Nagith Chronicles: Discovery

“You ever think maybe things are kinda messed up?”

Charin frowned, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Bodies littered the room, either dead or dying, blue blood seeping into the carpet and thrown against the walls. He’d caught them in a meeting, all the leaders, that was usually what he was best at. Finding out when they would all be in one place and then wiping them all out. Some slavers, that had been snatching people up that worked for a noble that the boss was fond of. Sure the guy was rich enough to buy new slaves, but recently this ring had taken one of his favorite concubines. So, as per usual, he went running to Tensombrek. Tensombrek liked making an example of rewarding the people who served him well…just as much as he liked making an example of eliminating anyone who inconvenienced him.

Which meant him, of course, going in and wiping them out. Charin sighed, wiping his blood-stained hand on his black coat, scanning the bodies. Men, mostly, a few women had been involved too. There was often a few of them, ones that would tell the men where the most attractive women were, or simply ones that they didn’t like… A man nearest to him grunted, twitching a bit on the ground, his fingers jerking.

“Well? What do you think?” Charin asked, looking down at him. “Anything ever seem…off, about things?”

The man gurgled, blood in his throat, his face planted down in the carpet. Charin sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets, scanning him.

“I guess it doesn’t matter much to you now, huh? You’re not going to be around much longer anyway.”

A frown curled into his lips, the dark eyes scanning the bodies and broken furniture. The room was big, they were a wealthy trade, to afford a big manor like this. It was a mistake on their part, it was big enough for him to take his dragon form and wipe them out. It was the smaller rooms that gave him trouble, if there were a lot of them to deal with. Just him against a dozen or so, just with claws and teeth, would always prove problematic. It was almost no contest, if he had room to become a dragon, their much smaller lizard forms never could do much damage to him. It almost didn’t seem…what was the word? It felt like there was a word, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

It didn’t seem…like it was…okay. Okay, that was the only word he could come up with. It didn’t seem strong enough thought, it didn’t seem right- wait. That was it, that word, ‘right’. It didn’t seem right. ‘Right’ meant things fit, that they were the way they were supposed to be. Like if you got a new coat, if it fit well it was ‘right’. So killing them all when they couldn’t really fight back didn’t seem ‘right’… What, as if it wasn’t supposed to be like that? As if it wasn’t supposed to happen? As if he wasn’t supposed to kill them? He groaned, rubbing his face and shaking his head. He was just thinking in circles, either way he wasn’t going to get anywhere standing around here.

He pushed off the wall, walking through the bodies to the door. The man pulled one of the double doors open, looking out of it briefly before looking back at the mutilated setting. It was like he had just squashed a hive of insects, nothing more…then why did it seem like it should matter more? He shook his head, leaving the room. There was no point in thinking about it, it was done.

It should have been, anyway. Seemed like things were like that more and more often. He picked at the chair he sat on, lost in thought, reliving his last mission. That unnerving sense he had gotten from the sight of his own handiwork. The same unsettling nagging that kept popping up. Charin sighed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back, facing the high ceiling. Their blue blood, the mad one outside his window, the children crowing as their peer had the life choked out of him. The child’s eyes- why did the eyes keep coming back to him? The child’s eyes, the eyes of all those he had killed, the eyes of the mad ones.

It was like they all bored into him, like when he looked at them some kind of force tore into his body, ripped at his consciousness. He groaned, rubbing his face, a slight tremble running through his arms. What was this? Why was it getting harder to breathe? Why did his throat feel tight, what was this burning in his eyes- The eyes, always the damn eyes. He grit his teeth, shutting his eyelids tighter, as if that would relieve it.

That child, helpless, not saying a word but somehow the eyes looked like they were begging him. Even the mad ones he’d seen or killed himself, that same kind of…of desperation, seemed- how could a look tell anyone that? How could he know that’s what it was? How could he know they were desperate or begging or…and then there were the people he killed on his missions. They were always hostile of course, always eager to attack him. It was like a fiery rakyal was living in their eyes, burning, and when he killed them the fire went out in their eyes. It was like they became…became…

…Empty.

