Tale:Princes of Darkness

"You're challenging me?" Taniin said. Great, does he think I'm a kid, too? He walked close and felt Vand's horns with his fingers, checking their curvature. "I accept your challenge. Walk to that side of the arena." Each of them went to opposite sides of the square arena. People were staring at them. Maryam still leaned over the fence.

"Kick his fucking ass!" she cheered. Is she talking to me, or to him? The referee yanked on Vand's dagger, putting some kind of resin on its tip, obviously for safety purposes. Vand noticed a discoloration on the edge of Taniin's sabre the very same color as the resin. The referee counted to three, and on three, the fight began.

Vand kept low to the ground, his cloak draped off his shoulders and hiding his body. Taniin was charging quickly, his stride much greater than Vand's. His sword came down upon Vand, but Vand parried it with his dagger. He stabbed at the Wyrmkin's wrist, but missed narrowly. Vand lunged forward and swept his tail, his weak muscles aching as he did, but Taniin's greater mass made him impossible to knock down. With a kick, the Darkwyrm sent Vand across the arena, but he got to his feet quickly. He's not holding back, Vand thought, ecstatic. He flailed a bit, hardly realizing it, and gripped the Needle tightly, the dagger's stiletto blade extending into a straight thrusting sword, edge slightly sharp and tip still blunted with resin.

"Hah, neat trick!" Taniin noted. Not the only one I have, Vand thought. Crouched down, he lunged at Taniin, aiming for his calf. Taniin slashed below himself, but Vand was already too close. Taniin's calf started to bleed slowly from the glancing cut made with Vand's sword. Vand jumped upwards, but he only pulled a muscle as he rose a few inches into the air. Vand felt a great beating from the blunt, yet thin blade of Taniin's sabre, hitting his shoulder and bringing him fully to the ground. Taniin raised his sword yet again, ready to strike, and Vand started to think.

What do I do? What do I do? He's bigger and stronger, how can I win? Vand was small, very small, and weak, very weak. He could hardly take a day's work in mind and body. Yet people still had feared him. Why were the mukhtars of Beit-Tiemat afraid of him? Why were the children at home scared by his presence? He wasn't just weird, was he? The sabre came down on him again, hitting his stomach. The pain was great, but it started to numb. Vand felt nothing but emptiness. This is darkness. This is the void. This is living death. He stood up as his opponent whacked him, but he did not falter. He was the growing shadow.

"Where...where did you go?!" he heard. "What's this darkness? No, it's more!" Taniin started frantically attacking at the arena. Vand could still see him. He looked helpless; he wasn't, his sabre knocking Vand over once more. Vand scrambled behind him, keeping his cloak drawn tight. Is this...magic? How am I doing this? Vand thought, hidden in shadows with no real source. He loosened his grip on the Needle, and it retracted into dagger form. Starting to figure it out... He climbed Taniin's body, latched onto his back, and put the knife to his throat. I win. "No...you...don't," the prince said, throat completely still, grabbing at his pendant. The sound was coming from inside Vand's skull.

What...what is this?

I've got tricks, too. It felt like Taniin was spiritually biting Vand's tongue. It took Vand a while to consider the opposite was also true. My creator didn't leave me with nothing. Taniin leaned back, and they were both on the ground.

Well, good for you, you've inherited everything you have. And get out of my head!

Odd. Rude. You think its easy? And you're in my head, too!

Being the prince of the whole Emirate? Soon the be the ruler? Inheriting mystical jewelry—or whatever let's you do this, from your draconic parent? Yeah, it seems like a breeze.

I'm not gonna rule Cadmea.

Why not, you're the eldest prince!

But I'm not their child.

But they raised you!

But that's not good enough.

Who's good enough!

Adem. My younger brother.

Why?!

Because he's Human. And he's not cursed.

Cursed?

There's always been something wrong with me. I can barely resist... Taniin grabbed his pendant tightly.

Whine, whine, whine! Vand had heard enough of the prince's complaints.

What?!

Everyone in my clan, every Chlorite, has done without all your wealth and luxury. So what, you won't rule an entire region? You're still filthy rich.

Damn you to Hell!!

Vand felt an intense fatigue, and he blacked out.

The two of them gasped. They were still in the courtyard, but out of the arena proper. Vand opened his eyes, and it was extremely bright out. The sky was unbearable to look at, but the courtyard was in the shade. Vand needed complete rest now, as he often did after anything mildly stressing or exciting. Maryam was sitting nearby, still towering. She said, "You both got disqualified for sorcery, idiots. Go find a priest, you're both possessed or something." She sounded extremely disinterested, the emotion having died before she had the chance to say it.

