The Forgotten 10: Declaration Of War
#10 of The Forgotten
Baen stood at the edge of his ship while the raiders came by the small canoes from the shore and the smoke that rose up in the air. The scent of burnt wood and the even sharper scents of meat cooking on the air assaulted his nose. He knew that it wasn't the meat of any animal they had slaughtered, but instead those that had perished in the fight. The villagers were tossed onto bonfires at either end of the shore so that the bodies were properly disposed of. He didn't stake them out like the Empire did, he didn't make a show of the fact he had defeated his enemies. The very thought of the empire made him grip the edge of his staff a bit more firmly. His gnarled and scarred fingers dug themselves into the worn wood as if he had the emperor's neck gripped there.
He remembered when the Empire had first set out to put his people in their place. He had been a young man then. He had been young and eager to set out as a warrior of his clan and so had set out with the warriors to conquer what they could set foot on. That was when war had found them. It had found them in the Empire's strong foot soldiers that had traveled over land to come upon their villages. Those that stood against them to the death were the ones that were truly punished. Even remembering the smoking remains of several of the villages made his stomach roll and threaten to grow sick at the sights and smells that mimicked what he saw at this town. Yet then it had not been an honorable burning of the enemy, it had been something far more sinister.
The Empire had taken those that had died in the attempt to hold them back and showed them the contempt no human should show another. He had watched his own father hacked into quarters in front of his wide eyes. The man hadn't even been dead yet as the soldier's cut him to pieces and tossed his head onto a boat that was loaded with others such as his. The stink of death and decay had been forever burned into his mind that day. His father's remains had been divided up with each one burned separate of the others. Their gods would not allow the spirits to be reunited in the next life if their bodies were separated from the head. His father's spirit had been burned with the ashes that lapped against the battered remains of his body.
Their cruelty had not ended there. Even as the women lamented the death of their husbands they had drug forward each of the surviving warriors and made a great speech of allowing them to live. That they would not be slaughtered like they so richly deserved, but would live on under the Emperor's mercy. Yet they had raised arms against the soldiers so they must be made so they never could again. Baen flexed his fingers and felt the missing digits as well as a phantom brush of the pain he had felt that horrible day. His first years as a warrior and he had seen a bloody battle, his father's spirit destroyed and then he had been maimed with so many others. His fingers were discarded while he tried not to sob in pain, he had tried so hard to put on a brave face
It was only after that grim harvest that the soldiers had left them to relative peace. The warriors that remained could never string a bow or hold a sword properly. Even now the old grizzled old warrior was forced to stay back as others fought in battles he so wished he could experience. They were putting their lives in danger as he watched and the sense of loss he felt was as keen as the loss he felt the day he lost his fingers. At least his men gave those that fought against them a dignified pyre to send their spirits whole and entire into the next world. The women sobbed still, but they did not shriek their horror that their husbands and sons were being destroyed body and spirit. How dare they call them the barbarians.
"Sir?" The voice was hesitant as one of the canoes came up near the boat. The choppy waves made it rock up and down beside the larger ship. He glanced down at the sailor and waved his hand. "We've got all we came for. Shall we signal?"
"They are subdued?" Baen looked back at had been a prosperous town and could see from here those that were seated against the beach. From old greybeards to infants they had been hauled from their homes to witness how they had been overcome.
"Aye, sir. All subdued." The young man blinked his eyes a little nervously, "Shall we light the signal fire?"
"Yes, let them see why we were able to overcome them." Baen turned his eyes back to the shore just as the young would be warrior signaled his fellow on the shore with one arm.
The fires flared up at first a bright orange, but the powder that had been scattered over the logs that were neatly piled on the edge of the sands flared the flames a brilliant green. They rose up into the air so that the smoke billowed upwards and he set his eyes to the clear blue skies. There was always a moment of fearful anticipation when it came to summoning the beast Sithen. Sometimes he would ignore them entirely, sometimes he would come too soon, sometimes he would swoop down at the signal only to half terrify those that he claimed were on his side. Today the silver form of the great beast came into view with a flash of his broad wings as he caught the air neatly beneath them and started to spiral down.
