//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Creatures of Naught // Story: The Phoenix King // by Turtlehaus //------------------------------// Within the Kingdom of Naught, there is no life, other than that which the Eternal Master Azimuth had created. There was no foliage, no trees, no water; just barren fields and black sand. Just creatures that fed upon the light, that consumed it by its rays, but now are starved; becoming desperate for it. The storm, the Void, had consumed all light within the Kingdom of Naught, having starved itself in the process, and now fed upon its inhabitants; slowly dying like the rest. While Mira was not the most powerful Arcana, nor was she the smartest of them, but she was resourceful and in many cases clever. There were a plethora of dark creatures within the forgotten city, each with their own unique characteristics, and traits that made them very dangerous or very useful. Whether it was body parts, excretions, oils, or even blood, every creature had something to offer. One in particular was an enormous raven known as Hoopoe. It was said to have healing properties, that the feathers in its wings could cure anything. Having once been admired and respected by are the Arcana, but now feared for it devoured them for their light. It soared through the black oceans of the sky, nesting in the highest ruined tower of the forgotten city, silently waiting for its next meal to shine through the darkness. A single feather would be more than enough to restore the Flame Pony, but it had to be from the wing of Hoopoe, anything less wouldn't do. Mira would never have dared to approach the ruin tower, or even be within a mile of it, but with the Flame Pony in desperate need of aid Mira had no other choice. Hiding within one of the ruined shops of the Forgotten City, Mira peeked out from a hole within the wall, spying Hoopoe's tower in the far distance. Many creatures tended to stay away from the tower like Mira did, there were not many that could face the immense size of Hoopoe, nor could many creatures hear it coming. Hoopoe's wings made no sound when it flew, no creature would know it was being stalked until it was hundreds of feet in the air trapped in its talons, becoming Hoopoe's meal. Placing her two little fingers in her mouth, Mira let out a sharp whistle, it echoed considerably through the darkness, as she sat down against the inside wall of the shop and waited. Time was irrelevant within the Kingdom of Naught; Azimuth had blessed her creations with the gift of immortality, unless of course they happened to be killed. Although, the passage of time was felt every now and again whenever Mira had to 'wait' for something to happen, and it was taking a rather long time. There used to be so much to do in the Forgotten City, it had been so long since the days where the city was filled with Arcana and Void Walkers that none remembered what the city was actually called; so everyone simply referred to it as the Forgotten City. Silently drawing her fingers along the glowing markings upon her arms, Mira let out a sigh of boredom. Padded footsteps could suddenly be heard entering the ruined shop from the other side of the wall, causing Mira to slink her way into a corner out of fear for what it could be. The footsteps were met with short breaths, with sudden bursts of furious sniffing as Mira's fear slowly melted away by these familiar sounds to her. "Rok?" Mira whispered quietly, peeking out from around the corner. A gigantic dark grey wolf nearly filled the entire ruined shop, its massive ears perked up at the sound of Mira's voice. Its giant head whipped towards her, its black eyes reflecting the soft blue light of Mira's hair. The wolf was known as Amarok, the Lone Hunter, one of the most fearsome creatures within the forgotten city. Amarok deep growl reverberated off the walls, baring its sterling white fangs at her, its hair standing on end. Mira carefully stepped out from behind the corner, hands raised up near her face to show Amarok she meant no harm. Amarok leaned forward, sniffing the top of Mira's head, nearly knocking her over while it continued to sniff her. Eventually Amarok, laid itself down, no longer menacing, opening its mouth wide with a yawn as it nudged Mira's gingerly with its snout. "How are you, Rok? How've you been?" Mira asked quietly, stroking Amarok's face. In days long passed, Mira had saved a young wolf pup for a deep dark chasm it had fallen into. Amarok's are known to hunt alone, never in packs, but having been saved that