Alraune

Even before birth, Alraune was unlike any dragon Sornieth had ever known. All Light eggs glowed, but hers shone with a warm greenish tinge, and at times, faint noises came from it, like the hums of crickets in the grass or the delicate stirring of violin strings.


Light shone through each day, bathing the egg in radiance. The Sages that cared for the eggs placed the glimmering orb beneath a waterfall, tempered by the thundering falls. Directly above, a portal had been cut into the cavern ceiling.


And one brilliant noon, when sunlight turned the cascading water into a rain of diamonds, the egg split apart—the hatchling within spread prismatic wings, her scales glimmering green and gold. Alraune's roar was like the chirring of crickets; the cavern around her echoed with a note as stirring and profound as an angelic chorus.


"Alraune!" the Lumen Sages responded, and the name was a triumphant call. The Lumen Sages awaited her birth eagerly, for they foresaw greatness in her future, and her family chose the name for her many moons beforehand.


But even the greatest warriors were children at some point, and Alraune was no exception. The young Imperial had many friends, but her nearest and dearest was a Gaoler named Balder. The Lightweaver's mark was upon his eyes, which shone like suns in his furry face, and so he, too, was expected to become a great fighter and sorcerer someday.


These expectations brought the youngsters closer together. They played games and pranks together, inveigled snacks from the kitchens, and complained about homework and tutors. A dragon showing much promise can be a terrible burden, but most obligations are better when they're shared, and in each other's company, Alraune and Balder found that enjoying the golden days of their childhood was easier.


As the days—and burdens—of adulthood loomed closer, they became aware of the turmoil beyond Isla del Sol's shores. Itinerant Sages brought back troubling tales of the Shade's evil influence, cruel warlords and brigands, monsters, and mysteries.


In childhood, Balder and Alraune were near-constant companions. In adulthood, they were true friends. Each trusted the other utterly, which proved invaluable, for their mutual strength and trust would sustain them—and their allies—in the trials to come.


~ ~ ~

In those days, the Lumen Sages were led by an ancient Imperial. He'd been among those who had foreseen Alraune's greatness and had directed much of her training.


The Sages' foresight held that Alraune was one of their greatest warriors by the time she was grown. The Golden Wonder, the Elder dubbed her, and it was a title well earned. When invoked, the Light within her blazed through her scales, bright enough to blind any foe. The radiance of her wings was akin to that of the sun, powerful enough to cut through the darkest storm.


However, she was not the Elder's top student—that distinction belonged to Balder. When the Elder finally passed away, he became the next leader of the Lumen Sages.


Balder and Alraune remained firm friends, and she was happy to advise him on the dilemmas he faced—many of which threatened not just the Sages but the entire Light Flight. They soon determined that among these, hostile monsters posed the greatest danger. There were troubling rumors that the Beasts were planning to attack the Sages' enclave and that they were amassing a large and determined army with strange sorcery of their own.


The Lumen Sages were well-trained in combat but did not relish it. Alraune, for all her power, was particularly against going to war. She suggested that they negotiate instead. "Working together, we can take the Sunbeam Ruins to even greater heights!" she declared.


But the Sages' offers of peace were utterly rejected. The invading army intended to conquer Isla del Sol, for they were after the priceless manuscripts and artifacts that the Sages had created. These were not objects that the Sages could freely give away. They were sacred, and many had too powerful magic for any one dragon—let alone monsters—to control.


The mosnters, however, would not be swayed from their goal. And the Sages returned to their council chambers with heavy hearts, knowing that war was now inevitable.


~ ~ ~

Over the following months, the beasts and monsters skirmished with the Lumen Sages, always driving towards Isla del Sol. Reinforcements soon arrived, swelling the ranks of the invading army.


"They plan to attack at night, when we'll be at our weakest," Balder sighed as he looked down at the great map in the council chamber. Glowing runes danced across it, showing the troops' known locations, numbers, and movements.


Alraune's expression was similarly bleak. "We can't allow that to happen. We'll have to strike first. Draw them into an ambush—several ambushes. They'll break up their army to meet us on all fronts, and we should be able to subdue them more easily."


The rest of the Sages murmured in approval, but Alraune was unsatisfied. She wasn't looking forward to what was coming next, and she could tell her clan felt the same way.


The next day, at dawn, the Sages quietly gathered. They waited, arrayed in grim splendor, for their leader to address them. All were garbed in battle attire, and many of them carried weapons.


Alraune looked at Balder with sympathy. He could barely even be called the "Elder;" he was still so young. But she whispered words of encouragement to him, and he straightened up visibly, his wings arching. He ascended the pedestal and spoke to the glittering crowd.


"Listen well, Lumen Sages. We have scarcely faced a threat of this magnitude in our long history."


The dragons stirred uneasily. There had been so many terrible stories about their ferocity. Would the Sages' magic prevail? Alraune did, too: She could almost see the monsters massing beyond Isla del Sol.