The animal was glorious against the sapphire sky. No, this was no animal, he transcended animals the way gods transcended men. Sometimes it was almost as if he could touch the beast's thoughts with his own. They spoke two languages that barely meshed together, but he knew that Sithen was more than he appeared to be when it came to others. He was more than anyone gave him credit for. Baen knew that a mind at least equal to a man's burned behind those rainbow colored eyes. He also knew that there was humor and wisdom as well. If only he could truly speak with the beast would he know the answer to the questions that plagued him? He shook himself roughly as the cries from the shore brought him to himself. They had spotted the dragon.
"Behold! Behold the avatar of our gods and tremble!" His voice carried over the water as a bass rumbled. The water would make him easily heard. "We could have called him down to destroy you all, but we haven't. We ask only you send the message to the Emperor to release us from his hold! We are free men and women and are guided by the strength of Sithen. We will triumph! Let your menfolk not die in vain, but set us free from your Emperor's hold so that you may know peace again!"
He never wanted Sithen to come before they had conquered a village. Baen didn't want them to believe it was only a case of them hiding behind the dragon. He wanted them to know that his strength of arms alone could topple villages and towns. They must have faith that his army was powerful, not that Sithen was. If they centered on the dragon as the conqueror it was likely that they would send word to the capital and they might be able to slay him. The old warrior doubted it, but he would not risk the creature. Every glance at the glittering scaled form made him feel a swell of pride what he was doing. The old ways would return, it was only a matter of time. A matter of time and faith. As he watched the storm grey form descend on the beach he felt his kinship with his beast sharpen. They both wanted the same thing. It was just a matter of time and faith.
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Ice. Ice and snow so hard it could be considered ice. It was not his home. He had forgotten his name eons ago, he had forgotten who he was and for a time roamed the world as dumbly as any beast. An eternity of being treated like a dumb animal was bound to have such consequences. He who had been lord of the icy mountains and glaciers hadn't heard his name called in so very long. He only remembered a part of himself when a puny creature had captured him with magic and bonds both. A trap that had been woven with him in mind so that he found himself ensnared and caught up in the thick netting. It was as if his rational mind were being brought out like ice melting away from a hidden jewel.
Once it would have been laughable to even consider that anyone could capture him, but now he found himself held in a world of ice that was not his own and he mocked himself. It was bitter mockery. Every breath he took was filled with the sharp tang of magic on the air and when he blew it out he found himself wondering if he could stop the steady flow of air through his lungs. He lifted his head to look at the bowl that made up his prison. As far as he could tell it had once been a rock quarry that they had used magic to seal off and create an artificial winter so that he could thrive here. It hadn't taken long for the creatures to find out that he would die if he were exposed to hot air too long.
This prison was barren of even the smallest thing that he could use to take his frustrations out on. His prey was delivered already dead and cooling rather than hot and alive so that he could sink his fangs and teeth into it. The humans no longer came into this place, not after the first few had been attacked by him. To his shame he hadn't killed any, but they left him alone. The one he wanted most of all was never seen or smelled. He would know Timat from all the humans in all the world if only he could free himself. That man would know terror at the end of his life and the wyvern would know his revenge had been well given.
He rose up on his haunches and strained his full length from the ground as he had a thousand times and hit his muzzle against the top of the magic barrier that kept him locked in his place. He puffed out against it in frustration before dropping down to his hind legs and his wings came forward almost like a set of forelegs as he looked around a barren place that never changed. The only places that were different were the places he had set to work with claw and tooth to attack the rocks themselves in his impotent rage. He had been a god! He had been a lord! He had been more than what he was now. That knowledge ate at the edge of his sanity until all he knew was hate. Hate tinged with insanity.
He had his moments of sanity when he could eye his prison and try to figure out the best way to make an escape, but as each attempt failed more of his sanity slipped. Had he been an animal in truth it wouldn't have been so frightening. He would have been unreasoning and dangerous, but he had a keen mind behind it so that his bursts of crazed rage kept his keepers away. They stopped even watching. Did they wonder if they would sink into his madness as well? Did they fear the never ending well of black hatred would reach up to swallow them into its jaws. He found his thoughts broken by something new and different, something that he had never experienced and that enough was enough to perk his attention up.
