The Hidden Tales of Shaomhav
Tales from the Armory
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
—H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature (1927)
Gyltorish [city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
26 Dec; 21:20:44 Hours
“… day forward, you exemplify the courage, sacrifice, and spirit of Shaomhav; a legacy forged through honor, peace, and the commitment to defend what is right. You are now part of something greater than yourselves - an oath that binds us together, a bond that unites you with those who have walked this path before,” Gabe Hightower spoke to a massive audience in the city square, as nearly one hundred graduates sat directly out before him. “It is with the greatest honor that I stand before you today, to welcome you into the Quarter. May your courage never falter, and may your honor be your guide. Congratulations, Claws of Shaomhav!”
Cheers erupted as the graduates jumped up from their chairs, they tossed their shawls into the air, while many hugged and congratulated each other as others were met by family and friends. The night sky overhead lit up with beautiful bursts of color as fireworks went off, and the booming echoed for what felt like miles. However, as Gabe still stood at the podium watching his graduates congratulating one another, he saw three of his Fangs looming off beyond the crowds to his right before they subtly moved back where they faded from sight.
The alley was dark and carried a musky smell that appeared to fester as the three Fangs stood in a circle talking to one another before Gabe approached them. He stopped several feet in front of his top warriors where he glanced back over his shoulder, and said, “What’s happened?”
“Grand Mane,” his Left Fang, Kairyu bowed his head and explained, “something of concern has unfolded in Aen’Goor.”1
Gabe’s eyes narrowed. “Wuh-what? What’s happened? Something with Theo?”
“What exactly, well, we’re not sure,” Tehvuh, the Right Fang answered as she glanced down.
“What do you mean that you’re not sure?” Gabe growled.
“The, the annual Aen’Goorian Royal Address,” Kairyu stepped forward as he elaborated, “King Theo Walker was not present, Grand Mane. No, his, heeeeh, his queen and their princess were in sole attendance for the royal family, and she made the address.”
“Dax…” he growled even deeper this time, but Tehvuh said.
“She spoke in terms of conquest, Grand Mane. It was almost as if she was channeling the lore of her fallen father. She was angry and, well, she, she, uh, she cried several times throughout her speech.”
Gabe clenched his fists tightly while his eyes ignited emerald in the dark, saying, “Eeeeeh, this is not good—”
“What’s not good?” Sadria O’Thsa asked, who was Gabe’s wife and Lioness of the Shaomhav Quarter, as she approached. “What’s going on, my love?”
“Heeeh, heh, ha, hah!” Gabe chuckled at first before he turned to his wife and smiled, saying, “Well, um, just some, uh, some rising concerns regarding Aen’Goor. Nothing for you to worry about, Sadria.”
“Rising concerns with Aen’Goor? Wuh-what? I thought Shaomhav and Aen’Goor had an understanding, my love!”
“We do, darling. We do.”
Sadria’s eyes narrowed as she stepped close to Gabe. “Then why are there rising concerns?”
“It’s, it’s the Shim. The Shim,” he said through his teeth before a grin transformed out of his disgust, and he finished, “but like I said, nothing to worry about.”
Sadria’s head slightly tilted to the right with her eyes still narrow, but Gabe reached out and took her hand before he began to lead her back toward the celebration. However, the two stopped in their tracks as the final Fang, the Secret stepped forward and he called to them, “There has been more, my Manes…”
Gabe’s eyes closed tightly and he bit down on his lip. “More?”
“Wuh-what are you speaking of, Grador?” Sadria asked as she was the first to turn.
“The imperial politics of Aen’Goor are not what we are here for, Lioness,” he said as Gabe turned and repeated himself.
“More?”
“Yes, Grand Mane. Many more.”
“I do not understand,” Sadria snapped as she glanced at her husband.
Grador again stepped forward, lowering his voice to barely above a whisper as he said, “Thirty-seven. There were thirty-seven this time.”
“Thirty-seven?” Sadria gasped.
“It was one, maybe two every few months but thirty-seven… No, no, this, it, it cannot be accurate,” Gabe tried denying, however Tehvuh confirmed her fellow Fang.
“It was a massacre, Grand Mane - We’re doing everything we can to conceal it from those on Bay’Etor.”
Kairyu sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The locals are whispering and night tales are sure to spread, and when they do, they’ll spread like the leaves in the harvest moon wind.”
“Are, are there bodies this time?” Gabe asked as his hand pulled free from Sadria’s.
“Yes,” Grador confirmed, “all thirty-seven.”
“I must see!” Gabe exclaimed, but Sadria yanked his arm and spun him toward herself.
