“Petal, listen close okay?” I spoke as I knelt down and placed my hands upon her shoulders, staring directly into her red eyes. “I am no Lord of Darkness.” She looked at my smoke-engulfed hand and then back towards me.
“Yes.” I sighed in submission, once kids got an idea into their heads it was near impossible to change it. I would know, I used to be one hell of a stubborn child.
“But isn’t a Lord of Darkness supposed to be evil? Bad?” This made her pause in thought for a moment before responding.
“Mark good Lord of Darkness.” She then patted my head with a smile. Darn kids with simple explanations.
“Just keep calling me Mark at least. I don’t like being called Lord of Darkness alright?”
“Yes! Mark is Mark.” I patted her head with my non-smoky right hand. The sound of heavy footsteps came running from the direction of the town. Petal and I looked towards the sound to see who was coming. “Kria!” Petal called as the guard came into view.
“Hey you…two…” Kria trailed off as she noticed my smoking hand. “What…”
“Long story and I’ll tell you later Kria, promise. What’s the deal with all those torch lights down by the gate?” I motioned towards the strange sight. Fear radiated from Kria’s voice,
“Inquisitors.” Ah shit. Those guys always spelled trouble no matter what world you were in. “I came to get the Matriarch. She’ll want to be there when they’re allowed into the town.” She motioned for us to follow her into the town hall.
I grabbed my bundle of clothes before we moved in step behind Kria. “So they’re not just allowed into the town?”
“No, the Matriarch has to be there to let them in. And she has to let them in, or else they’ll burn the town to the ground for harboring what they call ‘The Unfaithful’.”
“Unfaithful?”
“Those who worship the Lord of Darkness.” She eyed my shadow hand with a thoughtful expression, but said nothing.
“Ah.”
Religious disputes were very common in human history, they still are. But while many of my peers look at religion with hostility and disregard, I look at it with respect. Sure great evil has been, and still is, done in the name of religion, but there is good to be found. I couldn’t even begin to count the amount of fundraisers and projects are made by those of their faith to help their communities.
When I was a child I remember our local church hosting a neighborhood wide event with bake sales, games and other events. All in an effort to help gather funds for a man and his family so they could afford to treat their child at a specialized hospital. That, I believe, is what the true face of religion is. To help others in their time of need, even if it costs your own time and money.
It’s a shame that we only remember the bad and not the good that is done.
We were in the meeting room with the long table, marching towards the door to the Matriarch’s room. But before we could enter she walked out dressed in her very form-fitting black clothes I had seen her in before. She looked great, but plastered upon her face was an expression of great concern.
“Greetings everyone.” The Matriarch spoke before glancing at my hand. “Oh my, how unexpected.” Her tone said it was anything but.
“You knew?” Kria and I asked at the same time. We then looked at one another.
“Jinx.” I spoke quickly.
Velle shrugged, “I had my suspicions and an unusual source.” She gave a predatory smile, “Welcome to our humble town Mark, Lord of Darkness.”
“Please just stop with the Lord of Darkness already!” I was about ready to pull out my hair in frustration. Me am no play gods!
“A leader has to use their titles, even if they find them dissatisfying, to give their pack hope. But we can continue this conversation later. Kria, bring him and Petal to the Den.”
“The Den?”
“You’ll understand when you get there.” She said with finality as she passed us to head towards the exit into town.
We followed Kria towards the chair where Velle had sat at the head of the table. She then grabbed the table and pushed it aside without much effort. Petal and I concentrated on the floor where the table once rested. But no matter how hard we looked we couldn’t see anything besides the wooden floor. As I was about to ask what was the point of that Kria knelt down and used her claws to pull up a small piece of wood that blended into the floor perfectly. It was a wooden ring, and when she had a good grip on it she pulled up, revealing a large, hidden hatch. It was a masterfully crafted hidden entrance, invisible unless you knew where to look. As the hatch was opened I glanced within to see a wide staircase leading downward into darkness.
“Go down into the den, you’ll be safe there with the others.” Kria spoke with a strong sense of urgency.
“Others?” Petal questioned with a curious look.
“No time, hurry you two!” Kria ushered us forth.
I looked at Petal and shrugged. Together we descended the stairs into the darkness below. When we reached the bottom we heard Kria close the hatch and pull the table back over it. For better or for worse, we were stuck here until we were let out. A wide path carved from the stone all around us led directly ahead into a dimly lit room. The soft sounds of whispering made their way to our ears. They mumbled of another joining their ranks, another poor soul in hiding.
Petal held my shadowy hand tightly as we walked into the room.
As we entered the first thing I noticed was how spacious the room was. The walls and floor were carved out from stone and was easily twice as big as the apartment I had back on Earth. The rent was probably cheaper too. What I noticed next was the dead silence from all the different types of peoples who stared at us when we entered. There were a few Mikthar, the two odd Shren who wore robes and veils from before, and more than a few lizard men and women. In the corner hid one of the lizards who had wings. They were all wearing clothing that looked to be in good condition, but probably hadn’t seen a good washing in more than a few days.