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Lashane snapped her jaws and struggled against the hold of her collar as her laden form was drug towards an area she didn't recognize. She knew most of the layout of the capital city, but this was new. It was new and somewhat baffling. Here in the city property was considered a premium due to the sheer amount of people who gravitated in this direction and sought to build homes, businesses and streets. Yet she was being drug towards a massive crater that seemed carved out just at the edge of town. The buildings drifted off towards the edge of it and the ones that were nearby seemed to be guard posts of some sort. She pulled back on the lead only to feel the choke chain tighten around her scales and clamp down.
She stumbled forward hampered not only by the heavy weight of the cannon balls, but by what she was almost certain were a set of rapidly growing eggs. Her stomach was stretched slightly and her walk was off as she swayed slightly under the unfamiliar weight. She didn't want to go to whatever that ledge was. Something was wrong, something was off. It wasn't simply the fact that she could vaguely feel the magic that was wafting from it, it was something far deeper than that. An instinct far older then herself was at work that made her want to screech and flee far far away. The closer she got, the keener the instinct became until she was forced to hiss struggle against the stable master. Several times she suffered the choke collar to closing down to the point that it was all she could do to wheeze out a breath.
"Eran! Eran wot in bloody 'ell ya got there?" A loud voice hollered out. The tone was so harsh that it made her wince and swivel her head fast enough to jerk the lead.
"Timat's newest catch." The stable master jerked a thumb back at her and Lashane assumed he must be Eran. "She's to be housed with the first one."
"Not another one!" The guard came out and looked as if he had spent most of his life on horse back in one form or another. His gait was more of a roll then a straight walk and he looked at the stable master with easy familiarity.
"Prettier than the first at least." Eran gave her chain a tug so that she stumbled forward a few steps half gagging. "In you go, girl, go meet your cage mate he's been looking forward to meet you."
She pull against her chain led her towards a pair of heavy black pillars that were carved in the form of something strange. She only had a briefest glance of something that looked like a mingling of bird and dragon before she felt a wall of magic slide over her skin. The barrier let her in with ease and she locked her legs in place as she felt the sudden shock of cold air wash over her. It wasn't cool, it was so cold that she saw her breath puff out in front of her face. She waited for Eran to follow her, but instead he flung the heavy chain in after her as if he was afraid to cross the barrier. What had they meant by the first one?
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The wyvern crept along the edge of the rocks that lined the quarry that made his home while he watched something substantially larger than a human or horse enter his domain. For a moment his heart exalted that he was being given fresh prey to attack. Was it something that he could take his frustrations out on? The sight of it made him drool until hard drops of ice dribbled from his lips and he started to edge towards the form that was perched right at the gate that kept him bound here. It wasn't until he caught the form with the full face of the sun on it that he realized just what he was looking at and his wings rose up behind him.
Grey. Iron grey. The scales were hard and the mane stood up in a line along the serpentine neck. Most of all the eyes were swirling with colors he could remember all too well. His mind was like a slide of memories that made him rear back on his haunches and claw at the sides of his own head. The flashes were so fast, but what remained behind was raw red rage and sorrow. He spread his wings out as he pushed back from the rock sand saw the storm dragon jerk and turn its attentions to his noises. He stared into the eyes as he tried to grasp on the memories that pricked his mind like broken ice on his hide. He screamed out his challenge towards her verbally and mentally.
:Egg breaker! Mate killer! Filth and vermin!: His thoughts were poisonous as he flapped his tattered wings down against his sides before leaping into what air space he could claim.
:What- : The thoughts touched his mind. He should have been elated that another could understand him, instead the half-mad beast could only concentrate on the sight of something that stirred emotions form the past.
:EGG BREAKER: He screeched out as his wings gave another row and crashed in against the despised form of the female that stood on the ledge so near the puny humans that dared to keep him captive.
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Lashane blinked her eyes rapidly at the sudden mind voice that lashed through her own mind. It wasn't just the screaming words, it was as if the thoughts were brittle and not quite right. She flapped and tugged at her bound wings as she sought out and found the shape she was looking for. The dragon didn't look right. His body was pure white with clear crystal horns and claws, his eyes were as black as onyx, but it was his scales that drew her attention. Each scale seemed to be made to look like the shape of a fallen oak leaf. They were more birdlike then her own wings! She withstood the assault as she moved a paw up and tried frantically to get a hold of her muzzle to rip it off. The beast was insane.
