The Telling of the Five Legends
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Zach
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Once the four approached the previously closed door, the strange language appeared again, Feurige read it aloud, and it opened.
Inside was breathtaking.
The walls were covered with runes and symbols, like cave drawings with words. I couldn't read any of them but the pictures were clear. As we got deeper into the cave, the older the carvings seemed to get. There was less written language and more illustration. I looked around and discovered not everyone was with us. Annabeth and Ocaso didn't want to go in and Kennon had vouched to stay with them. But Lysander and Skylark had been all over the runes and we had lost them years ago. Sarah had followed, with Jay. I stood with the four.
The tunnel suddenly opened into a large cavern, with four giant carvings, they were very distinct.
The first was a large claw, wings spread wide and with a ferocious stance, and overbearing sense of authority rushing from her bones. The carving was directly in front of us, to the north. It glowed a brilliant blue.
The next was to the left side, metaphorically, the east. A lone fox stood, wings folded, with storm clouds gathering around him. It shines white and illuminated our staring faces.
The third was to the west, a tall male deer, wings folded, standing prestigious on top of a cliff, shining his power down to the creatures of Coniurantum with wisdom. Pulsing a vibrant green, like summer grass.
And the last was a snarling wolf, wings flared brilliantly and set ablaze to the south. He was standing guard over the door way, teeth bared, ready to attack anything unwelcome.
"Wow." Breathed Jelu.
"What?" Asked Jay.
"There's carvings on the walls, it looks like the four Great Beasts."
"Hey look." Feurige started, standing under the entryway and baring his teeth. "I'm Ignis."
Ipa laughed, copying him and standing by the carving. "And I'm Sero."
"I'm Levitas!" Fulgura cried in a playful manner.
"Suka." Jelu agreed.
I gasped as the carvings began to move and walk around the span of the dome shaped room. Then before my eyes they jumped off the walls and the Four Great Beasts themselves were standing in front of us.
Levitas' fur crackled and snapped, Sero towered above us all, his massive antlers reaching for the roof. Ignis' pelt was ablaze, and Suka rumbled in admiration.
"Well done Dragonfly." She purred, I wasn't sure who she was talking to but something me spoke out.
"Thanks, but it wasn't easy, you have no idea how long I've waited. For centuries since the last one." I spoke, and the floor glowed beneath my feet.
There was a carving below my feet, only it was following me like a shadow. it looked like me, but the markings were different. It had a patch over both eyes.
"What is that?" I shrieked. "Why is it following me, and why did I say that? I didn't mean to say that!"
"It's okay Zach, all will be made clear, soon." She laughed. "I'm sure you all have lots of questions."
"Me first." Jay said. "Why do we keep getting so many prophecies? It's starting to get a wee bit annoying."
Sarah gasped in horror and pulled him behind her.
"That's alright." Suke answered. "That's how history is recorded, through words, we just thought it might be a bit easier to remember if everything rhymed."
"Oh, okay." Replied Jay, seemingly unsatisfied.
"What is this place?" Questioned Fulurga.
"It's a place separate from space and time, we record the history here." Assured Levitas.
"Are you going to tell us how to how to use our powers, and how to defeat Tenebris?" Feurige sucked in a huge breath.
"Yes, and no." Explained Ignis, we're here to tell you a story, a lot of stories actually."
"It's still following me." I whispered desperately.
"A story from each of us."
"I'm going first." Sero announced. "So listen carefully."
Ipa tilted her head and Sero laid down, gesturing for the rest of us to do so. I was hesitant for a while, but then the strange reflection in the floor laughed and danced away. It sounded like a girl. I was so tremendously confused.
"On a warm summer day, there was a group of deer. But they were no ordinary flock of simpleminded food type, they were Cervus...
A young buck was munching bitterly on a tuft of equally bitter roots. One is his antlers, though small as they were, was missing. A large chunk of it was still there, but the proud twists and curves of the points were missing.
"It wasn't your fault." He muttered.
The doe next to him sat bolt upright. "Yes it was! It was all my fault. If I hurt someone like that again-"
"Ipa, stop. I know it wasn't your fault, therefore I forgive you. I'm fine honestly."
"Your family isn't, Ronan. They hate me now, so does everyone else. This herd has no place for me anymore!" She spat bitterly.
He turned on her viciously. "You don't don't know what you're saying."
"Then explain to me why I keep having all these crazy visions, and nearly killed you in the process!"
He looked betrayed by his own self. He tried to come a little closer to her, but she winced and back away.
And he was soon left alone in the field.
"You think you're unloved, if only you knew how much I loved you." Ronan turned around, and headed back. But not until something dark crept out from the bushes behind him. Something catlike with wide red eyes.
"And after she left, the boy deer never saw the girl deer again." Sero finished. "Now what do you think I'm trying to tell you?"
Ipa looked ashamed. "You shouldn't push those who try to help you away." Her ears were back and she looked bitter.
"That's all good, but you remember the story of Lupa right? The wolf I fell in love with, who had a heart as cold as stone? But I never stopped loving her, and I never will." Ignis announced.
"You shouldn't give up on your friends?" Feurige asked hesitantly.
"Exactly, you see this is why I picked this guy, he's smart." Ignis puffed.
"Ha ha, very funny. I remember a time when you weren't so smart Ignis." Levitas put in.
