Aldomiron

“I have seen beyond sight, heard the whisper of eternities and lived forever and again.  What you have seen in the infinitesimal fraction of a moment you have been alive is but a blink in my mind’s eye.  You have built an empire and cultivated alliances with nations across entire continents; mere wrinkles in the fabric of the inconsequential.  I have seen the birth, death and resurrection of entire worlds and watched the pulse of destiny ripple through the infinite veil from one age to the next.  You see only what fates lay in waiting for your own life age while I have dreamt the future and awoken to find it come to past. 

“I am ageless and eternal and you will wither and fade like the golden leaves of autumn.  Go now from my presence little shaking branch; beseech the wind to stop blowing, for I am the endless sky that cares not for the currents of the surface wind or the shivering plea of the leaves.”  The ancient beast sneered at the little man standing, dwarfed before him.  With a sigh of half irritation, half vehemence, the colossal wyrm turned its massive neck over and rested its boney head back on the meaty part of his front haunches, nestling his snout under the cleft of his wing-joint.  Amnok watched the creature coil back into a something that reminded him of a fetal position.  Just like a dragon, tuck tail and hide under the pretense of “too old to care”. 



“So that is it?  You would leave this world to shatter under the weight of oblivion?”  He retorted, finding his breath escaping him under the tremendous heat of the cavern.  “Coward!”  He almost spat the words with such anger.



“When one is free from the confines of time and the petty contrivances of those therein, one finds that cowardice is nothing more than fear in the face of not knowing.  I am beyond knowing and above fearing, for as so many ends have come to pass and still Kelaamj’adnosivek persists, so too shall this end pass before me.”  The dragon did not even bother to raise his snout from its perch to utter the words.  Careless, slothful, here was an Immortal succumb to the withering strain of eternity, Amnok thought to himself as he tried desperately to conjure the words necessary to shake this creature free of its wasteful slumber.



“This is not an end to just one world Immortal!  What we face is not so provincial, but boundless in devastation.  Look to Arrn and M’nara, over the horizon to the shores of lost Aekelebt, where the Ageless Ones lasted for eternities before even you.  They are all gone and it is not because of wrinkles in a sheet or the blowing of the wind!  They are gone because of the affliction that devours our world now, the ennui’icovaa that was borne from the Crux of the Infinite.  Ullolenkor unlocked the secrets of the ineffable and now we are all to pay for his transgressions. 

“And do not speak to me as a child, we are both infantine in the eyes of this beast.  You speak of things before time; this is the nightmare that you have dreamt and if you do not recognize your own abhorrent dreams then you are blind and I am mistaken in coming to such a powerless creature for help.”  Amnok knew he needed to chose his words carefully at this point.  Just one slip of the wrong word or too much challenge in his tone and the beast would no doubt lash out at him with wrath.  Dealing with draghons was like dealing with politicians, both were very old and a majority of the time, set in their ways, unwilling to budge.  The only difference was that dragons, more often than not, held grudges and lived long enough to see them through. Amnok needed to be ready not only to ‘walk away from the situation if his calculations were wrong, but to accept the loss of a powerful ally or even worse, his life to a new enemy.



“It is in the face of annihilation that we, the created show our true form.”  The wyrm curled its neck further and took hold of the massive mound behind him with his massive claws, pulling the bulk of his body upright.  His voice became callous and sharp and Amnok feared he might have pressed too far.  “I have witnessed countless mortals watch in horror as their worlds came to an end by fire and fury; the wrath of nature itself or the misguided folly of petulance.  Stalwart heroes have forsaken the very ideals they once swore to die for, while maniacal, self-servicing villains have died to protect their family or a loved one. 

“I have seen the truly benevolent succumb to the inexorably nihilistic because in the end we are all self-preserving and narcissistic.  You, son of sons, shall not speak to me with such insolence!”  The wyrm’s voice shook the natural columns of the subterrainean void and threatened to bring the mountain above them down.  The heat of the magma pools surrounding them was quickly becoming out-paced by the seething breath of the brooding dragon and his eyes grew wide and glaring, pupils contracted to barely perceptible slivers as the fiery golden iris’ glowed menacingly with fury.  “Adolescent I may be in the greater scheme of things, but in comparison there is none between you and I, even with your new-found immortality.  I have no desire to be a skittering ant on the mound as the boot of fate comes down to stamp the ground flat.  I will stay out of business that belongs to others and is theirs to tend to.  I would suggest you do the same.”



“And where will you go to keep yourself from the business of the universe?  Is there really anywhere you can go?  Can you exist beyond existence and if so, take me with you and I will serve you for all eternity, for truly yours is a power beyond comparison.”  Amnok caught himself only as the last word slipped from his tongue and realized what he had said.  Between the broiling heat and trying to maintain himself in two places at once in case he needed to ‘walk, he was barely able to mind the conversation he was carrying on.  He struggled to keep his angst from showing.



“Be wary, human, many a mortal and undying alike have spoken to me in lesser terms and have found themselves suffering far greater fates than what is to come for your world.  You may be beyond death, but I assure you there is no escaping pain.”  The dragons voice did not sound angry, but amused.  Amnok found himself at a loss for words.  When he finally came to them, Adnosivek responded first.



“There is still time little one and you are right to presume taking no action would ensure our defeat.  But now is not my time, not yet.  Unlike you and the others whom are under your banner, I am not truly immortal.  Death will come to me soon enough and I must ensure that when it does, I have thought long and hard of how to meet it.”  The dragon almost seemed to smile deviously at this last comment and turned away from Amnok for a moment, as if to ponder the cosmos.  When he turned back, he gave one final comment to appease the tiny man at his feet.  “The time will soon come when all creatures that remain shall have to rise up to answer this destruction and we will all find ourselves in true form, either for good or for something else.  Go now, as you have my answer and nothing else shall you reap from this exchange except ill-favor in the eyes of the father of the Ragnarouk.”



“My lord, as always your grace and sight outstretch even the wisest and most perceptive.  I beg your forgiveness for any affront I have given and pray you seek me out when that time of times comes.”