The City Of Qork is known for its massive tree in the center of the town, known as The Tree Of Vivgudis. Legends of the tree say that it was made by the God of the cycle of life and death, Vivgudis and it once walked around giving the people of Ruxrial wisdom of the God until it finally went to sleep where The City Of Qork is now.

There are only very few trees in the entire world of Ruxriel that are as large as The Tree Of Vivgudis. Those trees as a collective are called, The Derusply.

Light was shining between the leaves of a tree that towered over The City Of Qork. The light smacked me, a lizardfolk in the face as I was napping at the base of the stunning tree.

I don't know many in this city... Or in fact really anyone for that matter... I consider myself to be a nomad, so friends were going to be rare to find anyway. Even then, not having a bond with someone can be a struggle. Everytime I even try to talk to someone they always end up running away calling me a monster or the situation just ends up realllllyyy awkward.

I have dark green scales covering my entire body and on top of my scales, a light green and flakey moss grows on my chest and arms. Out of the moss protrudes some tiny and some as large as Saaxol's hands, red mushrooms with white polka dots... Huh. Maybe this is why I don't have any friends. But I would feel naked without my moss and mushrooms covering my body.

"Guess it is time for me to be awakened"

I stretch my three toed feet with razor sharp claws, and I gaze over the amazing city in front of me. I don't normally see the city life but it has always fascinated me, even though the city dwellers always look at me in amusement or fear.

I noticed a woman in a black dress with a black hood, almost like she was a mourning widow, walking towards the Tree Of Vivgudis. She stopped in front me, and I saw a scaly face through the hood, another lizardfolk? I haven't seen many other lizardfolks ever since I was a very small child.

I was the first to speak,

"Hello, I am known as Saaxol, how do you do?"

My voice was a bit shaky since this is the very few interactions that I had with others (I mainly live in the forests). The lizardfolk in black looks at me with dark, dead, purple eyes. It sends a chill down my spine as she starts speaking in a slow and gloomy manner,

"I wish to apologize to you for not coming sooner".

She kneels down in front of me and puts her hand on top of my head. I tilt my head and give her a puzzling look. I open my mouth to respond but the only sound that comes from my mouth is groaning as my muscles tense up and lock into place, and my field of vision is completely blocked by a purple fog.

...

...

I was only 11 when it happened. I lived in a small fishing village in the swamp full of fellow lizardfolks. The swamp village was attacked by the Lucifmal Cultists. They declared that we were heretic beings, and were a disgrace upon the Kingdom of Sela.

Smoke filled my lungs as the village was getting burned to the ground, as fellow villagers were running from the fire they were getting pelted by arrows. Blood splattering on the ground and structures that we once called home. Villagers that I once called friends screamed as flames consumed them, some tried jumping in the water to escape. But what they found were cultists waiting for them. The fanatics pinned every last villager to the ground, and repeatedly stabbed them.

As I tried to escape with tears streamed down my face. An arrow pierced the back of my leg, making me faceplant into the blood soaked ground. I gagged as a metallic taste entered my mouth. As I use my arms to push myself back up, I get a mouthful of mud as a boot slammed me back down. I heard a voice of a madman say,

"Oh! we can't let you be leaving, we have to kill every single one of you dirty lizards"

The Madman cackles as he starts stabbing me in the back five times. I tried to scream but it got cut off from my lungs that felt on fire. I laid in a pool of blood painted by the Madman. Blood started to pour into my eyes as the Madman started to cut at my head. I felt myself growing weaker and weaker until... I couldn't really recall what happened to me afterwards, the only thing I could feel was coldness like he was in the lands of Lelfa.

I woke up a few days later after the attack on the village, something felt off though. I looked down onto my body and gasped as I noticed mushrooms growing off my body. I was decaying... Or so I thought. I searched my entire body, my body was completely fine except, I put my hand over my heart and noticed that there was nothing... No movement, no thump, yet I was still alive.

...

...

I jolted awake under The Tree Of Vivgudis, all around me, the grass was decayed and black. Just a touch of a blade of grass would just disintegrate into black ash. I sat there for a moment, confused, who was that woman?