General Art A Dragir's Tale

*M i d n a* · Mar 15, 2013

Well here's the start of the story. I hope that it will only be a trilogy, with probably 10-15 chapters each. I got this first book/story done, but like I said in the sign up thread, I will not be posting it all in one post, that would just probably scare readers away.

I will update every other day, or whenever I can. If you read my latest attempts you might find some similar stuff, but I guarantee you that this is a brand new experience, although with some characters from my latest previous stories. And as to the the next story in line, that is halfway done, so as you can see I'm halfway there to having this puppy done. XD

Rated PG13 Expect to find romance, battle scenes, which at times will be bloody and gory, and also some cussing, but not that much.

This story features only a handful of submitted characters from ZDers, but if you feel like you want to join this story just sign up here: Story Sign Up If I am not too far to finishing it I might be able to include your character.

And once again I was too lazy to make up a new map, so I will be using the one I've been using lately:

I appreciate your support. Happy reading. :cool:

Oh, and I will bring back what I was doing. I will mention the ZD members who are honored in every chapter, except that I will do that using the spoiler tag in case you don't want to know.

Honored ZDers: Meego, Myriadviper42

A Dragir’s Tale
By: Atsuma

Prelude: (A Daughter’s Sadness)

The Serpent Lady’s Bog, April 7th, Year 350

The huge bog was her realm, the well hidden large temple was her main residence, and the world of Jindaha was the Serpent Lady’s to watch over. At least that is what Ella Rose had strongly believed in her heart since humanity had lost its perfection many centuries ago. Not a day had gone by ever since her arrival to the bog without the goddess venturing out of her hideout to keep an eye out on many different things. Yes, many different things, for her entire bog was always bustling with some form of activity.

One main thing that she had been keeping a wary eye on lately was an invisible magical seal found underneath the earth’s crust that only she could feel, for she had been the one who had placed it over an entire realm long ago. The sealing of her own brother - named Atturi - had happened nearly five hundred years ago, but the seal's powerful magic would be coming to an end soon. She could feel it, could feel the seal’s power dwindling with every passing day, every passing hour, every passing minute, and every passing second.

As she studied the strength of the magical seal through the use of her inner thoughts and an invisible magical spell on her hand, Ella Rose—also known as Medusa, a name given to her by the humans—easily came to know that the seal would still remain strong for the rest forty four years that still needed to pass before it finally expired.

To a human, or a lesser being gifted with a short span of life, perhaps those forty four years would have seemed like a lot of time to wait on, or live, but not to Medusa. She had already lived a chiliad and more and knew quite well how fast time tended to pass. Troubled, she understood that those forty four years would come to pass soon enough, like a sudden gust passing through an open field in plain spring. When that time came to pass, her brother would be coming out from the dark place that he had been confined to all those centuries. He would not be coming out just to say hi, or admire the world where he had walked upon those five hundred years ago. No, Medusa and the whole world of Jindaha, and everything else that existed in it were in for dark times. For coming along with the return of her brother would be his massive army of demons and other cruel creatures, who –without the presence of their mighty king, their powerful leader – had scattered and disappeared to live both on the surface world and underneath it too. Without their master leading them, the demons and the many creatures that he had created had deemed themselves weak, but Medusa knew that they would be fast to come to his side when the call to join him once again came.

The last time that Atturi had been on the surface realm he'd had in mind destroying the same beings that he had been assigned to watch over alongside with Ella Rose. Atturi, who had been the first ever son to be created directly by the All-Father's hand, was given the gift of being the second most powerful being in the whole universe. His Father gave him great knowledge and wisdom to go with that power, as well as visions of many good things that were to come later in time. But Atturi's heart and mind soon became clouded with avaricious dreams of obtaining over-all power from his Father and for himself. He loved all that God had come to make and his plans for the future, but he wanted all that for himself, he wanted all credit be given to him and no one else.

So, knowing that he had been given great power, perhaps enough to challenge his father’s divine authority, Atturi disobeyed his Father's wishes when the time to obey came. He, and the many celestial creatures that had come with him down to the world of Jindaha, had done the opposite of what they were supposed to do. Instead of watching over the humans from afar in their invisibility state, they exposed themselves to the earthly creatures and killed many of the men. They also took the women – who were beautiful and enchanting to the eye – for themselves and had coitus with them. These actions would bring consequences for the humans later in time, for from the union between god and human sprouted forth the Gigans, colossal creatures of great power.

Ella, who had been sent as co-helper to Atturi, had been betrayed right from the start. Terrified, shocked, and feeling heavyhearted at what her brother Atturi had unexpectedly done, she tried to return to Celestia and inform her Father of it, but Atturi and a host of his followers stopped her before she could manage to leave. Atturi proceeded to offer her a place at his side, which Ella refused immediately. Her brother, who knew that Ella was very strong herself, tried to convince her to join his side so that he could see his ultimate plan for supremacy come true. Ella literally spat on his face and slapped him hard when Atturi assured her that those plans included getting rid of their mighty Father, who they were subject to obey probably for all eternity.

“I am offering you freedom from his constant watch,” had said Atturi back then. “Side with me and you will no longer have the necessity to remain tied to his will. You will be free to do whatever you want. You and I can be the masters of the universe.”

“You fool,” Ella had replied. “We are free to do as we please. You are witness to this yourself with your action. Now nothing good will come out of all this. You’ve disobeyed Father and started a chain reaction that will be the end of everything good and perhaps all of us as well.” And she had slapped him very hard again, hoping that with that slap she would make him snap back to reality. “I will never join your evil plans, brother.”

Atturi, of course, had not taken his sister’s refusal very well. And before Ella was able to use her powers on him, he proceeded to place a sleeping spell on her that forced her to lose consciousness for a long while.

With Ella down and out of it, some of Atturi’s lackeys had rushed towards her, very eager to kill her, but Atturi detained them from doing that with his tough voice.

“No,” he had said as he had approached her. “I have better plans for her.”

While she was asleep and at his mercy, for having turned down his offer, Atturi placed upon her a strong, vile curse which turned his sister’s incredible beauty to sheer ugliness. When Ella had woken up hours later, she came to find out that she had lost her God-given beauty, that she had been turned into a horrible serpentine monster. Atturi had only placed the curse upon her hoping that she would lose heart and come to him begging to be turned back to her original form, for Ella had been proud to be known as the most beautiful creature to ever be created. But Ella never did that, never went seeking to be restored back to her own self. Surely heartbroken and full of shame she returned to Celestia and informed the All-Father of what had happened, although he already knew about everything, being the Supreme Being that he was. He bade his daughter to have patience, let her know that he was working on a solution, and assured her that everything would be alright.

After those horrifying events, humanity lost its innocent state and came to know good and evil and also right from wrong. Atturi and his minions not only continued to oppress and dominate the humans, but the disobedient child – as he soon would come to be known as – created a unique realm underneath the earth’s surface where he and his minions came to reside. Kokytos was the name he chose for his realm. He had the power of creation at his command, so he had created this dark realm for a single purpose, and that was to have every living soul that perished on the earthly realm end there in that dark realm to suffer torment for eternity – opposing his father’s will, which had been the contrary: Ever lasting life and peace.

These atrocious actions did not go unnoticed by the All-Father, who grew very disappointed with his son. The Lord Almighty would respond in a harsh way, but he wasn’t involved directly. What ensued was a long, bloody, and terrible war between the All-Father’s forces and Atturi’s own and even other species that the disobedient child created for his war against the All-Father.

Atturi and his minions, though strong and numerous as they were, would not prevail. After many years passed and the war went on, they were suddenly defeated and put on the retreat by Ella Rose and a handful of other mighty gods who were Atturi’s brothers and sisters. But their victory had come at a great cost of life and after Atturi had done much damage and had changed the cycle of life forever. The gods and goddesses that had come down to fight in the name of the All-Father, at his call, returned to Celestia, their place of origin, where they were to remain. But Ella, who had been transformed into a grotesque, serpentine-like monster, had not gone back to her original world in the heavens after the war had ended; she actually remained in a secluded spot mourning the loss of every life that was lost during the long war. Many of her brothers and sisters believed that she had been ashamed to return to Celestia looking like the monster she had become, but the real cause of her decision to remain behind had been another. Atturi had not been defeated completely, had only retreated and Ella had sealed him in his dark realm. The All-Father knew this too, and so when he heard his daughter’s words through prayer, he was quick to attend her call.

“Give me time, Father,” Ella Rose had pleaded back then. “And I will make sure that Atturi is brought before you to face your justice.”

The All-Father, ever pleasing and comprehensive, conceded her daughter that privilege, but only for two main reasons. One was because he saw in Ella the tremendous love that she had for the humans and even her own brother Atturi. Deep down, Ella was much like her father: she had not been able to kill Atturi in the battle that they had waged, Ella had wanted to capture him alive, had wanted to turn him to stone and let her father do with him as he thought just. She could not do that because Atturi had retreated, but she had sealed him within his realm. She’d had hope that another time would come for her to attempt it.

The other reason was simple: The All-Father had the power to kill or undo any thing that he had created. He was a god of power, a god of love, was benevolent, all-knowing, and overly patient. He was good to the extent of the word, a being unlike no other in existence. Atturi was his son, the first ever being to be created by his hand. The All-Father would never take life from any living being – not even his disobedient child’s – when he had given it to begin with. He was a god of life, not a god of death.

That is where Ella had come to play a major role. Being the first daughter to be created and second child over all, she became the All-Father’s armed arm after Atturi’s disobedience. She became an intermediate sanctioned by the All-Father himself to fix the problem in the world of the mortals that was Atturi, The Bringer of Death.

“You have the time, my daughter,” he told Ella through the use of thunderclaps, for there was no necessity for the All-Father to be visibly present in the world of the mortals – as the omnipotent being that he was, he was present, but invisible. “But keep in mind that the humans and other species residing down here will be in between it all during your conflict with Atturi. They will suffer much, and so will you in time. But I know what’s in your heart. You want to bring me Atturi alive, and I believe in you. I believe that you can utilize your strength and power to do it, or else I wouldn’t have named you my armed arm. But be warned now: Atturi has the right to deal with you too. I’ve taken away his power of creation, but his other powers remain the same, so be cautious. He will have to wait until that seal that you placed on his realm expires, and what’s more, I have placed a magnetic field over the entire earth so as to prevent him from escaping through other means. His scattered creatures will be allowed to reside in the world, for to me they are living beings as well, I won’t raise my hand to destroy them. But as to Atturi, Ella, listen to me now and listen well because these words are genuine. If you succeed in bringing him to me, dead or alive, I will make sure that everything that he ruined is made right again. If you fail to bring him down, I will allow him to remain alive and do as he pleases down there until someone else delivers him to me. Is this clear?”

Ella had agreed with the terms, for her father was just. With the chance that he had given her, he had also given Atturi an opportunity to defend himself. Ella had suspected that there was more meaning to it than what she knew, but she never could figure it out.

From that day on, she had really wondered why the All-Father had let her know that if she failed someone else would have to deliver Atturi to him. But the answer to her dilemma was quite clear: The All-Father would never stain his hands with blood, would never use his righteous power to kill a being, be it human or god. That is why right from the moment that Atturi had disobeyed and challenged his supreme authority the All-Father had not utterly destroyed him, because he loved all his created sons, daughters, and other lesser beings equally. That is why if Ella failed in her mission, then someone else would have to deliver Atturi to the supreme, righteous god, because as the loving father that he was, he would never be able to get mixed up in chaos, would never be able to perform evil actions. Ella took heart in her mission. If she managed to deliver Atturi to him, then he would surely keep his word and be making things right again. That, Ella desired with a passion.

Before leaving her daughter that day, the High God offered to her a powerful sword named Arektäris, which in the human tongue would mean Soul Reaper. This sword was given to her for exclusive use against Atturi, who had many means to deal with Ella; the All-Father merely had evened the odds.

And so it was that Ella Rose had remained in the troubled world of Jindaha. She watched over it waiting for the seal to expire so that she could once again attempt to bring Atturi down. She had kept her monstrous form, despite her father wanting to remove the curse the same day that she had returned to the heavenly realm. Ella had refused, believing that her monstrous form would only inspire her in completing her mission. The monstrous form, she thought, would be a reminder to her of what her brother had done to her so many years back. In time, her monstrous form would only bring her trouble with the many species residing in Jindaha.

Many things, both good and bad, but mostly the latter, had come to happen in Jindaha during the passing of the centuries. Ella had endured many troubles right from the beginning of her time there. She had escaped the clutches of death many times at the hands of those that she had sworn to watch over, for there residing amongst the humans had remained sympathizers of Atturi. These were not the dark creatures that he had created for his war against the heavens, those had scattered all over the earth when the end had been near for them all. No, these were human servants who had been forced to follow Atturi. Very soon Ella would come to know that though Atturi her brother was gone from the surface world, there remained a bit of his presence through followers who had come to venerate him.

As time wore on and the creatures residing on earth settled down and continued to live on, the humans began to keep a track of time, dates, and years. (The humans had started doing this sort of thing 350 years ago) Around that time, the All-Father’s armed arm had had to retreat to a secluded ambient to the east which would later come to be known as Medusa’s Bog, or the Serpent Lady’s Realm. Her name became known as Medusa, given to her by the humans, who had been the first of species to ever lay eyes on her untrue form after the first ever war. Medusa was a name that many came to hate, fear, and even love. The goddess became a prize, her head a valuable trophy that many warriors had wanted to acquire. Seeking to slay her and claim her head as a prize, warriors from different realms and belonging to different species had come to the dangerous bog seeking the famed Serpent Lady, but many lost their lives in that place, if not at the hands of the ferocious creatures that lurked there, then at the hands of the mighty goddess, who’d had to defend herself from the threats. Through slaying and turning to stone – via a God-given power behind her eyes – many of the warriors that had attempted to eliminate her, Medusa had made herself be respected and feared. The number of warriors seeking her head dwindled as time wore on, until few were those souls who dared to attempt what so many had tried and failed at. But even in the new current era, in this running year of 350, warriors were still adventuring into the terrible bog every now and then seeking the famous Medusa that they’d heard about through early rumors and twisted tales. In the current era she was just a myth, and there lived none on the surface realm of Jindaha that could claim that he or she had laid eyes on her before. But knowledge about her had remained, had survived, either through rumors or stories, and so Medusa was believed to exist in the east.

That early morning, as she found herself at the base of the mountain, Medusa felt so depressed, so lonely, and even sad, the latter mostly because of the many warriors that had come to perish under her name throughout the passage of time. She knew that she was not at fault, humans were stubborn creatures, but she still blamed herself for the loss of so many lives. Picturing those many souls – and the many others from people who perished every day – being tormented day and night in Kokytos made her feel worthless. And her latest thoughts never helped her to calm down, either, rather had made her feel much worse. Though forty four years still would have to pass before she would get a chance at confronting Atturi, Ella could already picture the dark times in store for the world. And she felt her heart heavy and sad because of that.

*End of Prelude*

*M i d n a* · Mar 17, 2013

Here is the next update. The reason why you'll see several spoiler tags is because I divided the chapter in four parts in order to not post it all and make it seem so long. So just read the parts when you can. I will be doing this kind of thing for chapters from now on. And, I guess I also wanna let you know that I will be gone for a few days, so you probably won't get to read Chapter 2 until I come back, and I really have no idea when that will be, it can be any time from Tuesday to Sunday. I will take the story in a USB memory card and try to post updates from my bro's pc, but I don't guarantee you that I will have success, his pc is weird.

(Btw, I will probably update the map next time I update, or sometime; there's some crucial locations that I must add)

Honors and Honorable Mentions:

Honored ZDers: Sabel27, Jesper, Anubis, Twili Kid.
Honorable Mentions: Atsuma, Epwna

Part 1/4 of Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Escaping Death

Northwest Dragiria, June 18th, Year 367

*Seventeen Years Later*

Evelina Primrose was hurting badly but she did not care. Ignoring the awful, painful sensations that came with every cut, gash, and bolt wounds that she had suffered so far in her attempted escape from sure death, the horned creature continued running through the thick of the forest, all the while making sure that she did not drop what she was carrying in her arms.

Wrapped up in several dark cloths was her only son, a Dragir babe whom she had given birth to just six months ago.

Her lungs were asking her for a much needed break, but the Dragir knew that she could not stop to have a breather, for to do that would mean sure death for her and her son. Coming right behind her was the enemy, a group of Jyy that had been pursuing her through that forest. Knowing that they were gaining ground on her, she forced herself to continue running, despite the weariness and pain that she felt.

Evelina knew that the enemy would not be letting her get away, not if they could help it. Her House had been attacked hours ago by House Ingrenam, a Jyy House that had been feuding with House Primrose since three months back. When a House attacked another, the whole battle usually ended with one of the two houses getting completely wiped out. Jyy were also Dragir, but these were renegades who had turned their back on the Dragir *Daelden and the Dragir way of life long ago. Ever since they had been branded as cowards and traitors by the queen, for that is what the word Jyy meant in the Dragirian tongue, the Jyy had been waging a long, bloody war against the Dragir. The Dragir had come to love life; the Jyy came to love death. (*Dragir term for Queen)

For the most part, in this new era, Dragir were honorable, peaceful creatures. They had been created by the hand of the disobedient child back in earliest of times. The Dragir were only one of several races that he had given life to for a war that he had fought against the forces of good. Back in the day they had served Atturi’s will, but ever since his banishment from the world those that had survived had moved on and had adapted to the world as time continued to pass by. Dragir resembled humans in most aspects, but there were several notable differences. To begin with, Dragir had dark horns on their heads, small but surely notable. They also had dark, dragon-like scales showing on random parts of their body, such as on the arms, legs, neck, and torso. And finally, Dragir were blessed with the gift of long life. Unlike the humans who would come to live a little over a century at most, Dragir could live up to five centuries. They also had the ability to cast magic, for being creatures that had been created long ago by the disobedient child’s hand, they had inherited some of his powers, even his own blood, which was what allowed them to live those many centuries.

Most of the Primrose House servants had been wiped out the very first hours of the invasion, with only Evelina and her husband Jake being able to escape through a back door that had been specifically designed for emergencies. Jake had been able to lead her through part of that forest but had fallen about half hour later when he’d had to stop and confront the pursuers, who had quickly gained on them. Jake had only sacrificed himself in order to give his spouse and his son time to get away.

Evelina had continued on, even with the inner pain that she felt knowing that her husband had died while giving her a chance to put distance from the enemy. So far she was not letting him down in the promise that she had made to him earlier when they had stopped to discuss the situation. She would flee Dragiria and be safe somewhere else, along with their son.

