. It swayed with the trees whenever wind came up. Four pairs of lizards - men and women if he saw it right - pursued their training here. The general habit to wear short clothing seemed to rule in here as well, but at least they had taken care of a bit of... moral acceptability. The fencers wore white pants that ended over their knees, paired with light shoulder pads and black gloves. Their chests and clawed feet remained naked.

They used long, small sticks and fought with one hand. They slashed with dashing speed, but remained controlled and collected at any time. When a fighter was hit there were neither cursing nor cheers - the two opponents simply readjusted their positions and began anew.

"Are they always so disciplined?", Tereny asked lowly.

"Most of the time, yes. The big ones are always silent, always serious. And they can't take a joke", Nevlamas gave back.

The Fox nodded satisfied. These lizards were the perfect resource for a heroic saga or an epic poem. Their serpentine, quick movements, their disciplined nature and their awe-inspiring body control - oh he just couldn't wait to write them into a world, where they would fight against impossible odds and win! He grabbed his data-slate and began to type annotations into it.

Nevlamas tugged at his sleeve: "We should better go now. They don't want to be disturbed and still got lot of the sanctuary to show you!"

Tereny, who had already taken the boy into his heart, followed his ask. Outside of the building, he made a short stop and typed his last thoughts into his electronical retention: "Their martial character is irritating, but I feel as much fascination as wonder. Although there is no enemy far and wide, they seem to steel their bodies and spirits without cease." He paused. "It must be a nightmare to face them as enemies."

--

"Sir, you are not allowed to pass here..."

"Out of my way, you impertinent prig!"

"Please, Sir, it is for your own safety!"

"I have travelled through half of Sauria on foot, I can defend myself! I need to get in, a friend of mine is there!"

"He probably WAS in there. But now, there is no life in there, maybe except for the thing that is responsible for this bloodbath. I will not allow you to become its next victim."

"OUT OF MY WAY OR I'LL GUN YOU DOWN!!"

"Oh come on. Poet or adventurer, you are no murderer. Okay, again for the slow ones, Mr. Fox: The quarantine was an order by general Pepper himself. No unauthorized person will pass through here, and if it would be Fox McCloud in person! I will not arrest you this time, but don't you dare to threaten me again."

Tereny suppressed the wish to knock out all of the cat's teeth and turned around with a frustrated scream. The soldier was only doing his duty. Now he had to do the same and bypass him.

That was not as easily done as it was said, of course. Every entrance was observed, soldiers patrolled outside of the wall and inside worked a Cornerian investigation team. Blast the investigations, he had to find that boy!

Three months had passed since Tereny's last visit at the lizard's sanctuary, but the memory remained fresh in his thoughts. How surprised he had been, finding a military blockade around it! The soldiers had informed him that only a few hours before his arrival, several citizens of the surrounding city had found a bleeding, lacerated lizard woman, crawling through the streets without any visible goal. She had been too weak to speak, but her cloths spoke for themselves. Shortly after, the survivor was moved into a hospital and the village had been quarantined, without anyone knowing what had actually happened. All they knew was that something had slaughtered the whole settlement in a short span of time - and that it had feasted on their entrails. A whole tribe of brave, although primitive warriors had been annihilated an Tereny refused to believe that Nevlamas had died with them. He had to be somewhere in there.

But here he stood, getting nowhere. He simply stared at the guard post as if it could help. And somehow, it did.

"Tereny?", asked a raspy voice directly behind him. He turned around and saw that one of the patrolling soldiers had managed to sneak up to them before he had noticed it. He took a look at the soldier's face - a peaked, worn out rat - and knew why.

"Joshua!?", he called out: "What the heck...?" Fortune favoured him! He didn't believe in any gods, but to meet Joshua now and here...

"Tereny!", retorted the rat laughing: "Get outta here! How long didn't we see each other? Five years, ten?"

Tereny couldn't help grinning: "Two years. We last met when you crossed my path in Fichina."

"Crossed your path? I saved your fucking ass there yet again! And after that I had to carry you twenty miles through a blizzard!"

"Three miles. And the storm didn't came up until the last one!"

"And what was that thing on Sauria?"

"I could have freed myself."

"All jesting aside: How many times have I saved your fluffy excuse for a tail?"

The fox rolled his eyes: "Never so far. But you have lent me a hand in ten or eleven... interesting situations. Birds of a feather flock together after all, crook."

His old friend moved into a disparaging stance, but his eyes twinkled: "At least I am no longer a simple scallywag, like some people around here. I am a really important person now! The guys around here respect me. Look", he turned to the guard post: "Brace yourself, soldier!"

