By the time the flames died down, nothing but the outskirts houses of the village remained. As thick blanket of smoke billowed througj the charcoal covering the streets, heated grounds blistered with flicking orange heat. Wooden shots lay half buried in white and grey ash.
Corpses burned black lay in these ashes, forever frozen, limbs strewn about as the smell of burnt flesh wafted through the narrowed streets.
At the very centre of this great pike of ashen remains, stood thirteen, unharmed by the great flame, unharmed by the remaining heat.
" Tut tut ... " Bare feet crunched the skull of a blackened corpse, spattering the black flakes to the ground, uncaring of the identity of the corpse he had just trampled.
" I hope you all understand" A single adult male and two adult females were left alongside the children, all huddled together next to the molten stone that had been the throne, but had melted under the great heat of the burning chapel.
" The reason for this culling. Do not tie yourself down with revenge, do not draw your blade to smite, for there is no vengeance to be had, no victory to be found" Malak turned to the children, and stared through white fabric at the three adults. " I have spared you eleven because you have wronged me the least ... and I see no reason to destroy what has not wronged"
" As such ... I see fit to reward you all ... a single boon each, to ensure that the cold of night dare not take you before your day ... " He turned to the children.
" Rihard ... come ... " The child stumbled forward, dropping to the ash at the feet of the locust king. " Your mark will always ring true, your quiver shall never be found wanting and your gaze will remain sharp until your last breath"
[ Blessing granted. True shot,( perfect aim).
Endless quiver( user will always be able to find an arrow to shoot in their immediate vicinity) keen sight ]
It happened immediately, Rihards eyes glistened as his sight sky-rocketed to the point he could see the very weaves of the veil covering the locust lords face.
" Thank you milord " Just as was decreed, the moment Rihard rose, his hand pricked at a burnt arrowhead, sticking from the ash with its shaft unharmed and tail singed ever so slightly.
" Next ... your name girl ... " A girl in a dull sack, barely covering her body strode forward and prostrated herself at his feet.
" Careese " She whimpered, shaking under the gaze of the great destroyer of the village of roses.
" Careese ... ever wound you touch, shall heal irrespective of it's nature. You are the great rose healer, poisons, bloodloss... even those on the very cusp of death itself may be brought back from the brink ... " The girl shivered under the finality of the tone, as refusing to raise her head and meet his gaze.
[ Blessing granted. Master healing hand gifted ]
He turned to the third .
" And you boy ... come ... " This child was different to the last two, more reverent ... almost fanatical, not in loyalty but in reverence.
" Lord of roses ... I will accept whatever blessing you bequeathe.. I am Melrose" Malak chuckled at the eager boy whose hands smeared with the white ashes of his home... his family.
" Melrose ... you are a special one indeed. For your steadfast loyalty through collapse, I award you thus. Your strength is peerless amongst your brethren. Your skin is thicker than hide and may run to the sun itself by days end. You ability to lead and guide is unmatched amongst your kin" Malak's word was met with the servant shaking if the young man, as a secondary panel shon under the blessing.
[ Blessing granted : Enhanced strength- minor. Enhanced endurance. Enhanced durability. Luck. Boosted Charisma]
[ True follower detected.
Updating status.
True followers : 2
Undecided: 10
Enemies : 0
Fearful : 0]
" Hm ... a good boy ... " Melrose bowed deeply before rising at Malak's bidding, and one by one did Malak continue, blessing the children with individual gifts, the last gifts he would ever give to the people of this village.
From the Greenland skill which allowed someone to grow whatever they farmed at an accelerated rate and almost no risk of failure. To the Hunter skill that allowed one to always track their prey as long as they had a trail regardless of distance. Malak ensured that these children would serve as the new generation, the last generation of the blessed, and the first of the new village of roses.
By the time the children were blessed, christened in the ash of their forefathers and their forefathers, Malak turned to the three adults chosen to repent.
" You may connect to detest me for what I have done. You may harbour hatred and malice in the wake of destruction ... but that is your own prerogative. From this day these children are left to your charge, this village and what remains is yours. Guide them ... rebuild what was lost... and never forget. And one day ... if perhaps I am to ever return ... I may find my gifts unabused..." He didn't bless them, they would live with what they had, and die as men and women who lived by the skin off their back.
" Until next time ... " He folded his hands, clasping the fabric of his white gloves together, inclining his head ever so slightly before turning away, Bare feet passing over heated embers unimpeded.
And behind him, the giant taller than himself by two heads, Uhar remained staring at the eleven gathered for a moment longer.
" ...." She turned away, the shifting plates of her armour creasing the black and gold trim robes she wore, her heavy footsteps crushing the corpse of her father as one would stamp an ant, not even looking down as she followed after the leisurely waltzing Malak towards the village outskirt.
" Praise the lord of roses " A chorus of cries echoed from the children, Lead by Melrose at their head, body visibly beginning to change as ever fibre of his body began to thicken.
