Rise of Kaios

I miss the way the ash used to burn my lungs. At least then I felt something. Now, even with the icy wind nipping at my heels, it seemed everything about me was numb.

I looked down as orange and amber colored leaves fluttered beneath me on the forest floor. My tribe of this world used to say the warm fall colors complimented the copper tone of my skin in my humanoid form, which had supple curves and strong angular features befitting any offspring of the Dragon Origins Kah and Mah. While I normally loved this season and all the flattery it brought me, it was supposed to be spring.

I surveyed the small clearing and inhaled the scent of damp soil and clean air. This couldn’t be real. Nothing was charred or burning, and no one moaned with agony. I rubbed my face and tried to remember what had happened, and how I’d possibly gotten here.

Every attempt at clarity coated my mind like oil and suffocated any lingering pangs of hope trying to break through. Then, something niggled at me. The feeling of dread overwhelmed me as I recalled how my own kind had become unbalanced when Dragons of every one of our tribes turned on one another. The Sirens had fled this planet in the name of neutrality, and Elves and Seedlings were massacred. And for what? I’m almost positive at one point I had figured it out, but it all felt muddled now.

So much blood had been spilled during that time the air had not only smelled of copper, but tasted like it too. The wind had howled with battle cries, and the earth had gone barren and withered beneath our feet as we fought. So how, when I was absolutely sure with every fiber of my being that I should be in the midst of a raging war, was I here now instead?

I stepped into a puddle and moved my slender boot out of the way so I could look down at my reflection. Golden-orange eyes stared back at me, and observed my full pursed lips and the crease between my brows exposing far too many of my thoughts.

I sighed, and relaxed my face until it was unreadable. My long black hair hung over my shoulder in a neat braid, and I moved it out of the way before I crouched down to touch the water with my fingertips. I used to be able to control all the elements of this planet, and I wondered if that might have changed too.

Before I had a chance to test this, a soft cry broke through the whistling wind. I closed my eyes to try and localize the direction of this newest noise. The crunch of footsteps on fallen leaves was all I needed to know something lingered to the left of me. Perhaps the battle wasn’t over after all.

As I approached the tree line, I heard a thump and the struggle of something small as it attempted to find its footing in the damp leaves.

“I can hear you. If stealth was your goal, you’ve failed miserably.”

The shuffling stopped, and I arched my brow. It had been far too long since anything had found a way to surprise me. Then again, I was making an assumption this creature had halted to wait for me when really it was most likely hiding. I passed between the large oak trees, and the wind blew a familiar scent in my direction. Burning maple… burning maple?Where had I smelled that before?

It couldn’t be.

I whipped my head to the right and caught sight of a little foot covered in mud poking out of a bush. I let my stance relax and tried to soften my expression. I crouched down to see if I could peak through the leaves without having to get closer and possibly scare the child off.

“Come, little one. It is not safe to travel through these woods alone. Are you human? If so, I can help you. I take only the side of those in need.”

The leaves rustled, and a wide golden-green eye peeked at me. The child was clearly terrified, though I didn’t know why. I wasn’t showing any signs of my full dragon form, and from the coloring of its iris, this child was obviously not human. “With eyes like that you must be a child of Dragons or Elves. I am the daughter of the Dragon Origins, so you have nothing to fear. Come, I cannot help you if you hide in the bush.”

I extended my hand and waited for the child to step out into the clearing. He had short, dark, moss colored hair, and veins which glowed with a greenish-gold light against damp-sand colored skin. A seedling. So, the mixed offspring of Elves and Dragons must have survived the war.

He took a few staggered steps towards me and played with his fingers as he examined my hand.

“Is, um, you a bad dwagon?” He looked down and puffed out his lower lip.

I cocked my head to the side, and studied him for a moment. “Depends. What do you think makes something good or bad?” I smiled, and hoped it would calm him.

He grinned back and crouched into an excited squat. “Um, Mama says bad is means and good is wuv. Is you wuv?”

“Hm.” I wasn’t sure how to decode that. “I am told I am of light, and love. So I suppose, based on your mothers riveting thesis, I would be good.”

“Oh..” His face puckered. “Wat dat mean?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “It means I am here to help. What is your name?”

He stood from his crouch and took another step towards me, but still didn’t reach for my hand. “I is Kaios. I is two now! But, um, who is you?”

