Synopsis:
Always drawn to the susurrus of an enchanting forest, Alyviah finds herself giving in to the xylophilia coursing through her not once, not twice, but too many times.
Surely, it mustn't be related to the arcane whispers of her parents or the handsome stranger she keeps stumbling upon, or the old tales of dragons and a curse no one knows anything about...right?
However, too many questions are unanswered, and too many things remain unexplained. And so, she finds herself forced to figure out not only her past but also her future...something Alyviah never thought she'd go through considering the sheltered life she'd had up until one night when she snaps out of a trance that consumed her, only to find herself in the middle of a war that's been brewing for years...a war that she had no idea about, yet played a huge role in.
Because, after all...Platinum shall rise with an unquenchable thirst for justice...and kingdoms shall fall.
0 | Óðr.
Howling wind displaced trembling leaves, carrying expired, frantic prayers of ashen corpses and the echo of deafening rage outbursts. Rumbles shook the ground. Hollow, desperate screams and supplications of mercy went unheard by gods that chose to turn a blind eye to the massacre taking place.
The forest, once a richness to all living beings, now scorched lands of death and terror. Blood soaked soils and running rivers. A toddler, cheeks sticky from dry tears of confusion and fright, stumbled over his little sister's arm, the only part to remain intact of her body, as he waddled toward his weeping mother.
"Mama," he wheezed. "Mama, where's dada?"
The mother wept harder, crawling in a bloody mess to her husband's smashed body by the tainted water. Her legs, shattered beyond repair, followed limply as she pushed herself upright to open her arms for an innocent child, too pure to recognize trauma even if it stepped over or burned his whole family to ashes before his dark brown eyes.
"Here, sweetheart, here." She beckoned him closer, head nodding in encouragement despite her lack of vision through the curtains of tears and crimson red. "Good boy, come to mama-"
The moment the child was within her arms' reach, ferocious roars neared the grounds before a gigantic body landed atop the whole family, offering no time for screams of fright or resistance.
Bodies clashed in countless masses of scales, wounds, and death. Guttural viciousness challenged the angry thunderclaps and pelting rain as the enemy kept pouring endlessly from dimensional black holes in the sky and on the ground.
Their leader snarled at her eternal rival, a forever enemy, before charging toward him in a sneaky attempt to knock him down, for as long as he was flying, any chances of winning were waning. A smirk made its way across her faces, all five heads finally agreeing that this was a moment to cherish for Bahamut wasn't fighting to his full potential, and maybe, just maybe, she was to blame.
Her tail wagged almost too excitedly, her mouths salivating over the approaching possibility of finally releasing all the poison of her swelling stinger in his platinum glory.
Blue eyes flashed dangerously, rage feeding his frenzied, unorganized attacks. Seizing the opportunity of his blind fury, her arrow-like tip aimed at an impenetrable throat only to fail miserably. Annoyance reeked off of her, deciding to circle his neck instead and squeeze. Bahamut surprised them both when his legs wrapped around her slithering body, his own too huge to simply shrug off.
Raucous laughter exploded after a bruising collision. She rolled to her feet. "Look around you, brother." She mused, walking around, purposefully stepping over the remaining living. "You're killing the people you once protected and helped." Her stifled giggles only irked him further.
A feral roar resonated, urging his followers to fight harder. "Shut up...Shut up," he rasped. "You're in no position to lecture me, Tiamat." Bahamut was fully familiar with his sister's deceptive and manipulative antics. She did this, he reasoned in a futile attempt to convince himself, she did this.
All five heads danced around, hypnotically, smugly, sly grins spreading. "And you're exactly where I wanted you, dear brother."
As each head prepared to unleash its ultimate attacks, golden rays split the sky in endless hues of entrancing colors. The rain momentarily stopped, admiring the grand entrance of a divine beauty as she floated among the clouds, a golden aura of authority and dominance surrounding her.
Asgorath's scowl, however, only deepened, taking in the state of the earth beneath her. Disappointment and anger boiled under her skin. Tiamat hesitated for a split second before attempting to resume the fight. However, her body froze to a single-worded command that seemed to take hold of her whole. 'Enough!'
Asgorath didn't have to move her lips, her voice penetrated each and every moving dragon, drake, wyvern, and wyrm. Waves of absolute power, albeit diluted, nearly knocked her subjects down bottomless pits of utter and infinite darkness.
Her heart, fading, filled with prickling thorns, digging, unyielding, squeezing, and bleeding, swelled within her chest as lungs inflated with much-needed air. Her powers were waning. The firm hold over her subjects was crumbling.
Asgorath's gaze darted around, taking in all the damage that befell earth. Damage that was caused by her beloved offspring. When golden eyes landed on Bahamut, she could feel his grief, too deep and heartbreaking. Realization flashed in her mind, noting the conceited look plastered across his sister's face.
Tiamat, however, knew this was bound to happen. The Mighty Goddess would rather die lest any harm betides her beloved Bahamut. A sneer blossomed with newfound control over her limbs, her army breaking away from the powerful spell as well. Asgorath watched in horror as Tiamat unleashed her attacks all at once, Bahamut's grunts filled her ringing ears. 'No!'
His eyes, a frosty blue, had her frozen, rooted to the spot. His memories flashed across her mind.
Tiamat's army continued their unstoppable rampage, slicing through the remaining Ormarr and defenseless mortals. Asgorath's face pinched afore determination flashed across golden orbs, mouth set in a grim line, eyes narrowed and lines of exhaustion deepening. Arms wide open, her head fell back and her eyelids fluttered shut, lips moving fast and repetitively uttering words Asgorath never dreamt of saying.
'Dragon souls across the vast lands of Ducriedan, I command you to answer to my final wish.
Dragons are no more.
Dragon souls,
Bend, transform, and confine...
Reside within the humans that you murdered.
Mortals are what you are now.'
An explosion of bright lights overtook the despondency looming over the dull sky and the crimson lands, followed by the hollow screams of a desperate and furious Tiamat. A faint smile adorned Asgorath's face before hushed whispers slipped out.
'Platinum shall rise with an unquenchable thirst for justice...and kingdoms shall fall.'
MEANING OF THE WORDS USED:
In Greek mythology, a drakaina (Ancient Greek: δράκαινα) is a female serpent or dragon, sometimes with humanlike features/ A female species that is draconian in nature, primarily depicted as a woman with dragon features.
Asgorath: pronounced: AZ-gore-ath.
Bahamut: is pronounced Ba-ha-moot, in Arabic and it means "beast".
Tiamat: is pronounced tee-ah-mat.
Drakes: are scaled-down versions of regular dragons that lack intelligence and the ability to breathe fire or use magic.
Wyrm: (pronounced wye-rem)are wingless, snake-like (no limbs) dragons.
Wyverns: (pronounced wye-vern) are small-sized dragons. They are winged and have one pair of legs instead of two and a poisonous barbed tail.