He grips the icy rail of the ship as it dips into the ocean. Shrike rumbles unhappily. Eurytos bellows in laughter.
"I haven't met a cat yet that didn't fuss over a little rain"
The ship crests another wave. One of many bearing desperate men and women seeking to bring back the sun.
One of the men shouts through the howling icy gale. His finger pointing at the small island with a mountain upon it.
"There it is Hunter of the Moon such a terrible place we have found" Eurytos shakes his head.
As the ships grow nearer the men notice the howling of the wind change to that of a low shriek of pain. Upon the mountain a red slit appears and near it another. "That is no mountain friends" Eurytos shouts as part of the mountain slides off and another like giant coils unwrapping from a perch."Get ready for what we trained for!!!" The men and women explode into action.
He marvels at the chaos around him as winches are pulled and machines start humming. He looks out upon the ocean. There! He sees a small wave travelling towards them.
"The ripple grows into a wave they said" Eurytos grumbles "Straight into it we go don't falter now"
The wave now a horrific reality travels at terrifying speed towards the ships. Ships groan as the angle they are travelling. The man hangs on for dear life. He watches as one of the ships loses control. Men screaming in terror as the ship leans to the side and is split in half with a sickening force. He winces at the pain of the dying men. The painful wind shrieks in delight.
"He grow stronger with it. You feel it to hunter don't you? " Eurytos screams as they ascend at the impossible angle.
"Now like I taught you hold the little sun above your head quickly" Eurytos yells
The man thrust the spear above his head the spear glowing with intensity of the sun. The shining beacon cuts through the mist and the wind. The singal is seen. The men pull the levers and pulleys like clockwork. The engines flare to life the machines groan at the intensity of pressure. The propellers hum to life. It looks like they might fall to their deaths when they crest the wave. Pain roars in glee.
But then he sees them. They cut through the mists like a knife in the dark .The last twenty airships of the great armada. Banners flowing with newfound strength. May the dreamers be with us scrawled on their flags. As the ships near the island they can see a cloud of white escaping Pains ghastly maw. The captain peers through the spyglass with a grimace
"Give the singal" he mutters to his crewmen "Hard to port. Hard to port" he yells
As one the armada heaves to port revealing rank after rank of cannon. The man sees the cloud close in. Masses of white serpents fly and weave towards the ships. "HOLD" "HOLD" the captain bellows.
Pains brood threatens to close the gap in mere seconds.
"FIRE" "FIRE" relays across the wall of ships. A thunderous roar of cannon fire deafens him. The serpents fall from the sky hundreds of them. Panic ensues as they crash into ships. Screams of agony wood ripping "Fire at will Fire at will " is heard among this terrible chaos. They knew their duty cut a path. If it was the last thing they did cut a path.
"There" Eurytos gestures as his arrow sang into another serpent. "An opening bring us closer"
"Climb upon Shrike and get ready" Eurytos runs to Shrike and touches his forehead to the shaggy beasts head. "Do this for me" He grabs Shrikes shaggy fur "Bear him to that cliff above the great serpent, it is the only way"
Shrike growls in agreement. A ship smashes into a nearby rock shrapnel and rock flying everywhere. A piece of the mountain breaks off hurtling towards the ship. "BRACE FOR IMPACT" the captain shouts as the helmsman pulls with all his might to change course.
Shrike eyes the horizon. Madness is everywhere. He sees his chance. His muscles bulge ready to spring. As the rock grazes the ship he leaps impossibly far to an ice shelf. He runs with purpose along the collapsing shelf. He runs like the sky is falling behind him. As the ship careens out of view, he hears his master last plea. Do this for me. Shrike doesn't look back.
The man grips Shrike and together they run through the storm . Deftly he dodges the the falling debris and the shifting coils of the great serpent up the mountain. The man hears the whistle, then another as serpents narrowly miss the tiger.
Then he feels it. A sharp pain as Shrike collides with a falling tree. He rolls to to the ground with his mind pounding blackness surrounding his vision. He sees Shrike is desperately clawing the edge of the freshly opened chasm the roiling ocean below. The man dives towards his companion but is knocked to his feet by a grinning snake. He jabs at it with the spear and drives it down in a flash but he is too late. He peers over the cliff. Shrike is nowhere to be seen.
He presses on. Sounds of battle all around him screams of pain from man and monster alike. Smoke , snow and ash choke him. The brood closes in around him. Too many! Too many! Run! His mind screams at him. Surrounded he fumbles for the small horn hoping to singil some aid among the dark. The horn peals into the night.
