"Hello there, feeble humans."
The group stood with eyes full of horror, looking up at the Draconian before them. Its voice was disturbingly humanlike. It wasn't snarly, and it didn't hiss. In fact, it sounded almost bored.
"Oh my, you're all so wonderfully terrified. Makes me almost sad that you're all going to die," it said gleefully.
Everyone was too petrified to even think of replying. Its mouth contorted into an unnatural smile, amber eyes glinting with something far too close to smugness.
"Hehe… You seem confused. I bet you've never seen monsters like us!" Its tail scraped the stone behind it as it talked. "You're all very lucky, little humans. You get to see me, one of the greats of The Unmarked!"
What the hell is it saying? The Unmarked? "Monsters like us"?
The Draconian took a slow step forward, claws clicking lightly.
"…No applause?" it said, sounding almost hurt. "Come now, I thought your kind liked heroes and villains. Don't you want to ask me who I am? Why I'm here?"
It grinned wide, revealing far too many teeth.
"Well, that's fine. I suppose I'll do the talking. Not like you'll live long enough to tell anyone else. I do hope you've enjoyed your little school trip," it said lightly, without waiting for any answers. "Really, quite the impressive effort. All these fresh baby Marked, straight from the academy, thrown into a real gate so soon."
Julien's fingers curled. It knows. It knows about the expedition. It's another intelligent one, just like the Puppeteer.
"Let me guess," the Draconian continued, voice mockingly thoughtful. "You were supposed to go in, kill the boss, pick up a few shiny things, then run home and brag about it to your weakling families. Maybe even get a little reward."
It gave a dramatic sigh, claws drumming idly on the cave floor.
"But what happens when the boss is something you can't kill? What happens when the gate isn't what it was supposed to be?"
It turned slightly, as if addressing an invisible audience.
"That's what makes this so beautiful. This gate--this one--was perfect. Just the right amount of attention and just enough humans. Not too many to be a problem, nor too few to be a waste."
It tapped its snout once, then pointed lazily toward them. "We made sure of it."
"We?" Haley echoed, voice barely audible. She didn't even register making the noise.
The Draconian smiled wider. "Oh yes. We!"
It walked a slow circle around them, then it sat on its hind legs.
"There's a whole world under your feet, little Marked. A world you've never bothered to look at--one with structure, language and civilization."
It stopped, tail curling behind it. "We have names. Ranks. History. And more than anything, we have purpose."
A pause. The Draconian let the words hang in the air, enjoying the silence.
"Would you like to hear a story?" it asked, tilting its head again. "It's a very old one. A story your kind hardly remembers."
Yet again, no one answered. It chuckled.
"Well, I'll tell it anyway. It's not like you have any other choice but to listen."
It turned away from them, pacing again like a professor in a classroom.
"Once, a very long time ago… something happened. Something terrible. A gate opened that should not have opened. It was too strong, too violent. It bled mana into the land and turned a town into glass. You called it a tragic accident."
It looked Julien dead in the eyes. "But we called it a success."
No way. Surely it can't be talking about the Glass Tragedy. That was just a disaster caused by a rogue Marked…
The Draconian turned its back to them again.
"She didn't do it," it said suddenly, as if reading Julien's thoughts. "The girl you blame. She was fourteen, I remember--barely awakened. All she could do was shimmer the surface of her hands… and yet, somehow, she turned a city into crystal."
It bent down until its head was almost level with them. "You know, that wasn't her. That was us."
A quiet gasp rippled through the students, though only Julien really knew what it meant.
"You're lying," Julien said, though his voice lacked conviction.
"Oh, look at that! One of you can actually speak, what a surprise." The Draconian smirked. "Is that what your books said, that she lost control? That the mana inside her twisted and spread like fire across the fields, turning homes and bodies into lovely, translucent monuments?"
It finally looked over its shoulder, eyes glowing dangerously.
"Do you really think a girl like that could hold that kind of power? Foolish little humans. No one questioned it. They just accepted the story, because it's easier that way, isn't it?"
Julien swallowed hard. The textbook said she died instantly. No body left--not a single survivor. But there were rumors that the kingdom sealed something beneath the ruins. That it never stopped glowing.
"We opened a gate," the Draconian said simply. "We found a way to pour mana through it until there was no room for anything else. Then we happily watched what happened when it bled unchecked, and we laughed."
It tapped its temple lightly. "We remember."
