Fan Fiction ❯ The Prophecy of Kael'run ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

One

 

 

Zak looked down upon the young woman with eyes void of any feeling...any sense of warmth. After all, why mess with his sister's specimens? It was none of his affair. The human girl struggled against her draccorian captors fruitlessly—her agonized wails echoing off the walls of the spacious laboratory.

 

“Ah...such a pretty one...isn't she, Zak'fraen?”

 

Zak turned his head slightly to regard his sister—a beautiful draccorian female with long silver hair and bright golden eyes, mirroring his own features almost perfectly—and then turned back to the human girl, almost comparing the two. The young woman's brown hair was ruffled, and matted with blood. While her eyes...Zak could not get over her eyes... In no way was the draccorian attracted to this...pitiful creature, as his sister put it, but there was an emotion in her eyes that he had not seen in a very long time...

 

“Fear,” his sister replied as if she had been reading his mind. (And Zak did not doubt that she indeed could!)

 

“What is...fear...Kaerlic?” he asked softly, the foreign emotion puzzling him.

 

“Ah...but to explain something like that is like trying to explain love...” Kaerlic looked up at him, and smirked softly. “Fear is something that we of the draccorian cannot feel...but, humans...yes...they are full of it...it hungers in their souls like helpless prey, forever waiting, forever watching for the intended predator...”

 

She ran a clawed finger down the human's cheek, seeming to calm the young woman considerably.

 

“How simple it is, indeed, to use their fear as a tool against them!” Kaerlic chuckled, and trailed her sharp claw down to the girl's throat.

 

Zak looked away, then, as the human's final cry came out in a gurgled sigh. His fist clenched at his side, he slowly strode out of his sister's “office.”

 

He knew why Kaerlic murdered humans...after all the creatures had done to their race, she had the hatred for it...the desire... But after all that had happened to their cousins—to the long forgotten race of dragons—Zak could not find it in his heart to feel such hatred for the human race.

 

He shook the disturbing thoughts from his head, and made his way through the dark hallways of the Dead Tower. He smirked to himself as he realized—and had realized since his twin sister had erected the damned tower—how true that title was. There was no life here in the Land of Death, which was once known as Fareal'nanoca're, which in the human tongue meant, Valley of the Dragons. How long has it been? Zak oft wondered. Nearly a couple centuries, if one were keeping count.

 

200 years since the humans had betrayed the dragons...

 

Before he knew it, Zak was standing in front of the door to his quarters. He sighed somberly, and closed his hand around the rusted handle that served as his doorknob.

 

“Retiring so soon, Zak'fraen?”

 

Zak turned his head to look into his sister's seductive eyes.

 

“That was my intention,” he replied.

 

“Oh...but I fear I may need your help with the ceremony...” she gave him a pouting look, and waited for his resistance to come tumbling down.

 

He sighed in defeat, and motioned for her to lead. Kaerlic smiled, and hooked her elbow in his, leading him farther and farther away from him thoughts.

 

They reached a large room lit by a dozen or so candles spread out on the floor. Zak studied them for a moment, and then noticed the white chalk-lines on the floor.

 

A summoning circle.

 

“Kaerlic...” he muttered in her ear, his tone unsure.

 

“Do not worry, brother. I merely require some information.” She patted his arm reassuringly, and left him on the edge of the circle.

 

Zak studied the rest of the room, and noticed for the first time that there were three other draccorians standing at the rim of the circle as well—all three holding bowls, filled with some of Kaerlic's strange “ingredients.”

 

Kaerlic moved to the center of the circle, and let her robe drop off of her—leaving her in only a thin bodice. Zak nearly cried out in surprise when he saw his sister's body, covered in dark, rust-colored ruins. And the smell...though the markings were clearly a couple of hours old, Zak could still pick up that putrid stench that seemed to be haunting him...

 

Strange, spidery words began to form on Kaerlic's lips as she chanted one of her many spells. She paused at one point, and motioned to one of the three draccorians. Zak watched as he poured the contents of his bowl—a strange, purple powder—onto the circle, and then stepped back into the shadows. A second draccorian followed suit, and when Zak looked back at his sister, she was approaching him steadily—the last bowl in her hand.

 

With a subtle twist of her hand, Zak found that he was suddenly shirtless. He opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but was stopped by the cool gaze Kaerlic locked him with. While he was lost in the deep abyss of her golden eyes—enraptured by a spell—Kaerlic dipped one of her slender fingers into the bowl she held, and began to trace intricate runes over his chest, and his left arm—his sword arm.

 

Finally she blinked, breaking the spell, and Zak found himself suddenly light-headed. His knees felt weak, but no matter how much he felt like collapsing to the ground, his body would not obey him.

 

Kaerlic was in the center of the circle once more, and with another motion of her slender hand, two of the previous dracorrian's brought forth a large, wriggling bag. They dumped the sack's content on the floor at their mistress's feet, and sank back into the shadows as quietly as they had come.

 

Zak was appalled by the sight he beheld. It was just a human child! Probably not over 6 winters of age!

 

He could take this no more! Once again, he began to protest, only to learn that he could not find his voice. Kaerlic's chanting filled the room once more, and in moments, Zak found his feet propelling him slowly forward. His eyes full of surprise and outrage, he looked over at his twin for an explanation. But her own golden orbs were closed as she concentrated fully on her spell. His arm moved of its own volition, and drew his sword from its sheath.

 

No! He would not do this! Could not!

 

The child looked up at him with eyes wide and full of...full of...

 

Fear...

 

“N-n-NO!”

 

Kaerlic's eyes flew open in surprise as her control over her brother's body was suddenly severed. She glared in outrage at her twin, but then softened her features, and frowned sadly at her brother's seething form.

 

“Dear, dear brother...what is it you feel for this...this...creature?”

 

“He is but a child! What harm can a child do to you?”

 

“He is the offspring of the murderers who killed our cousins! Do not forget that!” she spat venomously, “Even if the creature is just a child now, think of what he will grow into! The same beasts that hunted down our kin for wealth, and pleasure! The same creatures that hunt our kind down without mercy...”

 

Zak knew that she was speaking the truth, but, still...a child?

 

“Please Zak...if not for them, then for me...”

 

His shoulders slumped. He could not deny his sister...never...

 

Not even at the cost of his own soul...

 

He raised his saber high, and brought the blade slashing down right into the child's skull. Warm blood spattered his body as he turned away from the haunting spectacle, and made his way down the hall to his room.

 

Once the door was securely closed behind him, Zak felt something warm slide down his pale cheek.

 

Before he could comprehend what was happening, Zak was on the floor as choking sobs shook his form and tears fell unchecked from his golden eyes.

 

“W-what...have I done...?” he asked himself quietly, in between sobs.

 

Zak brought his hand—still clutching at his sword—before his eyes, and watched as the blood on the blade ran down to stain his pale skin. Tears still streaming down his face, Zak watched the fresh blood run down his arm, and begin pooling on the floor.

 

“What have I done...”