Malak didn't respond, simply kept his hands clasped together, glancing at the tatters of his mother's robes half burned away, before continuing on.
" I hope you don't hate me Uhar... I have been selfish ... and I may continue to be so" He stopped just behind what remained of the village gates, turning to the giant woman as he ceased his steps. " You have served me faithfully, and I had ordered the death of your father ... of your home. I would understand if you despised me for it "
" .... " She didn't respond verbally, just dropped to one knee as she drew her sword, holding it up to present to her lord so he may do with her as he wished.
' My loyalty.. my mind, soul and heart belong to you ... my lord of roses. Order the death of hundreds, my children or my own self ... I will fulfil all without hesitation. I serve as faithfully as I have as a child ... and I will forever do so ... as long as you would have me' Her resolute plea entered his mind, and his lips slowly crawled upwards. Reaching out and grasping the hilt of her Uchigatana with thin but strong fingers.
' As do you ... Uhar... my oldest friend, my closest confidant ... ' He gently placed the sword back in her awaiting hands. ' your honesty warms this heart of mine, and eases my anxieties. Come my friend ... let us go '
And so she rose, as they finally stepped out of the village gates, into the barren lands of the dothraki sea beyond.
"Well isn't this ....lucky ... " A horse of coal stood awaiting it's master. Onyx eyes turning to face Uhar, it's head nearing as it's pitch black mane fluttered. " I suppose we have a steed"
Uhar rounded the horse, climbing onto the saddle before offering her armoured hand to her lord.
" Ah thank you ..." He took her hand and slung himself up ontonthe saddle large enough for the two of them, the reins gripped tightly between the black gauntlets of the shadows rider.
She didn't spur the horse, instead she waited for her masters direction, and after several seconds of making himself comfortable, gave his order.
" West ... it is time I left this arid sea" The reins cracked and the horse broke into a gallop, leaving behind the eleven survivors of the village of roses and its ashen remains to their fate.
As the hills blurred, he fast a single look back. Lips thinning, committing this place to memory before turning forward, and looking to the future.
...
' I believe I may have severely underestimated how large these lands are ... ' For over two weeks they travelled, riding none stop of a horse that didn't need rest nor sleep. Occasionally he would fall asleep leaning on Uhar as they galloped across the grassland plains, some days he'd play a tune long into the night on his flute that carried across the dunes.
By the time the fourteenth day came, his annoyance rose, under the blistering sun baring down on them during the day , and cold winds pelting them through the night. But nit once did they stray their course nor halt their travels.
In his boredom, Malak pulled his ever curious item from within his system inventory.
A scaled egg as black as night releasing the heat of a volcanoes core, blurring the air around it with the sheer radiance coming blistering it's welders hand.
Between each scale molten light of orange peeked through, As Malak turned the egg over in his grip, studying it closely. Intently.
' Atleast I know what you are now ... ' In the world of a song of ice and fire, such eggs were rare, but unmistakable.' I wander what you will be like, maybe a temperamental beast like drogon, or something from the house of the dragons, a kindly beast to it's master ... hm '
His eyes tracked over what looked to be a pattern of electrical shocks scarring the surface of the egg, a lightning strike forever carved into its heated surface. The eggs scales didn't simmer like metal, but appeared earthen, dull like black coal. The eggs seemed almost malformed in shape, as ridges seemed to almost protrude from the egg.
' Oh ... this is different'A new panel popped up under the arid sun shining ipon him and his egg, as a single rustle from beneath the eggs surface gave him great pause as he strayed to the prompt.
[ Born of earth and touched by the sky, the itch of life stirs under earthen shell. From no lineage of its own, birthed to crush, birn to burn,it stirs in the hand of its master. As the great drake slumbers, awaiting it's masters call...
Time until hatching : unknown ]
He rolled his eyes at the fantastical prompt, tossing the egg from hand to hand in a game of hot potato for one.
' Milord' Uhar's ethereal voice echoed in his mind, she didn't care for the heat blistering along her spine, but rather looked forward toward the broken walls in the distance.
" Hm ... " He leant to the side over her shoulder, staring at the crumbled walls of what was once a castle, with barren grasslands long since dead stretching between themselves and the castle walls. " Finally ... let's give haste and see what that is "
' You say this thing is alive' He raised the egg to eye level once more in curiosity, humming in thought as the horse rocked underneath his arse. ' Let's see how alive you are ... '
[ Blessing gifted. Blessing of the sky. Blessing of the crag. Blessing of tempests. Blessing of heat. Gift of intelligence. Gift of growth ]
With each new blessing, the egg seemed to shudder, as if a profound change was occurring beneath the molten surface of this strange egg. A new haze seemed to permeate the egg.
' Hatch quickly now ... little drake' He shunted the egg off to the system to stew, to wait until the day it's cry will echo across the barren wastes. ' I will require you, I am ... afterall ... facing the time of dragons'
His empty hands clasped together, white gloves stressing as he pondered the existence of the egg.