"Why?" Julien said before he could stop himself.
The Draconian turned, slowly.
Julien's fists were clenched, his jaw tight. "Why would you do that? Kill that many people, destroy a whole region… why?"
The Draconian just shrugged. "Because we wanted to."
It stood again, rising to its full height.
"Because we've been watching for centuries. Learning and experimenting while you soft little children grew reliant on your comforts and rules and your little gods-given system… We remembered the old days when power came not from some blessing, but from taking. From fighting. From devouring the strong."
Julien felt a chill crawl down his back.
"And now? Now, we're close. Closer than ever before."
It grinned once again. "This little gate is our second attempt. That first one was a trial. But this--this is the beginning, and you get to be the sacrifice. Congratulations!"
"Why… why tell us any of this?" Karis whispered softly, plucking up his courage.
The Draconian laughed. "Oh, I already told you! Because you won't live to tell anyone else!"
It gave them a second to take it in, just long enough to make them feel like fools.
"You're not making out of this gate. That's the point. None of you can leave, and your corpses will vanish neatly along with the gate when it closes. No need for us to clean up, and nobody will ever know what happened to you~"
It really thinks this is already over.
The creature scratched idly at its chin, then turned its gaze toward Haley. "Though I'll admit, I do enjoy a little conversation before the slaughter. Been a while since I got to talk with prey that could form sentences."
Haley decided to try stalling it. "So that girl… the one from the Glass Tragedy. What happened to her?"
The Draconian made a vague motion with its claw, like flicking a bug off its snout. "Dead immediately, or in excruciating pain for an hour. Not sure. We just left her there while we finished our little experiment. It was very educational."
A few of the students behind Julien winced at that.
"Why so horrified? That's how progress is made, little humans. You learn things while you try new methods. See what breaks and what doesn't. You don't become strong by sitting in classrooms and polishing your precious little swords."
It stretched, spine cracking audibly. "Whatever. That's enough story time for now. Besides, I'm bored of talking. If none of you have anything interesting to say, I may as well have some fun before I kill you."
The Draconian stood on all fours, and Julien really began to realize how big it was.
"Let's play, shall we?"
Julien braced himself, already knowing what was coming. He didn't even try to cast a skill or spell. The moment he moved to block, the creature swiped with its tail low, quickly sweeping toward the group.
It wasn't a strike meant to kill. The monster used just enough force to send him skidding across the stone.
He caught himself, barely, palms burning from the impact. Heat coiled in his chest, but he didn't release it. There was no point. It's flame immune. I'd just be wasting mana.
Karis rushed toward it, waving his sword wildly in the air.
"Wait," Julien tried, but the Draconian was already preparing to counter.
The Draconian didn't even face him. It tilted its head to the side and let Karis's blade bounce harmlessly off its scales. Then, with one lazy flick of its elbow, it knocked the sword from Karis's hands.
The weapon clattered to the floor behind them.
"Better," the Draconian said idly. "But it's still boring."
Alec hesitated just a few feet away. He had his blade out too, both hands gripping it too tightly. Julien could see his stance waver. Alec wasn't sure whether to charge or retreat.
"Don't," Julien said as he stood up straight again. "Don't throw yourself away."
We can't take it on! Not even Haley and Amara can do anything. They're strong, but they don't have control--and me? I can't do anything to it!
The Draconian looked over them all with amusement.
"This is what I'm up against?" it said, stretching its limbs lazily. "One falls down in a single swipe, one swings a sword like it's a stick, and the rest just stand there hoping they won't be next."
It sighed. "Where's that formation and teamwork your little Academy is known for? All I see is just a bunch of scared little faces hoping someone else will fix things. Pfft, you lot have no idea what a real Marked is like!"
Suddenly, it lunged with no warning. Not at Julien, or even Karis, but at Mina.
She couldn't even begin to react before she was scooped off the ground. Surprisingly, it didn't snatch her up like a feral animal, but like a child lifting a kitten.
"Let's test something," the Draconian mused, holding her up by the back of her robes. "How fragile are your little mages?"
Mina struggled, arms flailing. "Let go of me!"
Julien ran to help her, but the creature shifted, keeping her just out of reach. Just dangling her there like a toy.
"Stop it!" Alec shouted.
The Draconian snickered as it lifted Mina higher, like she weighed nothing at all.
"Marked children are hardly better than a normal human," it said, grinning. "Let's see if she can survive this."
Then its arm started to swing.