"What's this lousy bandage on my calf?" Taniin asked. It was indeed poorly done, barely stopping the bleeding. He reapplyed it himself, with the prowess of a ranger. Vand didn't even need to ask. Maryam had put it on herself.

Looking around, Vand saw that the courtyard was completely empty. "Where'd everyone go?" he asked.

"They left, the sport was spoiled," Maryam explained, "because the two of you started performing witchcraft. What even was that? It wasn't really impressive magic, but it was still weird."

"How much magic do you see?" Vand asked. He had never seen it in person before an encounter below Beit-Tiemat.

"Enough to know it's not to be trifled with."

Taniin sat up, and replied, "Magic is just what people call the parts of the world they don't understand. I've studied plenty, and it is simply beyond most people's comprehension." By Mot, that's pretentious. I just did...something...and it was magic enough. "And Vand..." Vand sat up, "I am sorry. I should not have used it on you." His pendant was no longer a brilliant purple, but a drained black.

"Well I don't feel sorry, 'cause I didn't know the rules, and I learned how to do it on my own!" "Learned" was a strong word, but it was close enough. Taniin flashed his teeth at Vand. "Ah—I'm sorry." Vand backed up away from him. Taniin started to laugh, and so did Maryam. Vand pretended to laugh to fit in. "I'm sorry...you aren't inheriting much from the King and Queen, at least."

"He isn't the crown prince?" Maryam asked, incredulously.

"No, my brother is, and he's years younger than me," Taniin answered.

"Ashtaret must be playing some cruel trick! My family did the same thing to me," Maryam remarked.

"Yeah, yeah, both of you talk about how much it sucks to be royalty." Vand realized it was rude after he said it.

"I think the daylight is making you irritable," Taniin observed. Vand hadn't even thought about it, but it was rather bright, even in the shade. "Do you have any water?" Vand handed over his waterskin. Taniin poured a bit of it onto the dirt.

"Hey, what're you—"

"Just wait." Taniin let the water soak into a patch of dirt, and scooped it up. It was in fact dark clay, reinvigorated by the water. Taniin grabbed Vand's face, wiping the clay around Vand's eyes.

"Let go of me—oh that's better!" The light didn't seem so harsh anymore. He could see better, even being able to see for a second that the bright sky above was cerulean, the color of Taniin's eyes. It was still impossible to look at for long.

"There you go," he said.

Maryam got up and took Habib by the reins. "I've gotta go to the treasury to turn in taxes. Go have fun, kids," she said, dismissively. "Meet me back here by nightfall—actually, make it by next morning." She disappeared from the courtyard and the two 'kids' were left alone.

After Maryam had left the courtyard, Taniin remarked, "She's a bit odd." Then he laughed. Vand didn't get it. The two of them removed the resin that protected others from their blades. "Well, let's go have fun! It's still close enough to my birthday." Vand followed him out of the courtyard. They started walking down the street. Vand saw a stand selling a strange, white cream topped with nuts.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Oh, it's ice cream. It's really cold, so it's not good for us."

"Huh?"

"Humans have body heat, so they can eat very cold food and it won't mess them up." Taniin put his hand on Vand's shoulder only to look confused and remove it.

"Kobolds have body heat, too. You're saying you're cold-blooded?"

"You're not?" Taniin grabbed Vand's hand. Taniin's hand was cold, like metal or stone. Vand knew better, though. His skin was the same temperature as its surroundings, but absorbed more heat. "Your hand is...warmer than I expected."

"Uh-huh. So should I get ice cream?"

"I'll get you one." Right. I don't have any money, but he does. Taniin did not use money, however. He simply walked to the stand, lunged, smiled and flexed, and was given a bowl for free. He brought it back and gave it to Vand. Vand began to eat it. It was very cold, but very sweet, and the nutty flavor meshed well with the creamy substance. He ate it ravenously. Suddenly, a great ache and pain spread through his head, and he cried out.

