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AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello everyone, here's chapter two. So this story has evolved into its own full length series. I really didn't intend for that to happen, but I got sucked into my own universe and couldn't resist making a series out of this idea. Sorry this took so long, classes have kept me busy, and stress does a number on my motivation. So months behind schedule I give you next installment in Chronicles of an End. As always comments, thoughts, ideas, and constructive criticism are welcome.

Chronicles of an End: Granis - Part Two

Gasping Valax threw the sheets off of her, and grabbed her sword from the floor beside the bed while her still half-asleep and panicking mind convinced her that shadowy horrors were appearing in the room. Without thinking she began a furious assault on the creatures before her, using every blow, counterblow, and underhanded trick she knew to bring down the monsters. Fatigue began to fill her limbs, and her sword grew heavier in her claws when she suddenly stopped her attack.

Her mind had thrown off the shackles of sleep, and she finally saw that there was nothing there. She was alone. Taking great gasping breaths, Valax dropped her sword and tried to calm herself down. Nothing here, she thought, No shadows, I'm alone. Nothing here. No shadows, I'm alone.

_ _ She repeated this to herself numerous times, but her panic only grew as images from her dream, pictures of the shadows she thought she had just seen, and the form of the monster from Darren's mind kept flitting through her thoughts. Eventually she grabbed her sword, and forcing the room's window open leaped out of the Four Horsemen's top floor flapping her wings.

She flew over the tops of the buildings in the city, desperately trying to escape from the horrible images and panic that filled her mind. The wind rushed passed her face as she soared over buildings at top speed and narrowly avoiding the tips of taller buildings. Valax performed every aerial maneuver she knew in a desperate attempt to escape the horrors that her panicked mind told her were in pursuit. She soared faster than she ever had before, and any guards who caught a glimpse of her only say a blur. She flew around the town of Granis until she saw the sky begin to brighten with dawn's first light, and only then did she begin to calm down. She flew back to the Inn where she landed on the slanted roof, and kept herself stable with her claws. After roosting there for a few minutes Valax finally felt the tension leave her limbs and the panic leave her mind.

_ Why did I lose control like that? It hasn't happened since my early days in the arena... NO DON"T THINK ABOUT THAT!_ Valax tried to stifle her thoughts and avoid reliving her gladiator days but it was too late. Images of blood, gore, mutilation, and other atrocities appeared in her mind. People being butchered to the roar of a crowd, the sound of bone breaking, flesh pulping, and beaten warriors begging for their lives as the crowd condemned them with a thumbs-down sign.

She saw herself walking into the open arena, the ground still slick with the blood of earlier fights. A huge crowd was roaring in the stands around the ring of sand, roaring with a crazed fervor fuelled by bloodlust and alcohol. The moment they saw her they laughed at her stature. Only fifteen years old, and with a small build they saw this as a quick fight. She felt the weight of her armament, a simple set of chain-mail, plate helmet, a round shield, and a curved scimitar in her claws. Her opponent, a male lion eight years her elder, stood on the other side with identical equipment staring at her with a wicked grin, confident he would win this fight.

A loud gong signaled the beginning of the battle. The lion charged Valax, certain of an easy victory, only to see her launch herself into the air, and with a quick flap of wings land behind him and land a savage kick into his back, knocking the big cat off balance. Archers had followed her flight to prevent escape. Valax used the opening to charge, but he regained his balance before she could reach him, and stopped her with a wild slash to keep her at a distance. The crowd gave a roar of excitement as the young dragoness proved to be an able warrior. They both raised their shields and began circling each other. Valax charged and slashed at the lions head, but he brought his shield up and counter attacked forcing Valax back on the defensive. He was amazed at the strength behind the blow, and pressed the attack, determined to not give her an opening. Valax was prepared for his counter assault and the ferocity behind it.

The lion and dragoness traded slashes, stabs, and parries, for a few moments, neither seeming to have the upper hand. The lion had an expression of outrage on his muzzle. He couldn't believe this small youth was matching him blow for blow, and he was both larger more experienced. Valax led the lion backwards a few feet letting him believe she was tiring. The lion took the bait and began to press forward, and lowered his guard believing he had the upper hand. As the lion continued to press the attack he lowered his shield more and more, while Valax convinced him he was winning. She fell back on one knee, causing the lion to drop his guard completely, the savage gleam of one who sees victory filling his eyes.

