Origins: The Fire Within -- Part Four by zyranyx |  |
As Yakynaza came into the Great Chamber escorted by two
knights of the Royal Order, the tension in the room swept over him. Everyone
was chatting nervously, their eyes flicking quickly downwards to the large platform
in the middle of the floor, where a sacred-looking throne had been placed next
to the King's. Yakynaza saw the King himself rise up from a seat next to a Lupe
in red and gold robes that he had been speaking to, and go up to stand in front
of his throne.
"Subjects of Reino de Lobos!" the King announced
as Yakynaza was escorted to a seat. Dead silence stilled the crowd. "Today is
a very tragic day in the history of Reino de Lobos. Today is the Day of Sacrifice."
A sort of ripple went through the crowd.
The King sat on his throne, and, face grave,
motioned for the Lupe in red and gold robes to come up to the platform.
The young Lupe's face was pale under his green
fur, making his robes appear even more vibrant. Two white marks under his eyes
proclaimed him a practitioner of good magic, and a long white staff that Yakynaza
hadn't noticed before glimmered in his hand. Yakynaza suddenly heard someone
give a quiet sob next to him. Startled, he twisted in his seat to the Lupess
beside him.
"Florpiedra?" Yakynaza whispered wonderingly.
The Lupess who had been his serving girl that very morning jumped in surprise.
"Master Yakynaza?" she asked, her tear-filled eyes wide.
"Why are you crying?" Yakynaza asked softly,
wiping a tear off the red Lupess' cheek. She was very beautiful, Yakynaza realized.
When she had been his servant that morning, her anxiety and fright had made
her look on the verge of a nervous breakdown. With a jolt, Yakynaza also realized
that she and the mage were the only non-fire coloured Lupes in the entire room.
"The mage about to be sacrificed is my brother,
Fiousa," Florpiedra answered, her eyes as red as her fur. "He -- he is very
noble, and does what he can for the kingdom. He cares little of what happens
to him, as long as he can help the kingdom." She quickly added, "Sir." While
they were talking, the Sacrifice proceedings were going on, with a ceremonial
chain placed around Fiousa's neck to help him focus his energy, and his white
staff being adorned with strange gold symbols. Fiousa was holding a very stiff
upper lip, but Yakynaza saw his tear-filled eyes constantly flicking upwards,
towards his sister, when he thought no one was looking.
"I could see why this would distress such a lovely
red Lupess like yourself."
His tone was consoling, but Florpiedra looked
as though she had just been slapped. With a quiet squeak, she asked, "What do
you mean, red?"
"I mean your fur colour," Yakynaza replied, completely
bewildered.
Unexpectedly, Florpiedra jumped up from her seat,
breathless with excitement. "STOP!!!" She yelled shrilly at the top of her lungs.
The entire audience turned their heads, wondering who had screeched for the
halt of the sacred ceremony. Florpiedra blushed, but looked resolute. Whispering,
"I'll explain later," to Yakynaza, she pointed to him and declared to the crowd,
"I, Florpiedra Dragonwolf, have a proclamation unto the collective Lupes of
Reino de Lobos! The Wolf of the Midnight Sun has been reborn!"
The crowd was still. The silence was deafening.
Yakynaza couldn't believe his still-ringing ears.
"Yes, Lupes of Reino de Lobos! The young outlander
Lupe that was brought before this same audience yesterday is the destined one,
the long-awaited savior, the Wolf of the Midnight Sun!" Florpiedra bellowed
needlessly into the shocked-silent crowd.
***
Yakynaza was still in complete shock even when he went through the events of
the past few hours. There had been a great cheering after the initial silence
of the crowd. Florpiedra hugging her brother Fiousa in complete euphoria, still
yelling, after twenty minutes, that the Wolf of the Midnight Sun had been reborn.
The Council of Ten, some secret party under the King's control, had taken to
an antechamber aside from the Great Chamber to figure out if what they were
hearing was real. The Knights of the Royal Order had brought Yakynaza to the
room that he had spent the night, gruffly telling him that the Council of Ten
would decide Yakynaza's fate, but with awed looks upon their faces.
