literature

Dawn | Prologue

Deviation Actions

xSparkeyZx

Published: Aug 30, 2017

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Literature Text

Prologue

The Greenhollow Citadel

The sun started rising on a snowy day in the Citadel of Greenhollow. A majestic city of towers made of white bricks, with a bigger tower in the center, being the palace of the royal family. A metropolis of torches and houses were scattered around the towers as the surrounding walls were guarded by the archers and the gatekeepers. Flocks of birds made the scenery even more gorgeous as they were flying in schools above the city. The streets were already starting to become busy as merchants were setting up their stands and guards patrolling the streets. Inside the palace, sat King Meriac alongside his Queen Eria. The halls were silent with only the sound of footsteps echoing and the flickering torches on the pillars of the hall. The throne room was located in the top of the White Tower. That was how they called it.

The double doors on the entrance of the throne room opened very slowly with a creaking tone when a guard walked in, escorting a man who looked like a poor citizen. Ragged clothing and dirt on his skin, uncombed hair and clearly starting to get trouble with the cold. The footsteps echoed through the halls along with the clinging metal of the guard's armor. As the man walked through the hall with a bent back and weak legs, the king stood up from his throne and waited for the man to approach. A black, long-haired king with a firm beard and white and comfortable leather suit with fur paddings, adorned with golden trinkets and outlines. His gold crown matched the gold parts of his outfit. The queen was dressed similarly, with brown long, beautiful braided hair and a female gown version of the king's outfit.

The guard looked up the king and nodded respectfully.

"Your grace, this man claims he saw the wyvern."

King Meriac, looking to the man, stepped down the steps of his throne closer to him. "Where did you see it?"

The beggar shivered with his lips as he tried to squeeze out his words. A raspy and weak voice emerging from his mouth. "On the road between Greenhollow and Whiteridge, sir. I was-" suddenly the guard interrupted him with a nudge on his shoulder.

"That is 'your grace' for you too, beggar."

Meriac looked at the guard with a frown and narrowed eyes. "Oh come on give this poor man a break. You are dismissed, continue your duties." he said. The guard nodded, caressing the hilt of his sword. "As you wish, your grace." and walked back towards the exit of the throne room. Meriac then placed his hand on the beggar's shoulder, looking at his maiden.

"Give the man one of the guest quarters to sleep and warm up for today and the upcoming night. Give him a bag of food, water and a fur blanket on his departure. And for Zira's sake give him some warm clothes as well."

The maiden nodded and was about to make her way to prepare what was asked for as Meriac pointed at her. "Follow her, you can share your seeings later. Warm up and get some food in that belly of yours first, then we can talk."

"Thank you, my lord." the beggar said weakly before following the maiden. When everything was quiet, Meriac stepped back on his throne and sat down. Queen Eria looked at him quite concerned, blowing out the air from her cheeks. "People are seeing the beast way more lately."

He nodded in response. "Yes. I'm glad I'm not the only one concerned about that. But if it ever attacks Greenhollow, we will be prepared." his deep and strong voice always made Eria feel safer. Meriac's eyes diverted to another one of his maidens.

"Send word to Whiteridge and Velbark to summon everyone who saw this beast recently to my palace. I want to know what it's up to..."

"Yes, my lord." she answered and went on her way as well.

Dawn

Meanwhile, in the wild snowy forests between Whiteridge and Velbark, a rabbit calmly bounced in the layers of snow on the ground, looking for food as it suddenly got impaled in its belly by an arrow, almost dying immediately. Crunching footsteps approached as a girl put away her bow around her back and took the rabbit, pulling out the arrow.

"Thank you buddy!" she mumbled to herself with a smile as she tied the neck around her leather belt and putting the arrow back into her quiver. She wore thick fur clothing with a fur hood as well, with some of her long brown hair sticking out of it and her blue eyes being even bluer in this bright snow. Clouds of breath emerged from her mouth as the tip of her small nose also had a red tint. Walking back through the snow towards her house, she was still looking around the forest for in case she saw another animal. Snowflakes were gently floating down, coloring her fur clothes in a white tint.

Then she saw the smoke of the chimney of her house in the distant. It was a small wooden cabin, in the middle of the woods. She approached the cabin. Her father was hammering on something on his anvil, also wearing fur clothes of course. You wouldn't be able to survive for long without them. The winters in Oryn were always very cold. It was only in early spring, that the temperatures would finally raise again.

"I got us another rabbit, father." Dawn said. Her father nodded with a smile, though he looked like he expected more. "Just the rabbit?"

