Bas

Witherbough Warlock

Familiar

Beware the dancing lights in the thicket; there are malevolent creatures about. A branch or a root could turn out to be the searching claws of something sinister...

0

"Are you sure that you want to buy this house? It's got a pretty bad history..." the old Mirror told his clients. The small family of three had just moved to the large underground city that had been built deep beneath the Shattered Plains, mostly hidden from the dragons of Sornieth. The father of the family chuckled lightly. "Oh, we've heard the rumors, but we don't just believe some legend that an old dragon told! We'll take it, five hundred gems was correct, right?" Nimbren asked. The Mirror nodded, taking the gems from the Pearlcatcher and hurried away from the old house, smiling slightly. "Honey, maybe there's something true in those old tales..." his wife, Mary mumbled, holding their hatchling under her wing. "Don't be ridiculous, Mary! They're just stories parents told their hatchlings so they'd stay away from the house." he scoffed and turned to open the wooden door.

The three Pearlcatchers stepped inside, looking around their new home curiously. "James, why don't you go upstairs and choose a bedroom?" Nimbren smiled at his son, looking after the excited hatchling as he bolted up the creaky old stairs. "See, it's dusty and old, but it's cosy!" he smiled at his wife. "I guess so... I'm probably just paranoid because of the story that traveler told us yesterday! The one about the Dragon of Death." she told her mate, shivering at the thought. The two lovers unpacked their things and started to explore the old house, planning which rooms they'd use for what. As the magic light outside began to dim, the three decided to sleep. James went into his bedroom, across the corridor from his parent's room. James' room was dark, but he could see the dim lights of the fireflies moving around his room, illuminating the outlines of his window, his bed, the walls and, for a second he thought he had seen the silhouette of another dragon. He wrote it off as being tired from the long journey and simply turned onto his side to sleep.

James awoke in the middle of the night in cold sweat. He felt dread wash over his body and a metallic smell filled his nose. The young Pearlcatcher was unable to move and watched in horror as a dark form crept closer to his bed, stopping right next to his pillow. James could see the bloody bandages that had been wrapped around the Skydancer's head and the glowing green eyes pierced into the young dragon's soul. "Three days..." the ominous figure whispered in a deep voice, his cold stare sent shivers down the small dragon's spine. "The things that happened here need to stay unknown. This is no place for the living anymore. Get out." he spoke once more before James drifted away from consciousness, falling asleep once more, the terrifying image of the dark dragon imprinted into his young mind.

James slowly woke up as the light outside got brighter. He blinked several times, remembering the dark figure that talked to him the night before and the hatchling bolted up from his bed, looking around the small room in a panic. He exhaled when he realized that he was alone. "Maybe it was a dream after all." he mumbled to himself but quickly discarded that thought when he saw a few red drops on the floor next to his bed. He stepped closer to it, the liquid was still damp, proving that the figure he had seen was real after all. Another shiver ran down his spine as he remembered the words the Skydancer had spoken. Driven by a new feeling of curiosity the young dragon trotted out of the house and towards the library the family had passed on their way to their new house. As he entered the large building he was greeted by an old Snapper who smiled kindly at him. "Is there anything I can help you with, young one?" she asked in a quiet voice. "I hope so? Can you tell me what happened at the old house down the street?" he asked as he walked closer to the larger dragon. The Snapper's eyes grew wide and she turned to look around herself. "We aren't supposed to talk about it. Bad things happen to dragons who know about him." she explained quietly.

"Please! I need to-" James started to raise his voice, but was quickly hushed by the old Snapper. "Alright... Follow me, I'll tell you what I know about the things that happened in that cursed house." she sighed, leading the young hatchling into a back room. She sat down and motioned for James to do so as well. The room was dark and smelled of old books, the only light came from a small candle that stood on a small table next to an opened book.

"Many years ago the house belonged to a rich family of Skydancers. The woman was a really nice person, she was a good friend of my daughter. Her son, who couldn't have been older than you are now, was just like her, even if he was a bit quieter... The father however, rumor was that he'd beat his wife and son whenever he got angry. The hatchling would always have claw-marks on his face and neck, nobody really knew if his father did it or if he did it himself. Well, one day he apparently beat his wife too much and she died, which only made him angrier. So when he went upstairs to let his anger out on the poor hatchling, that kid waited behind his door with a small kitchen knife. As his father entered the room, looking around for his son, he struck and jumped onto the way taller dragon, ramming the dull knife into his father's neck over and over again. The corpses of the parents were found, but the hatchling's still missing after all these years. That's why no dragon have gotten close to that building. Many say that he still lives there, waiting to kill another dragon. Some swear that they've seen his silhouette move around the windows at night..." the old Snapper told the young hatchling.

"What's the hatchlings name?" he asked with wide eyes. "Well, before everything happened he was called Rev, but most dragons have just started calling him Bás, which means Death in the old tongue." she answered. "I'd like to ask one last question... Was he green and white with bright green eyes?" James asked quietly, avoiding the eyes of the Snapper in front of him. "How- How did you know that?!" the old Snapper demanded. "He was in my bedroom last night... He wants us to leave." he whispered. The Snapper stared at him with wide eyes. "You need to get out of the library. This was a mistake, you have brought me in danger! If he finds out that I've told you about it... Just get out!" she yelled and James bolted out of the library, running the whole way back to the old house.

The front door stood ajar. As he pushed it open his stomach dropped. The strong metallic stench of the night before hit him, filling the air around him. He swallowed thickly and slowly tiptoed into the corridor. As he got to the living room he gasped at the sight in front of him. His mother laid in a puddle of her own blood and his father had been strung up by his neck, slightly dangling from the ceiling. James' breathing became irrational and he backed out of the room, bumping into something. He jumped forward and turned, facing the Skydancer from the night before. "I thought I had told you no one should know about what happened in here? Now it is too late." he spoke in the same, deep voice. "No! You- It's not your fault what happened back then! It was your father, right? You only defended yourself." James exclaimed in a scared voice, cowering in front if the tall dragon. The bandages on his face and neck were bloody and James could see the scratches beneath them. Bás scoffed, adjusting his black hat. "It wasn't my father who killed my mother... It was me, but it's not like anyone will ever know, seeing as you wont be leaving this house alive..." he chuckled darkly. "They'll know- They'll know that you're still alive if they find the corpses!" the young hatchling yelled, no longer holding back the tears that now spilled from his eyes, sobs escaping his lips. "Oh, everyone in town knows that I am still alive... Now, I think I have had enough of talking. Just hold still and it won't hurt too much..." Bás smiled darkly, stepping close to the sobbing hatchling, ready to kill the last dragon of the family.

"Bás, wait!" a voice yelled from behind the tall Skydancer.