T A L O N
Talon sat upon a cliffside overlooking what he could only describe as a tropical paradise. Crystal blue waters surrounded by a coast that he did not recognize. The ocean waves gently brushed against the shore. Extending out into the waters was a temple complex that was an oasis unto itself. Jungle extended into the vast wilderness behind him. Massive ocean whales, at least he thought they were, sometimes rose to the surface just beyond the bay created by the temple complex. It reminded him of Aoren’s soul space.
“I know you are there.” Talon heard a woman’s voice curse before there was a rustling of leaves.
“Ow! Mother…son of a…” Talon did not look away from watching the large aquatic life go about their business within the waters below. He heard footsteps come up next to him before someone plopped down beside him. He glanced over. A woman with long black hair and the witchmarks of a Siltori was threading her fingers through said hair, untangling some leaves from the curls. He recognized her as one of the previous incarnations of Arcas though he did not know her name.
“Did he send you?” She plucked a twig from her hair and tossed it behind her.
“Nope.” She reached into a satchel on her hip and withdrew a fruit with reddish-pink skin. Breaking it open, it revealed a fleshy white interior covered in plump red seeds. She offered him one half of the fruit. Talon stared at it for a moment before looking back out to the sea. He was not hungry. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shrug and begin eating the seeds. She didn’t say anything. Talon was fairly certain she knew exactly what he was thinking and how he felt. He did not know if he wanted her there at all but he did not have the heart or energy to send her away. At some point, he must have drifted off to sleep. When he opened his eyes, the whales were gone and she was carving something while humming softly.
“Enjoy your nap?” He blinked and looked at her. She met his gaze with the same silver eyes that had become so familiar to him. He did not answer.
“Why me?” She snorted and laughed softly. He looked at her with a quirked brow. The woman shook her head.
“Sorry. It’s not you. It’s just…we all ask that same question. Do you really want to know the answer?” Talon wasn’t sure. Part of him did want to know. The other part wanted nothing to do with any of this anymore. The problem was, he knew that there was no going back. There was no changing what happened.
“We are what was needed when the world needed us most. At least, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.” She returned to carving what was in her grasp. Talon watched her hands. They were the rough hands of a woman who had seen many years of labor and hard work. Nimble but weathered.
“How did it happen?” She was silent for a few more moments as she continued to whittle away at her carving.
“I wasn’t much older than you. Selling my wits, body and skills in the streets of any city I could travel to. A great leviathan threatened to blanket the skies in a darkness that would bring unending winter. It bled into the world, turning everything it touched into twisted creatures of madness and shadow. I would have become one too except…I refused. I can’t explain it. I just refused to be swallowed by that evil.” She shook her head. Raising a hand, Talon felt a stirring in his soul as she summoned the silver-white fire that he had come to know and recognize.
“Imagine my surprise when I woke up in the middle of the desert in a crater of sands surrounded by spikes of glass.” Talon did not have to imagine it. A vision played across his mind of a shivering young woman, rising to her feet, wisps of silver-white fire still burning in the sands around her. She looked afraid and confused. Talon knew exactly how she felt.
“Did you lose anyone?” She lowered her hand, cupping her carving as she looked out over the paradise in front of them.
“Yes.” The weight of that settled upon him. Talon did not need to ask for more. He saw her with another elven man. They looked happy. This was followed by the memory of her holding a baby in her arms.
“The darkness took them from me. So I vowed to burn it to ashes until there was nothing left of either of us.” He saw her clad in armor and ready for battle. Charging into the fray to meet a mighty foe head on. The heat of the flames that wrapped around her burned with the intensity of the sun itself.
“Arcas came to me. Just like you. I didn’t want to believe him. I thought I could hide. Thought I could bury that part of myself, could bury him.” Talon looked up. She was rubbing her thumbs over the carving thoughtfully.
“Did you?” She nodded.
