Eternal Entities

Prologue

Prologue:

Soft morning sunlight filtered through the verdant leaves of the trees. In the distance, a bird sang its song for the other forest residents to hear. With a ruffle of its feathers, the bird took to the sky and gracefully went from tree to tree.

Below in the brush, a small vole began to make its way out from the borrow it calls home. The vole scurried through the untamed grass and fallen leaves in search for its morning meal.

Suddenly, the ground began to shudder. The vole rushed towards the hole once more as a large shadow flew above. The dead leaves got kicked up into the air as a young man with chaotic, windswept brown hair ran across the forest floor. His long, flowing black trousers and sleeves got caught on the branches as he weaved through the trees and tightly packed undergrowth. He was hunched over as he ran, His pale peach hands stained with dirt and blood clutched his leather overcoat near his ribs in a protective manner.

A large crack echoed through the silent landscape. A tree fell with a flurry of debris to reveal a tall, red humanoid creature. He had ears and a nose that resembled a pig. His bald head had two stubby horns and as his thick, large black eyebrows knitted into a snarl, small tusks dripping with saliva protruded from his thin lips. Lemon yellow goat eyes scanned the forest as the deabru adolescent pursued the human. He swung a spiked club with his scar adorned body, some fresh and some old. With each earth-quaking step, the terrain would shift and clear a path for the rage-filled monster.

He was gaining quickly on the fleeing human man ahead. The slight snagging of thorns on the little bit of clothing worn by the deabru made no difference to his progress. The human looked over his shoulder, his deep blue eyes flooded with desperation and fear. Sweat poured on his forehead as he locked eyes with his assailant's.

"Giver her back to me!" the bellowing command from the deabru filled the air.

"Damn orc," the human grumbled through labored breath. With his index and middle fingers, the man began to draw an archaic circle in the air. A shimmering greyish-aqua aura followed the path of the fingers. When he was done, an arcane circle with ancient swirling symbols was floating in the air in front of him. He took a sharp one hundred-eighty degree turn and aimed it directly at the orc's bare chest. The human man softly blew into the center of the circle and it became a strong headwind. The orc dug his large feet with gnarled nails into the soil and roots wrapped up the sides of his ankles. His efforts were futile as the wind uprooted him and sent him flying backward for yards into the rocks and trees.

Quickly, the man ran further through the forest until he was able to hide in a small ditch. The man listened over his heaving chest for any sign of the orc. When none came, he let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Myah!" a muffled squeal caught the man off guard. He looked down to see a form squirming under his overcoat where he had been protecting. He took out a bundle and unraveled it to reveal its contents.

The head of a small muted chimera cub popped out of the rags that covered her. She was supposed to be one of the most fearsome deabru to plague the lands of Evig Dyr, but this small cub looked far from fearsome. Her round ears were bigger than her head and she only had a handful of teeth where not all of them were completely formed. The cub had the front half of a lion and the back half of a goat. Her tail was a black snake with a warm red-orange ring around its neck and a cream to orange underside but it seemed lifeless, almost like a puppet. Small scaled and leather wings resembled a dragonling's as they clung to her side with dull talons on the tips. The horns had yet to penetrate the hide, so only two little mounds were visible. Large, golden cat-like eyes looked inquisitively up at the man before letting out another, more human-like mewl, "Marwit?"

The man lowered his guard as he gazed upon the small cub, "How can something so small be the seed of so much misery?" In a split second, a dark red aura surrounded the cub and caused the man to panic. He hastily looked around the area and racked his brain for any spell to help. As quickly as it appeared, the aura faded away to show a humanoid toddler girl in his arms. The cloth was the only covering she had as it wrapped around her torso.

"Bloody hell she can already control the transformations?" the man gasped. "I'll have to do some research before the king exterminates her." He fumbled with his hands and got ahold of a whistle that hung around his neck with a white and peach feather next to it.

He let out a quick, high-pitched blow that sounded just like a bird's call. A large shadow of a bird went over the man and the muted chimera cub. White feathers floated down as an albatross landed in front of the man.

"Cecil, I need you to take this message to King Taeva," the man ordered. He got a small roll of parchment and a stick of graphite from his boot. He scribbled a message down and rolled it for his feathered companion. "Fly as fast as your wings will take you."

The bird named Cecil looked at the toddler and back to the mage with a questioning look The man rolled his eyes and had an exasperated tone to his voice, "It can transform. I can't risk it shifting in your grasp and something happening to you." A heartbeat of debate went through Cecil's eyes before he took the message in his beak and took flight in a flurry of feathers.

"Where are you, scrawny thief?" the orc roared. It was distant but close enough to let the man know he had to move.

He hid the cub, who was still in its human masquerade, under a bush. He muttered to himself as he hastily worked, "Once I deal with the orc, I'll come back for this." He placed a thumb on her forehead. After a flash of light, he covered her with a few fallen boughs. A tremble went through the ground letting the man know his time was up. He jumped out from the ditch and ran.

A tree fell to reveal the orc. He slammed his club to the ground and caused a large crevasse to form in the direction of the man, barely scrapping by the bush. The orc chased the human man further into the woods.

"Meya...mipo...mraao!" the soft cry of the muted Chimera cub slowly filled the forest air from the bush eerily. Birds began to fly and land in trees around the bush. Rabbits and foxes came from their broken homes. A bear and even a wolf pack slowly made their way up to the bush. The alpha female of the pack poked her snout in the bush. She was surprised when a pair of paws were on its nose. The wolf yelped as she took a few steps back. The cub, now back in her birth given form, waddled out of the bush on shaky hoof and paw. The wolf put her snout to the muted chimera's muzzle apprehensively. The cub let out a cheerful yip and rubbed up against the fluffy canine. The wolf licked the cub's head where small scales were. The wolf picked up the cub by her scruff and began to carry her away. The rest of the pack followed while the other forest dwellers went about their own business. Some of the other wolves seemed to want to get a better look but backed off when the female growled. The muted chimera looked around with curious golden eyes.

Deeper in the forest, the orc had caught up to the human. Cornered and pinned by the orc, the man choked on blood as the orc lifted his newly blood-stained club over his head.

Crack

A strong wind blew the ship into the side of the port, causing the large vessel to bounce. A young woman was thrown out of her tattered hammock below deck. She let out a surprised yelp, "Urack!"

Groggily, she opened her eyes. Early dawn light filtered through the murky water and through the porthole to blind her. The labradorite pendant hanging from her neck caught the light and shone radiantly as she sat herself up. She glared up at the ceiling of the small room with her golden eyes.

"Damn it. Fucking dreams again," she cursed in a scratchy monotone. "And it's bloody morning. Wonderful."