Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 3, Tah'Enar's Berth Ch 0
**Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 3 Tah'Ear's Berth Ch 0
If the building collapsing into an enormous, yawning sink hole had been a surprise to Dillan it was vastly overshadowed by the fact that the chasm was large enough to span several city blocks. Despite the mind-numbing astonishment, however, the ferret did not have the luxury of being frozen in shock, and so he moved... and moved quickly.
Running to the leading edge of the building, Dillan gauged the distance across the chasm-- too far. By that time the rest of the group had joined him.
"Oh Goddess..." Narissa whispered, tears still drying on her cheeks but, to ferret's appreciation, she was focused on survival rather than her recent loss. "We have to jump." and she made ready to leap.
"Wait." Jasper warned, and he made certain nobody took any action, much to Dillan's chagrin. The rat held everyone atop the roof as the building pitched and tumbled. Only once the structure was falling in earnest did he finally say "NOW!"
The ferret launched himself into the air, soaring across the span toward the far side of the chasm, but with such a great distance between it and him, everything proceeded in slow motion-- he wasn't going to make it. Never until that moment did Dillan not mind being wrong. He impacted against the stone hard, but not before several chunks of building battered it before him; only then did the merchant understand Jasper's reasoning-- until the rubble hit the walls there hadn't been any finger holds to grab.
"GOT YOU!" Jasper exclaimed. He was perched on a decently-sized hunk of building that had somehow embedded itself into the wall and, from his grip, Narissa dangled over the drop into nothing. "Come on..." he grunted, heaving and pulling, "climb up." the rat encouraged. Narissa grunted and strained, using his aid in rising up onto the stone frame.
"Head count is one short." Dillan called, "Anyone see the fox?" he questioned, pausing to hold his weight with a single paw so he could reach back to rub the furless scar at the back of his neck.
"Down here!" Zeke called from somewhere beneath the ferret, "It looks like some kind of tunnel." he explained. Dillan glanced down toward the voice, pausing at the greenish glow emerging from a break in the stone; it made his scar itch.
"It's not the sewer," Jasper remarked, "That's above us."
Dillan looked upward, acknowledging that they had fallen quite a distance and, indeed, the tunnels beneath Zion were splayed out above them, torn open by the hole. "What are you DOING down there?" the ferret demanded, glanced back down to the fox.
"Nothing." Zeke's voice was a little quieter, obviously intimidated by Dillan's tone, and he murmured a few more words too softly for comprehension.
The ferret tried again, a little calmer, "How did you find the tunnel, and what's with the glow?" he began to slowly pick his way down the cliff face, carefully choosing his path. He followed along the destruction left by the rubble that had scoured the surface of the sheer stone. The fox mumbled something quietly, "Use your big boy voice." Dillan requested flatly.
"She helped me." Zeke noted cryptically. Dillan didn't know what to make of the comment, but, as he was helped into the open path by the fox he had to admit that the tunnel looked like a lot safer option than climbing.
He let the fox help Jasper and Narissa onto the flat land. Dillan glanced down what appeared to be a limestone tunnel of some sort, "Hmmm..." the ferret nodded casually, "She should help more often. I'd hate to have had to climb down that hole."
* * * * * *
The edges of the chasm were sheer and extreme. The seemingly bottomless drop into the total blackness should have been enough to deter even the most skilled climber, but Roarg had not bothered climbing. Starting at the lip of the broken sewer tunnel a stony ramp had extended before him, growing out of the very walls of the Berth... and had continued doing so for hundreds of feet since. Roarg stopped for only a moment to gaze up at distance he had traveled-- almost two complete circuits around the inside of the hole, descending ever downward.
"You've found a way to tap into much of his power." the Moon Pelted shepherd spoke behind him when he slowed.
"Nah..." Roarg casually shook his head, "They're just feelings... like I know what's going to happen. I'm not doing it."
"Then it IS true." the dragon-in-mortal-guise whispered reverently.
"Yea..." the badger chuckled, "...we already established that. I am the last Paragon of Tah'enar." he smiled to himself, "It shouldn't be that much of a surprise by now."
"It is not that, my Lord." Cymbeline explained, then reached out and placed a paw on Roarg's shoulder, "You do not understand what is happening, do you?"
"I know that I'm in Zion, and I'm here for a reason." Roarg acknowledged, "I know this place is called Tah'Enar's Berth and that it reopened somehow, and--"
Cymbeline brushed several flecks of powdered stone off of one of his eyebrows, "The Sun Cultists are led by a True Dragon, and he has cleared the way."
"Cleared the way?" the badger laughed scornfully, "He destroyed several city blocks, probably killing hundreds in the process!" he accentuated the words with a snort and about-faced returning to the path, "I thought dragons were supposed to help protect the world... not destroy it."
"In his mind, that is what he IS doing, my Lord." Cymbeline responded, following after him.
"Killing people?" Roarg motioned upward toward the destroyed city streets and half-crumpled buildings over a hundred feet up above them at ground level. He managed to keep most of the rage out of his voice, but his tone came out unmistakably angry. The badger proceeded down the path, "Protecting the world... is that what you call this?" He continued, unconcerned with the sheer drop to his left as the stone continued to emerge from the wall to create a walkway for him.
