//------------------------------//
// Then why leave? 
// Story: The Start of a New Age 
// by Lord-Luzar 
//------------------------------//

	
The Start of A New Age


By Lord-Luzar




“So...what about that one?” His gravelly voice echoed throughout the cavern before leaving through the mouth.
“He’s been asleep since he arrived,” Ordo answered, still staring down the other pointy ear man.
“Zis is interesting, I’ve never been so excited before!” The german scientist exclaimed, excitedly hoping in place.
Zephyr then took a good look over at the people surrounding him, a large black man named Ordo, a seemingly Vampiric woman, another woman from the steampunk age, an old man, a german scientist, and two other men with pointy ears. His life hadn’t been so odd in a long time, yet this is what he wished for. To get away from his home, to live a life away from his ‘loved’ parents.
The older long ear man lowered his bow, seemingly thinking that they were of no threat, “Where do you come from, travellers?” 
His voice was hardened from a disciplined life, and the gruff exterior that he showed was exactly what Zephyr had pictured. His cheekbones were at an average height for a man but he seemed to not care about looks, while a small but astute nose stayed firm in place as he shifted his gaze around them. 
“Why do you have long ears?” Zephyr’s bluntness cut through the warrior’s defenses easily, causing him to go wide-eyed.
“You have never heard of an Elf?” 
“You work with Santa...I thought you’d be smaller.” Zephyr commented making a confused look go over the man’s face.
“No, I am an Elven Warrior, and a butler of the High Council in-” 
“So you’re British?”
Zephyr had interrupted him once again making a sigh leave his throat, “Just tell me your name, human child.”
“Zephyr, and you...long-eared man?” Zephyr struggled to think of a comeback.
“I am Triton, and these elves you speak of...I believe it is human folklore,” Triton’s response was sincere, as if trying to not hurt Zephyr’s feelings.
“Oh I know that already, I’m just messing with you.” He announced in return before looking over the other tall adults. 
Most of them looked at him in surprise, while the German scientist simply laughed, “Oh, zis kid is a riot! Vat would you say to me zen?” 
“You’re a cliché?” Zephyr answered, slightly confused by the question.
The German laughed aloud in a coarse manner, making a few of the adults clamp their hands over their ears, “Would you shut that man up?” The old man asked to no one in particular.
The Vampiric woman obliged and delivered an axe kick to the back of his head, sending him on the ground. The old man sighed before looking at Zephyr, “Who got here first kid?”
“I did.” Zephyr answered.
“What happened when you got here?”
“Not much really, just that a whole bunch of adults fell through a rippling mirror that is now broken, and that we fell inside a cave.” Zephyr pointed upwards, showing the hole that let the moonlight shine through.
“Also that there’s this weird creature laying on the other side of the portal...it was here when I got here.” Zephyr turned and pointed through the now broken mirror, showing the equine figure.
“A horse?” The flame-haired woman asked.
“No, ze frame is too small, perhaps a pony?” The scientist answered with a second question.
“Well, I can successfully say that I’ve never seen a horse like that.” Ordo chimed in, pointing to a picture on its flank.
“A tattoo...now zis is getting very odd.”
Looking at where Ordo pointed Zephyr saw the ‘tattoo’ and realized it looked like a compass with the red finger pointing northwards. Curiosity getting the better of him, Zephyr walked over to the equine creature once more, wondering as to what it could’ve been. And when he poked the flank nothing seemed to happen, except that it awoke very confused and startled.
“W-What’s going on?” It stammered making all of them jump except for the unconscious man.
An equine talking, now that got their attention, especially the scientist that was looking at the equine in a very interested manner. Zephyr stared into the eyes of the equine, looking at two comically sized blue eyes. It quivered and shook in fear as it looked at the human child, but Zephyr took a step forward making it try to scoot backwards. The Vampiric woman watched in amusement while the Elven Warrior looked over the vines with a thoughtful look. Zephyr squatted to look the downed equine eye to eye and narrowed his own eyes.
