In the Shadow

Darkness Watches Over

Ebony talons tore their way into my consciousness, seething with hatred. This is the life I've always known.

My name's Kukla. I'm a Doneki. Never heard of it? It's a surreptitious species, one forgotten long ago. Anyways... I was chosen. By him. Who's him, you ask? You'll see... Those who're chosen- they're supposed to be special.

Some wait their whole lives for an opportunity to meet him. Some don't care. They shouldn't, I'm no different from anyone else out there. Other than they don't experience these intense blackouts...

I sense his presence corrupting my mind. It feels sick. The images filling my thoughts are distant and detached, an echo of something long gone. I blink. Once, twice. Sister is next to me, unaware of this. Her face grows pale; her claws tremble as the world fades to black...

I wake in a tomb six hours later. Flickering torches light in rows, thousands lined along the ancient walls. There's muffled hissing surrounding my senses. My head raises to the void above. Ow. I whip my head back to face my tail, revealing a scorpion.

"Well hello. You're a... Tityus. Tityus Discrepans. Fancy." It stares at me. Something about the way it looks at me evokes visions of something familiar, something I've known for ages; strange, a name, almost begging me to adopt for this... Sokma!

My gait is slow, heart beating to the rhythm of the hissing. Two sets of charcoal eyes lock forward. After the third sting from Sokma, the hissing halts. Sokma answers with agitation, disparaging itself to my arm. I glimpse at its former aphotic irises and they're now- cobalt? "I'm here... Kukla." The voice echoes off the outskirts of my mind, ensued by a caustic laugh.

Sokma struck me twice. I'm paralyzed now, there's- there's someone there, not Doneki, not human, nothing I've ever seen-

"Ah, Kukla. It's been a long time." The voice is clearly male... if only I could see who he was- "Who am I? Why, so impatient. We'll get there." He steps forward, allowing me to finally see him.

The only visible part of him is his snout, legs, and tail. It's evident of his Draconis self, yet the species is one I've never known. "You are correct. I am a Draconis Lyaphis. Otherwise known as the 'Valon Kuluttajat'. Valon for short. "

The dragon lowered his claws to Sokma, raising it to his face when it detached itself from me. "What's this? You've made a little friend. How... unexpected. He can live, for now." Sokma's landing was clearly hard, falling on my sharp side.

"You... leave him... alone." My paralysis is wearing off... take that, mystery Valon.

"I'm so scared."

I can finally see his face, the expression on it makes me just want to- There's laughing, I'm standing, and after a few seconds, I finally realize it's me. "My bad, I completely thought you were being serious."

A low growl rises in his voice. So I bothered him, big deal. "You're coming with me." What transpires is so fast I don't know how to quite portray it. All I hear is a few words in the ancient tongue, and suddenly I'm surrounded by some magic gyres- can't move, can barely breathe, and Sokma's sitting there calmly.

The dragon's walking forward and I follow suit against my will, Sokma silently stalking us. The room we enter is huge, gloomy, and bitterly cold. As my eyes adjust to the murkiness, I notice symbols on the ground, etched hastily into the frozen sand.

Sokma's skittering in now, I can hear his claws scratching stone and silencing as he lands on the sand. There's a vivid flare, and in an instant, there's a xerox of the Draconis settled alongside him. It suddenly dawned upon me... Sokma's a Transformer of some sort. With a flick of his claw, my bindings are gone. I can breathe. "So... when... could you always do that?"

The cloaked dragon intrudes in a sharp tone. "You broke our deal."

"Oh, drop it, Kral. You may be family, but that gives you no right."

"Sokma. Shut your trap before you get yourself in some serious trouble."

At this point, I'm in the argument, ignoring Kral. "I gave a scorpion what his actual name was?"

Sokma responds with a hearty chuckle. "I'm no scorpion. I'm your brother, and that's our evil father there." He signals to Kral.

Kral swoops over to Sokma swiftly and seizes him. "You liar!"

I don't know what I'm doing, some ancient calling is making me lift my talons to nonexistent skies and whisper words I've never heard in the same ancient tongue. All at once, everything is swept away, we're in the desert with the sun beating down. They stop for a moment of peace to stare, not lacking fascination.

Sokma runs over to me, skidding to a halt. "Man, I knew you were special."

Kral's storming, his cloak is gone, and he looks infuriated. He charges up to me and roars as fierce as anyone could, spreading his wings out wide. A veil explodes outwards, flattening us down. "Sokma?"

"Dear... second... son, he's unconscious. Idiot." Gone was the sand-colored Kral, replaced by an entity of darkness, eyes the color of blood and body of a black hole. Literally. He glances down at Sokma. "Good son, too. Oh, well. Looks like soon I won't have offspring at all."

He's sauntering over to me, tongue flicking slowly. "Myrha... I knew this day would come." And for a split second, he looks dismal. For a split second, I feel empathetic.

Then he reaches over slowly and taps my shoulder.