With tears streaming down her cheeks, she knew that she was close to making it to a region where three boundary lines intersected. If she could only get there perhaps she’d have a chance at fulfilling the promise that she had made to her husband earlier before he had stayed behind.

Her heart skipped a long beat when a thought crossed her troubled mind, for the Dragir knew that she was not heading towards safety at all, for either realm that she would cross to, if she did, was also filled with trouble of its own.

To the west laid the human realms, but one in particular was neighbor to Dragiria: Pancracia, which was embroiled in a series of uprisings and civil war among its people, not to mention other problems with its northwestern neighbor realm, the realm of Broah, which was governed by a very young Lycan princess who had recently ascended to the throne. Pancracia, being one of several human realms in existence, was no ally to Dragiria. The humans had a fair understanding that the Dragir existed, and the Dragir knew too well of the existence of the other races out there, but the two races had kept to themselves on each of their side of the border dating two centuries back, holding each other to trespass under pain of death. To the north of Dragiria stretched out the realm that was believed by all other realms to be the deadliest of all: Medusa’s Bog. It was a place rarely frequented, and mainly because of the grave danger that lurked there. If Evelina did not go west to try her luck with the humans, then going north was her last option, but she really did not want to set foot there.

The group of Jyy continued to pursue their victim, knowing fully well that there at least remained one being from House Primrose that was still alive. True victory could only be achieved if all House members were confirmed dead.

Evelina, who had been the matriarch of House Primrose, had light skin, short, blonde hair that fell past her ears, and broad-shoulders. She was kind of chubby, though not fat at all. The female dragir was in top shape for a two and a half century old Dragir. But she was fast tiring now, for she had covered nearly two miles in her desperate run for salvation.

Evelina suddenly came upon an open terrain where barren ground was visible all around – a change from the leaf-riddled forest floor that she had been traversing through.

When her dark brown eyes noticed the one hundred foot tall trees rising in the distance to the west and northwest, a light smile appeared on her face. She was close to making it! But that smile fast disappeared when she remembered that the Jyy were still after her. She glanced down at her baby and noticed that he was staring right back at her, his little hands grabbing the cloth tightly with what few strength he had for a baby. And he giggled wildly, which made Evelina’s heart tremble with a mix of emotions. So happy did the Dragir child look, and though she was very troubled with her current predicament, the mother smiled at her son in a tender, loving way and was encouraged to go on.

“We will be safe, Artemys,” she promised and proceeded to run towards those tall trees, hoping dearly that they would make it.

Evelina gave it everything she had. She put the last effort into her lungs and legs knowing that she was very close to reaching the boundary lines that separated Dragiria from Pancracia and the deadly bog.

Three Jyy pursuers suddenly appeared at the place where she had stopped just minutes ago. When they saw her running ahead, one of them shouted and pointed, “There she is!”

That shout alerted Evelina and made her take a quick look over her shoulder as she ran, but she never stopped. She frightened and swallowed hard when she saw them, but she kept going on knowing that she could not afford to stop, let alone slow down.

“That damned Gurga is trying to make it to the border,” cried another of the Jyy, the one who stood in the middle. Gurga was the term that the Jyy used to call the Dragir. It meant “unworthy” in the same Dragirian tongue.

The Jyy who had just spoken was stocky and with a short trim of blonde hair. He seemed to be the most tired of the trio, for his breathing sounded harder than the other two. The reason for that had probably been his three centuries of age over the younger two Jyy who flanked him, who were just around seventy years of age each; still in their young years.

“You two go after her!” he ordered, pointing a finger forward. “I am exhausted. Bring her to me alive or dead.”

The two young Jyy nodded at him, for he was actually a lieutenant and they were just soldiers, servants to House Ingrenam and its circle of crazed leaders. The pair of Jyy moved to obey, but the lieutenant grabbed one of them by the shoulder and said, “I prefer...dead.”

The Jyy nodded with a malicious grin at his commander and then turned his attention forward.

“Come on, Jesper, let’s go.”

The other Jyy nodded and the two ran after the fleeing Dragir, with Jesper grinning evilly while he prepared the crossbow in his right hand. He was the one who had shot the Dragir twice earlier. The first bolt had hit his victim at the back just below the right shoulder blade. The second bolt had nearly missed the fleeing target but had barely grazed the Dragir’s left tricep, counting as a hit. Jesper would once again use that crossbow of his in an attempt to bring her down for good now that there were no trees or large bushes involved.

While running, it was hard for just about anyone to fire a five pound crossbow and strike the target true. Only the best of warriors could do that. Jesper was an alright crossbow-wielding warrior, but he wasn’t that good. He lifted up his weapon and aimed at the dragir as he ran full speed.

Evelina barely escaped getting hit with the newest fired bolt, which zipped by just five inches or so away from her right ear. Jesper cursed when he noticed that he had barely missed. Still running, he began to reload the crossbow immediately, drawing a bolt from the quiver that hung at his back. Bolts were longer than arrows, twice as long, wider in circular dimension, and with an arrow head the size of a small child’s hand that resembled two anchors put together with wicked hooks. The damage that they dealt to a living creature was staggering.

With just twenty yards or so before she made it to the entrance of the large forest, which was more like a jungle, the next bolt hit the Dragir on her right side lower back, surprising her and sending her stumbling forward. Evelina nearly tripped but maintained her balance knowing what was at stake. She regained her balance and kept running through the new sharp pain in her lower back, ignoring it, knowing that if she gave up all was lost.

Feeling the terrible pain at her back into the jungle she went without a thought, crossing into dangerous territory; all the while bleeding badly from her newest wound. The two Jyy came to a sudden stop just a few inches from entering the awaiting jungle. They both knew about the danger that lurked within, for it was well known that those who ventured into Medusa’s Bog were never seen or heard from again. It was no lie, Jindaha had many regions where danger lurked, but Medusa’s Bog topped them all ten times over.

Nervously, the two Jyy stared at each other, fearing the many rumors that they had heard about the place throughout the years, especially those of the Serpent Lady who ruled it. It was said that she would steal the very soul from a being before turning it to solid stone.

“I must be a crazy fool to go looking for trouble,” said one of the Jyy. “Call me a coward, Jesper, but I am not going in there after that damned Gurga.”

Jesper shivered, and the calls from birds and noises belonging to other creatures that were close by did not help much in encouraging them to go on.

To make matters worse, from behind them, they suddenly heard their lieutenant shouting at them in an angry tone to go on. The two Jyy hesitated. Jesper, who was holding the crossbow, even shook his head in rejection, but when their lieutenant shouted at them that he would personally kill them if they did not obey, they had a quick change of mind.

“Come on,” said the Jyy who carried no crossbow, rather was holding on to a small sword in his right hand. “She isn’t far, Jesper. We can catch up to her and deal with her before we go any deeper into this hellish place.”

“L-Lead the way,” Jesper nervously said but did not appear too convinced, but he knew that their lieutenant had always kept his word, so that thought spurred him forward.

The two Jyy went after the fleeing Dragir.

***

Part 2/4 of Chapter 1

The excruciating pain – and the unknown place before her – had forced Evelina into a careful walk, and she had bravely clutched at the bolt’s shaft and had pulled it out slowly and carefully, shouting over the terrible pain. She stared hatefully at the bloody bolt and tossed it far to the side. She felt finished, done for, weak, the pain was too much to bear now, but she swallowed hard and moved on, ignoring the first settings of the jungle. She knew this was nothing compared to what she would encounter further in. The Dragir, who mostly resided to the northwest side of Dragiria, also knew many tales and rumors about Medusa’s bog, what with them being the closest to the bog. Evelina kept her wits about her, though, knowing that she couldn’t worry about Medusa or the many stories about her place; she had to look for a way to survive.

Some fifty yards into enemy territory, the Dragir female stopped when she had laid eyes on more than a few fat snakes dangling from the branches of trees, which had been alerted of her presence. The serpents hissed wildly and menacingly at her, letting her know that she did not belong there. Those were guzamangas, a type of poisonous snake that could kill a being in minutes with its venomous bite. What was worse, those serpents were very aggressive; they would come after an intruder in a snap, even if the intruder did nothing to unsettle or anger them. Being seen by one of these fat, slithery serpents always meant a confrontation. Knowing that fact well, Evelina winced, realizing the first signs of grave danger. Holding her son in her left arm, the dragir did good in bringing out her sword, a beautiful master piece that she’d found on the floor of a forest fifteen years ago while being out on exploration with a patrol that she’d been part of. The sword was long but not heavy. Its double-edge blade had many weird symbols carved onto its both sides, and that blade – as Evelina had experimented with it – could cut through anything, even stone! The crosspiece was of a golden hue and had four gemstones of different colors attached in the middle on both sides – Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue. The hilt was also golden, with shades of black, and a round, reddish orb for a pommel. The sword had been forged in Celestia many years ago and it had served a brave celestial creature long ago. It was a blade that had been used in the first ever war fought in the world between the forces of good and evil, though Evelina had not known that.
Just as she had known that the serpents would do, the slithery creatures came sliding down, never taking their eyes off of their victim.

The Dragir’s sword proved to be a good ally when those snakes touched ground and came sliding fast towards her, seeking to bite her, seeking to kill and make a meal of her—and her baby!

Evelina, though very hurt and weak, was able to slice them apart using that long blade of hers. Through her centuries of life she had been an excellent sword fighter, so her skills with the blade had come handy there, especially with a sword as light in weight as the one that she wielded, a sword which had been designed to even fell the gigans of old with a mere well-placed strike!

She sighed in relief when the four serpents lay dead on the ground split in half and bleeding from both parts. She put the sword back in its silvery scabbard, but before the Dragir could savor the victory, the calls from creatures echoing all around her scared her even more than she already was, more so when most of those calls sounded as if the animals that had issued them were in deeper trouble than she was. In the distance she even saw as the top part of the trees swayed wildly, and she even felt the ground underneath her shaking lightly. Then, a very loud roar in the distance made her take back a few steps.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” she said in total fear. Evelina followed her words with a gulp and shivered, wondering whether she’d be able to remain alive in this forsaken place. The rumbling died and the ground settled down as the monster that she had not seen appeared to have gone in some other direction. Tense and scared she stared about at the trees but saw no more guzamangas about; that was a relief for the dragir.

Evelina knew that she could not waste time there. She laid eyes on her son and couldn’t help it but smile at him, the tenderness of the child actually lifting her spirits a bit. Seeing her son so alive was reason enough for her to continue, for she would not have him die that day. Maybe she would die today, her wounds told her as much, but she would not pass from this life before taking her son far from danger and to a place where he could be safe. But what if she failed? What if she was caught by the Jyy and was killed? Her baby would surely suffer the same fate, and just thinking about that made the dragir female burst out crying. She cried for several seconds, she couldn’t really help it, for she also remembered her dear husband, who had bravely sacrificed himself just to give her time to flee.

“Now is not the time to feel weak with negative thoughts, Evelina,” she told herself, believing that those would be the words her husband must be telling her from wherever it was that he had gone to. Evelina used her hand to wipe her tears away, and she nodded to herself, knowing that she had to go on.

Not too far from where she was, she heard a mild roar, but not of an animal, this roar had been hearable to her ears ever since she had entered the jungle. A rampaging river was close by, Evelina understood. She knew that perhaps it was the Seoco, a large river that serpentined its way from the Eastern all the way into the human lands. This river was wide and wild. Its rampant, crystal waters ran through northern Dragiria, but barely, before going into Medusa’s territory and then human lands for good.

The Dragir proceeded to head forward, knowing that the Jyy would catch up to her soon. She feared that the place had not scared them away. She had a plan in mind for losing them for good, but if it was going to work or not, she could not know. Evelina Primrose would try it nonetheless, because she knew that she did not have many other good options available anyway.

***

Part 3/4 of Chapter 1

The two young Jyy were not late in catching up to her. They tracked her position well using her boot prints and the blood that had spilled on to the ground from her very wounds. They soon came upon view of the Dragir just ten minutes or so later after Evelina had dealt with the serpents and had had a close encounter with a monstrous creature. The female Dragir was not taken by surprise; she had seen the pair of Jyy emerging from behind the foliage. They smiled wickedly at her, with those smiles promising her death. She just stared at them and turned around, eager to put her plan in motion.

Just a few minutes ago before the Jyy had caught up to her, Evelina had been able to make it to the river bank, with the rampaging waters of the Seoco just a few feet away from where she stood on a large flat rock that stuck out from the ground. Evelina had swallowed hard to settle herself down and had put the sword back in its scabbard, which she had unsheathed once again as she had continued on her way through the jungle.

The roar of the river was thunderous before her, so loud that it had made her baby cry and had made her reconsider her plans about jumping into it and let it take her and her baby to freedom, to safety; anywhere else but there. Beyond the river at the other side, Evelina had seen that the jungle just spread out, making everything all around just a messy green for her to see. When she had seen just greenery at the other side of the Seoco, and a large mountainous terrain to the west and northwest beyond the foliage of the trees, she knew that she wasn’t even close to the center of that jungle, just on its southern edge. Going over to the other side, if she could make it, would be a nightmare. She knew at heart that it was in that area where the real danger of Medusa’s Bog lurked. Tales in Crystal City – the Dragir’s only city – told that it was in the heart of Medusa’s jungle where the real danger prowled; creatures of assorted sizes and looks ruled that place. Evelina had seen a few wild monsters during her patrolling life, but she had never ventured beyond the river. She had known that her best option was to jump into the river and hope that this one took her far away from this dangerous region.

When the Jyy had shown up, they didn’t leave her much choice anyway. Evelina was tired from all the running that she had done so far, and she was feeling very weak from her wounds. She knew that she would run no more.

The Dragir was barely able to elude a bolt that one of the Jyy had fired at her then, but she lost her balance and fell to the stony ground on her rump, nearly letting her baby fall because she had used her right hand to break her fall. She held on to him, though, and was quick to stand back up, for she saw the Jyy fitting another bolt onto the crossbow, and his partner was already rushing at her with his sword in his hand and an evil grin visible on his face. With her heart beating wildly, she knew there was no more time to waste. She turned around and ran towards the river. She embraced her baby as strongly as never before and jumped in, her eyes tightly closed as if bracing for the worse.

But before she touched any of the water, she suddenly cried in pain when she felt a stinging, sharp pain at her middle back that almost made her let go of her baby – almost – but she held on to him. Then, the deafening roar of the river took her, and she shivered wildly when her body made contact with those cool waters.

***

Part 4/4 of Chapter 1

The Jyy named Jesper had been able to fire one last time before the Dragir had jumped into the river and had been swallowed by it. He had seen that he had hit the Dragir right in the middle of her back, clearly a grave wound, and he smiled with much pride as he ran towards the edge.

“You got her, Jesper!” shouted his companion in a very happy and disbelieving tone, who came to stand at the edge of the large flat rock protruding from the ground close to the river; the very same spot where the Dragir had been standing on just seconds ago.

Jesper was standing next to his companion in a few seconds. His brownish eyes saw the red tint on the water as the river took the wounded Dragir away.

“She’s surely dead meat,” Jesper grinned, proud of his shot. “Our task is done. We should get the hell out of this place. It has freaked me out from the moment we stepped in.”

“Hold on. I noticed that she was holding on to something,” said the other Jyy, ignoring his kin’s comment.

“You did, did you, Daiki?” Jesper asked as he began to reload his weapon, giving his companion a brief glance.

Daiki nodded at him.

“So what was it that you saw?” Jesper asked.

“I have no idea,” said Daiki. “What do you think it was?”

“Beats me,” shrugged Jesper, his eyes returning to the river, the Jyy trying to get a glimpse of the Dragir. He saw nothing. “I didn’t have as good a look on her as you did,” Jesper added. “Perhaps she was carrying her House valuables or something?”

“Could be, but it seemed more to me like she was holding on to a baby,” disagreed Daiki, making the other Jyy regard him with curious eyes.

“What is this rubbish that you speak of? I saw nothing of the sort.”

“Over the thundering noise that these waters make, I swear that I heard cries,” Daiki insisted with a raised tone. “Like those of a newborn.”

“You’re one crazy fool,” spat Jesper, obviously lying, for he had seen and heard the child as well, he just wanted for this chase bull**** to be over. “I heard nothing but the loud noise of the river.”

“Fool, I am telling you I heard something,” contended Daiki. “It must have been her child or something.”

“Heh, child or no, that Gurga is finished,” Jesper said with a wry grin. “The river will probably take care of her if she isn’t already dead. It is said to run through a large portion of the Serpent Lady’s bog, you know?”

“I know,” nodded Daiki.

“Then she’s pretty much a goner,” said Jesper. “She’ll probably get eaten or something if she doesn’t bleed to death first.”

“So what do we do now?” Daiki seemed pale and confused. “We have no body to present to Lieutenant Anubis.”

“Then he will have to take our word for it,” Jesper was quick to snap. “Besides, you saw the last shot I took. The Primrose line has been completely wiped out, and I was the one who did that. I will be the one getting that honor later today. Or what, will you do something to ruin this moment for me?” The Jyy proceeded to lift his crossbow and pointed it at Daiki’s face, as if ready to use it upon him.

Daiki, being a coward to a fault, swallowed hard and just lowered his head and shook it before his partner.

“Heh, thought so,” Jesper smiled in satisfaction and lowered the crossbow. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we come to regret it. I’m getting wild shivers just by standing here.”

Daiki glanced around, reminded of the danger of the place.

“Alright,” he wasn’t about to disagree. Jesper walked away, whistling lightly. Daiki hesitated for a brief second and turned to stare north, his eyes following the wild river’s run. He could not see the Dragir floating on the water anymore because the river actually sloped down farther up, but he turned around, believing that his companion was probably right. Besides, he had seen as the bolt had struck the Dragir’s back. He knew that she surely was done for, for the Jyy had seen other Dragir and Jyy get hit in that same spot and not survive.

Before he reached Jesper’s side, though, the sole thought of the Dragir baby remaining alive – if it had been a baby at all – made him stare back to the north in an uneasy way.

Naw, he believed within his troubled mind. If it was indeed a newborn, the river will probably claim its life too.