My face went numb, and I felt lightheaded. Kaios. It couldn’t be.

The child sensed my shift in energy and fumbled back, landing on his backside. He started to cry in protest, and I did my best to collect myself. “All is well. You simply surprised me.”

I held my hands up and sat on the ground across from him until he calmed himself. “Two, huh? You must have Elven blood in you to speak so well at your age. Tell me, do you know your parents' names?”

He sniffled, and gave me three big nods. “Yeah…”

I tried not to roll my eyes. “Can you tell me their names?”

He picked at the leaves on the ground around him. “Momma and Pappa.”

I rubbed at my temples. “Are your Mama and Papa called by other names? Do you know those names?”

“Um…um…Yeah! Mamma is Emba an-and Pappa is Taunyou. He has bwack hair like yours!”

“Könnyű?” I hadn’t heard the name before, but the child’s scent called to me again. It egged on a memory long forgotten.

“Well little seedling, unfortunately, I do not know them. However, I am a full blooded dragon whose sense of smell is very good so I can still assist. Do you have something of your parents I could use to help find them for you?”

He looked down at himself and twisted as he tried to think of something, then he pointed to his wrist and squealed with excitement. “Mama bwacewet!”

It was a small bit of twine with intricate stone: agate for grounding, jade for prosperity, and smokey quartz for protection. With stones this polished they must live near the pass, where water was abundant. “Seems you're quite lucky today. We aren’t far from your home. It should be a short walk from here.”

“Kaios! Kaios, can you hear me?” A frantic, feminine voice echoed through the clearing, not too far from where we stood.

“Auntie Ohtee, you find me!” The little boy tightened his arms around his stomach before he threw them in the air and wiggled with glee. “I here! I is here Auntie Ohtee!”

“Kaios, this is not how you play hide and seek. You frightened—” The woman stormed into the clearing and halted abruptly when she saw me.

“Well, this is certainly a surprise. How are you, Ohkí? Still lingering in the pass, I see?”

Her eyes went wide and her jaw slack. “I-Isis? H-how? You…”

“Aren’t dead or missing. A true surprise, I know.”

“But…”

“I finded a new dwagon! She look like papa, and she nice.” Kaios slammed into Ohkí’s legs and held on tightly.

“She is something, that’s certain.” Ohkí tensed as she lifted Kaios into her arms.

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“I think you should know.”

Though her demeanor surprised me, I was pleased to see she hadn’t changed. I had always thought Elves to be the most beautiful mix of creatures, the perfect balance of Dragons and Sirens. Ohkí was no exception with her translucent green skin, deep violet hair with lavender highlights floating around her like mist, and her watery silver eyes.

I shouldn’t have enjoyed the rush of warmth spreading through me as I broke the icy wall she’d learned to erect around my kind, but I couldn’t help the smile tugging at my lips.

Then, there was a sudden ache. Almost as if something were wrong, or some event had happened I should remember. I shook the feeling off and focused on the child. “So tell me, how did an Elf end up with another's Seedling child? He doesn’t carry your scent.”

She blinked a few times before she looked down at the boy.

“My sister's daughter is his mother. She mated with Könnyű. He’s of your brother’s bloodline.”

“My brother?” I snarled as the edge of my lip twitched up. “Osiris?”

Kaios buried his head into Ohkí’s arm as he let out a small cry of protest at my scary face. His veins brightened until a soft glow of green light surrounded him. Ohkí rested her hand on his back and shushed him as she bounced him up and down gently.

“Not Osiris, but Ashur. He is of Ashur’s essence.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Ashur would never send his son here.”

“He didn’t. He split an essence of himself and that essence eventually split Könnyű.”

“Why would he do such a thing? Every split weakens a Dragon. To do it once is bad enough, but have Dragons been so foolish as to repeat the process excessively? They’d be left with barely any power and for what?”

Ohkí’s eyes widened and then squinted at me. “Because of you. We all exist in this world because of you. Because you disappeared here and Ashur worked with the other Origins to send four dragons here who brought the elements and created this planet and made it habitable for—”

“You are wrong. I would remember something of that magnitude. I came here with Osiris to make a new home for us.”

Ohkí scoffed, “You didn’t come here with Osiris, you came here searching for him. And you didn’t like what you found.”

