Awake The Dragon

You are alive on the planet for far less time then you are dead. Marten had been sleeping for much longer then most people are alive. The time of Kaigan was approaching and Marten had much to do.

“Who approaches?” the first guard called out, startled by the sudden appearance of a dark form.

Tyler hadn’t seen the person approach either, didn’t even notice him in fact until Dan had addressed him. The tall figure seemed to have appeared from the shadows, and looked like a shadow himself in his long black cloak. Most of his face was hidden under his hood; the only visible part of his body was his well aged left hand. A ring decorated his thumb, silver claws holding a blood red jewel. In his hand he held a scepter made of wood, about two feet long and carved to look like a sleeping dragon. There was something very real about the carving, something that made Dan and Tyler’s skin crawl.

The hooded man stopped several feet away. Dan spoke again.

“Who are you?” he asked, still no answer.
Both the guard’s hands went to the hilt of their swords ready for anything.

“I ask you once more, who are you?”
Still no reply, Tyler was the first to draw.

Those trained in the temple on the mountain were known across the entire land for their unmatchable speed and precision. A fully trained warrior, such as those that guard the gates, could draw, cross a room and finish an opponent before the other had time to draw their weapon. As fast as the two trained warriors were, the man in black was faster. Even as they grasped their swords they could see the eyes of the dragon open to reveal eyes the same blood-red color as the ring on that the man wore.

“My name is Marten, and you will do well to remember that name, for it will be the last that you ever hear.”

The hood that covered his head fell back as he lifted his head to speak. His face was as old as his hands, wrinkled and pale. Purple veins, faint but not invisible, traveled their way up his neck and around his jaw. His hair nothing more than wispy spider-webs barely concealed his bony scalp. Everything about him looked ancient, almost dead, everything that is except his eyes. His eyes that were bright green and clear of the cataracts that one may expect on a man so obviously aged. His eyes that sparkled with a youth that looked out of place on this old mans face. His eyes that seemed to pierce the souls of those they looked upon, the eyes that scared the hell out of the guards that they now watched.
Their swords barley more then an inch out of the scabbards which held them, both Dan and Tyler were completely incapacitated, their bodies held by the power of the dragons eyes.

Marten lowered his head and closed his penetrating eyes. Dan and Tyler could hear him speaking under his breath, Tyler could not understand the language that he was speaking, Dan, however knew it to be the language of the elders. A language in which he had recently studied, and knew that it had not been spoken for more than a thousand years.

“carpa deus shada coma forent” Marten repeated this phrase over and over, Dan understood this to mean “Creatures of the Shadows come forth”.

The clear calm night sky was now filled with of small gray clouds making it look like a herd of sheep standing close together. The only break was a small circle around the fall colored full moon, which cast its eerie glow across the land. Several transparent rings surrounded it making it the perfect harvest moon. The guards felt a strong wind come from behind and across their backs and onto Martens face blowing what little hair he had into the darkness behind him.
Then, as quickly as it had come, it all stopped. The Wind ceased to blow, the clouds departed leaving the clear, star-filled sky visible once again, the night seemed even calmer then it had before the temple’s visitor had arrived. Tyler and Dan, still frozen, thought they had gone deaf. No night birds or leaves rustling, the distant sounds of partying that had filled the night since the harvest festival had begun at sundown had also vanished. They both tried hard to hear something, anything. When sound finally returned to them they would wish they had remained deaf for the remainder of their lives, for the only sound they would hear between then and their deaths would be the sound of their hearts beating, and of the creatures that would end their lives.

The large torch that lit the entrance to the temple shone brighter then ever, casting it’s light onto Marten like a perfect spotlight casting his shadow directly behind him. Tyler and Dan did not know what to make of what they saw next. Two more shadows appeared along side Martens. Shadows that looked similar to that of a lion, only there were no lions to cast the shadows. The guards watched as the shadows began to take form. The mouth reached out from the ground, black as the shadow it was made from and bit at the air. The others paw reached up as though it was in a hole and began to pull its body out of the ground. As the creatures took on there form Dan and Tyler could see that they were not lions, not exactly. The heads and bodies were that of a lion, only where a lions mane should have been there were hundreds of snake-like tentacles. The hind legs, more similar to that of a birds then to the mammal for which the rest of its body belonged. The razor-like claws on the front paws gleamed as the creatures bodies became solid black masses. Tyler and Dan could only watch as their executioners were created right in front of their eyes.

As the creatures emerged from the shadows, a smirk remained on Martens face at all times. So many years had passed since he had killed, so many years since he had done anything. The shadow beasts moved forward smelling their prey, Tyler and Dan could feel the hot breath on their faces as the creatures checked them out, still unable to move. Dan almost passed out from the fear, Tyler knew that if it weren’t for the magic that held his body, his pants would be wet right now. Tyler was the first to go. The beast on Martens left crouched on its hind legs then pounced.

Although the magic stopped the guards from moving, it did not stop them from feeling. Tyler felt the creatures hind claws dig deep into his chest, its front claws grasped onto his shoulders, and its jaws closed around his head removing it as well as his neck and part of his right shoulder in one bite. The other beast took a bite out of Dan’s side. He could feel his intestines sliding out of him like spaghetti from a strainer that’s holes are too large. Tyler’s limp body fell against his and toppled to the ground, no longer held by the magic the body twitched violently soaking Dan’s shoes in blood.
The first creature, the one that had eaten Tyler’s head, hunkered down beside Tyler’s body and began to gnaw on his leg. Dan’s creature still chewed on the chunk that was now missing from Dan’s side.

Marten moved in close to Dan, so close that he could smell the old man’s breath, he recognized the smell, that of gingerbread fresh from the oven. This was at least one pleasantry in an otherwise horrible death.

“You are relieved of your duty for the evening Dan” The corners of Martens mouth rose into an evil smile.

“Actually, why don’t you take the rest of your life off”

The laughter that exploded from Martens was pure evil in every sense of the word. A chill made its way up Dan’s back, the last sensation he would know before the creature that had eaten part of him already returned to finish its meal.