Most of the crowd began giving thumbs down signs, clearly thinking she was beaten, and telling the lion to end her life, while a small few gave a thumbs up pleading for the crowd to let her live. Valax then took a deep breath in preparation for her attack. As the crowd's cheers reached their peak and the arena lord rose from his seat to decide her fate, Valax unleashed a torrent of flames from her maw directly towards her opponents face. Leaping to her feet she began a furious attack catching the lion off guard, and his mane on fire. She continued her fire breath and drove the lion back further and further, his feeble attempts at blocking just barely preventing his head from being removed as the youngling attacked with a savagery rarely seen even among feral animals.

Within ten seconds of the initial burst of flame the lion was on his back with the tip Valax's scimitar at his throat, his chainmail cut in numerous places with his blood seeping through, and his mane completely burned off. The crowd had gone completely silent at the sudden ferocity of the young dragoness's attack, but quickly gave a roar of approval. To her horror Valax saw every spectator in the arena give a thumbs-down. She silently pleaded for them to change their minds and spare the lion and spare her the horror of taking yet another life, but the arena lord stood and gave the thumbs down, condemning him to death.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered before shoving the tip of her blade up into his skull killing him instantly. Valax immediately felt sick, and had to prevent herself from puking all over his body. She removed her sword from the lion's skull, and marched off to the combatants' quarters while the crowd roared their pleasure at having their desire for blood sated while she did everything she could to stop herself from collapsing in horror at what she had done.

The horror of killing had never left Valax even after years in that arena, and she still felt sick at the memories of those days. She remembered in vivid detail every opponent she had faced, their fighting styles, how she had defeated them, and how with nearly every victory she was forced to kill her opponent. She had seen what happened to those who refused, and it was far worse than death. Valax had seen one of the warriors refuse to kill his opponent. He was immediately taken by the guards and viciously tortured for weeks. She remembered hearing his screams day and night, until the point he was babbling and crying for his mother like a child.

In the forests surrounding the town a shadowy being laughed to itself, amused with the dragoness's panic. It had slipped into her mind while she slept and planted the visions he had seen from his master, and had made sure to plant them deep enough that she would see them and panic when she awoke. They weren't far enough north to carry out the plan yet, but the being always enjoyed tormenting its victims.

As the sun rose further and brightened the town, Valax slipped back into her room and began to clean up the mess she had made during her panic. Sheets and blankets were strewn across the floor, the nightstand had been knocked down, and the curtains hanging from the windows had been slashed to shreds. Looks like we'll have to pay for those... Valax thought, At least it won't be expensive.

Valax walked down to the ground floor of the Inn to see Drammen already awake and standing at the bar. She placed the curtains on the counter, causing Drammen to give her a questioning glance.

"Curtains? Thanks, but no thanks. They're all slashed up, and they're same style I have in the..." Realization dawned on his face and he asked somewhat angrily, "Were these the curtains from your room by chance?"

"Yes, how much will it cost to replace them?" replied the dragoness with a regretful tone in her voice.

"Not too much." Drammen said, calming down. "Thanks for telling me; most people would have just left without saying anything. But what possessed you to destroy them in the first place?"

"A dream."

"A dream?" A bewildered look appears on the equine's muzzle.

"More like a vision..." Valax then recounted the dream she had during the night, as well as the events just before her arrival in Granis with Allen and Darren.

"A shadow you said? That's what Darren saw in the forest?" asked Drammen with a burr of fear in his voice. Valax nodded in reply.

"If you had told me this last year, I would have called you crazy and not have allowed you to stay here and longer. But similar things have been happening around here lately. A few people have returned from hunting or other towns with tales of shadowy creatures. Creatures that shouldn't exist. Creatures that are only from legends and myths."

A cold lump of fear formed in Valax's stomach. There's more than one?

_ _ "What do you know about them?" Valax asked, "I've never heard of living shadows."

"I don't know where the stories came from," Drammen muttered quietly with evident fear in his voice, "but tales tell how shadowy beings appear at the end of each age. They appear slowly at first and always in the north. The first sightings are... well eerily similar to what's been happening lately. Travelers see them, people go missing, and remains aren't always found.

"Eventually more and more are spotted and one day there's an army marching out of the northern mountains. Nothing could stop them, and eventually they destroy everything, and kill nearly everyone while the survivors wander aimlessly in nomadic tribes, eventually forgetting everything the elder races have taught them."

"The elder races?" Valax asked curious.

"I don't know for sure what they are, but my parents told me they were the source of all knowledge. They supposedly gave this knowledge to our ancestors, and prevented us from being taller versions of the feral creatures that we're related to. "

"You mean animals?" Drammen nodded to this with an odd grin on his muzzle.

"There's a lot of folklore around here and the regions further north."

