Condemned hive

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley” I said out softly between a sigh and heavy blinks “Years staring these walls up and down, and it's the most I’ve been able to decipher” I thought walking yet again along the valley of death while rubbing my sore body “Today is one of those days I really don’t want to be alive” I said to myself “You know very well lamenting your life doesn’t change anything Zareth” My fairy companion chirped annoyingly in my ear “I am well aware Ginny it changes nothing but the pain keeps reminding me of the events” I said annoyed at her as I sat against a broken statue thinking about my decisions and drifting off to sleep.

“Zareth, hey Zareth” Ginny said “What?” I mumbled “It's time to set out and explore” She chirped as I opened my eyes and her fairy dust got into them “Ugh” I grunted as I got up and looked around “Thank goodness I'm out of that hell” I thought contempt I was not with my family anymore, I got up and got ready with the rest of the fairies “So is today the day we finally set out to the Arcane Library to try and find some answers??” Ginny asked fluttering around me “Yup it is” I answered taking out a map “Alright so it's going to take us a few days, but I can take advantage of that and train while we get there” I said studying the map “Alright, I have food packed, I brought your weapons and fixed your clothing” Ginny said as some baby boars brought them “Okay… thank you” I said, taking them and reading to head out.

Our way there was uneventful, moving at night so I could practice my tracking magic and skills, battle training during the day after we had rested, I trained as best I could as I’m very aware that I'm easy and weak prey for any of the revenant empire foes and since I don't want to die yet I spent the days toning skills that would keep me alive and the nights exploring the wonders of tracking magic.

“I think we’re here” Ginny whispered as we neared a cave that had Arachins crawling all over “Arachins are easy to take out, if you maneuver properly even you could kill it, your weapons and ‘armor’ have been blessed by all of us, it might not be much but it can help” Ginny said as I sighed “Alright, lets do this” I said as I prepared my makeshift dagger tied to a magical rope, I carefully walked towards my foes, gained some ground on the Arachins and unleashed my attack, swiftly ambushing them and with the help of my magical dagger and small knife killed them off “Not bad for a useless human” I thought as Ginny and I proceeded to make our way down the Arachin infested library.

We traversed the hallways and rooms of the huge library as we sneaked and killed Arachins, on our way we finally found the passage to the lowest part of the Arcane Library “Any idea what we are looking for?” I asked walking beside the shelves analyzing all the different languages that where there “Better start searching” Ginny answered flying off.

So there we were hour after hour, going through endless books and records trying to find something “Ginny, Ginny look at this I found something” I almost yelled out of excitement “Shut up we are still trying to survive here” She whispered annoyed at me “I don't understand what you're showing me, I can't comprehend any of it” She said over my shoulder “What do you mean, everything is clear as day for me! I can distinguish the few letters and symbols I've been able to decipher from the Valley” I said confused “I don't know but you better gather all those books, we are getting out of here quick, I can hear more and more commotion out there” She said helping me collect all the books that I felt were important, we quietly and uneventfully made our way out of the library and ran as fast as we could from there since other revenant soldiers had showed up “You know Ginny I don't know if it’s normal but I can see their silhouettes from afar and different colors radiate from each if I concentrate enough” I explained focusing a little towards the library “That's strange, that is advanced tracking magic, something we are far from learning” She said tilting her head “Well, we will discuss this later once we are in safe grounds” She added as we made our way as farther away from there as possible.

"Do you hear that?" I whispered to Ginny in the middle of the night "I do" She answered "I think there are some revenant soldiers lurking around, we should get moving" She added, I nodded and quickly gathered the very heavy bag of books we had taken from the library, we silently moved along whilst hearing their conversations "I think they are searching for us" I said "Probably, they keep mentioning the star, moon, sun and eclipse books, I'm guessing that's probably what you took" She said and I nodded "I found them!" A loud voice yelled behind us "How did they find us" I thought panicking starting to run as fast as I could "You are not the only one who can use tracking magic you donkey" Ginny said hiding inside my clothes, I grunted as I ran, as quick as my limbs could go "I feel so disoriented, I can see figures and auras coming from every direction" I said between heavy pants "Zareth be careful!" Ginny yelled as I no longer had ground under my feet "You idiot" Ginny yelled as we started to fall, as soon as the fall started it ended, and all went black.

