Acceptance and Recovery

by sincarnation

Chapter 3 - Uproar (Part 1)

Dragonlands? 10:00am, 8th of Hearthfire, Two Month’s into Artemis’s Journey, No Specifics

It had been a month since he had rescued Chrysalis from the arctic, and he could’ve counted the number of words they had spoken to each other since on his claws. It was actually a little disappointing; he had been looking forward to the company even if it was just bickering. Though he was pleasantly surprised and mildly concerned, she kept pace with him without complaint and seemed to extraordinarily accustom to being submissive despite the immense pride he saw before. Such a jarring contrast to her default personality meant that she was either used to not being in the position of power, unusual for a Queen of any species, or she was just an incredible actor. Seeing as she was a changeling, the latter was more likely than the former. Whether she liked it or not, she needed Artemis until they came across a region with some loving locals she could deceive. He was careful to very gradually increase her power, giving her slightly more than she needed to stave off hunger and never any amount that would fatigue him. He didn’t want to risk weakening himself in case she had some trick that he had overlooked or was unaware of. He had no doubt that she was completely aware of his caution, and she might even have been growing resentful of it but that wasn’t particularly high on his list of concerns.

“Where are we?”

“Three more words, I guess that’s progress,” thought Artemis as he turned to look at her. “Dragonlands I think, only place I know of that reeks of Brimstone.”

Artemis almost felt bad when he saw the disappointment in her face, he didn’t think he had treated her poorly but she seemed to be taking the situation far worse than he had expected. Dragons weren’t known for their loving nature, and changelings had difficulty maintaining transformations into larger creatures. Combine that with the fact that most dragons generally held changelings in contempt, and that meant that changelings rarely if ever visited the dragon homeland. However Artemis wasn’t unduly worried about the situation, he could easily handle most dragons that might’ve bothered them. Singular dragons that could threaten him were few and far between, and the age and strength required for a group to be dangerous was unlikely due to their solitary nature. The most likely trouble he would run into would be a group of arrogant young dragons that sorely underestimated him, hardly worth being called anything more than a nuisance.

The Dragonlands referred to a relatively small territory claimed for the dragon’s political uses, for the dragons rarely acted in unity on anything voluntarily. The volcanic region is more a symbol of draconic will than an actual home, since dragons tend to go where they please with little to no regard to country borders. Few dragons actually used the area as their home; the teens that leave their parents but are too young to go entirely solo, those that were at the age where they wanted to attempt to pass their wisdom to the next generation, and typically the Dragon Lord.

They travelled a few more hours in silence much to Artemis’s annoyance, but he refused to beg or give the appearance of begging for interaction. He had saved her, despite knowing exactly who she was, but he still had hoped she would be a decent travelling companion. While she had kept up with his pace with no complaints, she was far from friendly. Calling her cordial was a bit of a stretch, but he could hardly blame her. She was travelling through hostile regions largely against her will, and while she had caused the events that put her in this situation and chose to live, he doubted she would take responsibility for her role in how her life had unfolded.

“It’s not my fault she is stuck with me, and if it were that bad she could’ve just as easily taken a chan-“thought Artemis as his attention was pulled elsewhere. He had heard a screech in the distance, that was piercing and familiar enough to make him grit his teeth and bring him to an abrupt halt.

“What?” questioned Chrysalis slightly worried about what would make him suddenly stop.

Artemis responded by touching his claw to his lips and closing his eyes. The same shriek punctuated the silence, echoing through the shedding trees.

Without a moment of hesitation he bolted towards the sound, which he now recognized as the all too rare screech of a phoenix. Few things were arrogant enough to disturb phoenixes, and that was why he had always hated that they tended to roost in the same territory as dragons. His gut reaction was to say something about natural selection, but the true death of a phoenix was a thankfully rare tragedy. Despite their pseudo-immortality, phoenixes only lay eggs once every century keeping their numbers consistently low.

“Pass it here!”

“I’m open!”

“Throw it to Garble!”

Artemis paled in horror as he saw a group of teenage dragons happily playing keep away with a phoenix mother and her eggs. He tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but he couldn’t think of a single reason for their apparent cruelty. Though they hadn’t noticed his arrival, the sheer confusion had frozen in him place.

“Smash it before the other comes back!”

The words snapped Artemis out of his stupor, as he decided he needed to make his presence known. Those who would kill should be prepared to be killed, it was a lesson all warriors should know. It was obvious that these youth didn’t, and fate had given them a cruel teacher.

“Yeah yeah, and SMA-“ the red teenage dragon brought his arm down to smash the egg on the ground but was confused when his arm wouldn’t move. “Hey what’s the bi-“ the words dying in his throat has he saw the hateful glare of a predator baring down on him.

“What do you think you are doing?” asked Artemis making sure his words didn’t betray his underlying rage.

“Hey, l-let him g-go!’

“That doesn’t answer my question,” growled Artemis. “It looks to me like you were tormenting a phoenix family and were about to smash the egg, extinguishing a life. I sincerely hope that wasn’t the case, so I’m graciously giving you the chance to explain yourselves.”

“We were just having fun,” snarled the captive as he frantically tugged at his arm. “But you must have a death wish messing with us dragons on our turf. GET HIM BOYS!”

“Uhhhh Garble, he moved around all of us without anyone noticing and he stopped you despite all of us being here. Y-you sure we should do that?”

“Oh one of you is smarter than he appears, look you all have a right to refuse his order. Before you decide ask yourselves two questions. What separates predators from prey? And are you willing to die to save this, Garbage was it? I want you to know that if you try, I will kill you.” Artemis punctuated his statement delivering the most fearsome glare he could manage.

“What are you? Ponies or Dragons? There are like eight of you, TAKE HIM DOWN!” shouted Garble as he frantically tried to wrench his arm free.