“What are you?” Zephyr asked.
Its eyes grew to a new size, not surprising Zephyr, “W-What are you!” It stammered in return.
“I will not answer your questions unless you answer mine,” Zephyr added in a robotic tone.
The equine looked behind Zephyr and stared at the other six standing before looking at the collapsed seventh, and let out a short sigh. 
“I’m a pegasus pony, and my name is Stormchaser.” Stormchaser answered making a smile cross over Zephyr’s face.
Tapping the pegasus’ shoulder Zephyr nodded, “As promised, I am a human and my name is Zephyr.”
“Now, as to how you got here,” Zephyr started, making the pegasus nod.
Stormchaser quickly went over his small story, remembering to tell of the dart he had been shot with, and narrowly escaping the boulder which Zephyr commented about. Then finally telling of how he found the mirror. He did not tell them how he activated it though, still in worry that the humans were angry.
“That’s very interesting...but couldn’t you have flown down instead of jumping into the water?” Zephyr commented making the scientist nod, as well as the steampunk woman.
“Well, yes but I wasn’t thinking straight after narrowly avoiding being crushed,” Stormchaser answered in an angered tone.
Zephyr used a gesture Stormchaser didn’t understand but knew that it meant to calm down, “Storm, would it be alright if I call you that? Anyways, you need to calm down and help all of us get out of this cave, we don’t want to stay here forever do we?” 
The pegasus nodded and Zephyr looked towards the other adults, “What should we do first?”
“Stormchaser should scout up ahead, taking a look from the hole up there.” The Vampiric woman pointed at the mouth of the cavern.
The scientist and steampunk woman nodded in turn, while Zephyr realized that Ordo and Triton were examining the vines together and idly chatting. Stormchaser nodded shakily before flapping his wings with a test then proclaiming, “This’ll be my last flight before my wings go numb, that liquid is working quickly.”
The Vampiric woman and the scientist nodded while the steampunk woman went to wake the younger man who still rested unconscious. Zephyr watched as small wings lifted the pegasus’ body off the ground and into the air, and did so as Storm rose higher and higher to the mouth of the cavern. Eventually he reached the top and looked over the surroundings with hindered sight, due to the thick foliage and the night’s lack of light. 
Shouting back down, Storm pronounced, “I can’t really see anything...but I’ll keep searching!”
The response that echoed was, “If you see any amount of unnatural light, tell us, its likely to be from a house or living quarters!”
The Vampiric woman lowered her voice before turning to the human child, “You have very interesting eyes...Zephyr, was it?”
Zephyr nodded, wondering as to why he was suddenly being approached, “And yes, I am a vampire...I could see it lingering in those eyes of yours.”
The child nodded slowly before tilting his head, “What is your name, ma’am?”
The woman kindly smiled and replied, “Zentha.”
“I think I’ll call you Zena instead,” Zephyr replied making the woman let out a hearty laugh.
Zena walked over to see what Ordo and Triton were doing while the steampunk woman still poked the smaller elf. The german scientist seemed to be mumbling to himself near the walls of the cavern far away from everyone else.
Walking over worried, Zephyr voiced his concern, “Um...are you alright, Mr. Cliché?”
The scientist looked up at the smaller child and nodded, “Ja, just a little confused...how does such a creature lift itself vith those tiny vings?! It is so confusing…” 
“Why don’t you ask him once he returns?” Zephyr reasoned making the scientist rub his temples.
“I doubt he even knows of simple physics, no less how he can fly!” The scientist whispered angrily.
“Before I go may I have your name...I don’t want to call you Mr. Cliché.” Zephyr spoke making the scientist happily nod.
“Ja, of course Zephyr, my name is Ethan.” His voice had grown soft, very soft...Zephyr noted this.
“Ethan is quite the odd german name.”
“I know, I vas born in America but my parents and I moved to Germany after two years,” Ethan’s voice was now noticeably kind and sincere.
“Well, just keep calm for now Ethan.” Zephyr finished before turning and leaving Ethan to himself.