The white blur launched towards her just as she hooked one of her claws under the leather and tore it free the animal hit against her side. She took most of the impact against one of her wings so that she was half terrified the fragile bone would be broken. Instead she went to her side and moved her claws out to tear against his side with her hooked talons. His thoughts assaulted her like the waves on the ocean, but made far less sense. They were garbled and half formed until all she could do was try to block them as she snapped her jaws and snarled back at him. His body forced hers closer to the ledge as her tail lashed back and forth.
She used every inch of her body both as a weapon and to stop the animal from driving her to where he wanted to have her. Her tail slapped against his side and her claws scraped against his scales. She could feel the places that her talons scraped against the underside of his scales start to chill and then grow almost hot as they were frozen over with a rim of hoarfrost. She saw the crystal teeth flashing out towards her throat and managed to jerk herself out of the way as their bodies crashed against each other. It wasn't until she saw him rear back on powerful haunches she realized what he was trying to do. His thoughts hissed through her own again angrily.
:Mate killer!: The words dripped venom that stung her every thought.
:I didn't!: She tried to protest her innocence but it was too late.
The winged creature lunged forward again and this time used his wings to take to air just enough to swing his hind legs forward. They were larger than her own and the toes were thicker then anything she had seen before. He had two toes that faced the front and another two that faced behind. Each one was tipped with the crystal colored claws as the swung to face her side. They hit against her hard enough to bruise and she tried to flail her wings to find them trapped under the restraints as she tumbled off the edge of the cliff. Her last thought was panic and fear as she dropped down into cold wintery nothingness to the sound of the wyvern's shriek of triumph.
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The wyvern followed the limp body down to find his enemy tangled against the edge of the ruins while he snuffed against it. The chain that was wrapped around her neck was partially tangled in some of the jagged rocks so that her head was held up at a strange tilted angle. The scent offended every part of him while he stalked around it on two legs and made a few mock snaps of his head. It wasn't until he neared the haunches that he froze and tilted his head to one side in a bird like movement. There was something definitely wrong with the way she was built and what his memory told him. His eyes pinned down as he looked over her stomach and saw it distended and heavy with what looked like a fine heavy clutch and he moved one of his feet out to pull at her tail.
The limp body shifted at his tugging, but it was enough to reveal that his enemy was actually a female. A young female at that! He shifted his weight on his legs as he looked her over and some amount of sanity chased back his madness and his memories. He could remember the one who had shattered the eggs in the past hadn't looked like this. That one had been a male with scales so dark that they were almost black while his crest had been a deep charcoal gray. For a moment he didn't care if it was her or her ancestor, what mattered was the fact that he had been able to remove her from existence. He dropped back down to use his wings like forelegs when he saw the ribs rise and fall in a slow hesitant breath.
That caught his attention. The female started to draw in another breath before sighing it out. It was if each breath were a torture to pull into her abused lungs before they were hissed back out again. One of her wings was crumbled and obviously broken from the sight of it and her scales were dented where she had hit rocks on her way down. She would live though, their kind could live through most anything as long as the initial wound didn't kill them. He looked down at her stomach and the straining scales that were layered over it before he felt an idea start to grow. An egg for an egg. A life for a life. He spread his jaws and hissed out so that a splatter of ice hit against her side like the clatter of pebbles.
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Lashane couldn't move for a moment as she regained consciousness. Her body was so cold, so very cold she thought she was hovering on the very edge of death. She tried to suck in a breath but it barely whistled past her throat as her neck felt as if it were being torn apart as something was digging into one side. She managed to open her eyes and her first impression was the feel of the collar that was supporting her neck and nearly choking the life out of her. She lifted her head up to bark out a noise to clear her throat. It rasped and she sucked in a clear gulp of air only to have it exhaled when she felt a massive foot paw slam down against her stomach so that the cannon balls hit against each other. She tried to curl upwards to grasp her injured stomach, but the moment she did she drew up short from the leash.
She looked up at the Wyvern and realized that he wasn't looking at her, rather he was staring just under her tail with his nose lowered down at a level with it. The hind foot that pinned her belly in place didn't do anything more than keep her from struggling away. She couldn't even if she had wanted too, her throat ached and when she tried to move blinding pain went through her as her broken wing stirred beneath her. It must have been broken in the fall, who knew what other injuries she had sustained in the drop! She could be dying for all she knew and no one was coming to rescue her or intervene on her behalf!