"What I call it, my Lord?" the shepherd questioned, "No." the shepherd followed him down, "Dragons have not seen eye to eye in many centuries and, as my parents once told me, the True Dragons of Red Roost were the worst among us when it came to finding a way to agree on anything. I find his methods deplorable."
"That makes two of then." Roarg acknowledged, pausing to glance back at the dog, "So... how exactly does destroying the center of Zion protect the world?"
"You truly do NOT know." Cymbeline acknowledged, and his ears dropped faintly as he spoke the next words, "He reopened the Berth because he knew YOU were coming, my Lord."
"Me?" Roarg stopped immediately and turned on the path to fully face the shepherd, "Why!?!"
"Because the final Paragon of Tah'Enar has returned to the Berth..." the dog shook his head sadly, "He sees it as an omen that the Followers of the Moon will be punished."
Roarg started at that, "I'm not here to punish anyone!"
"Are you certain, my Lord?" the way in which Cymbeline spoke the words made the badger realize that he rarely knew why he was called to do what he did, nor where his path would lead. He turned about once again and continued along the stony steps as they emerged from the wall; there was no need for him to answer the dragon's question because they both knew the answer.
* * * * * *
"Be careful here." Nori spoke up from the front of the small party, "The pathway looks newly created."
"What are you talking about?" Beo demanded scornfully, "These steps look like they've been here for eons!"
"They're new." the ferret corrected, "If they were THAT old then they would have been cut apart by the buildings and street stones that fell down when the hole opened up."
"That DOES make sense." Jerard acknowledged.
"Yea..." Beo faltered, "but..." the black husky cleared his throat, "How does someone carve stones in, like, five minutes?"
"It's been almost an hour." Nori corrected flatly, "...and Wyse thinks it's magic." without anything further to say, the Wild Lander continued along the path, following after the rottweiler.
"Magic COULD do it easily enough." Jerard nodded in agreement, "Geomancy..."
"I don't trust him." Beo murmured aside to Jerard as they both followed after the ferret, "He's a Wild Lander."
"Since when have you had problems with Wild Landers?" Jerard asked casually, though he kept his voice low for Beo's benefit.
"Ever since I met one who was a total dick." the husky pouted, "You've seen the way he looks at you."
"A lot like how YOU look at me." the albino werewolf responded with a snide grin.
"Well, he's not carrying your pup, so he doesn't have a right to look you like that." Beo pouted theatrically.
Jerard laughed casually in response, "So you're saying you don't have a right to look at me that way either, huh?" he smacked Beo in the elbow with his tail.
"Well... um..." Beo laughed nervously, "...funny you should mention that..."
"Leave the silliness for later, Beo." Jerard noted flatly, his smile gone.
"You know how I'm imbued and all... Dragon Blooded, and everything?" the black husky wrung his paws together.
Jerard felt his fur start to stand up, "What does that have to do with--?" but Beo interrupted him.
"Dragons are not male or female but they're also both... they're the essence of creation." the black husky noted.
The white werewolf glanced forward toward the Wild Lander, who had gained some distance from them. Jearard came to a stop and turned to face the black magus, "What are you TALKING about?"
Beo offered a timid smile and softly rubbed his stomach, "Well... since I'm Dragon-Blooded it's POSSIBLE that I could have inherited that ability just as easily as I can use dragon speech."
If Jerard's skin had any color to it in the first place he realized he would have just gone pale beneath his fur, but it lasted only for a moment before he felt a burning heat well up inside him, "And you didn't think about telling me this before?!?" he barely managed to restrain himself from roaring.
"Well..." Beo's ears drooped slightly, "I don't know if I AM pregnant."
"I don't mean THAT..." Jerard fumed, "I mean you didn't tell me that it was POSSIBLE to get you pregnant!"
"Think of it as a bonus." the black furred wolf grinned sheepishly.
"It's NOT a bonus!" the words emerged from the werewolf as a roar before he could censor himself, and he paused when Nori glanced back at them from his place further up the road; the ferret's dog was likewise staring. Jerard lowered his voice and seethed, "You never said you could get pregnant... how is that even POSSIBLE?!?!"
"Well..." Beo offered a timid smile anew, "when two magi love each other very VERY much, they-- gurak!" Jerard silenced the husky by picking him off the ground by his throat. His white fur stood on end, the betrayal of his trust driving him to the edge of blood lust.
"I. Do. Not. Want. A. Child." the werewolf bit each word off distinctly, "Do you understand?" he refused to release Beo's throat until he received a frantic nod of acknowledgement, the black furred magus' paws gripping his as the held husky tried in vain to draw breath. Jerard finally let him go and dropped him to the ground, "Do not look at me again... and NEVER touch me again."
"...what if I am?" Beo asked softly; though the question was somewhat cryptic the werewolf knew clearly what the husky meant.
"Don't be."
"... but... if I am?" the dog's joyous tone was dead.
Jerard followed after Nori, quickening his pace to catch up; he wasn't interested in witnessing Beo's tears... or letting the husky see his own, "Don't be."**