Private Tales The Mountains Ahead

[Aviana Sabel]

The story was a grim one. Aviana frowned as he told it, stepping away from the wall with the names carved into it. Her eyes followed his shadowy form as he moved.

Her curiosity got the better of her, and she felt compelled to ask. "And you didn't... I take it you used your erm... new abilties for your family?"

 

[Kasim Areth]

"Not by choice." That would likely come as a surprise to her. Sarkus imagined that to Aviana he was nothing but a monster.

It was what he appeared to most after all, and he would not hold any blame for such an assumption.

"Someone had to return the ship to Vel Luin." He shrugged. "Upon my arrival I had to spin a tale."

He chuckled. "It was a good thing I arrived at night."

None of the sailors had noticed his affliction.

"It was my brother who discovered my curse." He remembered it well enough. "The Well ran strong though him, and he could feel the difference of my blood."

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Her arms folded over her chest to ward off the heavy chill in the air. If she'd been having this conversation with Sarkus under different circumstances, ones in which had hadn't kidnapped her, she would have been fascinated by his tale.

She made a soft sound in her throat, nodding along as he told the history of the ship and his own story.

"What happened when he discovered the Curse?" She prompted softly.

 

[Kasim Areth]

A sigh escaped him, one of both disappointment and frustration.

"He bound me." Once, he had been a powerful mage himself. Before the turn the Well had run strong through him, and he had served well in the war using that power. "I could no longer use magic, I was a monster, but my brother would not see me pass."

He tightened his fingers. "He ensured that I could not take my own life as my compatriots had."

"I do not know if he did it for the family, or for me. He loved me, but..." A chuckle ran from his throat as he trailed off.

"I suppose I should be grateful to my older brother." He sounded bitter. "I've outlived him, my father, a dozen others."

 

[Aviana Sabel]

"Sounds incredibly lonely." Aviana said softly.

His affliction was certainly a curse in more than one way. She could only imagine what it must have been like to outlive everyone he'd ever known thrice over. Did he have any companions? Would he even bother to befriend people whenever he was doomed to endure for an eternity while they would inevitably wither away with age?

It was no wonder that his mind seemed as fragmented as it did.

How ironic was it that the elves who'd been the cause for his predicament were likely the only ones left alive from his own time?

Her fingers fiddled with the ends of the scarf that was wrapped over her hair.

 

[Kasim Areth]

A shrug rolled over his shoulders. " I have forgotten more years than I remember. "

The curse had taken more from him than his humanity. Sure he was mow faster and stronger than a normal man, he could live eternally and do as he pleased, but there were pieces of himself missing. His mind was a hazed fog, and everything seemed so much less than it had before.

Everything.

Color was more drab, food tasted bland, even pain was only an echo of what it once was. Everything seemed a dull comparison to how he remember it when he'd still been living. Perhaps that was why many vampire turned to hedonism.

"It is of no matter." He mused out loud to Aviana. "I can't remember the time I did this, the moment, but I know I was the one to do so."

He shrugged, then turned to Aviana. "A lesson perhaps, for you."

 

[Aviana Sabel]

"A lesson in what, exactly? How fragile memory is?" She asked him hesitantly.

She still didn't know why he's brought her here, or told her any of the things he did. What was he trying to gain? Was he trying to garner sympathy from her? That seemed unlikely.

With one of her hands, she reached out to trace her fingertips over the lettering etched into the bulkhead one last time, frowning at the names she could feel spelled out beneath her touch.


There had to be an angle he was trying to play, she just couldn't see it.

 

[Kasim Areth]

He chuckled at her words as if she had told some sort of joke.

Sarkus thought his point was an obvious one, though through the fog of his mind it was always difficult to tell if others were perceiving things as he was. A moment passed, and he realized that she truly did not understand what he was trying to say.

His head shook. "No my dear."

The vampire looked at the wall where she was standing, his gaze one again almost longing.

"That at times even those you love do not hold your best interests at heart." His own family had betrayed him, tied him to a life that seemed everlasting.

His brother had done as he did, perhaps out of love, or perhaps simply to create another tool. Sarkus couldn't even remember the truth of it anymore.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

She pulled her hand away from the wall, turning slightly to look back at Sarkus. For a moment, she felt a pang of sympathy and pity for the man. He'd been forced into a life that he didn't want, one that kept him trapped in an existence that he likely despised. How much of what he did was of his own free will?