A sudden cold chill ran down her spine that had nothing to do with her fear, and everything to do with the tongue that uncoiled itself and started to tease her folds. She writhed and spit out at the creature as the chill sank deeper inside of her so that it was threatening to actually slide into her passage. The creature's tongue caused the chill! It slathered around the edges as the first drop of drool formed around it's muzzle. She watched it as a glittering ball before it dropped down to bounce off of her under tail. It had been frozen before it had even left the beasts mouth and this was the tongue that was working over her vent and forcing the scales to open up.
The wet tongue pushed deeper into her body and she felt it wedging her folds open as the drool started to spill out and the icy chill spread deeper. She tried to kick her legs against his head only to feel his foot paw shove deeper against her stomach so that she was forced to feel her walls strain open. The wet saliva drooled out along the tongue and to her horror her skin started to feel a coating of ice form and then melt in a never ending series of frigid temperatures that trailed deeper inside of her. She twisted her head around to try to yank herself free only to feel the collar starting to contract down and choking her each instant she got any progress away from him. The beast's tongue started to wiggle it's way deeper inside forcing out a muffled squall from her throat as her passage started to dribble out the melting ice.
Ice was always spoken of as something cold. This wasn't cold. This burned! It burned until her eyes swirled with panicked sparks of yellow and orange. The tongue twisted and contorted inside of her leaving her struggling to kick back at him. The foot suddenly forced down against her stomach and rested right above one of the cannon balls inside of her so that it was sandwiched against her flesh. The bruising pain made her voice rise up into a screech of pain just as the tongue brushed against her cervix. Her muscles contracted in protest as the first shivers rocked through her. It felt as if he were freezing every inch of her! Her blood ran slower and her mind seemed to come to a crawling pace as she struggled just to retain some vestige of heat!
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The Wyvern stared at the writhing grey female and felt a surge of satisfaction and vindication for what he was doing. For the first time in years he had something to take his frustration out on and he wasn't going to let it pass. Not when his half shattered memories of yesteryears reminded him that her kind once had destroyed both his clutch and his mate. It didn't matter why, it didn't matter how, all that mattered was that here was something he could vent himself out on. Flashes of the grey nearly black dragon that had slain his mate and crushed his eggs as dessert continued to roll through his maddened state of mind. The writhing female's form was soon superimposed over what he remembered as he drove his tongue into her.
The heat of her was almost painful around his tongue, but all he needed was to cool the walls that were clenching around his appendage. He twisted and writhed it about from side to side, rolling deeper until he could just touch the barrier of her cervix. The moment he did she started to thrash until there was a sudden gagging noise and his eyes rolled up to see her neck bulging on either side of the strange collar. It was obviously clenching down and cutting off her air flow when she pulled away from where the chain had been caught on the rocks. He spread his wings out with a rattling noise as the large plate like scales scraped against each other while he started to push his tongue against the cervix a bit more forcefully.
His saliva drooled into her channel and naturally hardened into ice once it left the confines of his maw. He could feel the thin slices of ice being pulled around his tongue as he used his tongue tip to guide him right against the opening of the cervix. That was enough for him to draw in a breath and tense up his throat. His exhale was rocked through her passage as he forced up what was normally used only as a weapon. Ice formed on his very breath that was narrowed through his lips and pushed into her passage. As with his saliva the moment that it worked past his lips it hardened into hard slick ice. His tongue guided the spire as it drove itself through the passage and the tapered tip pierced through the cervix forcing it to spread open.
Her shrieks rang in his ears before they were cut off into strangled garbling noises when the rapidly thicken ice spire penetrated his body along with his tongue. With a female of his kind a mild form of this play would have been considered foreplay. At the very least it would have encouraged the female to start ovulating once her body had reached the coldest temperature possible. Yet the storm dragoness he had caught was not his kind, her body desperately tried to grow warmer and melt the spire of ice. Just as the middle portion of the ice cracked inside of her he blew out another controlled breath to erupt into her passage and stab through her cervix sending her thrashing under his heavy foot. He could feel each and every egg inside of her shift and move around as she reacted.
