The Smoky Avenger
OOC: its been a bit since I've posted a story here too, so I figured I would go on and post one, which will hopefully clear up a few questions about the smoke hatchling [well adult now, but that is another story], Kamiera
As before, I like to tell my stories from third person and such as it is, so this one is too.
IC:
Kamiera’s Story
The volcanic light warmly shone upon the two adults and their hatchling, which was happily racing from the front to the back between the two of them as they walked the backlands of Char, exploring it on a family outing. It was a pleasant day for a walk and the canyons’ light rippled from their scales, glimmering with an almost angelic light.
Kamienda, the hatchling’s mother was soft silver speckled with light blue spots, which seemed to capture and hold the warm light, smiled at her daughter’s excitement, but cautioned her lightly, “Now, now, Kamiera, don’t rush too far ahead, these lands can be treacherous for one as young as you.�
Kamiera giggled and ran under and between her mother’s legs, “With you two around, no place is too dangerous for me!�
Kliementi, the hatchling’s father spoke, in an amused tone, “Mind your mother, Kami, she is right.� Kamiera’s sire was a deep, ebony, which seemed to absorb the very light from the canyons’, walls itself but glistened like the finest obsidian. He walked with a strong, proud air about him; he had a strongly built frame and his muscles rippled beneath his dark scales, whereas Kamienda was smaller and less muscular, by a large margin, but lithe and graceful.
Kamiera giggled again and sped under her father, nipping at his forelegs as she raced past; the hatchling was a platinum color, with bright, expressive violet eyes; her scales gleamed vibrantly; she was lithely built, like her mother, but was just a little bit more muscular than the average hatchling, thanks to her sire. She had a seemingly inexhaustible amount of energy, but weren’t all hatchlings like that?
The couple looked amused as they watched their young daughter’s antics and grinned to each other, both deciding that she could enjoy the freedom she now had. There had been a series of blight anchors nearby recently, and they had rune-sealed her in their lair to keep her safe, because many of the Aegis were far more powerful than her, as were many of the native creatures in their volcanic homeland. She had been in there for a few days, and they did feel a little bad for having to keep her inside, which is why they had gone out on this walk; the anchors had been destroyed, at least to everyone’s knowledge and besides, a hatchling needed to be able to run around.
Kliementi gazed down at his daughter and sneakily stuck out a paw, which the excited hatchling did not see and she tumbled over it in a rather spectacular fashion, somersaulting six times head over tail and then spilling onto her belly, burying her muzzle into some soil. The hatchling snorted, pulled herself free and glanced suspiciously to her parents, who were laughing as she shook the dirt from her scales.
“Hey! What was that for?� She demanded in mock anger as she eyed each of them.
Her father and mother feigned innocence, blinking and looking at her, “What was what for? You tumbled over a rock, it was rather funny.� Kamienda tried to keep a straight expression, while Kliementi looked around for the offending rock and pounced on an obsidian node, harvesting it into submission.
He smiled to his daughter and held out the slabs to her, “There, that is one node that you will not trip over.� He tossed the slabs into a lava pool and grinned to his daughter.
Kamiera looked pleased and flicked her tail up with much grandeur, “See? With my parents here, nothing will mess with me.�
The two older dragons laughed and then continued to walk, while Kamiera entertained herself by following after her father and stalked his tail, which he was swishing around to entice her into play.
The hatchling pounced, once, twice, thrice, and missed each time as she tried to catch the elusive appendage, which her father would snatch away at the last moment before she could catch it.
“RAWR!� Kamiera pounced again and this time, Kliementi let her catch his tail in her sharp hatchling teeth.
He laughed heartily and lifted it over his back, with Kamiera dangling from it by her teeth and while he wiggled his tail a few times between his wings as he looked back at her, “So, do you plan to let my tail go anytime soon?�
“Grghnmph!� The hatchling tried to speak around her mouthful.
“Hmm, I guess that means not.� He lashed his tail a little bit, which caused her grip to slip and she plopped onto his back, “Now that is a little more comfortable.� He lowered his tail and the family continued walking while Kamiera scrabbled up his neck to perch upon his head, surveying the lands with a keen eye.
In the distance, she could see some pygmies and ogres patrolling the road, which her parents were keep well clear of, given that their daughter was too young to fight them. Over there, she could see some oastics lounging around a few lava pools, but nowhere near the three, she could also see a few lairs around too, and she loved it all.
“Ooh! I like it up here! I can see so much more!� She exclaimed.