*End of Chapter 1*

*M i d n a* · Mar 19, 2013

Update time. :cool:

I said I would update the map in my next update, didn't I? lol Well I am gonna do that right now; I will edit this post later and include the newly released map. And I didn't have to break down this part into several pieces since the chapter is short. ~Atsuma

Honors and Honorable Mentions

Honored ZDers: Sabel27
Honorable Mentions: Atsuma, Epwna

New Map:

Chapter 2: Left to His Own Luck

Eastern Pancracia, June 18th, Year 367

Evelina had never lost consciousness after she had jumped into the savage river. She had done a good job of fighting its rough waters and had done even better by maintaining herself and the baby afloat near a wooden log that she had been lucky to get her hands on.

Grabbing on for dear life to that log, the Dragir had let the river carry her and her baby downstream to wherever it led them. During the ride through the river, Evelina had seen several unnerving creatures on the riverbank, creatures that would have undoubtedly killed or eaten her and her baby. The Dragir had felt grateful that they had avoided those creatures, but she had been losing blood and strength with every passing minute. The river miraculously had not hurt the Dragir or her young one, rather had helped them in their escape and had taken them to a safer region past Medusa’s deadly Bog.

And so it was that Evelina and her child had made it safe with only minor scratches to the eastern limits of the human realm of Pancracia.

The river ran serenely in this region for a few miles before picking up strength again, for a northern river actually connected to the Seoco, feeding it strength again.

Evelina had been quick to drag her battered self and her child out of the river, the poor Dragir barely managing it, for her wounds had stung too much and she had been very weak by then. She had not had much strength left in her, the wounds and the fight with the river had drained her of her strength, so she had just remained there laying flat on her back on the riverbank, keeping her child tightly secured in her arms.

The Dragir knew that her wounds – especially the last one – would claim her life that day. With tears streaming down her eyes she swallowed hard realizing that, and she felt so awful not knowing what would come to happen to her baby, who was crying loudly during that time.

“Ah, Jake, my love,” she lamented in a very low, weak voice, with the taste of blood in her mouth. “I managed to get away safely, your sacrifice was not in vain, but I don’t know w-where we are now...must be h-human lands…”

Without moving her head, she looked around the area by moving her eyes instead. Above her, tall, green-coated trees – some with red or yellow leafs – swayed gently with the mild breeze that blew that day, and a few puffy clouds could be seen transiting over a beautiful blue sky. Evelina heard birds chirping pleasantly among the trees, she even saw a few flying over her, perhaps the feathery beings had been sent away by the wild cries of her young one. The Dragir mother also heard other noises from other residents of the region, and the low roar of the river, which wasn’t an annoyance at all, rather formed part of a serene, peaceful feeling found in the region. This was heaven compared to the place where she and her baby had found themselves at hours ago.

“We’re safe, Valen,” she whispered on to her son and gave him whatever strength she had left in her arms.

A few minutes later, she felt a wild shiver coursing all over her body, and Evelina knew that her life force was leaving her. She convulsed for several seconds and spit blood out, avoiding choking herself with it. She felt so cold within and sobbed only once, and for a fleeting second she felt fear, but only because she was going away and leaving her son behind and without her care. She smiled then, realizing that if her time had come to leave the world it wasn't as painful as she had believed long time ago. The Dragir had endured much pain throughout her journey, but now it all seemed peace to her despite the grave thought lingering in her head about her baby, whom she was leaving behind.

“Valen, I love you. Be safe, my son–” she attempted to lean and kiss her son goodbye, but before she could do it, her life force abandoned her. Her watery eyes closed for the final time in her life, and her head tilted off to the side as she left her son to his luck.

*End of Chapter 2*

Special Look Back

And a special look back at what we have currently read from this tale. Yeah, I read too. :cool:

I will probably be adding the A Look Back feature every three chapters or so. This feature is for those who forgot what they read, sorta like a reminder.

1. The goddess Ella Rose, also known as Medusa in the world of Jindaha, remained behind in this troubled world in order to bring her brother Atturi to justice. Many years have passed since the ancient war, but the seal that she placed upon her brother's realm will soon expire.
2. A dragir female named Evelina Primrose, whose House was attacked and destroyed by a Jyy House, tried to escape her homeland in order to protect the life of her son.
3. Read this other Spoiler since this has to do with the chapter you just read:

3. Evelina did not survive her mortal wounds and died, leaving her child to his luck on the riverbank of the river, which is in human territory.

Raindrop14 · Mar 20, 2013

Coolio! I just read all of this, cuz' I was lazy before. :bleh: But they were amazing! Your writing is superb, keep 'em comin'!

*M i d n a* · Mar 20, 2013

Raindrop14 said:
Coolio! I just read all of this, cuz' I was lazy before. :bleh: But they were amazing! Your writing is superb, keep 'em comin'!

Haha, you were lazy?

That's alright. Thanks for reading, btw. And I will surely keep the chapters coming ASAP. :cool:

Also, I corrected a mistake that I made with the honored member thingy. I mixed up February Eve with Sabel27...Both appear in this story with similar names, but Sabel27's character was the Dragir who died in the previous chapter. And as to February Eve, well she makes her debut just now.

I hope that clears stuff up.

This chapter is a bit long, so once again I have broken it into several parts.

Honored and Honorable Mentions

Honored ZDers: February Eve, Raindrop14, WaffleNinja, Hero of Time
Honorable Mentions: Gerudogirl

Part 1/3 of Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Discovery

Eastern Pancracia, June 18th, Year 367

The young woman had not only come to the river that beautiful sunny afternoon to resupply herself and her group of orphans with fresh drinking water, but also to wash two large baskets of dirty clothes that had accumulated throughout the week.

Eve Ashäd was that gentle woman’s name. She was of medium height and very attractive, with blue, radiant eyes and dirty blonde long hair that reached all the way down to the back of her waist. With her good looks she had stolen many a men’s hearts during the passing of the years, but she had never married.

At one point in her early teen years she had been a royal knight serving the royal crown of Pancracia, but an incident with another knight of renown had forced her out of the service in her late teen years. Now at age twenty two Eve lived out on the open country and far from castles and the noble life, and surely free of the service to the Crown.

What with her service abruptly ending to the then revered Queen Hena Sapphire II, whom had sat on the grand throne of Pancracia back in the day, Eve had received a good retirement bonus from Her Highness and had used that wealth to buy an old abandoned monastery that was located in the northeastern region of Pancracia just about nine miles south of a large village known as the Sinaí Settlement.

This village, which had grown and thrived a bit over the years, was where Eve had been born twenty two years ago. Her realm of birth was a mess at the moment, had been since a decade, actually, and how that saddened Eve. Pancracia at the time was embroiled in many conflicts, such as feuding warlords, unhappy peasants in the southwest who sought better treatment from the nobles and better living conditions, and an unending struggle against the rise of organized crime within the realm. To top all that, recently the realm of Pancracia had been involved in a bitter war with a northwestern neighboring realm known as Broah, where the Lycan people resided. The two realms had been fighting over a meager portion of unclaimed land, which the Lycans believed to be theirs. Through all those troubles the Pancracian eastern region had remained mostly peaceful and had yet to see the troubles plaguing the rest of the realm. That is why Eve’s decision to return close to the village that had seen her be born and grow had been an easy one to make after she had left behind her life as a knight. Not that Eve’d had much of a family or relatives to visit or be with, she only had an older sister, but they had forsaken each other years ago that to Eve it was as if she didn’t exist, and vice versa. But besides her sister, Eve did have many fond memories of her childhood years lived in that place, memories that she cherished dearly, which were mainly the cause behind her decision to return. Moreover, she had most of her loved ones close to her in the village cemetery. Although dead to her now, she still loved to care for them, a thing that her sister had never been interested in doing when Eve had left for the Castle to serve as a knight at the mere age of twelve. The sisters had always fought when they had been but kids, but one day, six years after she had become a knight, her mother had died on her fifth serving year, and the following year Eve had come to visit her mother’s grave and had found it unattended. It had been full of herbs, thorny shrubs, and in very bad conditions. That was the cause for Eve to lose her cool with her sister as she never had before, and the two argued about it, and their argument grew out of proportion that Eve, truly enraged, had ended up striking her sister. Touching her struck cheek and with tears flowing from her eyes, her sister had stared deeply and hatefully at her and had then left the house for good, but not before telling Eve the following words, “I hope you die!”

That incident had hurt Eve deeply, but not as bad as when she and her sister had lost their mother those five years ago; that was a day that Eve would never forget, and the pain that it had left in her heart would never heal, mostly because she had not been present at the funeral. Ever since the fight with her sister, Eve had not gone in search of her, though every now and then she’d had thoughts about doing that because she believed that she had been wrong to strike her. What with her sister being older than her, Eve had forgotten all about respect, a thing that she had learned more deeply as a knight. Eve had returned to the castle a few days after that incident, crestfallen and not feeling the same about herself, but she had hired someone who could do what she couldn’t: find her sister’s location. The info that the agent brought her was genuine and said that her sister was living in a port town called Port Ash, but because of her tight knightly schedule Eve could never find the time to go there and confront her in hopes of mending their troubled relation. Eve let time pass and soon after she would have trouble with a knight. Her time serving Queen Hena Sapphire, who at that time became ill, came to an abrupt end.

Upon her arrival to the monastery a year ago when she had been twenty one, Eve had mourned the loss of Queen Hena Sapphire as much as she had mourned the loss of her mother. The ex-knight had attended the queen’s funeral from afar, for word reached Eve’s ears that she was in part blamed for the passing of the queen, who had taken a liking to her, and upon Eve’s resignation, the queen’s illness had only worsened. The only daughter that the queen had left as an heir to the throne was very young, but she was the one who told Eve those troubling words, and thus added that she was not allowed to be present during the funeral. Eve, knowing that she owed some form of last respect to the queen in gratitude for all that she had done for her, had watched from afar hiding underneath a cloak, so as not to be recognized. And hurting for the loss of the good queen, she later returned to her village, and she quickly took a liking to caring for orphaned children and had dedicated herself to doing just that. Her first adopted daughter had been a homeless fourteen year old girl whom she had found near death of hunger and wandering the streets of a small city known as Bevelavia, the place where Eve had gone to buy provisions and other essentials that she’d had need of for repairing some of the monastery’s bad conditions. Any kind soul would have gladly given the child a roof over her head, but difficult times were afflicting Pancracia that it took a lot for lower class folk to put bread on the table. Sometimes parents saw themselves forced to even sell their children just to be able to eat and survive. The girl had not been sold, she had lost all her family and had been wondering the streets seeking help.

Eve wasn’t as poor as other folks were. She had plenty of wealth from her retirement that it allowed her to share a loaf of bread with another person that badly needed it. She had often helped several families that lived near her, so she had approached the girl and had offered her a freshly bought loaf of bread. While the girl had eagerly been eating the bread, for her belly hadn’t had a taste of food for about a week, Eve had asked her whether she had any family. The girl had shaken her head and had explained what had happened.

Eve had been so sad to hear the girl’s tale that she had just watched silently as she had ate. Then, when she had composed herself, she told the young girl that she could get her out of the miserable state in which she currently found herself in, all she had to do was become her adoptive daughter. The homeless girl had accepted, of course. She would be just the first of many because a few more young ones would get this same opportunity from the ex-knight over the course of the year. Eve’s monastery had grown from two inhabitants to seven in just a few months.

“Momma,” Eve suddenly heard the young voice of one of the orphans calling out to her. “My dolly! My dolly!”

Eve, disrupted from thoughts that she had been having, rose her head from her kneeling, washing position that she had taken earlier at the edge of the river and stared to her right toward the middle of the river where three children played and bathed at. She noticed what was going on right away: Her youngest adopted daughter had dropped her doll and the stream was carrying it away. She rose from her kneeling position in an attempt to do something about that, for she had given that doll to her for her third birthday just three months ago.

“Mother, Ashie dropped her doll!” a light skinned child with wild dark hair who couldn’t have been more than five years of age shouted as he pointed toward the downstream. “There it goes, look!”

Eve easily made out the doll as this one floated away on the water.

“Abigale, keep an eye on them!” Eve shouted at the oldest orphan. “I’ll go get it.”

Abigale, who was a sweet-looking seven year old girl with auburn, short, floppy hair, nodded at her and quickly secured the youngest girl, who was just four years old. The little brat had had in mind going after Eve, which is why Abigale had been quick to secure her.

“Oh no you don’t, you little rascal,” Abigale told Ashie. “You’re staying right here with me.”

Ashie did not insist nor did she resist Abigale’s hold on her. With her bluish eyes, the small, white-haired girl just observed as her mother went after her doll.

“You stay put too, Damera, you hear?” Abigale told the other kid. This one smiled at her with a nod, and Abigale knew too well that he would not move. Damera had always been an obedient child, Ashie, however...

The stream of water, which ran mildly in that area, was carrying the doll at a fair pace, but Eve knew that she had to hurry before it reached a small but wild waterfall and faster waters that ran south.

The matron of the orphanage hadn’t even had time to remove her brown leather boots or her beige pants. Into the cool water she went right away, smiling happily when she felt the water wetting her boots and her pants all the way up to her knees. She didn’t care though, the clothing would dry anyway, but if she lost the doll, Ashie would be making such a fuss over it.

Eve splashed water to the sides as she sprinted towards the doll. And the matron, although having lived nearly a quarter of her life already, was still in good condition, for though she wasn’t a knight any longer, she still practiced her combat skills and kept herself in good shape by exercising regularly. Eve reached the doll after a good sprint over the water and bent low to retrieve it, however, as she did, something farther down the stream caught her keen eye.

“What in the-” she gasped, not finalizing what she had intended to say. With wide eyes and a stricken face she rose to her normal height, noticing that someone was lying on the riverbank.

“Mother!” Eve then heard Abigale’s shout coming from behind. “Did you get it?”

“Not yet,” Eve dropped the doll on purpose into the river. “Stay there and don’t move till I get back. Got it?!”

Abigale, who had been too far to notice her adoptive mother’s move, gave her a nod that assured her that she wouldn’t move an inch, and neither would the other orphan boy, who stood watching close by.

Eve, satisfied, turned her attention to the figure lying at the edge of the river. She sprinted towards the edge of the riverbank and went further down it, willing to investigate the matter. Soon she disappeared from her kids’ sights. Her right hand secured a dagger from a holster that hung at her left hip as she went, for she knew that one could never be too careful, not even in this peaceful eastern region of Pancracia, which in truth was peaceful but with so much danger too close, especially to the east.

***

Part 2/3 of Chapter 3

Eve Ashäd made her way slowly and carefully towards the figure that remained unmoving at the riverbank. She hadn’t detected any movement coming from it as she had been approaching, but then she came to understand that this person was holding on to something.

“Hey!” Eve called out, hopeful that she might get a response from the figure. There was none.

When she finally stood just a foot away and noticed what really lay there, she gasped and covered her mouth with her left hand, stopping cold in her tracks. Whoever laid there was far from being a human, and yet she resembled a woman in almost every aspect, except for the dark horns that she had on her head and a few dark scales clearly visible on her feminine, strong arms, neck, and part of her face.

What the hell? Eve thought, scared and confused. Her arms and legs felt tense all of a sudden. She had never laid eyes on such a creature before, but she knew of the talk of the existence of rare creatures residing to the east.

When her blue eyes noticed the visible small head of a similar creature that was wrapped with the dark cloths, there was no doubt in the young woman that these had to be those Dragir creatures, the so called “horned devils” that rumors and tales spoke of.

So astonished was Eve to finally have seen not one but two that she forgot all about Ashie’s doll and looked around, surely scared that there might be more similar creatures about. She registered no threat around her, just trees, stones, and bushes on the hilly terrain.

Eve returned her stare to the lengthy figure, the ex-knight surely interested in it. She knew that the Cregen river – as the Pancracians called it – had brought the creatures to the region, there was no other explanation to it. Her eyes were able to see the marks that the creature had left on the soggy ground by having dragged her body out of the water, so that was the best supposition that Eve had at that time.

She returned her attention to the creature and knew that the little one wrapped in the cloths was unmistakably a baby, and the mere thought that it could be dead made her heart vibrate with such sad emotions that she nearly started to whimper. But Eve was a strong woman for her young age, despite being overly sentimental. She had seen so much already and had suffered through many sorrowful events during her young lifetime, so she maintained her composure, though she felt very shocked at the discovery that she’d made this day. This was big! No, it was grand, magnificent even!

Eve swallowed hard then, and moved to stand close to the creature’s torso just beside the wrapped baby. She knelt down, slowly and with dagger still at the ready in her right hand just in case the mother was not dead and rose to strike her or something. One could never be too careful, Eve had always believed.

The woman noticed that the baby was breathing, the cloth covering it moved up and down due to its breathing, assuring her of that. How Eve smiled delightfully when she noticed that! She attempted to reach for the baby, but then she decided to check the mother for a pulse first. Eve did not feel all that confident that she would find a pulse when she noticed the many wounds on her arms, face, and neck. And she could also make out a long, wide shaft sticking from behind her shoulder that made her wince in pain and sadness. Had the Dragir not removed the bolt at her middle back when she had been carried by the river, Eve would have seen that bolt shaft as well and would have determined that it had been the actual cause of death for the creature. Regardless, the woman was no fool, she believed that this female had probably been chased and wounded badly, which lead to her death.

When she touched the creature’s wrist, Eve found no pulse and blanched in more than sadness, for finding out that the creature was dead brought back bad memories for her: those of her deceased family and relatives that she had been losing over the years, as well as the many foes that she had killed during her service to the crown. What hard times those had been, and Eve suddenly felt that same sorrowful, empty feeling invading her. How Eve had hated death.

She gulped hard and closed her eyes in resignation, opting to offer a quick prayer for the fallen female creature, Eve truly feeling sad for the loss, despite the creature not being a human like her.

“May the good god of the heavens forgive your trespasses and receive your soul this very day,” she recited with a sad tone and with her head hanging low. “Be at peace now, child of the earth, for the weight of your trials and the pain and sorrow that you may have endured in this life are now gone. Go, and enjoy your new life in Elysium.”

Then her tearful eyes went to the baby, who apparently was fast asleep.

Suddenly, Eve sighed loudly and stood up, confused, shaky, and with her heart threatening to climb to her throat. She looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary, but that is not why she had risen and stared about the place, no, now she had a decision to make, and this was no easy decision.

She ran her left hand slowly over her mouth and stared down at the baby and felt so much pity for it. She felt bad for the mother as well, but there was nothing she could do for her now, she was long gone. The baby, though, was very much alive, and it was what had made Eve rise, for the baby had been left to his own luck now that the mother was dead, if that female had been its mother, anyway, for Eve was not sure.

But Eve was worried, for she knew that the little one was a trespasser to her homeland, a horned devil, and that alone – by royal decree – merited the pain of death.

