The Song

“Long before the Faye Expanse became the Cruel Continent,

A creature appeared.

Some say he is a rejected demon that dragged his way up from the depths of Hell,

Or that he is the leftover accumulation of God’s creation tossed down here.

But no matter his origins, no matter what he is,

The people called him Agron,

The only one of his kind.”

“The only one,” Grimoire echoed.

"If one ever finds himself being played with by the Residuin,

As Agron likes to call himself,

They will not be able to hide in the dark from his glowing red eyes.

If they decide to hide in the water, then getting eaten by a kelpie is a better fate,

For the water is Agron’s domain.

With his four boney legs, he can swim faster than all water creatures combined."

"Faster."

"Old and young,

Human or creature,

Agron does not discriminate,

The only common trait his victims share is that they were happy and alive.”

“Happy.”

“Maybe that is what he feeds on,

For after sinking his teeth into his victims,

After laughing at their initial cries of agony,

He would leave as suddenly as he arrived,

Long before his prey dies,

For their mind and body deteriorate much faster than age due to his venom.”

“Venom.”

“Some say he stays just long enough to see their happiness completely die,

While others say he leaves because he gets bored easily.

Whatever the case,

Years passed, and as people and creatures do,

They adapted and got used to living with Agron waiting in their shadows.”

“Waiting.”

“Then one day,

He came across a baby dragon called Alrosdar,

And without a second thought,

Attacked and left him dying,

Forcing his own father to kill him out of mercy.

And that dragon’s name was Grarvuntiess.”

“Grarvuntiess.”

“The same who torched any village he came across,

Who mauled and ate any knight who dared to fight him,

The one who destroyed the kingdom of Crelux out of spite,

Known as the Evil One.”

“The Evil One.”

“Perhaps Agron thought that Grarvuntiess would not care about his son due to his own dark heart,

Maybe Agron had gotten cocky,

Or perhaps the only thing Agron cared about was causing agony and chaos.

But no matter the reason,

Grarvuntiess was enraged enough to declare war.”

“War.”

“But he was not a fool,

He knew that Agron’s loose and overlapping skin was stronger than his scales,

So he called for help.

From all the other dragons, both benevolent and malevolent,

From the dwarves who loved their brethren and gold,

And from the elves, whose magic ran in their veins.

All of them answered his call,

For enough was enough.”

“Enough was enough.”

“Upon the fields of Malnora, below the Briven Mountains,

A place full of life,

They had a beautiful elf maiden dance among the flowers,

With a smile on her face as she gracefully spins by the river,

While Grarvuntiess and his allies laid in wait.”

“Wait.”

“A day passed,

Then two,

Before they felt decay and dread sink past their skin and into their bones.

A second later,

The black creature of death jumped out of the water and lunged for the innocent maiden.

But the maiden nimbly leapt out of the way,

While Grarvuntiess and his allies sprung an attack.”

“Attack!”

“One can never say Agron was a coward,

Instead of fleeing,

He laughed with glee and scrambled towards the ambush.

Many lives were lost that day,

Dragon, Elf, and Dwarf,

Their blood formed rivers and polluted the once lively plains.

And despite their sacrifice,

Agron was still smiling with joy and health.”

“Smiling.”

“It wasn’t until Grarvuntiess,

With a broken wing and bloody scales,

Pounced onto Agron,

Both crashing into a spacious cave.

Then, with one last roar,

Grarvuntiess clamped his jaws around Agron’s head.

Agron’s venom dripped into his mouth,

His fate was sealed,

He wouldn’t even last an hour,

His fangs weren’t close to piercing Agron’s neck,

And Agron was fighting for freedom with all his strength.

But even so,

Grarvuntiess did not let go.”

“Did not let go.”

“Then the remaining elves,

With their last vestiges of strength,

Uttered a spell,

Their last resort,

To seal both monsters in the cave.”

“Seal.”

“After the deed was done,

The elves most in tune with the life force,

Felt Grarvuntiess’s soul flicker and die,

Though the last few allies that dared to venture near the cave,

Could see that Agron’s head was still trapped between Grarvuntiess’s fangs.”

“Trapped.”

“Seeing that Agron was still struggling,

And knowing that the seal wouldn’t easily be broken,

The remaining dragons and dwarves left,

While the elves stayed behind,

To build a settlement,

A new village,

A garrison to protect the world from Agron,

In case he ever found a means to escape.”

“In case.”

“When Agron was finally able to get out of Grarvuntiess’s death grip,

He bashed and swiped at the seal,

But no matter how much he fought and wailed,

Agron could not break free.”

“Agron could not.”

“And that new village of elves is there still,

Renewing the seal’s strength every ten years,

In case Agron ever became strong enough to break it.

Yet he has had nothing to eat these many years,

Not even a small, foolish rat could squeeze itself into that cave,

And Agron’s nails are not tough enough to break through the rock,

So there he will stay,

Until he finally succumbs to starvation,

Or he finds a way out.”

“A way out.”

When the final chord finally died, Alanus put down his lute and looked at Haganto expectedly, while Grimoire on his shoulder did the same.

“So? What do you think?” Alanus asked, his voice soft as he kept up his smile, though there was a solemn edge to it. Haganto didn’t make a sound as he debated on what he should say next. If he did say it, would it help Alanus’s audience, or would only serve to bring about panic and despair?

“There is one thing your grandfather’s song failed to mention, though I doubt he knew about it,” Haganto finally said, with great reluctance as he gripped his chilled bowl of stew tightly. “It was a...belief that wasn’t widely shared.”

“And what belief was that? And who held that belief?” Alanus asked calmly. “And do they still believe?”

“No, a group of ogres called Brazug were the only ones who believed that Agron would find a means to escape, and they were all killed when they accidentally invaded a young dragon’s territory years ago,” Haganto answered. Then, with his gaze directed at his neglected meal, Haganto sighed before he continued.

“They also believed that only a true monster would be able to kill Agron.”

And with that, Haganto chugged down the rest of his stew without taking a single breath.

Previous: Chapter 6: https://vocal.media/fiction/alanus

Next: Chapter 8: https://vocal.media/fiction/bleakburn