day, the two had become lifelong friends that day. "Can you help me?" Mira whispered to Amarok. "I need you to take me there." Mira pointed to the ruined tower off in the distance, patting Amarok gently on the face to get across her sense of urgency. Amarok picked itself off the ground, towering over Mira, not even reaching its knee, before howling loudly. "Good boy." Mira whispered. Mira floated up to Amarok's chest, clinging to him, its fur hiding Mira's light. No sooner had Mira gotten her grip did Amarok sprint off. The wolf's speed was incredible, it almost seemed to fly through the darkness, but its steps were silent; making it the perfect hunter. It wasn't long before Amarok slowed its pace, trotting its way across the open streets before brushing up along the base of the tower. Mira peeked out from beneath Amarok, glancing around at the area; there were many holes to which she could use to enter the tower. Carefully letting go of Amarok's fur, Mira floated very close to the tower before moving near Amarok's head. "Wait for me here." Mira whispered. Amarok lowered itself, lying once more on the ground beside the tower. Mira spared a few thankful pats upon Amarok's head before turning his attention to the tower. Squeezing her way through a small opening in the wall, Mira looked about the inner ruined tower, looking for a way to climb higher. A small snort came from the opening Mira had squeezed through as Amarok's nose poked through. Mira shushed it, patting it gently on the nose before watching Amarok withdraw his snout. Floating about the base of the ruined tower, Mira stumbled upon an old stone staircase that led higher up the tower. Doing her best to mat her hair down, Mira cautiously floated up the steps, taking great care to avoid passing holes within the walls. Hoping to avoid being seen by any other creatures or even Hoopoe as she climbed higher up the tower. The climb was slow. The silence was not at all welcoming to Mira, first it being quite eerie, but secondly, it meant that Hoopoe wasn't around; which meant no feather. Nearing the top of the ruined tower, Mira began finding remains of Hoopoe's latest meals, many of which were unpleasant to look at let alone eat. Basilisk's were Hoopoe's steady diet these days, measuring to no more than a couple feet, but were deathly poisonous. Luckily, for Hoopoe, it had regenerative properties that cured him of the poison after every meal. The tower opened up to a large flat room that had very few bricks that resembled a wall, the roof itself was no longer there while the floor was littered with creature remains; some so twisted Mira couldn't even make out what it used to be. There were several old feathers strewn about the muddled mess of carcasses, even the smallest of feathers seemed quite large. Although, none seemed to be large enough to have come from Hoopoe's wing. Taking the dried skin of a basilisk, the texture almost like leather, Mira covered her head with it to help hide her glowing hair while trying not to gag from the smell. Rubbing the mucky residue of the remains upon her arms, Mira was able to cover up her glowing markings; this time she wasn't able to keep her lunch down. A sudden thump shook the tower; a carcass had just been dropped upon the top of the tower, a freshly killed basilisk that uncoiled itself across the room. Mira retreated several steps down the staircase; the sudden brush of wind blew through the tower as Mira covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from shouting in surprise. A powerful gust of wind blew through the top of the stairs, forcing Mira to float back a few paces, the tower shook as Hoopoe had come home to roost. There was scratching to be heard from up above, the rustling of feathers, the sound of feverish pecking striking leathery flesh. Mira shook in fright, breathing quickly, trying to calm herself down. It would be several minutes before Mira made peace with herself before daring a glance from the top of the stairs. Her dim yellow eyes peered out from staircase to see the massive raven Hoopoe tearing into the basilisk's flesh with its beak. Luckily, Hoopoe had its back facing Mira. Mira could see its enormous wings beating, trying to give itself some lift to tear pieces of the basilisk away. The wind generated by Hoopoe's wings swept through the top of the tower, forcing Mira to hold on to the leathery hide atop her head. Eventually Hoopoe's wings settled down giving Mira the chance to snatch of its feathers. Mira raised her hands towards the right wing of Hoopoe. Her