Kamienda laughed at her daughter’s excitement, “Yes, Char is a very beautiful, if dangerous land, but one day, you will be able to explore it without having to worry about its dangers.�
“When will that be and how soon can I be able to do that?� Kamiera had always been curious about many things, which was another reason why her parents often took her exploring lands, which many wouldn’t dare to explore until they grew stronger, of course, being that they were fully grown adult dragons, there wasn’t much they COULDN’T handle. Kamiera quite enjoyed their family excursions and was always quite fascinated whenever they went out.
“Oh, it will be sooner than you think, sweetie, just give it some time.�
“How much time will I need?� The inquisitive hatchling spoke again.
Her mother rumbled in amusement, “As much time as it takes, Kami, but for now, just enjoy what you see. We will be out here together hunting much sooner than you think.�
Kamiera was going to ask another question, but paused as she looked off into the distance, blinking a few times, “Hey, what is a green wisp doing out here?� She looked down into her father’s eyes and tilted her head, “I’ve never seen one like that before… I didn’t even know there were any wisps here in Char!�
“There aren’t any wisps out here…� Kliementi said, his voice hardening a bit, “Wasn’t that anchor destroyed a few days ago Kamienda?� He asked his mate and then used his paw to push Kamiera off his head, down between his wings, where she would be sheltered.
It was only moments later that the area grew dark and rain began to fall as green mist suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere. Kamiera’s parents tensed themselves and Kamiera could scent their worry, not about the wisp but more that it was concern for her.
“There must be another anchor that appeared, Kamienda, we need to investigate this, and we are too far from our lair; we can’t let Kamiera go back on her own.� Kliementi’s voice seemed cold and filled with determination as he focused and his daughter began to feel him tense up as she felt strength rippling into him while her mother cast a few spells on each of them to make them stronger and shield them from the blight that now filled the air.
Kamienda’s gaze seemed to intensify as she called upon the primal powers within her and she nodded stiffly, growling a bit, “Then we will do what we can to keep her safe and destroy that anchor.�
Kliementi turned his head to his daughter and spoke softly, “Hold on tight Kami, we need to investigate this.�
Kami, by now, was quite nervous, as she could tell that they were no longer on a fun family outing and meekly nodded as she clung tightly to her father’s scales.
In moments, her parents leaped into the air and flew swiftly towards the wisp, which was getting closer; the wind howled as the three dragons sped towards the wisp and Kliementi dove upon the wisp, ravaging it with five fierce attacks. Kamienda landed upon it, striking with her claws, which glowed with a golden light, felling the wisp right after her mate withdrew his claws.
“Let’s go!� Kliementi called to Kamienda and they again took off into the air, with Kamiera clinging as tight as she possibly could to hide from the wind, which sought to blast her off her father’s back.
Seconds later, the hatchling spied a massive cylindrical shape hovering near a volcano and she squealed, “Daddy! What is that? There is a big green thing right there by that volcano!�
Her father hissed and dove at it, “It is a Blight Anchor, but it shouldn’t be here!� He landed roughly, followed mere moments after by Kamienda, who seemed surprised as well and was gauging its strength, “Kliementi… this one is very powerful… I have never felt something like it before.�
He growled and turned to Kamiera, who was still clinging to his back, “Kamiera, I need you to get off… this is going to get very dangerous, and I can’t afford to have you falling from me and getting hurt in the battle.�
The terrified hatchling merely squeaked as he picked her up in his maw and set her upon the ground, “Go, and hide, we will get you when we finish here. Get as high and far from it as you can, there will be many enemies here shortly, I am sure of it, and I don’t want you to get hurt.�
It was only seconds after he spoke that a Flame Bomb crashed near him and blasted him off his paws, while Kamiera squealed in terror. Such power she had felt from that! Fortunately, her father had shielded her and got back to his feet, summoning a quickening breeze, which embraced him and Kamiera in soothing winds, he roared, “GO, Kamiera! Don’t come down until we call for you!�
Kamiera squealed again as she saw a massive, phantom-like Mage that was firing flame bolts at her mother, who was returning fire with bolts of primal energy, though she looked a bit hurt herself.
“Mother!�
“GO, Kamiera! We will be alright!� Kamienda called to her and Kamiera hesitated again, until another Flame Bomb landed near her and her father had to shield her again.
“GO Kamiera! You will only endanger yourself!� He roared as he rushed at the phantom mage and struck it with golden fire shimmering from his claws.
