Routine's End

Dawn seeped in from the tear in the cavern, birthing light into the crystals and bathing the cave in a deep emerald glow. The tranquil performance of the waterfall began; soft, white beams danced across stalactites to the harmony of water, lapping alongside darkened walls, gracefully cascading against a parade of cliffs into the lake below.

The fragments of sun found their way to the center of the lake, where a wide spire fifty feet tall proudly stood. Coiled around the rock was the Azure Creature, whose glowing amber eyes drifted open to meet the sacred, centuries-old ritual. Black talons loosed their grip against the stone. The Creature reared its head towards the ceiling, echoing a dulcet roar which escaped through the cracks between its ivory teeth. It was time for another day.

The spire’s silhouette doubled in size as majestic wings sprang forth, revealing pure white feathers above the shimmer of its blue scales. A single gust of wind pounded the lake’s surface, carrying the Creature skywards. The glints would have to continue their dance without her.

Sheer force dove outwards from the mouth of darkness, casting shadows against the mountainside and greeting the sky with unstoppable momentum. Golden horns pierced through dozens of clouds like fearsome lightning bolts, before the whirlwind finally came to a pause hundreds of feet in the air. It surveyed the sprawling forest below, lush in endless shades of green and blue, before narrowing its sights onto an open patch of meadow. The Creature bent its neck forward, barreling down towards a flock of sheep. It clutched one of the prey with its rear talons, freeing it from life in an instant. It carried the carcass towards a nearby outcrop, where it allowed itself a moment of rest before it began its meal.

Teeth gnashed violently as the Creature tore through its bounty, separating flesh from bone as the forest’s songs continued. In the gaps between each bite, the Creature took stock of each familiar sound: the anthem of the Crawling ones marching in the ground, the symphony of the Swimming ones splashing upstream, the tune of the branches billowing in the trees. She finished her meal, discarding cleaned, raw bones into a dirt mound before bowing her head. At this moment, a shrill noise pierced through the hallowed routine. The Creature’s eyes widened in anticipation.

Again, the same shrill noise. It was unlike anything the Creature had heard before. A third time. Close by. The noise rang out for longer, now. Never had such a discordant note played in these woods. The Creature clambered up a nearby ridge and honed in on the source of the aberrance. From her vantage point, she saw the smallest Upright one she had ever laid eyes on, facing the river. The shrill noise rang out again.

The Upright ones’ den was where the river met the sea, far away from the edge of the forest and even further away from the mountain’s peak. They were not an unfamiliar sight to the Creature, but they had always made themselves sparse in her presence. Most would scurry away. Some would roar and attempt to pierce her scales with their thin claws, only to scurry away as well. She felt sorry for them, as their dens would never stand for long. Sometimes, the Upright ones would try to create strange shapes of trees and rocks, only to knock them down with smoke and flame. She did not understand why they would spend so much time carving things that always fell down.

Yet another shrill noise. Again, this Upright one was far smaller than any one she had ever seen before. The Upright ones were taller, had rocky scales or fur hides, and sometimes pulled rolling wood carvings full of treasures. This one’s hide seemed withered and lifeless, like dry grass in the moments before ice and cold. No matter - the disharmony had to be stopped. The small Upright one would surely scurry back to its kin. The Creature edged towards the helpless figure, reared back her head, and let loose a booming roar.

The Upright one did not move. It continued to stare at the river. Again, the same shrill noise. Even louder.

The Creature raised her arm into the air, primed its roar again, and let loose as it slammed a talon into the dirt, muscle driving an imprint into the earth. This time, the Upright one turned around, now facing the Creature. It did not scurry. It merely stood in place and continued to make that same shrill noise.

The Creature tilted her head at the anomaly before her. It did not scurry. It did not roar. The Creature looked carefully upon its face and watched streams flow from its eyes. She looked closely at its ears and saw that they were not open caves, like that of the other Upright ones. This small thing was truly a pitiful sight.

In all of her years as the forest’s guardian, the Creature found that nature always found a place for everything. But gazing upon this Upright one, she knew that it had been put here because its kin had deemed it unworthy of any place. The Upright ones always seemed capable of so much, yet time had proven that their greatest folly was their rejection of the world around them. They were far too obsessed with finding ways to carve unrecognizable things. Perhaps she could give this small one what her kin could not. Perhaps that was her duty as an aspect of nature.

