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Fel

-SEVENTY FIVE YEARS AGO-

Fel pouted as she hung on her grandfather's armrest.“Pleassssse." she pleaded.

Grandpa chuckled while he adjusted his seat. " Oh alright, but this is the last story."

Fel lit up with joy. "Yay! Thank you grandpa."

Grandpa scratched his chin in thought. "Hmmm, so what should I tell… you're ninety now right?"

Fel perked up proudly. "Yup, I can even fly now!... But not very high…." She trailed the last part softly.

A sly smile crossed over the old man's face. "Well, I think our little flame is ready for some more ‘big dragon’ stories then. You might also learn something about life."

Fel brightened back up. "That all life is sacred, and it's our duty to oversee and safeguard its continued development, so it can be allowed to prosper and grow." She recited.

Grandpa's visage became a little mournful." Yes, you know the council's first edict, but hopefully my stories can teach you what those words are supposed to really mean."

The little dragon became very excited. "Oh! Is it another council story? I love those stories! You had an important seat for a very long time, and you helped stop lots of wars, and saved a lot of people." Fel explained happily.

Grandpa's face became somber. "Yes, yes I did. But this story is one before I joined the council. In fact, it's before the council was even founded."

Fel cocked her head. "Woah, that's a long time ago… Grandpa you're old." She remarked bluntly.

Grandpa let out a deep bellied laugh. "Yes, but don't call your grandmother that, she might have a fit. And yes this was a long time ago, even before your parents were born."

Fels face grew sad and a little conflicted. "Huh, even older than mama…"

Grandpa coughed. "Well this story is about a summon."

Fell broke out of her thoughts. "A summon!? But aren't those banned? "She asked suspiciously.

Grandpa exaggeratedly looked around the living room before he leaned in to whisper. "Yes they are, but this isn't just any summon, it's the last summon. As well as a close friend."

Fel looked utterly confused. "Your friend? Wasn't the last summon evil though? They helped the light people hurt all those other people."

Grandpa became a little lost in thought before speaking to himself. "N-yes.. Yes... She did… She was also a dear friend that taught me many things, and one of them is that the road to hell is paved with good intentions…"

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-THIRTY NINE YEARS AGO-

Fel had just finished her guardian training, and was on her way to shadow an actual guardian at a mage academy in the Gron kingdom. She was excited to finally start watching over the other races and uphold the first edict of the council, and to make her grandparents proud. They were the ones to take care of her when her parents abandoned her, and she held no one in higher regard. Their teachings and guidance helped found the basis for her beliefs, and reading hundreds of books about the struggles of all the other races lit a fiery passion to help those in need.

So as soon as Fel was old enough, she joined the dragon's guardian core. A body of dragons that were spread all over the continent, whose duty is for the relief and protection of whatever territory they are assigned.

While Fel was nearing Gron's academy, she remembered the conversation she had with her grandfather before she left.

Grandpa wore a wide smile. "I'm so proud of you, Fel. Of what a beautifully bright flame you've become." He said while bringing Fel into a hug.

Fel tightened the embrace. "Thank you grandpa, I'll make sure to visit when I have time." She said before breaking away.

Grandma let out an amused snort. "You better, because he'll just start repeating the same stories until you bring back some of your own." She jokingly mocked.

Grandpa huffed. "My stories are timeless… but I could always use a few more. So bring back plenty of interesting ones, and tell Vol's son to visit his father. That bag of scales won't stop complaining about it."

Fel nodded and smiled before exchanging some more heartfelt goodbyes. She also gave a silent apology to her grandfather as she started to fly away, because she wasn't going to be shadowing Vol's son.

Fel’s grandfather practically begged her to shadow him, but the small territory he resided over was already peaceful and prosperous. If she wanted to start helping those in desperate need, then she would need to shadow a dragon in a territory that's in turmoil. So she changed her shadow to one presiding over a kingdom known for its internal struggles, hoping to assist in any way she could.

