Legends (Title subject to change)
Zero. Rhye
The time before my kingdom was hard for my people. Four thousand years ago, before I was born, my race, the Solune, was a hunted race. My mother lived during that time and she would tell my brother and I stories of a creature that would take delight in feasting on us, a large predator with sharp teeth, long hair and no eyes. She told us, “Out of all the races on the underside, the Solune were the food of choice. Combat against our foe was always at a loss, our lazor eyes were adapted for hunting small prey, not fighting creatures three times our size. So, we migrated away from our predator, to no avail. They simply followed us, but we continued to move, what else could be done?
“At some point, we set up our overnight camp near a large hole in the ground. People gathered around it, curious, dropping handfuls of sand and bits of rock into it. What happened next was inevitable. A friend of mine mother lost her footing, slipped, and fell into it. She shouted as she fell, everyone else unable to do anything. What could they do? Family and friends mourned, and others returned to the nearby camp. After about half an hour, the strangest thing happened. The woman, my friend, fell out of the hole. She told us about a world on the other side, a place we might be safe.
“Our group was split in two over the decision. Some felt it was not worth the risk. What if there was an even worse creature on the other side? Others were exited, they wanted to see the new world, and they wanted to escape. I took a quick leadership role in favour of the jump. The leader of a portion of Solune, a dark skinned man, took the other side, saying that they would stay behind and try to master magic to combat the predator, to preserve the homeland. As the night progressed, so did the argument. I had a group of adventurous Solune and a group of physically wear Solune, tired of the running. The Man had a group of stronger, more battle ready Solune. I noted that all of the black Solune decided to stay behind, as well as some of the white Solune.
“As morning came, we knew that we had to be on the move. Despite the lethargic feelings of those who were up all night, we all know the predator would be upon us if we did not move. I lead my group to the hole. After we tossed all our supplies in we decided my friend would make the jump first and I would go last. I said goodbye to all the people staying behind and followed the rest of my group down the hole. And that is where we are right now, on the other side. It is much sunnier here. The predator has bothered us since.”
That’s what she would tell us, but we still had problems. To the east was an insane race, very similar to ours, the Riley. Going west to avoid them was not an option as the jungle there was inhabited by the violently secretive Elken. We moved south and found a perfect spot to build a kingdom. With my mother long gone, and me leading the Solune, I found a place for us to settle in, where we could start a kingdom of our own. I became king, and thousands of years later, I still am…
You can understand that when an angel approached me, a thousand years ago, and offered a deal to protect my kingdom from the threats north and east of us, I accepted. The angel created a magic barrier that blocked out everything with malice or hunger for Solune on its mind. It told me to keep people within, to make sure that they stayed safe. My population was growing, so I built a wall on top of the barrier. I am not a stupid leader, and so I asked it questions and learned two major things: There is a limit to how many Solune (and only Solune) can pass through before it dissolves and that it will dissipate in a thousand years. The angel created the divine tower first, in the north, and I had my wall built starting from there, encompassing the kingdom. Then the angel left and has not returned. Now a thousand years later it seems my time is running thin…
“At some point, we set up our overnight camp near a large hole in the ground. People gathered around it, curious, dropping handfuls of sand and bits of rock into it. What happened next was inevitable. A friend of mine mother lost her footing, slipped, and fell into it. She shouted as she fell, everyone else unable to do anything. What could they do? Family and friends mourned, and others returned to the nearby camp. After about half an hour, the strangest thing happened. The woman, my friend, fell out of the hole. She told us about a world on the other side, a place we might be safe.
“Our group was split in two over the decision. Some felt it was not worth the risk. What if there was an even worse creature on the other side? Others were exited, they wanted to see the new world, and they wanted to escape. I took a quick leadership role in favour of the jump. The leader of a portion of Solune, a dark skinned man, took the other side, saying that they would stay behind and try to master magic to combat the predator, to preserve the homeland. As the night progressed, so did the argument. I had a group of adventurous Solune and a group of physically wear Solune, tired of the running. The Man had a group of stronger, more battle ready Solune. I noted that all of the black Solune decided to stay behind, as well as some of the white Solune.
“As morning came, we knew that we had to be on the move. Despite the lethargic feelings of those who were up all night, we all know the predator would be upon us if we did not move. I lead my group to the hole. After we tossed all our supplies in we decided my friend would make the jump first and I would go last. I said goodbye to all the people staying behind and followed the rest of my group down the hole. And that is where we are right now, on the other side. It is much sunnier here. The predator has bothered us since.”