Ignis ears flew back, and his eyes grew wide. "That's a awfully long story, I don't think they have that much time-"
"Wolves may be big and tough, but they are lacking in the cleverness department." Levitas tapped his skull. "Something we foxes excel at."
Fulgura gasped. "OOh it's my turn!"
Levi shot Ignis a smirk, and the big fire wolf stuck out his tongue at the small grey fox.
"Once upon a time there was a fox, a very clever one mind you, and he loved to pick berries occasionally on weekends, but for the most part of his week he would either lounge about enjoying his ultimate power-"
"Skip the autobiography, if you please." Ignis snorted.
Levi rolled his eyes. "Well, the important thing was he was a scientist..."
A small grey fox hovered above the stick expectantly. He lowered his paws down onto the wood, and suddenly the smell of smoke filled his nostrils. He peeked under his paws and to his delight found a small flickering object. It hurt him when he touched it, but it was nothing his powers couldn't fix.
"I have found something new!" He said. 'I will call it, promtheum!"
Now a big evil wolf was spying on him all day, and he watched the fox make the fire with his powers. He was jealous of the brains and smarts, and the tenacity, and the sheer awesomness of the fox. Then, when the fox went to sleep, the wolf stole it from the fox and went out into the world declaring that he had found this glorious new power and here after renamed it, FIRE.
"That's not how it went, you sold it to me for-"
The fox barked at the interruptions. Then, when he noticed the wolf had stolen his promtheum, The fox didn't get angry, and he didn't play out some genius prank to get him back. The prank did not work, the wolf did NOT get very upset at the fox.
"The end." Levitas smiled knowingly. "You don't have to learn anything from my story."
"That's okay Levi, can I call you that? Because I won't get angry at my friends either. They're sticking with me until the end." Fulgura grinned back.
"That's my girl." He ruffled the fur on her head.
Suka purred. "How humorous of both of you, completely disobeying the ground rules we set down before meeting them."
I scooted forward, eager to hear what Suka was going to say. And also praying the strange reflection wouldn't come any closer than staring at me from the wall.
"What are you going to tell us Suka?" Jelu asked.
"I'm going to tell you two legends, one is about me, the other is about two sisters and is very important. But we'll start with the happier one first." She stretched and folded her giant paws beneath her.
"When I was a young, I had a brother."
The stones shook and and jumped beneath the paws of the two tiger cubs. A herd of caribou was stampeding nearby, and the older of the two had brought his younger sister out to feel the ground shake beneath her feet.
"Can you feel it Suka?" He asked, opening his white green eyes.
"Yes! Yes! Oh Kallik this is amazing!" She squealed, hoping around on her four orange feet.
"Calm down, you're making more noise than the caribou." He laughed.
And they walked together like the best of friends, for that's what they were.
"And he stuck with me always. I know it's short, but that what makes it so precious. Cherish your brother, won't you?" She leaned down to Jelu's level. He grinned and nodded.
"Now, for you Zach, you wan't to know all about your heritage? And why everyone calls you the 'marked one' and such?"
"Yes, yes please." I gave a huge relieved sigh.
She breathed out, and in again. "A long time ago, I was watching the chieftain Serrano lead her armies into a war that is not important right now. And I noticed something odd about her. At first I didn't really pay it any head, after all I was planning for the time Jelu here would arrive. But as I examined more details, I realized that Serrano was something special, she was what we called back then, a Dragonfly."
"Wait, that's what you called me." I realized. "Am I one too?"
She raised her chin. "I'm getting to that part. A Dragonfly was something very rare, often not seen for centuries. And it began a long time ago, before Ice-claws, when it was just the Claws, not separate tribes. It began with two twin sisters, one was named Barranca, the other nobody knew existed until she appeared one day, and she called herself Dragonfly. An this thing with Dragonfly was her Gyre Magyk was a bit more irregular than most, and the strangest things happened when she was around. She did end up spacing herself from others, but there was something special living inside her, and it refused to be destroyed. Every few centuries or so some other claw would pop up with the same powers, and they began to adopt the name Dragonflies."
"And I'm one?" I pleaded.
"Yes, I firmly believe that you and your sister are the next Dragonfly, the previous one being Serrano herself. And there's two more things you should know."
"What?"
"Whenever another Dragonfly shows up, it means something big is going to happen, this is not always a good thing. Serrano ended up splitting one Tribe into three, and encasing the land in an eternal winter. But it's a blessing now more than a curse."
"And the other?"
"Suka..." Ignis warned.
She shot him a cold glare. "The mark on your left eye, and on your sister's right, Dragonfly had the same mark on both her eyes. Every Dragonfly has born that same mark, but never before has there been two, or twins. I'm curious to see how you turn out."
"Wait a second, does this have anything to do with time I saw Zara, and I tried to name her Dragonfly?"
She smiled appreciatively. "I was wondering if you would pick up on that. Yes, Nightwatcher was exiled from the Ice-claws for telling you two the story of Dragonfly. When you first saw Zara, as a human, something, somewhere in your subconscious must have recognized the mark. You remembered a lot more than you were supposed too."
I sat for a few seconds pondering that. "But why was Nightwatcher ex-"
"That's enough time we have for now." Servo cut in.
Suka nodded. "We hoped you learned from this, it's very possible the information will be vital to your quest. Congratulations, your finally ready to face up to Tenebris."
And with that, they turned back into mere carved shapes and floated up to the hard stone wall from whence they came. And we were ready.
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