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-THIRTY EIGHT YEARS AGO-

Fel was in a standoff with some military soldiers while she shielded a family of gron.

The noble wore an uneasy expression. "Guardian Fel'aristriza Quitial'tis, please hand over the dissenters. This is an internal matter for the gron, and does not require such an ‘excessive’ intervention by a guardian." She implored with an emotionless tone.

Fel scowled at the woman. "These people have done nothing wrong, their only crime is having a loose relation to a rebel." She remarked harshly.

The noble sneered, but still couldn't shake her slight trembling. "They sheltered a dangerous traitor to the kingdom, and need to be made an example of."

Fel’s face warped into anger as she stomped her foot, the force cracking the ground slightly and causing two soldiers to bolt. "Dangerous!? She was the child of a rebel! And I won't let you do to them what you did to her-" She was interrupted by a loud crash behind her, and she turned to see the territory's guardian standing over the mangled bodies of the family she was protecting.

Fel dropped to her knees in horror. "W-why?..."

The guardian looked disdainfully at Fel. "I resolved the situation, something you seem to lack the skill for."

Fel rose to her feet and moved to confront him. "Resolved!? You murd-" The guardian cut Fel off by grabbing her by the neck, and hoisting her up to his eye level.

The guardian wore an expression of utter contempt. "Listen to me, you little pathetic excuse for a dragon. I have put up with your inane drivel about protecting these weak insects for just over a year now, and I'm fucking sick of it." He growled whilst tightening his grip around her neck.

Fel gripped desperately at his hand. "But- t-he ed-ict." She choked.

The guardian snarled. "Were made so that we could more easily lord over these worthless maggots." He paused to throw Fel to the ground. "Not that we couldn't just do it by force."

Fel coughed as she gasped for air. "You are a stain on our reputation. The council will-"

The guardian pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh gods, how fucking dense are you?! The council doesn't give a shit about these ants. As long as their power over the academies are held, they couldn't care less what insect kills another."

"Lies!" Fel growled.

The guardian narrowed his eyes. "Fine, you want to continue your pitiful effort to help creatures whose lifespans are a sixth of ours? Then get the fuck out of my territory, and do it somewhere else! Though I'll bet it will take a few more guardians to get the truth through your thick skull."

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-TWENTY NINE YEARS AGO-

Fel was in the office of her tenth attempt to shadow another guardian.

The guardian was rubbing the side of her temples. "Damn it Fel! Why? Why did you kill and burn down the home of an entire family of nobles. The hell were you thinking!?"

Fel had a cold and uncaring look. "They were kidnapping and torturing dozens of people for gods know how long, all to get off on a power trip." She answered with an edge.

The guardian scowled. "And you decided to just slaughter them? We have no right to directly interfere with how the kingdom treats its own people, much less killing nobility!" She yelled as she leaned forward in her chair.

Fel’s expression darkened. "I told you before I started shadowing you, that I will not stand for any kind of atrocities. They were lucky that they died so quickly, it was more than they deserved…" She remarked coldly.

The guardian leaned back in their chair. "Well now you can't stay here anymore, and lucky for me, I also have a convenient excuse for you to leave.” She spit while tossing her a letter.

Fel opened the sealed letter, and her eyes grew wide as she began to read as utter fear and shock sank into her very being. "I-I need to go." She said as she ran out of the office.

Fel rushed outside and immediately took to the sky, flying as fast as she could back to her old home.

She flew for over a day and a half until she reached her destination.

Fel burst into the house calling for her grandmother, and she appeared not a moment later with an expression of deep sadness. Fel was going to ask about her grandfather, but she was cutoff.

“Two days ago…” Grandma stated mournfully.

Fel felt the words sink into her very being, as tears started to pour down her face, and her expression warped into sheer agony as her grandmother rushed over to comfort her.

After Fel finally calmed down, her grandmother pulled out two letters that her grandfather left her.

Grandma's face grew somber. “He said to only give you one of these, and that you have to decide how you want to remember him.” Her eyes grew distant.