Covering the floor of the room was a thin layer of straw, with large piles clumped together for the people to lie on like a bed. Barrels of water and preserved food sat at the far end of the room. In the middle sat a single lantern that sent dim light in all directions. All eyes followed me as Petal and I moved to sit beside the two robed Shren from before. Not that I knew them or anything, it just that they were familiar and those eyes watching me seemed more reverent than I found to my liking. The only one not staring at me was the one lizard with wings that was hiding in the corner, shivering and holding their wings as if they were a lifeline to sanity.
As I opened my mouth to speak I was quickly shushed by one of the robed Shren. They pointed upwards as the sounds of footsteps echoed from the ceiling. Everyone seemed to freeze, staring at the spots on the floor where the sounds originated. Petal was staring as well, her ears flitting about trying to hear as well as she could. I couldn’t hear much outside of some muffled mumbles so I just sat and waited.
Minutes passed as the sounds of footsteps increased as they moved throughout the town hall. It wouldn’t take a genius to know they were searching every nook and cranny for hidden entrances to places such as this. An eternity seemed to pass before the footsteps moved towards the exit. Even after there was no more movement above nobody made a sound.
“We are safe for now.” Both of the robed Shren spoke in unison. The entire room breathed a collective sigh of relief. But the relaxation was short lived as they all turned to stare at me with reverent eyes once more. I didn’t like it one bit. It’s one thing to be the center of attention. But to be a person…an object of worship…it was too much for a man like me.
“You are nervous.”
“You must relax.” The two robed Shren spoke in alternation. I assumed that they were twins with the way they acted.
“You would be correct.”
“We hatched from the same egg.”
“Many thought our birth a curse.”
“But the Matriarch considers us a blessing.”
“Now I may be losing my mind, in fact, I know I’m going crazy. But for the record, can you two read minds?”
“Correct.” They both stated.
“Cool!” Petal spoke enthusiastically. “Read mine! Read mine!” Oh, this ought to be interesting. Petal clenched her eyes and fists, as if she was thinking about something really hard.
“Brightly colored stones.”
“One red, one blue, and one of many colors.”
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“Hidden beneath-“
“Ah! No tell hiding place!” Petal jumped up to stop the two Shren who now chuckled pleasantly. She must have been thinking of the gemstones she had taken from Ovglach.
I chuckled, “Well we’ve met but we haven’t exactly been introduced.” I held out my right hand to them, “I’m Mark.” They stared at my hand, unmoving from their seated position.
“Hibel.”
“Crek.”
“…pleased to meet you two.” I spoke, slowly retracting my hand and bringing it back to my side. “So what exactly is this place?”
“It is a refuge.”
“For those who have earned the faith’s ire.”
“And what exactly is this faith? Religious nuts for sure, but it can’t be all bad.”
“They are a faith that call themselves Y’dionis’ Light.”
“They worship the God of Purity and Light.”
“Those who worship any other god are removed from the public.”
“The Dar-Hkan you see here are but a small number of them.”
“Dar-Hkan?” That was a new, unfamiliar name I hadn’t heard before.
“Those you consider ‘Lizards’.”
“But they more closely resemble dragons from your mythologies.”
“That can’t be. Dragons have wings and there’s only one here with wings.” I stated unconsciously. The lizard people, upon hearing my words, stared at the ground. Many wept. Way to go jackass, you just made a room full of people cry.
“Their wings, when they are sentenced as Unfaithful, are removed.”
“Forcefully.” I winced, images that made me sick entered my mind.
Petal stood up and walked around the room, touching those who wept and whispering that they were safe. Telling them, “Mark strong. Protects.” One by one they became calmer. I wish I were as confident in myself as Petal was in me.
“Then the reason the one in the corner is so fidgety is…” I trailed off as I observed the one in the corner hugging her wings as they shivered.
“Hers were almost removed.”
“The Matriarch's agents put a stop to it.”
“Saved the girl and brought her here.”
“She is physically fine, but mental scars are not so easily healed.”
“We hope, in time, she will come around.”
“Her mind is a raging tempest of images and feelings.”
“Spare me the details, I understand.” I watched Petal approach the shaking Dar-Hkan and attempt to put her hand on her. But was quickly pushed away and the shaking increased.
“No, no, no, no. Don’t touch. Can’t touch. Stay away, they’re mine! You can’t take them!” she began to yell in a voice barely more than a whisper. Petal’s ears lowered in sadness as she walked back towards us.
I’ve seen this sort of thing only a few times, when people were brought into the hospital after an accident of some kind. Most would snap out of it eventually and be cleared to leave once they were deemed safe. But sometimes they would be admitted to the psyche ward for specialists in psychology to handle.
“She hurts. Hides inside.” Petal described as she sat next to me. She looked into my eyes with a pleading expression. “Help her.”
“I…don’t know if I can Petal.” I wasn’t a psychologist trained to handle mental instabilities.