Dream.......
He looks up into the night sky confused. He looks at the blue and red stars gleaming brilliantly
Dream....
He closes his eyes as the serpents rush at him from every angle. he clutches the little sun to his chest.
Dream......
Nothing.....
................
Nothing happens?
He opens his eyes astonished as the serpents fall from the sky above him. He hears arrow after arrow singing. His head swivels to the source. He sees her red and gold her bow singing destruction on enemy after enemy. A faint red hue aligns her form. Behind him there is blue glow. The ground shakes as massive great axe heaves and cuts dozen of serpents in two. The dreamers are here he cries. With words unspoken and great need they cut a path. Nicci's daggers tear through snake after snake with the speed of wind. He could barely follow her path . Ayrlyn's mighty axe spins and cuts through the dark and foe alike. He rushes to the cliff's edge with newfound hope.
He looks down and sees Pain opening his maw and a terrible blue light fire forth drawing a line towards the nearest ship cutting through it effortlessly. Not much time the he thought as he looked down at the destruction below him. How can we win against such reckless hate?
Ayrlyn at his right looked at him Sometimes dreams aren't such great things after all
Nicci at his left Remember we all die, but our dreams never will
He nods For my daughter and her dreams For my friends and their's
As one they leapt. Falling through the mist towards the great terror. The ice whistling in their faces.
Pain swivels and opens his terrible maw. The blue line draws nearly missing them. Again he opens it the rows of teeth and teeth. Ayrlyn flips her hair towards him and takes the lead.
Patience........
Strength....
Hope...
The blue line slams into her with terrifying force. Her form absorbs the blast and slowly dissipates.
Pain again opens his maw again and prepares for another blast. Nicci smiles sadly at him rushing through the air. She winks and crosses her arms before her and takes the lead falling swiftly.
Dream......
Listen....
Love...
Her body slowly dissipating until nothing remains. Pain shrieks.
Almost there. He thinks as his spear gleams with the brightness of a thousand suns. As Pain opens his maw to prepare the final blast the spear meets it head on. His last thoughts course through his head
I love you Athera....
I am sorry...
Dream for me...
then there was
Silence...........
Nothing.......
An explosion of light. A massive shockwave rolls over the island . Knocking the ships out of the sky into the ocean below. Everything is knocked flat. Then a crack in the island splits open and then another. The light bleeds through as Pain's coils fade. A large blinding globe starts to emerge from the depths. It slowly rises towards the sky. Beams of light shoot from it traveling far and near. A joyful chorus sings from within.
Hours later as the globe slowly ascends.............
Eurytos squints and points "There There " He roars joyfully . Eurytos reaches over the longboat's side and pulls a disgruntled(and very wet) Shrike aboard with a laugh
"My boy you made it! What have you got there in your teeth?" he asks laughing and crying at the same time "Oh"
He turns the spear over in his hands. Its light had been spent. It was dim and cold...
"You know you are probably wondering why we aren't all burnt crispy taters being so close to the sun and all" Eurytos replies. Shrike's ears perk up at the word tater's. Eurytos rolls his eyes. The sailors laugh.
"You of course haven't studied the ancient texts you mongrel. Right now the furnaces in the Great Nothing are rumbling to life. Eventually the heat will reach every corner of the world.
The sun you see is just light. If you look closely you can even see the last sun engineer Eshae work her magic. She may be long gone but her dream goes on. She is working hard to keep the light from fading."
The men squint and shake their heads. Did engineer mean goddess? Who knows? Most thought the giant was speaking nonsense.
"You see this is no normal world. We are in the belly of a giant whale travelling the ocean of stars. We are on the inside of the sphere. Soon he will stop dreaming and wake" Eurytos motions with his hand "Soon the citadels will come to the earth . Not the three great ones because they are lost but the lesser ones" He rambles on entranced by his own lecture. Shrike's snoring almost louder then him.
This time the sailors roll their eyes. They slowly row the longboat back to the few remaining ships. The weather calm and sunny. For the first time in years people feel the warmth and they feel hope....
Don't give up on hope because it never will give up on you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world shakes ....
HE is waking.....
Deep within the mechanical maze of tubes, crystals and walkways. She lies on a cold metal slab.
She wakes...
The lights start to blink everywhere.
The faint taste of blood lingers on her tongue
She sits up her head pounding. Where is this? Why was she here?
Try to remember....
Find me..
Who? She shakes her head as she finds her weapon and silently walks to the nearest doorway.