Kamiera was petrified for a moment, until a Flame Spear crashed near her and blasted her off her paws, sending her tumbling head over tail. She was dazed for a moment, but turned around and sprinted up a path that led to a covered area near the volcano, out of reach of the mages, who gave up chasing her as soon as she sprinted away to hide. From her vantage point, she could see four phantom mages, two of which were attacking her mother and two of which were attacking her father; her parents fought bravely, but the mages closed in quickly, forcing the two to back up against each other, while some zombie clerics rushed over to heal the mages that were hurt.
Her father roared in defiance and breathed a massive flame burst, incinerating two of the four zombie clerics, but they did not fall, until he again struck with gold fire flaming from his claws. Her mother, also breathed a massive burst of flame upon the mages, hitting even the clerics, and cindered the other two, which were still on fire from Kliementi’s Flame Burst, felling them as well; she even managed to kill one of the Phantom Mages. However, seemingly as if on cue, the remaining three mages shone with a terrifying fiery red glow about them and even from her distance, Kamiera could hear an intense burning sound, as if a screaming wildfire blazed towards one. Her parents froze and Kamienda quickly cast another spell, one that Kamiera recognized as Arcane Refusal.
The hatchling blinked and watched in surprise as the protective ward embraced her parents, but she was shocked, why would her mother use Arcane Refusal when the blighted creatures always struck with Blight? Something very bad was certainly happening if her mother was raising a ward against flame, energy, and ice!
Kamiera saw the phantom mages weave another strange sigil that infused their hands with a blue glow as her father and mother both struck with that gold fire burning from their claws; they were really trying to kill those mages quickly, but they just wouldn’t fall! Why were these mages so tough? Her mother seldomly used her Gold Rage, unless it was a dire emergency. What was happening down there? The mages shrugged off the powerful strikes, but looked gravely wounded, and again they wrote a new sigil, which caused their skeletal hands to glow white. It was not until then that Kamiera recognized what they were doing. They had used Fusion Burn, then Perfect Spell, and NOW Multi-Cast!
She squealed in terror and burst out of cover; she did not know what they planned, but she had to do something! The hatchling rushed down the hill, but was not fast enough as one of the mages cast a spell that burned the very sky with countless pillars of flame that engulfed her parents. The other two mages cast Flame Bomb at the same time and a torrent of flaming bombs poured upon her parents, which she could hear roar in agony.
“NO! Mother! Father!� Kamiera called out as loud as her little lungs would let her.
It did not take long for the fire and smoke to dissipate to reveal both of her parents, motionless and scorched, lying upon the ground. At least two of the mages, plus all of the clerics were dead, but three mages still stood, though two of them were gravely wounded. Kamiera skidded to a halt, causing a shower of obsidian fragments to skitter down the hill, which crashed into a few larger rocks and quite clearly gave her away. The mages looked up and then rushed at her in a hurry. The hatchling froze for a moment, looking into those soulless and empty eyes of the phantom mages, transfixed by fear. It took her a moment to snap herself out of it, but then that didn’t matter; one of the mages entrapped her in a swirling vortex of fire, ice, and energy sparkles, mesmerizing her while another used another of its abilities and engulfed her in burning flames.
She squealed in pain as the mesmerization spell broke and scurried backwards, towards the lava pool, trying to shake off the terrible pain of the Engulf spell. The other mage, however, trapped her in another mesmerization spell while the next cast a flame bomb at her and blasted her high into the air, off her paws and sent her flying into the volcano!
As the mesmerization spell broke, she looked down to see the fiery lava rushing at her and squealed in pain, terror, and despair. In seconds; she crashed into the lava and felt excruciating pain like nothing she had ever felt before, and a last howl of agony escaped her as the lava engulfed her. Then all was black…
Above the lava pit, the three mages hovered, watching to make sure nothing came out of it, and nothing did; satisfied, the mages returned to the blight anchor and fled within it to heal, while a newly arrived zombie medic paused near Kliementi and Kamienda’s corpses.
With an unholy laugh, the zombie medic set its blighted hands upon their corpses and infused the bodies with Blight, morphing them into draconic zombies, which stood up again and looked around with baleful eyes.
“Masstterrr awaitsss, Reklar…� The zombie slurred and led them to the blight portal, which they stepped into and vanished from sight.
*Later*
All that she felt was unimaginable pain and agony as she drifted in a dark world; she could feel herself torn asunder as the lava consumed her. Fire, pain, burning, all of this was all she felt, until a very, very faint warmth, weakly penetrated the blackness and haze of pain. It felt as if, there were tendrils reaching for her, pulling her back, out of that pain, into warmth and light. The pain dulled and eventually faded altogether as the blackness began to break apart. Light greeted her eyes and slowly, of their own accord, her eyes eased open.