Empty? Empty of what? What was in them that could leave them? Blood? Organs? No, no that wasn’t it. There was something else, something he swore he saw leave them but never could actually see. He growled under his breath, pushing himself up roughly from his chair and walking to the window. The view never changed, not really, he wasn’t sure why that’s always where he ended up looking out at the horizon. He clasped his hands behind him, staring off, his sight unfocusing on the horizon and refocusing on his own face, meeting his own eyes. His throat tightened again and he stared into them, unable to look away.

Something stirred in his eyes too, something that had stirred in all their eyes. When he died, would it be ripped from them too? Where did it go? What was it? Why did the thought of losing it make his heart hurt?

“What are you so intent on, exactly?”

He broke from his trance just enough to glance elsewhere in the window to see the reflection of the speaker. Tensombrek was behind him, one hand on his hip and that usual irritated frown on his face. Charin went to turn to face him but his gaze fell on the reflection of his master, on his eyes.

Charin’s skin became ashen, his eyes widening. The eyes again, his eyes- Tensombrek’s eyes were like that, he realized. His eyes were like the twisted emptiness he saw in the eyes of the dead, but…but worse. Like the hollow boring of his fellows was intensified into a twisting storm of blades, tearing at his thoughts, his sensations, his grip on his very reality. The empty eyes of those he saw die were like a pit with no bottom, ominous but still, quiet. Tensombrek’s eyes were like a wave crashing and tearing at the world around them, leaving nothing in its wake, not light, not dark, nothing, not anything at all but-

“I asked you a question, Charin.”

“Nothing, Boss-…Boss can I ask you a question?”

Tensombrek rose a brow, his expression not changing from its irritated appearance. Charin was careful not to meet his eyes again, trying to phrase his question should the entity decide to answer him.

“Ask then.”

“Why are our eyes different? I mean, your eyes and everyone else’s eyes. Why are they different? Why do eyes change when they die?”

“What kind of question is that?” he snapped. “If you’re going to waste my time with something at least let it be something that makes a marginal amount of sense.”

Charin nearly winced but steeled himself, frowning as he tried to figure out a way to get an answer that would not simply aggravate his master.

“When people are alive their eyes seem like they have something in them, and when they die they become empty, like yours. Why?”

Tensombrek regarded him coldly, his abyssal eyes scanning him though Charin was careful not to meet them. The entity’s feathers twisted, swaying arched in the air like serpents, as if they could strike at him any second.

“You think too much about things that have no importance.” He stated flatly, a slight hiss to his voice. “If you’d focus on your work you wouldn’t have this problem.”

“But Boss-“

A feather wrapped around his throat, yanking him off his feet and up to eye-level of Tensombrek, who glared down the bridge of his nose at Charin.

“But what?”

Charin winced, closing his eyes as he tried to pry the feather loose enough to breathe normally. He wouldn’t dare turn his nails to claws, he’d be more likely to cut himself than to pry them between his flesh and the tendril.

“Well, Charin? But what? Hm?”

The man gasped, struggling to choke out a response.

“B- Boss-“

“It’s ‘Master’, I’ve been lenient with you bending my decrees long enough.”

“Master!” he gasped. “I- I-“

“One more time,” the sound echoed in his head. “But. What?”

“Nothing! But nothing!” Charin choked, hacking saliva up onto his lips.

He abruptly felt the floor under his feet and then his knees, gasping as he rubbed his throat, eyes shut tight.

“Good. Now why don’t you make yourself useful? I know you had other assignments pending.”

Charin didn’t move for a while, rubbing his throat and catching his breath. Once he was well enough to do so, he pushed himself up, sitting on the backs of his thighs and sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

Why did he even bother? No one wanted to talk about anything he thought of, nothing he mused to himself mattered to anyone else. Maybe they really weren’t important, maybe he really was thinking about things that just weren’t there. With a quick push he got to his feet, rubbing his neck and looking back at the window that had started this entire event. His white skin was still tinted gray from his strangling and bags were almost visible und his eyes. He looked tired, worn, like he was much older than he really was. Yet another thing that made no sense, he was not old, he did not look old, but his eyes did-