' Hm ... ' He leant over again to stare at the broken walls, Lips thinning in curiosity.' It's beautiful '
The closer they got to the ruined walls, the more the scene beyond was revealed as they came over the crest of the plain.
A great rumbling echoed from over the plain, and he found out why.
As the horse of charcoal crawled to a slow halt as that stood beside an old destroyed wall, staring beyond its broken brick to what lay on the otherside.
Spires of ivory rose, as waterfalls rumbling down the sides of cliffs spewed down like mist into waterfalls at the base of a great canyon.
Infront of Malak and Uhar, a field of lively green grass stretched over the plains, a stark contrast to the dead grass behind them.
A domed structure sat at the top of this canyon, opening up into the grasses fields with large gates and wide spread gardens, many folk meandered about this dome, moving from and into the fields.
' Atleast we have a way down' He'd have hated to have found another way down from the top of the canyon to the base of this city, luckily there was another way in on the grasssen canyon top.
They slowly drod through the knee high grasses, seeing people of tan complexion and dark hair tending to flowering buds close to the ground.
They stared at their approach, hiding the buds they were picking away from view as they approached the domed structure.
A group of guards met their approach, dark skinned with hair as dark as night, their weapons were drawn at they spoke languages foreign to the rest of the world.
But the system provided ... it always did. And so his mouth spewed honeyed words in Sarnori.
" Greetings ... warriors " His voice echoed across the grasslands, shaking the ground as the warriors held their scimitar close. Uhar dropped down from her steed with a crunch of steel and grass, standing taller than these men as she reached over and helped her unseen lord down from horseback.
" I am the lord of roses ... giver of blessings and master of gifts" His hands remained clasped infront of him as Uhar stood to the side, her titanic structure unsettling the man, but what unsettled then so much more was the radiance of the voice that spoke behind veil, that rumbled the ground and quaked the skies.
They spoke in short and long vowels, demanding strange things in stranger words as Malak gently raised his hands to cease their bickering.
" Forgive me ... but I am famished and would wish for accomodation... which of you gentlemen would be inclined to assist me" His kindly demeanour was met with the unsure gazes of the foreign men, whom looked between eachother, confused by this outsides fluent speech and even stranger attire.
" You're not going to deny me are you ' Now am even more powerful rumbling shook the domed structure behind, caused the dirt underfoot to loosen and cracks to form in the grounds. The people tending to the fields tumbled and fell, all the while Malak and Uhar stood at the epicentre undaunted.
" No lord of roses " Their fear gave way to platitudes, as the guard commander came up and bowed at the waist to appease this strange creature in white.
Almost immediately, the rumbling ceased as Malak's temperament fell away into pleased chortles.
" I thought not .. for your sake" Malak clapped his hand, but he could already see a couple guards moving through the dome to hesd into the city, no doubt to inform whomever was incharge of this beautiful place of this occurance.
" Someone tend to my horse, and beware" He stroked the pitch black steeds neck with his gloved hands." He is stronger than any of you... treat him well "
The horse let out a cold bark that a horse shouldn't have been able to make, hooves carving Into the ground as he levelled a steely gaze at the men cautiously approaching its powerful body.
' Is it wise to draw such attention my lord' Uhar's whisper permeated as she and Malak followed behind the guard lead to a grand staircase of woven ivory that lead down to the city below.
' To have power is to draw attention. From a standing army, to a kingdom, to have power in any way is to have the attention of those without. It is how we guide that attention that determines how others recieve us.. I have spent long enough at the whims of those without ... it's almost wrong ... fowl on the mouth to think I allowed myself to be so weak ... so easily manipulated ... no more ' He approached the edge of the staircase, gloves digits falling to the railing of the beautiful grand staircase as he stared down to the city he was about to enter.
Behind him stood Uhar, watching the guard lest he have any ideas of pushing Malak from the stair railing.
" Your city is beautiful... " Pools of shimmering clear glass the colour of silver wrapped around the city, a pool of water so beautiful it was almost painful to look at.
Gardens of flowers lined the valleys edge around these pools, rising up from the base of the city to swallow it in an amalgamation of architecture and nature so interwoven one would be hard-pressed to say which had dominance. As Spires of ivory rose from the centre of the city to just beyond the top the cliff face the grand staircase lent apon.
The waterfalls were interwoven with the city itself, as gardens of roses and flowers sat in garden beds alongside the walls of homes, ran between towers and fell to pits below to pool in the shimering silver pools at the base.
" What is the name of this place ... " He turned, those words alone confirming to the guard terrified to be killed by this creature to confirm he wasn't of their lands.
" Sathar ... " He spoke slowly, and watched the lord of roses stare back out across the city.
" Sathar ... I look forward to experiencing what she has ... "
... CHAPTER COMPLETE ....
I DON'T HAVE A CONCRETE THOUGHT OF WHO THE ROMANTIC INTEREST SHOULD BE, BUT I AM OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS . WHO DO YOU GUYS THINK HE SHOULD BE PARED WITH