"Yes, seems all the bigger game doesn't want to come out today." Dawn answered.

Her father tilted his head towards the cabin and sighed. "Bring it inside. Can you help me with something after?"

"Of course, I'll be with you soon." Dawn entered the cabin, taking off her hood and stumbling on her mother chopping up some meat on the counter. The cabin was quite small, with only a small fireplace warming it up. The living room and kitchen were all in one room, except for the bedrooms.

"Hello mother, not much game today, just this rabbit." Dawn said as she hung it up on the strings beside the window of the kitchen.

Her mother smiled warmly. "It's okay, dear. Will you be helping your father?"

"Yep! Do you need something as well?" Dawn asked with a smile.

"Oh no, no. Just wondering. Be careful!"

"Always am!"

Dawn walked towards her bedroom. Opening the door, she entered her small, but cute room filled with drawings. She approached the mirror on the wall and looked at her face. The freezing cold had damaged her lips a bit, making them look dry and with some small cuts that weren't bleeding. She ran her fingers over the scars across her right cheek and left eyebrow, sighing. "Yeah you're not going away for sure."

Suddenly, her father called her from outside. "Dawn, there's someone here for you!"

"Right, I'm coming!" she replied. Walking out of the house, she was greeted by her friend. Neera, sitting on a white horse and leading a second brown one behind her with reins. Everyone in the wildlands seemed to have similar fur clothing, which was pretty obvious, since they were all made from the same animals. The horses were not like the ones bred into the cities. These ones had thicker fur to be more resistant to the colds of the winter. Their breed were called "Wildlanders". Neera had long hair sticking out of her hood as well, but it was fiery red. Her green eyes along with the red hair made her look even more beautiful. Especially in the bright light of the sun-reflecting snow, when the contrasts stood out even more.

"Dawn! Up for a ride in the plains?" she asked. Dawn sighed and crossed her arms, taking a glimpse at her father. "Ah..I was actually going to help out-" but her father interrupted her.

"It's okay, go take a ride with Neera. I can do this on my own." he smiled. Dawn still felt a little guilty, but since her father insisted, she accepted Neera's offer.

"Alright! Let's go! Thank you, father." she said as she climbed the brown horse Neera brought with her. Her father only responded with a small smirk. "Okay, lead the way!"

Neera turned around her horse and entered the woods again, making her horse gently jog between the trees.

The Snowy Plains

After travelling through the forest for quite some time, finally, they almost arrived at the plains. Neera's laugh echoed through the edge of the forest.

"No way!" she said with a smile. Dawn returned the smile and nodded. "I'm not kidding."

"Oh I want to hunt with you sometime. A shame I don't have a bow yet."

"We can always make you one. It's not that hard." Dawn said. Both their horses were calmly plowing through the stacks of snow.

"Well then master hunter, teach me." Neera smiled, waggling her eyebrows. Dawn then responded intentionally lowering her voice as low as she can.

"Oh my apprentice, patience is a virtue, you shall find your inner knowledge in time."

Neera and Dawn both giggled as they exited the forests, entering the white plains. Dawn didn't expect the view though. She slack-jawed, fixing her gaze upon the view with wide eyes. Snowy hills were stretching across the horizon with mountain ranges in the long distance.

"Amazing isn't it?" Neera smiled, observing Dawn's reaction.

"Incredible.." she responded.

Zeyros' Rage

Suddenly, a distant roar echoed through the fields, making both Dawn and Neera's head turn to the origin of the sound.

"What was that?" Dawn asked. Neera wanted to respond, But then the massive silhouette flew above their heads making a loud whooshing sound as it spread it's colossal wings, it's reptilian form casting a shadow over them. Then it opened it's huge jaws, letting out a menacing roar. Their horses whined and became scared. Dawn's horse threw her off into the snow.

"What was that!" Dawn shouted. Her voice sounded trembling. Neera followed the creature with her eyes.

"It's the wyvern!"

Dawn crawled back up and took back the reins of her horse as Neera noticed something else. "Oh no.."

"What?" Dawn asked.

"It's heading for the Tree of Growth..we have to follow him!" There was no negotiation as Neera already whipped her horse with the reins, making it run into a gallop state. Dawn wanted to stop her, shouting her name, but she was too late. She climbed on her horse, gripping firmly onto the reins and taking a look back into the forest with frowned eyebrows before whipping her reins as well. "Hya!"

Her horse started galloping and following Neera through the snowy fields, making snow fly up behind their horses. It took them hours to arrive at the Tree of Growth. Usually, nobody would dare to visit it because of the guardians, but Neera really wanted to see why it was heading that direction. Seeing the colossal tree in the distance, Neera already saw very bed news. Vilxians were flying around in different forms and in distress. The roars of Zeyros sounded deafening for Dawn and Neera.

