I sit beside the fire and think of people from long ago. And of people that will see a world that I shall never know. I think of my own past, when I was just a little boy. Of how I was filled with youthful vigor and blissful ignorance of the world around me. Oh how I wish I could turn back the time to yell at myself to pay attention to my history lessons. Maybe then I could have had a better understanding of where it all went wrong.
The people from long ago never had to face this war. They never had to face this drought. Never had to see the once lush forests become consumed by flames. To hear the cries of newly orphaned children looking for their now dead parents. To hear the wails of starving people begging for food. To be here to witness an end to a once glorious empire.
Glorious my ass. It’s become nothing more than a playground for our tyrant of an Emperor now. I take a swig from my bottle of alcohol, letting the heat sting my throat and fuel my rage.
“Damn this place!”, I scream while smashing the bottle to the ground, “Damn that pathetic pig dick of a man!”
My vision starts to turn red. My fists begin to shake. My body trembles from the overflowing rage inside of me. Then through the madness I hear a quiet squeak in the corner of the room.
My body stills and rational thought returns to me slowly. I am not alone. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I exhale and look towards the source of the sound. Sitting there in the corner, trembling with fear, is a bundle of red and orange scales dipped in shimmering gold. Small twisted horns protruding from its skull and deadly talons at its feet. Its long spiky tail is curled around its body. Trying to shield itself from my drunken rage. A baby wyvern. The last wyvern.
I pick up the broken pieces of glass from my broken bottle and clean the rest of the alcohol up as much as I can. Then I slowly sit cross legged on the floor and look back at the fledgling. Her eyes resemble the color of yellow embers, filled with endless curiosity. Behind those eyes though, lies a power that is slowly growing and will burn us all alive if someone doesn’t guide her.
“Why does it have to be me to guide her though?” I whisper to myself. The wyvern, not acknowledging what I said, slowly starts to approach me and soon nestles into my lap like a little kitten. She even does a grumbling growl like she is purring. I lean back and slowly start to pet her.
“My little girl would have loved you little one.”
The wyvern looks up towards me and a tear falls down my face. I envisioned a time my darling daughter was sitting in my lap. How she would play with the braids on my head. Tugging on them playfully to get my attention to show me all the things around us. My wife, off in the distance playing with our son. The sun is shining on us, enveloping us in its bright glow. Happy times. Now those days are behind us and I am the only one left. My family slain by the bastard’s blood hungry Wardens.
“I wish I was there to protect you all. If only I could turn back the clock. If only..” The wyvern lays her head on my stomach. Looking at me with sympathy.
I sigh. “I’m sorry little one. I know I can’t do anything now. It’s hard though sometimes. To not be consumed by guilt and pain. I thank you for your patience with me.” The wyvern purrs louder in response.
I take another deep breath to steady myself. What I am about to do next will change the course of this ashen wasteland of an empire and affect everyone around. However it is long overdue. I gingerly hold the wyvern’s face and look deep into her eyes.
“It is time to give you your True Name, little one.” Joy danced across her eyes and a wolfish smile broke onto her face, as well as a few teeth came out from underneath her lips. She’s been waiting for this. Every wyvern does. Once you have your True Name you have the key to your power.
It is no easy feat to give a wyvern their name though. You must make a soul contract with them. It can only be done if your soul is kindred to theirs. Even then if that is possible, you must sacrifice something of great importance to you. Not everyone can do it and even if one could, not everyone would want to do it either. But I have nothing left to hold me back, so what is it that I have got to lose?
I place the wyvern down in front of me. She dances in place while I prepare the ritual circle. I slice my hand and wait until the blood wells up and then slice her paw next. The purple blood oozes around her scales and I shutter at what I must do next.
Quickly without any time to change my mind, I lick the blood from her paw and she licks my hand. I swallow the veil liquid and begin to chant the words of the contract. Light begins to swirl around us and the eyes of wyvern's past begin to appear in the light. Witnesses to the contract. They appear in all the colors of the rainbow. Truly a spectacle and horrifying sight. Then a booming voice rings through our ears, demanding our attention.
“Human of the mortal plane, are you willing to sacrifice all that is most important to you to grant this wyvern their True Name?”
“Yes I am” I say as confidently as I can. The light begins to grow brighter and the eyes move closer to me.
“Then it shall be done!”, the disembodied voice commanded.
The eyes swirled around us, moving faster and faster. It started to make me dizzy. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the muzzles of the wyverns come towards me and bite down on little balls of white light coming from my body.
“What are you taking!” I demanded.
There was a long silence. I thought I would not receive an answer and then the voice spoke once more.
“Your memories.”
Tears flowed down my face. I knew this was a possibility, but I was hoping this wouldn’t be the price I had to pay. But it was already too late. There was nothing that could be done now. I thought about my family as much as I could until they slowly started to fade from my mind. The last memory that my mind was able to show me was me holding my daughter for the very first time and the tears of joy spilling out of my face.
“Tara”, I whispered. The name of my daughter.
The wyverns eyes gleamed and new found understanding washed over her form. Her power has awakened. And with it, everything will soon change.
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