“He let me. I wanted nothing to do with his quest to bring Light and Justice and Hope and all that shit into the world. I thought it was stupid. What had those things ever done for me?” Her face hardened before softening as she looked back to the carving. “But then my little girl was born…”
“When I needed it, the power came to me. Even after years of never calling upon it, even after trying to bury it. I gave everything I had into protecting them. He gave me all that he could. It wasn’t enough.” She shook her head. “I lost them because I tried to hide. But there is no hiding. Not from this. Not from what we became the moment we awoke to our powers.”
Talon stared at her for a long moment. There were parallels in her tale that he could see. It left him with only a single question.
“Why?” She gave him a wry smile, filled with the wisdom that came with pain and suffering.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing.” She snorted and chuckled. “Can you believe a human said that? Elves in all their wisdom and poetry never came up with something that deep. I bet Ilixidor is rolling in his grave, that bastard.”
Talon managed to crack a smile. She nudged his shoulder. The moment of humor passed as things returned to a more somber atmosphere.
“Kaena the Dawnbringer went down in history as a vanquisher of terrible darkness. The truth? I did nothing, Talon. So evil grew and flourished. In the end, it took everything I had and more to put a stop to it.” Talon eyed her.
“Why are you telling me this?” He searched her face, looking to see if he could discern some ulterior motive. He found none. She just looked at him steadily with those silver eyes that were and were not his own.
“Because you’re about to make the same mistake I did. If you think you have suffered now, if you think you have lost what you love now…” She pinned him with a stare. “...you haven’t seen a damn thing, yet. Turn your back on the mantle entrusted to you and you will have stripped the world of its avatar of Justice, Light and Hope. I know you want to. Believe me, I know you want to. But unlike me, there are still people, who you love, who need you. If you won’t embrace what you’ve become because of what Arcas believes in, embrace it because of those who believe in you.”
She tossed the carving toward him. On instinct, Talon caught it. He looked down into what was in the palm of his hand. It was a small wooden figurine of a dragon. Talon rubbed his thumb over it. He looked up and she was gone. Gone…but not far. Within his heart, Talon felt that if he wanted to he could call out to her and she would come. He did not. Instead, he brought the figurine up so that he could inspect it before thumbing it thoughtfully.
“I know you are there.” Talon heard a woman’s voice curse before there was a rustling of leaves.
“Ow! Mother…son of a…” Talon did not look away from watching the large aquatic life go about their business within the waters below. He heard footsteps come up next to him before someone plopped down beside him. He glanced over. A woman with long black hair and the witchmarks of a Siltori was threading her fingers through said hair, untangling some leaves from the curls. He recognized her as one of the previous incarnations of Arcas though he did not know her name.
“Did he send you?” She plucked a twig from her hair and tossed it behind her.
“Nope.” She reached into a satchel on her hip and withdrew a fruit with reddish-pink skin. Breaking it open, it revealed a fleshy white interior covered in plump red seeds. She offered him one half of the fruit. Talon stared at it for a moment before looking back out to the sea. He was not hungry. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shrug and begin eating the seeds. She didn’t say anything. Talon was fairly certain she knew exactly what he was thinking and how he felt. He did not know if he wanted her there at all but he did not have the heart or energy to send her away. At some point, he must have drifted off to sleep. When he opened his eyes, the whales were gone and she was carving something while humming softly.
“Enjoy your nap?” He blinked and looked at her. She met his gaze with the same silver eyes that had become so familiar to him. He did not answer.
“Why me?” She snorted and laughed softly. He looked at her with a quirked brow. The woman shook her head.
“Sorry. It’s not you. It’s just…we all ask that same question. Do you really want to know the answer?” Talon wasn’t sure. Part of him did want to know. The other part wanted nothing to do with any of this anymore. The problem was, he knew that there was no going back. There was no changing what happened.
“We are what was needed when the world needed us most. At least, that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.” She returned to carving what was in her grasp. Talon watched her hands. They were the rough hands of a woman who had seen many years of labor and hard work. Nimble but weathered.