“I'm dead, I guess” I thought as my mind was black, all I could see around me was pitch black, it went on for what I can only assume were days, maybe weeks, I would keep dreaming of this same black box over and over “I guess I’m in hell” I thought.

“How miserable, no matter what we try he still doesn't wake up” I heard in a distance “What?” I asked it “Oh he spoke, he spokeeee, I said HOW M I S E R A B L E” the voice repeated itself spelling that out “That's something my family would say” I answered without thinking “Well, that's pretty sad, I mean I don't have a family but I don't think that is something they should say” It answered, I tried to open my eyes, I tried to will my body to move, and slowly a crack of very painful light hit my eye balls, I blinked heavily a couple of times adjusting to the dim lighting that was around me, as I looked around for Ginny.

“Hey Zareth, you feeling better?” Ginny asked flying right above my head making eye contact “I don’t know how I feel honestly” I answered my voice barely making any noise as I felt my throat extremely dry “I don’t feel any pain, I just feel tired” I added as Ginny looked at me a little baffled “Well that is indeed interesting” She said flying off “So where are we? and who was that voice that was talking to me?” I asked, trying to sit up. “Well in an underground cave, and the voice, that would be him” Ginny said pointing, it took me a few seconds for my brain to gather what I was looking at, or rather at who “ARGH” I yelled in surprise “Really?” It asked very unamused “That’s how you react to meeting an almighty dragon?” It said “DRAGON?” I half screamed “Yea” it chirped, I stared at it for a while remembering the illustrations and descriptions of dragons I had read in a book “Slithlandroco, long snake like dragons, wingless, very small when they hatch, can become of incredible sizes as they age” I said under my breath “That's me, Nesu is the name” Nesu said moving incredibly quick over me “And you? unfortunate little thing” He asked “Uh, Zareth” I answered, staring in awe.

We proceeded to talk for a little ,I explained how I ended up jumping of a cliff and Nesu explained he is a recent hatchling awoken from dormancy not to long ago “Well I guess I owe you a thanks for saving me” I said, “No, actually that would be Razecks doing, I am barely learning how to dragon right now” He answered “Razeck?” I asked “Yes, come I’ll show him to you” He chirped moving fast “Wait, I can’t move so fast” I yelled to Nesu who was pretty far already “Hurry!” “Ugh” I grunted, willing my body to run after his voice "I don't feel so good" I thought as my body felt heavy and sluggish and a deep hunger started taking over me.

Following Nesu led me to a very unexpected exterior “Whoa” Ginny and I said in unison “What is this?” I asked just taking in the view “This is an underground oasis, it is protected by magic on the outside and inside” Nesu explained appearing right up in my face on a branch “This way!” I followed him to a huge mass of unidentifiable matter, this matter started moving and a giant head of a dragon stared at me, I felt as a rush of chilling fear ran through every vein on my body, as if my blood was substituted by pure ice “A revenant dragon” I whispered as I stared into its deep green eyes “You are correct” It answered in such a deafening, deep, menacing voice “Why?” I asked, unable to move. “Why what?” Nesu asked “Hmmmm” The revenant said starting to uncurl its body.

As this enormous being moved to uncurl his rotten looking body, I stood there both in fear and awe, never had I seen a creature of such magnitude, somehow I could feel it was powerful, menacing, his presence alone made the cave feel colder "Razeck is my name young one, why are you here?" It asked finally showing the magnitude of its size "What are you made of?" slipped out of my mouth without me properly thinking "Ha, curious I see, I am made of the dead bodies of a clan I absorbed during the necromancing era, held together by the blood and magic of that clan" It answered with its resonating voice, giving me chills "I regret asking that" I thought as I stared blankly "Why has the only salvation, a surviving dragon joined forces with a revenant?" I asked fearing nothing "Because I used to be part of the hive, now I no longer am, I also see you have not been able to completely decipher the Valleys secrets, only a dragon can awaken other dragons, I might be undead, but I am still, A DRAGON" It responded "Well since I stand no chance against you I will be bold, why would anybody trust you, how can you ensure you are not with the hive, it is absolutely unheard of a general of the hive going astray" I argued as I willed my legs to sit, still ridden with terror "Ah, Zareth correct? a bold one, I will tell you my story in short, I represent pride, I am one of seven revenant dragons who came back, I ruled with an iron claw of terror and dictatorship over the settlements I chose for centuries, filled with arrogance and pride I destroyed everything in my path to serve the queen whom controls the hive, my arrogance being my strength yet also becoming my revenant fall, I took on enemies from the opposing side mercilessly, destroying their villages, their families, their loved ones, even their pets if it was necessary to make them bow down on their knees to me and the hive, but about a century ago I met a foe that I could not conquer, some call him the strongest Archmage that has ever set foot on these centuries, silver long haired and bearded, for what I knew a very old human, he opposed me with such might and power that it even amused me, yet I let my arrogance get the best of me and after a fierce battle and many downed soldiers from both sides I finally had him on his knees, taking his last breaths, he sacrificed his life to cast a spell on me, he needed all the energy of his life force to cast a powerful spell that would make me remember my past self, the great beings we once were and what needs to be done, I in change understood and blessed a descendant of his blood line" He explained, as I in awe stared at this being.