I had to fight the sneer which twitched along the edge of my nose. “What are you talking about? We lived a peaceful life here until the war began and—”

“The Seedling war? You were here for the seedling war? The last time I saw you you were helping Uriel leave. I thought you left with her and the other Siren’s?”

“Of course I was here for the war. Why would you think I would leave this planet defenseless?”

We stared at each other, and I studied Ohkí’s bewildered look.

“Isis…tell me what you think happened?”

“No.” I was unsure of whether or not I could remember enough to say anything of value. “You tell me.”

Kaios started to wiggle in her arms, and his glow went from green to orange. “Down! Pwease. Down.”

“No, Kaios. Not until we get back.” She paced in the clearing as she continued to bounce him on her hip. “I don’t know much, Isis. We were living peacefully until the war started and then you came to help Uriel and her people leave. She took most of the Elves with her too. My sister and I chose to stay and offer our help. Some promised to return with resources, but if they did, I never heard of it. Since I never heard from you again, I figured you’d abandoned us as well. That you’d abandoned me…”

I squeezed my fists until the sting of my nails digging into my palms became noticeable. “I returned shortly after and ended up in the middle of that damned war. Last I remember I was trying to get through the carnage so I could help you and your people. Then I was here, in these woods.”

“You don’t remember the time between?”

“Isn’t that what I just said?” I tried to rub out the tension building in my jawline.

I could smell blood, too much for the small pricks my nails would have caused, and I pulled my hand back to find the source. My palm had a hole in it, and it went through the entire center of my hand. I watched as the tendons struggled to pull themselves back together and close the open wound. “No…no!”

For centuries I had carried my greatest weapon with me, protecting it from the hands of greedy, war-mongering dragons as best I could, but now it was missing.

Ohkí’s gaze was fixed on my palm, and her lips were a thin and studious line. She knew something.

“Out with it,” I huffed.

“Isis, a lot has changed since—”

“Out. With. It. Now.”

She set a kicking Kaios down, and tried to hold his hand as he attempted to run circles around her. The heat from his glowing veins caused an air of mist to surround him as it hit the cold air. It seemed to distract him momentarily while he tried to grab hold of it.

Ohkí gave in now that he was occupied. “Fine. You’ve been gone for hundreds of years. Osiris was killed in the war—well, as much as an Origin can be killed.”

“And our son?”

“Your…son? You didn’t have a—” Her focus shifted from Kaios to me as her eyes narrowed.

“I did. Osiris and I never spoke of it. We figured he’d be safer if others didn’t know of him. That was why I left with Uriel to try and get help from the Dragon realm. But I was unsuccessful. My parents always did enjoy seeing how things would sort themselves out…I should have known better than to waste precious time on them.”

“Isis, what are you talking about? Kulkulkan started the war, not—”

“Kulkulkan?” Something about the name snapped through my haze of confusion and woke up a dormant terror. This was worse than I thought. Had the inhabitants of this world become so ignorant they didn’t recognize the hum of dark magic zipping through the air with the mention of that name? Had I? What exactly had happened to me?

“Yes, he was one of the Elders, don’t you remem—”

“No! Kulkulkan is the name for the shadowlands spell, Ohkí. One only a Dragon Origin who’s seen the Shadowlands beyond this world would know. The more one speaks the name of the spell, the stronger it becomes over time.”

Ohkí took a step back and held her hand against her stomach as she swayed just the slightest with unease. “The Origins created us, this world. Why would any of them—”

“Because not all Origins see creations as a benefit. Every realm is different and the only one that holds magic as dark as this is the Dragons realm. It was banished to the Shadowlands with Osiris, who safeguarded it until we came here. He had me bind him so he could no longer draw from its source but it wouldn’t keep him from teaching our son how to yield it.”

“So you think your son used dark magic…and named himself after it so we’d repeat the spell for him every time we said his name?”

My chest tightened, and a crackling pain whirled through my head as I tried to piece more of this together. It started to blur my vision and I felt almost as though something didn’t want me to discover the full truth. I pushed the feeling aside as best I could. “That kind of spell could have only been mastered with the help of Osiris. The fact you can’t taste the acrid burn of even speaking that word surprises me.”

There was a small twinge of pain as my palm finished healing itself, and I flexed my hand to relieve the stiff joints.