He groaned, turning from it and rubbing his head. Maybe he’d go see Rachel later; that would makes things better. Yeah, Rachel always got his mind off things. Over the past few weeks she had never once turned him away when he came calling to her home, she claimed it was because she needed the extra money as of late, but he knew better. The tips he gave her could keep her in comfort for months with just one of his visits. He grinned a bit as he strolled down the hall thinking of her, Rachel favored him, he had no doubt of that now. She wouldn’t admit it, but she liked him. It was endearing almost, how obstinate she was in keeping up the façade she cared nothing for him. Yeah, he’d go to Rachel tonight, things always made more sense with her around…

Even that it seemed, he was not going to have that day. Her apartment was empty, he had stood there knocking for a few minutes then sighed, turning and walking away. She was out somewhere it seemed, oh well, he could just find some other woman for tonight. Though despite the thought he couldn’t help but be disappointed, glancing back at her building as he walked down the streets. He could find another girl, sure, but he wanted Rachel. After all this time thinking about her while he worked, wondering how she was while he was at the castle, his excitement to get to her as soon as he could… Well he’d just come back tomorrow then, he told himself. A faint smile brushed his lips at the thought, looking ahead to the castle. Yeah, he’d come back tomorrow and see her, she would have to be back by then.

Though that still left his evening open for the time being. Maybe he’d go gambling, he mused to himself. Though he had wretched luck with that sort of thing, he lost constantly and the last time he’d gotten so determined to win his money back that he spent hours at the parlor before Malochite came and dragged him back home. Now that was a thought, Malochite. What was the big guy up to? He hardly ever saw him outside of the castle, and the majority of the time he was following Tensombrek around like his shadow. Glorified butler was what he was…what he seemed like anyway. Charin knew firsthand what the behemoth was capable of, he’d spent his entire life training with him. When he had been young, barely a dragon, barely the size of the average lizard, he remembered quite vividly the huge dragon snapping and clawing at him while he desperately tried to evade. It had been a while since their last spat, maybe that’s what he could do? He could go challenge the big guy to a fight, that could be fun.

Charin wandered about the streets, slipping by any problems that approached him in the form of thugs or creatures. He wasn’t really in the mood for bothering with them at the moment. In fact he didn’t seem to be in the mood for most things as of late. It was a strange melancholy that gripped him, disinterest in everything that would usually be appealing, yet at the same time it almost felt…liberating, as if perhaps the things he had amused himself with before were freeing him to pursue other things- Other things? He frowned. What other things could there be? What else was there?

What else…was there…?

Now that was a new thought. What else was there? He had never thought that before, scanning the blackened sky. What else? What else besides this dark sky, this stone city, the gray plains and the twisted trees, the people and the beasts. What else? Nah, he told himself, that was silly, there was nothing else- wait, was there? Was this like his frequent desire to pursue the horizon? Was there actually more? Different things? Strange things, new things? Was there actually more? While he may have often had the illogical urge to go seek new things, he never really believed there could be any. What if there was? What if that urge wasn’t illogical, what if there really was more outside of his mad imaginings? The world seemed uncomfortably still suddenly, quiet, naked…it unnerved him.

So the next thing he was completely aware of was hurling all over the floor of his room, coughing up as he lay on his stomach with empty bottles and flasks all about him. He groaned, turning onto his back ignoring the stench of his vomit and rubbing his eyes. Vaguely he recalled returning to his room and opening the drink cabinet…Yeah, that’s what had happened. He hurried home and drank himself into oblivion. He had to, to make that fear go away- no, he wasn’t going to think about that. He staggered to his feet and into the bathroom to clean himself up, grumbling the entire time as he tried to distract himself from the splitting headache. That was the last straw, he needed to get his act together. Once he felt better he was going to find Malochite and have a good, rigorous training session. That would get him back on track, then maybe he’d go and see Rachel later.

Once he was able, he went looking for the big guy. Usually he was around Tensombrek, but on occasion Charin would find him in the records room. No one knew why the Lestuk was so anal about the bookkeeping, it wasn’t like anyone really cared much about it. Then again, the boss liked to know when he wasn’t getting the right amount from the taxes… So really it did serve a purpose, to make sure Tensombrek knew who to punish. Luckily for him, Malochite was present.