"Perhaps it depends on the person." She replied, folding her arms across her chest once more with an empathetic smile on her lips.

"If you weren't bound... what would you do?" She asked tentatively.

 

[Kasim Areth]

He considered the question for a moment.

It was not one that had been asked of him before. Most assumed that he made his own choices, that he could do as he pleased when he pleased.

There were few that knew the truth of his situation, and those that did often thought him happy. Sarkus did not want for much, for anything at all really. He could have whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, yet something still escaped even him.

"I would walk into the sun." He stated simply.

His life had been long, too long now. His mind was not where it once was, twisted by death and time. Even if he tried he could no longer be the man he was, not now.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

She bit the inside of her cheek as she took a small step towards the vampire. His desire was something she could empathise with. To spend an eternity bound to the will of others, incapable of putting an end to it... It must have been indescribably miserable and lonely.

"Is there a way that I could help? There could be a way to undo the binding... Erich might be able to do something for you." She offered tentatively.

 

[Kasim Areth]

Sarkus clicked his tongue. "That he would."

The vampire seemed to have a smile on his face again, though there was something off about it. There was no terror behind it, but only a soft disappointment on the words that he was saying. Oddly enough he did not expect Aviana to simply understand this time.

"But it would doom him to a fate worse than mine." His head shook. "Our families magic is deep and powerful, it's use to break this bond would break him."

Or rather, who he was.

Sarkus knew that as well as anyone. He had been steeped in the well himself when he'd sailed to war. It was one of the reasons he had managed to survive the whole ordeal.

Even if he had been the weakest of his four siblings.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana pursed her lips further and her brow furrowed slightly. The Well was a foul source of magic. Kasim made every effort to avoid using its powers and she could understand why.

Magic always had a cost.. and the Well's price was a steep one to pay.

"Then perhaps you need a mage from outside of Vel Anir." She offered, refusing to believe that there wasn't a way to undo what had been done to the Vampire.

"Or maybe a different kind of magic..."

 

[Kasim Areth]

Sarkus smiled. "Dear."

It was oddly...nice to have someone concerned about him for a change. It was not something he was exactly used to and he felt no shame in the fact of it.

"I have been alive for three hundred years." Longer, but rounding it always had more of an effect. "I have spoken to witches, warlocks, universities and Dragon."

His head shook. "The bind was made by blood, and by blood it must be severed."

The words sounded prophetic.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

"Mmm..." She made a soft noise in her throat, but it seemed that she wasn't entirely convinced.

"Then perhaps you haven't spoken to the right ones yet." She responded, then turned to start making her way towards the stairs.

"Thank you for showing me this." She said quietly, pausing at the base of the stairs to look over her shoulder at Sarkus. There was a soft smile on her lips as she dipped her head to him.

"I'd be happy to hear more in the future, but for now... I think I'd like some more tea. I need to rest."

 

[Kasim Areth]

Sarkus bowed his head, and then offered Aviana the torch. "Here."

The darkness of the lower levels of the ship could be oppressive for humans, he knew that as much as anyone else.

A small detail he had not forgotten.

"I think I will stay a while." The Vampire mused to himself. "If only to try and remember."

His gaze swept away from the young princess, locking on the wall that he had carved into so long ago.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana offered one last fleeting smile to the vampire, inclined her head in a silent farewell, and then she ascended the ladder with the torch lighting her way. She took her time making her way back to her quarters, stopping long enough to douse the torch.

She made herself a small pot of tea and sat on the edge of her bad, idly gazing out the small window that looked out the side of the ship. Her room was high enough up that she could see for miles before the horizon cut across the sky.

There was a small frown on her lips as she stared out the window, hoping that she'd see the distinct shape of a dragon and a rider cross that harsh line... but nothing ever appeared.

With a soft sigh, the lost princess set her cup down on the nightstand next to the bed and then she laid down, absently staring at the ceiling above her. Eventually the woman closed her eyes and slowly drifted to sleep, desperately yearning to see Kasim and Kiovec again... perhaps she could find them in her dreams, at the least.

 

[Kasim Areth]

Dreams were a funny thing.

They could be pleasant, kind, or they could be a window into the darkest parts of the mind. Upon The Red Ashes dreams did not always come easy. The sailors had experienced it for months, months of sleep without a single venture into the subconscious world.

Aviana would have noticed it too in the first weeks. No dreams would come, until suddenly they became to flood in like a torrent.