eyes began to shine a little more vibrantly as dark shadows started to reach up from the stone bricks below; twisted black hands reaching for the wing. Mira's dark magic took hold of a cluster of feathers upon Hoopoe's wing, attempting to yank whatever feathers she could from it. Hoopoe raised its wing, a shriek of a caw escaped from its beak from surprise. Its head reached under its wing, its black eyes meeting Mira's dim yellow. Mira froze on the spot as Hoopoe's head twisted from side to side, unfamiliar with what she was. Hoopoe clicked it beak in decisiveness as Mira turned to rush back down the steps. There was a sudden jerk, causing Mira to shriek as Hoopoe's beak snatched the back end of the leathery carcass Mira had on her head. Lifting her out from the stair case, Hoopoe placed Mira on the corpse ridden ground, pecking at her with its beak. Mira frantically struggled about, frightened beyond rational thinking, feeling Hoopoe's beak tear the leathery basilisk hide away. Slamming hand down on the ground, a dark explosion of magic threw all of the surrounding corpses into the air; flopping the recently dead basilisk about startling Hoopoe. Mira crawled across the ground to get away from the bird, pieces of carcasses falling around her as she got to the edge of a wall and pulled a thick slab of dried skin over her to hide. Hoopoe flapped its wing around wildly, cawing at the floor, swiping its beak around, trying to upturn the dead to find its missing meal. Mira could barely see out from the slits in the dry skin, watching Hoopoe step closer and closer to her. Peeking out from under the skin, Mira could see the freshly killed basilisk slumped over nearby. Reaching out her hand, Mira's dark magic started to surround the basilisk corpse. With a swift motion of her hand, Mira's magic threw the snake corpse at Hoopoe, knocking it back as she ran towards the staircase. Mira felt Hoopoe's beak snap down on the back of her hair, pulling her off her feet as it lifted her in the air. Mira screamed; flailing helplessly as she Hoopoe began to beat its wings to fly off with her. Something very large slammed into Hoopoe causing it to open its beak and let Mira drop to the floor. Amarok drive its fangs into the neck of Hoopoe, viciously trying to drag it the floor, all the while the raven screeched in agony. The giant grey wolf clawed at Hoopoe's chest, releasing its grasp upon its neck and driving its fangs into its wing; Hoopoe shrieked once more. Mira ran to the other side of the room, hiding behind the dead basilisk as Amarok tore into the raven. Hoopoe aimed a flurry of pecks at Amarok's face, forcing the wolf to let go before staggering over the ledge of the tower and gliding away into the darkness. In its teeth, Amarok held several long feather's from Hoopoe's wings as it breathed heavily growling at the distant raven. "Rok?" Mira whispered stepping out from behind the basilisk. Amarok ears perked up as its tail wagging side to side. Turning around to face her, Amarok crossed the room, feathers still in its mouth, rubbing it snout against Mira's head. Mira hugged the wolf's head tightly, whispering good boy over and over again. "Thank you." Mira whispered to it. Taking hold of the feathers in Amarok's mouth, Mira straightened them out before climbing atop the wolf's back; tucking the feathers beneath her. "Home, Rok. Home." Mira whispered, grasping the back of its fur tightly. Amarok strolled over to the staircase, ducking under the dead basilisk before quickly bounding down the stairs to the base of the ruined tower. Mira kept her head low, feeling the wind pass over her at the tremendous speed that Amarok ran. Several flights above the landing of the staircase, Amarok leaped out from a hole within the side of the tower onto a nearby rooftop of the desolate city block. Holding on, Mira watched Amarok nimbly run across the rooftops, bounding gracefully from rooftop to rooftop before racing down a broken archway that led back to the main streets. Amarok bolted through the streets once more, ducking in between buildings, cutting through narrow pathways, and sprinting across long empty streets; it would appear that nothing could catch the wolf when it was in its stride. Soon, Amarok had reached the edge of the Valley of Shadows, slowing its pace, knowing that the area it was entering was free of any threats that the forgotten city held. Showing its playful side, Amarok leaped back and forth, shaking side to side, earning several laughs from Mira who enjoyed every bit of it. Eventually