"Has anyone disappeared from Granis?" Valax asked, thinking of the shadows once again.

"Yes actually." Drammen replied sadness evident in his voice. "About a year ago, shortly after you left, Jacobs disappeared without a trace. His mate woke up alone one morning, which wasn't too unusual for farmers, but she didn't find him anywhere on their land or in the town. The poor raven and her chicks were very worried by the end of the day. He loved his family very much so no one thought that he would have just left. Half of the town helped search for him, but after a week we lost hope of finding him.

"More recently another person disappeared, but we found... remains this time." Drammen's voice had a tone of fear and revulsion this time. "You remember Annette right?" Valax nodded, the young squirrel was a regular customer of hers, and she was a very kind soul. "I liked her; she was always helping everyone in town out in some way and never asked for anything in return. Three months ago she disappeared in the middle of the night. Her family went to wake her up and she was gone. The town helped her parents search for her, but we found nothing that day.

"The next morning however, we found her body hanging in a tree south of town." Tears of anger and sorrow appeared in his eyes. "Her eyes were on the ground next to her and there were bite marks all over her body." Drammen's voice broke here, and he had to take a few shuddering gasps before he could speak again. Valax was horrified at the news. Annette was one of the kindest people she knew.

"She was given a proper burial, but no one deserves to have that happen to them."

Valax nodded in agreement, and suddenly gave a twitch as a voice spoke in her mind.

"Did I hear all of that right? The elder races and shadows?"

_ "DARREN?!? Is that you?!"_

_ "Who else would be talking in your head?"_

_ "You shouldn't be in the first place! GET OUT!"_

_ "Okay okay, but I know a thing or two about the elder races."_

_ "You do?"_

_ "Why yes, but if you want me to get out of your head I'll have to tell you later..."_

_ "Yes tell me later now GET OUT OF MY HEAD! You know I hate this!"_

_ "Okay, see you in a few minutes."_

"Valax? You okay?" Drammen asked.

"Yes," Valax replied with an annoyed tone, "Darren's up to his snooping again."

"Oh, the whole mind talk thing?" Valax nodded in reply. "I don't get why he does that. It's creepy."

"Yes it is, and I'll have to talk to the stupid wolf about it later. Would you happen to know if Maxwell is available at this hour? We need to get some trading done."

"He's usually meeting people by now, so you should be able to get set up in the market place soon." Valax thanked Drammen and went over to the stairs and saw Allen and Darren climbing down them.

"Good morn-"Darren attempted to say before receiving a vicious punch to the muzzle from the angry blue dragoness.

"OW!" he yelped.

"Now what did you learn?" Valax asked angrily

"That you don't like having people in your mind?" Darren replied with pain in his voice.

"Good boy." Allen was laughing silently at this, which caused Valax to remember the previous night's events. "Oh and give your brother his voice back. We need to start trading today."

Swearing, Darren gave a wave and Allen's laughter became audible once more. The three left the inn, with Allen smiling a gigantic smile, and made their way to the marketplace. The market was a fairly large square in the middle of the town, and most, if not all, of the cities and towns in the kingdom had a similar set up. Traders and business owners could pay a small fee to the town, and buy or rent a building for a store around the square's borders, while wandering merchants could rent a stall within the square itself. Since all of the citizens knew where it was there was always a good chance of getting customers there.

Maxwell was the manager of the market square and owned a small general store himself. His family mostly handled the general store, however, leaving Maxwell himself to manage collecting fees from the market's tenants, along helping new ones to set up shop. There was a small wooden building at the main entrance to the market where he greeted store owners and travelling merchants. The bear was a kind individual, but it was very unwise to miss a payment you owe him, as he would hound you relentlessly and even get the city guards involved in a moment's notice for the smallest sum owed. He took his debt collection very seriously, and people have had things go missing in "payment".

The three traders opened the door to the building and stepped inside. The room was fairly dark with a large brown bear sitting behind the paper covered oak desk in the rear of the room and rummaging through the various drawers built in to it.

"Good morning," called the bear in a deep rumbling voice. "One moment, I seem to have misplaced my ink." After a few moments of rummaging, Maxwell pulled a small jar filled with ink out of one of his desk's many compartments, placed it on top and turned to greet Valax and the wolves.

"Ah, Valax, Allen and Darren! It's good to see you three again, how have you been? You haven't gotten swarmed by chickens again have you Darren?"

Darren rolled his eyes and nodded embarrassed, causing the bear to give a guffaw of laughter.

"What is this, the fifth time now? You should really talk to the guards about that. Marsh should have been fined for it the first time."