“I suppose it makes sense but why would your son pretend to be an elder when…oh!” Ohkí gasped and touched her fingertips to her lips. “Kulkulkan was rumored to be the one who killed Osiris. If it’s true then it means he would have killed his own father, but why?”

I held up my newly healed, yet still bloody hand to her. “Why do you think? Without the Origin stone there is no fertility in this world for our kind.” I couldn’t help the wry laugh that escaped me. “Of course. It’s starting to make sense now.”

“What is?”

I pressed my fingertips against my temples and tried to push through the barrage of magic beating at my skull like a drum. I would not let this curse keep me from finding out what bits of truth I could muster.

“Why the dragons here began splitting themselves so much. Without the Origins stone to help create new life, dragon’s would resort to splitting themselves to help add to their numbers. Especially if a war was happening. And I’m sure he had a million understandably good reasons for why he couldn’t split himself, which would only aid in giving him absolute power over all others.”

Ohkí went pale, and I gave her a moment to let my words settle in. The sound of leaves rustling from the bushes next to us brought us back to the present moment.

Ohkí jumped as she realized the child was trying to leave the clearing on his own. “Kaios stay out of there! Hide and seek is over.” She raced to grab him and lifted him onto her hip again.

“I wan down!”

“If you do not settle, it will be nap time.”

“Noooo!” He threw his head on her shoulder and rubbed his eye. “I no sweepy.”

“Then be still. We can play when I’m done talking.”

“You takin foweva Auntie Ohtee!”

“Isis, come with us, we should head back to the pass before he comes undone. It’s just a mile from here, the trees will thin out as we get closer.”

I rolled my eyes but chose to follow her. This was not the time to fight over something as petty as a restless child. “Fine. But then I expect you to tell me the rest of what you know.”

“There isn’t—”

“You can’t lie to me!” The earth between us cracked, and the wind stilled as a low growl escaped me.

Ohkí held the child closer, and he squealed in protest. I could smell her fear, and while I would have normally been ashamed to elicit such a response from another, I didn’t have the time to keep playing this game with her.

“Isis, you once told me not all truths needed to be shared. Have you ever thought maybe what happened to the Origin’s stone is one of those truths?”

My gaze dropped, and I could feel the spike of each dragon scale as they slid through my pores and started to coat my skin with onyx armor. “Why, no, Ohkí. Unfortunately, I have not.”

I could smell smoke and taste it with every word as I advanced. Unlike the weaker dragons of this planet, I could shift between forms without fully committing to one or the other. A benefit of never having split my essence.

Ohkí held her ground and lifted her chin defiantly. “Fine. But I must warn you,if forced to take a side, I will choose Könnyű and Embers, not yours.”

“Do what you must. Now tell me about the stone.”

“A few years ago, Könnyű came to the pass late in the night with his brother, Eldingar. They brought a young woman, a seedling Könnyű eventually mated, who was finishing her change. He sought protection for them from Kulkulkan, and I granted it.”

“Seedlings can’t change form unless they pull a stone from the elements to assist—”

“She did. Ember pulled her stone from Könnyű’s blood. Or rather, your stone, from his blood.”

I looked down at my palm, and tried to put the pieces of everything together. But something wasn’t adding up. The power of my stone was never meant to be with anyone other than an Origin, so how could this Ember have possibly managed to attract it? “She has the Origin stone? You’re sure?”

“She does. And when Kulkulkan tried to start another war, Ember used the power of thestone to absorb him. Body and spirit.”

“And then she had Kaios.”

Ohkí looked over at me with pursed lips. It seemed she didn’t quite know what I meant. “Yes, her son—”

The painful pressure in my mind increased. “Kaios is the child Osiris and I had. The one who called himself Kulkulkan.”

“Dat my name! I Kaios!” The child raised his hands and then giggled before he buried his face in Ohkí’s hair.

“That can’t be, Isis. Our legends say Kaios was another of your brothers—”

“You know by now most of the legends told on this planet are skewed.”

“They wouldn’t be if you would let me in on the full truth.”

“The truth doesn’t always need to be told!” The wind howled as though it meant to slap back against my outburst.

“Oh, come off it, Isis! Is the truth not what you wanted only moments ago when you demanded I tell you about the fate of your damned stone? When did you become the supreme ruler over when and where the truth has value or importance?”

