Ecarni

There weren't always dragons in the valley. There once was a time when the villagers lived in peace and serenity, but that time was long forgotten and hopelessness fell like a fog.

Within the sharp, craggy walls of the ravine, the village of Cynth lay in waste, ruin, and poverty. It was beyond a time when anyone in the village knew of life any different. Knew of a life lived out in the valley, underneath a shining sun shaded by the cherry blossoms trees. Of a life of peace.

Nearly a thousand years ago, the village was alive and thriving. Cherry blossoms fell to the ground like snow and the village of Horecynthia was bustling as it was any other day. Villagers idled in the marketplace, while others strolled over the small bridges overlooking the babbling brooks and streams that wound their way throughout the village.

The warriors, however, were holed up in the center of the village, planning an ambush. A large army of bandits and brigands had been growing more brazen by the day and word of an attack from the east was looming over their heads. The warriors decided it best that they ambush the bandit army before they could attack the village.

They amassed a significant force to take the eastern road, hoping to catch the bandits by surprise. To cover the possibility of attacks from different directions, they sent small scouting parties off to the north, south, and west as well. In their absence, a ring of warriors surrounded the outskirts of the village, keeping an ever-watchful eye on the forest surrounding them.

The leader of the northern scouting party, Ecarni, was a young boy around the age of 22. At the age of 14, he left to train as a warrior to protect his village. Hot-headed, but determined, he quickly rose in rank and even met the love of his life, Soshin, on patrol around the village at 16. The image of her long, flowing black hair was etched in his mind. A reminder - a reason - to tread on and move forward - for her safety, and the safety of the village.

His men were chattering amongst themselves, their voices carrying and blocking out all other noises around them. Ecarni stopped, annoyed, and turned towards them with a scowl on his face. The men behind him stumbled and stopped, a hush falling over them. “Have any of you actually been part of a scouting party before?” He asked, his voice laced with annoyance. The men sent in the scouting parties were often younger, inexperienced warriors and he had the joy of trying to corral them with minimal training. The warriors looked at him sheepishly and straightened up. Ecarni’s face wrinkled in disgust as he turned around and began marching forward. He wished he had the time to train the scouts before they set off, or at least the time to pick out a team of his own. That way he could pick the best of the best and have them trained to his standards. Loud warriors weren’t particularly beneficial, especially when it came to scouting. He thought they would have learned this in training but clearly, they had been too busy talking then too.

They continued up the mountainside in silence. The only sounds were their boots crunching against the thin layer of snow and the men’s labored breathing, as their breath formed small clouds of condensation in front of them. Ecarni’s face remained in a scowl, even when the men tried, they could not be silent for the life of them. He only hoped that they didn’t give away their position or leave them vulnerable to attack. If they did, these men would pay for it dearly.

Suddenly, faint screams pierced the air as cries from the village sounded in the distance. He stopped abruptly, closing his eyes in annoyance before turning back towards the men. The scouts stopped and turned in the direction of the village, before looking warily back at Ecarni. “Go!” he ordered impatiently, motioning to the direction of the village.

The men turned around and scattered back down the mountain towards the village. Ecarni raced ahead, thoughts of Soshin on his mind. I knew these scouts would be the death of me, but I didn’t think they’d be the death of the whole village too. They better hope no one gets hurt. Especially not… He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focus on the task ahead of him.

The men around him were slipping and fumbling down the mountainside as they raced towards the village. Ecarni shook his head and growled as he ran past them. Even now they’re fumbling and useless.

He quickly overtook his scouts and ran as fast as he could before slowing his pace once he came to a set of tracks leading off the path. His eyes narrowed as he followed them cautiously, the footsteps weaving through the forest and leading to a narrow ravine in the mountain walls with a mound of bushes obscuring the entrance. He pushed them aside and followed the tracks until he reached a large and open, yet shaded space that expanded further into the distance. Before he could contemplate what lay beyond, he spotted a campfire in the center. He walked up to it slowly and crouched down beside it, running his fingers gently in the ashes before hissing and pulling his fingers away, bringing them to his mouth. The ashes weren’t still warm, they were burning. He clenched his fists and slowly stood up. His men. Their goddamn talking. He didn’t even know it had been that loud. Surely they couldn’t have passed by an entire army without a single tip-off, sound, or track. “If they had just been quieter. If they had just been more useful, anything!” He muttered, kicking the dying ashes of the firepit, sending embers flying. They snuck out after them right under their very noses. Right under his gaze. Ecarni gritted his teeth, feeling his jaw groan beneath the pressure.

The smell of smoke broke him from his thoughts and his gaze traveled back in the direction of the village, where large plumes of smoke were wafting up into the air. He ran back through the ravine hastily, scratching his arms along the edges, but he paid no mind. He hardly noticed the pain and the blood trickling down his arm as he ran, fumbling and tripping over himself as he did so. He didn't have the mind to care for his footing and grace. He didn't have a mind to care for anything but Soshin and the fate of the village.