"And how did you detach from the hive?" I asked "I ripped my eyes out and ripped my heart, storing it in this magic container" He explained "The hive mind can see through each of her revenants eyes, and control every move they make if they even think of doing something she doesn't want, by ripping my eyes and heart out she no longer has an idea of where I am and at the same time I extracted the magic my heart held control over" He answered "Ummm" "Have you not something intelligent to articulate young elfling?" He asked "Elfling? I'm human old dragon" I said "You are by no means a human, I can even smell you are an elf, have you any idea why you embarked in this quest at least?" It asked lifting his eyebrow "Well...-" "You see old Razeck my friend here, he kind of doesn't think in occasions, he just blindly set out to find the hidden dragons and dragons eggs from the legends, but he didn't quite think it through" Ginny interrupted "Ah I see, wise fairy, first off, a piece of advice for life, you've got to think before acting, secondly, the adventure you took on is impossible" Razeck bluntly said and I stayed silent "Why?" Ginny and Nesu asked "You should know better than anyone, the hidden dragons can only be found by another dragon, and I have already started the awakening" Razeck explained as I sat there in silence "Did a Drodgian eat your tongue, speak!" Ginny said smacking my head "I have nothing to say, I'm just waiting to meet my perishing moment" I answered annoyed at her "Have you nothing to say about being called and elf, at least ask something you dumbass" She added very angrily "You should listen to your fairy companion elfling, come, follow me and ask your heart away" Razeck said as he started walking "Well, why do you think I'm an elf? What is your plan? How many hive generals are there?" I asked as I followed behind with Nesu on my shoulder "Well because you are a young star elf, haven't seen one of your kind since the great massacre, and my plan is to find the remaining dragon eggs, starting a chain awakening around all the planet and dimensions, take one by one the generals hearts to gather the essential magics and reconstruct the loop of domains to defeat the hive master and reinstall the order with the new hatchlings to bring Itserok back to order, and there are seven hive generals plus the hive mind" Razeck explained as we walked towards a wall.

"And how do I fit into all of this? Also I'm human, I've been treated as a measly human all my life, I can't cast any magic aside from barely healing myself and learning tracking magic" I asked with anger "Why are you angry young one? Why would you not be happy to be told you are a star elf, one of the strongest elves that have ever stepped foot on Itserok? you confuse me" Razeck said pausing his walk "I've been treated like the worse piece of trash all my existence there is no way I'm a star elf as you say" I answered "Star elves take long to mature specially if they are not trained properly, yet you received some training as you have developed some crucial magic for your race" He explained turning around to another direction "Hmmm" I answered "Could it have been my grandfather knew?" I thought "And you fit into my plans because you are the descendant I blessed form the old man, and in change he blessed you with the last piece of the loop of domains, that tiny fragment can be used with blessed scales of the new order of hatchlings to recreate it and once again set Itserok and its dimensions in order" He explained stopping in front of a mural "Wait, a descendant? what do you mean my father is still alive, that woman's family was murdered a long time before I existed, and she had no familiar with sil... wait you're talking about my pops, YOU killed my pops? wait, wait" My mind in total shock and a wave of fiery anger pulsating through me "You are correct, your grandfather sacrificed his life to give me the memories of my old life and started a chain reaction that lead me to find a hatchlings, I understand your emotions but we have no time for that" He explained laying back down "Now that ring you wear it irradiates magic so strong that even the non-magicals could feel it, that is the last piece for the loop, I have brought you here to read to me this mural, I have no eyes and Nesu can't even read yet" He pointed simply as I was having a mental break down.