The old man was no where to be seen, and thats when Zephyr saw that the group of three were looking upwards at the vines on the cavern walls. Looking up as well, Zephyr saw the old man gripping on a vine with white knuckles, pulling himself closer to the mouth of the cavern. The man was surprisingly spry for being so old, or at least Zephyr thought he was old. Watching the man in awe was all he could currently do, knowing the he could never do something like that, let alone facing his fear of heights, as the vines went all the way up to the top of the cavern approximately 80 feet above.
“I see something everypony!” Storm yelled down the hole, surprising the grey-haired man.
His grip suddenly released and he let out a surprised yelp from letting the yelling pegasus, and quickly fell down the length of the cavern. Yet he reached with his right hand and gripped the vine in a loud grunt, before his hands burned as he slowed his descent. Landing on the bottom the group of three stared at him in concern.
“What did you find?” He croaked towards the pegasus.
“I see light, not from the moon!” Storm called back down.
“Are you sure?” The old man questioned making a confident response echo down.
“Yes, I also see some bits of neatly cut timber on neat ground.” His answer surprised the man and the rest.
“Well then...how are we going to get out of here?” Zena asked.
“By the way I went,” The old man responded.
“I’m not sure those flimsy vines can support my weight.” Ordo voiced his concern, looking over himself.
“Then I guess you’re going to have to stay here, aren’t you?” The old man challenged.
Zephyr then saw a small smirk run across Ordo’s face, and he walked up to the vines giving a firm tug. After pulling on it for a minute and checking that it ran all the way to the cavern’s mouth, Ordo began to climb his way up, surprised that the vine didn’t snap. Zena did the same, tugging on a vine before being satisfied then began her ascent up the walls of the cavern. This continued until Zephyr, the steampunk woman, and the younger elf remained at the bottom. Looking over to the water Zephyr began to have mixed feelings of this plan.
“How will we supply ourselves with food and fresh water?” He yelled upwards.
A long silence fell in between them before the old man’s voice croaked back, “One of us will journey back here with a canteen or two to get water each day, or maybe every few hours.”
Finding the answer somewhat suitable, Zephyr looked at the young steampunk woman who frowned as she looked at the younger elven boy. Zephyr grabbed the wrist of the young elf and slowly dragged him backwards to where the water was. Wading into the water, Zephyr pulled on the wrist of the elf more and more, eventually submerging his head. The reaction was slow and Zephyr was almost tempted to pull him out of the pond, but just before Zephyr did that the young elf woke.
He stood up with only his head drenched and looked back to see Zephyr standing in the pond, and pointed a shaking finger at him angrily, “Were you trying to drown me, human?” 
Zephyr was startled about how angrily he spat the word, as if it meant him harm. Looking at the now noticed eyes of the elven boy, Zephyr realized that they were light-blue eyes. And also that the voice of the elf was slightly higher-pitched than Zephyr expected, as he expected a young man not an old child.
“What are you staring at human?” He once more spat the word as if it were a poison eating away at his flesh.
“Hurry up,” Zephyr simply said, walking away from the taller and much stronger elven boy.
The steampunk woman nodded in thanks before climbing her way up the vines and slowly making her way to the cavern’s mouth. Starting up the wall with growing dread, Zephyr looked down and saw that he was 20 feet above the ground, and his pit dropped. Refusing the urge to regurgitate whatever small portion of food he had left in his belly, Zephyr stuck his eyes upwards and tried to become as determined as possible. Fortunately, when he climbed he was too busy thinking to realize that he had made it to the cavern’s mouth and when he was pulled up it startled him. The steampunk woman calmed him down by simply holding him on his shoulders, yet it was such a calming sensation to the boy and he didn’t know why. 
Shaking his head Zephyr faced the mouth and yelled down, “This is the only way out...so if you want to die of starvation, be my guest, but if you want to survive then follow us!”