Garble’s struggle stopped when he noticed, none of his friends were moving to help him. They didn’t want to abandon him, but the decision was clear. None of them were willing to risk dying to follow his orders and help him.

“None of you are willing to die for him? Can’t say I’m surprised, but you shouldn’t follow a leader you wouldn’t die for. Lesson One, if you aren’t able to face your own death you have no business killing. You probably never even considered what if the phoenixes actually decided to kill you for attacking their nest did you? Were you willing to die to pull this stupid stunt?” roared Artemis as he watched the teenagers shrink back.

“Lesson Two, what separates predator from prey?” he asked as he lifted the phoenix egg into the air for the mother who gratefully grabbed it and left after a brief nuzzle. “The answer is fe-“ his words were cut off as he dodged a claw swipe aimed for his throat. He looked down and saw it was eye to eye with Garble, but what he saw surprised him.

“Maybe I was wrong, maybe he could have what it takes,” thought Artemis as he noted the look in the young dragon’s eyes was resolved. He had been prepared to kill or be killed.

“Fear,” finished Artemis not addressing the strike yet. “Predators sense it, take advantage of it, and they respect when they can’t. Your friend over there was smart to listen to his instincts; he recognized that I was not afraid of you and I am not one to be trifled with.”

“Kill us or let me go! I don’t need to be lectured by some freak of nature!”

“Oh how right you are, some lessons can’t be taught with words, they have to be experienced,” said Artemis calmly with a sinister grin on his face. “Listen up whelps! Go fetch the Dragon Lord and bring them here. I suggest you move quickly, every moment I wait will be another moment of agony for your fearless leader. I’ll start small, but eventually it’ll get worse,” he explained as he adjusted his grip pinching one of the dragon’s fingers.

Before he had finished the dragon who had spoken out had already taken off, but the others stood around still paralyzed by fear. Artemis counted the seconds to give them a fair shot, but he was waiting for them all to leave before he continued with his lesson.

“One,” he said with a heavy sigh which was followed with a sickening snap.

Garble’s scream snapped them out of whatever stupor had gripped them, and they all left chasing the first. They had realized how serious he was, and that if they didn’t hurry their leader would pay for it.

“Now for you, I have some supplementary lessons,” chuckled Artemis as he adjusted his grip to another finger. “You see that? How easily they were stopped? That’s what happens when you try to control others with fear, they’ll obey only until something bigger and scarier comes along. If you want to lead, you have to build loyalty through respect. Most creatures are willing to die for what they believe in, you should make sure they believe in you.”

“PISS OFF! WHO ASKED YOU?” roared Garble as he tried to clutch his broken finger.

“By now you really should have realized that you can’t overpower me and antagonizing me is not in your best interest. Two by the way,” smiled Artemis as he snapped another finger. “Instead of being an arrogant brat, open your ears for a moment. Someone far stronger and wiser is giving you advice on how better yourself and keep this from happening again. Accepting the possibility of death isn’t the same as rushing towards it.”

“BITE ME!”

“Ferocity and cruelty can only get you so far, I figured after such a crushing defeat you would want to better yourself. That is unless you want to be humiliated over and over again of course, because I have no doubt its happened before and will happen again.”

Artemis noticed the fires of hatred in his eyes, but the young dragon had grit his teeth and wasn’t saying anything. He had clearly touched a nerve and it seemed to have gotten his attention.

“Three,” he casually announced as Garble let out a roar that he tried bite down on. “You need to get stronger, and you need a motivation that isn’t revenge or something selfish. Pursue your own beliefs, right or wrong those around you will respect that.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” grunted Garble as he clutched his claw.

“Is there something you feel like the dragons should be doing but aren’t?”

“Right now the Dragon Lord is trying to get us to be more like those pansy ponies and its lame. We’re dragons! We don’t make friends and share. We take what we want and burn what we don’t!”

“Then do that, get stronger so that you can lead the dragons in the direction you think is best. It’s not that complicated,” sighed Artemis as he heard someone approaching.

“Just take off with no explanation and leave alone to catch up in the Dragonlands,” seethed Chrysalis as she stepped into the clearing and saw the scene in front of her. “Uh what are you doing?”

“Sorry I had to save a life, but you’re just in time to hear the final lesson I was going to teach this young dragon,” said Artemis kindly as he gave a sinister smile. “I’m certain I will leave a lasting impression, four.

The sudden snap and scream caused Chrysalis to flinch back, she hadn’t seen that look on his face before. He looked more feral and savage than she had thought him possible. She wasn’t sure what she had walked into but she was certain she wanted no part in it.

“Uhh, I see you’re busy, I’ll just go back to where we were before on the path.”

“No stay, I’m glad you’re talking more, but I think you should hear this too,” Artemis said as his smile melted and he turned to Garble. “I’d be a hypocrite if I told you never to be cruel, but what you will learn is cruelty comes at a cost. If you must do it, do it with purpose. Tormenting an innocent phoenix family does what? Get you a few laughs? Disgusting and pathetic. Cruelty should be your last resort, as it will ALWAYS have a price, and you must be ready to pay it when the time comes. I used cruelty to protect my subjects, and as soon as I was gone it cost me dearly. You’ve got to be willing to pay the cost or fight to hold on to it as long as you can. Unfortunately now’s the time for you to pay up, and first time is always the worst.”

Chrysalis and Garble looked on in horror as Artemis’s free claw began to emanate a haunting black flame. With a fluid motion he swept the teen’s legs from under him and pinned him to the ground with his body.

“You will learn this lesson whelp, I’m going to carve it into your bones. Five.”

Author's Note:

Oh boy, some dark stuff this time. More glimpses of the different aspects of Artemis, hopefully part 2 clears things up a bit. Part two should be out shortly, within a day or two