Pain floods through her head.
She stops to steady herself.
Then she recognizes the voice
Nicci...
Please hurry.......
There isn't much time.....
He is waking up.....
"There it is Hunter of the Moon such a terrible place we have found" Eurytos shakes his head.
As the ships grow nearer the men notice the howling of the wind change to that of a low shriek of pain. Upon the mountain a red slit appears and near it another. "That is no mountain friends" Eurytos shouts as part of the mountain slides off and another like giant coils unwrapping from a perch."Get ready for what we trained for!!!" The men and women explode into action.
He marvels at the chaos around him as winches are pulled and machines start humming. He looks out upon the ocean. There! He sees a small wave travelling towards them.
"The ripple grows into a wave they said" Eurytos grumbles "Straight into it we go don't falter now"
The wave now a horrific reality travels at terrifying speed towards the ships. Ships groan as the angle they are travelling. The man hangs on for dear life. He watches as one of the ships loses control. Men screaming in terror as the ship leans to the side and is split in half with a sickening force. He winces at the pain of the dying men. The painful wind shrieks in delight.
"He grow stronger with it. You feel it to hunter don't you? " Eurytos screams as they ascend at the impossible angle.
"Now like I taught you hold the little sun above your head quickly" Eurytos yells
The man thrust the spear above his head the spear glowing with intensity of the sun. The shining beacon cuts through the mist and the wind. The singal is seen. The men pull the levers and pulleys like clockwork. The engines flare to life the machines groan at the intensity of pressure. The propellers hum to life. It looks like they might fall to their deaths when they crest the wave. Pain roars in glee.
But then he sees them. They cut through the mists like a knife in the dark .The last twenty airships of the great armada. Banners flowing with newfound strength. May the dreamers be with us scrawled on their flags. As the ships near the island they can see a cloud of white escaping Pains ghastly maw. The captain peers through the spyglass with a grimace
"Give the singal" he mutters to his crewmen "Hard to port. Hard to port" he yells
As one the armada heaves to port revealing rank after rank of cannon. The man sees the cloud close in. Masses of white serpents fly and weave towards the ships. "HOLD" "HOLD" the captain bellows.
Pains brood threatens to close the gap in mere seconds.
"FIRE" "FIRE" relays across the wall of ships. A thunderous roar of cannon fire deafens him. The serpents fall from the sky hundreds of them. Panic ensues as they crash into ships. Screams of agony wood ripping "Fire at will Fire at will " is heard among this terrible chaos. They knew their duty cut a path. If it was the last thing they did cut a path.
"There" Eurytos gestures as his arrow sang into another serpent. "An opening bring us closer"
"Climb upon Shrike and get ready" Eurytos runs to Shrike and touches his forehead to the shaggy beasts head. "Do this for me" He grabs Shrikes shaggy fur "Bear him to that cliff above the great serpent, it is the only way"
Shrike growls in agreement. A ship smashes into a nearby rock shrapnel and rock flying everywhere. A piece of the mountain breaks off hurtling towards the ship. "BRACE FOR IMPACT" the captain shouts as the helmsman pulls with all his might to change course.
Shrike eyes the horizon. Madness is everywhere. He sees his chance. His muscles bulge ready to spring. As the rock grazes the ship he leaps impossibly far to an ice shelf. He runs with purpose along the collapsing shelf. He runs like the sky is falling behind him. As the ship careens out of view, he hears his master last plea. Do this for me. Shrike doesn't look back.
The man grips Shrike and together they run through the storm . Deftly he dodges the the falling debris and the shifting coils of the great serpent up the mountain. The man hears the whistle, then another as serpents narrowly miss the tiger.
Then he feels it. A sharp pain as Shrike collides with a falling tree. He rolls to to the ground with his mind pounding blackness surrounding his vision. He sees Shrike is desperately clawing the edge of the freshly opened chasm the roiling ocean below. The man dives towards his companion but is knocked to his feet by a grinning snake. He jabs at it with the spear and drives it down in a flash but he is too late. He peers over the cliff. Shrike is nowhere to be seen.
He presses on. Sounds of battle all around him screams of pain from man and monster alike. Smoke , snow and ash choke him. The brood closes in around him. Too many! Too many! Run! His mind screams at him. Surrounded he fumbles for the small horn hoping to singil some aid among the dark. The horn peals into the night.
Dream.......
He looks up into the night sky confused. He looks at the blue and red stars gleaming brilliantly
Dream....