As the kind human being that she was, it was her intention by default to help the creature, to take it with her as she had taken so many other unfortunate children, but Eve also understood that this could bring trouble in the future for her in many ways, especially from the very top, from the ruling princess. This was not a human that she would be taking in, if she did. The creature was close to resembling one, but was not. Eve did not even know if these creatures were peaceful or the hostile type, so that made her hesitate a bit as well.

“I should probably just inform the authorities of this find,” she said lowly. The young woman gave that possibility a thought, a deep and careful thought. If she did just that, there was the possibility that she’d be rewarded greatly, perhaps. Her name would even go down in history as the woman who had discovered the so called horned devil creatures of the east for the first time in a long time. When her eyes stared at the young babe, however, she took pity on it and wasn’t sure that she’d be doing that. What would happen to the baby? She knew that it would most likely get killed, or perhaps it would be used by the crown’s geniuses as a thing to study, to experiment on, just as they tended to do with other creatures such as Lycans, Faeries, and an assortment of wild monsters and creatures that roamed the land and got captured by the Pancracian armada.

Not knowing what to do, Eve ran a trembling hand through her thick hair and sighed deeply. She then considered ending the baby’s life then and there and save herself lots of trouble. But that thought was fast to disappear from her head, and she started to feel stupid with herself for ever thinking about that. What was she doing? What was she thinking?

“Damn you, Eve,” she admonished herself. “What the hell are you thinking? This is just a harmless little baby, a creature that does not deserve to suffer at your expense nor anyone else’s.”

She shook hear head again, as if wanting to clear it from those many thoughts that were swirling in her head: opposing thoughts that wanted her to do something and also not do it at the same time.

“Oh,” she moaned and stared up at the sky, calming herself down by the second. “You keep sending me unfortunate little ones, don’t you? Is this another gift from you then, Mighty Father?”

Eve had asked that very same question so many times as she’d been adding other unfortunate orphans to her family, but she had never received any form of answer, at least to her knowledge.

“Yeah, silent as ever, eh?” she lowered her head back down and licked her dry lips. “But fret not, god, for I have become accustomed to the silent treatment. I know you play a role in all this, though, don’t think that I don’t know. If I happened upon this creature, or child, or whatever the hell it is, it was no accident. I know damn well that it was meant to be. Is that why I chose to come here today instead of going to Bevelavia for early supplies?”

Eve scratched the top of her head then, seeming unsure of what she had just said. She still felt undecided as to what action she would be taking. For a few seconds she just remained there thinking about the whole matter thoroughly, for it was certainly not easy for her to come to make a final decision.

She sighed loudly, then she spat on the ground just to loosen herself a bit.

“Oh god, what am I to do? You could have sent me a Lycan child, or a Fairy. Those I would have not had trouble picking up, for they’re all around us now. Hell, I’d even take a damn dragon into my care if you’d put it in my way and was docile enough to not bite my freaking head off. But really… a horned devil?”

The woman had never been partial when taking children under her wing, or when rescuing a young one from the dirty streets of some village or city. Her monastery was a witness to that and could speak volumes, for there resided assorted humans of different sizes, several being of different age and even skin color. She loved them all the same, even though none of them were her legitimate sons or daughters.

With a fond smile and no more doubt within her, she knew in her heart that she would be taking the creature in the end, so she crouched and grabbed the baby with trembling hands, removing it slowly from the arms of the dead creature. Eve’s hands felt that the cloth wrapping the child was actually slightly wet, but not wholly, for the sun had dried it fast as the Dragir child had remained there for an hour sleeping peacefully in his dead mother’s arms, unaware of the troubles going on around him.

Eve took the time to have a better look at the baby then. She lifted the cloth away at the top and came to see the young one’s full head. A tender smile crossed her face when she noticed the small horns on top of its head, which also showed a flock of brownish hair. To her understanding, the horns did not make the creature look fearsome or scary, rather was a part of the creature that made it beautiful in its own way. Eve was enticed to touch them and she did, slowly and in a soft, caring way, as if she was the creature’s legitimate mother.

Judging by the sheer weight of the baby, she figured that the babe wasn’t a newborn, but had actually been living for months, perhaps close to half a year, although she could not be so sure.

“I will take good care of you,” she whispered at the baby in a blissful voice. “You will not suffer at the hands of other people, not if I can help it. You may be different in a way from the human being that I am, but surely you are just another living creature like me who’s been given the privilege to live in this world.”

Eve would look up to the sky a few moments later and would offer silent thanks to the god that she believed in.

When Eve started to walk back the way she had come, she remembered about the doll that she had come chasing.

“Gah, Ashie is going to go berserk on me,” she feared, but the woman relaxed and fixed her stare on the creature that she was carrying along. “No matter, I can always take her to Sinaí and buy her a new one.”

***

Part 3/3 of Chapter 3

The matron hurried her walk, for she had also left her children unattended for more than ten minutes. She was worried for them then, although that worry died fast when she laid eyes on them a while later.

Eve knew that there would be much explaining to do, but she wasn’t worried all that much because children were innocent and would understand – albeit they would be curious all the time and would ask silly questions about the creature. As to the older orphans that awaited back in the monastery, she knew they would also understand once she explained to them all that had happened. What was more, Eve already was expecting for them to volunteer to come and give the mother of the creature a proper burial, so eleemosynary were them, just like her.

“Where is my dolly?” Ashie asked her innocuously when she was back with them. The orphans, when they had seen her coming, had gone out of the water and had rushed to the riverbank to meet up with her.

“The river took it, honey,” Eve explicated in a charming voice. “But come here, Ashie,” – she crouched – “I brought you something better than that dirty puppet that you called a son.”

Ashie, who had long, white hair and a tender face with rosy cheeks and blue eyes, went to her right away. So did Abigale and Damera. All three were curious at what Eve held in her arms.

“Look, you all,” Eve said in an exciting voice. “I found a real baby!”

Ashie and Damera went closer to her and took a peep. Neither kid was scared at what they saw, curious perhaps, particularly Ashie, but she smiled sweetly and innocently asked, “Can I have him?”

Eve blurted out laughing heartily, mostly because she wasn’t even sure what gender the baby was. “Sorry, dear, not at the moment. You can touch him, though, but be careful.”

Ashie reached in with her left hand and touched the baby on one of its horns. She then glanced at her mother, smiled too sweetly, and removed her hand, as if she had done something wrong. Eve chuckled at that and noticed that the baby moved his head then, and he licked his lips, but just that, he did not wake up.

The one who became confused then was Abigale.

“What is it, mother?” Abigale asked as she approached with a cautious glare. “Where did you find it?”

Eve noticed the confusion in her large, surprised coffee-toned eyes.

“Abigale,” Eve looked directly at her. “It is a long story, dear, but one that I will gladly tell you about later at the monastery. For now, help me pack things up, we must return, for this is actually a very important matter.”

“Uh huh,” Abigale nodded, her eyes on the horned baby. She wasn’t scared of what she saw, but she was shocked to find out that the baby did not resemble a human baby – and Abigale had seen human babies before.

Eve rose again, feeling good with herself with the baby in her arms. She had never married nor had had the privilege of being a true mother, but she felt like one again as she held the creature in her arms.

“Ashie,” she said then. “I am sorry about your dolly, dear. Soon enough we will go to Sinaí and get you a new one, alright?”

Ashie bit her index finger and nodded once, the child too bewildered with the baby that her mother carried.

“Now come on,” Eve started walking towards a four-wheeled wagon that waited not far from them. The wagon had two horses tied on the front. “You all get on the wagon now and behave as always, I don’t want you falling. I will help Abigale pack everything and load it back onto the wagon.”

Eve did just that. Abigale had packed most of the stuff that needed to be put back on the wagon, and Eve had taken care of tossing everything onto the back of the wagon while Abigale had kept the baby cuddled in her arms.

Ten minutes later they were on their way back to the monastery, with Eve handling the reins and Abigale holding on to the baby beside her.

*End of Chapter 3*

*M i d n a* · Mar 21, 2013

Update time; hide. :cool:

Honors and Honorable Mentions

Honored ZDers: February Eve, 13Foxes, Chilfo Freeze, Lukémon, WaffleNinja, Raindrop14, Hero of Time, Atsuma

Part 1/3 of Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Creature

Eastern Pancracia, June 18th, Year 367

Later that day

A group of six orphans stared in awe at the creature. Matron Eve had placed him on top of her very own bed just seconds ago. There were the three young ones that had gone with her to the river, and there were three others that had remained behind watching over the monastery. These were two fifteen year old girls and a much younger male who was just five years old. The girls that had not seen the creature yet seemed to be in total wonder as they stared at it, with their mouths forming an o. As to Tyson, who was the young kid, he was surprised, but not as much as the two older girls.

The matron’s room was wide and rectangular, with dark, stone walls and a ten foot-high ceiling with long thin logs running across from wall to wall for support. From the middle of the ceiling hung an old bronze colored chandelier which held six fat candles that lit the entire room. Other than the bed, there were many things that decorated the matron’s room: Paintings that depicted landscapes and even one of Matron Eve as a young knight hung at one of the walls. A wooden bookcase with a dark, glossy finish was set against the southern wall close to the only window of the room, which was closed at the moment and covered with a long, blue curtain that came a few inches from touching the dark tiled floor. This bookcase held a few books and other tiny ornaments scattered atop the three levels that it had. Besides the bed there was a small, squared table with an hourglass and an open book sitting on top. And farther down the bookcase there were two wooden chests close to the wall. The room was very clean and had a fresh smell and feeling to it, for even though this was part of the old monastery that had stood abandoned for decades, Eve had kept it clean almost every day, just as the rest of the two-level structure had been kept.

The baby Dragir was no longer wrapped in the dark cloths that matron Eve had found him in, he now laid completely exposed – save for a white cloth that covered its private parts – on the bed and crying loudly as it kicked and moved its arms in a tantrum.

“So, is it a boy or a girl?” one of the older girls asked excitedly. She wore a dull brown dress, black, partly torn girl shoes, and a weird hat on her head which resembled what could have been deer antlers on an upside down iron bowl. This girl was the very first orphan that Eve had taken under her wing. Aisling Kurtich was her name, but she had detached the Kurtich surname and had donned the Ashäd one, which belonged to the matron. Aisling was very pretty, almost as much as she was polite and kind. She had an oval face with big eyes and even larger eyelashes. A generous smile seemed to be on her face at all times, and she had to-the-shoulder auburn hair that seemed fire-red when lit by the light of the sun.

Eve turned to regard her, for the matron still did not know that answer to that.

“Well,” Eve said, almost embarrassingly. “I still don’t know, Aisling. Why don't we find out now?”

Aisling and another teenage girl who was standing next to her were quick to nod at that.

“Bet you a copper coin that it’s a male,” the girl told Aisling.

“You’re on,” Aisling took the bet and shook hands with the girl.

Eve took care of removing the nappy, exposing the young babe’s private organs.

“Oh, we have ourselves a cute male,” Eve exclaimed with a grand smile, and she turned to regard the two teenage girls. “Guess you lose, Aisling.”

“Ha,” the girl standing next to Aisling joked. “Add another victory to me. I beat you. Hand over my copper piece, loser.”

Abigale laughed softly from her spot, mostly at the word loser that her sister had used.

“Yeah, yeah,” Aisling growled, scratching her head. “You got me this time, Foxy. I will give you your copper coin in a bit, for now just relax and let me have a good look at my new brother.”

“Just make sure you don’t forget, you silly girl,” protested the girl, who had slanted, dark eyes. She was also slim and had dark, silky hair falling all the way to her butt. Her name was Minono, but everyone in the monastery mostly knew her as Foxy. She had earned the nickname a few months back when a fox had been around the monastery and she had warned everyone about it through a lot of shouting. “Fox, fox, fox,” she had shouted back then.

Minono was an Asakian, a human from a southern realm known as Asaki. Her slanted eyes were what made her differ from other humans. Pancracians knew her kind as Yamato, or the Yamato folk.

“I won’t be forgetting,” Aisling replied.

“Knowing you, you probably will,” laughed Foxy, but she was just teasing, for she liked to annoy the eldest daughter more than anything else.

“No, I won’t,” argued Aisling, she even shoved Foxy away playfully, but her sister would be having none of that and shoved her back.

Eve smiled and let the girls argue their matter, turning her attention back to the baby, whom she thought was adorable. She put the nappy back on and just observed him for a while, smiling warmly as she did.

“Why is he crying?” Ashie asked in her childish voice. Eve noticed that she seemed to be very curious.

“He’s probably very hungry, dear,” Eve believed and turned to regard Aisling, who stood to her right and still arguing with Foxy. “Ace! May I trouble you to fill a baby bottle with some milk? There is still some left from this morning’s milking, right?”

“Affirmative, woman,” Aisling said with a bright smile, for she liked being called by her cognomen: Ace. Understanding what she needed to do, she added, “I’ll go get it.”

Eve nodded at her and watched as she went to take care of that, but not before shoving Foxy away one last time and laughing funnily as she went.

Aisling was actually very excited about the creature that she was back in less than three minutes. She entered the room running and handed the matron the baby bottle and watched as she lay on the bed next to the creature. Eve proceeded to insert the soft tip of the bottle into the baby’s mouth, the creature quieting down and taking the offered tip right away. The two young orphans, Ashie and Damera, climbed on to the bed, but only because they were curious at everything that was going on. Being so innocent they hardly understood that the creature was so different from them. Along with Matron Eve they both watched as the creature fed on the milk, his dark eyes glancing all about the room in more than sheer curiosity.

“Oh, how cute he is,” Aisling smiled. “His horns, his scales, his eyes, he’s just one cute little fellow, isn’t he?”

The matron and Foxy couldn’t have agreed more, but Foxy grinned and said, “His horns are better-looking than yours.”

“Why you,” Aisling glared funnily at Minono. “You always have something to say, don’t you?”

Minono just laughed, and Aisling turned her attention to the baby creature. “He’s really cute!”

“You wish he was yours, eh?” Foxy bothered Ace again, and Aisling was quick to reply with a nod and a succulent yes.

“Too bad,” Foxy shoved her away. “He’s Mother’s.”

“But I’m still his big sis,” Aisling countered, shoving Foxy back.

Foxy gave her a slight nod and then turned her attention to the creature, for she too, was very fascinated by his cuteness.

After about half an hour that she spent taking care of the new member of the family, Eve headed out of the room when the little one had finally gone back to sleep. The matron had dispatched the other orphans away when she’d been close to having the baby fall asleep, so she was the only one in the room when the Dragir had lost consciousness.

***

Part 2/3 of Chapter 4

The matron headed to the large kitchen area where Aisling and Foxy were busy preparing lunch, for it was just about lunch time. Eve and her sons and daughters usually ate lunch at around 2:30 to 3:00 P.M.

“Ah, so has the little one gone to sleep, then?” asked Aisling, her tone emphatic. She’d been busy slicing potatoes and tomatoes apart with a long sharp knife when Matron Eve had entered the kitchen.

“Yes,” Eve replied as she took a look out through a small window on the wall. She puffed out air, as if finding relief from a long day. Outside she heard the shouting of the kids and the barking of a black-coated Husky canine that Aisling had picked up five months ago from a trip to the Sinaí Settlement. Aisling had given it the name Shadow. Eve saw that the rest of the children were playing with it as they usually did by throwing a stick away and have the dog run after it and bring it back to them. Satisfied, she turned her attention back to the inside and went to sit on a long wooden bench that was attached to the dinner table, which was also made of wood but was covered with a clean, white cloth. Eve had made that table a few weeks after her arrival to the monastery. She could have bought an expensive and better detailed one imported from Asaki, but she had preferred to make one herself to her liking, so she had bought planks, nails, and a hammer and had gone on to make it.

The kitchen was big, a little bigger than the matron’s own quarters for sure. There was room for plenty of culinary objects that the matron had collected over the months. Pots, pans, and even a few large mugs hung at the walls, as well as a few sacks that contained grain, flour, and sugar. There were several wooden counters encircling the southern and western walls, these with doors and drawers. The counters held other useful items such as baskets, buckets, earthen jars where the drinking water was kept fresh, and washing trays. A black stove that ran on wood was set against the northern wall, just a few paces away from the long wooden table that was also set against the wall. Behind the stove rose a stone-made chimney, through there was where the smoke caused by the stove went out. There were several pans and a pot already on the stove, which was also burning with a fire within. The kitchen felt cool despite the stove burning with fire, for there were two windows, one on the western wall close to the chimney and one on the eastern wall. Through those windows the wind had always slipped in, refreshing the room completely. During winter times, the kitchen was the warmest place in the monastery.

“Aisling, Foxy,” Eve began, her voice serious. “I must talk to you two very seriously, so listen to me now, and listen carefully.”

The two girls turned to regard her. Aisling put the knife down on the wooden counter and wiped her hands on a white apron that she wore over her ragged, dirty dress. The other girl, the one called Foxy, also turned around, leaving her duty of washing dirty dishes. She too, cleansed her wet hands using an apron that she wore over a pale blue dress that had lost its color due to too many washes at the river against the surface of a flat rock.

Eve noticed that they had given her all their attention, so she cleared her throat.

“I don’t know what you two think of all this,” the matron spoke. “You know, about me bringing the creature here. I had to do it. I couldn’t just leave him there to his luck, that would have been very degrading from my part. And I cannot let the damn realm know of him, they’ll kill him! I don’t want his death to be on my hands. I... just wouldn’t be able to live with that blame.”

“I know, Mother,” Aisling was quick to say when she found out that Eve had paused. “You did well by bringing him here; that was very noble of your part.”

“I am planning on keeping him here with us,” Eve looked seriously at Aisling, then at Foxy. “I…want to raise him as I have raised all of you. He might be different than us, a horned devil as we know them, but I am sure we’ll be fine. He deserves a chance at life, not death.”

“I totally agree with you, Mother, of course,” Foxy let her know, and she walked up to her and pat her shoulder. “I would never even dream of opposing one of your decisions.”

“Thanks, Heart,” Eve touched Foxy’s hand softly then turned to regard Aisling.

“What do you think, Aisling?”

“There is nothing for me to think about. If you want to raise him, go ahead, I support you one hundred percent, Mother. He’ll survive with us, and we’ll definitely be helping you out with him, at least I know that I will.”

Eve nodded at that, feeling more relaxed to hear those words.

“I feel the same way,” Foxy mentioned with a smile.

“But there is still the mother’s issue,” Eve proceeded on, happy to hear Foxy’s supportive words as well. “I told you that she was dead when I found her, but there is still something we can do for her.”