Now Yakynaza awaited the decision of the Council
, and an explanation from Florpiedra as well.
Soon, just as it had been awaiting the King,
Yakynaza became tired and restless. Falling into a less than sound sleep, Yakynaza
began to dream…
***
…Once again Yakynaza was back inside the kingdom of Reino de Lobos. Once again
the kingdom had been restored to its younger glory. Its pillars of lava were
gleaming, its banners unmarred and golden. For the first time, Yakynaza noticed
that each of the beautiful banners had the same symbol as the one he had seen
during the Sacrifice Ceremony - a kind of symbol with beautiful, curved grace.
It was an almost letter-like shape, italic slanted and bordered on the right
side by three dots.
Yakynaza was suddenly seized by a strange familiarity,
as though this was a language he had once spoken and barely remembered. But,
as soon as he had grasped the memory, it slipped away. Yakynaza shook himself
mentally and turned away. He blinked.
Suddenly, he was outside, at the foot of the
volcano. How strange. Yakynaza suddenly heard a rumbling sound, and looked skywards.
His pupils dilated in fear as he saw that a molten river of lava was cascading
like a waterfall down the side of the great mountain. Panicking, he broke into
a run. The lava was gaining. He wouldn't be able to outstrip it. When the lava
was only a few scant inches from his heels, he gave in.
The lava washed over him.
Wait a second. The lava didn't feel scalding
hot, as Yakynaza thought it would. Instead, it felt pleasantly warm, like the
heat of a furnace washing over him. Bits of melting rock caught in the blast
floated past him, as did splintered twigs and… a yellow Lupe puppy. Yakynaza
looked at him in wonder as he drifted by, eyes closed and yelping in fear, and
realized that this dream was the second part of his other dream. Yakynaza noted
in shock that the lava was flowing towards a canyon. Even if the Lupe was able
to survive the lava itself, it would take a miracle to survive the fall into
the canyon. Taking a risk, he once again tried to save the young puppy, and
found he was still but a ghostlike being in this time and place. The puppy floated
on.
Yakynaza swam towards the edge of the lava flow
and jumped out, onto the grass, to better see what would happen. A silver light
surrounded the little puppy, like the light of the moon. That was when Yakynaza
noticed a woman standing a few feet behind him, in a small copse of trees that
were not yet burned by the lava flow. Her silver-white robes and cloak bore
only her rapidly whispering lips and her hands, one of which was raised to shoulder
level and arm's span, and glowed with an eerie silver light. Magic.
Yakynaza's eyes traveled back to the young Lupe,
which had risen into the air and out of harm's way. The robed woman whispered
more incantations, and the puppy cleared the lava and flew into her arms, where
his bawling and yowling were quieted with the touch of the woman's magical forefinger.
The puppy shivered slightly and lay still, eyes closed.
Suddenly, Yakynaza heard footsteps approaching,
as did the robed woman. She lay the Lupe in the middle of the copse, and with
a swish of her silver cloak, she was gone. A few seconds afterward, a human
arrived. Yakynaza could not tell whether this was a boy or a girl, for the human
was wearing an orange heat-resistant suit with the words 'Neopian Volcanology
Team' written in bold black letters on the back.
"What the…?" The human said to him -- or herself.
"Great, I'm researching the volcano eruption, and I find a Lupe… oh well. Come
on, little fellow." The human picked up the yellow puppy. "A volcano site is
no place for you. I'll take you to the pound first thing in the morning. We'll
find you a good owner…" The human walked away, chuckling to him- or herself.
Yakynaza was troubled. He remembered that when Zyranyx had first adopted him,
he had been the colour yellow.
At the same moment, the robed woman reappeared,
unnoticed by Yakynaza, in the copse of trees.
"Fare well, young prince, for you are destined
for great things," she whispered to herself. " Fare well, Wolf of the Midnight
Sun."
To be continued...
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