The Dawn Tries to Beat Back the Night
11
FEB/22
The giant stone door swung open and there, amidst the darkness, stood five shambling creatures; terrifying skeletal beings animated by dark magic, the memories of life clinging to them in the form of withered muscle and flesh; their hollow eye cavities somehow blacker than the darkness that surrounded them. These ten sightless eyes turned and stared at Vashir; their dark gaze burning with a cold hunger and a hatred of all things living. Vashir smiled in response to their malevolent stares, for he was far beyond such trifling emotions as fear and uncertainty now.
The dagger was already in his hand and he felt the immediate surge of unrestrained power flow through him, the flood of energy causing the hairs on his arms to stand on end and his eyes to crackle with unholy dark vigor. His body seemed to undulate and writhe like a sack of vipers as his fleshly form tried to contain the immense power that now coursed through it.
They had faced these beasts before, in the depths of the Tomb of Amun’Re in what seemed like a hundred lifetimes ago. He had hidden from them then, launching enfeebled psionic attacks at them from a safe distance while his companions bore the brunt of their icy, life-stealing claws. But not this time. Where once they were creatures of impossibility to be awed by and feared, they were now simple grains of sand and he was the mighty desert storm!
With an idle thought he erased the memory of himself from their minds and stepped into the room, his sword igniting in flame in his other hand as he advanced upon them, a grin on his face and an icy furnace of power burning underneath his skin.
Sword and dagger bit deeply into the desiccated flesh one of the creatures, which hissed an unholy curse as it looked around for the source of this attack, and found nothing but blackness around it. This is going to be easy.
And then Arnia strode into the room, Dawnbringer burning like the morning sun in her hands. Five be damned, doesn’t she know that I’ve got this? Then it dawned on him that he hadn’t exactly told anyone what he was going to do. Damn it all to the Nine Hells! He thought as he redoubled his attacks.
The creatures fell quickly before the might of the dagger of Set and the aid of his companions. They had made it through relatively unscathed, though Arnia looked pallid and weak as she had borne the brunt of most of their attacks. “Perhaps we should rest and regain our strength?” David asked, casting a concerned look towards Arnia, who was leaning on her sword and breathing deep, ragged breaths, he skin as grey as the ashen memory of a long-faded fire.
Annoyance flooded through Vashir. Always resting. Always deliberating. Couldn’t they feel the power that he now wielded? “Let’s at least clear the next room, Arnia can hang back if there is trouble,” He proffered, trying to hide his annoyance. After a long deliberation they relented, and Vashir promptly took to the air on his black wings and stepped into the next room.
He was quickly swarmed by enemies and again his face broke into a wild grin as the dagger hummed to life in his hand. His companions began an orderly retreat back into the room they had just left as the undead monstrosities began crawling out of the pit below them. Perhaps now they could finally see what he could do with his newfound power, he thought as he dove through the air and barrelled headlong into a figure wrapped in tattered bandages…
The thrill of the fight was still clinging to Vashir when Oni stepped forward to confront him with an expression of unflinching rage glued to his face. “What is wrong with you?” he hissed through clenched teeth.
Vashir met his fury with one of cold annoyance. “We have a Goddess to fight, and everyone is too scared to fight these…nothings.” How could they hope to end Tiamat’s reign if they were scared to fight some unholy pests? They needed to be forged into a weapon, but they weren’t even raw ore yet. They were the dirt around the iron veins, if even that. “We are more powerful than anything in this place.” Well, at least I am, he thought with a sense of smug satisfaction.
He wouldn’t have thought that it were possible for Oni to look any angrier than he already had, but somehow he managed. “When we pull back as a group, we pull back!”
A group? They were all holding him back now, couldn’t Oni of all people see that? “Do not worry about me, I can take care of myself now.” Vashir then turned to walk after the others, considering the matter settled.
“I care for all of us!” Oni whispered angrily, grabbing Vashir by the shoulder and spinning him around to face him.
Vashir’s felt his face flush with anger and his hand briefly fluttered towards the dagger’s hilt on his belt before he reconsidered. “Caring is weakness. We need to shed weakness for what lay ahead.” Tiamat had spent eons feasting upon the weak, they would be but a brief snack in the face of her ravenous hunger.