"Get stuffed."

Joshua spread his arms: "See? He answered!"

Tereny nodded, then he responded: "Something the lizards here will surely never do again."

That killed the atmosphere. Suddenly, the rat looked grieved: "Very well. What do you want here?"

"I need to get inside of this village."

He shook his head: "Tereny, please. You can not ask me for that. I will get myself into some serious trouble if I let you pass."

"That means you have the authorization to do so."

Joshua closed his eyes: "Yes. But I am not allowed to let any Tom, Dick or Harry randomly waddle around here just because.... Hang on, because of what after all?"

"One of those lizards was a friend of mine. A boy, around twelve years old, with red scales. Did you found someone matching this criteria?" Why hadn't he asked this earlier?

The rat seemed to ponder. "No. We have found around twenty children until now, but all of them were green-scaled. We have however not recovered all bodies yet."

"That means he is still in there!" Joshua grabbed his arm before he could do something he would regret later.

"Tereny, that boy is dead. Just like everyone else in there!"

"But he is not like everyone else in there!", the fox answered vigorously: "That is exactly the point! Whyever the lizards were killed, he most probably did not fit that reason!"

"Oh come on! In case you didn't notice, we face something that ruthlessly butchered everything it could. I..."

"Some people would call it a sign of imcompetence that you obviously didn't memorize even the simplest rules, sergeant - not that I would agree to this opinion in any way", said a voice behind them: "After all, the Cornerian codex of military operations clearly states, quote: Rescue operations have highest priority in case of a major accident. Any evidence or hint for possible survivors is to be investigated without delay. You and your possible companions have full access to the whole area and the witness here seems to be pretty confident in his ask. Have I not made myself clear?" Both, fox and rat, turned around to the guard. His face showed the same indifferent, stoic impression as during their conversation, but he had definetly been the speaker.

"You wretched little piece of....", mumbled Joshua: "All right. Fine. Great. Get your ass in gear, Tereny. Let's have a closer look at that village." He threw his hands in the air: "Fuck it, I am tired of playing deus ex machina for you!"

His friend covered his inner elation with a raised eyebrow: "Deus ex machina? What vulgar words do I have to hear from you?"

"Shut the fuck up, Cloudy!"

--

Fox and Rat met one and a half hour later in the bottom part of the settlement.

"And?", Tereny asked.

"The investigation team is currently working in the upper levels - quite a bloodbath up there. They haven't found him there."

"He isn't in the middle levels as well. I have already checked them."

Joshua shook his head: "The team has already examined the lower levels. It seems, that your female intuition was actually right this time. His corpse is nowhere here. Fuck man, think harder! Where could he be?" His tensed rush confirmed once more that his rough and defeatist manner was only a hard shell: In his chest beat the heart of a hero.

"What about the cave?", asked Tereny suddenly.

"What cave?"

"The cave beneath the settlement!"

The rat frowned: "There is no cave beneath the settlement..."

"So you don't know there is a cave yet?! He has to be there!" He grabbed his friend's arm and

dragged him to the next best housing on the ground. There weren't many. The lizards seemed to prefer the sky.

"What are those caverns, that we couldn't find to save our lives?" The two entered the building. It still stank of death, but the fox did barely realize it.

"You haven't searched for it", he said: "Nevlamas told me about them when I was here first." The ground was decorated by a carpet that strongly contrasted with the omnipresent simpleness all around. He pulled it away.

"Now look at this", said Joshua. Inset into the ground rested a kind of sewer cover, a steel-forged confirmation of Tereny's words.

"What will we see down there?", Joshua asked, while the poet lifted the heavy closure to reveal the braces that lead into the darkness under it.

He set down the cover, then he answered gasping: "I am not sure. Being an outsider, I wasn't allowed to go there. This place should be a mixture of a bath and a graveyard, if I understood Nevlamas' explanations right."

"How lovely...."

"Water seems to have an enormous, almost religious importance for these people. It is actually not that surprising that the boy fled to that place."

They carefully placed their feeds onto the braces and climbed down into the duct. After a while all colours faded, then all light. Joshua waited until they couldn't see their own hands any more, then he paused and pulled out a compact flash lamp from under his uniform. He turned it on, clenched it between his teeth and climbed on. He and shortly after him Tereny reached the end of the duct roughly half a minute later - there were probably more than seventy feet of earth between them and the sky right now. To their left the light revealed a small depot of torches and a glittering flintstone. In front of them the rock opened towards the real cave. Joshua shut off the flash lamp. His face was frozen in amazement.

