haveyouseenmydearbrother submitted:
“Stop, I’m only trying to help.”
Focusing, she looked up at a massive hooded figure leaning over her, a pale nail-less hand with bubbling pearly liquid pouring from his hand onto her wound. “W-what…?” Past the hooded figure she could see cots and fire pits, people lying on the cots or leaning against the stone wall. Garrans stood around, chatting quietly, or sat beside the prone people. She tried to recall what happened, reaching into her murky memory to find nothing.
“Don’t push yourself,” pulling down his hood, the garran over her leaned over to look at her face. “Good, good, color is coming back,” he mumbled as his bright silvery eyes stared down at her. He had a very sweet face, soft and delicate. His dark hair swept her face as he moved to sit back up, his free hand rubbing the blue tinted silvery nose scales. “It is a good thing you were still warm when we found you. I can’t revive people who have gone cold.”
The only question she could ask was, “I was dead?”
“Yes, only for a bit. We found your town while the ghouls were still swarming it.”
The memories hit her with the weight of an anvil, the shriveled garran bodies charging through the streets and leaping at anything which moved. She took in a gulping gasp of fearful breath, and the garran held her down with one hand to keep her from sitting up. “Are they still near? Where are we? What happened? Who are you?” She asked in a high pitched voice, a chill running over her flesh as her heart thundered in her chest.
“Calm down, they’re all gone,” he said while still holding her down. “We’re in an old fort, and we-“ he paused to gesture at the other garrans, “-are part of a passing army. The Three Banner Army, to be exact. We’re on our way to Rrakhan… where those ghouls came from.”
“I meant who are you,” she specified, her heart’s drumming slowly.
“I am just a teacher of korrisi,” the garran replied, the opal colored liquid disappearing from his hand. “How do you feel?”
She stared up at the dull stone ceiling, her brain slowly digesting all the information. Her body was a jellied excuse for human wrapped in flesh and bone, “I feel alive.”
“Well, I guess that’s as good as it will get for now,” the garran replied.
“Why did you come here?” She asked quietly, trying to distract herself from the slowly encroaching realization that an unpleasant reality of being homeless awaited her. “I’m not ungrateful, but garrans aren’t very common here beyond the ghouls.”
“Hmhmhm, we’re actually here about that very thing,” he said with a thin smile. Then again, all smiles looked rather thin on a garran face. She sat up, looking around at the garrans who towered over her fellow humans. Many were short eared, green tinted, others were long eared with pale flesh and odd humped noses. The words they spoke were strange to her. “There used to be a garran kingdom to the west of here, that’s where the ghouls are coming from, and apparently they’ve quite spread out if it forced these people to ally with one another,” he gestured to some of the garrans nearby. Someone groaned loudly for water, and faint whimpers lingered in the air.
“Ah…” she nodded in understanding, briefly looking over her stomach. It seemed fine, the rip in her dress exposing dark brown skin. “Are… are you going to kill the ghouls?”
“Yes, but most importantly we’re going to the source. A student from the earlier days of korrisi,” the garran frowned. “Korrisi was a gift to garrans to protect them from the hunger of the Cold Prince’s children. However, there were some who wanted to test its limits, and found a way to mimic that very hunger and the abilities which came with it.”
The garran looked down at her, blinking his bright eyes, the slit pupil thinning as it focused on her. “Do you know what a varke is?”
“Oh,” the garran’s eyebrows lifted in surprised and his ears angled downwards slightly. “I’m surprised. Well, a varke is a creature which feeds on kor,” he held up his hand, palm upwards and long fingers curling slightly. His claws extended out as a small purple and white light appeared in his hand. “Kor is in all livings things in various amounts, and traces of it linger in the air. Garrans have the most of it though, a varke won’t eat animals, or elves or humans unless they are starving. They are cursed creatures, who spread themselves by cursing others to become like them. ”
“That sounds horrible,” she mumbled, shuddering. “They’re like… vampires. Or leeches.”
“Yes, very much so,” the garran’s bitter smile returned. “As I was saying, this student found a way to mimic their abilities. He was warned though, oh was he warned. A warning was just a warning though, no punishment was taken. Just a few harsh words.” His eyes turned dull, looking down at the ground. “But in his foolishness he pressed on. He became a writhing monster thanks to his own experiments, feasting on his entire kingdom down to the last child. Now how long has it been… maybe a few hundred years? Yes, a few hundred, these other kingdoms have finally become tired of the roving ghouls and have decided to do something about it.”
“Is that why you’re here?” She asked, tipping her head to get a better look at his face. His eyes were still focused on the ground before gazing at his hands. “To stop them?”
The garran sighed heavily, resting his head in his hand, “perhaps. Or maybe I just came to atone for my sins.”
“If any of you humans are healthy and able to pick up a sword,” a voice called out. The garran and she looked over at another garran. He was a tall man with dark hair and somewhat dusty reddish skin, his armor ornate yet practical. “You are welcome to come under my banner and avenge your town.” With that she began getting to her feet, ignoring the weak and squishy feeling inside of her.
“Ah, King Saor makes his appearance.”
The king turned his head, bowing to the silvery scaled garran, “Lord Agiti, I was about to ask if you would come outside to our tent to discuss strategy.”
“In a moment, Saor,” he replied before turning to her again. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to go join-“ before she finished, Agiti grabbed her arm and forced her back into a sitting position, “ow!” she yelped.
“Hmhmhm, I think not. You need to recover still,” Agiti said. “Besides, what’s your experience with a sword? Very little, I would think.”
She frowned at him, pulling her arm away and glaring, “and?”
“You would die, I didn’t resurrect you just so you can die again by getting eaten,” Agiti replied, before looking her over. “How old are you anyway? Fourteen?”
“I’ll get stronger then,” she snapped. “My age has nothing to do with this! I’ll burn down where ever those ghouls come from singlehandedly!” She felt her heart beginning to race again, a balled up fist shoved inside of it and irritating it into a constrained rhythm.
“Hmhmhmhm,” Agiti stood up. “Here, find me in ten years. In ten years show me how strong you’ve become, and if you really have grown, I will give you a gift.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she grumbled.
“Many quests are,” Agiti retorted, “you don’t need to do it, after all. Just something to think about.” With that, he left to go join King Saor and the slowly growing group of humans.