“We, as in us three, right?” Foxy asked, touching her bosom with her own hand.

“Yes,” Eve nodded, and she stood up to her five-foot-ten-inch frame, dwarfing the girls by four inches. “I was thinking that we can still give her a proper burial.”

Aisling caressed her chin with her right hand and nodded at Eve.

“That would be very honorable from our part, Mother. I mean come on, it would be a very rude thing to do just leaving the mother out there by the river. What would happen if someone finds the body?”

“That’s what I thought as well. So, can I count with you two for help in digging a hole close to here later on?” Eve asked, gazing from one girl to the other.

Aisling instantly nodded, and Foxy said, “Sure.”

“I will go and secure the body then,” Eve told them. “It’s best if I go now and take care of that. We wouldn’t want someone else to know of the creature’s presence in these parts. Last thing we would need would be for the armada to come and ask questions to that which I don’t know.”

“I will go distract the kids while you depart,” Foxy offered. “Tyson tends to get very uncomfortable when you leave.”

“And I will continue fixing lunch,” Aisling said, already motioning back to her spot. “Bring the children here, Foxy, we can entertain them here with some crazy story.”

“Right,” Minono was all smiles, for she knew how the children enjoyed their tales, particularly Aisling’s. “I will do that.”

“I will be back shortly,” Eve said and then went on to kiss the two of them on their foreheads, a thing she did every time that she went out.

A few moments later, Foxy went to collect the four young orphans, while Eve went outside and prepared the wagon for departure. A few minutes later she was riding back to the river with high hopes of finding the horned devil’s body where she had found it.

***

Part 3/3 of Chapter 4

Unperturbed, unbothered, the body had remained near the riverbank as last the matron had seen it.

Eve jumped off the front of the wagon and immediately headed to it, knowing that she needed to recover the body as soon as possible. Not that this portion of the eastern region saw many visitors, but still she just had to make sure that no one got a view of the body or else everything would be ruined.

She couldn’t help it but feel sad once again when her eyes saw the creature just laying there. She crouched and was about to pick the body up when all of a sudden her eyes noticed the hilt of the beautiful sword that the creature carried within a silvery scabbard.

“Huh?” Eve was surprised to see the red orb that served as the sword’s pommel. She reached for the hilt and pulled out the whole blade, the matron fast becoming shocked in seeing the sword’s beauty. Eve was also perplexed at how light the sword felt in her hand. This sword was not as heavy as the iron or steel blades that she had wielded before; the blade was at least half the weight of those blades. For a whole instant she remained there admiring the sword, particularly the symbols on the blade and the colored gems on the crosspiece.

“This would fetch a mighty fortune if I was to sell it,” she told herself. Then she considered what she had said and shook her head as she put the blade back in the scabbard. “No,” she went on to say lowly. “Not going to sell it.”

She would keep the blade, along with anything else that she found on the corpse. To Eve’s reasoning, the blade and whatever other goodies she found on the body of the horned devil weren’t hers to keep. She had found them, but that didn’t mean that they were rightfully hers now.

As she lifted the body off the ground with a grunt, for it was heavy, she considered the possibility of storing the found items and then perhaps later in time hand them over to their rightful owner, who, in time, would become that young baby horned devil that she had taken as her own son.

“Yes,” Eve liked that idea as she carried the body toward the back of the wagon. “That’s just what I will do.”

With lots of effort from her part, Eve carefully managed to place the body on the back of the wagon. She puffed out air and stood with her back reclined against the back end of the wagon, the matron still lost in thought about the sword. The sword was a beauty, a piece that anyone would gladly like to have as their own. She could keep it for herself, but Eve wasn’t that avaricious, never had been. Besides, she knew that the baby horned devil would want answers about who he was as soon as he became of an appropriate age to know that kind of stuff. When that time would come, Eve would gladly tell him all about himself, would tell him about how she had come to find him and his mother near the riverbank. But not only that, she would also give him the sword and any items as well, for they were rightfully his.

Nodding to herself, she went on to climb the back of the wagon and revised the body, taking any and all possessions that she found on it. The Dragir had been carrying a couple of satchels and pouches on her waist belt. Eve had unfastened the belt loose and had taken a look within the satchels and pouches merely because of curiosity. Within the satchels she had found a few items, some of which were ruined by the water of the river, and the woman had also found some valuable-looking stones. Eve could have taken those for herself, but she wasn’t like that. She would save everything for a day that she saw forthcoming in the future.

Nodding to herself contently, she proceeded to jump down from the back of the wagon and headed towards the front, climbing onboard without much time to waste. She took a hold of the reins and set the horses in motion.

***

Later that day, with the sun already threatening to set in the west, the matron of the orphanage and Aisling stood at the side of the tomb, which they had already covered back with the dirt that they had dug out of the hole. Eve had thought it prudent to bury the female creature under the shadows of a large mesquite that rose from the ground some thirty feet away from the orphanage. Earlier, as Eve had made it to the monastery with the body, Eve had thought about the possibility of actually burying the creature at Sinaí cemetery. The concierge of the cemetery was a good friend of hers, for they had actually attended school together in the big city of Pancracia when they had been young. Eve knew that her friend would probably agree to let her bury the creature there, but the matron had pondered deeply about the whole problem. Even if she was allowed to bury the creature at Sinaí cemetery, she knew that rumors would probably break out, and she did not need that kind of fire on herself nor her adopted family. She knew that a friend was just that: a friend. But even those tended to betray friends from time to time. That is why she had decided to bury the babe’s mother near her monastery.

“She’ll be resting peacefully here,” Aisling said, her voice sounding a bit broken as she stared at the huge tree. “This is definitely a nice resting place as any.”

“Yes, Dear, we've done well today,” Eve said, feeling proud of her oldest adopted daughter, who had helped her digging the deep hole. As to Foxy, Eve had left her watching over the younger orphans while she and Aisling took care of burying the female.

Aisling nodded at her mother with teary eyes, Eve noticing that she looked somewhat down.

“What is wrong?” Eve went walking her way, to what Aisling reacted by collecting herself. She held a shovel in her left hand, but she used the right one to wipe her nose, and she sobbed.

“It’s just that this saddens me,” she confessed, moving the shovel about. “I mean, what could have happened to this being for her to end up like this and with her child left alone in the world and far from home?”

Eve stood at the side of Aisling and placed a comforting hand on her right shoulder, driving her eyes to her. The matron had never really given that possibility a thought.

“I have no idea,” she said, observing the dark eyes of her daughter. “Perhaps she had trouble of her own or something. I am not sure, Aisling,” – she removed her hand from her shoulder – “I am just glad that I was able to help in some way.”

The matron looked back at the tomb while Aisling nodded.

“I now have an obligation to look after the child that she left behind.”

“And as I said earlier,” Aisling recalled. “I will help you with this task, Mother. You can count on me.”

“I know it,” Eve said, very proudly. “Though it won’t be easy because he’s different, Honey. We’ll have our hands full when he grows. You know what I mean by this, right?”

“I think I do,” Aisling was not sure. “We’re going to have to watch him often and keep him out of trouble, especially with any of our own family members who do not accept him or see him as not being equal to us. Or when visitors come passing through as they tend to do every now and then; we can’t have them see him.”

“Correct,” Eve nodded. “If someone else other than us finds out that we house this exotic creature, there could be trouble for all of us. You know the laws of our realm, Ace.”

Aisling just nodded but she wasn't scared at that. Deep within the girl knew that they had done the right thing that day.

“We’ll be fine,” Eve assured, the matron holding high hopes to that being the case, for she had many fears as well, fears that she did not tell Aisling about. “We’ll be alright, Honey, it’s not as bad as it looks.”

*End of Chapter*

Raindrop14 · Mar 21, 2013

Coolio, can't wait for more!

xmajorax · Mar 21, 2013

Hello again. Its been a while. I'm loving these story's as usual! Your writing style is very professional, and I love the lore of your stories. Looking forward to catching up on what I missed.

*M i d n a* · Mar 22, 2013

Raindrop14 said:
Coolio, can't wait for more!

Well here you go, then. :cool:

xmajorax said:
Hello again. Its been a while. I'm loving these story's as usual! Your writing style is very professional, and I love the lore of your stories. Looking forward to catching up on what I missed.

Hey, xmajorax. Nice to see you. ^^ Yes, it's been a while. Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate them. I know well that I haven't really used Serris in my past tales (he never made an appearance in any of the ones he was supposed to appear, and for that I apologize) but I can guarantee you that he will appear in this one, in this first tale, btw, in a few more chapters. So if you catch up, then you will see him in action.

And thanks to other readers for reading. :yes:

This update's chapter is short, so I won't break it down in parts, but I will still add the Spoiler tags.

Honors and Honorable Mentions

Honored Zders: Jedizora, Magatha, MikauIncarnate, Hazel
Honorable Mentions: Epwna, February Eve, Go_Skyward

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Justice will come

Central Dragiria, June 20th, Year 367

When a House was wiped out, the news tended to fly all over Dragiria. House Stargleam had learned of House Primrose’s unfortunate tragedy two days ago from a close source to the House, this source being a talented mercenary who led his own guild within Crystal City.

When the members of House Stargleam had learned of their relatives’ grim fate they had all cried and mourned the loss. It had been a terrible wound for the House, for House Primrose and House Stargleam had been the last two Houses still standing of a noble line of Dragir Houses from the past. With House Primrose ruined, the only remaining Dragir nobles from that ancient bloodline were the purebloods of House Stargleam. Purebloods were those who were original members of the House and not pick ups or added members from other Houses that were usually taken in by a House to boost its power.

The non-ruling matriarch of the House had not taken the news well and had chosen to seclude herself in her own quarters the night that she had received the cruel news, for she had lost her own sister in that raid. And as to other nobles of the House, they too mourned the loss and had secluded themselves to deal with it in their own way, all except four Dragir, who were now planning retaliation against the Jyy House.

Two male warriors and two young females had gone out to the back garden of the House and far from the ears of any bystanders, particularly soldiers who guarded the compound. Those that had been nearby were dismissed, and so, under the shade of a large, red-leafed tree they were plotting up a plan.

“No,” said a Dragir who was dressed in fine silver armor with spikes on the shoulder plates. Zordo was his name, and he was the current ruling prince of House Stargleam. “What you are proposing to me is preposterous. It’s out of the question. We won’t be going after those Jyy just yet.”

“Why not, Brother?” asked one of the females. She was shorter than the present males and the other female. She stood a little over five-five, had long blonde hair kept in a fat braid at the back, and had light-blue eyes. She wore a white cloak over her light-weight mage attire and several satchels hung at her waist from her belt.

“I have my reasons, Magatha,” Zordo replied, crossing his exercised arms as he stared at her. “But if you must know one, then know that our House is weak. We won’t be leaving the House—any of us!”

Magatha, the youngest Primrose noble at 92 years of age, became startled with those words, but she remained staring at her brother. “Weak?” she asked.

“Yes, weak,” Zordo replied right back. “In many aspects that don’t afford us to split our forces.”

“But they must pay, Zordo!” The Dragir who had said that was the other female. She was an inch taller than Magatha, had short blonde hair, and a slim build. She was young looking but was already 254 years old. Unlike Magatha, who was a mage, a practitioner of magic, this Dragir was a warrior. At her left hip hung a scabbard with a sword within, one which had seen plenty of action in the past. The Dragir also carried a round shield at her back and several wicked daggers on another small belt that was tied around her left thigh.

“I know, Hazel!” Zordo roared, his oval, gritty face surely showing anger. Unlike most of the Stargleam nobles, who either were brunettes, brown haired, or blondes, Zordo actually was the only one who had white hair; he kept it short cropped. “Those fools will taste the fury of House Stargleam when justice does come calling, but we won’t be hitting them any time soon.”

Those words made Hazel give Zordo a hard stare.

“But now would be a good time as any, Cousin,” protested the other male Dragir, who had mostly been hearing out his cousins’ conversation up to that point. This one was a giant at six-five, five inches taller than Zordo. He was as slim-bodied as Zordo was and had spiky dark hair. He wore a dark outfit with no armor whatsoever, just a plain dark, short-sleeved tunic, and black pants and knee-high boots. His name was Ddraigh, and he was cousin to Zordo, Magatha, and Hazel. His cousins had taken him in when his own House had been wiped out by a stronger Jyy House three decades ago. “Their numbers are few,” Ddraigh added with determination in his voice. “Their strength in battle would be meager compared to ours. We could wipe them out tonight, just give the damn order so I can assemble all squads!”

Zordo slowly shook his head at his cousin while holding a hardened stare.

“Maybe what you speak is true, Ddraigh,” he told him, his tough stare seeming serene now. “We can definitely get payback tonight if we went out Jyy hunting. But since I am the current ruling prince of this House, I decide what must be done here. If I say we wait, then we will wait. You dig?”

“Bah,” Hazel didn't seem too happy with her brother’s reply, neither did Ddraigh. The tall Dragir spat aside in much disappointment and even kicked at the grass while he cursed out aloud. "Oh I dig," he said. "But I don't truly accept it."

"You will have to," Zordo showed him a stare that told his cousin that he had no other choice but to accept his order.

“Damn it, Zordo!” Ddraigh cried in rage. “Why must we wait? Let us go wipe those cowards now!”

“Easy there, Ddraigh!” Zordo spoke after he noticed how eager his cousin and his sisters seemed to be about getting revenge, that last thing he needed was for them to go out in secret seeking revenge. The way things were in Dragiria at the moment, he did not need that. “I know that you all are as angry as I am this very moment. Jake, Evelina—who was our sister and cousin to you, Ddragih—and all their households, were the very last relatives we had. So of course there is the need to be angry and feel sorry for them, and also the need for justice. Their blood calls out to us for justice and we will have it one day. Trust me with my decision to wait and formulate a good plan, I know what I am doing.”

Hazel stared at him and shook her head in disappointment, the anger that she felt within was making her be a stubborn one, more than she already was.

“We should be hitting them now!” Hazel roared. “Evelina was our sister, Brother! Didn't she mean anything to you? Or Jake...Didn’t he mean anything to you, or their newborn, our very own little nephew? Damn you, Zordo!”

“Yes!” Zordo cried out, his eyes becoming watery, but he did well to keep his voice tough and serious. “They do. They meant everything to me. But Jake was a fool for not allowing our House to go help in that war in the first place. We could have dealt with those traitorous Jyy easily and his House would still be standing. But he refused our aid. He totally rejected my help when he knew he could have used our House’s power to be on the safe side of things. And now here we are, lamenting ourselves and crying over the foul news of his House’s fall. You think this is easy for me? I feel guilty, you know?”

Zordo turned around and walked away a few steps, wheezing.

“I think it’s time we let Zordo have a breather,” Magatha decided to interrupt, seeing how her brother had broken down.

But Zordo was alright, and he turned around quickly to stare back at them. “No, I am fine, Mag." He walked back to stand near them. "I was a fool back then. I could have persuaded Jake to accept our help, but I guess I was weak in that regard...and because of that, he, my sister Evelina, and their son are all dead.”

Zordo then stared down to the grassy ground, the tough Dragir feeling weak and his eyes were showing a few tears. He used his index finger and his thumb to wipe those clean.

“Jake believed that his House was strong,” said Magatha, noticing her brother’s reaction. “And it was, but you heard what Scars said, House Ingrenam was behind it, and we all know that House Ingrenam is more like five Houses put together. You should not blame yourself, Zordo. Jake always said that if it came to his House falling, that he’d fall with honor. Evelina believed that too, that is why they didn’t take your help, because they probably knew that by aiding them, our House would become weak and perhaps attacked as well. They stuck to their belief. They wanted to be out of that problem on their own, they never wanted for any of us to be involved. You are not to be blamed, Brother.”

“But see, Magatha,” Zordo said, rising his stare to meet her sister’s. “There was no need for their House to fall at all. Jake could have allowed us to fight for him, right Ddraigh?”

“True,” agreed their cousin with a faint voice, for he was still hurting as well. During those seconds, the tall Dragir crossed his arms and just remained at ease and staring at Zordo.

“Jake’s overconfidence was his House’s downfall,” Zordo went on, wiping his tears clean from his face using his right hand. “With them gone, our House is the last standing of the ten that there were at one time. We have no more relatives left, no more strong shoulders where we can lean on if we ever waver. We will have to be strong and extremely cautious from here on out if we aim to survive in this harsh world of ours. That is why justice – not revenge - will come, but not anytime soon. I have something planned out, but I need time to develop it fully. When the time comes, we will be taking justice into our own hands, and you three will know that the wait was worth it.”

Hazel, Magatha, and Ddraigh looked at each other, and Zordo saw in their faces that his words had finally made sense inside their thick skulls.

“Alright,” Hazel was the one who spoke while looking at her brother. “If you say we wait, then I will honor your decision. But know, Zordo, that I am ready anytime, and so is my death squad. I will be counting the days.”

“So will I,” Ddraigh was quick to say. “Jake was a great battle instructor to me, I learned much from him. And your sister Evelina...she was a beauty and a finer Dragir still; she didn’t deserve to die, and neither did their little one. The wound I feel within is deep,” the tall Dragir banged his chest. “It won’t truly heal until I see that justice has been served.”

“You know that I am ready as well,” Magatha said in a very low voice. “You know how I've loathed violence since I came to know how this world works, but I am ready.”

Zordo regarded them all for a few seconds, and they regarded him back.

“One day, you all,” the ruling prince promised with a blaze in his eyes. He walked away close to the stone wall that surrounded the entire compound, staring out at the horizon where a few clouds could be seen hanging around. “One day we will have our justice. Till that day comes, we must remain strong and protect this House.”

*End of Chapter*

Special Look Back

1. Eve, an Ex-knight of Pancracia and now orphan caretaker, discovered the body of a horned creature near the river. This creature, this horned devil as the humans know them as, was carrying a baby with her, and Eve, being a kind woman to a fault, decided to take him in as her son.
2. Eve presented the creature to the rest of the orphans, and two elder girls agreed to help her when it came to raising and keeping the creature safe, despite knowing the danger that it means to have such a creature with them. They also buried the baby's mother near the monastery in order to keep things under wraps.
3. The last nobles of an ancient Dragir bloodline discuss revenge after the fall of House Primrose, but the ruling prince of the House refuses to take any rash action and settles his relatives by telling them that justice will come in the future.

--Edit--

Kima is no longer a character, I replaced the name with Hazel. Kima was Siniru's character, but she submitted a new one with a human role. So forget about Kima and embrace Hazel as a Stargleam member. Siniru's character will appear later in this tale.