As he neared the forest surrounding the outskirts of the village, he slowed. The smell of smoke at its strongest, he numbly pulled the branches out of his way as he moved forward. Once he parted the last branch obscuring his view, he was met with the village in ruins. Every building in the village was reduced to a pile of ash and a thick layer of soot littered the ground. The air was still and silent aside from the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind and the crackling of the fires still burning around him.

Ecarni’s feet carried him forward, his mind hardly aware of his movements as he stopped at the edge of a red bridge. He started shaking as he slowly looked down at the collapsed figure in front of him. Her black hair fanned around her, obscuring her face and her bright pink dress was covered in soot. He knelt down and reached for her shoulder before turning her over. Her once bright blue eyes were now staring lifelessly up into the air and her lips parted in a silent scream. Soshin.

He brought his shaking thumb up to her, brushing it softly across her cheek trying to remove the dark soot from her smooth, pale face. Smearing it instead, he stopped and looked at her, the first memory of her running through his mind.

He raised his sword at the sound of her footsteps crunching on the leaves, afraid she was an enemy, but no, she wasn't. She was far from either. Seeing her beautiful and graceful form step through the trees, he lowered his sword, any anger he had dissipating as he looked at her. He cleared his throat and bowed to her respectfully. He never did this for any in the village, but she felt different. He felt she deserved this and so much more, and he wanted to give it to her. She giggled as he straightened back up and took her hand, kissing it. "My apologies, my lady. Are you lost? Would you like me to escort you back to your home?" What was he doing? He never paid much attention to the women of the village, most of them much too pompous for him or simply immature and thoughtless. Perhaps it was his own bias, as he had grown up without a mother and his father was always a strict, hardened man, imparting that strength and stoicism in his son. He never felt he had time for girls or crushes. It was always about the protection of the village, with no distractions. Right now, however, he was very distracted and he did not mind a bit. The sound of her musical laughter filled the air again at his questions. "I was not lost, but thank you for your concern, soldier. You may escort me back to my home if you wish, it is just in the middle of the village." He nodded and rushed to her side, holding out his arm for her. She brought her pale hands up and wrapped them around his muscles, and he shivered at the newfound touch. He had never let anyone this close to him and it was a new and alarming feeling.

Tears falling freely now, he closed Soshin's lifeless eyes and tucked her hair behind her ears. He lifted his head to take in the rest of the scene around him. Dead villagers littered the ground next to the warriors that tried to defend them. He didn't immediately recognize any of them as members of his scouting party. Maybe they ran, the cowards. His scouting party. His scouting party that failed in their mission. His scouting party that walked right past the bandits' hiding spot. His scouting party that was one of the last defenses of the village. Their last hope. And they failed. His grip on Soshin tightened. And he didn't even help them. He stayed behind, instead of dying in battle defending his village, he left them to be slain like dogs.

The air around him grew hotter, stifling. He clenched his teeth in frustration, his jaw cracking under the pressure. The bones in his neck cracked as every part of his body followed suit. The ground beneath him began to rumble and shake. He let out a guttural scream of fury, feeling his stomach burning as he clamped his mouth shut painfully and pressed his lips together. He closed his eyes as the shuddering and cracks reverberated throughout his body, echoing through his ears and making his brain rattle.

He tightened his grip on Soshin’s lifeless body still hanging limp in his arms, but the pain was too much. He stumbled off the bridge and then lurched forward on his hands and knees, throwing Soshin forward as she rolled away from him onto the edge of the bridge. He threw his head back, the burning in his stomach rising through his throat as he opened his mouth to scream. Flames shot from his mouth, searing away the skin on his lips as a large roar reverberated through the valley, causing the ground to shake beneath him and the bridge to fall away into the water. As he roared, his teeth grew longer and sharper, shredding the newly charred flesh of his lips. The skin on his face bubbled and grew tough, leathery, and red as his nose and mouth elongated, rows of long sharp, teeth growing with them. His eyes shot open as they grew bigger, and a bright, vibrant green began to overtake their bleak, soulless gray color. A splitting headache settled over him once his pupils steadily grew longer and thinner. A ringing sound filled his ears as the base of his skull began to morph, his short, black hair falling out as a set of large, black horns slowly grew from the bones of his skull. The skin of his body continued to bubble and morph as his spine shot out the base of his back, cracking, curving, and growing longer and wider, extending past him and tapering off, several feet from his body into a tail. He threw his head back as his neck elongated, steadily growing further and further into the sky. His body and limbs fattened and grew to support his large, girthy frame as his fingernails extended into sharp black talons that curled at the tip, his hands growing to match his impossible size and shape.

When he thought it was finally over, the newly morphed flesh of his back tore open as a large set of leathery wings sprouted, the tips like blades slashing through his flesh. They opened like leathery sails, gently waving in the wind. Red scales popped up one by one like boils across the surface of his skin, the tips turning black as they fanned out from his body.

He was panting heavily by the time his body was finished changing. He didn’t notice Soshin’s form now laying in the stream. He didn’t notice the broken bridge that lay splintered beneath his monstrous limbs. All that was on his mind was anger, hate, and revenge.

From then on, villagers would always know of the dragon in the valley. The dragon; born out of the fire and flames of a ruined village. The dragon they called Abeloth: the bringer of chaos.