Amarok reached the point where Mira asked to be let off, and watched as she slid from its back still holding the enormous feathers under her arm. Amarok lowered itself to the ground, allowing Mira to wish it farewell as she pressed her face against the top of the wolf's head in thanks. "I owe you one." Mira whispered lovingly to it. "Be careful out there." Stepping away from the giant wolf, Amarok nudged its head against Mira's once more; feeling Mira give him a loving kiss for his trouble. Mira watched Amarok rise up and head back towards the forgotten city, wondering if the Lone Hunter was very much alone in the forgotten city as much as she was here in the Kingdom. Mira found herself waving goodbye to it, but quickly regained her focus gathering up the feathers under her arm and floated back to her home. Passing several ghost like figures that wandered aimlessly, staggering to and fro before dissipating into nothing once more. The familiar jutted rocks that marked her home came into view, a sense of urgency came about her at the thought of the Flame Pony not having as much time as she previously thought and hurried home faster. Mira floated down into her cave, the feathers slightly rippling behind her. A large stone blocked her from going further, with a quick snap of her fingers several black barbed hands reached up from the ground below and pulled the rock down into the darkness; revealing a soft light coming from deeper in the cave. Just as Mira had entered passed the rock, the dark hands pushed the rock back into place to close off the entrance once more. Lying on the ground within her cave was the greyish white Flame Pony named Glow. Its flame was very weak, the injuries she had sustained looked rather severe but Mira was not worried about them anymore. Laying out three whole feathers on the cave floor, Mira floated over to the other side of her cave to find the rest of the ingredients she'd need to heal the Flame Pony. Mira floated back carrying a black mass of lumpy goo in her hands; she applied a thick coating to one of the feathers. Flicking her hands of clean of the goo, Mira magically lifted the feather and crossed the cave to the Flame Pony. Carefully laying the feather down upon the length of the Flame Pony, Mira placed the tip of her finger on the edge of the feather, her eyes glowed a bright yellow; she carefully traced her finger across the feather end to end. The black goo started to bubble beneath the feather, the feather itself started to melt into the goo. It spread out across the Flame Pony's body, applying itself thin on its hide, nearly changing it from grey to black completely. The flames from her mane were still able to dance atop the black goo, and much to Mira's delight it seemed to grow little bit stronger with each passing moment. "Hi." Glow whispered. Mira turned to see that the Flame Pony named Glow had woken up. Floating over to her, Mira placed her hand upon Glow's head and stroking it gently trying to keep her at ease. Glow smiled weakly at her before sniffing the air, and a scowl formed across her face from the smell. "What… am I… smelling?" Glow asked curiously; her face still in a scowl. "You don't want to know." Mira replied. Glow watched as Mira floated away to pick up the remaining two feathers and float across the cave to store them away. She could hardly move, but felt the need to thank her savior nonetheless. "Thanks for saving me." Glow said with the best smile she could muster. "Don't… mention it." Mira said hesitantly. "Love your hair." Glow mentioned. Mira looked a little surprised by that, taking her blue cloud like hair in her hands and looking at it closely. Feeling herself flush slightly, Mira tossed it back over her shoulder without much care. "Have you seen… another… flame pony… around… here?" Glow asked, almost too tired to talk. "I did. A while ago. I haven't seen it since." Mira replied floating back over to her with a strange purple liquid in a stone bowl. "What's that?" Glow asked hesitantly as Mira started to tilt it to her lips. "You don't want to know." Mira insisted placing the edge of the bowl to Glow's lips. Glow reluctantly took a sip of it and nearly gagged from the taste. "It's horrible, I know, but it will keep you alive." Mira explained, taking a drink from the bowl herself. "Why… are you… helping me?" Glow asked curiously. Mira didn't respond right away. In truth, once the Flame Pony was strong enough, she was going to trade her for Tier and spare the Void Walkers any more pain, but she didn't feel like