*M i d n a* · Mar 24, 2013

This is one monstrous chapter. You've been warned.

Naw, Imo, it's long but not that long.

Honors and Honorable Mentions

Honored ZDers: Atsuma, February Eve, Hero of Time, WaffleNinja, Raindrop14, Lukémon, Xinnamin, Zelda_8
Honorable Mentions: 13Foxes, Chilfo Freeze, Vanessa28

Part 1/3 of Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Life at the Orphanage

Eastern Pancracia, August 23rd, Year 381

*Fourteen years later*

“Hahahaha,” Matron Eve was all laughs when she noticed how the group seemed to be struggling with the large fallen tree.

She stood tall and arms-crossed over her bosom just a few paces in front of the main entrance to the monastery, with a hint of proudness still evident in that stance of hers from her younger years as a knight. The fourteen years that had gone by had affected her little, for she still was very attractive for a thirty-six year old, perhaps even more so now that she had reached the paramount of her beauty as a mature woman. What differed from her looks were a slight expression mark that had appeared on her face near her nose and cheek, and perhaps her short golden hair, which now she kept just below ear’s length.

“Come on, you guys. Put your backs into it,” Eve shouted gleefully and clapped. “That tree isn’t going to remove itself from our yard with you just staring at it.”

“Too heavy, Mother,” Damera’s voice protested, followed by a grunt as he pulled hard on his own piece of rope simultaneously with other orphans. Damera had grown to become a tall, handsome fellow with a face that often appeared mischievous.

“Just pull as hard as you can,” Eve cried, the woman not wanting for her sons and daughters to give up so easily.

The orphans’ efforts were to no avail, for the tree was just too big and heavy, even for six teenagers raging from ages twelve to twenty one.

“Ah, we can’t even move it a little,” a Yamatoan girl threw her piece of rope to the soggy ground, feeling defeated. “Dang tree!”

A shy, yet cheerful laugh was heard from somewhere above.

“What's this? Are you giving up already, Alecia?”

Matron Eve, Alecia, who was the Yamatoan girl, and several of the other orphans, turned upwards to stare at the talker.

“Ah yeah, look at you,” Alecia cried with a little disgust in her voice. She stared up at the roof of the old monastery, her hands on her hips, and added, “I am up here, look at me, family. I’m taking care of the easiest job!”

“Alecia! Don’t talk to your brother like that,” Eve was quick to scold the girl with words and with serious eyes.

Alecia lowered her sight and apologized. “Yes, Mother. I am sorry. I was only teasing.”

“Were you?” Eve asked, even though she knew well that the girl had spoken with no lies. Alecia had always had that too-easily-annoyed attitude going ever since Eve had taken her in as her daughter eight years ago.

“Yes,” Alecia spoke truthfully, her dark eyes staring softly at her mother to assure her so.

“Then apologize to Artemys and not to me, Darling.”

“Naw, there is no need for that,” came Artemys’s voice from atop the roof. The Dragir stared down upon them all and nodded, “There was no harm done, and besides, I started it with my foolish comment. I am the one who should be sorry, and I am, Alecia, so please forgive me.”

The girl below just gave him a slight nod accompanied by a serious stare, then she turned her attention back to the fallen tree.

Artemys happened to be the Dragir whom Eve had found at the river fourteen years ago. Artemys was the name that Eve had given him on that same day when she had found him. Aisling and Foxy had been eager for her to pick a name for him, and so Eve, after thinking it for a while, had come up with that one when night time had come.

The horned creature was no longer a baby, but a young, handsome Dragir who could have resembled a young human lad if not for the dark horns on his head and the few dark scales scattered about on his forearms, neck, and face.

“Artemys is actually taking care of the hardest job,” Eve pointed out from her place, turning her stare to him, who had been working on fixing a large hole that the tree had made when it had fallen upon the roof during a powerful thunderstorm that had hit the region last night. “We might freeze come winter in three months if he does not fix that hole. You all know just how terribly cold it gets during the cold season...”

“We won’t freeze,” Artemys smiled kindly at them all and went back to work. “I will make sure of that.”

“I can climb up there and give you a hand if you want, Arty,” proposed a white haired girl. She was Ashie, the girl who was the same age as Damera.

“No, I’m fine, Ash,” Artemys told her. Ashie nodded at him but Artemys never saw her, for he was already back to his duty.

Artemys had grown to be five feet ten inches tall, just around Eve’s height. He had long, brownish hair that he kept tied in a small ponytail at his back. He was lean and muscular, with a very kind smile and a gallant stare on his face. He had been raised by Eve, who had raised him well using the same principles that she had been disciplined with as a young child. And more than having taught him manners and about the god and beliefs that she believed in, Eve had taught the Dragir everything that she knew about her knighthood. What had come with that package had been fighting skills with assorted weapons and even bare hands. These were skills that Artemys had come to love and master. Every day he had practiced beyond his limitations and had become great at it, according to Eve, who had told him that on many occasions. The creature had even bested his mother in a duel that they’d had a while back. Eve had been proud to see him grow as a great fighter, the best of all the orphans that she had trained so far. Not even Damera, who was great with a blade and a bow, could match up to him. And not even when Artemys reunited them all one day outside on the eastern patio and had handed them all wooden swords, wooden poles, and wooden axes, had the lot been able to defeat him. Artemys had defeated the whole monastery occupants with two long sword poles. So fine a warrior had he become that by practicing with him the others had learned something as well and had become better at being able to defend themselves, for that is really why the matron mother had trained them for, because she wanted for them to be able to defend themselves if trouble ever found them.

But not everything had been sweet during Artemys’s growing years. There had been more than a few incidents that had troubled the matron and several other orphans greatly. At age eight, Artemys had come to know that he could produce fire in the palm of his hand with a mere thought. Unbeknownst to him, he had inherited his Father’s magical will. Artemys had felt strange that day, had felt his blood flowing through his veins with a strange sensation, an urge that made him feel strong and imposing within. His mind had taken care of the rest; the Dragir thinking that this power felt like fire burning within him. He had thought of flames sprouting to life in his palm and to his bewilderment, large flames had indeed come to life, forming a fireball. Because of that incident, he had almost come to burn – and kill – one of the orphan girls, for truly shocked to see the flames sprouting to life in his own hand, Artemys had not known what to do. He had panicked and had moved his hand up and down, trying to quench the flames, but that only sent the small fireball towards Abigale, who had been as astonished at the sudden appearance of the fire on Artemys’s palm as the Dragir himself had been. Luckily for both of them, she had been fast to dive aside and the fireball had gone to hit against the barren ground of the back patio just where Abigale’s feet had been prior to her dive. Matron Eve had been quickly called to come out, and she soon came to understand that Artemys wasn’t just any ordinary Dragir; he had the ability to produce magic. Eve wasn’t so surprised at that, and only because there were a few humans who could produce magic too, although not directly and effortlessly like Artemys had, the sorcerers that she knew about used the knowledge written in ancient books known as tomes that had been passed on through out time.

“Oh dear,” Eve had told him then, calming him down as well as Abigale and the other orphans who had been shocked at it all. “Looks to me like you’re a mage, Honey, or at least you appear to have the ability to make magic happen naturally.”

“Ma...magic?” Artemys had not really understood, neither had Abigale nor the other orphans, for Eve had never touched the magic subject with them during her hours of teaching them some of the things that she had learned at school and as a knight of Pancracia.

“It’s complicated,” Aisling, who had been there as well had explained. “Just know that you are very special, Artemys!”

What Aisling had said had brought a smile upon Artemys that day, but a few orphans hadn’t felt that great about it, particularly Damera and Alecia.

From that moment on, Eve had known that she’d have to keep a tighter watch on Artemys. She had even bid him to not use magic at all, for it could be dangerous if he did something wrong. He was too young to be messing with that kind of stuff, especially since he apparently could produce it with a mere thought. Artemys, of course, had obeyed her from that moment on. The Dragir had not even dared to think about what he was capable of doing. Was fire all that he could summon?

The fact that Artemys had magic at his disposal had been the least of troubles for Eve, the matron mother had often found herself fully awake at nights without being able to sleep merely to keep an eye on Artemys, who most often would wake up shouting, panting, and shivering badly. Nightmares of some sort bothered the creature, but he never spoke of them to Eve or to anyone else who asked what was wrong. Artemys had only mentioned to the matron of the monastery that the nightmares were very scary and close to real. So real, in fact, that he often saw himself falling through dark, empty space until he hit bottom, where then he’d find himself in the midst of a dark ruined place. Eve had wanted to help him out with his nightmares, but Artemys just couldn’t bring himself to relate to her more of what he saw in those awful nightmares.

“You are better off not knowing,” is what Artemys had told her, and Eve’d had to accept that, but she had always remained worried for him, for the nightmares would continue to bother him every so often, like three times per week.

***

Part 2/3 of Chapter 6

When he was nine, Artemys got his first glimpse of a huge creature known as a dragon. As he had been growing up, Artemys and the other orphans had only heard about dragons and other mythological creatures through tales told by the matron. But on a Saturday evening as Artemys had been practicing his combat skills near the stable in the back patio, he had suddenly been alerted of the presence of a large monster flying overhead in the sky. The creature’s vast shadow had appeared on the ground, and Artemys had taken note of it and had turned upwards right away. He instantly knew that it was a dragon, for Matron Eve had described those creatures well in her tales. The dragon had roared loudly but had kept flying southward, not really interested in the orphanage, despite the movement of flesh and bone creatures down there. The dragon that Artemys had laid eyes upon was at least twenty feet long, with a long tail half that size. Its wings had been large, resembling those of a bat, and the dragon’s skin color had been egg white. The creature had had two long, bony horns jutting out from its large cranium. Artemys had not been the only observer, Eve and several of the orphans had also seen it, with Ashie shouting wildly as she pointed up at the sky, “Dragon! Dragon!”

The matron, knowing the lethal threat that the monster posed, had rounded her children and had told them to get inside the monastery. They had obeyed, of course, but barely. The orphans had surely been in too much wonder of the creature to obey nicely; Eve’d had to shove Artemys inside. Later that day, Eve was forced to hide Artemys well within the confines of the monastery, for a group of dragon hunters had come to the monastery to resupply themselves with water. It wasn't really a surprise seeing them there, for Eve’s own friend from Sinaí had led them there. They, particularly her friend, who was just as tall and pretty as her, had asked her to join them in the hunt for the dragon. Eve owed Veekas too many favors, so she agreed to go when the Sinaían told her that she’d feel much better if she came along. But not only because of that had the matron agreed, Eve’s decision to accompany Veekas and the rest of the group had been an easy one to make because dragons were rarely seen in Pancracia, these creatures tended to reside in areas hardly visited by humans. To kill one, though, was a great honor amongst Pancracians and other humans and creatures from the other realms, for that matter. Moreover, by killing one, Eve would be getting some spoils and some good money. Dragon skin, dragon blood, dragon tail, and anything from the creature sold for a huge amount of coin anywhere, especially with traders who dedicated their lives to getting their hands on rare items. But Eve had not done it for the money, she had merely gone because ever since she had joined the Pancracian service at age twelve, (Pancracia started training its soldiers young) she had wanted to participate in the slaying of a dragon, which were said to be the toughest of creatures in Jindaha to slay. Eve, just as every warrior in existence, had dreams of going toe to toe with a dragon; it was like a once in a lifetime opportunity for one to prove his or her worth.

And so an excited Eve had left the orphans under Aisling's care, and she did not return that night. The hunt for the dragon lasted four days, even with a group of soldiers from the close-by border-watching garrisons joining the hunt. When she finally returned home, she was all smiles and had brought her orphans gifts from Bevelavia. What was more, for helping slay the dragon Eve had received part of the creature’s sturdy skin. With it, she had managed to make a few armor plates for Artemys and Damera, who she thought really deserved them for their hard work in their training and around the monastery. With the skin that was left, she made a helmet, which she kept for herself, for neither Artemys nor Damera liked wearing helmets that much. Besides the dragon, Artemys would come to learn of the existence of ogres, dog-like creatures with large snouts known as blood suckers, and even a Chargol, a creature whose lower body was similar to that of a purple flower, its upper torso being that of a humanoid woman but with horns on its head. These creatures were rare to see out in the open, they had actually come from the central mountains seeking to establish themselves in another area where they were not so low in the food chain. Artemys never saw the creatures, nor did the other orphans, but when the news of the creatures being about reached Eve’s ears one day that she had gone to buy food at Sinaí, she’d taken care to keep a good watch and had also told her children of the danger about. But this danger would never reach them, because the creatures were dealt with by the Pancracian armada. The soldiers that had killed them had reported the incident to the royal crown, and the ruling princess had sent several groups of soldiers to watch the mountain area closely. Little had Eve known that the presence of those soldiers was only the start of many headaches to come.

After the monster hype died down there was some trouble with a few orphans who didn’t really like Neki that much from the moment that he had become even more special to the matron mother thanks to his abilities. Those were Damera and Alecia, who’d become jealous of what Neki had become all of a sudden: That special being who hogged the matron’s and the other orphans’ attention because of his skills with the sword and because of his magical knowledge. Damera was more frustrated over the fact that he could never best Artemys in a one on one sword match, and that jealousy grew as the days went marching by. That jealousy would turn into hate, but Antowin kept it well hidden from Eve and the rest who shared the monastery with him. As to Alecia, well she was just jealous at the fact that Artemys – being different than all of them – was very talented and always got the best of stuff going for him. How come they were not special like him? How come they could not produce magic like he could? Those were just some questions that the Yamatoan girl had asked herself. Her jealousy didn't lead her to hate him, but it surely had led her to speak little to the Dragir, and Alecia had only done so the majority of time when Artemys was the one who initiated the conversation.

“Are you almost done, Artemys?” shouted Eve at him.

“Almost,” he responded, his voice jovial. “Just give me a few more minutes, I want to make sure this hole is well sealed.”

“Take your time, Honey,” the matron went walking away toward the fallen tree, glancing at her other sons and daughters. “In the meantime, I will see if I can give these weaklings a hand with this mighty looking tree.”

Artemys smiled at the word that she had used to describe his brothers and sisters, but he did not turn to regard neither his adoptive mother nor the rest of his family. Yes, adoptive mother; Artemys already knew that Eve was not his real mother, nor that those whom he called his brothers and sisters were that to him either. The Dragir had known at the tender age of six that he was different than all of them. He’d come to know that he was some sort of rare creature, a monster, – a horned devil, as Damera had rudely called him once while out in the woods collecting wood for the fire – but he’d come to accept that long ago when Eve had explained to him when he had asked her with tears why he had horns and scales and was so different than all of them.

“No,” Eve had said back then as she had kept him embraced in a soft, maternal hug aimed to calm the storm of doubt that had suddenly formed within him. “You are no monster, Artemys. You are my son! I found you long ago. You are different than us in some ways, perhaps, but you are still like my own son. You are very special to me and to your brothers and sisters, and we love you just as much as you love us all.”

Eve had even related him the whole story about how she had found him on that fateful day. She had mentioned every little fact and detail, for the Dragir had demanded that from her. The true story had been shared with him just a year ago when Artemys had been close to turning thirteen. The Dragir had been old enough to learn the real truth about him, that is why he had chosen to ask Eve about it, for over the years she had been promising him that the time would come for him to know everything. When he had asked her about it, Eve gladly let him know the whole tale. She had even let him know that his own mother was buried close to the monastery. When he’d learned that fact, Artemys had always visited the grave every day. Eve had also shown and given to him the beautiful sword and items that she had found that day on her. Artemys wasn’t that shocked to lay eyes on the beautiful sword and the several items that Eve had shown him, those objects had merely produced a saddening, hopeless feeling within him. He gave the matron the items back, but Eve kept the items safe fearing that the day would come in which Artemys would finally ask for them.

“I know it is not a pretty picture,” Eve had said within her quarters, where she and Artemys had talked about the whole matter in private a year ago. “But that is the plain truth, Artemys. When I took you in as my son I knew that this day would come in the future, and I prepared well for it ever since that day. You don’t know how troubled I’ve been over the years in seeing you grow and coming to learn that you are different than us. Like I said, you are different, there is no changing that fact, but I’ve always considered you as my own child, you know that. Nothing will ever change the way I feel about you.”

Artemys did know that, knew it too well. Over the years he’d found nothing but love and lots of caring from her. Eve had never given him reason to hate her, she had never scolded him, had never hit him; quite the contrary, she had been overly patient with him when he’d made mistakes. After learning the truth, Artemys had had in mind running away to the east where his real homeland supposedly was located. He had never really found the heart and the courage to be able to do that, though, for his love for his human family had kept him from doing that, but that thought, and the pure curiosity to see what his homeland was like, had lingered on his mind and had been bothering him as of late; too much, in fact, that the Dragir had thought about just running away and save Eve and all the rest of his human family lots of trouble.

The Dragir inserted a fat stick into a bucket filled with a dark, sticky salmagundi of sorts, which he was using to cover the affected area on the roof. He brought out the stick full of the gooey substance and smeared it on the edges of the hole, then he bent his knees a bit in order to retrieve a long piece of wood from a stack that he had nearby. He then placed the peace of wood horizontally over the hole, covering part of it. He used the stick to get more substance from the bucket and spread it over the piece of wood that he had just placed, covering the small gaps that might be left unseen between the pieces of wood. He would repeat this process until he covered the entire hole. It had taken him but twenty minutes to complete the task, for he had done it before and knew what he was doing. During the course of the years, the roof of the monastery had suffered similar wounds due to the intense storms that happened during the summer and close to fall season. Fixing holes is how Artemys had come to gather enough experience to know what he was doing.

He was done with his task, so he turned to stare below and noticed that his mother, brothers, and sisters, were still unable to move the tree a long ways.

Holding the bucket in his right hand, he jumped down from the roof and landed nicely on top of the wagon, his drop making a loud bang against the planks of the wagon, which startled his mother and several others.

“Alright, here I come,” he told them, jumping out of the wagon. He landed softly on the barren, soggy ground, put the bucket aside, and rushed to help them out.

Eve turned toward the rooftop and noticed that he had finished his task.

“That will do wonders, Artemys,” she was all smiles. “Well done.”

“Yes. Now let us join forces and see whether we can pull this tree out of the way once and for all, eh?”

