Lands of hope

During their brief reconnaissance on the coastal area, the dragons saw nothing special, so most of the ships anchored near the shore, and colonists disembarked — some flying over the swallow part of the sea, some descending into boats, although the small craft was openly despised and disliked by the Dark ones. But in the matter of transporting cargo, boats were irreplaceable, as one couldn’t carry much in paws alone. Chief Amenemhat, despite his reputation as a libertarian, established the needed order among the landed, and gathered his closest associates around the map under a hastily erected tent. So far, that map was just magical replicas of aerial views held together, with no markings or symbols to make analyze the information easier. “Lords”, Solkar greeted other dragon leaders as he passed under the awning. Amenemhat, frowning at the captain of the guilty vessel, said without greeting or courtesy: “Lords to whom? Your team has gained its freedom, but lost its responsibility. You even lost your people in this way”. “I’m in control of myself and my destiny”, Solkar said, not losing his pride even after the accusation. “That is enough for a happy life in our new lands”. “Come here, master of yourself”, Nergal muttered, bending over the map. “See what your scouts' souls saw before they were kicked out of their bodies by their comrades… together with the enemy”. “That was only their fault”, Solkar somberly chuckled to himself as he joined the others. Well, perhaps dragons really shouldn’t have started landing so quickly: the illusory replica of land around showed a patch of local forest, clearly thinned not by natural disaster, but by the tools and skills of a logger. Even some temporary structures could be seen near the trees. They could have been created by local hunters or scouts. “And all this the dragons of Ardean hadn’t see from their interstellar ships?” Ereshkihal, a mate of Nergal’s, continued to complain, as she compiled all the information about the new lands that had been delivered into a map. “Their information wasn’t worth a free continent for the poor space mercenaries that Light Ones gave them”, black with scarlet strands in the mane Tagirion, admiral of the arrived fleet, spoke ironically, filling his sword with fresh soul. Ereskigal took a quick look at the green wall of the forest. “What we should expect from the locals?” “If they are interested in us, they will soon announce themselves, » Solkar suggested. “And if they continue to hide, it means that they are preparing evil deed”. “Imagine a hundred and fifty ships of devout demiurge worshippers landed on our motherland seeking to build their own monasteries, » Nergal taunted Solkar again. “If that’s how they see us, will they hide?” Tagirion swung the gleaming blade a couple of times and dissolved it in his own energy. “If we Dark Ones don’t grab more souls from our benevolent hosts as soon as possible, they’ll die of old age and boredom while we talk.” “That makes sense, » Amenemhat said after a pause. “We don’t just need souls, we need to impress the locals. If they’re afraid of us, they think we’re the enemy. Your enemies must be finished before they finish you.

* * *

The enemy did not yawn and instead attacked first. Hellish creatures from the lower planes seemed now cute compared to that spawn innumerable. Leaping through the bushes, flying from the treetops, three dozen alien creatures hurried toward the dragons. They were similar in appearance, but that only added to their ugliness. They were more like insects with sharp, jagged forelimbs, mandibles on their mouths, and fly-like wings. The dark ones reacted immediately after the first losses. Stifling their fear, they seized the souls of the dead and blasted them against the incoming waves, then launched a similar murderous assault using the souls of their fallen enemies to empower spells. This trick immediately caused enemy’s attack to choke, since they couldn’t see the sources of the explosion, and the noise and glare were enormous. All souls perfectly obeyed the command, attacked and even possessed the bodies of fallen dragons and insectoids to straighen Dark army. The brief fight was over as quickly as it had begun. As soon as the souls who had completed their task stood still, waiting for further orders, the dragons, at the command of their leaders, hurried to examine the bodies. Or, rather, at the suggestion, because the inspirer of freedom-loving intelligences won’t command like a hypocritical demiurge?.. One of the best preserved bodies of the insect-like creatures was dried and frozen to save it from decomposition and to study it at least physiologically. “A living prisoner would be of more use, » said Lanra, a white-haired, black-maned chaosist of the Light ones. “Resurrect”, Amenemhat suggested. “There’s still some memory left in the creature’s brain, even if the soul hasn’t been preserved”. “Only a waste of energy—” Lanra protested automatically, already beginning to work on resurrection. The creature’s consciousness hadn’t yet faded into oblivion, but before the operation began, the dragoness had increased the effect of freezing — so that the body won’t flutter too much. Only then did she move a little away from the body and began to sing, but not as the team cleaned its throat in the morning, but putting strength and will into the words, creating a real Light song: Verne, se velnere, Yer mi dya rony. Terne derne vele, Te ni brya roli. Avaga ko varetana, Me ko neodinaka. Ara ta, kya Ra nedana, Svetko ozariya ka. You own life only once, You can’t return it. Always loosing the chance, Road is jugged. Any road goes to itself, Even if it is changed. Light of hope is always being there, Devil gives, if not angel. Dark Ones exchanged glances, as body suddenly felt refreshed: it twitched and moved faintly, its faceted eyes opening to stare at the ceiling. Lanra touched the insect’s head and inserted her aura even deeper into the brain, fueling it with the soul energy and absorbing the information stored in brain and consciousness alike. “Enough", Lanra said softly, pressing her finger harder. With that pressure, the body froze, and the female turned to the waiting Dark Ones. They waited patiently. She stood there for a few seconds, her tail swaying from side to side, trying to arrange her thoughts in order. Then Lanra let out a sigh of relief as she mastered the images and concepts of others. “Any empty crystals left?” “rather than waste time retelling the entire amount of intelligence in words, Lanra decided to store it in a container along with a small amount of carrier energy. “Will you keep some of the knowledge from us?” — Ingur considered. — “Well. In addition to those crystals that are stored for souls — you can withdraw a few from Surt’s son”. “It’s easier to store knowledge before you’ve inadvertently forgotten or haven’t had time to tell it, and time is running out. Here’s not one, but two continents inhabited by Innumerable insectoids that call themselves krklvn — and their eldrich masters, who’re far worse”. Lanra took the faceted transparent stone that had been handed to her, raised it to her forehead, and put all of krakalevn’s memory into it before it was forgotten. — “Navs”. “And what kind of unfortunate creatures are they both?” asked Amenemhat, without any sympathy. “What kind of terrible patrons have they got?” “Navs created them, if memories are true. It’s natural to respect your parents. Many religions are based on worshipping creators”. “Navs suddenly created something, and didn’t destroy it in same instant?” Solkar said doubtfully. “I forged my blade to kill”, Tagirion found no contradictions. “Navs may mutated the insects to get rid of the other intelligent beings on the planet”. Amenemhat rose to his feet, and the others involuntarily followed his example. “We are more worthy than the murderers of our ancestors. This is our land now”.