Looking over the adults that stared at him in a worried fashion Zephyr couldn’t help but grow anxious and worried that he had done something wrong. And when he walked over to yell to the elven boy once more he saw the golden head of the boy emerge from the mouth and climb over. His piercing stare did not seem to harm Zephyr as he stared back in a manner that made the elf back away first. The elven boy seemed very stubborn and likely cynical, so when Zephyr had beaten him down with a simple test of willpower, his ego had been taken down many pegs. Yet he was a teenager, someone who wanted to show and test their might and pride so he soon came up with a devious plan, one far too devious for any child to handle on his or her own.
But his mind stopped working when he realized that a three-foot-tall pony was talking to a gray-haired man while leading the way of the small convoy. Since when did ponies talk? 
“I must be on some elven grass…” He muttered in wild confusion.
What kind of equine creature talked? For all his knowledge, which wasn’t vast, he knew that equine creatures did not talk. Yet the feeling of fearing death was all too real when he climbed the vines up the cavern and out the mouth, and the feeling of relief was all too real as well. And his anger had been boiling ever since he met the small human child, a human no less.
“What is your name?” The question made him turn to the speaker.
Looking up only by an inch or two, the elf saw the beautiful steampunk woman staring down at him with her own emerald eyes, “I am Aeris.”
“I am Ester,” She did a small bow while her staff nearly smacked Zephyr across the face.
Aeris had to hide his smile when he saw that the small child had almost been clocked on the head, “What is the child’s name?”
“He is Zephyr.” Ester replied, looking forwards and seeing a warm light slowly grow brighter as they stayed on course.
Aeris had to clamp his jaw back on its hinge while staring at the boy in a suspicious manner, while also being at a loss. How had the boy received such a majestic name meant only for High Elven Priests? Surely the humans had never met a High Elven Priest because otherwise they would’ve known of one by now, and have some form of knowledge to counteract their magic but this child possessed such a name. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, or perhaps the name had been heard of and passed on by those traitorous elves that had decided to side with the humans? Aeris had opted for the side that didn’t go up against his own race, and instead stuck to his own ways of racial hatred that had been promoted by his own people and propaganda. 
Aeris stopped in front of the wooden shack that the horse had apparently spotted before he awoke, and looked over in small amounts of admiration. It was fitted into the side of a dirt mound, with small windows near the doorway that showed of the interior of the house. He thought it wasn’t too shabby, but knew he himself could do better.
“Alright, we need to search this house in case of any clues to tell that someone still lives here and if they don’t I want someone to go back to the cave and gather up some of that fresh water and come back.” The old man fluidly spoke, making everyone nod but Aeris.
“What makes you the leader? You’ve probably got some shady agenda for all of us,” Aeris voiced his own reasoning making the older man laugh.
“Shady agenda? Well I do have one for you now, and its called teaching a kid to learn some damn respect! You can be the one to go get the water, and if you don’t have it in the next hour you can have fun living in this jungle on your own.” The old man said making the elven child angrily snort.
“Well what are you going to do about it, old man?” Aeris challenged making a large man stand to his side and shake his head.
“You should know by now it isn’t wise to challenge your elders.” He spoke in a deep tone.
“And how would you know that slave?” Aeris angrily shouted making the larger man frown, but he kept his calm.
Yet he heard a gasp and looked over to the small child, “Now you listen here you elven prick, I will not deal with your racist crap and I will not deal with the way you are treating your elders.”
Aeris didn’t back away because of the words that the boy spat, or because that human child had just threatened him but because of the deafening tone the boy spoke in and the color of his eyes, as they had changed. Instead of a beautiful emerald being at his irises were a blood red, seemingly trying to tear through his mind in an effort to break his will. Unfortunately for Aeris it was working, and it was working well. 
Grabbing a nearby bucket with a small trim of metal around it, Aeris quickly left the small household in fear of what the child would do. Yet as he ran away he couldn’t help but call himself a coward for not striking down the child where he stood, but he still didn’t know what the child, Zephyr, could do.


