The Dragon Knights of Jal'Rusai: The Prologue

[draconoclaw]

I'm writing this to further explain the beginnings of Jager and Jotyma Ryoshi, two brothers who rose to power in Jal'Rusai as Dragon Knights.

Chapter One: Birth
In a small, unassuming little cottage in the land of Ithranna, the miracle of birth is taking place. The expecting father, Jonah, is doing all he can to comfort his wife, Diyune, as she goes into labor. The have a son already, a boy named Zephyr. He is young, only four years of age. He quitely slips outside, watching the moon. After many long hours, Diyune is carrying the small form of the newborn. That night, as they all sleep, they are paid a very unforgiving visit. Demons have been scouting for this family, though the cause is unknown. Jonah awakes, and is slain by a demon. Zephyr stirs and wakes, hearing the sound of a sword trough flesh and the fall of a body. Analyzing this, he slips out the window unnoticed and unemote. The next target of the demons is Diyune. She stirs to see the demons have surrounded her. She looks past them and sees the fallen form of her husband. Diyune clutches her baby.
"Give us the boy.." One demon asks, his face hidden by a few scarves. Diyune clutches her baby closer, but the demon casts a spell, and she lays limp, dead. The demon scoops the baby up and sprouts his demon wings, flying away.
Zephyr is outside, seeing his newborn brother being carried away, no emotion on his face.

The sleeping newborn is taken to the king of the demons, Raige. Upon approaching him, they bow.
"We have the boy as you ordered, Lord Raige."
A thin, wicked grin stretches across the Demon Lord's face. He speaks, his voice seemingly echoes.
"Excellent, you have served your purpose..."
He raises a finger and the infant floats up to Raige.
"Now I can begin my plan." he said, his grin unchanged.
"What might that be, m'lord?"
"There is a neighboring continent to the east. It is undefended by these pesky Dragon Knights and is ripe for the picking. To capture it could give us an edge against those bloody Knights."
"How will you do that? If you leave, this army will fall. And we are not enough in number to divide our armies between the lands."
"This I have forseen. But you see, it will not be me conquering that land. Well, that's only partially true."
"Sir?"
"I will transfer part of my essence into this boy. He has the right parameters to withstain my evil inside of him. As the boy grows, given the right environment, the evil will grow, until eventually, it becomes its own life. One to equal my own power."
"I see, m'lord. But how do we make that evil grow?"
"We expose him to the negative emotions that cause it. Anger, sorrow, envy, despair. All of them!"
Raige laughed maniacally.  

[draconoclaw]

Chapter Two: Torture

-~-4 years later-~-

The boy awoke in the usual way for the last year or so. In tattered clothes, cold, and chained up by the neck. He had no name. Raige and the demons did not see him worthy enough. His bruises and cuts ached him as he got up to his weak legs. He 'lived' in a cottage with a witch named Majika. She was instructed by Raige to 'care' for the boy and make sure he would be exposed to the negative emotions as planned. As soon as he was up, the witch shoved a broom in his chest.
"Now, sweep the floor!"
He would retort by saying that the floors weren't dirty enough, which they never were, but he was reminded of her beatings by his injuries and kept quiet. He knew he'd recieve one after he swept. None of his chores were done correctly to her. By keeping quiet, there'd be one less beating in the day. For his meals, he ate the half chewed scraps of the which, and by some miracle he wasn't diseased with who knows what.
One particular day, the food he recieved was even more masticated then usual, and upon trying to take a bit, he gagged on it and spit it up, enraging Majika.
"You damn pest, you're wasting food!" She smacked him around a bit after that. She'd find any excuse to beat him. Not only was this her mission, but it was her pleasure.
One some days, when the witch felt the boy was especially bad, she'd tie him up and take him to a well. When she would open it up, it seemed to open a porthole to a demension filled with hundreds of small, clawing demons. The boy would be terrified at just the thought of this punishment. Majika dipped him into the well, and the demons would crawl around, bite, claw, gnaw, and climb all around him. He'd be in so deep of this endless amount of demons, that his face would almost be covered in this hell hole. When he was finally pulled out, the boy would have passed out, but his eyes would remain open and faded, almost empty, as if the demons had taken his soul.
At night, she'd leave him outside in the pitch black darkness. Unable to sleep out of fear for his life, the boy could not sleep in the night. The total darkness caused him to become histerical due to his lack of sight, and fear would over take him. The next morning, he'd be shaking in fear. He rarely slept, rarely ate, and rarely felt any happiness or joy. This torture would harden him as he grew for the next five years until a man named Stemada came along.  