"The Lightweaver created our order and this island to safeguard her knowledge. But a barricade of books will not protect us. Even now, the enemy is clawing for our throat—for Isla del Sol itself.


"But I remind you now that you fight not just for Isla del Sol but also for your fellow dragons in the Light Flight and beyond. We protect them—to safeguard the Sunbeam Ruins for generations to come.


"The sun has risen, Lumen Sages! See—our goddess is watching over us. Go now to defend our homes and people, and the Light will shine upon us!"


~ ~ ~

A great battle was joined on the shores of Isla del Sol that day. The Beasts, so close to their goal, were vicious and ruthless—but Balder's words rang in the Lumen Sages' souls, and they fought valiantly, bringing all their magic and might to bear upon the invaders.


Still, the monsters of the Shade were cunning. They had harnessed several powerful weapons against the dragons. Among the fiercest were hydras: The gigantic, many-headed serpents tunneled through the ground, snatching up hapless dragons in their jaws.


"Balder! We'll have to eliminate the hydras!"


The Gaoler nodded grimly. Alraune looked closer and saw his lips moving, murmuring incantations under his breath. After watching for a few seconds, she realized what to do.


When Balder spoke the final word of his spells, it left his throat as a shout. And Alraune was ready. Even as the sorcerous blast slammed into the hydras, temporarily dazing them, she was moving forward, her golden wings flashing.


"In the name of Light!" she bellowed, and the Sages regrouped behind her, echoing her cry. They fell upon the hydras like an avenging tide.


Soon, the fabulous monsters were no more, and they began taking unacceptable losses. With a final blast on their war horns, they regrouped, not to charge anew but to retreat.


The Sages let them go. So great were their roars of victory that several trees tumbled to the ground, and the nearby waters surged up in great waves. But Isla del Sol stood as serene as ever, its golden banners fluttering triumphantly against the sky.


The Sages were overjoyed by their victory, but they also took time to mourn, for they had lost many friends and kin that day.


In the aftermath of the battle, Alraune tended the wounded, and her soft voice and melodious laugh raised many spirits. Most dragons, looking at her, thought she had recovered quickly from the turmoil of combat. Deep inside, however, doubt and worry gnawed at her. The horrors of that fight hung over her like a shadow, ominous and foreboding.


She was Alraune, the Golden Wonder; her greatness had been apparent before birth! "Could I have done more?" she thought, replaying the dreadful events of that day.


“Could I have done more?”


As time passed, for most dragons, the memory of that battle faded till it seemed like a bad dream, a ghostly sketch in some long-forgotten history book. But it remained fresh in Alraune's mind, and she kept training and studying, elevating her great magic to even more breathtaking heights. She threw herself deeper into her studies, training harder than ever before.


Most dragons had nothing but praise for her diligence. Balder, however, saw through to the worry in her soul. "You should rest, Alraune," he counseled her. "It has been years since that battle, and we've known nothing but peace."


Other dragons would have scoffed at that, but that was not Alraune's way. Her eyes warmed as she recognized the concern beneath Balder's words and reassured him, "I'm simply being prudent, old friend. Who knows what the future holds? And even if all the days ahead are peaceful..." She shrugged her glittering wings. "Well, training is a good way to fill up one's time!"


And another dragon, had they been in Balder's place, might have chided Alraune and told her that her worries were unfounded. But leadership had brought Balder wisdom, and with this came the sad knowledge that though they'd defeated the Beastclan invaders, there would be further challenges ahead. Who knew, indeed, what the future held? Isla del Sol seemed impervious now, but perhaps.


"Let us hope you are right," was all he could say.


In the long years that followed, Alraune's hopes came to fruition. The Sunbeam Ruins flourished, and so did the Lumen Sages. Their isle was safe; their lands were peaceful. There was some friction with the Umbra Witches, their rivals in Shadow, but nothing particularly egregious. The bright future stretched ahead of them, promising further fruitful tomorrows.


And then word reached the Sages: There was a new threat to dragonkind, but it was not an invasion. Not an army of shadetouched monsters or even a plot by the Witches of Shadow.


"The mages, there were eleven of them...Something went wrong, and it killed them. But gods save us; they rose from the dead..."


As a many-headed abomination of explosive power. An Emperor.


~ ~ ~

The Sunbeam Ruins were eerily quiet. The populace had evacuated long beforehand, but they were no longer deserted. A vast army had gathered to halt the Emperor's advance: the Lumen Sages and the Umbra Witches.


For a long time, Alraune had dreamed of seeing this alliance. The Umbra Witches matched the Sages in splendor and power, and she respected them as fellow warriors. But she had dreamed of befriending them in days of peace. It saddened her that they were allied now in battle, for she knew that many of them would inevitably perish before the Emperor.


She couldn't help looking at her fellow fighters' faces. Some were strangers, but many were familiar—achingly so now when there was a strong possibility that they'd be ripped away.