“Try. Too sad to not try.”
I nodded, “You’re right.” With a push against the floor I stood up and wiped the straw from my pants. “I’ll do what I can.” All eyes turned to me as I stepped across the straw-covered floor towards the fearful Dar-Hkan. As I stood before the dragon girl who wore clothes no better than rags, her shaking increased as well as her incoherent mumbles.
Dark green scales covered her body head to toe, along her back and sides and down her arms and legs. These scales looked thick and strong, like a type of armor. But from under her chin and all the way down to the bottom of her tail and the underside of her legs and arms the scales were a sandy yellow color. They looked to be far less armor-y than the dark green ones. Her head was very dragon-y if I were to use my so eloquent means of description. Spined ridges ran from the top of her head all the way down her back and to the tip of her tail. She looked at me and then away with frantic jade green eyes. Her hands and feet were tipped with sharp-looking black claws. Upon her head were two horns that led from her temples to the back of her head and ended in a point.
“Nonodon’ttakemywingspleaseIhaventdoneanythingsopleasedonthurtme!” the words came out so rapidly I had a hard time keeping up. Her breathing increased rapidly, almost to the point of hyperventilating.
“H-hey calm down, you need to settle your breathing!” I exclaimed before I mentally slapped myself. As if explanations were going to work on a manic person. Expectedly, her breathing increased in short, rapid gasps. I reached out to her with my right hand, only for her hand to smack mine away. Her claws left small cuts on my hand that stung and bled lightly. “Balls.” I eloquently stated and rubbed my wounded hand.
“She has done this many times.” An elderly, wingless Dar-Khan mentioned from behind me. “The breathing gets so bad that she eventually becomes unconscious. It is the only way she can get some rest. She hasn’t eaten or drank since coming here a few days ago.”
I gritted my teeth, “Not good. Hyperventilation can lead to worse than just fainting. Seizures and spasms being potentially very dangerous outcomes. We need to get her breathing under control first.”
“I am sorry I cannot be of assistance you Lord.” I looked over at the elderly Dar-Khan and he was right. He looked far too frail to help me do what I initially planned. I sighed as my mind went into overdrive attempting to come up with a plan. Well, I had another plan, but I wasn’t sure it would work. But at this point it was either go for it and hope it works, or she knocks herself out from hyperventilation.
“It’s Mark, actually. Not lord. And don’t worry, I got this.” I flashed a smile and a thumbs up before slowly reaching out towards the girl. The plan was simple. First I’d have to stabilize her breathing. As my hand approached her hand that slapped me away before moved quickly, but I was ready. I grabbed it mid swing and before she could use the other to knock me away I reached out with my shadowed hand and gripped onto her shoulder. She froze instantly upon contact, the shivering stopped and her eyes were as wide as they could be as she stared into nothingness, lost in a delusion.
“No…” A weak whisper, little more than a whimper escaped her mouth. Tears ran down her face as she stared with blank eyes in fear. It was heartbreaking, seeing something that looked so strong be so completely destroyed. The quick, frantic breaths began to return as she began to panic once more. I then gently moved the hand of hers that I held to rest over my heart and began to make slow, deep, calming breaths.
The first part of my idea worked in time. Her breathing began to slow to match my lead after a few moments. But the shivering would not cease. Though her breathing had stabilized, the fear was still deep within her. So I did what my mother did for me when I was a child and afraid. I embraced her, closed my eyes and began to hum. She attempted to struggle away at first, lightly cutting me along my side with her sharp claws. But when the sound and vibrations from my humming reached her ears she began to relax and closed her eyes. I then began to rock back and forth in a calming repetition. I don’t know how long I kept at it, but no matter how long it took, she eventually spoke in a dream-like state.
“Am I…safe…?” A voice full of pain cracked close to my ear. “I…feel safe…” A heavy weight pressed against my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see her head resting upon my shoulder.
“You're safe now, so don't worry anymore. I won’t let them take your wings.” I whispered and began to hum once more. She sniffled as tears dripped onto my shoulder.
“Thank you.”
Moments later her shaking had ceased and I felt deep, restful breaths coming from her. She had fallen asleep. On me. I turned my head to see wide-eyed stares in my direction that were quickly averted to the floor in reverence. “Little help guys? Poor gal needs a bed to lay in.” More than a few Dra-Hkan jumped into action, bringing clumps of straw from the floor and piling it into a decent sized bed. Once the makeshift ‘bed’ was assembled I let the sleeping dragon lie on her stomach, but she quickly rolled onto her side.
As I moved to leave, a clawed hand held onto my shadowy wrist in a tight grip. No matter how I struggled I could not break free. Defeated, I sat back down next to the exhausted girl and leaned against the wall. As one, all the Dra-Hkan stood, walked towards me and then kneeled before me and pressed their heads to the ground.
“Praise be the Lord of Darkness.”
“It’s Mark, actually.”
“Praise be Mark, Lord of Darkness.”
God damn it.