The cavern did barely measure more than fifteen foot in height, but its horizontal extent was almost beyond realization. The ceiling was hid behind countless stalactites that proved its natural origin, what surprised Tereny. How did these lizards knew what was sleeping beneath their feet? The ducts were clearly created by living hands! Plural, because he could see several more of them at the far walls of the the cave. They seemed to stand on a small gallery that steplikely lowered to the ground nine feet under them.

And there twinkled countless turquoises. No real gemstones of course, but the equation was matching. The ground was covered with an enormous amount of little ponds, whose water gloomed in a shining blue that was bright enough to make any further lighting redundant. Wherever the water came from - the cave shone like Corneria's skyline at night.

The two of them climbed down to the ground and began to search away through the endless liquid maze before them. From time to time, Tereny threw a gaze into the shimmering depths: Some were empty, others really filled with bones - especially the ones close to the entrance. Where was the boy?

They were almost in the centre of the cave when it happened. Tereny was balancing between two bone-filled ponds when suddenly Joshua uttered a rude curse and pushed him down from behind. In the blink of an eye he lay on the ground and stared into the depths of a pond in shock. A grinning lizard-skull stared back.

Behind him, Joshua threw his weapon with stunning speed, aimed and shot. A short, intense purr, followed by a pulse of unbound energy and the sound of flesh that was ripped apart came after that. All happened in a short moment. A heavy weight fell on his legs a few seconds later and clutched at them, whimpering in pain and fear.

"Holy fucking shit!", the rat shouted: "Just leaping out of nowhere! Fucking hell boy, I almost blew the crap out of you!" Tereny could only agree. In Nevlamas' left shoulder gaped a tattered hole. Five inches deeper and he could have said adieu to his heart.

"Nevlamas?", he asked.

"Ne vla Mas!", the boy sobbed.

The poet nodded. "We need to get out of here", he said to Joshua: "Do you have first aid kit in range?"

--

The pulse of this place was dictated by cheeping machines and rattling breath. The building was observed around the clock, but especially after nightfall, the concentration of the doctors and nurses broke rather quickly. The woman awoke after midnight. She made her step back into the world with obvious noise, threw devices to the ground, got entangled in their cables and nearly strangled herself with her own sheets. The faint cheeping became a piercing shriek and stopped abruptly as an erratically moving fist smashed the machine creating it.

The hospital's personal, arriving with notable delay, found a scene of devastation. For a person that suffered several gravely damaged sinews, she was quite vital. It took four nurses to keep her still and three injections to stop her panicked, soul-rending screams. "Blood rage black scale!", she shouted: "Scale black, rage blood! Black rage, blood scale!"

What happened was indeed of such outstanding peculiarity that Zio Sephis - physician on duty at that time - had already informed all authorities and organizations a short while later - despite the fact that more than three weeks had passed since the mass murder in the lizard village had occurred.

Joshua entered the hospital not even six hours later and allowed no one to stop him. His official reason was his duty as primary commissioner of that case -his personal interests however were of much bigger importance: He had heard the words the survivor had spoken - these words alone were enough to interrogate her until she wasn't able to speak her own name anymore.

Since the incident at the village, Tereny and Joshua were heavily sticking together, supposedly to not loose sight of each other again. But to tell the truth: Joshua feared for Tereny's life. The poet housed Nevlamas almost like an adoptive son - he had even moved into a way too expensive hotel. He completely ignored Joshua's warnings. Neither the fact, that the boy had been anointed with blood like a second skin, nor the investigations his team had made with that blood (more than fifty different signatures by the way) seemed to be interesting for him.

Yes, he had dread fear for his life. Joshua went to pieces more and more, did barely sleep and ate by far not enough. He looked more like a common garden rat each day. He would have loved nothing more than standing at Tereny's side twenty-four hours a day, gun aimed at Nevlamas' head. There was barely any other possibility: The Boy was the murderer. That puny child had somehow butchered a whole village. But how?

How....?

He prayed, to find the answer to that question behind the door in front of him. He opened it.

The survivor was inside, lying on a white feather-bed close to the only window. The walls were painted white as well, the bed was the only visible furniture. The many machines that were usually connected with almost every patient to make a racked (because linking people with gadgets was the thing medics seemed to like most) were missing completely. It looked like they had removed them after her panic attack. Obviously, the lizard woman herself had problems fighting her wounds and the aftermath of the tranquillizers at the same time. Only her head was visible under the warm covers, her lids were half-closed, her breath was deep and heavy. Numerous wounds, bruises and scars covered her face, various scales were missing. She was of a wild, exotic kind of beauty.