“My love! We cannot leave this celebration! If the Fangs speak of night-tales spreading already, our departure will breathe life into them!”
Gabe placed his hand over his mouth and his pupils shrunk as he thought, but then he nodded while saying, “Very well, we will return to the celebration… but tonight Tehvuh will depart for Endul to seek the Shimmer Queen’s attention regarding Shaomhav’s questions of Theo’s absence, and tomorrow, I will depart to the sight of the massacre…”
Immah [city], Bay’Etor [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
28 Dec; 18:31:22 Hours
Tssssshhhhhh sounded as the ramp of the cruiser lowered and smoke bellowed from the opening where Gabe and Grador emerged with a unit of Claws. The city was small and only possessed mini-ports for any extraterrestrial arrivals, which made any ships larger than a cruiser impossible to land within the limits. Local kids quickly hurried to the gated entrance of the port where Gabe and the others were, and they started calling to Gabe with cheer.
“<Grand Mane! Grand Man!>” a young boy yelled as he jumped up and down while several others chimed in.
“<You’re so cool!>”
“<I wanna be just like you, Grand Mane!>”
The crowd grew several folds from just a small group of kids to over forty people, who were all cheering and calling to Gabe as they now began walking toward the crowd. Gabe waved and smiled, and he stopped in front of them where he took a knee and said to the children, “Look at all of you! Young, smart, and powerful Clawlings!”
“<Clawlings? You, you think we could be Claws one day?>” one of the kids asked with gleaming eyes.
“<Even, even me?>” a ten-year-old girl said as she bowed her head.
Gabe reached out, gently flicked her chin up, and smiled. “Even you.”
“Grand Mane,” Grador called as he placed his hand on Gabe’s shoulder, “We must be going.”
Gabe glanced over his shoulder at Grador before he subtly nodded, and then he slowly stood up. However, one of the kids reached out and grabbed his wrist and whispered, “<Are you here be-because of the Lytoris Eclipse?>”
“The Lytoris Eclipse—” Gabe said as his eyes narrowed.
Grador nudged Gabe. “Grand Mane…”
He again looked to Grador as this time a speed-transport pulled up just out front of them from the crowd, and Grador now nodded in the direction of it but Gabe refused. “What is he talking about?”
“Wuh-what?” Grador stammered as he stepped toward the transport.
“If I’m here because of the Lytoris Eclipse - What is he referring about, Grador?”
“The Lytoris Eclipse? It’s, it’s just a planetary eclipse of the sun for Bay’Etor, that’s all,” he explained before again urging Gabe toward the transport where Claws awaited them. “Now please, Grand Mane, we must go.”
Gabe stood in front of the crowd with the young child still looking up to him while he reluctantly began to back away, moving toward the transport while the others in the crowd cheered him and called out, “<I can’t believe I met the Grand Mane!>”
“<Did you hear him? Did you? He said we could be Claws!>”
“<Grand Mane! Grand Mane! We love you!>”
“What is going on here, Grador?” Gabe hissed to his Fang while they neared the transport, but just as they were about to get in, a woman grabbed Gabe’s arm and spun him to herself while she pleaded with him.
“<Grand Mane! Grand Mane, please! My daughter! My girl! She’s missing! She wasn’t amongst them! Please—”
“Your daughter?” Gabe uttered with wide eyes while Claws pulled the woman back.
“<YES! Yes, Grand Mane! My daughter was not amongst the others! She’s still missing! Pleeeeeease!>”
Grador quickly ushered Gabe into the transport and closed their side door as the Claws boarded through the rear and the other side, all in a near blink before the vehicle sped off. Gabe bobbed his head around, attempting to look out the windows to the mother who begged for his help and instead, he barely got a glimpse of her as the crowd disappeared in the distance.
***
Fifteen minutes later…
A loud hiss erupted as the side doors opened and rose which allowed the Claws to disembark before Grador and lastly, Gabe whose eyes narrowed while he looked around. The homes in the small neighborhood were abandoned, the streets were empty with something that caught Gabe’s attention. He tilted his head slightly to the left before going to his right as he walked around the transport, where he stopped. Gabe even knelt down and looked to the ground as that same oddity remained, so much so that it caused him to reach out and grab a handful of the gravel that he looked at in his palm.
“This is ground zero, Grand Mane,” Grador announced.
“It’s,” Gabe said barely louder than a whisper as he slowly poured the gravel out of his hand to the ground beside him, “it’s red…”
Grador turned to him as his head clocked back slightly. “Excuse me?”
“It’s all red,” he elaborated as he stood up and looked around to everything. “It all has a red tint, why?”
But nothing as everyone remained silent.
