***This is a short story that I wrote for a competition in relevance with an online game that I played. Pocket Empires, awesome game if you have a droid smart phone. I won 4th place for my server on the competition. Don't think I did too badly, and have played with the idea of expanding the story into something more. Let me know what you think and thank you for reading ***
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A Story of War
I live in a dark time, in a world that only knows war, only knows greed, and survival of the fittest reigns. It is a time of passions and greed, power and pain, all focused on spots in a map. War Lords and Generals wreak havoc across the land, pillaging and plundering small cities and strongholds a like. No mercy is shown, no quarter is given. The strong lead, the weak farm and pathetically try to salvage what is left. This is the world where dragons and phoenix rule, fighting for dominance over a map. Does anyone recall why this war originally started? Does anyone care? Or is everyone just blinded by the bloodlust of the battle. Is the lust for having your name being recorded in history more important than anything else? Fame and glory, that is all that is wanted to be accomplished. Yet behind the smoke of the battle, there lies a true story. A story of a different battle, the kind of torn hearts, love undecided and in the end there was no victor, all sides lost, all sides left to their own wounds.
Once long ago, there were three nations, three peoples that ruled a rich land in harmony, farming together, growing together in a time of peace. The terrain was a large valley, bordered by mountains. There was the phoenix to the north, a land of volcanoes. The great golden majestic birds lived for hundreds of years before making their journey to the sun, bringing back fire to their mountains to light the belly within. Once the volcano erupted, the lava flowed and the phoenix would be reborn from the volcanic ash. They were a passionate people, their gifts of song and fire dance could not be rivaled. The people could spin words as the best storytellers and were braggarts at heart. The world to them was a happy place, always new beginnings and fresh starts. In the valley, were the Lanari’s, a peaceful people at home in their wooded territory. The Lanari’s were nymph like creatures, graceful and serene, capable of being the best trackers and hunter’s yet comfortable in their nature surroundings and watching time go past and their forests grow and flourish. They came from the earth that they lived on, and gained from it the aspects of their people. In the south were the Dragons, reigning over their mountains and caves. The great dragons considered it a right of passage to fly to the moon, bringing back pearls to line their cave. Sensitive to sunlight, the moon pearls provide softer light for their eyes. They are a long lived race, strength and dominance in every movement, their passions and moods ruled by the moon, hoarders of their treasures and fierce to all opponents. They trained and had tournaments, always striving to be declared the best. To them life was a battle, to be rejoiced with every victory, and to never accept a defeat.
Undine was the daughter of the Lanari. She had hair the color of the autumn leaves, eyes as green as the grass in summer, her skin was as soft and perfect as an orchid petal, her body was lithe and strong as a willow reed. It came to be the two princes of the other territories admired her. The phoenix prince would leave his mountain at dawn, flying down to the valley, singing her songs of love and writing poems of her beauty. His wit and charm made her laugh, his words and voice made her heart swoon. At dusk he would leave her side to return to his people, impatiently waiting for the next sun rise. At nightfall the dragon prince would make his journey to the valley, he would guide her through the woods at night, hunting and sparring, teaching her the ways of war and telling her stories of epic battles. His raw strength attracted her, his wisdom and skills made her blood sing. At sun rise he would return back to his cave, to dream of when he would wake and return to her. Centuries passed, and Undine was enthralled by her admirers, her fiery lover during the day, her moon dragon warming her at night.
One day, Undine sat at the base of the willow tree, the phoenix prince at her side teasing her with jokes, her laughter filled the forest. They noticed the sunlight fading thru the thick tree branches over head, but knew that it couldn’t be dusk already. Curious the phoenix prince promised to return to her, but he had to check the sky to see what was happening. So he flew up above the trees, to see that the sun had been darkened out by the moon, causing an eerie absence of light in the middle of the day. In the distance he saw the dragon prince flying towards him, freed from his cave with the darkening of the sun. The dragon prince enraged by another encroaching on what he thought to be his, hurtled himself at the phoenix prince, causing them both to spin in the air plummeting down through the thick branches to the forest floor. A battle ensued, the dragon and the phoenix princes, ripping at each other with claws, teeth and talons. Fire surrounded them both, burning the forest around them, spreading their rage across the land like wildfire. When the battle finally ended, and both princes lay breathless on the forest floor, Undine found herself alone, surrounded by the ashes of her ruined home, and the bodies of her loved ones torn apart. She fled the valley, becoming a soulless creature, for everything she loved was thought to be lost...
Day and night passed and the two mountain kingdoms wept for the loss of their princes. They became enraged and blamed each other, and so the battle began. The valley had become a vacant waste land already from the princes’ war and now phoenix and dragon saw it as neither one of them deserved to live. The peace had been torn apart, the music and laughter gone, the competitions for strength and skill replaced with competitions for head counts and territories owned. The map became a war zone that only one faction could reign. The poor Lanari people, victims from the lover’s war, were enslaved and hunted by both factions. They became twisted and warped beings, forced to be apart of their master’s army.
It has been centuries since that day in the valley, and yet the war continues. In the time that has passed I have not yet to see a true victor declared, nor will I, for in this story everyone loses. In this war everyone will lose as well. There will always be small victories, until someone else has their small victory. It will never end. So here I am, living in a time of war, my children will live in a time of war, and their children after them. Now you know why this war began, what was the catalyst to make a once peaceful land become a waste land of war. So tell me, are you still blinded by the bloodlust of battle? Does having your name recorded in history hold that much weight? Or do you question now, whatever happened to the two princes that were left wounded on the ruined valley grounds? What happened to Undine? Maybe those questions can be answered in another story, but only for the person that is willing to ask them.
