Chapter 1 - The Child and the Beast
?Assilsasta walked down the winding staircase into the darkness beneath the stronghold. She shivered as the cool breeze from the top of the spiral stairs cuts through the thin white dress that covered the velvety brown fur of her feline frame. The fluffy white fur of her main wavered slightly with the moving air of the stairs. Her main was a source of pride and a symbol of the Ussesa bloodline. Both male and females sported the bushy hair around their head neck resembling that of the male feral lions in the southern plains.It had been only three days since her 13th birthday and her father had fallen gravely ill. Her mother had died during childbirth, and the thought of losing her father weighed heavily on her young heart. Weighing more heavily on her mind were the events set in motion that morning. With no siblings the whole of a kingdom would soon be placed in her charge. The Rite of Rule had begun, and she now made her way to the lowest part of the city, far below the throne where she will one day govern her people.The first part of the Rite was a test of fortitude, one that no male before her had done before their 16th year. The thoughts of what secret was held within the depth rushed through her mind as she slowly moved, holding one hand against the cold stone wall. The rumors said that a secret of great power was locked away, and none but the rightful ruler had ever seen it and lived. What if I am unworthy, will I die also? Who will lead the kingdom if there are none from the Ussesa line left? What if I don't have the strength needed to rule this kingdom?" Her head raced with the possibilities as she moved deeper into the darkness.The stale air, no longer agitated by the breeze from above, filled her lungs as she reached the bottom. Assilsasta found herself in a cavernous room. The light from the torch faded into the distance ahead of her. The darkness seemed to continue on forever in all directions.A harsh, raspy voice boomed out of the shadows, "Come closer child." The sudden sound caused her to jump back in fright. "Don't fear me child, there is nothing I can do to harm any descended from your blood. Come closer, and bring your light." The sound of the chains could be heard as the unseen figure moved in the distance. "It has been a long time since I have seen light."Assilsasta began to move toward the voice slowly, she strained to see into the darkness. The light began to reveal the origin of the voice; an emaciated, haggard beast lay on the floor as if it were one of the feral wolf breeds. Its fur was thinned and falling out, skin clinging tightly to its bones. It weakly stood up on all fours, "For the first time since these chains were put one, they have send a female to see me." Unseen eyes fell upon her, "You are but a child, so much younger than those before you. Are you to be king?""My father is on his deathbed, and I am his only child." Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"What are you?""What do you think I am, child?" As it moved it head further into the light, she saw that it has only one eye, and an eye like she had never seen before. It looked as if it was made of stone, and rolled continually in its right socket, it left socket sat hollow and scared. She felt as if under a heavy weight as the beast locked its gaze on her, "Am I tool to be used against your enemies? Am I an oracle that can foresee the future? Or am I no more than a beast held in a dungeon for sport?" as it looked deep into her eyes she began to struggle with each breath, "All those before you have told me such things, each as they came to fulfill the Rite. Tell me child, what do you think I am?"She took a set back a froze as the beast stepped forward. "So you truly don't know what I am." He cocked his head to the side, the stone eye rolled faster in its socket. "Your father never wanted to expose you to this, to me. One one did. You were to keep the Ussesa line alive, to live the sheltered life of a queen. He wished to protect you for the truth of Lamenthra and your family's past." He broke his gaze as he collapsed forward coughing up blood onto the dirt floor. Assilsasta felt as if a great weight was lifted off her chest. She took a cautious step forward leaning to see his face. "Are you ok? What is wrong?""And the soul of the girl-child shines through, showing concern for a beast that frightens you. For something that made you wish to run, but froze you in place at the same time." He looked up at her. "These chains bind much of my power. Any time I use magic without my master's permission, I pay a price. This is a torture that was unexpected. I cannot control the magic of my eyes. They see what they see, and they only see the truth. ""What did you see?""It is too soon. I cannot tell you." He coughed more blood onto the floor. "I beg you; tell me the fable of the Weapon of Lamenthra. What are children told of me?""Tell me what you were, and why are you in chains." She had become curious of what the true in the secrets were."I will tell you everything you want to know, child.""My name is Assilsasta Ussesa, the future queen of Lamenthra, and you will address me as such." She ordered as years of royal tutors began to come out and her fear of the beast subsided.The beast stood to a bipedal stance, towering over ten feet tall, wearing only a tattered loincloth. Chains hung from cuffs on his arms and a collar around its neck, and disappeared into the darkness behind it. He pufed his chest as if with pride, "I am Noroscureil, the Weapon of Lamenthra. I am a slave to the Ussesa clan."The sight caused Assilsasta to take a step back, fear reignited "The Weapon of Lamenthra is a legend from more than five hundred years ago. You are a living Beast. How can you be the fabled weapon?" Her voice shook as she spoke."So you know your