	
Zephyr stood still staring at the door that the elf had left through and looked up at Ordo who looked down at him in shame. Frowning, he pondered as to why Ordo was disappointed in what he had done, yet looking over the adults still in the room and those that hadn’t explored the other rooms, he realized that something was wrong. They all stood staring directly at his eyes in shock, except for Ordo who merely walked up the stairs disappointed in Zephyr.
“Kid, y-your eyes...they’re red!” Ester exclaimed worriedly pointing at his eyes.
“Red?”
Zephyr slowly was calming down and that’s when Ethan decided to pitch in, “By what I’ve observed so far, I’d say they turned red based on your anger-filled reaction to the elven boys blatant racism.”
Staring at Ethan for a moment and pondering his words, Zephyr heard Ester comment once more, “It seems you’re correct Ethan, his eyes are slowly turning green once more.”
Zephyr felt confused...how did she know Ethan’s name if they hadn’t talked with each other once? He then realized it must’ve been when she walked ahead of him to speak with the old man. Finding a seat to truly think about what had just happened, Zephyr thought it over for a long time. How could his eyes turn red? He had only ever known to have emerald green eyes instead of blood red eyes...this really disturbed and confused the young boy. Trying to think about how his eyes changed color was odd, possibly even disturbing the young child. 
Watching Zena, Ordo and the old man come down from upstairs made him ease into his thoughts and think over them with more logic and precision. Perhaps it was their presence that had calmed him and comforted him, or perhaps it was just Ester...she had been kind to him in every situation he had run in with her, which was only one so far. Trying to ease his mind from the calculating thoughts, Zephyr looked up to the old man, “Um...I never got your name.”
“Oh, of course, my name is Zariel.” Zariel simply replied.
“Well Zariel,” Zephyr tested the name rolling it off his tongue. “Where did you send Stormchaser...I haven’t seen him since we entered the home.”
“I immediately made him rest, seeing as he is the only one here that can fly for a long period of time, and search for civilization.” Zariel answered, making Zephyr nod in return thinking it was a tactical course of action.
Looking back over to Ordo, Zephyr stared into his grey eyes with a pleading hope, “May you state as to why you’re disappointed in me?”
Ordo stared at Zephyr for a very long time, while the others searched the bottom floor, before finding the entrance to a basement under a bland brown rug. They continued to search down their, being given the talisman that Stormchaser had in case of such a thing happened. 
“Well Zephyr, I know you probably won’t understand this, because you seem pretty young but you did something that didn’t need to be done. You did not need to thrash out and verbally attack the young elf, he merely is not as calm and optimistic as you or I. His past seems to be very dark as well, causing him to not trust many. You have to realize these things and analyze them before talking to a person like him. When trying to talk to someone such as him you must be gentle and kind, yet also be straight to the point so they don’t think you have a personal agenda.
“What I’m getting at is that in that situation it would’ve been better to let me handle it instead of being brash and anger-ridden.” Ordo finished, making Zephyr nod in response.
“I see...I believe something must be done about this anger of mine, otherwise it might lead to some very sticky situations.” Zephyr responded in turn, after carefully using what Ordo had just said to his advantage.
“You seem to be very wise and mature for your age, young Zephyr...your fast-learning is a good skill to have.” Ordo complemented, making Zephyr respectfully nod.
“Talking about your anger with Ester or the scientist is a wise idea, and I know which one I would take.” Ordo cryptically spoke, turning to walk down the secret entrance to the basement. 
Zephyr didn’t stop him, instead deciding to go to Ester for the advice. To him it seemed as the wrong decision but the way she treated him made a warm feeling rush through his body, it was as if she was his real mother but Zephyr knew otherwise. Yet he couldn’t help but feel that she was far more maternal than his real mother who decided to viciously beat him instead of giving him a simple hug. Shaking his home from his mind once again, Zephyr walked over to where Ester was looking over a bookcase filled with dusty tomes and tapped her shoulder.
After apologizing from making her jump he asked her a simple question, “Why do you believe my eyes turned red?”
