| YOU CAN HEAR WHEN THE HEART STOPS.
She appears from a swirl of shadow – as is her way. She is quiet while Straia speaks, but in all fairness feels more alive than she has in years. Because plans set in motion so, so long ago are finally coming to fruition. A chain of events that sparked when she stepped into Pangea all those years ago has lead them to today, and finally the spark has ignited into a roaring flame. The very prospect of something akin to the Chamber existing in this new Beqanna breathes life into her in a way that nothing in this place had yet been able to. It was an exhilarating, dangerous prospect.
She has Ghaul to thank for that.
“Ghaul told me once – as a child – that he would devour empires,” she says, as Straia finishes. Many of Ghaul’s followers were as young and passionate as he was – or his blood ran in their veins. But even though they were young – they were bold and unafraid. Something that was becoming rare in this new Beqanna. It seemed that comfort bred complacency, but she saw none of that here.
“He lived up to that promise. He was not afraid of growth. He was not afraid of change. He has given us the opportunity to build something greater – something that combines the Beqanna of today with the Beqanna of the past – one ripe with power and potential.” She echoes Straia’s sentiment – aware that some will not understand until they see. But many will – the ones who trusted in their vision – in Ghaul’s vision.
“For that, I am grateful to him – as we all should be. The Pangea of old and the new Chamber we build will remember him.” She turns then, for the time for words is over.
She calls forth the shrouded body from the shadows – still wrapped delicately in darkness. She steps away from the group, closer to the edge of the canyon.
The shrouded body seeps beneath the smooth stone at the canyon’s edge as if it had become one with the shadows. But the shadows pool on the surface, concentrated in the area where he body was laid to rest for a moment before spreading out around the edge of the cliff, some seeping over the edge. They etched a pattern in the stone – one of a dragon– the scales clearly visible in the stone. And if you looked close, you’d see that where there should have been eyes, there were only horns. The edge of the canyon was reformed from rough stone to smooth stone scales. Where the dragon’s jaws opened a flame roared to life – a flame that would never go out.
Slowly the shadows receded into her body – leaving her tribute carved forever into the stone where Ghaul’s body would not be disturbed.
- A N A X A R E T E -
been there, done that |
image credit
Ana’s brought Ghaul’s body back to Pangea and buried him at the canyon’s edge. As a tribute she used her magic to carve the canyon’s edge into the shape of a dragon (with horns for eyes, of course). In the dragon’s mouth there is an eternal flame.