history.""I only know of the Weapon from stories my father told me before putting me to sleep for the night."Noroscureil sat before her on the edge of the torchlight., "Will you let me tell the stories?"She trembled taking another step back, "If you are the weapon, don't you know the stories?""I have not seen the light of day for hundreds of years. I have seen no one beyond the Ussesa hairs. The men of the Ussesa clan have never thought to tell me legends. They only came to speak of unrest among the clans and the other breeds." She laid the torch between them; the flame wavered shyly as it touched the ground. She looked over at the massive beast before her. It looked to be one of the feral dog breeds, but it spoke."I was a vilk," as if answering her unspoken question, "the runt of my litter. It is hard to see the weak pup that I once was, even in the state that I am in now."She curiously move closer, and saw the tell tail signs of the dark and white fur of the vilk tribes of the Northern Wilds in the remnants that sadly clung to his skin. "What made you the way you are now?" she asked as she cautiously reached out to touch him.She yelped and jerked her hand back swiftly and the beast move with a speed that seemed beyond the capability of the weakened body before her. "Be careful child. Your clan is the one that hold me here in chains." He rasped through his clenched teeth."I thought you could not harm me.""Perhaps the bindings have weakened over the centuries." He pulled his forepaw into the light, revealing the well-formed hand of the vilk he claimed to be. A chain extended forms a metal cuff into the darkness. "Maybe I can harm you, maybe I can't." Noroscureil sat crossing his legs, looking like more like a vilk than a giant wild dog. "We have three sunsets before us. I cannot kill you, and you cannot leave." He reached forward over the torch and mumbled a few word under his breath. The flame burst brighter as the chains began to glow. He winced in pain and pulled his hand back to him. "So the binding are just as strong as they once were." Rubbing his wrist he asked, "Will we sit in silences, you contemplating how best the use the last great weapon, or will you tell my the tale of the battle of Lamenthra?""My father would tell me of the four great empires and their lust for power." Assilsasta looked at the ground drawing circles in the dirt with her finger. Never had she been outside the spotlessly cleaned halls of the upper stronghold. "He told me of the cruelty of the Aves and their winged sky warriors. How they would attack anyone would stray into their domain." She saw for the first time the white fur of her legs and forearms become dusty brown in the flickering torchlight. "He would speak of the reptilians and their slave trade of Aquan people of the seas. He also told me of the Mammalians and their lust for war."She
coughed lightly as the stirred up dust filled the air around her. "He said that six hundred years ago to four empires each sought to rule over all the others. No one knows which started the war, some believe it was the Aquan people fighting for their freedom and the war started as nothing more than the quelling of a slave rebellion. Some say it was a dispute of the borders of reigns. Battles ensued on the land, sea, and in the skies. The war raged for years as boarders shifted between the kingdoms. Unrest and hostility between the breeds was on the rise. Some Mammalian and Reptilian breeds defected to the Aquan and Ave forces, and some Aves to the Mammalian armies. As the years passed, alliances shifted and breeds were no longer a concern among the empires. All who were willing to die for their cause was welcome to do so.""As the war raged on cities and homesteads were crushed and destroyed over border disputes. Thousands of innocent people died, men, women, and children. The battles and armies showed no mercy to those not among their ranks." She looked up at the beast before her; he seemed to be mesmerized by her tale.Looking at her fidgeting hands she continue her story, trying hard to remember the details, "Then the leader of a small clan of Kitzen, my ancestor, Kathero Ussesa, became sickened by the want less bloodshed of the innocent. He sought to put an end to the war, and bring peace and freedom to all the breeds. The Ussesa clan forged a great weapon and bound it to our bloodline, than no other could wield it against us. And with this powerful weapon they would put an end to the war forever.""The Armies of the Empires meet at pains of Lamenthra, a rich, fertile land which was fought over again and again. Armies camped and prepared for battle as the final negotiations between the empires churned hopelessly whit no resolution.""Kathero entered the council tent, now claiming allegiance to no empire or army except his own. He set forth and ultimatum for all the Kingdoms, Breeds and Beast of Taomerle. He claimed the fields of Lamenthra as a place of peace and equality, where none would ever suffer. His ultimatum insisted on no further bloodshed on the land, or the total destruction of the empire's' armies.""When the Generals of the empires refused to heed Kathero's warning, they moved to begin the battle over the land. In the center of the field stood the Kathero's small forces, flanked on each side by the army of an empire. There the Ussesa's final offer for peace was greeted with the battle cry of soldiers. Then he unleashed the power of his weapon, and the vast armies of the empire were leveled without a drop of kitzen blood being spilled.""The empires' lust for power and dominance over one another was lost one that day. The rulers of the empires hid in their fortified regions, and the mighty city-state of Lamenthra took root, building the stronghold on the very field where the victory