“Go, Artemys!” cried the youngest of the orphans, a twelve year old lass with thick, long black hair and a very deep stare. She was Eve’s most recent acquisition, and though everyone at the monastery was oblivious to the fact that she was a Lycan, the girl said nothing about it for personal fears. The matron had found the girl on the streets of Bevelavia – a small city about twenty miles to the west – when she had gone to buy provisions just about a year ago. Artemys had even gone along with the matron that time, Eve having taken one of those risks where Artemys could go if he wore a cowl over his head and a cloak. Staying in the wagon and not talking to a soul was also part of the priority deal that Eve and the Dragir had agreed upon if he was to go to villages. In truth, Eve had not wanted to take the risk by taking him along, but she loved him so much that she could just not deny any thing to him.

“Let’s do it, Annie,” Artemys gave the lass a thumbs up signal. Annie, whose real name was Annabeth, returned the favor with a thumbs up signal of her own and a fond smile. From all the orphans, she was the one who loved Artemys the most.

Artemys was the strongest of all the orphans even though he was just fourteen years old and the second youngest among them. As he took a hold of a piece of rope right at the front end, he told the group that they’d all pull on his call. Eve, looking lively, went to take hold of another piece of rope on the other side next to him. Behind her, Damera let go of the rope, said something undecipherable, and walked away, saying that he was tired of pulling and that he needed to take a break.

“What?” Eve turned to regard her six-foot tall son. “Come on, Damera, we need all the help we can get, this thing is heavy.”

“You’re fine with Artemys,” Damera didn’t look back at her, just kept walking towards the entrance of the monastery. “I need a drink of water; I think I have exhausted myself out.”

Eve was surprised at her son, stunned that he’d just leave them all hanging like that. Damera had never done anything like that before, so helpful had he always been.

“Come on,” Artemys told Eve, the Dragir knowing why Damera was acting like that. “I am sure we’ll be alright.”

Eve nodded at him sourly. She then asked the orphans whether they were ready. They all were.

“One, two,” cried Artemys, the Dragir leaning forward with the rope over his shoulder for more leverage. “And three! Pull!”

The twenty-foot long, three-hundred-and-fifty pound tree was no match for the force of them all, what with strong Artemys leading the way.

“Yay!” cheered the orphans as they pulled on and the tree slid along bit by bit. After breaking a bit of a sweat the tree was finally out of the way of the northern patio. But there on the soft ground remained a foot-deep, six-foot wide scar.

“Damned tree was big,” said Tyson, who’d grown tall, strong, and handsome as well. He stared at the wide scar on the ground and whistled. “Good thing it didn't kill any of us last night.”

“Indeed,” said Eve, happy to have finally gotten the tree out of the way.

From inside the kitchen, Damera, who held a cup full of water, stared outside through the window and shook his head helplessly.

“The tree will be no hassle to us any longer,” said Annabeth, the girl motioning closer to the Dragir.

“No small thanks to Artemys,” cried a redheaded girl from the back as she pulled strongly. She was Abigale, who’d turned out to be quite the pretty lass.

“You’re such big help, Artemys,” Eve tapped his shoulder and offered him a grand smile. “I don’t know what we would do without you, really.”

“We’d fail miserably at life, that’s for sure,” Abigale said with a laugh and tapped the Dragir on the shoulder on her way toward the entrance of the monastery, for she, too, thought she needed a drink.

“Everyone’s got to pull their weight around here, mom,” Artemys smiled at her and pat her shoulder in return as she went. “I’d be a fool if I didn’t help out with the many chores.”

“Well,” Eve brought out a blue handkerchief and used it to wipe her sweaty forehead. “We’ve certainly earned our lunch.”

“What are you going to cook for us today?” Artemys seemed too interested, and knowing that he loved to eat as much as he loved his training and helping out around the monastery, Eve smiled at him proudly.

“How does Ripobebrebu sound to you?”

That was a dish that they all knew too well: Fried rice, mashed potatoes, beans, and a large portion of bread with butter. Abigale had come up with the name for the dish two years ago. The witty girl had used the first few letters of every component to come up with the name. It had stuck, but since it was a bit long and at times hard to pronounce, they simply called it ripo.

“Yes, ripo would be nice today,” Artemys slurped, the Dragir almost savoring the dish in his belly then.

“Then that is settled then,” Eve put the handkerchief back in her pant’s back pocket. “Get yourself cleaned up, you have some brew there on your forearms, silly.”

“Der, mom,” Artemys looked at his forearms then back at Eve. “I know that.”

The rest of the orphans gathered around them.

“You did, eh?” asked Eve, smiling. “But do you know you also have some there?”

“Where?”

The matron extended her right arm out and touched the collar of his dark, wool shirt with her right hand. “Here, Silly.”

Artemys fell for her trap, staring at her suave hand. At that moment Eve ran her hand up and hit his chin lightly and tenderly.

“Ay, you!” Artemys blurted out laughing, mostly because Eve was already in loud, crazy laughs along with several orphans who had seen her feat.

“Go make lunch, woman,” Artemys shoved her away, teasingly. “And I will forget that you have done this humiliating thing on me.”

Eve laughed the more and nodded at him, then she left, for she knew that her sons and daughters must be very hungry.

***

Part 3/3 of Chapter 6

As it was customary for them, they ate lunch while talking calmly with one another, for Matron Eve would not suffer disorder at her table. She allowed them to talk because to her there was nothing wrong with eating and talking, but she liked order, and so she had raised them well in that aspect.

“I miss Aisling’s food,” Ashie said from her sitting place at the end of the long bench. She had turned out to be very pretty and still had the dreamy, blue eyes, but she often seemed as if she was bored.

“Why is that, Ashie?” asked Alecia. “Mother’s food is the best.”

In his mind, Artemys agreed with the Asakian girl but said nothing from his place, which was right in the middle of the bench and table. Eve was seated on the other side right in front of him.

“I just like her food,” Ashie explained as she continued to eat, the girl barely showing enough interest in the food. “She makes it more salty and spicy, which is just the way I've like it.”

“Bah,” Abigale said from her place. “Mother’s food will always be my favorite.”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you all, but Aisling and Foxy are not far from visiting,” Eve interrupted, feeling happy about delivering that announcement and not really hurt by Ashie’s comment about how she liked Aisling’s food better than hers, after all, the brat had indeed liked Aisling's food better since she’d been a toddler. Eve then munched on some rice, noticing the peculiar, glad, and shocked stares that she got from several of her sons and daughters.

“Really, mom?” asked Damera, who seemed so surprised at the news. The rat (anger) that he’d felt assailing his throat and feelings when Artemys had taken over pulling the tree had already been dealt with and he felt much better, although just having Artemys sitting on the table made him want to punch him and tell him how much he hated him.

“Yes, Damera. But tell ‘em more, Arty,” Eve smiled at her special son.

“What mother speaks is true,” Artemys said, looking at his brothers and sisters, who had given their attention to him. “In about half a month’s time we’ll get to see Aisling and Foxy again.”

There was cheering and clapping, although knowing the table guidelines, the orphans did well to keep the peace. Satisfied with their reaction, Artemys took a bite out of his loaf of bread, also feeling his heart vibrating with much happiness, for he couldn’t wait for that day to arrive. In truth, and in secret, after the trouble that he was experiencing with Damera, he’d been formulating plans of his own to finally leave any sudden day. But when Eve had let him know of the news a few days ago, he had settled down and had opted to wait before he took rash action. Seeing Aisling and Foxy was one thing that he wanted to do before he finally attempted the impossible, which was to make it to the region of his homeland. If he managed to talk with Aisling, he could let her know everything that was on his mind lately. She would totally understand him and would be the one who would console Eve after he was gone.

“So in fifteen days or so they will be here?” it was twenty one year old Abigale who still couldn’t believe it. The charismatic redhead girl had been the one who had taken over Aisling’s and Foxy’s job when these two had departed, and she had done a fair job at it. She was now the oldest within the monastery, and she felt very proud of that.

Eve nodded at her and took another spoon of rice into her mouth and followed it with a drink of her sugary lemonade beverage.

Aisling had been sent to study magic at an academy in the Pancracian capital city of Kenureth ten years after Eve had found the Dragir. As to Foxy, she had entered the Pancracian royal service as a cadet three years ago after she’d met a handsome young soldier at Sinaí Settlement. Being a knight under the service of the crown, the lad had been the one who had spoken to her about the opportunities to be found by serving the crown. Minono had agreed to go with him, mostly because she had fallen in love with the handsome knight at first glance. Seldom had the Asakian visited those that she had left behind, for the service to the crown asked much from her, had demanded many sacrifices from her part that Foxy had not expected. But she never regretted her decision.

Aisling had been Eve’s strong arm while Artemys and the rest of the young orphans had been growing up. She’d been like a third mother to the Dragir and a second one to the others, but she’d had dreams of her own as well, dreams and ideas that she had wanted to pursue and make happen before her young years went away never to come back. She had told Eve of those dreams one day, and though Eve could have probably talked her out of it, she had not and merely because the matron mother respected her sons and daughters greatly. So she had let Aisling do as she saw fit. The eldest daughter had gone to pursue her dreams in studying about magic, with Artemys being the person that had inspired her to do so.

The loss of Aisling to the magical academy and Minono to the royal service had hurt the matron deeply and had changed her life drastically. Without the girls in the monastery, particularly Aisling, Eve had faced many problems and ordeals, especially when it had come to keeping Artemys secret from the rest of civilization. Often she’d had to hide him well when platoons and patrols had gone passing by. Several times those patrols had gone as far as to search the entire monastery looking for bandits and other scum that might be hiding about. Luckily they had not found Artemys, whom Eve often hid within a secret compartment under the ground in the stables at the back of the monastery.

Activity of all sorts in the eastern parts of Pancracia had picked up a few years after Aisling had left. The region had become hot, so to speak, for groups of bandits and other criminals had taken a liking to the peaceful region and had begun claiming terrain, preparing it for the long term business that they might have excelled at. That is why the Pancracian armada, which was determined to deal with these curs, was often seen marching through, because they knew that these gangs had come running to these areas seeking to escape prison or death by living out there or making it to the northern realm of Goldia, where any foreigner was gladly accepted.

Bandits and misfits was the small end of trouble. There had also been rumors that spoke of the northern realm of Goldia wanting to make war with Pancracia. Whether these rumors were true or not, Eve had not known. What she had picked up from rumors in towns and villages that she had visited when she’d gone to get provisions were that the young princess of Pancracia – who was just twenty years of age – was a greedy little leech. Rumors said that it was she who was instigating trouble trying to draw Goldia into conflict with her realm, for the princess desired more land, more resources, and surely more power. What with her short-lived and lost war against Broah for an unclaimed piece of land ending after ten years of conflict, it was said that the princess was just looking somewhere else to expand her realm. Lately, rumors were running high that told about the princess having hired a tough assassin crew whose main goal was to infiltrate Goldia and cause trouble there that would finally trigger the start of the war. Eve had begun to believe the rumors when she noticed that troops passed more often than before and carrying along war machines and other great armada weapons capable of causing mass destruction.

And so because of all those happenings the once unfrequented eastern region had all of a sudden become a major piece of the pie for both royal and delinquent designs. And because of that, Eve had even wanted to move somewhere else, but she had not found a satisfactory place. Going deeper into the central parts of Pancracia meant a higher risk for her when it came to keeping Artemys safe and secret. The central region was where the most population resided, mainly because of the large cities located in the middle of the map and the many opportunities to be found there. Mercenarism was high during these times, what with so many guilds offering work just about to anyone. The matron mother had quickly withered the thought on the possibility of moving there and had known that their place was where they currently resided: just a few miles away from the well-watched eastern border. Although trouble had come to the region, the monastery and its surroundings were still not affected by it completely. The residents had seen just minor inconveniences so far when it came to keeping Artemys safe. But Eve held fears within her that this could turn for the worse later in time; so had Artemys.

“My heart will be less cumbersome when they get here,” Eve related to Artemys as they kept on eating. “I miss them a lot, you know?”

“Yes, I know,” Artemys knew that, feeling disturbed within knowing that his mother had always felt lonely and troubled without Aisling and Foxy in the monastery. He couldn’t help it but feel sad when he came to know that with his parting he’d probably give her the deepest wound of all. But he knew that he had to do it before things got ugly and she got in trouble for having him here. Artemys knew it all, knew that he wasn’t supposed to be in this human land at all. He knew that he was living under pain of death. Eve had not kept anything from him when she had told him the whole story. The matron had also let him know of the huge risk that she had taken when she had taken him in as her son.

“By royal decree, Artemys, you are an intruder here in Pancracia,” Eve had told him that day. “An enemy. If you are discovered, your life is at risk, you will be executed on the spot. Your race supposedly does the same with any humans that cross into their realm, trust me, I heard truthful rumors of a few fellow humans who went there back in the day and never came back. It is a rule established long ago by the realms. So see? It is imperative that you are never discovered by unwanted eyes, I wouldn’t want to see you killed. And so, as long as you do what I say, you will be fine here with us. But, know this, Artemys. I cannot always guarantee that you will be safe here, if you happened to be discovered, you make sure you run away, you hear? You run away for safety, son!”

Artemys had understood the warning clearly and had always kept it in mind. Fourteen years had passed and he was still about, that was a good sign for the Dragir and Eve, but both had become alarmed of how things had turned lately around the region.

And so that is what had led Artemys to consider about leaving for good. Artemys – with his plans – was not really underappreciating what his mother Eve had done for him all these years. The Dragir was overly grateful for the chance that the woman had given him at life, at living when she could have just left him out there to die that day alongside his real mother. Regardless, he knew that leaving was for the best. He wasn’t doing it for himself, more so because he wanted his mother and family to be safe, tranquil, and trouble free. With him going away, perhaps peace would come to Eve, who really needed it. She would no longer have to deal with him; she would no longer have to worry about having to hide him when troops or unwanted visitors approached. She would no longer have to be keeping a careful eye out for any approaching strangers most of the time. But besides all that trouble, Artemys had become aware of Damera’s dislike for him, but he, too, had kept that to himself not wanting to get Damera in trouble with the matron mother. If he did come to leave in the end, perhaps Damera would feel better with himself and wouldn’t have to feel so jealous of him, of what he—Artemys— was by default.

“I will be so happy when I lay my arms around those two,” Eve could almost picture that scene as she ate, but she could have never imagined his son’s plans.

“I understand why you say that, mom,” Artemys was relieved to see her smile. “You’ve been worried for them ever since they left – especially Aisling.”

“Yes,” Eve lowered her stare briefly. “You just have no idea how much I’ve missed them and how worried I’ve been about them.”

As they heard her saying that, the orphans regarded her and ate quietly, wanting to hear more of what she was saying.

“Well, cheer up,” Artemys cried, showing her his disarming, kind smile. “The time when you lay eyes on them is not far now.”

Eve felt so warm hearing those words, but she was troubled as well, and only because of something that she had not confessed to Artemys nor to any of her other sons and daughters.

The problem was that Foxy had married that knight who had taken her away, and she was bringing him along with her come the month of September. They would be staying for a full week before departing back to the capital. Minono had mentioned all this to her mother in a letter that she had sent to her at Sinaí Settlement fifteen days ago. Because she would be bringing her husband along that meant that the matron would have to hide Artemys once again, but not just hide him under the ground of the stables in that secret compartment as she’d done on so many occasions, that would not work this time. No, the matron would have to move him someplace else, perhaps even away from the monastery itself, a thing that Eve had never done nor had dreamed of ever doing. That is why she was troubled within.

Matron Eve kept eating calmly, not letting the current matter that was swirling in her mind rob her of the fine moment that she was having while enjoying lunch in the presence of her adorable family. She’d speak with Artemys later during the day and tell him what was up.

*End of Chapter 6*

Siniru · Mar 26, 2013

This is brill so far! Will be looking for more!

*M i d n a* · Mar 26, 2013

Only about 4 chapters to go before this story ends, but you'll probably see just as many new characters in that span as the many that have already made an appearance.

Thanks Siniru, didn't see your post because I was adding this update. :cool:

Honors and Honorable Mentions

Honored ZDers: February Eve, Atsuma, Raindrop14, WaffleNinja, Hero of Time, Zelda_8, Xinnamin, Lukémon
Honorable Mentions: Vanessa28, 13Foxes, Chilfo Freeze

Part 1/2 of Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Trouble in the Monastery

Eastern Pancracia, August 23rd, Year 381

The matron had explained things to Artemys two hours after they’d had lunch. The two of them had gone for a walk out on the outskirts of the monastery, with Artemys wearing his cowl and cloak just in case they ran into unwanted company. What with the zone hosting the presence of Pancracian soldiers and bandits, Eve was not taking a chance. With the cloak and cowl concealing Artemys’s horns and arms, the Dragir resembled a normal human being, and that’s how Eve wanted him to look to others from afar.

The matron had taken her weapons along, as she always did when going out of the monastery, and she had bid Artemys to take his along as well, just in case they ran into trouble. Artemys tried to protest when she told him about it, but Eve would have it no other way, and so the young Dragir had clipped his sword belt on.

The matron and the Dragir walked north to the entrance of a small forest that they often frequented when they needed to get their hands on wood. There Eve told him about the problem under the shade of a large oak tree.

Artemys understood the whole problem, of course, but couldn’t help it but feel sad. If he was to be sent somewhere else at least till the visiting daughters left, he knew that his chance of getting to see Aisling and Foxy was slim. This affected him greatly, for his plans of speaking with Aisling before he put his own plans in motion had just taken a sudden turn.

“So what do you want to do?” Artemys asked Eve. “Where am I supposed to wait for a week?”

Eve, who stood reclined against the tree and with her arms crossed, seemed troubled before him.

“Well, I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of days,” she told him. “I think I have a good plan in mind, Artemys.”

“So what is it?” asked the Dragir.

Eve breathed calmly. “My best bet is to take you farther to the east. There are some abandoned ruins within an old forest not too far from here. I am guessing that the place would have to do at least until Aisling and Foxy leave. I had thought about just taking you to Sinaí Settlement and rent a room at Veeka’s inn for you to stay for a week, but with all the people there it is too risky a thing to do. And so I have discarded that possibility and came up with this other one, which is really the only option we have that could work.”

Artemys scratched his right forearm, his face unconvinced, and he looked past Eve to stare at a bunny that was hopping about not far away.

“Is this place safe?” Artemys stared at Eve. “I mean…not that I am afraid, I just wish to know if there are any humans about that could give me trouble. After all, I will be staying there for a week or more. You know how the Armada has been hanging around, too.”