Gabe’s nostrils flared as he glanced around at them all before finally barking, “Why does everything possess a red tint? Why?”
Still, none answered at first but after several minutes of staticky tension with Gabe continuing to glare them all up and down, one of the Claws stepped forward with his head bowed and he answered, “<Grand Mane, um, it’s, uh, it’s red because of, well, of, of the blood.>”
“Buh-blood?” Gabe asked with an up-tick in his voice.
“<Yes, everywhere.>”
“Where? Where is it then?”
“<We, we cleaned the area, Grand Mane.>”
Gabe’s pupils shrunk to pinpoints as his brow furrowed and he stepped toward the Claw. “Yous what?”
“Grand Mane,” Grador interjected, “I ordered them to clean the area.”
“What?” Gabe exploded as he spun to Grador before demanding, “I want to see it!”
“Grand Mane—” Grador attempted to push back, but an emerald aura ignited off of Gabe as he roared.
“NOW! I want to see it, now!”
Grador immediately bowed his head to Gabe before he turned slightly to the Claws, and ordered, “Retrieve the recreation disc,” and without hesitation, two hurried over to the transport where they unpacked a four-foot-in-diameter disc that they carefully set down in front of Gabe.
The air had grown thick as Gabe stood looming over the disc and the two Claws who readied to start it, as the intensely green glowing aura burned off him. Then like a countdown initiating, the Claw closest to Gabe tapped the top of the disc and a bright blue light blinked once, twice, and then a third time before a powerful flash erupted. The Claws, including Grador, almost flinched back as the pulse of light shot out from the disc to every portion of the neighborhood around them; yet Gabe stood unfazed.
The emerald whipping wisps quickly grew less violent as Gabe beheld the three-dimensional, lifelike recreation before him. There, mangled and a lot dismembered, were the thirty-seven corpses of men, women, the elderly, and even children which drove the glowing emerald eyes of Gabe dark and the aura extinguished. The Grand Mane was hit with the realization of what he demanded and promptly received as he stood in the middle of the massacre, looking upon blood everywhere.
Eduun Palace
Babuul’t [capital city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
19 Jan; 06:27:44 Hours
There was a chill that lingered within the Mane’s chamber, the only light within was from the three-dimensional holograms of the miniature recreation of Bay’Etor, as well as dossiers of nearly a dozen other similar incidents that Gabe was going over. He swiped them around and pulled up their recreations which he analyzed as his eyes pinged back and forth between each one. Yet Gabe time and time again found himself returning to the massacre. His eyes dilated at the blood and grew teary at the mutilated bodies that until he had stood at the scene, he had convinced himself that the massacres were just simply rumors thrown around to scare the people of Shaomhav.
However, the reconstruction dematerialized slightly, parting in the middle, where a bust hologram of Tehvuh was constructed as she softly spoke, “Forgive me, Grand Mane, but Queen Dax is prepared to speak with you.”
Gabe nodded. “Patch her through.”
Tehvuh’s bust immediately dematerialized and was followed by others as the chamber went dark for a moment, but then out in front of Gabe constructed a life-size hologram of Dax who sat upon the Aen’Goorian quad-spire throne. Her eyes glowed bright blue as she looked at Gabe and snapped, “How dare you! Who do you think you are, summoning ME!”
“Where’s Theo?” Gabe asked.
“Where my husband is, is none of your concern… naexu!”
“Perhaps. Perhaps it’s none of my concern…” Gabe acknowledged as he slowly rose from his chair, a smirk growing over his face and his tone shifted to barely louder than a whisper, “… but rumors are spreading across the Uni, rumors of Al’taek Shihaev.”
Dax clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles went white and cracked while she grit her teeth.
“A blackening.”
“WHAT…” she now snapped, “… do you want?”
Gabe sighed as he bowed his head, but then slowly looked up to Dax as he said, “I’m asking for your help.”
“Excuse me?” Dax chuckled. “You? You want Aen’Goor’s help?”
“Heeh, yes.”
“Ooooh, see, now you have my attention - What does the Grand Mane of Shaomhav need from Aen’Goor?”
“Information… More so, confirmation.”
“Information?” Dax’s left eye squinted as her head tilted back slightly, and she asked, “Confirmation of what?”
“Murders,” Gabe quickly answered. “Brutal, bloody murders.”
Dax again chuckled as this time she leaned back in the throne and raised her arms out to her sides. “In Aen’Goor?”
“Why else would I be seeking Aen’Goor?” Gabe’s voice ticked up as his face contorted with a scrunched brow and flared nostrils.
“Watch your tone when you speak to me!”
“My tone? My tone? My people are dying! They’re being slaughtered! And not just being killed, but in the most brutal and bloody way, dammit!”