"That's the annoying part, we HAVE told the guards," replied Darren, "but they just find it hilarious and laugh themselves silly."

"That's because it IS hilarious!" chuckled Allen.

"Do you want me to mute you again?"

That caused Allen to become serious while a puzzled look appeared on Maxwell's face. Valax explained what had happened the previous day at the inn, and Maxwell let out an amused smile.

"That is possibly the oddest thing I have heard in a long time. Anyway, seeing as you three are merchants, I assume you want to set up a stand?" Valax nodded in reply. Maxwell grabbed a sheet, and gave it a look over. "Well you got here at a good time, there's a good spot near the entrance of the market that you can set up at. The stall is very easy to see, and you're bound to get customers. The price as always is ten percent of any profit you make." Allen let out a grumble at this. He'd always though the price unfair even though they always made enough money that it didn't matter. Valax and Darren however, nodded in agreement, and signed the small contract that Maxwell produced.

"So how long are you three staying here this time?" asked the bear.

"Two or three days, then we'll make our way north to Zoak."

Maxwell turned grim at this news. "Be careful on that road. People have gone missing in the northernmost reaches of the kingdom." After that sobering statement, Valax, Allen, and Darren bade him farewell and set out into the market square.

The three traders found the stall quickly and as Maxwell said it was in a prime location. It was impossible not to notice the stall as it is one of the first things that one would see upon entering the market. Next to the stall on the right was the entrance to the market and on the left was the "Hammer and Tongs", which was both a forge and a store where various tools were made and sold. The black smith that worked there occasionally made weapons and armor for the town guards as well, and if one had enough coin they could buy arms and armor from him as well. A number of other stores were open and getting business, causing the square to feel slightly crowded.

"Darren, could you go get our goods from the horses? Valax asked, opening her pack, "Allen and I will set up here." The black wolf nodded, and walked out of the market towards the stables. Valax pulled a small number of goods out of her pack, including a jar of salts, tanned leather, some jewelry, a quiver of arrows and a hunting bow, and placed them onto the stall arranged in a way to show them off and attract customers.

While she was doing this Allen raised a paw and concentrated on a spot a few feet directly above the stall. With a small whooshing noise, glowing letters appeared above the stall. They appeared to be made of mist, but changed colors every few seconds creating a dazzling rainbow effect. The letters read "The Three Wanderers: Fine Goods Bought and Sold".

The appearance of the mist-sign caused a bit of commotion in the market square. Magic was very rare in the Kingdom of Naug, and among those that could use it, there were few that could use it well. Most of the mages in the kingdom lived, studied at, and worked for the Mage's College in the capital. Valax grinned at the shocked looks on the faces, beaks, muzzles, and snouts, of those standing in the market square. The magic sign always attracted a lot of attention, and thus a lot of business. Done with conjuring the sign, Allen opened his pack and placed a small variety of goods onto the stall as well. A small number of people eventually overcame their shock at the sign appearing in mid-air and began to approach the stall. For the next half-hour, Allen and Valax bought and sold a small number of goods, promising those that couldn't find anything to buy that they would have more goods shortly.

As another half-hour passed with no sign of Darren, the two traders were getting irritated and running out of the small supply of goods they had brought with them.

"Valax, hold the fort, I'm going to find my stupid brother."

"Hurry, we're running out of stuff to sell." Allen nodded and ran out of the market towards the stables to see what was taking Darren so long.

Valax stood behind the stall and continued to sell goods to those who came up, offer good prices in a loud voice to those who were strolling by, and occasionally bought items that the townsfolk were willing to sell. Another hour passed and there was still no sign of the wolves.

"What is taking them so long? They should have been back a long time ago," thought the increasingly irritated dragoness to herself. She started to close the stall to go find them, but when she put the last item away, Valax saw them wander into the market square with the horses close behind them and Allen doing a very bad job of attempting to hide laughter at something.

"What are you laughing about?" She asked when the twin canines found their way behind the stall. Allen just laughed harder and pointed at Darren.

"What is he-?" Valax stopped in mid question, and started hissing in laughter herself. Darren had feathers and small scratches on his arms.

"Yes, Marsh and his damn chickens found me again." The black wolf said in an irritated voice.

"We'll have to ask Maxwell to talk to him before heading back to the inn tonight. But first we need to get some goods out and sell." Valax told him, and opened the saddlebags on one of their steeds. Darren joined in as well, while Allen had to take a few more minutes to catch his breath from laughing so hard.