What she saw next was not her home, but a large crystal with a brilliant light shining to her; it was blinding, but it would not fade until she felt the ground beneath her paws. Kamiera looked down to see the ground and saw not only a pebbled pathway beneath her paws, but she also saw her paws too, only they were not as she remembered them. Instead of being solid and scale, her paws seemed to be smoking, semi-solid, and she frantically waved one of her paws, trying to stop it, but she only succeeded in making a large cloud of smoke form. Alarmed, the hatchling quickly backed away from the smoke, but found out that a trail of smoke lingered after her.
“What? What is going on?� She looked at her other paw and then her chest scales, all of which were smoky, just like her other paw. Afraid, she tried slashing it off, but only succeeded in making another cloud of smoke and hurt herself in the process with her sharp claws. She ran back to the crystal and saw her reflection shining off the crystals and in the water at the base of the shrine. Much to her shock, the smoke was coming from her, but she was not on fire; her form seemed to flow with the breeze and smoke was always trailing from her.
“What, is this? What is happening?� She demanded of the crystal, but, of course, got no answer.
A voice behind her spoke, “Welcome to Skaalkaar, Gifted one!�
Kamiera jumped in surprise and turned around, leaving a cloud of smoke lingering where she had been moments before, “Gifted, what are you talking about?� She demanded.
“I mean just that, to have come here, you have the Gift, you were killed before, and since your soul isn’t bound anywhere, you have come to Skaalkaar, my name is Spitfyre, and I am the emissary for hatchlings who have discovered that they are Gifted.�
“Gifted? You make that sound like it is something special! What is this ‘Gift’ you keep talking about?� Kamiera demanded, stomping her forepaw in irritation and causing a puff of smoke to rise up, “and why am I all smoky and everything?�
“The Gift is the effect of a spell many years ago, it keeps you from truly dying, and allows you to come back, some call it immortality… However, to find that you have this ‘Gift’ you have to die at least once before. Because you have come here, you died and the Gift brought you here.�
“Is this supposed to be heaven or something? Because I don’t see my parents here.�
Spitfyre chuckled and looked amused, “No, this isn’t heaven, this is a training island, where Gifted hatchlings have come to learn about this special Gift and get familiar with it; when you are ready, you can leave this island by way of a portal gate at the far west side of this island.�
“That still doesn’t tell me WHY I am all smoky and everything! Does everyone who have this ‘Gift’ become like this?�
Spitfyre shook his head and looked a little puzzled himself, “I have never seen another Gifted with the traits that you have, I cannot answer your question, perhaps you will find it out yourself one day, but that is up to you.�
“When will that be?� She queried, looking hopeful.
“I don’t know, I can’t say, but you will know when you learn why, then perhaps you can come and share that with me.�
Kamiera sighed and plopped to the ground, with a puff of smoke, “I don’t get it…� She paused and then looked up to Spitfyre, “If I am Gifted… does that mean my parents are too? Have you seen them?� She looked hopeful and held Spitfyre’s gaze.
“What’s your name and theirs?�
“I am Kamiera Ebonstar, and my parents were Kamienda and Kliementi Ebonstar.�
Spitfyre shook his head, “I have not seen either of those two…�
Kamiera blinked and looked at him, “But they were killed before me! They should have been here by now!�
Spitfyre said nothing and merely looked at her before speaking again, “You should speak to Karkath and Jemenoth, they will help you.�
“I don’t WANT to talk to them, I don’t even know WHO they are! I want to talk to my parents! Where are they? You see everyone who comes through here right? So you should have seen my parents by now, so stop playing games and tell me where they went!�
Spitfyre glanced at her again, noting the hurt and pain in her eyes, “Kamiera, you are right, I see everyone who comes through here at least once, but you said your parents were killed before you, then they would have been here before you. Kamiera, I would not miss them.�
“Well then? Where did they go?� She demanded, though she was beginning to think that she might not actually get to see them again.
“Kamiera, they have not come… There are those that are not protected by the Gift, thus they will not come here. Kamiera, your parents will not be coming if they haven’t come here by now, I am sorry.�
“No! It is not fair! They have to come! They would not leave me alone! I am not going anywhere until they come!� Kamiera turned around and ran off until she came to a beach and plopped miserably upon the sand, but immediately jumped up as she felt her strength drain from her, as if something were smothering her.