"What is it doing?!" Neera shouted, her voice sounding very panicky.

"Neera we should return, we can't do anything about this!" Dawn shouted, trying to talk sense into her. But she still insisted, approaching the tree closer.

"Neera, stop!"

But to no avail. The wyvern seemed to be killing a lot of guardians, despite their attempts to hold off the beast. Light flashes were seen everywhere around the tree. Suddenly, Zeyros seemed to be charging some kind of strange energy, giving him a strange yellow glow. The guardians tried all their attacks, dashing into him and sending sharp flashes of light onto him, but nothing worked. And then nobody could've sensed what would've happened next. Zeyros unleashed all the energy he absorbed, creating a massive shock wave and flash of light, even hitting Neera and Dawn. When the huge flash colored the air, everything went black for both Neera and Dawn.

Dawn slowly woke up. Her head was pounding and her ears were still ringing a bit. She also noticed something else on her skin. Was it raining? When her vision slowly returned, she saw the falling snow had turned into raindrops, making millions of tiny holes into the snow. The sky was covered with grey thick clouds and the sun was nowhere to be seen. Then she realized why her head was aching so badly. The shock wave flung her all the way across the hill. Thankfully, her thick and soft fur clothing caught most of the fall. She slowly crawled back up and turned around her body, looking for Neera. Then she saw her, still laying down motionlessly. But that wasn't the only thing she saw. Her heart skipped a beat, having difficulty to swallow and her face contorting.

Fall of the Guardians

She saw the Tree of Growth. What was once so majestic and beautiful...now somber and grey. Creaking wood echoed through the skies as the leaves were fluttering down. And that wasn't it, the ground around it was covered with fallen bodies of guardians. A soft thunder sounded in the distance as Dawn couldn't believe her eyes. Why did the wyvern do this? Why did it want to destroy the world? The weather seemed to be out of balance already, and it only just begun. She crouched over Neera and shook her body a little.

"Neera?"

"I know what happened...I just want to keep laying down and accept the horrible fate of this world." she suddenly answered as she kept laying down with her face into the snow. Dawn then sighed, giving Neera a nudge and stood up again.

"What do we do?" she asked with a desperate tone. Suddenly, something caught Dawn's eyes. A glimmer in the distance, right below the tree. "Get your butt up and come look at this."

"What?" Neera asked, crawling up and laying her hand on her head. She was having a headache as well. When Dawn pointed at it, she saw it too.

"I don't know about you, but I don't like walking through a graveyard of dead guardians,-" but then she noticed Dawn already started walking towards it. "Hey, hold up!"

The Orb's Call

Following Dawn, they both traversed through these eerie fields. They did their best to not look at the bodies and ignore them. When they got closer to the glimmering object, it started to look like an orb. A blue, beautiful shimmering orb the size of two fingers. But it also seemed to be making a strange calling sound. Like a crying animal, calling out for help.

"What.." Neera muttered, walking closer to it together with Dawn. She wanted to touch it.

"Wait-wait-wait! Are you crazy? You don't know what will happen?" Dawn stopped her.

"Exactly. If we don't try we'll never know won't we?" Neera answered.

"Ugh..if you die I won't be able to handle it."

"Oh shush you, I won't die."

Neera reached out her hand slowly. The orb's light seemed to be gathering more to her hand the closer it got.

"I don't like this.." Dawn mumbled. Then, Neera touched it.

A bright blue light started emitting from the orb, making Neera and Dawn take steps back out of fear. The light was so bright they had to shield their eyes. When the light faded, Dawn and Neera were dumbfounded, seeing a brand new Vilxian laying on the ground, where the orb originally was. It was still enshrouded in a white light. When that also faded, it revealed the beautiful guardian. A small creature with black short fur, blue bright eyes and ears like a bunny. A long and thin tail that was curled up and paws similar to a cat. When it finally noticed Dawn and Neera, it suddenly pounced backwards and went into a intimidating stance, already preparing a strange ball of light above it.

"Woah woah woah, easy there! We don't mean you any harm!" Dawn said, keeping her head low and stretching out her arms submissively. She didn't want to do too many sudden moves, so she stretched her mouth to the side of Neera, keeping her gaze on the creature and whispered. "I told you this was a bad idea.."

Its eyes quickly switched between both of them, as if it was waiting for them to make a sudden attack. Dawn kept insisting.