She suddenly frowned and squatted down enough to be eye to eye with Zephyr, “Truth be told, I can’t give you a good enough answer other than what Ethan told you, but I can tell you that you are not some monster...that is what you’re here for isn’t it?”
Now Zephyr frowned and shook his head, “No...I truly just wanted to have your opinion before I decided who to ask.”
“Ask about what?”
“Lucky you should say that, seeing as how I’ve chosen you instead of Ethan,” Zephyr smiled, making Ester stand up and look at him in confusion.
“What do you mean?” Small amounts of fear were edged in her voice.
“I wanted to pick between the two of you to help control my anger...I’ve realized that it isn’t a big help and currently I can’t control it that well.” 
“While that’s mighty wise, I believe I’m not the right person for the job, kid...I don’t know much about the human mind or body.”
“I have faith in you...something tells me that in my heart.” Zephyr pointed to where said organ would be, making Ester’s eyes go wide.
“No no no! Don’t mistake this for love...I mean that my mother wasn’t the best of moms, and was partially why I willingly came here. I just feel that I can put my faith in you because you’re the first person to ever truly be kind to me.” Zephyr confessed making a soft hand brush against his cheek.
“Oh honey, you seem to have had such a hard life before this...I suppose I can try to figure something out as well but you shouldn’t find anything maternal about me, I’ve never had any real interest in kids.” Her words made a warm smile wash over Zephyr’s face as Ester removed her hand.
“Thank you...and I’ve never been one to act like a child.” Zephyr admitted.
Zephyr watched her new smile turn to an even wider one as she laughed and went back to examining her bookcase while he turned and walked over to the small chair before sitting back down. Watching heads slowly rise from the basement was partly amusing for Zephyr but sat still when being addressed by Zariel.
“Zephyr, I’m going to start a fire in the fireplace over there, but what I want you to do is to search for any more hidden or secretive places in the basement. If you don’t find anything you can search tomorrow morning after we have some breakfast.” Zariel commanded and watched the young boy salute.
As he was handed the orange talisman and began to slowly descent he heard Aeris come through the door, “Please don’t let me do that again.”
He sounded out of breath, but Zephyr couldn't have cared less than he currently did. Stepping down into the darkened room was ominous and he could’ve sworn that opera music was playing in his head now. Not sure how to activate the talisman, Zephyr flicked it and watched with amusement as it struggled to spark back to life. He was met with the forms of tomes and scrolls everywhere in the basement, nearly everything being without cobwebs and in neat condition. Various pieces of furniture were stacked in a corner and a painting was adorned on the right side of the corner. 
Walking over, he saw something odd in one of the couches cushions. Reaching over while holding the talisman in his right hand, Zephyr felt his hand connect with a small, cold cylinder. Grabbing onto it tightly, Zephyr tugged it and nearly threw out his back with the might that he used, but didn’t feel any type of movement coming from the cylinder. Instead feeling very curious, Zephyr pushed the seemingly metallic cylinder inwards and heard a low rumble, to low for those upstairs to hear.
A sudden chill ran up his spine as a noise that resembled the grinding of stone against stone emanated from behind the couch. Now holding the talisman by his mouth, Zephyr gripped the side of the couch and pulled with all the strength his tiny and poorly used muscles could offer. They shouted in protest for him to stop, already burning from the exertion of climbing 80 feet worth of vine. Yet Zephyr continued and pulled with all his might until the couch made an odd sound that resembled a click. Then Zephyr pulled once more and felt it easily slide away from the corner. Curious as to why, he spotted the cylinder that had been connected to where the wall was and saw that it had been stuck in place by a small rectangle but all of his struggling made it come lose and then fall. 
Not minding that, Zephyr turned his attention to the small hole in the wall. Keeping the talisman in his mouth, Zephyr realized that only a pony or someone of his size could fit through the hole. And after a couple minutes of braving the almost pitch black shaft filled with cobwebs and dust, coughing because of said dust, and nearly screaming at the top of his lungs because of a very large spider Zephyr had made it out of the small shaft. Now he stood in a well-lit and maintained room where a large pony sat upon an odd looking throne. His eyes widened at the size of the pony and what said pony had on its body.