It looked almost comical, the normal sized desk with the massive form sitting behind it. Malochite sat on the floor, legs crossed and hunched over as he silently wrote on the parchment.

“Hey, Big Guy!” Charin said, a grin plastered on his face. “Whatcha up to?”

“Records.” He responded flatly.

“Nothing I couldn’t see but yeah, okay…what else? Anything new?”

“Nothing is ever ‘new’.”

“Yeah I noticed that too,” Charin grumbled. “You could at least try and entertain me.”

“It is not my job to ‘entertain’ you, Charin,” he calmly stated. “You are capable of keeping yourself distracted.”

The younger male wasn’t shy about displaying his irritation, glaring a bit at his elder. With a lengthy sigh he pulled up the ignored chair at the table and plopped down in it, propping his feet up on the table.

“Don’t you ever do anything interesting?” he asked.

“It is not necessary for me to be ‘interesting’.”

Charin huffed, pushing his chair forward and back with his legs as he examined his shoes. Well so much for scrapping, if the big guy wasn’t up for something there was no chance in hell to change his mind. Unless, of course, you were the boss, in which case every whim was his order. Though that was his whole purpose, apparently. That’s what the legends said at any rate-…

“Hey, big guy? How old are you?” he asked, glancing at him out of the corner of his eyes.

“Time has no application to me.” He responded flatly.

“So do you not know or what? Did the boss really just make you out of thin air?”

“Indeed, just as he made this entire world,” Malochite said just a tad more curtly. “This is not uncommon knowledge, why do you ask questions you know the answers to?”

“Well, I mean, just because I’ve heard it everywhere doesn’t mean it’s right, right? I mean if why do the rest of us age but you don’t, if he made everything? Is it because you weren’t born? Were you born?”

Malochite set his pen down and calmly organized the papers to put them side. Slowly, but with surprisingly little effort the man got to his feet, looking down at Charin as the young man craned his neck up to look at him.

“You need more to occupy yourself with. Let us go outside and I shall test if you have been keeping your skills intact.”

“Oh sure, now you want to spar?” Charin rolled his eyes.

He hopped out of the chair on to the table, then stood on it, hands on his hips as he used the extra height so as not to feel quite as tiny.

“You got to make everything into work, don’t you?” he sighed dramatically, shaking his head.

“Work is my purpose. There is nothing more. You would do well to realize our purpose is only for the master.”

Charin rolled his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets and silently following his senior through the halls. Normally one would have to speedwalk to keep up with the first Lestuk, Charin included, but he didn’t particularly feel the need to keep up with him. He walked at a leisurely pace a good distance behind him. It wasn’t as if he would lose sight of him or anything, Charin thought, it was impossible to lose something that big.

Malochite exited the corridor and left the door open, Charin slipping into it behind him. The large man shut the door and Charin strolled laxly in. The room was large and the floor filled with dusty gray sand, to soak up any blood.

“You are distracted as of late, Charin.” Malochite said curtly. “You need to hone your focus.”

Charin said nothing, his black eyes scanning over the huge chamber, windowless, dark except for the caged rakyals thrashing in their suspended cages, casting blues and reds along the walls and floor.

“What is it you are so preoccupied with as of late?”

Charin shrugged, walking further into the arena to create more space between them.

“I’m always preoccupied, nothing much different than usual.”

“You are different.”

He frowned a bit but did not look back at his superior. Different wasn’t something he was unused to hearing but something about the way Malochite said it- no, that couldn’t be it. It was the same flat monotone he always used, there was nothing there, there was nothing in how he said it. Then why? Why-

Charin grit his teeth and shifted abruptly into his dragon form, whipping around and facing the other Lestuk.

“Are we gonna yap or fight?! Come on already!”

Malochite remained silent but responded with one simple nod. In a flash of twisting limbs and darkening hide the large man was replaced with a giant monstrosity. Charin steeled himself, digging his claws into the sand and looking up at the creature. He’d almost forgotten just how damn big he was like this, it made him feel like a child again, like when they had first snatched him off the streets…

No. No he was going to quiet his thoughts now.