He closes his eyes as the serpents rush at him from every angle. he clutches the little sun to his chest.
Dream......
Nothing.....
................
Nothing happens?
He opens his eyes astonished as the serpents fall from the sky above him. He hears arrow after arrow singing. His head swivels to the source. He sees her red and gold her bow singing destruction on enemy after enemy. A faint red hue aligns her form. Behind him there is blue glow. The ground shakes as massive great axe heaves and cuts dozen of serpents in two. The dreamers are here he cries. With words unspoken and great need they cut a path. Nicci's daggers tear through snake after snake with the speed of wind. He could barely follow her path . Ayrlyn's mighty axe spins and cuts through the dark and foe alike. He rushes to the cliff's edge with newfound hope.
He looks down and sees Pain opening his maw and a terrible blue light fire forth drawing a line towards the nearest ship cutting through it effortlessly. Not much time the he thought as he looked down at the destruction below him. How can we win against such reckless hate?
Ayrlyn at his right looked at him Sometimes dreams aren't such great things after all
Nicci at his left Remember we all die, but our dreams never will
He nods For my daughter and her dreams For my friends and their's
As one they leapt. Falling through the mist towards the great terror. The ice whistling in their faces.
Pain swivels and opens his terrible maw. The blue line draws nearly missing them. Again he opens it the rows of teeth and teeth. Ayrlyn flips her hair towards him and takes the lead.
Patience........
Strength....
Hope...
The blue line slams into her with terrifying force. Her form absorbs the blast and slowly dissipates.
Pain again opens his maw again and prepares for another blast. Nicci smiles sadly at him rushing through the air. She winks and crosses her arms before her and takes the lead falling swiftly.
Dream......
Listen....
Love...
Her body slowly dissipating until nothing remains. Pain shrieks.
Almost there. He thinks as his spear gleams with the brightness of a thousand suns. As Pain opens his maw to prepare the final blast the spear meets it head on. His last thoughts course through his head
I love you Athera....
I am sorry...
Dream for me...
then there was
Silence...........
Nothing.......
An explosion of light. A massive shockwave rolls over the island . Knocking the ships out of the sky into the ocean below. Everything is knocked flat. Then a crack in the island splits open and then another. The light bleeds through as Pain's coils fade. A large blinding globe starts to emerge from the depths. It slowly rises towards the sky. Beams of light shoot from it traveling far and near. A joyful chorus sings from within.
Hours later as the globe slowly ascends.............
Eurytos squints and points "There There " He roars joyfully . Eurytos reaches over the longboat's side and pulls a disgruntled(and very wet) Shrike aboard with a laugh
"My boy you made it! What have you got there in your teeth?" he asks laughing and crying at the same time "Oh"
He turns the spear over in his hands. Its light had been spent. It was dim and cold...
"You know you are probably wondering why we aren't all burnt crispy taters being so close to the sun and all" Eurytos replies. Shrike's ears perk up at the word tater's. Eurytos rolls his eyes. The sailors laugh.
"You of course haven't studied the ancient texts you mongrel. Right now the furnaces in the Great Nothing are rumbling to life. Eventually the heat will reach every corner of the world.
The sun you see is just light. If you look closely you can even see the last sun engineer Eshae work her magic. She may be long gone but her dream goes on. She is working hard to keep the light from fading."
The men squint and shake their heads. Did engineer mean goddess? Who knows? Most thought the giant was speaking nonsense.
"You see this is no normal world. We are in the belly of a giant whale travelling the ocean of stars. We are on the inside of the sphere. Soon he will stop dreaming and wake" Eurytos motions with his hand "Soon the citadels will come to the earth . Not the three great ones because they are lost but the lesser ones" He rambles on entranced by his own lecture. Shrike's snoring almost louder then him.
This time the sailors roll their eyes. They slowly row the longboat back to the few remaining ships. The weather calm and sunny. For the first time in years people feel the warmth and they feel hope....
Don't give up on hope because it never will give up on you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The world shakes ....
HE is waking.....
Deep within the mechanical maze of tubes, crystals and walkways. She lies on a cold metal slab.
She wakes...
The lights start to blink everywhere.
The faint taste of blood lingers on her tongue
She sits up her head pounding. Where is this? Why was she here?
Try to remember....
Find me..
Who? She shakes her head as she finds her weapon and silently walks to the nearest doorway.
Pain floods through her head.
She stops to steady herself.
Then she recognizes the voice
Nicci...
Please hurry.......
There isn't much time.....
He is waking up.....
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