“Do you truly believe that Theo and I would allow such atrocities under Aen’Goorian colors?”
“And you think I do?”
“Is it not happening? That’s why you’ve come crawling to us, is it not?”
“MY PEOPLE are being bled! They’re bodies dismembered!”
“Hah, ha, ha, hah!” Dax laughed as she crossed her right leg over her left and her eyes dimmed back to light blue. “You sound like a scared little child hearing the night tales of the Hidden Dragon!”
Gabe’s eyes fluttered and he clocked his head to his right. “The, the Hidden Dragon?”
“Heeeeh,” Dax sighed and rolled her eyes at him before she growled, “I don’t have time for your games, naexu.”
“No, nah, no, wuh-what’s, what’s the Hid-Hidden Drag—” Gabe stammered only for Dax’s hologram to disperse as she ended her feed, leaving him to yell, “WAAAAIT!”
The Mane’s chamber returned to its darkness as he stood several steps from his chair, panting and clenching his fists so tightly that the veins in his forearms flexed through his emerald survival-mail. Gabe felt cornered by what was going on and now the lack of help from Aen’Goor, he wasn’t sure what to do but his eyes shifted as they narrowed in a sense of curiosity. He looked to a faint glow that cast against his back and lit up the floor in front of Gabe, which caused him to spin around where he found dozens and dozens of dossiers holographically constructed before a voice sounded, “Query complete: The Hidden Dragon…”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed further as he slowly stepped toward the holograms. Though the staticky tension grew tenfold as he found thousands of reports, drawings, photographs, and redacted documents before himself. “Nuh, nah, no…” Gabe stammered as he moved one of the documents into view and saw an ancient depiction of a man biting a woman’s neck, “Vampires.”
Brahm Castle
Totihry [mountain], S’Tohk [dwarf planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
21 Jan; 22:05:24 Hours
The deep and haunting melody of strings reverberated through the stone hallways of an ancient castle. Faint flickering wisps of candles lined the cold and musky hall as an old man rounded the corner and walked forth toward massive wooden double doors. A shrieking creak ripped free as the man pushed open the doors and entered a colossal chamber. Hundreds of candles illuminated the empty chamber, as only a jagged and bone throne sat across from the entrance.
The old man remained silent as he proceeded to the heart of the emptiness, where he stood and pulled a gold amulet from around his neck which he gazed upon for a moment before taking a knee on the dragon etched in the stone floor. A sharp tink sound cut through the silence as the man placed the amulet into a deeper etched portion within the dragon’s mouth. His eyes pinged from side to side as a rumble followed and the chamber shook momentarily before the loud sound of gears cranking erupted. The old man quickly arose and staggered back with the stone floor cracking open and spiraling outward from the center of the dragon.
An intense and powerful heaviness consumed the chamber as the opening grew larger and larger until a boom erupted, and a gold sarcophagus started to rise. The old man cracked a large smile as he watched it come up into view; a dragon head, gold scales, and wings crossed over the chest. Slowly he approached the sarcophagus with a powerful pull directing everything to its center, and as he stood beside it, the old man drew a dagger from his belt that he used to carefully slice his palm. The man grimaced for a second before squeezing his fist closed tightly and holding it over the dragon's head’s mouth just as a single drop of blood fell free. Time appeared to slow for the old man as he watched the droplet fall through the air and splash upon the tongue, but that was when time returned to its normal perception as a deep guttural growl emanated from the sarcophagus.
Tsssssssssh erupted as pressurized air released from various parts of the sarcophagus. Then, the left wing slowly opened just a nanosecond before the right and the head of the dragon proceeded to lift and fold backward which revealed the silhouette of someone. The old man shakily took a step forward where he now saw the pale, gauntly man who laid arms crossed over his chest.
“<Muh-m-m-muh-my Lord?>” the old man stammered but gasped as the Dark Lord of the Hidden Dragon, Vlel’Debash slowly sat up while he growled.