Oni’s expression softened as the sharpness of Vashir’s words stabbed into him. “Is something wrong with you my friend? Your words cut more than normal.” His eyes were sand after a divorcing tide; soft, brown, and wet.
Vashir’s demeanor softened as well as he struggled for the means to explain how he felt. “The future is evident to me now. We have the power to end things,” Well, at least I do, “But everyone is too scared to embrace it.” He had seen their eyes upon his dagger; they knew what power he now wielded.
Oni’s soft eyes iced over as his anger washed back over him in a wave. “I have embraced more than anyone else. Do not tell me about fear. Courage and stupidity are close siblings. Make sure you stay in the Dawn’s light with courage and not in the darkness of rash actions.”
Vashir stifled a laugh. The power of the Dawn? Sure, the Dawnfather had gifted them with the means to bring David and Ixen back to life, but now Vashir himself had the power to cast aside the veil of death and restore life. What use had they for the Dawnfather now? Not when real power was close at hand. He chose his retort carefully, “The Dawn’s power only exists for a scant moment, while the darkness reigns the night.” Surely this would resonate with his friend, as they had spent many nights hiding from Tiamat’s malevolent gaze in the celestial heavens.
“The darkness is for her, not for us. You have come so far to dwell in her realm. You make me sad brother. Come back to me.” Oni’s eyes softened again, his whisper, pleading.
“We must drive her from the darkness and claim it for ourselves!” Vashir replied. Surely his friend could see the wisdom in this?
Instead, Oni’s look grew dark and sullen. “I am ending this for now. We will continue this when we are safer.”
How could he persuade his friend? He didn’t want to draw attention to his dagger, for he had seen the greedy stares his companions had cast his way when he found it. “I have the power to keep us safe now, stay by me and we shall persevere,” he said, in what he hoped was a reassuring – and not egotistical – tone.
He must have missed the mark, because Oni looked at him suspiciously, “What dark power did you touch now?” Vashir thought he saw his eyes drop ever so slightly towards the hilt of the mighty dagger on his hip.
“I have seen the might of true power…the power to reclaim the dark,” he answered with all the certainty of one who knew truth of the world.
This answer did not earn the response he was hoping for, either. Oni looked at him with genuine pity and replied softly, “You bring tears to my eyes, brother. I fear the path you walk is one I cannot follow. We will…figure this out.”
Oni’s words hurt Vashir more than he thought possible. He was letting down his one true friend; the only person he still knew from that fateful day that he was birthed fully grown and clothed into the harsh desert. “Do not fear,” Vashir answered in a soft voice that felt foreign to his tongue, “We will persevere.” To sell the point he continued, “We have the Gods on our side. The Five cannot stand up to His might!”
Oni’s eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. “Whose?”
How to answer this question in a way that Oni will understand but not give the game away? By Set, I wish I had kept my mouth shut. “The one who gifted my brother with his boon – he shall….” He trailed off, unsure how to continue.
“What the fuck are you talking about!” Oni hissed, his voice dagger sharp.
“He saw but a taste of His power in Raam. It burns through me as well…My family must be drawn to His might.” Oni and Arnia aren’t the only ones chosen by a God, he practically smirked at the thought.
Oni’s countenance grew dark. “Your brother is dead, my ‘friend’,” he sneered, Vashir could practically hear the quotes around that last word. “We had to kill him. He was beset by Set! He was betrayed by the dark.”
Vashir then realized then that his friend would never understand. In his race to embrace the dawn he had become blinded by it, and would forever be unable to see in the light in the darkness Their quest was all important: to reclaim the night and drive the Queen of Dragons out of this realm, and whatever power offered itself up to them in their time of need should be embraced and not shunned, should they hope have any chance of success. Valdar had given himself to the power of the Viper god, but had squandered it wreaking havoc in Raam. Vashir would be more judicious; he always had more focus and a stronger will than his brothers. “He was weak and his quest was glory only…” he answered softly. He wanted to continue his point, but Oni was done with this conversation and had already begun walking down the hallway after Ixen, David, and Arnia.
Vashir watched him go and wondered if things would ever be the same between the two of them again. Then his hand fell to the dagger on his hip and he smiled. With this power, he had all the friends he would ever need. He almost believed that, but turned to follow the group anyway, trying to tamp down any thoughts of suspicion and doubt.