That’s what she would tell us, but we still had problems. To the east was an insane race, very similar to ours, the Riley. Going west to avoid them was not an option as the jungle there was inhabited by the violently secretive Elken. We moved south and found a perfect spot to build a kingdom. With my mother long gone, and me leading the Solune, I found a place for us to settle in, where we could start a kingdom of our own. I became king, and thousands of years later, I still am…
You can understand that when an angel approached me, a thousand years ago, and offered a deal to protect my kingdom from the threats north and east of us, I accepted. The angel created a magic barrier that blocked out everything with malice or hunger for Solune on its mind. It told me to keep people within, to make sure that they stayed safe. My population was growing, so I built a wall on top of the barrier. I am not a stupid leader, and so I asked it questions and learned two major things: There is a limit to how many Solune (and only Solune) can pass through before it dissolves and that it will dissipate in a thousand years. The angel created the divine tower first, in the north, and I had my wall built starting from there, encompassing the kingdom. Then the angel left and has not returned. Now a thousand years later it seems my time is running thin…
One. Hunt.
Yaska searched through the eastern desert for her prey. She usually hunted in the sandy expanse between her village and the Solune wall, as it was easier than hunting in the sandstorm plagued Barren Desert in the west. The desert here was mostly flat, the high kingdom wall to the east and the mountains to the north stopping any huge dunes from forming. Instead, there was only the occasional soft breeze of warm air. Yaska stepped around a shrub and worked her way over the occasional sand dunes, seeing her target in the distance.
There were only three things in the desert that the Plainkind ate in the desert: sauruses, dinosaurs, and desert birds. Sauruses were waist high creatures that are similar to small rhinoceroses. They have a horn jutting out of their head, and they have thick grey hide. They mostly ate shrubs. Sauruses tasted bland, and Yaska suspected they were mostly made of blubber. Dinosaurs were much larger, their shoulders reaching over a Plainkind’s head. These were primary targets for any hunter. They were large enough to feed a village for days and their meat was usually of a high quality, something that confused Yaska, as she was sure they only ate sauruses. The birds were scavengers. They had little meat on them, but the Plainkind considered them a delicacy. It was not known whether this was because they were particularly delicious or if they simply broke up the monotony of dinosaur meat.
Between Yaska and the dinosaur there was one of the few and far between sand dunes, made from sand getting caught on the occasional bedrock that jutted out of the ground. She moved up toward it, quietly and hid behind the dune, waiting for the dinosaur to approach. She readied herself, making sure her sand coloured hair was not going to get in her eyes. After a calculated moment, she stood up, ran towards and up the dune and launched her body toward the creature. It turned to her and roared, only ten metres away from her, getting ready to charge. She used the momentum of her jump and threw her sword at, piercing through its thick skin and lodging itself in the creatures back leg. This was so the dinosaur had a hard time running away, should it find itself overpowered by a Plainkind much lighter than itself. Usually for Yaska this was an unneeded precaution, she usually killed them before then. She and the beast charged at each other in the same moment. Yaska needed to get her weapon out of the beast’s thigh. She knew not do slide underneath it, lest she get trampled, so she ran around it when they met. This task was made easier now that the dinosaur was crippled. She slid to its back leg, dodging a bite that was meant to detach her arm from her body. The dinosaur roared once more as she attempted to free her weapon from its leg. She reached up to where it was, about eye level. She hauled down on it, back facing the creature’s front, and easily pulled it out. The weapon was as heavy as it was sharp, and she used its weight to her advantage, swinging it down, around, and back up, aiming for the dinosaur’s neck. In a moment its head was liberated from its body.
Yaska quickly untied the leather bag from her waist. She knew she only had a few seconds before gravity caught up with the creature’s headless body and it fell on its side. She put the bag over the creature’s neck and did her best to tighten the leather rope around it. She pushed it, making sure it would not get sand in its leg wound. She then turned her attention to the head in the sand. Her older sister had always taught her to bury the heads of her prey.
“If not for respect, then at least for good luck or something,” she would say.
Yaska kept this in mind and made a hole with her hands. It felt like she was making a grave and, she realized, she kind of was. When it was deep enough she laid the head in it and covered it up. Went back working on the neck. She took the cord on the bag and, bracing her bare foot on the neck, pulled it tight. She did not want to pull too tight, as she knew from experience that she could sever another chunk off of the beast if she did. The reason Plainkind hunters did this was to preserve the blood, their primary source of liquids. She tied the bag then went and grabbed the dinosaur’s tail and pulled. She pulled the large beast back toward her village.