“<Why… Why have you awoken me from my slumber?>”
“Al’taek Shihaev,” he answered barely louder than a whisper, “Al’taek Shihaev, <my Lord.>”
A sinister grin crawled free from the gaunt face of Vlel’Debash as his eyes were deeply sunken and a dim blood red. He proceeded to move toward his throne, leaving out a low chuckle with the old man begging of him as Vlel’Debash took his seat, “<I, I, I ask for your e-eternal fuh-forgiveness, my Lord! I would never have interrupted your slumber, but, but the River of Blood, it, it rushes to the Heartwood!>”
Vlel’Debash chuckled as he motioned his hand out before him. “<Forgiveness? You are aware, Kasyn, I do not grant forgiveness…”
“<Muh-my Lord—”
“… and I am quite famished, Kasyn!>”
Kasyn’s teeth nearly chattered as he could see Vlel’Debash’s eyes narrow upon him, but he quickly whipped his head back to his left as the sound of faint screaming echoed down the hall to the chamber. However, Kasyn’s attention quickly returned to Vlel’Debash who took in one of the deepest and longest breaths through his nose, only to bellow as the screaming grew louder and louder, “<Ahhhhhhhh!>”
“<Let me go! Let me gooooooo!>” a young girl screamed as she struggled to break free from the two pale men who dragged her into the chamber and up before Vlel’Debash.
The Dark Lord licked his fangs as his blood-red eyes slowly began to get brighter, and he asked, “<What spec do you come from, child?>”
“<Heeeh, heh, mon-monster!>” she breathily hissed and Vlel’Debash arose from his throne.
“<Bay’Etor,” Kasyn stepped forward and bowed his head as he explained, “The next phase in your prophecy, my Lord.>”
“Heh, ha, ha, ha, hah,” Vlel’Debash laughed before in an instant he had moved from standing in front of the throne to holding the young girl in the air by her jaw, saying, “<Heh, fresh blood!>”
Shaytur [town], Wylow [moon], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
28 Jan; 20:24:02 Hours
“Ughhhhh,” a young man, Faylor groaned as he and a group of friends were roaming down one of the abandoned streets of the town, “<Can you believe they’re actually enforcing this damn curfew?>”
Boom erupted down the empty street as another boy, Gabur kicked an old can and snapped, “<Yeah! Who does Shaomhav think they are? Aen’Goor? They don’t govern us!>”
“<That’s what I’m saying!>”
“<The Mane thinks he’s the King! Hah, ha, ha!>” a third young man, Teluht laughed but one of the two young women stopped as the others continued down the street and she shakily called to them.
“<Buh-but, um, but did you hear the rumors about what happened on Bay’Etor?>”
“<Huh, Meluh?> the other woman, Shyler turned to her with her head clocked back and she asked, “<What rumors? What happened on Bay’Etor?>”
“<There was a massacre, you guys!>”
“<Oh, come on! It’s just Shaomhav’s way of Exerting power on us all!>”
Meluh threw her arms out to her sides as she loudly said, “<No, Shy! I have a cousin on Bay’Etor! He, he told me that there was! It, it was horrifying! It, you, you don’t understand! It was so bloody!>”
“<There really was?>” Faylor asked as he took several steps toward Meluh.
“<Yes!>”
Shyler rolled her eyes at Meluh before she turned slightly away from the group who all started to move toward their friend. Still, from around the corner where they had come from, a group of Claws came walking and saw the five. The group of kids flinched as their eyes locked with the six Claws who now quickly marched up the street to them. The Captain of the group aggressively pointed his index finger at the kids, barking, “<Hey! What are you five doing out after curfew?>”
“<You don’t rule us!>” Gabur barked. “<Only the Wylom Congress can enact a legit curfew!>”
“<You all have a set of balls to be playing dictator after claiming you’re warriors of peace!>” Shyler growled as her brow furrowed and she stepped up to the Captain while the other Claws circled the group.
Meluh grabbed Shyler’s wrist as she aggressively whispered to her, “<What do you think you’re doing?>”
“<Standing up to these bastards, that’s wuh—”
However, the Captain snatched Shyler by the right bicep and pulled her close as he growled at her, “<We are the blade of the innocent! We have and will continue to protect you all…>”
“<HEY!>” Faylor yelled but the Claws began pushing the men back.
“<Let her go, now!>” Teluht snapped as he and Gabur pushed against the Claws.
“<Enough, all of you!>” the Captain yelled over everyone and the tussle instantly stopped with him pushing Shyler to the ground. “<The curfew is for your own good! You all will abide by it, understand?>”
Shyler pushed herself up with eyes wide as she looked at the Captain, shakily breathing. Meluh, though, quickly helped her friend up as the three boys hurried over to them and they then slowly began walking back down the street. The five looked back and forth between each other, not saying a word yet each look spoke loudly between one another. Yet they stopped ten feet from the corner as they heard the Claws now yelling, and they turned to see the six approaching a group of three not far from where they had been stopped moments prior.
“<HEY! We said all of you!>”
“<Get moving,>” another barked. “<Curfew is well into effect!>”
“<Your friends got the message,>” the Captain said as his unit stopped twenty feet from the two men and young woman. “<It’s time you three get it, too!>”
Meluh’s eyes narrowed as she uttered to her friends, “<Huh-who are they?>”
“<I have no idea,>” Teluht whispered as he started to back away.