[draconoclaw]

Chapter 3: The hunters Ryoshi

Stemada came upon the hut that the boy was being held prisoner in. He heard the beatings of the witch and stayed close to the outside wall to listen. Stemada heard shouting and more beatings.
"You damn whelp! You're wasting more food! And look at these floors! They're still DIRTY!!"
Stemada heard a slap across the child's face. He took out his bow and pulled back on the string after placing an arrow. Very carefully he aimed through the window, the point of the arrow matching up with the witch's head. He let the arrow go, and in a split second, the witch had collapsed, a pool of blood forming around the wound. The boy looked through the window, and saw the man climbing through it. He looked at the boy and smirked. The child looked at the witch, then at the man, and then back to the witch, and back at the man. He ran up to the man's knees and hugged them, crying for joy that the witch was dead.
"Mister! Thank you, thank you!!"
Stemada picked the boy up and carried him away from the house of the witch.

-~-6 years later-~-

Jager, the name of the boy who was abused by the witch that was given by Stemada, woke up to the sun shining in his room. He stood up and dressed, then walking out to hunt for breakfast.
"Hey Jager, you're up!" The voice came from the son of Stemada, Jotyma. He was the hunter's son, and in being the sons of a hunter, Jager and Jotyma were taught hunters. Like their father's own mastery of the bow, the two adopted their own weapons of choice. Jotyma chose to weild the parang, a short, thick blade on a hilt just as long. Jager chose the kwan dao, a long pole with a large, curved blade and spearhead on opposite ends. The routinely practiced by themselves and with eachother, honing their skills every passing day.
"You won't believe what I found!"
"Really? What?"
"A demon!"
"WHAT!!?"
"Really! A demon!"
"Dad says we aren's supposed to go near 'em!"
"But it's a small one! We can take it!"
"I don't know.."
"C'mon!" Jotyma grabbed Jager's wrist, and as they both carried their weapons, Jotyma raced toward the demon. Eventually, they came to a small, green demon with a small club. He caught their scent and faced them.
"Alright! Let's g-" A thick club hit Jotyma in the shoulder, and Jager quickly dodged away, but the demon quickly caught up and knocked Jager down. He lay on the ground, staring into the eyes of the demon, who had his club raised over his head to strike. The club was about to come down, but three arrows whizzed through the air and into the demon's head. Jotyma and Jager looked toward the source to meet eyes with Stemada.
"I said not to come here, didn't I?"
The boys were silent.
"C'mon, let's get back home. You have some chores to do now."
The boys grumbled as they followed thier father home. They knew they had a now harsh day ahead of them for thier disobediance.  

[draconoclaw]

Chapter 4: Wanderings

-~- 2 years later -~-

It was a normal night for the hunters Ryoshi. It was Jotyma's turn to tend to the fire's and was out getting firewood while Jager and Stemada slept. Jager tossed and turned in his sleep, something torturing him. He woke up, his eyes pure white and his body almost blackened. His hair moved as if it were underwater and he was floating. His mouth twisted into a grin, letting out a wicked laugh, one that awoke Stemada. He saw his adopted son with his weapon in hand and swung it at him. He dodged, but barely. This form of Jager swung relentlessly, even hitting the home itself. Stemada was thrown out of the window and Jager slashed again, making the house collapse. Stemada lay there, unable to move, in fear of his own son. No. This was not Jager. This was, Jager's demon. Jager swung his blade again, killing the man he would call father. He house in ruins and the man dead, the demonic incarnation of Jager continued on.

-~- The next day -~-

Jager awoke in his normal form on the ground. He rubbed his aching head and looked around as he stood. He saw no one around. He looked down and saw his Draco Dao. Picking it up, he starting walking.
"Where am I?"
He wandered into the next town. It was a somewhat bustling town, cluttered with street venders and traders. He felt something on his chest, a heavy pendant of a dragon wrapped around a jewel. He quickly hid it, not wanting the attention of a thousand traders on his hide for it. He asked around for information and heard that a demon hunter was needed. Jager figured he was good at it and then took the offer. The job was good and so was the pay, but he was no closer to anything he needed to know, like where were his family. Holding on to the fact that he'd learn soon enough, he kept forward.

-~- A few weeks later -~-

Jager walked along the path looking for a peculiar demon. He soon found a man that fit that description rather well and attacked. The man, carrying a swallow, was not a demon, but something called a Dragon Knight. His name was Rue.