Solace

A long time ago, an Imperial of Wind got lost in the Southern Icefield. As her name has long been lost to time, let's call her Mist now, shall we? Anyways, let's get on with the story. So, this Imperial we'll call Mist gets lost in the Southern Icefield when it is definitely not accustomed to such weather. Sad indeed, but the Imperial would not live to see herself out of such a predicament. She was simply not fit to survive. So this Imperial grew desperate, and she ran and ran and ran in hopes of finding her way out. She didn't, of course. But she did find something else. Another Imperial, frozen in ice. This one was dead and Mist was dying. Mist didn't like it, but as it so happened this dead imperial was lying in a small cave, the only one Mist had been able to find throughout all the time she had spent in the Southern Icefield. And perhaps, maybe if she could seek some shelter from the cold, she might survive a little longer, you know? So this Imperial curls up in the cave, trying not to touch the frozen corpse, but she just can't stop looking at it you see. It's all jagged and lifeless, and Mist can still see those listless blue eyes, wide open in terror. The corpse was a Water dragon. So this Imperial gets to thinking, well, Water dragons are weak to Ice right? And this dead imperial managed to survive long enough to get here. So maybe, perhaps just maybe, I can get out of here alive since I'm not weak to the cold. Now Mist was all happy and smiling with hope, so she goes to sleep. Well, things don't work that way. So the Imperial goes to sleep, and she has a nightmare. There are others around her but she can't see them, and she's so, so cold. And try as she might, Mist can't wake up. She screams and begs because she's scared, but you see, Mist sealed her fate the moment she closed her eyes. There's simply no stopping the inevitable now that she's asleep.
So she sleeps. And then she dies.

Let's start over.

A long time ago there was an Imperial who wanted to explore the world. She wanted to leave her home of Wind and travel to somewhere new and exciting which few dragons had ever travelled to before. So she goes to this mysterious place of Ice, and gets lost. Of course, she dies.
But her eyes do not stay closed.

Shall we continue?

Sometimes, things do not stay dead. Their bodies may not be working properly, but the souls are still there and they are not content with resting. These things are often called Horrorbeasts. Luckily, there are other creatures out there who wish to contain these monstrosities. These benevolent beings, who we will call Jailers, seek to protect the world from things it should not see. And so, when the Jailers found a two-headed Horrorbeast wandering around their frozen home, they sought to contain it. They dragged the Horrorbeast back into the ice, and although they could not kill it, they could still stop it from hurting anyone else. So they locked the Horrorbeast with chains upon chains, shackled its limbs so they would not move, and then sealed it to the ground with ice. And the Jailers thought that there work was done. But you see, even the most efficient wardens make mistakes. You see, there are just so many aberrations out there, so many abominations, so many Horrorbeasts, it's much too difficult to contain them all! Not without relaxing some attention on other things, like social events, friends and gatherings, mates and loved ones, children... With the entire existence of the Jailers dedicated to containing monstrosities, they're bound to let some responsibilities slip. And slide, if I do say so myself. Because one day one of these Jailers laid a nest and then went off to deal with a Horrorbeast, and one of these new eggs just happened to slip, slide, and roll right out of the nest. It drifted across the ice, until it finally rested a lot deeper than it had originally been. It was now laying right next to the chamber which held the two-headed Horrorbeast. Even without a parent to warm it, the egg persevered and hatched in the dreadful cold of the deepest levels of the home of the Jailers. Eventually, one of the older Jailers discovered a trembling hatchling pulling itself across the floor as it silently froze to death, and rescued it. The hatchling was placed into the nest it had originated from, reunited with its siblings and parents and last. And all seemed well, for the hatchling would grow up big and strong. All was well until the hatchling opened its eyes.
And they were a putrid shade of light green.

Let's call this one...

Sobek, meaning torn, okay? Well, Sobek was just the same as all of his brothers and sisters except for his eyes. Those icky green eyes, the color of snot that a hatchling blows out of its nose on to its favorite blankie because it hasn't gotten used to the cold outside yet. Little Sobek was no stranger to receiving various brutalities from the other hatchlings about his eyes. "Ugly! Ugly! Why are his eyes like that?! Ugly! Ugly! They're the color of the eyes that Horrorbeasts have!" all the other hatchlings would shriek as they excluded young Sobek from their games. Sobek did not complain, for he knew they were right. Yucky green eyes, the color of rot and pus. Eyes the color that dead things so often would show off, flaunting infections and wounds, staring at the Jailers with their sickly green eyes colored that way with pus and other horrid goop. Sobek was not wounded, and he was not dying or dead. But with his eyes that color, he might as well have been. He would be a hated outcast all the same. And little Sobek thought that things were always going to be that way.
Until, suddenly, opportunity struck.

You see, most things don't like being contained.

Especially not in the cold.

The Horrorbeast, with shards of ice in its veins in place of blood. The Horrorbeast, unable to stretch its limbs at all due to the chains keeping arms and legs close to the ground. The Horrorbeast, having held its two necks close to each other for warmth for so long, the flesh of the blue one had woven its blue strands through the scales of the other, practically welding their necks together. This Horrorbeast did not like to be contained. It would bide its time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and escape from this prison of ice. And one day, while the Jailers were bringing in another abomination, the two-headed Horrorbeast did just that. It burst through the ice and crashed through the caves, running as if its life depended on it. It blasted any and all Jailers out of its way with strong winds that snapped bones and streams of water which quickly froze in the frigid air and impaled all that it came into contact with. The Horrorbeast left behind a trail of destruction in its wake, and before the Jailers knew it, the monster was already gone. The Jailers held a meeting, to decide on what they should do. Some opted to chase after the monster. Others believed that enough damage had been done already. And little Sobek, not so little anymore, slipped away when no one was watching. He would find the Horrorbeast. He would slay the Horrorbeast. He would bring back the heads of the Horrorbeast and show everyone that he wasn't useless. And so he left, chasing after the tracks that the two-headed Horrorbeast left behind.

Some say that the Horrorbeast is still running, and Sobek is still chasing after it. An eternal struggle, a conflict spread across the world to tell the tale of the unfortunate Imperial and the Gaoler desperate for approval.

But others know better.

Others know that Sobek has found the Horrorbeast. Others know that he is no longer running for a reason.

Others know what lies in the caves beneath the land of Plague.

~~~~


Aurora Pangolin