One of the five other Claws took three steps toward the small group, sternly saying, “<Hey, are you three deaf?>”
The men still didn’t budge, but the young woman now turned around and looked at the unit. Her skin was pale and her hair was scraggly as it hung down in front of her face slightly. Her bright blue-eyes practically shined through her hair and the darkness of the night while she looked up to the Claw that again took three more steps toward them. Still, the two men didn’t budge and the young woman just stared.
“<What are you three waiting for?>” the Claw yelled, but the Captain’s eyes now narrowed as he watched his man take two more steps forward and it was at that moment something changed in the atmosphere of the street.
The young woman who appeared sympathetic at first, now a devious grin spawned free with the Claw taking a final step toward her as her two fangs brandished and those bright blue-eyes blinked blood-red.
Eduun Palace
Babuul’t [capital city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
30 Jan; 07:41:35 Hours
“If this is all true…” Gabe breathily whispered as he looked upon hundreds of hologram dossiers and recreations, “… Vampires were never a myth—”
Errrrrrk ripped through the throne room as the left door opened. Sadria came walking in, looking up to her husband who was locked upon numerous massacre scenes and ancient depictions of Vampires. She shook her head while hurrying toward Gabe, calling to him, “My love, please! Please come to bed - You’ve been up for days, maybe a week!”
“I can’t!” Gabe barked with sunken and bloodshot eyes, as he moved holograms around.
“Pleeeease!”
“This… This, this plague that is spreading, it, it needs to be stopped!”
Sadria walked directly through the holograms which caused many to disperse before kneeling in front of her husband where she again pleaded with him, “I understand, my love, I do but you won’t think straight if you don’t get sleep!”
“SLEEP?” Gabe roared as he shot up from the throne. “Sleep, Sadria? Blood-suckers are massacring our people and you want me to sleep?”
Sadria bowed her head. “I’m worried for you…”
“You don’t understand,” Gabe tried to rationalize as he pulled and moved massacre recreations around, and tried to show his wife. “For millennia there’ve been reports and incidents scattered across the stars but over the last year, there’s been such an influx, Sadria! And more and more the Hidden Dragon has been whispered,” and he yanked forth the hologram of an ancient scroll that detailed the Dragon, but Sadria’s eyes grew large and she pointed out an emblem at its top.
“Is, is that, that the Eternal Tree?”
“The wuh-what?” Gabe stumbled and glanced at the scroll before denying his wife, “Nuh-no, no.”
“My love, that is it… It’s the Eternal Tree! The Heartwuh—”
However, the massive doors of the throne room roared as they were thrown open and twenty Claws and several Fangs came urgently into the chamber. Gabe waved his hand down to his right and all of the holograms instantly dissolved while he stepped forward to the edge of the platform with eyes narrowing. His nostrils flared repeatedly and his brow furrowed before he snapped, “What is the meaning of this?”
“Grand Mane…” Grador answered as he led the pack to Gabe and Sadria, “… There was another massacre, and far worse than the others!”
“Wuh-what?” Gabe gasped, though the sound of a young woman crying could be heard as the remainder of the pack ushered in.
“<Help me! Puh-please! Please, help me! They, they kidnapped me!>”
“A thousand dead,” Grador announced and Gabe’s eyes fluttered while Sadria stepped slightly behind him.
“<Some-someone! Please! Hel-help me!>”
“A thousand? Are, are you certain?” Gabe asked but his attention shifted from Grador to the young blue-eyed woman that the Claws dragged up before him in power-restraints.
Grador nodded. “Yes, Grand Mane.”
“Who is she?” Gabe pointed to the young woman with his left eye narrowed again, and he asked, “Why is she here? Why is she restrained?”
“<Your Majesty! Puh-please! Please help me! Pleeeease!>” she cried.
Sadria moved back further from the ongoings while Gabe instead took a step down the platform as he looked her in the blue-eyes. Grador, though, quickly stepped to him and placed his hand on Gabe’s chest thus stopping him. Grador urgently told him, “Her. She is responsible for the Wylom Massacre.”
Gabe tilted his head slightly to his left before looking her up and down. “You?”
“Heeeeeh, heh, hah, ha,” she bellowed with her blue-eyes blinking to blood-red and she cracked a large grin that showed her fangs, before hissing, “<Release me!>”
“We’re not the ones who’ve placed you in a prison,” Gabe said before wincing in a sign of compassion.
“<You think what I am now is a prison? No, no, my Lord has set me free!>”
“Your Lord?”
