Thicker Than Blood: Part One

by shadowphoenix

Prologue
Year 2: the month of Gathering. Winds blow crisp chills across the bark of dark willows in the Haunted Woods. The canopy is thick here, and barely a shred of light can reach the moist ground. Over the whistle of sharp winds, small successions of footsteps can be heard on top of the foliage. Proceeding this is rough, jagged panting, and a small pack of Gelerts emerge from a brush. They are cold and tired, but alert. Some novel sound attracts the attention of the pack, which cock their ears to the sound in unison, as if working in one mind. They turn to see their pursuer, but the pursuer was of no concern to them for much longer. Within the next 15 seconds, the pack was torn in heated bludgeon and rage, and the ripping of their tender flesh drowned out any concern they may have had. In the wake of all this violence was a form unrecognizable, yet strongly familiar. Familiar, in fact, to the degree that it could be thought of as another Gelert. If Gelerts were blessed with spinal spikes, an exaggeratedly large horn growing downward from its front flanks, elongated snout, glistening tusks, and an appetite for Cannibal Cuisine’s All-You-Can-Eat menu. The mostly-filled but barely satisfied ghoul pauses and looks toward the sky, as if calling out; it’s platinum pendent gleaming in pearl moonlight. It then gathers it's thoughts, or whatever runs rampant inside its cruel and unkempt mind, and trots off undaunted into the darkness…

Desperation
“David! Ooh!” Remembering that her master only responded to his guild name, Silverwatcher kicked herself and ran into the mediocre study where David regularly researched Battledome tactics and economic advantages. Here, Silverwatcher found him doing the latter.

“Shadow Phoenix, Sundial is gone! She hasn’t returned from her hunt since last ni-” Silverwatcher was interrupted by David’s lunging for his jacket at the door. He was soon beyond the door and several yards down the main hall, into the foyer, before Silverwatcher caught pursuit. She thought to herself of her previous plans to meet Narcissus, a beautiful blue Holy Peophin, behind the Light Tower later on. She quickly dismissed them and sped up.

“Oh, Kougras aren’t made to be caretakers to mongrels like her!” panted Silverwatcher, referring to Sundial the Shoyru. She then noticed that the air was silent, and still. Too silent for her to be near anyone running with the determination which David had. She quickly realized that she was lost in the desolation of the wooded snow fields. And with the sky clouded over in grey, the beasts of the dark were roaming comfortably about the land…

A small, timid form sat silent and frozen in a snow-covered brush, listening intently as a Dark Faerie den brimmed with conversation of “new blood”. The wails of a young Shoyru could be heard from within the cave, and they expressed a level of pain and excitement that brought concern to, but even more so frightened the small character within the brush. The small creature, exposing himself as a well-built and handsome-for-his-kind red Shoyru, leapt from his hiding space and valiantly dashed into the den.

“What was that?” A rasp voice coming from a raspier looking Faerie declared the bold Shoyru’s arrival, but he ducked into shadows before being spotted.

“Simply your excitement, Mordain. Of course, you do have a new underling!” Mordain stepped forward, her eyes flaring with a glow that closely resembled animal eye shine. She reached out and touched the wing of the tired Shoyru lying on a stone slab before her. Upon the touch, a small but bright spark flickered, and the Shoyru’s wing flinched. The Dark Faerie Mordain removed her hand, and in it’s place was a simple phrase written in the Faerie’s native script: 7-bug, which means “the first of many”. The Shoyru stood from her stone bed, and her flesh seemed to glow with “anti-light”, as that is the best way to describe her new aura. Her would-be rescuer gasped in surprise. This Shoyru was not just any Shoyru in need.

“Sundial…sis?”

Silverwatcher was growing desperate, and quite cold. She knew that whatever was approaching would be too great a challenge for her. Despite the legendary valor and strength of Kougras, David had raised her to be simply a house cat. She had no skill in battle, nor any knowledge of magic or special skills. She was inevitably doomed. Never one to sulk in her trouble, Silverwatcher walked on and hoped that she was heading in the right direction. Her exhausted panting prevented her from being fully aware of her surroundings; had she been, she would have noticed the slight but definite creaking under her paws steps. Cold fluid began to moisten Silverwatcher’s instep, and she glanced under her just in time to watch the glassy ice crackle and break, and the freezing water rush up to meet her face.

“Sundial...sis?” The Shoyru nearest the entrance to the den stared in dismay as the Shoyru guest of the Faeries glared at him with smug self-righteousness. Mordain reached around the young creature and placed a medallion gently about her neck. The gem seemed to be composed of constantly flowing blood, and was encased in a clear crystal shell that was marked with an intricate symbol. Sundial’s eyes began to pulsate with the intensity of the medallion, and the stunned Shoyru at the entrance began to hear a voice clearly within his head.

“SunTalon…I am with you, brother. Are you with me?” Sundial smiled at the frightened pet before her, and began to slowly approach. SunTalon regained his senses and settled into his position. He struggled to fight the hum of his sister’s voice within his head, but it was of no use.

“Noooo!” SunTalon roared out his disapproval, which seemed to greatly anger the approaching Sundial. She took another step, and the stone slab on which she had laid was raised above her head. “Telekinesis” could be heard in SunTalon’s head as the slab was flung over Sundial’s shoulder. It sliced through the air, moving swiftly towards SunTalon’s face. He attempted to roll to his left, knowing that the projectile was too quick to avoid. It slammed into his right wing and tore through his flesh. He dropped but quickly rose again, only to be met with a kick to the chin and a stabbing punch into his side. Bone crackled beneath the force of his sister’s blow, and SunTalon fell to the cold dirt floor.

Sundial glided over to her injured brother and kneeled so that they met face to face. She licked his cheek of spattered blood, and returned her gaze to his eyes.

“You came to save me, brother?”

“Yes…yes, I…I came to get whomever these demons were torturing.”

“Aah, no torture, my dear brother. This was…renewal.”

“Renewal of…of what?” SunTalon punctuated his inquiry with spitting blood.

“Of the desperation. That you and I felt in our youth. This is the renewal of the Desperation that took our mother, at the hand of the Light Faeries. They shall endure it twenty times over. And you…”

“What of me?” SunTalon showed no expression, but his sister could feel his fear.

“You can join me or die with them.” Her eyes once again flared with the same animal eye shine from before, but with much more brilliance and ferocity. “And since I know what you’ll choose…” His sister’s voice once again hummed throughout his mind. “Nighttime” An orb of dark matter began to swirl around Sundial’s hand; and soon after SunTalon turned his gaze to his twin, his gaze was averted by darkness.

SunTalon awoke from darkness, lying on the floor of his room. He was safe for now, but his present security gave him no comfort. He knew that his sister must fall…and that he would, by fate, be the one chosen to bring her defeat. He looked about and noticed the silent tone of the lodge suite. Things were strewn about on the floor, and the place seemed as if it were left in great hurry. Realizing the possible threat that his increasingly excellent sister presented, and the strong likelihood that his friends Silverwatcher, Narcissus, and his owner were all outside made him fearfully tense.

“Shadow Phoenix? Narc? Where…are they…?” Wind howled past the window, and SunTalon began to think of his twin sister’s decisions. He was now, finally, in complete loneliness…

To be continued...