The sight of her writhing and trapped under him only drove him on. For so long he had no mastery over his own life in this prison. No say in the food he ate or where he slept. Even the greatest gift the gods had given to his kind was denied to him in the form of the barrier above him. He couldn't even take high enough to wing to revel in flight! Let her struggle, let her scream and writhe. Let her experience helplessness. For what her ancestors had done to him he would savor each moment and only after would he decide if she should live or die. He let out a trickling hiss in her through his throat in satisfaction as he watched the folds redden and snapped his jaws in to shift one of the ice spires inside of her so that he used his nose to push it as deep as it would go. Let her suffer.
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Lashane felt the breath like a bitter winter wind, but what happened after made her arch up and screech out in pain. What felt like ice formed into her passage and forced her walls apart with the rough edges to it. The tip was as sharp as any icicle and it speared into her body forcing her cervix open and jabbed right up against one of the cannon balls. The moment the ice penetrated her womb she could feel the edges cramping down while she lashed her tail back and forth trying to push the beast off of her. The white scales shivered over the large bodied male like a bird settling his feathers as his tongue pushed up and her walls cramped and clenched down around the ice cube that shoved deeper into her. It spread through her body so that she was left almost keening out in pain.
Her internal walls were forced to stretch open wider and wider so that they were gaping open around the tongue. She could feel the scales that normally covered her slit being shoved backwards and the ice that held her walls open forcing them to feel the bitter coldness chasing through her. The ice spire wasn't smooth, at least not at first. It was roughened and textured so that it partially rubbed the inner flesh raw from where it was shifted inside and then pushed out from her own struggles. Her higher temperature helped to smooth the rough spire, but it didn't stop the burning feel of the cold ice that ravaged her body.
Her body tried to save her. The shivering increased as her walls clutched around the icy spire until she could feel it melting in a stream of water that flowed down along the base of her tail. The wetness went to either side while she tried her best to expel it. Instead the breath came again and just as she had managed to crack the ice another spire penetrated her body from the beasts mouth. The tip slammed through her cervix making the pain rock through her as the frozen chill reached not only the cannon balls but the eggs that had started to grow inside of her. Her fertility swiped away from her in that instant as her body temperature lowered itself to dangerous levels. She realized what he was doing the moment her stomach cramped up with more than reaction to the penetrations.
She could feel the muscles around her egg chamber pulling down tight around both the eggs and the cannon balls that had been forced into her. The wyvern didn't seem to care about her distress as she twisted and half choked herself in reaction to the gut wrenching pain. Another breath and the next ice spire was forced so deeply into her that she could feel the tip shatter inside of her womb as it hit the lead ball. Her eyes bulged and she bugled out while she felt another contraction run across her stomach as the beast dragged his tongue from her slowly. Chunks of frigid ice fell down from her folds as her walls closed down and squeezed each melting bit from her as she tried to sob out a sound of relief.
Lashane rocked her head back and then shook it back and forth roughly to try and dislodge the chain from the rocks. If she could only free herself of that she would be able to fight back against the wyvern that kept her pinned. The beating of her heart rose in tempo as her body was struck with another crippling contraction as the frigid state of her egg chamber and the orbs within her threatening to be rejected. Her hind paws moved up and she shoved against a scaled haunch. Her talons slipped under the broad scales as she clawed and tried to drive his foot off her already aching stomach. A sudden blast of breath and ice suddenly caked around her muzzle ceasing her struggles as the bitter cold sent a stab of pain through her head. The temperature change too much for a creature raised in mild climates.
The former mage opened her eyes to stare into the onyx orbs of the dragon like creature that hovered over her and its jaws opened to snap at the air. Its lips were rimmed in what looked like frost as it shoved its paw harder down against the bulge of her stomach. He forced the eggs and balls alike to jostle together while he flipped his wings down to the ground to use them as if they were forelegs. She snarled back at him as his eyes widened a little bit and she found herself partially drawn into those liquid black eyes. The anger in them seemed endless, as if the beast stored a pool of rage that could never be drained and it all was aimed at her. Fear made her chest tighten as her stomach clenched down again and her cervix parted to expel a sharp shattered chunk of ice that had been left behind. Did he intend her to die or to rid her of her eggs?
:Yessssss...: The thought hissed through her mind. But yes to what question?