"Will it be you...or you, perhaps? Will you still be with us when the dust has settled?"


"Penny, for your thoughts, Sage?" asked a Witch. Alraune didn't know her name, but she welcomed the attempt at conversation. "Just thinking things over. This is a dreary morning; I'd love to soak in a hot spring once this tussle is done."


"Aye, that's the stuff. Something to wash off the stink of the day. We'll all need it once we've destroyed this shambling wreck."


It wasn't amusing, but the nearby dragons chuckled and chimed in. Trying to defuse the tension, Alraune knew. She looked beyond them and saw Balder standing atop a nearby rock. He smiled back—and that was enough.


The ground began to tremble. The Emperor was drawing near. Soon, it was in sight, its many heads blotting out the sun. They writhed together mindlessly, their eyes ablaze with a terrible, ravenous hunger.


"Sages! Once again, we stand together..."


"Our goddess has brought us here..."


The Elders of both the Sages and the Witches spoke now, encouraging everyone to stand firm. It brought to mind that long-ago morning when the Sages had stood against the invading Beastclans. How distant that time seemed now! And how feeble that threat was compared to the terrible Emperor.


Alraune didn't hear the speeches; she was reviewing all the techniques, spells, and plans she'd concocted over the years: combat strategies, chants, maneuvers, and scenarios.


She'd never fought an Emperor before, and none of them had. Would her strength, her power, save more dragons this time?


"I shall have to make it so," she vowed, even as she and the others roared and charged toward their foe.


The battle did not end in minutes. No, not even in hours.


It stretched on for days. The Emperor seemed almost godlike in its ferocity and strength: "Invincible!" the dragons thought, but they dared not say so. To say it aloud would make it seem more real.


"No, it can't be true! But we can't go on like this." Even Alraune's thoughts faltered. By then, the battle had been raging for days, and though the dragons kept fighting, the Emperor's advance didn't cease. It had devoured so many of them already and injured scores more besides. Alraune's scales burned with pain, her golden scales hidden under blood splatters.


She continued bellowing as she swooped over the battlefield, orders interspersed with spells. She directed Sages against the Emperor and struck at it when she could, but she was tired. She needed to do something.


"I should heal our warriors. But the beast breaks through every time I cease attacking and devours them!" Tears of frustration stung her eyes. "If only I could simultaneously heal our allies while striking the Emperor. All the heads at once! If only I could..."


"Ah, but are you not the Golden Wonder?" The voice in her mind was hers: Another Alraune from ancient times, when all was right with the world, and the future was filled with endless possibilities. Her younger self, who had been eager to try everything; her older and wiser self, determined to do her best for her people.


"If anybody can pull off such a feat, it's you. Imagine twelve spells cast at once! Eleven to paralyze each head, and the twelfth powerful enough to heal two armies! Remember, Alraune, 'Golden Wonder' isn't just a title; it's a promise."


Even as these thoughts thundered through her soul, Alraune soared up into the sky. Drawing power from the sun, from the Light, as she recited the words...


She spoke in several voices at once. Her strange, melodious roar seemed to divide into several strands, each chanting a different spell. Her wings and scales glowed, radiant even through the grime that besmirched them. The dragons below looked up in wonder.


And then she swooped down towards the Emperor's head. She called out its name—


"JUBILEUS!"


She saw the gleam of its eyes, the unholy magic blazing in its throat, and felt the heat of its foul breath wash over her. But she did not falter, for she could feel her own magic rising inside her—a promise of retribution and hope for Sages, Witches, and all dragons beyond.


The Golden Wonder met her foe, eyes wide open, fearless—and then she knew no more.


~ ~ ~

The Golden Wonder's death was mourned, but the Sages and the Witches celebrated her deeds. Healed and protected by Alraune's final spells, the Sages and Witches rallied and slew the Emperor together. Both orders allied in the aftermath of that battle, and peace again came to the Sunbeam Ruins.


Sadly, it did not last. New conflicts eventually darkened the land, and the Lumen Sages and Umbra Witches were extirpated. But not wholly: Once their goddesses determined that the time was right, they were brought back into the world, given new lives and new duties, a new home.


Balder was reinstated as Elder of the Lumen Sages. He greeted each arriving Sage with joy, whether they were new souls or reborn as he was. Each newcomer brought hope—but also a disappointment, for none of them were Alraune. He hoped to see her again—and more than that, he wished she could see this new world. Another alliance between Sage and Witch! New wonders to behold! A new land with many possibilities.


His hope faded, but it never really died. It lay like an ember beneath pale ashes—and one day, he heard something that reignited it.


It came on the cool dawn air, ringing through his tower's halls. A faint sound but unmistakable: the hums of crickets in the grass or the delicate stirring of violin strings.


"Or the voice of a dear, dear friend," he realized, looking towards the dawn.


Alraune, the Golden Wonder, had finally been reborn.


~ written by Disillusionist (254672)

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