"It's okay. We're not the ones that destroyed this place. We mean you no harm..."

Please don't kill us, is the thought that went through both Dawn and Neera's head. It kept its combat position for a while, but then it suddenly made the ball of light disappear and getting into a more calm position, but still keeping a careful eye on them. Why was this last guardian into a shape of an orb? Did it come from the tree?

"That's right." Neera mumbled softly.

Suddenly, words came out of the creature as if it was speaking the human's tongue for years.

"I need to get to Root Island."

They didn't expect that at all. No creature other than humans have ever talked before in Oryn. Were the Vilxians really another sentient and talking species? And what was it talking about?

"Y-you can talk?" Dawn asked with a wide-eyed gaze.

"No, I cannot. I can speak in both your minds though, by using the language you have been taught. Anyway, Aurora told me everything."

Neera and Dawn were still immensely confused. Were they hearing the creature in their heads? For some reason, Dawn thought she was going crazy there for a moment.

"Aurora?"

The creature pointed towards the tree with one of its three tiny fingers. "The tree of course! She's called Aurora. An amalgamation of our creators Ara and Mora guiding us in our paths! Aurora says we have to go to Root Island!"

Neera looked at Dawn, who also looked back at her. They both crinkled their nose in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, but...Root Island? We never heard of that." Dawn said.

"It's an island far away into the Silk Sea. She says her roots are coming all together at that place. And Zeyros is heading there to destroy that too. When he destroys the main roots, Aurora will die. Please, you have to help me get there!"

"Wait, what? Can't you just fly there? Aren't you supposed to be able to change shapes?"

The creature's ears flattened a little. "I can't. I'm not like all the other Vilxians. I'm a Newborn. I'm still supposed to learn everything a Vilxian can do. That is why Aurora says you two have to guide me!"

Neera sighed and shook her head. "Hold on...Aurora told you that?" she seemed to really look at the creature in disbelief, twisting her mouth and creasing her brow.

"Yes! She believes you two will succeed. Will you come with me?"

Neera and Dawn both took a glimpse to each other again, not knowing what to do. Dawn seemed to be not too much into it though.

"I don't think I...I'll have to go back home."

Neera thought the same. "I'm sorry, little buddy...but we have places to go. We're just ordinary humans, what does Aurora see in us that's different from all the better warriors in this world?"

The creature's ears went flat again. "She thinks you will both love me well enough to protect me with your lives. She believes nobody else will..."

Dawn closed her eyes and sighed softly, turning around. "I can't..." and walked away. Neera watched Dawn leaving, not knowing what to say. She then looked back at the creature and saw something in its face...its little nose...the bright blue eyes...the life that Aurora had given it. It couldn't have been for nothing. If they didn't guide this creature, maybe it would never be able to succeed in stopping Zeyros. It felt like the entire fate of Oryn rested on her and Dawn's shoulders.

"Dawn, wait." Neera said. Dawn turned around.

"Are you really considering going with it?"

"Who else will do it if we don't? I don't want to be living with the fact that we destroyed this world because we didn't feel like helping this poor creature on his journey. And I know you don't either."

Dawn sighed and looked to the ground, shaking her head. She looked at the creature. "What will we have to go through?"

The creature looked a bit hesitant. "We'll have to pass the Ruins of Ashes, the Zion Tower and the Misty Bridge. Those are the three places that will teach me what the Vilxians all could. Without them, I will never be able to defeat Zeyros..."

Dawn pondered, twisting her lips and looking at the sad, dried and grey tree, still losing a lot of her leaves.

"Okay...I'll go with you."

The Last Vilxian

Immediately after she said that, the creature's ears dart up again as it made a little hop of excitement before crawling onto Dawn's shoulder and hugging her head.

"Thank you kind human!"

Dawn couldn't help but giggle a little. "Okay there, little buddy. We'll need a name for you. I'm not going to keep calling you 'creature'".

Neera smiled. "How about Aura?"

The creature responded with a twirl of its ears. "I like that name! Sounds like it comes from Aurora!"

"It does!" Dawn responded, smiling widely. The creature just seemed like a child. She and Neera did wonder how this innocent little creature would be able to defeat this raging wyvern. Dawn looked at Neera.

"I'll write a letter to my parents as soon as we enter the next city...I'll make a bow for you along the way."

Dawn of an Adventure

And thus, Dawn and Neera joined Aura in their rather unexpected adventure to get to Root Island and be ridden of Zeyros' terrible intentions. And to guide Aura through their trials so they could learn from their fallen ancestors. Their first destination were the Ruins of Ashes.