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I was not born the person you know now. My body was changed. I was born a normal child, in the same way many children are born each day. My father, Aramil Windblade, was a half-elf serving a pride of Song Dragons. In his youth he had resuced their leader, a Silver Song Dragon named Sinsi, from a trap set by trolls. The two had grown up together. One day while on buisness for the dragons in a local town he overheard the story of a war declared by the king on all dragons. The lady telling the story was a beautiful elf by the name of Liriel Brightsong. In her company were several small dragons and pseudodragons. Aramil could tell this woman was a Dragonsong Lyricist and was enchanted by her. He continued to return to the town each evening to hear the bard's songs and stories, hoping to find the courage to tell her of his feelings before she moved on. The opportunity presented itself when a small child was found injured just outside of town. The townfolk blamed the injury on Liriel's draconic cohorts and exiled her from the town, throwing stones and causing her much injury. Aramil had witnessed the event and carried Liriel back to the cave of the Song Dragon's where he tended to her wounds and cared for her. Once she had recovered the Song dragons found that they were delighted to have her among them, her seemingly endless songs and stories carried by her beautiful voice would enchant them for hours. Seeing how much joy and happiness the bard brought the dragons and to Aramil, Sinsi welcomed her and her cohorts to live among them. Aramil and Liriel fell deeply and love and Liriel soon became pregnant.
Nearly a year later she delivered a healthy and beautiful baby girl, whom they named Hyrekia, not long after the pride leader had laid her first cluth of eggs. From the moment the child was born she was destined to be among dragons. She spent her nights sleeping in the nest among the eggs, for she would not sleep peacefully anywhere else, and during the day she would play with one of Liriel's many cohorts. The song dragons were more than happy to watch the child while her parents were away on business, just as Hyrekia's parents would watch the clutch of eggs when the dragon's were out. They all lived a very happy and peaceful life together
However, things never remain peaceful for very long...
The king had indeed waged war on all dragons, good and evil. An organization of Dragon Bandits were raging accross the kingdom, burning towns, killing inocents, destroying everything in their paths. They were gaining allies and becoming more powerful. It would only be a matter of time before they made their way to the royal city, looking to add the king's treasure to their hoard. The king was sending out armies every chance he got to investigate the dragon attacks and to hunt down and kill any dragon they could find. The King's army had soon gotten word of the Song Dragon's lair and were marching steadily towards it. When they arrived they found not one of the beasts, only the clutch of eggs. They immediatly set to work breaking the eggs and destroying the future generation of possible terrorists. They would finish off the eggs then wait for the dragons to return and ambush them. However, their work would not be done so easily.
Aramil and Liriel were in a cave farther back that they used for their private quarters. Liriel was busy trying to lull Hyrekia into sleep when the baby become suddenly disturbed and would not calm. After a few moments Liriel's keen elf ears picked up on the sound that was disturbing their daughter, a sound coming from the nest room. Aware that it was no where near time for the eggs to hatch Liriel alerted Aramil to the strange noises. Leaving Hyrekia in her crib they immedilty took up arms and rushed towards the nest room. Upon surveying the scene they wasted no time in putting an end to the soldiers destruction. They fought long and hard, the two of them holding off an army of hundreds of soldiers. Their only concern was to protect the eggs until Sinsi and the other dragons returned. They were badly injured and growing weak, still they fought on, fighting as though they were protecting their own child. Finally, after what seemd like hours, the dragons returned. Rushing to the cave upon hearing all the noise they quickly put an end to the battle, killing all of the remaining soldiers. Sadly, they did not return soon enough. The fight had left both of Hyrekia's parents bloody and badly wounded. They collapsed from fatigue and died within minutes. The dragons never even had a chance to thank them. It was in this moment that the baby's cries could be heard coming from the back cave. Sinsi went to her, gently taking Hyrekia up in her massive claw and carried her to the nest room, where she laid the child to sleep with the remaining eggs.
Within a few hours the Song Dragons had disposed of the bodies of the soldiers and had constructed a proper burial ground for the bodies of Aramil and Liriel not far from the mouth of their cave. They layed at the head of each grave a large statue of a dragon. The dragon above Aramil's grave sat upon a great mound of treasure, at it's feet layed a sword and shield. Draconic runes had been carved on the base which read:
Aramil Windblade
Devoted Father
A Brave Warrior and
Loyal Guardian to the End
The dragon on Aramil's base looked down at a slightly smaller dragon, the statue that sat at the head of Liriel's grave. This dragon sat upon a great cluth of eggs, at her feet rested a bow and arrows. Her base also had draconic runes carved opon it. These when translated read:
Liriel Brightsong
Loving Mother
A Passionate Lyricist and
Loyal Protector to the End
This dragon looked up at the larger dragon carved at the head of Aramil's grave. The two dragons looking at each other longingly with passion in their eyes. These statues were magical and would never wear, always ensuring the protection of the bodies they guarded.
Once the bodies had been burried and the statues placed Sinsi sent away the remaining dragons, and there, alone by the graves, she wept. She wept until the earth was moist from her dragon tears. All the while she wept she prayed to Chronepsis, and to Bahamut, and when she had finished praying she wept no more. It was then that Sinsi lifted her arm and bit deep into her own flesh, breaking the scales and causing herself to bleed. She allowed her arm to bleed over the graves over her friends and for a moment she was silent. When the blood had darkened the earth over each of their graves Sinsi made a vow that could be heard to the Heavens.
"By my blood I shall always look after yours, for your blood was spilled and your bones broken to protect blood and bone that were of mine, I vow to protect that blood and bone which is of you and return to you a service that you freely and selflessly gave to me. This is swear until the end of my days."
Sinsi looked down at the graves of her friends once more then returned to her cave. She never once went back. She returned to her nest, looking over the remaining eggs and the humanoid child that slept among them. Wrapping her body around the nest she called the pride to her. She told them the child would continue to reside with them until she was grown, at which time she would choose her own course. Until that time came they would all continue on caring for the child as if she were their own...
 Hyrekia · Thu Aug 17, 2006 @ 03:47am · 1 Comments |
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