Taruskith

I see you there.
I feel your eyes judging me.
Noticing the scars, the holes, the bloody bandages.
Wondering “what happened to him?”
I know you must be oh so curious. I would be, if I were someone like you seeing someone like me.
But I know you’ll never ask. They never do. I think they’re all afraid to offend me, or bring up a dark past I wish to forget.
I admit, my story is not happy.
But I would prefer to live it again and again than deal with the stares of those too “polite” to simply ask.
So listen up, and I’ll tell you my story. Then maybe, just maybe, you’ll find something much more interesting to look at.
To put it simply, I was punished.
I committed a crime, and I was punished for doing so.
Did the punishment match the crime?
Determine that for yourself.

I grew up in a pack.
My mother was the matriarch.
My siblings and I were highly ranked.
We served the Plaguebringer, as all good mirrors should.
We ravaged the land, took whatever we wanted.
We needed no one but our family.
I was content.
I was, dare I say it, happy, in my own twisted way.

And then, I did something foolish.
Something that changed my views, my priorities, my life.
Something I regret.
I fell in love.

Love in itself wasn’t the crime.
Oh no, in fact, it was often encouraged.
More little mirrors to grow the pack.
She was an outsider, which is, less recommended, but still, I was highly ranked.
My mother trusted my judgment.
There should have been no issue.

There was.
She was not a mirror.
She was a Pearlcatcher of all dragons.
White as the moon, mane as red as blood.
Eyes like death.
Beautiful. The most beautiful dragon my poor, naive eyes had ever seen.
I fell swiftly.
What began as a warning to leave our territory and never return became a short series of nightly rendezvous and stolen moments when we had the chance.
She was cunning and viscous, and told me of her wishes to serve the Plaguebringer.
She was perfect in every way.
Except of course, the way that mattered.

My mother was a purist, you see.
She believed that only mirrors were fit to serve the Plaguebringer.
She would not have approved of my lady love.
But I was head over heels.
I would have done anything for her.
I did everything for her.

I had decided to run away.
I knew only she could bring me happiness.
True happiness, I thought.
I told my love of my plans, to steal some of the clans reserves and meet her at the mountain by midnight.
She was all for it.
But she asked for one thing before I left.
One small, tiny favor.
She wanted the pearls.

I had told my love of my clans conquests, you see, and she was very impressed by all of them.
But she was always the most interested in the pearls.
My mother had a coil of pearls around her waist, all stained with the blood of those she had taken them from.
It was her pride and joy, her show of force, her claim to power.
My love was of course appalled at this admission, and asked that before I leave, I take them back for her.
A wedding gift, if you will.
A sign of good faith, and the breaking of a cycle.
How could I say no?

I should have.

I, of course, did as she asked.
I stole into my mothers cave, I took her pearls, and I left.
I was leaving her, this pack, this life behind me.
I met my lady love at the edge of the mountain just as midnight struck.
I gave her those pearls.
She smiled, and thanked me.
I was so full of pride.
“Lead the way” she cooed.
And foolishly I did.
I turned, and walked towards the now setting moon, ready to begin anew.
And was met by a blow to the back of the head.

When I awoke, my love, the pearls, everything was gone.
My side ached.
I looked and saw a long scratch, still fresh.
My blood had been used to draw a symbol in the dirt.
A symbol of a rival clan.

You see, my love had never been mine at all.
I had been used.
My heart broken, I slunk back to my family.
In my despair, I told them everything.
They were not pleased, to say the least.

My blindness for my love had made me forget the most important rule we mirrors have.
Never turn your back on your enemy.
And never turn your back on your family.

For you see, that was my crime.
Not the forbidden love, not the thievery.
Betrayal.

I was to be made an example of.
I was to be punished, put on display as a lesson, a warning, so that none should be as foolhardy, as naive as me.

In the wasteland we called home, there were geysers that dotted the land.
They spewed hot, poisonous smoke from the depths of the earth, tainted by the Plaguebringers essence.
It was above one of these vents that I was strung.
My wings forcibly held open, my limbs tied apart.
Tied to two long metal stakes in either side of the vent.
Spread apart for all to see.
For 17 days I was displayed.
The heat of the smoke weakened my scales, my claws, my resolve.
The heat of the poles burned my limbs.
The smoke ruined my lungs.

Torture of the most pure kind.
Complete helplessness.
Unbearable pain.
The first 2 days I pleaded to be freed.
By the tenth day, I knew I deserved it.

I would have stayed there until I died.
I should have died there.
But on that 17th day, everything changed.
The Pearlcatchers attacked my clan.
They slaughtered them all.
I had to watch.
My true torture, worse than all that pain.
Watching my family die.

I saw my lady love one last time.
She was wearing my mothers pearls.
She killed my mother.
She looked at me and smiled, my mothers blood staining her claws.
When they had departed, I fought harder than I ever had, and was finally freed from my prison.
I dragged my ruined body to my mothers corpse.
I wanted to die.
I should have died with them, fought with them.
But I knew that my mother would be even more disappointed in me than she already was if I simply died here.
So I picked myself up, and I left.

And now I’m here.
Trying to heal, though I know I’ll never be the same.
My skin still cracks and bleeds with every step.
But I will be better one day.
Stronger.
Strong enough to scour the lands.
To find my lady love.
And to rip her lying head off.

So, I hope your curiosity has been satisfied, now that you know what happened to me.
Do you think I deserved what I got?
I do.
But regardless of your opinion on the matter, I hope your pitiful eyes will finally find something else to look at.