Slayers: Chaos

Chaos 35

Slayers: Chaos

Episode 035: Challenge! Critical Conditions

The humans, the power in between light and darkness, the power from the Darkstar prophecy. Suddenly, the old dragon's ramblings didn't seem so random after all. Both Milgazia and Zelas listened quietly. "In old human folklore both dragons and monsters were rare and few. This isn't a simple matter of not mentioning minor characters in ancient verbal records, but rather, they weren't there. Do you remember, young lady? Back then it was just Ceifeed, Shabranigdu and those them they created to continue their battle and seek revenge should one of them fall. The dragon lords and the monster lords were the only ones back then. There were no other dragons and no other monsters. Do you know what happened to create more?"

"Numbers," Zelas replied, thinking back on it. "We realized that numbers were convenient and..." She paused and looked deeper into her memories. "Actually, the dragons came in more numbers first. The new dragons were of much lesser power than the dragon lords, but they were inconveniences. We monster lords decided that we needed to match them with numbers as well if we were to win. We weren't certain how to do it, so we experimented and in the end managed to create new life by breaking off portions of ourselves. Those were very small portions, but they were enough to fight off the lesser dragons."

"Yes," the old dragon nodded. Then he looked at Milgazia. "Young man, do you know where those dragons came from, that fought beside the dragon lords?"

"I... don't..." Milgazia admitted. Who knew about he very beginning of life anyway?

"Humans have short life spans; they are destroyed and recreated constantly through their rapid generations. They have hasty ambitions, the ability to change, to progress and a lively determination that seems far too powerful to be contained in so little time. Humans were many and they were innovative. The dragons observed them and became jealous of them. They too had physical forms as the humans did, so why would they not have offspring as well?"

Milgazia sat there with a frozen expression. His face was a mixture of surprise and fading doubt. It made sense, it all made sense. He had heard theories about it before, though not exactly like that, not so direct. "Then us dragons are descendants of the dragon lords?"

"Yes, but as you became many, the dragon lords feared you would be as unruly as the wild humans. Resourceful and adaptable as they were, the humans were not so civilized back then as they are now," the old dragon explained. "Hence why certain rules were put into place and strictly enforced to prevent too many dragons from spreading all over the world. The dragon lords also noticed that the new dragons were in some ways like humans, perhaps more so as high humans."

"High humans?" Milgazia questioned, too entranced in the story to care that he was interrupting his senior. "You mean elves?"

"Yes, that is what they are called now. Their kind has become purer and achieved a greater lifespan by mating only among themselves, though they were only particularly talented humans in the beginning. They are a race, rather than a species," the old dragon explained. "The humans had companions of other species though, the ones known now as beastmen, trolls and the like. However, even with their claws and fangs to defend themselves, their fur and tough skin to protect them from the elements and their advantageous strength and agility, the more fragile human race with their wit and determination bested them in the race of evolution. Humans with their quest of superiority, perhaps to make up for the physical advantages that the Mother of All Things didn't give them, made sure to establish themselves as the dominant race of this world. They are numerous and they are incredibly resourceful and volatile."

"So the underdogs of physical creatures came out on top," Zelas chuckled. "I do hope this story is actually going somewhere more interesting than that."