Joshua gulped. Her beauty was simply too obvious. His rat-tail lashed over the floor, his cheeks darkened into black. Warmth rushed through his body and pulsed between his temples, in his chest, in his loins. Within seconds, the weakened, sick lizard appeared to be the most desirable thing on this and all planets. He almost forgot his mission while he was looking at her.

But his will was too strong to let that happen. He slapped himself on his sensitive snout and the sharp pain brought him back to reality. Love be damned! He had things more important to do.

Joshua quickly traversed the room and leaned against the window. For safety's sake, he also crossed his arms - to be so close to her body weakened his self-control.

"Are you awake?", he asked with his very own interrogation-voice: Cold, biting, unyielding.

It took several seconds before she showed any reaction at all. Then she turned her head with an agonizingly slow movement until her gaze vaguely strayed in his direction. "Yes", she croaked weakly.

"Fine. Allow me to introduce myself: My name is sergeant Joshua Rodent, soldier in service of Coneria's defence force. Most important: I am charged with a case we both should be interested in."

"I see", she spoke extremely slow, but seemed to become surer while she continued: "It is about my son, isn't it?"

Her son? Joshua thought: She can barely be older than twenty!

Then he said: "Let me guess: His name is Nevlamas, he is a cute lil' child and appears to be as dangerous as a padded candy cane - nevertheless he is the reason for this whole mess."

"Precisely", the lizard coughed up blood: "He is you man if you're looking for the murderer. But if you want the culprit, I have to disappoint you."

This answer surprised him. Joshua bowed forwards, closer to the survivor: "What?"

She chuckled: "The story is a long one. Do you have plenty of time?"

"No I haven't. Anyway, just tell me!"

"In short: My species suffers a disease that we call the black rage. It is a frenzy triggered by having contact with foreign blood. Under normal circumstances, the afflicted seem to be absolutely normal, but if they taste blood...", a deep sigh, followed by further couthing: "Strength, speed and senses increase ad infinitum, experiences of pain or doubt are completely disabled, conscious thinking disappears almost completely and an unquenchable thirst for blood takes its place. Once the rage is over, the afflicted will most likely collapse, remaining exhausted for several days."

Although he was in uttermost hurry, Joshua found himself trapped by her words. He bowed even closer to her: "How do you know that?"

Another chuckle: "We fought the shadows in our hearts for generations, we have learned much. We do not face the rage as helpless as once, oh no", now it was definitely pride that soaked her voice: "We founded our sanctuary to protect the rest of Corneria against us - with success as we saw. And with strict order and constantly steeled self control, we could at least delay the rage", again she laughed, bitter this time: "Maybe we should have initiated my son a bit earlier."

"And now this monstrosity is freely walking the streets of my city..."

The lizard nodded. "Kill him if you can. Grant him this final absolution. He does not deserve to be tormented by such guilt." After a while she said: "May it as it be, I thank you. I shared my knowledge and with that my duty should be done. I am allowed to die now and so I will."

Joshua didn't trust his ears: "Come on! Nobody dies just because he wants to!"

Her smile was glacial: "I wouldn't be too sure of that, mammal. But I go without sadness. I guess my people only delayed their doom from the very beginning - and to be honest, our extinction can only be good for the world. Our time here is over. I have to go."

All weakness was gone. The soft, reasonable certainty in her voice made him shiver.

"Now witness the power of a disciplined mind!"

And with that words she simply stopped breathing.

It took Joshua several seconds to react. Then he was panicked, shook the survivor's shoulders, stumbled over his own tail, bobbed up again, stormed through the door and shouted for the physicians.

They were by far too late. As they hasted into the room, the last traces of life inside her had disappeared. All what remained was Joshua, watching her body with tears in his eyes. And still there was awe. Awe of her daredevilry and self-control.

"Shit", he whispered: "Fucking, stupid, rotten, goddamned SHIT!!"

--

He had thought that seeing his worries confirmed would be the worst of all possibilities. He had thought that he was at rock bottom before he was leaving that hospital. And now the world seemed to mock him for that. Now it hid behind a darkness of unmeasurable depth and every heartbeat made the shadows around him dance in spasmic delight.

To deceive himself became harder and harder. Even while he was hasting to Tereny, the shock wave of an incredible message passed him: Fox McCloud was dead, they said, ghastly crippled and murdered. The fate of Lylat's greatest hero was of no importance for him - he'd let them blow up the whole fucking academy! - the idea of a possible confusion however burned into his anguished soul like a splinter of incandescent iron. Not even thirty minutes later, the "all-clear signal" flashed over the screens and mouths of Corneria and tensed his wishful thinking to its limits. Not the angelic mercenary was dead - only a wandering scallywag whose face equalled his amazingly. But still a furious hope glowed in Joshua's golden heart. Still he hoped to safe what could still be safed, no matter the costs.