On this night in particular her dreams seemed to sculpt an entire world for her. A picture of a field, her standing within it. In the distance the flap of Dragon wings could be heard, the strong gust of their beats sending waves of wind through the open field.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

She could feel the rush of the wind against her skin, the bursts of air tugging against her loose curls as she waded through the tall grasses that came all the way up to her waist. Her fingertips danced across the swaying tops of the soft blades, listening to the sounds of them rustling together as she moved towards the sound of the beating wings.

There was a bright smile on her lips in both her dream and in reality, curled up on her side on the bed.

Her eyes scanned the brilliant blue sky, searching for the source of the noise.

Though she didn't realize it, in her dream she didn't have the pair of horns sweeping over the crown of her head. Her hair was still a pale silvery white, not the pinkish, brown hue that it still carried from Kasim coloring her locks.

 

[Kasim Areth]

In the snap of a finger the field turned to flame.

It was there for only the briefest second.

A flash of misery in a pan of absolute bliss. It happened so fast that one might have thought it was only a dream within a dream. Yet the smell of acrid smoke and burning flesh hung within the air. A vision of flame was trapped in Aviana's eyes.

It was like a disturbing ripple.

Then all returned to peace. The sound of beating wings continued in the distance, drawing her towards the edge of the field and to a nearby village.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Before the scream could even tear its way from Aviana's lips, the agony of the moment vanished. Her breath came in heavy bursts as she slowly turned in place, looking around the empty field with a perplexed expression.

The beating wings in the distance called to her. As she continued towards the sound, she ran her fingers through her hair and was startled to find the horns growing from her scalp once more.

Shaking her head, she lengthened her stride, hurrying to trees that she could see over the hill.

The stench of smoke still filled her senses, making it difficult to catch her breath without wretching.

 

[Kasim Areth]

The village sprang up ahead out of the hills and valleys, coming into being almost as though it were out of a storybook.

A dozen buildings sat clumped together around a square. Dozens upon dozens of people seemed to be teeming around the town. Streamers and banners hung over the entrance of the main road, a clear sign of celebration.

Music floated around the town, all accented by the beat of wings.

In the distance Aviana would see it for the first time.

The pale outline of a massive Dragon in the distance. The constant flux of wings seemed to thunder off the walls of the mountains surrounding the town. It's calm silhoutte seemed to slowly be moving towards the village.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

She didn't recognize the village, nor the people that were out in celebration. A puzzled expression settled on the woman's features as she staggered to a halt in the middle of the newly arisen village. The wind started to pick up, causing her silver hair to whip about her face.

Her fingers combed through her locks, trying to push them out of her eyes so that she could see. No matter how badly she tried though, it always blocked her vision.

She stumbled her way towards the dragon in the distance as he flew closer and closer.

Dreams had a funny way of warping reality, causing the dreamer to lose themselves in the fantasy. Even if it didn't make sense logically, she simply accepted everything that was happening.

 

[Kasim Areth]

The dragon soared high on over head, it's swings slowly sweeping lower and lower.

People surrounding Aviana gave her no more thought than anyone else. Food was offered, festivities continued. Everything was happy, excited, almost normal. One might have thought this was a thing of every day, a unique picture of this village and what it had to offer.

None of the villagers noticed the dragon.

Not one of them turned to regard the creature as it came lower and lower.

Aviana was the only one to see it. The only one to see the Drake in all its glory. Scales of pure black glistened in the light of the sun, horns curled around its head, and bright beady eyes seemed to stare down directly at the woman staring back. For a second the dragon almost seemed to hang in the air, as if it had been frozen into place.

Then it's jaw opened.

Fire spewed forth from its maw. Flames of black and white rained down upon the village in a straight line. They caught and consumed whatever they touched, a roaring tidal wave of heat and destruction that poured forth directly for Aviana.

 

[Aviana Sabel]

Aviana screamed as the heat arced through the air straight towards her. She staggered back a step and then turned to run perpendicularly from the racing flames. Horrifyingly, she couldn't seem to get her legs to move properly. It was like trying to run through mud that was up to her thighs.

The flames enveloped her, swirling around her form. Her clothes burnt away, the lost princess screaming in terror and agony as her skin charred black and flaked off, revealing glistening blue scales beneath.

"Wh-what?!" She cried out, desperately for help, but no one around her even seemed to notice.