"How can you see this ring? how do you know it is what you say?" I questioned "I can see the magic irradiating from it, it's magic is strong, I can sense it, see it per say so strong it is blinding" He answered "I don't know this language very well yet, I have not been able to study these books" I said "How strange, since you are the only one left in this world that can read it, it was your kind who invented the death language" He said tilting his head to the side "Well I guess I can try and make an alphabet, what does this mural contribute to your quest anyways?" I said looking for my satchel as Ginny and Nesu gave it to me along with all my books "It details the last known locations of the remaining eggs and dragons, and tells in detail how the events went down, as the stories go, it might even hold mysteries and secrets worth unraveling, and to get to them we will have to make a plan" He explained as I felt a mix of anger, happiness, realization and excitement "Well I have nothing better to do and no purpose in life so I might as well die trying to fulfill this plan of yours" I said with a new spark of hope burning in my heart.

"First you need to know your enemy, the hive generals, their domains and their queen Elada" He explained "First let's start with me, about two decades ago your pops as you called him, casted a spell on me, I used to be the general of pride and arrogance, my domain was the domain of Elaine and the magic I took in my rebirth was green" He explained "Green?" I asked as no magic now was called green "Itseroks creation magic, controls ground, plants and so on" He explained "Oh, alright, so Florian magic" I said and he nodded "Belinob, the queen of envy, Emoren who represents ignorance and hypocrisy, Urasin selfish and demanding, Hresen master of deception, manipulation and greed, Faesy, who uses gluttony and seduction to her advantage and finally the queen Elada, she will use anything in her power to make everybody in the world obey her no matter the needs she must take" Razeck explained as I took notes wondering what a useless human until like an hour ago now star elf could do against foes like this "Now your part in all this? as we start the awakening we will draw attention to us, you must develop your skills as a star elf and gather as many allies as we can to go against each of the hive generals to steal the magic they hold to reconstruct the loop" He explained and I just nodded "But for now you will dedicate to aid Nesu in his development, teach him your knowledge and decipher what these walls have to say, because if you were to embark in the condition you are now you would not make a mile before you are eradicated like a arachin" Razeck added curling his body "Well I cannot say you are wrong there, I basically already died once" I answered sighing "It is time for me to slumber, my energy is depleting" Razeck said as his voice slowly faded.

"Well there he goes, since he is an undead and he took his life source out of his body he has bursts of life, that is why he needs you and me for this journey" Nesu said way to excited for my mind to process "How does that work? he is undead after all, I have yet to study how the undead work and how they can well, die even tho they're dead, I don't know if you get me" I tried to logic while Nesu looked confused "He is trying to say, how would you put to rest a living being who is supposed to already be dead, but now that is a question that is way to advanced for a baby like you" Ginny sad smacking the back of my head, I rolled my eyes and started making a sort of desk and organizing the area for me to study these books and walls.

"Well, I recommend you start categorizing these books, each of whatever is scribbled on those walls and start studying your foes, since apparently it's a long journey that awaits us" Ginny said helping me organize my stuff "And me??" Nesu asked in his weird childish voice "Now you little dragon will learn to read and the basics of the world alongside our learning journey of these walls" Ginny said signaling him to follow "Teach him all the basics of how Itserok works in the meantime Ginny, I will make a manuscript so we can learn about his species and all the basics of reading magic and everything else" I said to Ginny as she took him aways to a small clearing where the light hit directly.

"When I embarked in this journey never in a million years did I think I would make it pass the few days, nonetheless actually get to see a dragon" I said softly walking alongside the walls "I think I might be dreaming or something" I thought without any absolute idea of what to do, I pinched myself and well it hurt, I looked back at Razeck "A revenant dragon that turned... hmmm maybe I never left home and I got hit so bad I entered some sort of hallucination dream?" I thought going back to my makeshift desk and taking out my notebook and pen "Well if it's a dream I better start doing my best, at least in my dreams I can be happy" I said starting to write down every symbol that I thought could be a letter.

And so my long days started, hours staring at the same walls, same books, re-building a long dead alphabet and language, teaching a baby dragon how to read and how the world works, having said baby dragon humiliate me in combat and teach me what to him came as a natural, and so the days and weeks went on waiting for the old revenant dragon to wake again, as I alongside my companions unraveled the mysteries that this dead language had to offer.