The trip home, like usual, was rather difficult. She thought back to her sister, who had told her that dinosaurs usually weighed about eight times the amount a Plainkind did. She could feel it. She looked ahead and saw the village, a group of small, rough stone brick houses, roofed with cured dinosaur ribcages. The sun indicated that it was half way through the dusk, so she would have time to get the carcass clean. She was training a young man to clean the meat. She needed to pass the task on so that she could focus on hunting.
On approach, Yaska immediately noticed two shafts of light originating from south of the village, blinking in and out of existence. Confused, she dropped her catch and ran toward them. She could see that a group of villagers had crowded around the source. She scanned it to see if she could find Jan, but couldn’t. When she finally reached the crowd she saw him, next to the source of the lights; a girl, lying on her back. He was trying to do two things at once, calm down the girl who was shooting lazors out of her eyes and make the crowd disperse. The girl had light, weak looking skin and long blonde hair. She had an abnormally slim build and appeared to be very tall. Yaska compared these traits to Jan; like Yaska he was broad, stout and had clean tanned skin tinged with red. Jan also had huge scars on nearly every visible part of his skin, upper arm, collar and face. Yaska knew that the girl was definitely not Plainkind.
Yaska got to the task at hand, pushing through the crowd until she was in the middle with Jan and the girl. He was pushing down on her, preventing her from getting up. She one the other had was crying, panicking and making a general scene. Her eyes were emitting a stream of semitransparent pale yellow-grey light, interrupted only by her frantic blinking. Jan had a hand on her chest, palm on her lower ribcage and thumb between her breasts. His other hand was on the top of her head, holding it in place, preventing the light from hitting anyone. He was saying things to her, trying to calm her down, but the situation was being made worse by the crowd.
“I will take care of the people.” Yaska said to Jan. Then she turned to the crowd, “What are you all doing here? You are making the situation worse!”
Everyone looked at her, dumbfounded.
“I am sure you are all neglecting some task right now. Leave Jan and me to deal with this girl.”
They finally realized who was speaking and came to their senses. The crowd shambled back to the village. Everyone except for Han, the boy Yaska was training to clean dinosaurs, left. He had a confused look on his face, and walked right up to her nervously.
He said, “I could he-“
The girl wailed out, drowning out Han’s sentence.
Jan replied, “It’s just a matter of time. Trust me; I’ve dealt with young girls before.” He flashed his signature relaxed, casual smile.
Yaska knew he was referring to her.
Yaska said, “Han, I left my catch east of the town.”
“Right!” Han replied, before nodding and running off. He turned his head and shouted back, smiling, “I can drag it!”
Back to the task at hand. Like Jan had said, the girl was calming down, her breathing had slowed. Jan loosened the hand on her chest. The lights coming from her eyes sputtered out, and so did her energy.
“Whoa!” Jan exclaimed, “She’s out cold!”
“So it would seem.” Said Yaska.
Jan continued, “You should take her to your house to rest. I think she’d be better off waking up there then at mine anyway.”
“Likely.”
And then, as she carried the girl over her shoulder toward her house, Yaska felt a tingling in her back, below the shoulder blades. She brushed it off as nothing.
There were only three things in the desert that the Plainkind ate in the desert: sauruses, dinosaurs, and desert birds. Sauruses were waist high creatures that are similar to small rhinoceroses. They have a horn jutting out of their head, and they have thick grey hide. They mostly ate shrubs. Sauruses tasted bland, and Yaska suspected they were mostly made of blubber. Dinosaurs were much larger, their shoulders reaching over a Plainkind’s head. These were primary targets for any hunter. They were large enough to feed a village for days and their meat was usually of a high quality, something that confused Yaska, as she was sure they only ate sauruses. The birds were scavengers. They had little meat on them, but the Plainkind considered them a delicacy. It was not known whether this was because they were particularly delicious or if they simply broke up the monotony of dinosaur meat.
Between Yaska and the dinosaur there was one of the few and far between sand dunes, made from sand getting caught on the occasional bedrock that jutted out of the ground. She moved up toward it, quietly and hid behind the dune, waiting for the dinosaur to approach. She readied herself, making sure her sand coloured hair was not going to get in her eyes. After a calculated moment, she stood up, ran towards and up the dune and launched her body toward the creature. It turned to her and roared, only ten metres away from her, getting ready to charge. She used the momentum of her jump and threw her sword at, piercing through its thick skin and lodging itself in the creatures back leg. This was so the dinosaur had a hard time running away, should it find itself overpowered by a Plainkind much lighter than itself. Usually for Yaska this was an unneeded precaution, she usually killed them before then. She and the beast charged at each other in the same moment. Yaska needed to get her weapon out of the beast’s thigh. She knew not do slide underneath it, lest she get trampled, so she ran around it when they met. This task was made easier now that the dinosaur was crippled. She slid to its back leg, dodging a bite that was meant to detach her arm from her body. The dinosaur roared once more as she attempted to free her weapon from its leg. She reached up to where it was, about eye level. She hauled down on it, back facing the creature’s front, and easily pulled it out. The weapon was as heavy as it was sharp, and she used its weight to her advantage, swinging it down, around, and back up, aiming for the dinosaur’s neck. In a moment its head was liberated from its body.