“<He will ensure we drink from the Tree!>” she gleamed before her tone grew dark and she said, “<And you will not be able to stop him!>”
“Is that true?” Gabe asked with the young woman eagerly nodding her head. “Then where is your Lord?”
“<The Head of the Dragon is where he needs to be,>” she laughed before taunting him, “<and I cannot wait to bathe in your blood!>”
Gabe’s eyes ignited emerald as he thrust his left hand up and clenched it into a fist before yanking it down, which caused a baseball-sized hole to rip open and a beam of sunlight to shoot down directly in front of the woman. Her eyes grew threefold and she leaned back while letting out a hiss. Now Gabe was the one to laugh, as he said, “Oh, now you’d like to get serious? Well then… Where is your Lord?”
“<You do not scare me!>” she yelled. “<Your blood! All of your blood! It will be ours! And we will drink from the Tree—”
“ENOOOOOUGH!” Gabe roared as he thrust his open hand palm up to the ceiling, which caused the small hole to rip open to a staggering thirty feet in diameter.
The glory that was the sun rained down into the chamber that was dark and gloom. The young woman immediately let out a bloodcurdling scream as the rays obliterated her into flames and ash before leaving her nothing but bones. However, what Gabe and Grador believed was the end in that singular moment twisted into a nightmare as other screams followed the woman’s. The two, along with half of the Claws, looked around to find Claws and three of the Fangs in flames as they flailed and thrashed around. There was a combined gasp among them as they watched their brethren rendered to bones and ash, and Gabe’s eyes dimmed back to brown as he uttered, “Nuh-nuh-no…”
Court of ‘Ever, Eduun Palace
Babuul’t [capital city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
30 Jan; 19:13:27 Hours
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud echoed through the vast courtyard that sat within the center of the palace, with Gabe slowly walking through. The luminosity of the stars above lit up the vastness around the Grand Mane who gazed down to the stone walking path; as glorious marble statues that represented the free universe stood large, and stunning flowers from the Seven Spring Planets made up its beauty. It was quiet with the faint sound of water running in the massive fountain to Gabe’s right, where he stopped and looked at it but yet his mind wasn’t there.
“Wuh-what have I done?” he thought while the scene of his Claws and Fangs burning to ash before him replayed in his mind. “How could I have allowed this to hap—”
Gabe had frozen mid-thought, though. His eyes ignited bright emerald before spinning around as he expected to be face-to-face with the fangs of the Dragon, but instead, he found Sadria. His wife stood in front of him with large eyes and her bottom lip curled down. Gabe let out a sigh before he began chuckling, “Ohh! Heh, hah, ha! It’s, it’s just you!”
“I said to come to bed,” she almost scolded her husband, who now scoffed while subtly shaking his head at her.
“I can’t, Sadria! I can’t! Especially NOW - You saw what we’re up against… How, how I failed Shaomhav! ME!”
“How you failed Shaomhav? Wuh-what? What are you talking about?” Sadria struggled to get out as she couldn’t understand where his mind was, and out of desperation, she gently placed her hand on his face but he pulled away from her as he snapped.
“YES! Did you not see what I have allowed to fester in our ranks? These, these blood-suckers who have been within arm’s length of you! Of the innocent! And, and I’ve allowed that to flourish under MY nose!”
Sadria stood silent with Gabe slowly turning back to the fountain.
“I have failed.”
“Per-perhaps, perhaps it’s not all bad…”
“Not all bad?” he dramatically turned around with eyes narrowing, and he said, “Sadria, I’m in no mood to be playing games.”
His wife looked him deep in the eyes as they grew teary before she now turned from him. Sadria crossed her arms and bit down on her lip as she could hear Gabe let out a defeated sigh, but then she looked over her shoulder to him as she pondered, “Why?”
“Why? Why what?”
“Why, my love, why would some brood go through all of this for some, some mythical Tree of Life?”
Gabe didn’t answer her, however, he laughed which caused Sadria to turn to him before she playfully hit him on the shoulder as she said, “What’s so funny?”
“Ohhhhh, Sadria,” he smiled while turning so his back was to a small dying tree that sat between two marble statues, one that depicted a tortoise while the other a bear.
“Wuh-what?” she subtly scoffed.
“Myth?” Gabe slowly raised his arms to his sides with his eyes reigniting to an intense emerald, as his voice grew powerful and he emanated a tremendous pressure, “No, no, no, see, it was always right here!”
In a blink, a violent emerald aura erupted from Gabe with reality appearing to shimmer in and out of perception. Sadria stumbled slightly from side to side as she couldn’t believe her eyes; the small dying tree behind her husband flickered back and forth from that to that of a colossal, magnificent gold-leafed tree - the Heartwood.