He couldn’t tell if the pony was real or not because it sat as still as a statue, but judging by where he found it, he decided it was a statue. Looking around the room once more Zephyr realized that the room was supported by well-kept limestone pillars with ornate designs at the tops and bottoms of the pillars. All were circular in form, while keeping a pristine white shade over them. The walls were bricked and had an old dusty appearance while looking very tan in color. Some were cracked while others were just dusty. The floor was very smooth and didn’t appear to be made out of the same material, being something with the appearance of polished granite, perhaps it was granite. 
The top layer of bricks glowed light-blue with runic symbols that Zephyr could not translate, but they looked nothing like the english language, or even Egyptian. To him they were entirely alien, but he did not know much about the place he now inhabited so he didn’t question it either. The throne had six steps leading up to it, while the figure on top of said throne looked very uncomfortable to be there, or from the mask that was on top of its head that’s what Zephyr guessed. The mask was mainly dark-purple with two black eyeholes and golden designs flowing around the mask in snakelike patterns. The most prominent feature of the mask was were the nose should’ve been was a different form of color, mostly silver. 
Looking over the rest of the unmoving body Zephyr saw a very realistic dark-purple coat. He didn’t notice the shape on the flank of the equine but it didn’t matter to him either way. Small amounts of black hair drooped behind the mask and down over her shoulder in a very straight fashion. Four golden rings with the same runic letters around the top of the room were wrapped around the left foreleg of the statue. Noticing two more rings, but this time silver, wrapped around the right foreleg of the statues body wasn’t odd. Or that he found a golden necklace hanging around the statues neck had a large ruby that was the same shape of the necklace but smaller in the thin metal sheet that was connected by a golden chain. 
No, what truly was odd was that now the black eyeholes glowed a brilliant orange, and as the head of the large pony turned to look at him Zephyr froze in fear. When the head turned it sounded as if stone was turning on more stone, but he didn’t care as the large figure slowly stood up from its throne and stepped off, causing him to rush down the steps backwards. Now standing approximately five feet away, and on his glutes because he slipped, Zephyr stared in awe as the large figure looked over him in seeming disinterest. 
Then it surprised him by speaking in an odd tone that hurt his ears, as if it had been unused for centuries, “Wake me after a thousand-year sleep and for something like this? A shame I have run into you.”
It was clearly female by the way it spoke, even though Zephyr had a hard time telling. Standing with his best stature and most statuesque face he could manage Zephyr responded, “I want to know who you are.”
The head turned back to him slowly, as if she didn’t care that she took her time, “You are demanding something from me? Do you know nothing?”
“I am a conqueror! I have destroyed nations with my mighty army and watched the downfall of empires because I was the one who caused them! So now tell me....have you never heard of the everlasting Mayhans?” She spoke slowly and dramatically.
“No.” Came Zephyr’s simple reply.
“Then what do you want of me?” Her voice suddenly softer.
“I want to know who you are.”
“I am the almighty Empress of Conquerors, Seraph!” She proudly pronounced.
“Are....are you sure you’re not Egyptian?”
“I demand your respect!” She stomped her hoof on the top step causing it to crack while the loud bash reverberated throughout the room.
Gulping the last of his confidence, Zephyr nodded before standing at attention and looking at the imposing figure of the mare in fear. 
“I will teach you the way of the sword.” She suddenly announced causing Zephyr to look at her in confusion.
He stammered, “I-I’m too weak to wield a sword, I could never learn.”
“You will learn.” Her voice was dangerously low.
“I will learn the way of the sword.” Zephyr quickly repeated.
“I will offer you all the knowledge on battle and the wisdom that comes with battle that I possess, I will teach you the way of the sword and turn you into a warrior worthy of slaying even a dragon...do you accept my offer?”
“I accept.”