The Creature gently lifted the child and tucked her between her arm, close to her chest, the same way she would sometimes do when gathering fruit from the trees. As she soared back to the cavern, the Upright one’s shrill noise changed altogether. Its tune was no longer discordant. Its tune became harmonious.

As the Creature entered her cavern, she flew over to the small cliffside beside the lake and set the Upright one down. She let out a low, gentle hum, resonating the crystals aligning the rocky walls, providing a warm, inviting heat throughout the cavern. The beams of light performed excitedly, surely pleased to have a new audience.

The Upright one laid still, eyes poised towards the ceiling, surely paralyzed in wonder. The Creature extended a wing for the little one to rest against, before dipping her snout into the lake, using her jaws as a basin. She gazed down upon the helpless sight and let the water seep from her mouth to the little's one face.

Pain. Sharp, pulsating agony. Pain permeated through the Creature's being, as her eyes locked with the once-pathetic thing she had brought into her care. Branches of stark white light sparked from the Upright one's body and flashed in every direction, tickling the rocks, racing across the surface of the lake, and piercing in through the Creature's scales. Edges could not slice her hide. Force could not chip her scales. Fire would not singe her skin. But the thin bolts of light discharged from within the Upright one sank deep into the Creature's muscles, seizing her in place. What storm had awoken? How could such a small, helpless thing wield the power of the clouds in the night sky?

After countless seconds, the lightning stopped. Fumes of heat and smoke rose to the cavern ceiling. The Creature laid helpless in her own den, limbs sprawled across the floor, feathers wilting from her wings. She glanced a final time upon the face of the one she hoped to help find harmony, only to see skin and face no longer present. All that laid in front of her, gaze unbroken from the ceiling, was a body of burnt silver, displaying a twisted reflection of the cavern's beautiful glow. Her breaths became weak. Her amber eyes grew heavier. Before her, two Upright ones emerged from the shadows, plummeting slowly down from the top of the cave's waterfall like leaves from a tree. One of them carried fire on its waist, illuminating their vibrant colors - one red and one purple. Their coats began from the tops of their heads and trailed along the backs of their legs, like the birds of the forest. In their hands, they carried branches with crystals on the ends - the same as the ones which decorated the walls of the cavern, only theirs shone brighter. Their faces were featureless; no eyes, snout or mouth. All that looked back at her were two smooth surfaces of gold.

Her body could no longer endure the waking world. Her eyelids sank to a close.

"It appears my theory was correct."

"Only half-correct. You were right about the lightning, and that deserves commendation. But your theory was that the dragon would eat the automaton, not... Whatever this was."

"Regardless, the results speak for themselves. This is even better than we predicted. She is felled in the safety of her own den. We have much, much work to do, and little time to do it. Let the research begin!"

Dawn seeped in from the tear in the cavern, birthing light into the crystals and bathing the cave in a deep emerald glow. The tranquil performance of the waterfall began; soft, white beams danced across stalactites to the harmony of water, lapping alongside darkened walls, into a massive wheel made of wood. The wheel spins, generating a hum within the stone structure erected underneath the falls. The emerald glow pulses with intensity, bringing power to the dozens of glowing metal chains tethered around the lake's perimeter, converging at its center.

A wide spire sits in center of the lake, majesty shackled by coils of chains. Tethered to the spire lies the Azure Dragon, whose fading amber eyes drift open to meet the sight of several humans, clad in golden visors, staves in hand. Her black talons tighten in fury, but are stopped by the sharp pain of lightning from the silver shackles on her wrists. Her head rears towards the ceiling to let out a booming roar, but a muzzle infused with crystal clasps her jaws shut. She spreads her wings in fear, struggling to escape her den - only to discover all her feathers had been torn away.

The crystal walls of the dragon's cavern had been gouged out, contorted and carved into various structures that pulse with light. A powered pulley sits beside the waterfall, where carts of crystal are taken from the stockpile and hauled off for other devices. Not a single available resource has been squandered. It is truly a marvel of efficiency.

"What's that shrill noise? Is the dragon... Crying?"

"Feh. Dragons do not cry. They cannot feel like us. They are merely livestock for subjugation, and we have taken far too long to dominate them. It is simply in a state of panic. If you find the noise distracting, I recommend you tune it out."

"... But what if it doesn't stop?"

"It will, in due time. It will adjust to its new circumstances.

Tomorrow will be a new day."