Fel looked confused. “What do you mean?”

Grandma grimaced. “Your grandfather….” She paused and winced, as if a long painful memory cut into her. “Just answer a few questions he left for you.” She finished with determination.

The first question. “Now that you know the truth about how our people act, can you still continue to burn brightly?”

Fel shook her head. “No…. Haven't for a while now...” She answered sadly.

The second question. “If you can't, then are you determined to try?”

Fel barked a half hearted laugh. “Of course, because I couldn't stop if I wanted to.”

The final question. “Are you willing to sacrifice another precious image of a false truth, even if it will poison your memory of Me?”

Fel paused before she answered, and considered the question carefully. “If it's false, then the memory is already poisoned. So yes.” She answered truthfully, but was deeply unsettled by the question.

Her grandmother put up a hard expression while she tried desperately to hold back her tears. “Then take this letter if you want to know the truth, and what you do with it is up to you. Or take this one if you want to continue to remember him fondly.”

Fel took the truth without hesitation, and opened it up as her grandmother left to get something.

[ My dear Fel'aristriza, I'm sorry.

I should have told you the truth instead of allowing those books of lies to fill your head, and I should have stopped you from joining the guardians before you had to witness the way our people truly treat the other races, but an old sick part of me hoped you would march on.

So for you to fully understand my story, I'll have to tell you the actual truth of the council's history, one that ‘very’ few of us still know. During the ‘age of progress’ our kind was hunted for various reasons, and yes as hard as it is to believe now, we were killed to near extinction. And as many dragons know, the ‘wrath of terra’ was our fault, but it was far from an accident.

In a bit of desperation, a large group of dragons pulled their desire together to summon such a large-scale force of destruction that even the gods had trouble dealing with it, and when the dust settled, the dragons would have the time to regain their footing. This is when the council actually formed, but it worked in secret from the other races.

Fearing that another hunt would inevitably happen, they set a plan in motion. A plan that would stretch over tens of thousands of years, and set up the entirety of the eleventh era. The whole of the ‘era of subjugation’ was designed to keep the races weakened, while the dragons strengthened their numbers.

As you know, the summon that helped them was immortal, it was intentional. The plan for the end of that era was for the dragons to swoop in and liberate all the races, while leaving her with all the blame. Then set up the academies in all the kingdoms under the guise of spreading our knowledge, but it was just to make sure we stayed in control of magical research.

I've told you many stories about the summon, but not what she did or her role during that era. She was portrayed as a power behind the throne, but in actuality she was a prisoner that was just waiting for her time to come.

Unfortunately for the council, the lightborn 'surprisingly’ didn't want to play the part of the villain and give up all their power. They threatened to expose the truth, and so the council had to alter the plans.

The council could not risk another hunt, and even though we were now united and strong enough to shrug off anything that existed in that era, we took the most extreme action against them, extermination.

I was young, only a hundred ten, when the order came. My job was to capture and watch over the summon while the extermination took place, and I personally leveled a quarter of the lightborns capital city, as well as killing most of the royal family.

The extermination took fifteen years, and in that time I grew close to the summon. I learned of her world, that it was a floating city that used to watch over a race that looked much like us. To say that I was ‘enraptured’ would have been putting it lightly, and yet I knew what was to be her fate. So when the deadline finally came, I did nothing_________

I still wake up sometimes, and see her asking me ‘why didn't you do anything________

After the events of the eleventh there was a silent agreement to never speak of the truth of what happened, and the council even stripped all the records so that there would be no proof of it. Only a few generations later and the truth was lost to history.

So now that you know the truth, I will leave you with a bit of information. It's up to you whether you want to follow the path that I was too late to tread, but if you do, then please remember what I told you all those years ago. The one thing that my dear friend tried to make me understand, but I realized way too late.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.]