“How did it happen?” She was silent for a few more moments as she continued to whittle away at her carving.
“I wasn’t much older than you. Selling my wits, body and skills in the streets of any city I could travel to. A great leviathan threatened to blanket the skies in a darkness that would bring unending winter. It bled into the world, turning everything it touched into twisted creatures of madness and shadow. I would have become one too except…I refused. I can’t explain it. I just refused to be swallowed by that evil.” She shook her head. Raising a hand, Talon felt a stirring in his soul as she summoned the silver-white fire that he had come to know and recognize.
“Imagine my surprise when I woke up in the middle of the desert in a crater of sands surrounded by spikes of glass.” Talon did not have to imagine it. A vision played across his mind of a shivering young woman, rising to her feet, wisps of silver-white fire still burning in the sands around her. She looked afraid and confused. Talon knew exactly how she felt.
“Did you lose anyone?” She lowered her hand, cupping her carving as she looked out over the paradise in front of them.
“Yes.” The weight of that settled upon him. Talon did not need to ask for more. He saw her with another elven man. They looked happy. This was followed by the memory of her holding a baby in her arms.
“The darkness took them from me. So I vowed to burn it to ashes until there was nothing left of either of us.” He saw her clad in armor and ready for battle. Charging into the fray to meet a mighty foe head on. The heat of the flames that wrapped around her burned with the intensity of the sun itself.
“Arcas came to me. Just like you. I didn’t want to believe him. I thought I could hide. Thought I could bury that part of myself, could bury him.” Talon looked up. She was rubbing her thumbs over the carving thoughtfully.
“Did you?” She nodded.
“He let me. I wanted nothing to do with his quest to bring Light and Justice and Hope and all that shit into the world. I thought it was stupid. What had those things ever done for me?” Her face hardened before softening as she looked back to the carving. “But then my little girl was born…”
“When I needed it, the power came to me. Even after years of never calling upon it, even after trying to bury it. I gave everything I had into protecting them. He gave me all that he could. It wasn’t enough.” She shook her head. “I lost them because I tried to hide. But there is no hiding. Not from this. Not from what we became the moment we awoke to our powers.”
Talon stared at her for a long moment. There were parallels in her tale that he could see. It left him with only a single question.
“Why?” She gave him a wry smile, filled with the wisdom that came with pain and suffering.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing.” She snorted and chuckled. “Can you believe a human said that? Elves in all their wisdom and poetry never came up with something that deep. I bet Ilixidor is rolling in his grave, that bastard.”
Talon managed to crack a smile. She nudged his shoulder. The moment of humor passed as things returned to a more somber atmosphere.
“Kaena the Dawnbringer went down in history as a vanquisher of terrible darkness. The truth? I did nothing, Talon. So evil grew and flourished. In the end, it took everything I had and more to put a stop to it.” Talon eyed her.
“Why are you telling me this?” He searched her face, looking to see if he could discern some ulterior motive. He found none. She just looked at him steadily with those silver eyes that were and were not his own.
“Because you’re about to make the same mistake I did. If you think you have suffered now, if you think you have lost what you love now…” She pinned him with a stare. “...you haven’t seen a damn thing, yet. Turn your back on the mantle entrusted to you and you will have stripped the world of its avatar of Justice, Light and Hope. I know you want to. Believe me, I know you want to. But unlike me, there are still people, who you love, who need you. If you won’t embrace what you’ve become because of what Arcas believes in, embrace it because of those who believe in you.”
She tossed the carving toward him. On instinct, Talon caught it. He looked down into what was in the palm of his hand. It was a small wooden figurine of a dragon. Talon rubbed his thumb over it. He looked up and she was gone. Gone…but not far. Within his heart, Talon felt that if he wanted to he could call out to her and she would come. He did not. Instead, he brought the figurine up so that he could inspect it before thumbing it thoughtfully.