//------------------------------// // CH.06 - The Sky Tyrants: Children of the End // Story: The Wight Chronicles - Summer: Pathfinder and the Wight of the Waters // by Sqoad //------------------------------// Upon a mountain range far-stretched and totally surrounded by water a strange folk prowled with purpose. They were tall, they were thin, some were horned, some were big-headed, others, still, were different even from that. All of them black in the darkness of this night, save for their lantern-like eyes, shining as stars do in the sky. They all turned their heads constantly on high alert, ready to catch the slightest movement. The ground which they walked upon was not all dry rock, but a disturbing amount of wetness could be derided. It was not from water, as this was far above water, but devoid of ice to melt. It was in fact the bodies of a thousand fallen that wet this passage, for their blood was allowed to leak. It was the dreadful aftermath of a bloodbath. The victims: the dragons. An entire roost, and many more wherever the eyes could see. After a horrified cry from afar aroused the attention of the dark creatures, the harrowing silence was broken by the sound of steps splashing the blood on the rocks. It was a hunt, and no creature seemed willing to stop. A lone dragon guarded the targeted brood upon a peak, staring down his attackers. "Why have you come?" he asked, but received no answer. "Why are you attacking my kingdom?" he begged, but received no answer. To the dragon's meet, a lone creature stepped forward. It held in its forelimbs a deep purple egg and presented it to the dragon. What would have been mistaken as a call for a truce was then quickly destroyed as, when the dragon tried to take the egg, the creature threw it to the ground and smashed it. The dragon was not in time to withdraw as another call echoed over the mountain. A language, but unknown. "IS!" called the creature upon the dragon, and its ears spout blood and it flinched. "VIS!" called the creature upon the dragon, and its eyes ruptured violently. "VOS!" called the creature finally, and the dragon's scaled armour tore and rent itself off, leaving its muscles below exposed. The dragon, blinded, deafened, and stripped of its armour, staggered and collapsed; its massive bulk, dwarfing the creature, rolled over the mountain edge, bouldering down to the ocean below. A moment of silence, with only the breeze of the wind stroking over the mountain, was soon broken by the beasts' final charge upon the last dragons still standing. "Hail our throne," called a dragon as it fled, "hail our empire," it cried and dove into a cave beneath a temple, "hail the pride and glory of the tyrants, and know in all eternity that we stood up against you - evil, oh evil children of the end!" it screamed as it sealed off the entrance behind itself. The darkness of the cave was complimented only by the muffled cries and thunderous trampling above. This dragon would not live to see his kind's fall, but he set his claws upon the walls and began scribing, using his own claws to carve in the stone. But to the onlooker it was too dark to see what was written. --- The princess awoke to the setting sun, beholding the twilight sky and its beauty. The sound of the city's commerce was dying down leaving room for ponderous thoughts and the appreciation of the stillness. Her duties were to begin soon, but a troubling dream had begun bothering her, like an ill wind carrying with it the omen of darkness to come. A darkness not of the good of night, but the ill will of a threat. Princess Luna recalled it, having seen that creature before, but then it had no origin, no purpose, no reason. They had met that winter night, but they had not understood one another. And then that creature had disappeared. It could not have been the same. Princess Luna loathed the thought, the thought that she had once nurtured a creature of such evil. It had to have been impossible - she knew nothing of it. And yet, they were so similar. A single star broke through the twilight sky, and Princess Luna adorned herself with her crown, her crest and her shoes. She trod with dignity to her station upon the castle courtyard's platform where from she would raise the moon. To her side she could glimpse her sister, Princess Celestia, observing her from her study's window. Not long ago had she returned from banishment, less time still had she met that strange creature of no origin, but tonight she would only be the princess of the night, and that dream had to remain a dream. At least for now. Princess Luna could feel her own legs betray her. In the presence of her own sister, there was no hiding your feelings. It would not be long before the two would encounter one another that night and Princess Celestia would remark on that one queer step. She wanted to deny it, but yielded to the her sister's enquiry. Princess Luna paused before replying. A dream like this had never been so lively, so deep in context. Even Princess Luna would dream the absurd and abstract, but this was the opposite. It had meaning, it had purpose. 'Children of the End'. "Why are you troubled by a dream?" Princess Celestia asked. "It suddenly feels important, sister," Princess Luna confessed, "but I do not know its purpose, or its meaning." "You of all ought to know the importance of dreams." "I do, but I never much delve into my own. They are part of me, and I cannot be my own advisor." As understanding as she was, Princess Celestia was not hesitant to lend aid at her time of rest. But Princess Luna was apprehensive. As it was the first of its kind, she could not guarantee to dream the same dream, but a lost message could be more harmful than an ignored one. The moon was risen and all was quiet. Perhaps an attempt was in order? There was no harm in it. However, as the sisters were making their way to the study, Princess Luna felt compelled to ask: "What do you know of the 'Children of the End?'" Princess Celestia stopped suddenly. "Where did you hear that?" "It was in my dream. A dragon said it, it was fleeing a terrifying horde." "I confess, that name had been all but forgotten to me. I fathom it has been a good 400 years since I last heard of it. Were it the Sky Tyrants you saw?" "I am not sure, sister. You never really told me much about your dealings with them." "Well I must confess I kept most of it from you. I never learnt much about them, but after many centuries of obscurity, they suddenly vanished. I hear only one thing: they are at war with the children." "The 'Children of the End?'" Princess Luna asked. "Maybe, but I cannot be certain. I presume 'children' in their language refers to their young. I thought it was a civil war for dominance. They were dragons after all. But to think that they would spirit away as they did was beyond my comprehension." "What happened to them?" "I never saw their homeland, but I have documentations of it, which they provided me with. They wished to educate me, but I never gave them the satisfaction." "Can I see it?" "Of course, Luna," Princess Celestia said and opened the door to the study. "They were secretive, but not subversive. I have many documents here, many detailing their life and history." "What of the 'children'?" "Perhaps there is something to be found," Princess Celestia replied, and started browsing through a specific corner of her study. After finding a large carved disc and a tablet, Princess Celestia beckoned her sister to a table on which she placed them and began reading the texts aloud. The tablet detailed a dogmatic code of conduct, an economical structure and the distribution of power between families, none of which Princess Luna recognised. But after being placed together with the disc, the tablet would also detail a calendar of what foods were to be eaten at what times. All these foods were living creatures, without a doubt, even if Princess Luna could not recognise some of the names. The language was draconic, so some words were alien to her. "They did not eat gemstones?" Princess Luna asked. "No, Luna, these dragons were totally carnivorous. They earned their name of Sky Tyrant for a reason, unfortunately." "What about the 'children'? Are they not there?" "Not as food, no. But this tablet does reference them. Listen here: 'far away must you stay from the children below or untold consequence befall you and us.' It means that they were weary of them. The 'children' were a threat." Princess Celestia looked at her sister. "But I do not know what they were, what they looked like, or what they could do." "Were there no carvings? Nothing detailing their appearance?" "No, that they never taught me." "That is... unfortunate, sister." There was a short moment of silence. "What have you seen in your dreams?" "Nothing... of the 'children'..."