Fel just held the letter, tears streaming down her face as everything she’d ever been taught seemed to wash away into an outright lie. Everything she trained for, everything she believed in, and the whole of her life up to the moment had just been a complete and utter waste. So she just sat on the couch for hours as she tried to organize her thoughts, beliefs, and motivations.

Logically she wanted to be angry at him for leading her on, and letting her believe that everything that her race was built on was noble. To be angry that he just fed her lies upon lies, just to give her false comfort. Yet she could only feel a deep indescribable sadness.

“He's gone….” Fel trailed off as she looked up at the ornate box in front of her.

Grandma placed a comforting hand on Fel’s shoulder. “He told me to give this to you after you were done reading.”

Fel hesitantly opened the box, not knowing if she could handle another world shattering truth. Inside she found a communication orb with a letter that had a large bold name across the fold.

“Yez’iquitzia Galistre.”

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-SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO-

Fel was in a large fortress on an island, miles from the main continent, as she trained under Yez’s watch

Yez looked un-amused. “Again.” She commanded.

Fel was close to throwing up. “Why… Do I …. Need… Fuck, my head….” She stumbled while rubbing her temple.

Yez sighed exhaustedly. “You need to have a solid and clear visualization of what you want, or else when you actually summon something, then It could and would kill you. So making your constructs as detailed and intricate as you can from all your reading will help you have a clear intent for what you want. So go again.” She ordered with little sympathy.

Fel started to regain her composure. “Do we even...Fuck...Need a summon? I mean the last one didn't even do anything.” She questioned while getting over her migraine.

Yez frowned. “The last one may have not done anything directly, but you can't underestimate the power of a summon, especially if your intent is clear. Remember how many of the eras were because of a summon.” She cautioned.

Fel groaned at the reminder. “How could I ever forget…”

Yez sighed. “If it still hurts so much, then I'll have the rekindled pull more books out of the storage. You will have to do a lot more reading to sharpen that mind of yours so you can get this right.”

An exasperated expression crossed over Fel, because that meant she would be forced to make dozens of scenery constructs from her imagination. “Gods, why do I have to be the one to do it anyway?”

Yez shrugged. “Fresh blood mostly. Unlike the others who are already working on other things, you are the most available to be trained.”

Fel rolled her eyes. “Lucky me….”

Yez arched her brow while a slightly sadistic smile spread across her face. “Oh? You want to go for a little more before you quit for the day? Well, aren't you a dedicated student.”

‘Kill me now….’

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-ELEVEN DAYS AGO-

Fel was miles outside of Telnar, and she was beyond pissed. She had been trying to get the summoning spells cast to go through for over five hours, and absolutely nothing was happening. The intent she was supposed to be visualizing was of a person that had a neutral personality, the knowledge to help them finish their goals successfully, and could learn magic quickly. Unfortunately the summoning spell seemed to fail every time she tried to cast it, so on her last attempt she was so emotional that her desires burst into the spell.

Her desire to have all of her frustrations, anger, and pain in life to be solved seemed to be pulled endlessly into the spell, and she could feel something that was a part of her drift away a bit.

‘Uh, oh….’

Fel realized what happened as she felt the spell finish, and then she immediately flew into the sky, because she may have made a colossal fuck up. The whole reason that she was summoning in such a secluded area was because of the chance of summoning something ‘very’ dangerous, and that was with all the preparation. Now that she used desire there was no telling what would be brought to this world, and she could already imagine Yez losing it when she eventually tells her.

After a massive thudding sound, a man popped into existence a few feet above some bushes. After falling onto his back he seemed to be in a bit of a daze as he shakily got to his feet. When Fel eyed the man from the sky, her enhanced sight allowing her to count the hairs on his head if she wanted to, she became very confused. The man looked like a mish mash of a bunch of races, and Fel considered that the desire may have had something to do with that. The man started yelling in an unknown language, most likely calling for help.

Fel decided to watch him from a distance, as she started to subtly guide him to Telnar.

‘Huh, he seems a little…..weak. Maybe he won't be too much trouble.’

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