The Slums of Riaf, 18 years Prior

“Get out here.”

The little girl hiding under her bed whimpered at the man’s command. She knew there was no good to come of his visit, perhaps another beating…or worse.

“Get out here Lina.” The man cooed, “It’s okay.”

The girl shuddered at his voice.

“No! Go away or I’ll call the big brothers at Dragonic Pride!” She shouted desperately.

“Oh?” The man pinpointed her position in an instant and came meandering towards the rusted metal frames of her bed.

Lina winced as each squeak of the floorboard came closer and closer until finally her eyes, frightened beyond comprehension, caught sight of her pursuer’s pristine leather boots.

With her eyes locked onto their horrifying presence, she watched as they approached slowly and stopped half meter from her safe haven. Her childish mind screamed at her to do something, anything, but her body was frozen. She was so scared.

Without warning the man stuck his head under the bed, making the girl scream from surprise. He watched as she pushed herself with her tiny hands to the furthest corner. It was relishing seeing such fear at his power. At that moment, he was in ecstasy. Silently, he congratulated himself again for finding such a gem amongst the pebbles.

Lina stared at the invader and tried to blink back tears that had begun to well in her eyes to no avail. She had long forgotten what it had meant to think, but her hands moved instinctively in arcane patterns, drawing line after line of mystical sigils into the dusty floor beside her.

The man frowned at the strangeness of her motion. For a moment he felt a twinge of guilt, was this child so terrified that she had begun her descent into madness? Suddenly furious at himself, he lifted the bed in a single motion and threw it to a corner of the tiny room. As he turned back to face the girl, he suddenly realised the similarity between them. That he himself had been in her position many, many years ago.

Sitting alone in the corner, Lina felt ever more vulnerable. She knew, oh she knew, that there would be no one to save her… but why? Why did she have to go through these trials? This single question began to circle endlessly within her, putting her into a mindless trance. ‘This is my fate’, she slowly accepted. And with it, all the lights of life that should’ve endowed a young child’s eyes left hers. At the same time, her hands never stopped. In a small way, she took note of it and wondered why, but there was no reason to halt, so she let it continued.

The man approached slowly, suddenly aware of the vicious cycle he had begun to create. All of the children he had abused, destroyed from within. Laughing maniacally he reached out for the young lady. How ironic is it that he reached this epiphany with his favourite target?

The girl didn’t even react as he grasped her hair and dragged her towards him. The only motion that remained within her was the constant movement of the fingers. She just kept drawing, even as her weak, mal-nourished body lay limp within the arms of her assailant. Until finally the hidden message had reached completion.

“I have never been more confused,” The man sobbed into her hair, holding her close, “You do not understand…I-I feel this urge…this endless urge I need to fulfil!”

Casting the girl away, he stood up and looked down at his dishevelled state. ‘How filthy’, he thought. His once pristine clothes were now smeared in dirt and tears. Turning to the window, he looked for his reflection. He wanted to know how he looked in this moment of enlightenment, of ultimate ascension, and relish in it.

The room was silent as he stared into the window panes, searching for himself.

“Where am I!?” He scowled. He couldn’t find it.

Why? Why!?

He investigated the pane with devilish desperation. No longer worried about the girl, but rather enthralled by the puzzle this inanimate object had presented to him. He was a high priest of the Peruse, there were no riddles in his life. Only knowledge and truth. The God of Wisdom, Peruse, had granted this upon him. Why couldn't he see the answer!?

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Lina watched, horrified by the scene before her, as the man was slowly, unknowingly, consumed by a malignant darkness that had spawned from her window pane. But her five year old mind could not care less for the nature of this misshapen existence; only that it was winning. Winning against the omnipotent man that had plagued her miniscule life.

With a sobbing voice, she choked out a single sentence of encouragement to the dark cloud.

“You can do it darkie, you can save me.”

The malicious shadow paused at her words, seemingly turning its non-existent eyes to her presence. With the man still half swallowed, a single blob of darkness detached itself from the main body and rolled towards the little child.

The girl wiped away the tears that remained in her eyes and smiled as the minute representative bumped blindly into her feet.

“What are you?” She asked with a childish head-tilt and reached out to pat its inky surface.

The glob of shadow accepted her pat with joy and enveloped her fingers in peace. Laughing now, the girl clasped onto her new found friend and hugged it close to her face. She didn’t mind as it stuck to her, sliding discreetly further up her cheek until it came close to the rim of her ear. Her naïve trust in the black ball, however, was quickly shattered as it lurched from her tender skin and latched, with a wet *crunch*, onto the raw flesh of her earlobe.

The shock of it rendered her unconscious. It was inconceivable to her little heart that even a blob, a being without sentience, would turn to treachery and deceit. As the world faded into nothing, she finally recognized the ugly truth of this human plane.

‘There is no good.’ She whispered into the dark. ‘There is only greater evil.”

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Brikard – Present Day

“What are we going to do with you?” I sighed.

The little dragoness purred, lazily grinding her premature scales on my lap.

“Kuri… This is a serious problem.”

Pinching her cherubic wings, I picked her up and placed her before me.

Confused by the sudden displacement, she tilted her head innocently, beckoning an explanation with those charming, purple eyes.

I laughed, unable of defending such naïve cuteness.

“You want to know why there’s a problem?” I raised my hand. “Head butt for yes, Tail slap for no.”

Kuri pondered the decision for a while, then bumped my hand heartily with her perfectly palm-sized head.

“Well the problem is that you’re too big.” I teased.

Apparently offended, Kuri reared up on her hind legs and gently scraped a stubby claw across my nose before falling back down.

“It’s the truth though.” I defended, “Normal people can’t accept being close to a dragon you know?”

Already bored of the conversation, Kuri bit playfully at a finger of mine that had strayed too close.

I sighed again and shook her off gently.

“Alright, let’s try putting you in the bag again.”

At the mention of “bag” Kuri suddenly sprung up and retreated three metres, growling at the inanimate object.

“Come on…We have to do this!”

“Grrr….”

“Come back here!”

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We wasted at least half an hour running in circles… I-i’m ashamed as a parent.

I lay spent on the soft grassy meadow enjoying the view of Brikard at day. From this position I once again came to appreciate the impeccable positioning of this grand city. Cloudless Blue skies and shifting emerald plains enshrouded the fortress in an almost fantastical aura. It gave off a feeling of utopia.

Glancing sideways, I noticed Kuri had also begun her daily nap wrapped around the swordbreaker. Initially, I had thought the practice was dangerous, but apparently the act comforted her immensely. Something to hold while sleeping… I guess children are all the same, no matter where they come from. Suddenly I became curious as to how tightly she held the sword and rolled towards the baby dragon.

I first checked that Kuri was asleep, and then grasped the handle of my weapon.

“Holy…”

My jaw dropped as I lifted the sword from the ground and the dragon stayed stuck like glue. Feeling ever more interested, I tested further with a light swing, then another, then another, then another, until finally I had confirmed, puffing from the exercise, that she was not coming off without excessive use of force. Experiment concluded, I carefully placed the sword back down and stood back to inspect it. As I crossed my arms to think, an idea slowly crept upon me.

A sheath…

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Uh hey... Beebaboop here. With a new chapter. Sorry that it's shorter than usual, I'm realllyyyy sorry. After exams, I hit a writers block, and started to avoid any form of work... And unfortunately I related work with anything that required thinking so writing was included T.T I'll work hard to repent, but exams are coming again soon... Sigh...

For more Depressive message like these come to my site: https://aspiringnewbie.wordpress.com/ I promise you'll have a good time

Beeps Out...