A few minutes passed, and the stall was laden with a very large number of goods, ranging from grain, to seeds, to various tools, and even a full sized plough, and it all came from the saddlebags which didn't look like they cold hold even half of the items they pulled out, but they still had much more in them.

"It always amazes me what they can do with magic," thought Valax. "At least when I can actually get them to work together..."

The saddlebags had a very unique enchantment placed on them by the wolves when they first started their little business, and it was the main reason that they were a successful merchant band of only three people. Without it they would have needed more horses, people to help sell the goods, and guards would have been a must.

The enchantment caused the saddlebags to be able to at least ten times what their volume would suggest they could hold. That in itself wasn't a very complex enchantment according to the wolves, but what made this particular spell so much more difficult to cast was that the items within the bags weighed next to nothing until one took them out.

Allen and Darren nearly passed out after enchanting the saddlebags from the vast amount of strength it took. Valax remembered them stumbling around for the next few days as though they were drunk.

"I really should get them to explain magic to me some day," the blue dragon mused to herself, "and maybe even teach it to me if I have the talent. It would be very useful. I'll ask them about it on the way to Zoak."

The rest of the day was spent hawking goods at passersby, haggling over prices, and making a small profit. As the sun began to set, the three traders packed up their goods, and stopped by Maxwell's office near the entrance to the market square to pay him the fee owed for the day. Darren also took the opportunity to ask the bear to talk to Marsh the next day. The bear agreed to his request with a hearty laugh. Once this was all done, they brought the horses to the stable and made their way back to the Four Horsemen for food and drink, and eventually sleep.

Drammen gave them a wave as they opened the door to the inn, but was soon called on by a table of customers. Valax and the wolves managed to find themselves a table as well, and bought some food when Drammen was able to make his way over to them.

"So Darren, you hinted that you know something about the elder races?" Valax asked the black wolf once he and his brother sat down. Darren gave a sheepish look at this statement, but began to answer anyway.

"Well the thing is- OW!" Valax had given him a vicious punch on the muzzle again. Allen winced at the blow, and gave Valax a strange look.

"What was that for?!" He asked.

"Just a reminder." Valax replied. "Now back on subject, what do you know about the elder races?" There were a few seconds of cursing before Darren replied.

"There really isn't much known about them. What I do know is what Allen and I were taught at the Mage's College in Lidnon. The head mages believe that the elder races looked like the feral animals that we resemble, but were highly intelligent and very powerful. Some believe they gave the modern races knowledge as we evolved. Others believe they once ruled over the world, and even created it, while we were they're subjects. The arch-mage and the council of head mages have hinted that they have found evidence of the elder races. But they refuse to tell anyone outside of the council their findings."

"Does this have anything to do with the shadows?" Valax asked in a whisper.

"I don't know. That's another thing the council has been quiet about. They contact Allen and I through dreams. It's very unsettling, but we can have full meetings with all members of the college while we sleep. We had a meeting last night and I asked them about the shadows. I could tell they knew something, but they wouldn't give any details." Allen gave a growl in frustration to this.

There was a pause in the conversation as their food was given to them by Drammen's sister Ashelin. The Inn was rather busy tonight and the two equines were rushing to make sure everyone had food and drink.

"They never tell us much about things like this." Allen said beginning to pick angrily at his food. "Before we met you, the kingdom was nearly attacked by necromancers, but the council didn't tell us anything about their suspicions until those unholy bastards were nearly ready to attack. If we had been but five minutes later when Darren and I stormed their stronghold with our fellow mages they would have been too powerful to stop."

"That's odd," said Valax in a confused tone, "why would they wait so long before acting?"

"I don't know," sighed Darren, "I think they are just too old. They tend to watch and wait for a long time before even thinking about acting. Its fine to observe but when the enemy has gained as much power as the necromancers had in such a short time, you need to do something not just observe!"

"We voiced that concern to the council shortly after the incident," growled Allen, "and they told us not to meddle in the thoughts of our superiors. I'm sure they have their reasons and the plan they had given us to carry out worked perfectly, but they waited too long to put it in motion."

"Drammen had said that he had heard of the shadows in old tales." Valax stated in a thoughtful tone. "Did you two ever hear any stories about such creatures?" Allen shook his head, but Darren nodded slowly.

"I've seen a vague reference to them in the Colleges library. All that the book said was that they were omens on the end of the world. "

On that note the conversation ended and the meal was finished in silence. Once the food was consumed Valax paid Drammen, and the three headed up to their rooms. Valax was thinking about all of the things they had discussed, and her head was soon consumed with two questions:

"Could that thing Darren saw on the way here really be one of these ancient omens? Could they be a sign of the end?"