“What the?� She stuck her paw into the sand and watched the smoke vanish, but she could feel her strength draining, though not too much, even as she only stood in the sand, she blinked a few times and backed away from the sand until she was on the grass and smoke puffed from her paw again.
“The sand is snuffing me out? How is that possible?� She stuck her paw into the sand again and watched it smother her smoke again; she pulled it back out and looked over her paw as it resumed puffing smoke, “I have become… a smoke dragon? How could that happen?� she experimented a few more times and then returned to the shrine to try another experiment. She stuck her paw into the water, but yelped as pain seared up her forepaw and she quickly pulled out her paw, looking at it. It had become a pale gray and hardly puffed at all and most of all, it hurt badly; she kept her paw out of the water for a time until the smoke begin to return, slowly at first and then steadily stronger until it was puffing regularly again.
Spitfyre walked up to her again, “So, you are a smoke dragon now? How odd…�
She snorted irritably and turned away, “You think you are special because you aren’t then?�
“No, that’s not it at all, I’ve just never seen a smoke dragon before, it’s a bit surprising, but really, you should go talk to Karkath and Jemenoth, they will help teach you more about being Gifted.�
Kamiera swiped her paw at Spitfyre, who dodged it, but it caused a cloud of smoke to get inside his mouth and nose, which made him sneeze and cough, “Go away and leave me alone, I am not going anywhere until my parents show up.�
It took him a moment to catch his breath, but instead of being angry, as she thought he would be, he merely spoke softly, “Alright, wait here for as long as you want, Karkath and Jemenoth will be waiting for you when you are ready. I hope your parents come soon, Kamiera, I really do, but I need to tend to my duties again.� The hatchling turned around and walked off to resume his post near a large red crystal, while Kamiera returned to the beach and plopped down on the grass, before it turned into sand.
Kamiera waited on that beach for four months for her parents to arrive, but they never did, though she saw many other hatchlings who arrived on Skaalkaar, some not knowing what happened, others who did and yet others who had merely hatched on the island, which she could not, for the life of her, figure out. During this time, she thought often and long on Spitfyre’s words about her dying before finding out about this ‘Gift’ of hers. She could remember everything about that ill-fated day, in stark detail; she KNEW phantom mages had murdered her parents and soon after, killed her too. She often dwelled on how helpless she had been to help them… so weak, so frail, so…. Useless, absolutely useless… Her parents had wanted to protect her, but she couldn’t protect them, and she was very bitter about that; both of them had died trying to protect her while she watched helplessly, terrified, and trembling, hiding like a little spineless lizard. She had tried to help, but had done nothing except get herself killed… how much more useless could she be?
“Why, Mother, Father? Why am I so useless, so helpless? I couldn’t do anything to help you, and I only got myself killed anyhow…� She was gazing to the stars, remembering her parents, every time she did; she hurt, it felt like something tore her heart from her chest and crushed it into a pulsing, bloody mess, “Why did those mages have to attack us and kill both of you? Why aren’t you here? Why haven’t you come to me? I miss you, so much… Its been so long, I want to hear your voices again, nestle against your warm scales and feel happy again.� Kamiera could no longer cry, because she had become a smoke dragon, her body just did not produce tears any more, but if she could, tears would be running down in streams. It hurt so much, and she could not even cry to feel better. The more she thought about this, the more it hurt and the more the pain grew, and since she couldn’t let it out, that pain became rage, fury, and anger.
“Those phantom mages ruined my life… Why did I have to be Gifted? Why can’t I just be with you anymore? All I want is to feel you again, hear your voices and feel your nuzzles…� Kamiera curled up into a tiny ball, looking entirely like a small ball of smoke.
The young hatchling again looked to the stars, anger and rage suddenly burning through her body, which caused her to puff smoke heavily, “I swear… Mother and Father, I will kill them all, every one of them for ruining our lives and killing you. I will make them pay in the most painful way possible… They’ve killed you and ruined me… they will pay… I swear by Drulkar’s blood, they will pay…� Kamiera picked herself up from her grass patch and stalked back to the shrine; her violet eyes burning deeply.
Spitfyre noticed her walking past him and grinned broadly when she stopped to speak with him, “Good to see you Kamiera how are you?�
“Where are they?�
The Hatchling Emissary grinned broadly and indicated with his claw where she should go, “Happy Hunting, Kamiera.�
She spoke back, “Believe me, it will be.� The smoke hatchling rushed off in the direction that Spitfyre had pointed her, leaving a massive trail of smoke behind her as she went to begin her life as a Gifted… and an avenger…
