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02-01-2015, 04:22 PM
Kvothe & Elodin
I think of myself... as a troubadour, a village storyteller, the guy in the shadows of the campfire.
- Louis L'Amour A story? The stag before me desires a tale? I open my mouth to reply, but something below draws my attention. The pulsating glow of the pond has trapped my limbs, and I can feel a flutter of fear race through me. A bleat pulls my attention back towards shore, where Elodin is ready to charge onto the pond and raise all the hell in his tiny little body. But with a mental cry, I convince him to remain, and he is clearly none too happy about it, his head bobbing and his little hooves pawing at the turf. Slowly I look back to the stag, my mismatched gaze meeting his burning one, and I fight to keep my hide from trembling when I feel the magic water curl further around my body, covering me. "A tale? As you wish..." I took a deep breath, fighting the panic deep within that threatened to consume me when the blue light slid over my face and horn, completely ensnaring me. I was a bard, damnit. I could maintain composure even in the face of bloodshed and tragedy, I could easily spin a tale in this situation. "Far across many seas, in a land shrouded in mist and shadow, there lay a single egg, guarded by a serpent of olde, a dragon as clever as the night is dark when the moon hides her face. None knew what lay within the egg's golden shell, but all regarded it with lust and desire. Many went to the dragon in hopes of returning victorious with the egg, but none returned. For decades, none would venture to the dragon, for since none had survived it was deemed hopeless, and soon the wyrm and it's egg faded into memory, then legend. However a young scholar chanced upon the legend, and discovered within the old book that contained the legends, a secret map. This map showed the way to the serpent's lair, a way long forgotten in the minds of mortals. Excited, the scholar snuck out of his temple in the middle of the night and swiftly fled towards the dragon's lair. The way was not easy, for the path had long since vanished and bandits roamed the countryside. The scholar, whom had never harmed a soul in his life, forced himself to learn to fight, and woe to all who crossed him, for he cared little for friend or foe; for any that stood in his way were cut down. So grand was his greed, that he cared not even when his horn found the heart of his lover, and like trash he tossed her body to the side. By a path of blood the man found himself before the serpent, and was woefully unprepared. In his long slumber, the wyrm had merely grown, and now rested like a mountainous wall of silver, a barrier between the once-scholar and his prize. Foolishly, the man ran at the wyrm, and thrice he pierced that hide with his horn, and thrice his blow was reflected, until upon the third try, his horn snapped off at the base. His cry of pain and outrage was great enough to stir the serpent, and rouse it from it's slumber, and giant gold eyes the size of lakes regarded the pesky stallion with distaste. "What brings a child of dust hither?" She cried, uncoiling like a massive snake until her entire bulk faced the broken-horned scholar, the earth itself trembling from the mere movement. Fearless, for greed overrides all rationality, the man trumpeted back to the dragon. "I have come for that which shalt be mine, you have held this treasure long enough!" The dragon regarded him, and suddenly she began laughing, the booming sound rolling across the land like thunder, and all trembled within it's wake. "As you so desire, so it shall be, Son of Dust. My treasure unto you." Cackling, the serpent took flight, a hurricane of air before she was gone into the sky, nary a glimmer remaining of her presence. Gleefully the man rushed forward and spirited away the egg from that place, carrying it deep into the woods. For years he obsessed over it, trying all that he could to crack or shatter it's golden shell. It became all that he knew, all that he desired, and he guarded it with such ferocity that he tore even the grass and plants from the very earth itself and slaughtered any animal that strayed too close. All the while, the egg gleamed in all it's ethereal perfection, and no matter what the man did, it remained unblemished, unsoiled. Until one day, it did not. With a resounding 'crack!' the egg shattered into pieces! Shards of gleaming gold tore through the area like blades, and the man alone remained untouched by the deadly weapons, for he was the egg's guardian. From the golden shell emerged a being made of pure starlight, a creature of unfathomable beauty. She reached out for the man, and he gladly came, eager to see what he would earn for his years spent guarding it. All the man would receive was the soul-devouring embrace of the creature, for his heart had been shriveled and blackened by greed. Once she left the man an emotionless husk, she swiftly began traveling throughout the land, stealing the souls of those that possessed naught but greed in their hearts, who would destroy all that remained in their path. Those who were not consumed by greed were passed over. Which is why when your dam tells you to not be greedy, t'is probably a good idea to listen." My lips curl up in a wry smile. That ones one of the tales my dam had told to me. Probably not the best of stories for colts, but it's lesson I carried with me always, and whilst like all other mortals I possessed greed, I did not allow it to consume me. Not out of fear of some boogeyman, but rather out of fear of what it would do to me, what I would become. |