“It is safe,” Vee replied. “I’ve been there several times back in the day and the forest is hardly visited. It’s an old forest, Artemys. Its many trees are dead, their branches litter the ground and there are few good sights to see, so it will be fine, trust me. Close to this forest lies an outpost of soldiers who watch part of the eastern border, but they hardly go there.”

Artemys still seemed unsure of it all, but what could he do in the end? He could have asked Eve if there was another better place, a more secluded one with no soldiers nearby, but he knew just how troubled her mother was lately, more with her having to find a solution to keeping him safe and unnoticed. And so he did not say anything, rather he just bent low, retrieved a few rocks from the ground, and threw them away one by one.

“You won’t be staying alone, of course,” Eve proceeded to say, seeing that her son had seemed unsure of it all. “Perhaps Damera will agree to go stay with you.”

“Damera?” Artemys gave her a quick stare.

“Yes. Damera. Something wrong?”

“But I wouldn’t want to be in the way of Damera getting to see our sisters,” Artemys said, not showing the discomfort that he’d felt by hearing the name Damera. “Listen, Mother. I like your plan, so why not just let me stay there on my own? I promise that I will be alright.”

Eve regarded him for a long while, the matron wondering why her son wouldn’t want to have Damera’s companionship; the two had gotten along rather well.

“For the time that you’ll be spending there that’s too risky, Artemys,” Eve went on, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t want you to be alone for a whole week. Damera’s company will do you well.”

Artemys did not believe so, but he didn’t say it.

“But you just said that the place is not frequented often,” countered Artemys. “Why deprive Damera of seeing Aisling and Foxy again when I can surely manage on my own? Besides, Mother, I can take care of myself, and I think I need some time alone, anyway.”

That last statement made Eve raise her eyebrows suspiciously.

“Whoa,” she said, staring intently at Artemys. “Is something the matter, Artemys?”

“Naw, I am fine, Mother,” he lied and hated himself for doing so, but it was just that being in the company of Damera would be worse than that tiny lie. “I just want to be alone for a while, you know, get to do some things that I’ve wanted to do for a long time and—”

“Such as what?” interrupted Eve.

Artemys never stuttered. “Well, you know,” he said, putting his hands on his hips and looking about the place just to avoid her stare. The bunny he had seen earlier was gone, but he did see a small bird flying to land on top of a tree. “Like running out in the woods, explore what bits there are to explore in that lonely forest, see the few sites that you mentioned. I hardly have the freedom to do so out here, I am always confined to the surroundings of our home. But most of all I plan to practice my skills with the blade. I don’t want to go rusty. Just things like that, see?”

“Why is it that I think that you just don’t want Damera’s company, dear?”

Artemys’s face paled.

“No, it’s not that…” Artemys turned to regard her right away, but his troubled, insipid face spoke volumes to the matron. She could easily tell that he was bothered by Damera, and the fact that Eve had seen Damera’s reaction earlier when Artemys had joined to help pull the tree out of the patio strengthened her belief that the two were having problems as of late.

“Did Damera say anything to you that would offend you? Or did he do something to hurt your feelings, Artemys?”

Artemys turned away and sighed loudly, unable to keep the lies going.

“I can’t go on lying to you, Mother. Forgive me if I did earlier when I said that I didn’t have a problem with Damera. We’ve been having trouble, yes, but surely nothing that I initiated. Damera seems…jealous of me, from what I can tell. And not to point fingers in his direction but he called me a horned devil. You forbade that name to be used on me...” Artemys then turn to regard the matron, whose face had just hardened. “Not that I was bothered or offended with it, for that is really what I am after all.”

“When did he call you that?” Eve’s voice could have rivaled a loud thunderclap, and she even left her reclining position against the tree and unfolded her arms.

“Easy, Mother,” Artemys was quick to calm her down. “No need to get angry over something that is nothing but the truth. This happened back when you sent all of us to go gather wood in that forest to the north. I kept this to myself because I knew it was the truth, and I really didn’t want to accuse Damera and have you give him a lecture, or worse.”

This was bad, Eve knew. She felt troubled and pained at the same time, perhaps a bit of anger too, mostly because she could tell that Artemys was bothered by the problem as well. How long had this trouble been going on? She did not know, but she knew that it was not recent. She also knew that perhaps Artemys had not been insulted or troubled with the way Damera had been behaving towards him, but Eve knew that she’d have to have a word with him and bring this minor conflict between them to an end.

“You know, Artemys,” she said, feeling sad and disappointed within, for she blamed herself for all this. Her stare hit the ground and she brought a hand to wipe her eyes. “For many years I had been expecting this sort of trouble, but it never came…Well, it surely did, but I was blind to see it. I was deceived to believe that everything was alright between you and my other sons and daughters, until now that you are letting me know of this.” She turned to regard him, feeling so sorry for him. “I knew that in time there would be some discontent among my children because of you, not that you are at fault here, you know that you are not! And I beg you to forgive all of us. I am truly sorry for what Damera called you. You are not a horned devil! You are my son. Remember that! You may have the horns and scales, but that is no reason to call you that.”

“You will talk to Damera, then?” Artemys looked at her with hope. Eve knew the gleam behind his dark eyes, knew that he wanted her to fix the trouble.

Eve licked her dry lips and nodded several times.

“To him and to the rest,” she said with a firm voice. ”So they can all know what is going on, and so they can be reminded that you are our equal, Artemys, even if you happen to be different than us humans. To treat you differently because of your looks is unfair, and I had already established that fact, but it seems someone has forgotten about it.”

“I just hope that Damera understands.” Artemys said, the Dragir feeling a bit worried. “He sure is not the same Damera that I once knew, and that has me worried.”

“I’ll get him back in line,” Eve assured. “But back to our business at hand, Artemys. Are you alright with my plan, then? Believe me, my son, I have nothing else to offer to you or else I would. As I said, I’ve contemplated other ideas but they are all too risky, at least riskier than this one that we are discussing.”

“No, I will do it,” Artemys nodded several times. “Be at ease, Mother. I will go stay at those ruins in the old forest, with or without company.”

Eve walked towards him and patted him on the shoulder before taking him in a strong, yet tender hug. Artemys hugged her as well and felt better in her arms. A few moments later, they separated.

“I guess we have a plan,” she smiled kindly at him, the worry that had been troubling her over the past days rapidly abandoning her. “Oh, and don’t worry, Artemys. You know me very well; you know that I will come up with something in order for you to lay eyes on Aisling and Foxy again. I am sure that those two will want to see what you have become, so I will find a way to get them out of the house so they can see you.”

Artemys smiled shyly, but that shy smile was replaced with a sudden, troubled face.

“Even if you can’t do that,” Artemys was quick to say. “Don’t worry too much about that. I know how much you care about me, but if you can’t manage to do that, there will be other times when I may be able to see our sisters. I miss them a lot, yes I do, but I just want to avoid trouble.”

“I will keep that in mind,” Eve let him know with a wink. “Be at ease now, Artemys, everything will be fine. And after a while, Damera will no longer have a problem with you, nor you with him.”

“I’ve never had a problem with him,” Artemys defended himself, not that he was in trouble with Eve, but he was just assuring her that he’d never had a problem with Damera.

“I know,” Eve said with the kindest smile ever. “Come, let us go back, it’s getting chillier, and you know just how much I hate the cold weather.”

The two went back to the monastery, with Eve wondering how in the hell she was to initiate a conversation with Damera to solve the problem, and Artemys wondering whether everything would sort out.

***

Part 2/2 of Chapter 7

Damera had been brushing one of the horses clean outside on the back patio close to the stables when Eve had gone to talk to him an hour later after she had arrived back from the stroll that she had taken with Artemys.

“Damera, do you have a minute?” Eve asked him. “We need to talk, Dear.”

“What about?” Damera stepped aside from the horse and gave the matron all his attention. Eve noticed that he was wearing his sword belt. Clinging to that belt was an iron scabbard that housed an iron blade that she had gifted him a few years back when the lad had earned it by graduating her class with high honors.

Eve crossed her arms, a move to steady herself. Before Damera she gathered courage and sucked in a deep breath.

“How about we speak about Artemys?” Eve spoke in a firm voice. “And what you called him in those woods not too long ago. And how about we talk of your recent behavior, my son? I know that you’re troubled.”

Damera’s face showed the matron a bit of disgust, then. His eyes narrowed in apparent anger. The eighteen year old licked his lips when he realized that Artemys had probably spoken to her about the whole deal going on between them. It was then that Eve could tell that Artemys had not lied to her; Damera did have a problem with him.

“Why did you do it, Damera?” Eve demanded an answer out of him after she clearly had seen discontent written all over his face. “You know that I forbade you all to call Artemys that degrading term, and yet you called him that. Why?”

Damera dropped the brush to the ground. “So that… creature has told you everything, eh?” Damera sounded pissed off, and his face deformed in raw anger before the matron mother, who became surprised at his reaction. But the matron mother also became riled up when she heard the word creature escaping Damera’s mouth.

“Damera, you need to calm down,” Eve stepped closer to him, uncrossing her arms and reaching out to him. “Honey you are-“

“No!” he shouted and took a step back, avoiding her soothing hands, her motherly touch. Unable to contain what he felt within, Damera proceeded to spill it all out. “It’s that horned devil’s fault anyway. All he’s ever done is be the spotlight around here, hogging your attention and your care ever since that day that you found him!”

Eve felt so hurt just by seeing how angry he was and by hearing him sputter all this recriminating nonsense.

“That’s not true,” Eve replied, putting her hands out in front of her. “Damera, just calm down and listen to me.”

“Listen to what? Listen to what you are going to say to me in order to make things right?” By now Damera’s eyes were tearful, but his face remained deformed in anger. “Well save your words, Mother. Things are right as they are. I’ve had it with all this crap.”

“Damera, please, just hear me out,” Eve pleaded.

“No, you listen,” Damera took a step forward and even rose his right hand to point an index finger directly at Eve. “I have seen enough, I have taken enough of this crap from Artemys and everyone else for that matter. Too long have I been seeing how you and the other orphans tend to give him all the attention, all the care in the world. I am fed up with all of that, have been for a while, really. And knowing that this freak show thing that you have going on here will just continue, I think I will just go away, like Aisling and Foxy did.”

“Damera! Calm down, Honey, you know this is insane!”

“To the hell with all this!” Damera, in all his rage, even kicked the bucket of water away, this one bouncing off the ground and losing its contents before proceeding to strike the matron hard on her left shin.

Eve winced at the stinging pain that she felt coursing through her shin, and she was forced to bend a bit, her left hand quickly reaching for her shin, which hurt painfully. More than hurt by the bucket, the matron felt hurt because of Damera’s action. She loved him so much, and yet here she was, receiving scorn from his part and even pain. A few heartbeats later, the pain in her shin grew and Eve was forced to kneel. And Damera, well his mouth formed an o and his face felt so hot. He swallowed hard knowing that he had just done a very unwise thing.

“Mother!” he cried, feeling stupid and sorry for what he had just done. “Are you all right? I didn’t mean to…hurt you.”

Eve did not answer. Her attention was on her wound, which hurt much, for the bucket had really hit her very hard. By that time, Ashie, Annabeth, Abigale, and Alecia showed up, having heard what was going on. When the girls saw their mother on one knee and holding her shin with both hands, they rushed to her right away, asking her if she was alright.

“I’m fine,” she barely responded through gritted teeth, her blue eyes heading towards Damera, who appeared dismayed and confused before her. Damera lowered his stare to the ground, too embarrassed to even look at his mother in the eye. He had done something that he never had thought possible: He had hit Eve, the woman who had kindly taken him in as his mother.

That’s when Artemys showed up as well. From inside the monastery the Dragir had heard Damera’s wild shouting and had hurried out. His arrival made Damera stare at him right away, with eyes that flared in anger. He began to tremble in rage at the mere presence of Artemys, and for one fleeting second he thought about actually bringing his sword out and rush to attack him, however, that thought fast disappeared from his mind when he noticed that the Dragir was also carrying his own sword at the hip. Damera knew he’d never have a chance of landing a hit on the Dragir, so he just remained staring hatefully at him.

“Mother,” the Dragir was quick to kneel beside Eve, touching her arm and ignoring Damera completely. “What happened? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Honey,” replied Eve, touching the Dragir’s cheek gently in attempt to kill and bury his anguish.

That only made Damera feel angrier, and he balled his fists.

“I’m fine,” Eve repeated. “I just got hit with that bucket, but it is fine, Damera acted out of anger, and I understand him.”

Artemys stood up and stared at Damera, not in a challenging nor accusing way, just looked at him eye to eye. He’d wanted to tell him to calm down, that everything would be fine, but Damera never gave him that chance.

“What? Why are you looking at me like that? All this is your fault, you stupid horned devil!” Damera shouted, too enraged at Artemys to contain himself.

“Damera, enough, please!” Eve shouted from her place, and she began to rise, fearing that trouble would ensue between the both of them.

“Yes, just stop this madness already,” Ashie sounded nervous with fear, for she had never seen Damera this angry before. The white haired lass believed trouble was coming when Damera grabbed the hilt of his blade, and that made her whole body shiver wildly.

“Come on, Damera,” Abigale, who’d seen his action as well, gulped hard and then went to him and grabbed him by the forearm, or tried to, for Damera was quick to shove her away.

“Get your dirty hands off of me, girl,” the lad told her in a nasty tone. Abigale stumbled backwards but Artemys, who was not too far behind, caught her before she could trip and fall.

“You alright, Abby?” Artemys asked her, and she nodded, feeling so sad within because of the action that Damera had performed on her. She gave him an unforgiving look, one which Damera acknowledged.

“All this is his fault.” Damera pointed at Artemys and he, fast as he was, withdrew his sword and rushed forth in an attempt to strike him and let all his anger out through those means, – an action which Damera had fancied doing many times – but Artemys’s light-weight blade also was withdrawn, and this one met Damera’s own.

The two stared at each other and walked around while Eve and the girls shouted at them to stop. Their blades remained touching as they circled around, Damera grinning and Artemys just keeping his cool.

“What are you going to do, Freak?” Damera laughed at Artemys trying to provoke him. “Strike me?”

Artemys did not reply, for he had nothing to say to him, though in reality he surely did have lots that he could mention to him. He kept silent, though, but Damera kept talking.

“You don’t belong here! Why haven’t you understood that and taken off to wherever it is that you really belong in?”

Artemys swallowed hard at the accusation and proposition, which to him sounded genuinely true.

At that time, Tyson, who had become aware of the situation happening outside, came out from the monastery, and when he noticed Damera and Artemys in a fighting stance and encircling each other, he just froze there and watched on.

“Oh, that’s right,” Damera went on, seeing the doubt on Artemys’s face. “I forgot that you don’t have a place...you don’t have a home. Your mother ran from it back then and came to our land uninvited. You don’t belong here. It is because of you that this trouble began, this bad blood between you and me.”

Damera was right, it was his fault that all this was happening in the first place, and Artemys truly believed that he had never belonged there. It was his fault for being different that Damera had come to hate him. Artemys lowered his blade, the Dragir barely realizing that he’d had the nerve to intercept Damera with his own blade. He had often sworn to himself that he’d never cross blades with his family.

“Damera, you take those words back!” Eve cried, to hurt within and not really coming to comprehend yet that this was going on.

But Artemys had seen and heard enough. Feeling tense, sad, and really not feeling as belonging there, he put the sword back in its scabbard and lowered his stare in shame, but he was quick to look upon his mother, that kind woman named Eve who had given so much to him without ever having expected anything back.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” is what Artemys said to her with a sorrowful, broken tone. “I love you and everyone else…but this was bound to happen. Things are already falling apart here, it is best if I take my leave before I make it any worse.”

Then, as his eyes had begun to fill with tears, he lowered his stare and said, “It’s for the best that I leave.” And he was quick to turn around and started running away to the east as fast as he could, his feelings a mess.

“Artemys!” Eve shouted when she noticed his sudden action. “Artemys, come back here, damn it!” She limped her way forward but stopped because of the pain that she felt on her shin. Tyson rushed to her and asked her if she was alright. She stared and nodded at him, but her eyes quickly went to the fleeing Dragir.

“Artemys!” Abigale shouted as well, followed by Ashie’s and Annabeth’s own shouts: “Come back, Arty!”

Alecia, stunned to the core to see him running away, couldn’t contain herself, broke down all of a sudden due to the rude behavior she’d always shown the Dragir, and shouted out of desperation. “Bro...ther, don’t go!”

Artemys, having heard their shouts clearly, ran onward. His decision to leave had already been made long ago, the time for him to do that had come much earlier than he’d expected, though, and that pained him much, but it didn’t stop him from running.

A worried Eve limped forward again, the wicked hit that she had taken earlier did not allow her to run after him, it still hurt too much and was even bleeding underneath her pants. And the woman’s heart was beating so fast that she thought she’d faint any given time. But she was strong, life had made her like that, and so she endured the shock of the moment, but she could not give credit to what was going on.

“Artemyyysss!” Eve’s next shout sounded hurt, like a wounded beast that had lost it all. The matron mother believed that this would be the last thing she’d ever see from her adorable son: him running away never to come back. Her heart felt weak, then, and she went through a series of quick dizzy spells that nearly dropped her, but she leaned on to Tyson, who kept her from falling, and remained standing and looking at the distance at her fleeing son, who never turned back even once.

The girls kept shouting at the Dragir to come back, but they remained frozen in their places, the girls perhaps too shocked at what was going on to even think about going after him.

“Artemys...” The matron’s painful whisper hurt those around her and made them shiver, even Damera, who was just beginning to understand the mess that he had caused.

Stricken like never before, Eve fell to her knees and watched helplessly as her son disappeared over a hill.

*End of Chapter*

Raindrop14 · Mar 26, 2013

Hrmm, your posting them chapters too fast buddy. ;3 I'll read 'em when I got the time, although while I was reading chapter five my PC crashed, so it's hard to get to finishing these. :bleh:

*M i d n a* · Mar 26, 2013

Raindrop14 said:
Hrmm, your posting them chapters too fast buddy. ;3 I'll read 'em when I got the time, although while I was reading chapter five my PC crashed, so it's hard to get to finishing these. :bleh:

Lol, I did say that I was gonna post the story ASAP, so I do it every other day. Or, like my friend Kylie is doing it for her tale: after someone posts a post. Yeah, just read the chapters when you have the time, Rainy, no rush, they'll always be there for peeps to read; I just want to get this project out of the way ASAP, that's all. :cool:

Siniru · Mar 27, 2013

Heh. Waiting for a chapter! (No rush though... I am just liking this, as I said before)

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