sharing that right now. "I need… your help." Mira said carefully. "Okay." Glow replied, resting her head against the ground once more. "Okay?" Mira asked looking surprised. "You help me, and I'll help you. That's what friends do." Glow said with a smile. "We're not friends." Mira pointed out. "We were friends… the minute you… decided to help… me." Glow replied, her breathing becoming shorter; beginning to fall asleep once more. "Who's that other Flame Pony out there?" Mira asked curiously. "He's lost… so very lost…" Glow whispered quietly, her eyes closing to sleep. Mira let out a long sigh. Drinking the rest of the purple liquid within the stone bowl, Mira put it aside and leaned against the Flame Pony named Glow to rest herself. A blueish tint brought color to the darkness. I realized that my eyes were closed, that I was being stirred from my sleep by this light. Opening my eyes, I saw strands of what appeared to be blue star dust trickling in front of me. Lifting my head I found Mira was resting against my chest, sound asleep, her hair wafting in some unfelt wind. I was at a lost to where we were, my flames were burning mildly, illuminating the walls around us, proving to me that this was some sort of cave. Judging by Mira's calm sleep, I came to the conclusion that this was a safe place for the both of us to be. I shifted my back legs, feeling some lingering pain in my muscles, but compared to what I had felt before it was a vast improvement. Looking at my forelegs, I could see the scars in my hide where it had cracked from absorbing the Great Dragon Char's fire. Some were less prominent then others, but with every breath I took the scars would outline the fire just below the surface. Looking over my shoulder I raised my wings to see how they were fairing, with some simple flaps I could tell and feel that they were no worse for wear. "You should get some rest." Mira mumbled, shifting her position trying to get comfortable once more. "Where are we?" I asked quietly, looking about. "My home." Mira mumbled again. Growing up in the Ashen Fields, I was accustomed to not having much, but Mira's home was bare of anything that would resemble homely. Nevertheless, I could feel that my body was still recovering, and that resting would probably be in my best interest. Resting my head back down, I took a deep breath closing my eyes, but questions kept popping into my head. "How long have we been here?" I asked in a whisper. "I don't know. A couple of days, perhaps?" Mira mumbled shifting her position once more. "We don't really keep track of time here." "Did you treat my injuries?" I asked curiously. "It took half a feather and I'll have to do so again if you don't let your body rest." Mira mumbled, sounding annoyed now. "How come you talk in complete sentences now?" I asked. I felt Mira's hands close around my mouth. I opened my eyes to see her yellow eyes staring back at me; her mouth shaped in a very unhappy frown. "Stop talking." Mira hissed. I nodded slowly. Watching her retreat back, Mira leaned against me to sleep once more. I closed my eyes again, doing my best not to let a question slip out. Stretching out a bit I found myself getting comfortable, feeling myself nearing sleep once again, but opening my mouth once more to speak. "Thanks for saving me." I mumbled. Mira turned to look at me. If I hadn't already fallen back to sleep I might have caught the guilty look she wore. Curling herself into a ball, Mira rested her head against the Flame Pony, silently watching him sleep, watching the flames from his mane gently dance in the darkness. Reaching out her hand, Mira touched the fiery hoof, pulling licks of flames from it and holding them within the palms of her hands. The fire danced about, the light illuminating Mira's face as she stared deeply into the fire. The flames were pulled into Mira's hands, turning the green markings a shade of yellow, her blue hair having highlights of orange streak through, while Mira's eyes shone brightly for a moment before fading back to their normal dimness. Closing her hands into fists, Mira pressed them against her face. Gritting her teeth, slowly hitting herself in the head with her own fists, hissing at herself in disgust, Mira unclenched her hands and covered her face with them. Dragging them down slowly, Mira glanced over at the Flame Pony, watching him sleep soundly, wondering how long she would keep her secrets from him. "Don't… mention it." Mira whispered quietly, rolling back over and doing her best to sleep once more. "Stupid Flame Pony."