Charin let out a screech and charged him. While Malochite was larger and his thicker limbs provided more power, agility- especially in an enclosed space- was not one of his strong points. Charin rushed forward, wings pulled tight to his sides so as not to cause drag. Malochite lowered his large, rounded snout and splayed it open, the top and bottom jaws splitting into many segments and opening up the passage to the throat. In a flash the long tongue whipped out, attempting to slam into Charin’s neck.

At the last moment Charin bolted to the opposite side, flanking his senior. He leapt up onto the wing and rushed up onto the small of Malochite’s back, biting into the base of his neck. Malochite let out a short, deep screech and began to buck, attempting to throw the smaller dragon off his back. Charin held on for dear life with his teeth and claws dug into the hide. Although Malochite couldn’t reach him back there he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hang on for too long. He waited for his opponent to buck upward and then released his grip, allowing himself to be thrown up against the wall.

He fanned his wings out briefly to cushion the impact, digging his claws into the stone and craning his neck to look down at Malochite. The larger reptile pushed its forelegs up, shifting its weight to its back legs and then- with more speed than Charin accounted for- slammed its weight back down roughly against the floor. The entire room shook violently and Charin let out a shriek, his claws shaken from the stone and he fell, slamming into the sand before he had the chance to get his feet under him. A large clawed foot raced down toward him and he rolled, kicking up sand with his wings then scrambling away from his attacker.

“You should NOT be able to move that fast!” Charin cursed as he darted away.

Malochite did not respond, merely attempted to snap at his tail and wings, strolling behind at a leisurely pace behind him. Charin felt his hearts pounding, both his vital one and his spare. Shit, maybe he had gotten out of shape, he had forgotten just how intimidating the first Lestuk could be in a fight. Okay he just had to do what he said and focus. Besides, he had a lot of frustration he had been wanting to get out. He twisted and slid to the side of Malochite’s snapping head, slashing at his eye with a satisfying roar. He had to admit, that felt good.

With another lurch Charin leapt atop of Malochite’s head, digging his claws into the rough hide so he could not be thrown off. Malochite’s tail whipped at him in an attempt to knock him off but Charin laid low, knowing his opponent would not risk striking lower for fear Charin would leap off and he’d strike himself in the head. Despite that, Charin knew he would not be able to hold on to the huge head for very long-

“OH SHIT-!”

The wall was racing towards him and he knew Malochite meant to slam him into it. As thick as the behemoth’s skull was, even if Charin leapt off Malochite would feel little to no pain from smashing his head against the stone wall.

Charin retracted his claws and leapt off, scampering away as the head made impact and the entire room shook. Bits of stone crumbled off the wall and ceiling, one large block almost falling on top of him. He felt clever as he dodged it, then let out a shriek as one just as large slammed down on his tail. He whipped his head back, eyes wide and struggled to free it, shrieking and yelling out multiple curses as he did so. The ground shook and Malochite was already upon him, looking down at him like a dog looking down at a wounded pup.

Malochite slammed his clawed foot down on him and at the last second, Charin had shifted to his humanoid form. With plenty of space under the large foot he dashed out from between the claws to freedom. Well, he tried at least; he had made it between the large talons when they closed together and held him tightly, like someone closing their fingers on an insect without squashing it.

“Hey-! Oh come on, this is humiliating!” Charin groaned, slashing at the giant claws with the ones that sprouted from his hand.

“I win.”

Charin pouted and was abruptly freed, turning to see Malochite had resumed his other form as well. The elder silently brushed debris off of his person and straightened his coat, then scanning his junior with barely a trace of any sort of emotion.

“You’ve improved.” He stated flatly.

Then he walked away.

Charin glared after the man as Malochite silently slipped outside and then Charin collapsed onto his back on the ground with a loud groan of discomfort. He stared up at the cracked ceiling, tracing their patterns with his eyes. Every muscle ached after that tussle and he was more than content to just lay there for a while. Adrenaline felt good, that rush was nice, it made thing seem clearer, made that void go away for a bit... He closed his eyes at the thought, savoring the sensation. It was relieving- but not quite as much as Rachel.

His eyes snapped open and he glared at the ceiling as if it had offended him, flailing his arms upward.

“Oh come on!” he snapped, slapping his arms against the sand and groaning, turning his face aside into it.

Damn it, it was impossible for him to get any sort of peace these days…