“Ohkí—”

“No. I’ve had enough, Isis. I have been a long and loyal friend to you. More than a friend, even if you won’t acknowledge it. And I never asked for more than I needed to know. I always respected your family’s damn darkness, secrets, and utter reckless chaos! The least you could do now is let me in and treat me with the same respect. You owe me this. The truth. It’s the least you could do after you broke my heart and left me without any word or—”

“I didn’t choose to leave you! Or anyone! I don’t know what happened or why you're saying my life here was different than what I remember. Everything seems so…scattered. Like I should know what you're talking about but I don’t, and I am sorry for that. You feel special to me, but I don’t know why. Osiris and I were happy…until we weren’t, I suppose…I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, I just need to get the stone to safety and try to backtrack out of this mess.”

She looked away and patted the child’s back. He seemed to be settling down and his eyelids grew heavy. “Perhaps the curse altered your memories too?”

I knew it was true the moment she said it. The thought had already crossed my mind, but now that someone else had confirmed it, I was slightly terrified. What if the curse kept me from remembering how to fight this kind of magic? What if it kept me from holding onto the small slivers of truth I had just uncovered? Would I be stuck re-living this nightmare over and over until…

Ohkí let out a heavy breath, not quite a sigh, but something more weighted and haunting that broke through my rumbling thoughts. “It doesn’t matter now, I have found a mate and we are hoping for a child of our own soon. I have found my own happiness, but I would still like closure. Please. Tell me what all this means? You can trust me.”

Could I? The truth changed everything. Everyone. And this wasn’t just my secret, but a secret of the Origins. A truth which could very well alter the balance of everything that existed in and on this world. But what other choice did I have now?

“From what I can remember, none of this will fare well for us or the planet. If the Origin’s stone has been reactivated, Kaios has been brought back as this new child, and my memories have been altered, then this world is in far more danger than anyone could ever possibly fathom. Ohkí, the child must be killed.”

She stepped back, and the mist around her burst like sparks until it formed a wall of whirling water to shield them. “I cannot let you harm the child, Isis! Not all is as it seems. This child comes from a loving home—”

“So did mine. Or at least I think he did. And yet look at what he did to this world? You don’t even know the half of what this child could be capable of. If he killed his father, then it explains my disappearance. Osiris is half my soul, my essence. I must have died with him. I know I did. And if the birth of this new child is what resurrected me with the curse still in tact then that means—”

“Osiris is back too.” Her voice was so soft I almost missed it.

“Yes, and if he really was behind all this, then the shadowlands will be reopened soon. The child you’re doting on is the key to letting the souls of the damned through to further destroy the fragile balance of this world.”

“No.” She took another step back as I approached again. “I won’t accept this. Perhaps this is a story you were made to believe as a result of the curse? Maybe Kaois is the key to ending this darkness and not the one to cause it? Either way, this child is not yours. Even if it shares the soul of your past child. This could be his fresh start. He did not come of Osiris’ blood, he came of Ashur’s, and your brother is noble.”

“No dragon is truly noble. My parents ripped me in half. Light and Dark from one being. Osiris shouldn’t even exist, and yet here we are, eternally balancing ourselves. And I thought we had found balance, but look at where we are now? Do you really think this young soul can escape the chaos of its Origins?”

She gave a doubtful look at the child who reached up and touched her face in response.

“I scawed, Auntie.” He buried his head into her neck and brought his hands up to cover his face.

“Do not be afraid, Kaios. All will be well.”

“Leave the child with me. There is no need for you to have blood on your hands.”

“And you think leaving him to his death wouldn’t somehow stain my soul?”

“You are risking the lives of all by letting him live.”

“And you are anything but light if you think murdering an innocent will do more good than harm. What of his parents? His family? If the Origin stone brought him back once, you really think it won’t do it again? Ember and Könnyű are expecting another. Is that child meant to be Kaios as well?”

This was worse than I thought. “How many others?”

“What?”

“How many others are breeding now that the stone has returned?”

Ohkí shook her head at me and let out a scoff. “I don’t know. I do not see beyond the pass. Several within my keep have birthed children, and a dozen or so more are expecting. This is a prosperous time for our people. We are finally rebuilding after centuries of being barren and—”

“Then he is raising an army.”

“Isis you can’t be serious—”

“Ohkí…” I moved fast, and gripped her shoulders until her gaze locked on my own. “Your time of peace is ending.”