Court of ‘Ever, Eduun Palace
Babuul’t [capital city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
30 Jan; 20:36:40 Hours
“Heh, heh, heh, heh,” Sadria panted while her eyes were locked on the Heartwood and its radiating pressure as it came into focus.
Gabe slowly turned around to the glorious Tree of Life, looking at it with its shimmering gold leaves and colossal trunk that stretched up to the stars above. The Grand Mane slightly nodded once before he told his wife, “I was drawn here, to Lytoris because the Heartwood called to my Hae’Lektaes, Sadria…”
Sadria ceased panting. Slowly, she turned her attention to her husband with her eyes growing larger. Her mouth then subtly opened as if she was about to say something, though Gabe cut her off with the reality of where they stood and what the journey’s road that brought them there was paved with.
“Here. Everything, everything has led here; from the Prime Genesis to the Heartwood, every decision whether it was made by myself or everyone in the universe has caused this. Ohhh, my green days with KOG where we were just young guns with dangerous power going out into the universe and fighting for an idea we loved…” Sadria simply watched Gabe as she felt his pressure changing with his recalling of the events to her, “The early days after the tragedy of the Shaomhav Quart where Talius, Barret and I forged what would become this coalition. Brothers turned enemies, love lost, and the ever-raging war of good and evil is the blood that flows through the heart of the universe.”
However, Gabe’s eyes now subtly narrowed as he sensed something shift. The golden leaves upon the Heartwood raised slightly, indicating that what had been unfolding over the last few months was continuing to do so.
The Grand Mane turned to his Lioness who he took a step toward and let out a sigh. “Sadria… A Crown of Darkness, a Neutron Soul, and an Avatar of the Heartwood - We all began this journey from the same brick, but we are where we all are because of the decision made by ourselves and others.”
Sadria’s eyes deepened ever so slightly more, and a tear broke free as it rolled down her left cheek.
“Sadria?” Gabe gasped but she pulled away and turned her back to him. “Hey, hey, hey, what’s wrong?”
Still, she didn’t say a single word as she stood several feet from him with eyes closed tightly and biting on her bottom lip.
“Sadria? Come on, none of what’s happened is your fault. I promise you that. I should have seen what was lurking within the dark around us but after so long of not looking at everything as something evil… I was blinded to this dragon within our midst.”
Sadria whimpered, and Gabe walked directly up behind her where he gently turned her around to him. Her eyes remained closed yet tears now rolled down either cheek. Sadria tried to hold back her cries but she did so again and again, which caused Gabe’s face to wrinkle with confusion.
The Grand Mane softly pushed strands of her long silky black hair out of her face before he ever so slightly lifted her chin. “Sadria, it’s okay. I promise. Whatever you think is wrong, I promise it’s not. It truly isn’t.”
Sadria took in a deep breath through her nose and a pull of pressure came rushing toward her with Gabe’s eyes again narrowing, but now she opened hers as they glowed blood-red and she whispered, “I’m sorry, my love…”
Eduun Palace
Babuul’t [capital city], Lytoris [planet], Savan-4 [star system], Sector-0107, Shaomhav Domain
30 Jan; 20:50:16 Hours
Thud. Thud. Thud roared from just beyond the Mane’s chamber doors with it growing louder by the step as an ungodly presence neared. Thud, thud, thud until sound itself appeared to cease in a blink. An ominous pressure radiated through the double doors before a click now cut through the recently crowned silence, and the doors pushed forth. Ash wafted up into the air like snow before the steps again boomed through the emptiness, and a silhouetted man in the darkness slowly embarked up the chamber toward its core.
Thump. Thump. Thump reverberated with the man’s slow heel-to-toe steps kicking ash up into the air. The man passed the skeletons of the obliterated by without even a glance; their agape skulls like a haunting cry into his uncaring presence, and instead his attention remained posed upon what lay before him. Then, as he neared the heart of the chamber, the aura of moonlight shone down, giving sight to his blackened survival-mail and birth to the crimson of his robe. The man took a brief pause with his long, bony clawed fingers stretching forth before retracting back into tightly balled fists; he stepped forth and crushed the young girl’s skull under his heel - Crack.
The moonlight, bellowed a deep and reverberating hum like the haunting psalm of a coven’s choir while illuminating the Chancellor of the Hidden Dragon, Vlel’Debash.
Vlel’Debash stood at the core of the chamber where his attention slowly glided to the full blood moon above. His blood-red eyes ignited crimson in its light. Then a sparkle broke free as his cold and gruesome expression cracked a smirk that brandished his fangs to the fallen sovereign around him.
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