was won. Lamenthra blossomed in power, bringing with it peace and equality to all breeds."As Assilsasta finished the story her father recited so many nights, she leaned back on her hands, her fear of the beast all but gone. She looked at him; his eyes now closed, the eyelid of the empty socket sagged into the hollow, his breathing heavy and slow, as if asleep. She thought to herself, How can this weak beast be the fabled weapon that ended the Great War? It has hardly enough strength to stand, and no beast can live for five hundred years. If such magic exists why have the kings not used it to extend their own lives? Is his bloodline like the Ussesa, is he the descendant of the Weapon bound to us by blood?"This peace that you know only exists in Lamenthra." Noroscureil said with his eyes still closed. "Outside the region the kingdoms still fight; the empires fortify their own strongholds, held at bay by a weapon no one has seen in generations. The delicate balance of peace in Lamenthra hangs on the last two of the Ussesa clan. And now one lies dieing.""I still don't understand you." She yawned as the day began to grow late. "The console of the breeds keeps the peace in the city; we sit over the counsel only to maintain order in the sessions." She looked at him quizzically, "That is how my father said things are."Assilsatsa's question was rewarded with a rough coughing chuckle. "What you have told me holds the truth of the end of the battle of Lamenthra. And the Council was formed to resolve disputes peacefully, but the peace is only held by the fear of the Weapon being used against them.""What is the Weapon of Lamenthra?""I told you child, I am the weapon."She tilted her head as she question, "How can you be a weapon?""That is no story for a girl-child's ears, even if she is the be queen."He stared into the fading torch light. "It is a story of suffering and sorrow, older than the beast nations, of a time forgotten by most. I was a weapon long before the Great War." He continued, as if in a trance, his eye locked on the the flame. "Long before the sentient beast walked Taomerle there were two nations. The first were the Makers, users of magic and the natural forces of the world, They sought harmony with the land, it live with it, not in it. The Second were the Old Ones, who harnessed science and now forgotten technology to bent the world to their will. The Old One were the first to take the beasts of the land and use us as tools. They used their skills to change the beast and forge us into new creatures. They used us to do anything they thought was beneath them. We built their cities, worked the fields for their food." A look of rage crossed his face as the cuffs and collar began to glow softly. "Some were even breed for their entertainment. The greatest of which was the arena. When they were done with us, they tossed us out to die in the wilds."
His face hardened as he continued, " The Makers Saw how the Old ones defiled the creating. They marred the earth harvesting the raw materials to build their tools of destruction, Play death games with the lives of the beast. The makes would welcome those tossed out by the Old Ones. They taught us to survive, to life with the land, to me more like the feral beasts we once were. We began to thrive, our numbers grew. We learned to use what the Makers called magic, and the tools discarded by the Old Ones.""Seeing our numbers, the Old Ones found a new port, Hunting us like the feral beasts. They claimed it was to keep us from overpopulating and taxing the land and resources." His restraints glowed brighter as he clenched as fists. "This time the Makers would not help us, they feared war and needless death of their people was not worth saving grotesque creatures that the Old Ones made." Speaking through his clenched teeth, " We were worthy to be saved from starvation, but not for slaughter.""Our lack of skill and training with their tools for war only prolonged the suffering of battles. Five of the Beast stepped out, we sought to put an end to it all, to free all our brothers. We sought out the hidden power of Taomerle, that which was used to fuel both the Old Ones technology and the Makers magic. We search to the corners of the glob... and we found her." A gust of air extinguished the torch, and All went dark. the smell of smoke and charred flesh filled the airThe torch slowly flickered back to life. Noroscureil looked over and saw the kitzen cub had fallen asleep during his tale. He stood and walked as close to her as his chains would allow. Kneeling before her, he locked his gaze on her. The stone eye in his right socket began to roll faster, and the chains glowed brightly, "Sleep well child, for your life is about to change. For now you are safe, your father still draws breath."