Yaska quickly untied the leather bag from her waist. She knew she only had a few seconds before gravity caught up with the creature’s headless body and it fell on its side. She put the bag over the creature’s neck and did her best to tighten the leather rope around it. She pushed it, making sure it would not get sand in its leg wound. She then turned her attention to the head in the sand. Her older sister had always taught her to bury the heads of her prey.
“If not for respect, then at least for good luck or something,” she would say.
Yaska kept this in mind and made a hole with her hands. It felt like she was making a grave and, she realized, she kind of was. When it was deep enough she laid the head in it and covered it up. Went back working on the neck. She took the cord on the bag and, bracing her bare foot on the neck, pulled it tight. She did not want to pull too tight, as she knew from experience that she could sever another chunk off of the beast if she did. The reason Plainkind hunters did this was to preserve the blood, their primary source of liquids. She tied the bag then went and grabbed the dinosaur’s tail and pulled. She pulled the large beast back toward her village.
The trip home, like usual, was rather difficult. She thought back to her sister, who had told her that dinosaurs usually weighed about eight times the amount a Plainkind did. She could feel it. She looked ahead and saw the village, a group of small, rough stone brick houses, roofed with cured dinosaur ribcages. The sun indicated that it was half way through the dusk, so she would have time to get the carcass clean. She was training a young man to clean the meat. She needed to pass the task on so that she could focus on hunting.
On approach, Yaska immediately noticed two shafts of light originating from south of the village, blinking in and out of existence. Confused, she dropped her catch and ran toward them. She could see that a group of villagers had crowded around the source. She scanned it to see if she could find Jan, but couldn’t. When she finally reached the crowd she saw him, next to the source of the lights; a girl, lying on her back. He was trying to do two things at once, calm down the girl who was shooting lazors out of her eyes and make the crowd disperse. The girl had light, weak looking skin and long blonde hair. She had an abnormally slim build and appeared to be very tall. Yaska compared these traits to Jan; like Yaska he was broad, stout and had clean tanned skin tinged with red. Jan also had huge scars on nearly every visible part of his skin, upper arm, collar and face. Yaska knew that the girl was definitely not Plainkind.
Yaska got to the task at hand, pushing through the crowd until she was in the middle with Jan and the girl. He was pushing down on her, preventing her from getting up. She one the other had was crying, panicking and making a general scene. Her eyes were emitting a stream of semitransparent pale yellow-grey light, interrupted only by her frantic blinking. Jan had a hand on her chest, palm on her lower ribcage and thumb between her breasts. His other hand was on the top of her head, holding it in place, preventing the light from hitting anyone. He was saying things to her, trying to calm her down, but the situation was being made worse by the crowd.
“I will take care of the people.” Yaska said to Jan. Then she turned to the crowd, “What are you all doing here? You are making the situation worse!”
Everyone looked at her, dumbfounded.
“I am sure you are all neglecting some task right now. Leave Jan and me to deal with this girl.”
They finally realized who was speaking and came to their senses. The crowd shambled back to the village. Everyone except for Han, the boy Yaska was training to clean dinosaurs, left. He had a confused look on his face, and walked right up to her nervously.
He said, “I could he-“
The girl wailed out, drowning out Han’s sentence.
Jan replied, “It’s just a matter of time. Trust me; I’ve dealt with young girls before.” He flashed his signature relaxed, casual smile.
Yaska knew he was referring to her.
Yaska said, “Han, I left my catch east of the town.”
“Right!” Han replied, before nodding and running off. He turned his head and shouted back, smiling, “I can drag it!”
Back to the task at hand. Like Jan had said, the girl was calming down, her breathing had slowed. Jan loosened the hand on her chest. The lights coming from her eyes sputtered out, and so did her energy.
“Whoa!” Jan exclaimed, “She’s out cold!”
“So it would seem.” Said Yaska.
Jan continued, “You should take her to your house to rest. I think she’d be better off waking up there then at mine anyway.”
“Likely.”
And then, as she carried the girl over her shoulder toward her house, Yaska felt a tingling in her back, below the shoulder blades. She brushed it off as nothing.