= = =
Emperor Hylar sat in his throne while he looked down at the man that was hunched forward and kneeling on both knees. Even in the throne room with its vaulted ceilings the man reeked of sweat, smoke and worse things. His dignity kept him from wrinkling his nose or even turning away. The man's words more than were enough to give his mind other things to occupy it. He noticed with disdain Mage Timat was using a perfumed kerchief to hold over his nose at the scent. The man needed to learn to control his emotions more. The man before them h ad obviously come as fast as he could straight to the capitol with his report. It was a report which sent a tremor of fear and anger through the aging ruler and made him lean forward in his throne.
"They came durin' the mornin', Highness, threw the wors' storm we ever saw!" The man swallowed. "We fought! Them sol'jers ya sent fought too. They were too many o' them. No hope fer it! We FOUGHT!" The last word came almost as a sob.
"I believe you, but what interests me is the message you have come to deliver to me. What possible message would they have for me?" Hylar kept his voice even and wondered if the man had truly fought. Chances were with the way he was adamant that he had, the man had hidden or given up his arms. It was little wonder he volunteered for this journey. Did he think to have himself accounted a hero?
"Baen, the big'un, he brought in this huge beast! Like a dragon, but ain't no dragon like that I ever saw! Beast landed on tha' shore and snapped right through the mayor's house! RIGHT THROUGH IT!" The man trembled as he relived that event before swallowing, "Nothin' left but shattered wood, more left o' that then m'farm which they lit afire!" "The message?" He let a hint of impatience into his tone. The last phrase cinched it in the ruler's mind. The man had come hoping that because he was the messenger that he would be the one to receive the rewards and recompense for his farm. The selfishness of his subjects sometimes left him annoyed.
"Freedom, sir. They want ya ta renounce ownin' their lands an' leave 'em be. They'll stop raidin' yer shores fer a truce. Ya give 'em so much ta repay them fer what was taken an' they'll go away. If not they-" He hesitated and his hands went this shirt as he looked down. "If not they'll be comin' inland wit' that great beast an' take the Empire. Say it's from their gods, an' the beast is lookin' ta have revenge right beside 'em."
"Foolishness! A trained animal has you this afraid? Your Majesty, we can surely send more soldiers to the points of the coast and drive these people off once and for all. We'll slay the animal and be done with it." Timat interrupted him and earned a side long glance for Hylar.
"Master, beggin' yer pardon, t'ain't no trained beast. I saw it! It ain't even fightin' yet, Baen said they're waitin' ta face off with the capitol before lettin' it loose from it's lead." The man shuddered and the Emperor finally sat up and flicked his fingers in dismissal.
"See the guard quarters, they'll see to your comforts for the evening and in the morning I will see to the aid of the village." He dismissed the man with a flick of his fingers and watched him limp from the room before turning his eyes towards the mage.
"Sire, I assure you, they are no true threat!" Timat asserted as he dropped the kerchief down. "Or we can just let them go. A little bit of hard coast is nothing to what you have now. Their lands were good for little but fish!"
"Let them go?" Hylar let his voice almost sound gentle. "Their lands border the ice mountains. We have time and again been proven that a people live there that never come south, but that does not mean they will not! Shall we discard this weapon to let another hold it at our throats? While we have their lands they are a buffer should war ever break loose. I will not divide my empire at the whims of a religious fanatic! You will show that man your failed capture to prove the beast is just an animal."
"Surely someone else-" Timat started with a widening of his eyes.
"And then you shall accompany him and the reserves to the coast. You will be nominally in charge of them, I will assign three generals to lead the men." Timat's face paled slightly before the Emperor stabbed a finger at him. "You will represent me as a figurehead and nothing more! Leave war to the warriors, but assure the people that there is no danger from this menace. See me in the morning for further orders."
"Y-yes your highness." The man stammered and Hylar dismissed him with a flick of his fingers. He had once considered the Mage as his heir, but the man lacked the backbone to truly rule. He concerned himself more with women then with responsibility. He must have an heir, but now he was beginning to feel the first doubts that there would be anything left to rule afterwards. How much longer before other conquered people took faith from the Braans? He could only pray to quell this in the most violent and quick way possible to ensure that revolt never again entered his people's minds. When he was done the people of Braan would be erased utterly and their gods with them.
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