Hope died last, lonely and crying on the cold floor he had prepared for it. Tereny's chamber had already become the workplace of another glorious Cornerian investigation team. The victim has already been brought away from here, the sergeant on duty informed him. "You should still be able to find one or two pieces however", he said: "There were plently after all."

Hope did its last, stertorous breath and died a wretched death. And during the following seconds, as his life lost sense and colour and the world seemed to spin around him and as the noise of his own heartbeats made him choke, in this moment, in this twilight between two lifes, he truly reached the bottom point of his existence.

It lasted only a few seconds and passed soon. A new star lit the black sky of his soulscape. A hot wind filled the holes and gave birth to a new purpose. Joshua embraced the hatred like the thirsting water, the loving kisses and the world-weary death. He rejoiced in the new-found power and obliterated his sorrow with it. And after everything in him had become a servant of that hatred, he gave it a target.

Politely he said goodbye and left the building. Out front he watched the shining towers, whose sight was his birthright, as if he saw them the first time. He took a deep breath and began his hunt.

--

Meanwhile, several miles away, an other being was escaping the abysses of its inner darkness. But where Joshua had found solace in hatred, this one found peace in the void. He had realized that he wasn't able to grieve any more. The last tears of the bloodscale had been spilled - and not even despair could survive any longer. And that was good, he thought. In contrary to sergeant Joshua, he couldn't allow himself the luxury to have feelings. Wrath and greed had swept away his home, shock and mourning had killed Tereny, his saviour and liberator. Emotions weakened him by far too much. He sealed the last traces of remorse and pain under a thick crust of ice, and then the hunted was just as prepared as the hunter was. The roles were distributed. Should it begin.

The newborn creature fled through the shadows. He avoided broad streets and large open areas, but above all he avoided people. Nobody would see him if he didn't want them to. And he did not. Corneria was bathing in its own glory, but only in places that were easily visible and with all that light there had to be shade somewhere.

His keen instinct for pain and misery guided him quickly to one of those places. It was an area of tunneling alleys and ancient, ruinous cottages that coiled around the feet of towering, shining skyscrapers. No ray of light reached this place pure and unbroken, not even during the brightest days. Nobody that had a choice remained here for long. As Nevlamas eventually sensed nothing but fear, crime and decay in every direction alike, he had reached his goal. Home.

His next goal was to make sure he would win the upcoming fight for survival. Due to his current situation, it would have been foolish to ask someone for help - something he had learned while he had accompanied Tereny - especially when he was surrounded by murderers, hookers and cutthroats. So he had to help himself. Straying through the narrow paths of the region, he quickly found what he had searched for: There were enough unguarded and overflowing refuse containers, shady and dirty backyards and garbage on the street to fulfill his needs for food. He'd have to feed on rubbish and rats (how ironic), but that was not a problem. A bed for the night was easily found as well - the ceilings all around were easy reachable hideouts, escape routes and shelters for someone with his skills. One more problem to solve and he would be able to settle down here.

Back in the sanctuary, there had been a proverb: "There are three proofs that the gods love us." The first was their body, blessed with agility and intelligence. The second was their downright immunity against all kinds of poisons and diseases - well, besides one.

The third proof was their affinity to water. There was none who could match the expertise they showed while moving through their liquid habitat. They could even breath it if needed. But this specific gift restrained their freedom just as much as it seemed to improve it. His kin did not only love water - it needed it. Two days, said the rule of thumb. If he still couldn't find water after those days he'd first lose his sanity and then his life.

Nevlamas had been able to bath in public fountains until now - although Tereny's shower had satisfied him as well - but being a spree killer on the run he would probably face problems if he didn't hide. He was safe here, but he was also trapped. So if there was no water here, there was none. Nowhere.

The searching took longer this time, but while dusk began to send its fingers over the land he found what he had searched for. It was only a tube in the ground that had cracked and now filled a corner of the tainted street with a disgusting cesspool, but at least there was still more water than faeces and heavens damn it, it was water! He had no choice anyway. And if he adopted the cruel smell of this place - all the better.

When dusk broke and the pitiful inhabitants of that slough returned back home - from drudgery or murdering, who cared? - to fill the streets and houses with faintly shining life, the young lizard had long curled himself up on one of the countless roofs of Corneria and fell asleep. The once beautiful ornament of his scales rested hidden under mud and muck. His breath was calm and steady. He dreamed of blood.