"Brain freeze?" Taniin asked. It does feel like my brain is being frozen... The feeling passed, eventually, and he continued devouring the gooey dish, leaving the bowl behind. Taniin returned it to the stand and came back to Vand. "Let's go to the royal garden," Taniin suggested. They crossed toward the center of the city, near where the palace was. Taniin kept his arm around Vand's shoulder, or more accurately, his neck. Godsdamnit, it's like he thinks we're friends or something. Heads turned as Taniin passed, and people congratulated him on his age, some emphasizing that he was now ready to marry. A bit creepy, Vand thought. Past a fence, the urban sprawl changed into an almost natural landscape. A river flowed down from the snowy, cedar covered mountain above. Many statues of bronze or stone, depicting Folk and strange creatures alike, stood in the garden, and plants of different kinds were arranged smartly. Taniin began showing the different plants to Vand, explaining their function.

"See this one with the branching stem, the tiny white flowers? It's hemlock. It is very toxic, so don't eat it, especially not the seeds or the root." Vand licked his lips as he stared at the plant. It could kill him easily. "And this one, it's cannabis." It had thin, green, serrated leaves growing out in hand-like patterns. "We can smoke some later, it's relaxing, even better than tobacco." Smoking makes too much...well, smoke...but maybe it's not as bad up here... "This succulent is aloe vera. The gel inside can—here," he ripped off a thick, fleshy leaf, squeezed it to release a clear gel. He rubbed it on Vand's hands, which had dried out since the fight, and they became moist again. "Don't eat it, it'll make you sick." Wow...he really likes plants! "Not as bad as hemlock, of course!"

There was a lull in the conversation. Never been good at talking... Then Taniin spoke once more: "Hmm...well, how about we go smoke? Or drink. It'll be fun either way."

"I've...never smoked. We should...try it." In all honesty, Vand didn't really want to try anything new. It's his birthday...I can't hold alcohol well anyway. He followed Taniin across the garden, crossing a bridge over the river, which almost blinded Vand by reflecting the moon, and passing statues of different avians, bovines, and serpents. They exited back into the city, and walked for a while silently until they reached a coffeehouse. Coffee was a luxury in Stygia, but on the Surface, at least in Cadmea, it was far more common. Many people were gathered in the coffeehouse, drinking coffee, playing board games, talking and socializing according to scripts which Vand never rehearsed, and of course, smoking. It smelled a bit like incense, bringing Vand back to the time in the Temple of Mot, built near to Cthon in a large nether, elsewise the smoke would have been too risky. As they entered, everybody clapped, cheered, and women ululated. Vand started clapping, too, but Taniin stayed his hands and shook his head subtly. Imitating what everyone else does only works if everyone's of equal status...he's the prince.

"Thank you all, thank you all," Taniin said, bowing. He was a celebrity. How can this not be enough for him, everyone loves him! He still feels snubbed? "Please welcome Vand," he said, gesturing to him, "Kobold prince from the Abyss." They didn't clap nearly as much. 'Wait, has he been nice to me 'cause he thinks I'm a prince?

A young person said, "Oh, didn't he try fighting you because he didn't get the performance?" Ah.

The a server of the business, an older man, asked Taniin, "So what'll it be, prince Darkwyrm?"

"Just get us a waterpipe and some hashish."

"Uh, isn't that kid a bit young for—"

"No, he's just short, see?" Taniin ran his finger along one of Vand's horns and showed the length with a gap between his index fingers. Somehow, he expected a Human to understand how horns grow over time, so the server relented. Taniin and Vand sat down on a couple of cushions, remaining close to the entrance of the coffeehouse. He brought back a device that contained a reservoir for water and a hose with a mouthpiece, along with a tin for a couple hot charcoals and some matted herb. "So, this is what they make from cannabis." He put the hashish into a bowl near the top of the waterpipe. Then, he put the charcoals on top of the bowl, separated by a grate. The charcoals started to heat the herb. "Vand, you can have the first hit." He passed him the hose.

Vand examined the hose a bit, not quite sure what to do with it. He knew, of course, the smoke was to be inhaled, but he'd never done it before. He put his mouth around the mouthpiece and inhaled sharply. The smoke bubbled in the water and flowed through the hose, flowing into his lungs. He coughed and hacked it out in sharp clouds. Taniin chuckled, and assured him he would become used to it. He took the hose himself, sucked on it for a moment, held it, and then exhaled smoothly a cloud of vapor of exponential volume that surrounded him and Vand. He whispered, "Breath of smoke, the gift of the Wyrms." Vand recalled the smoke in the arena, and pondered the implications of gaining such a power from parentage alone. He could be a weapon of war. In the Abyss, his power could be deadly.

They continued taking turns sucking smoke out of the pipe, Vand initially trying to keep the smoke in his lungs as long as possible, only to be told, "Holding it in that long doesn't do anything!" After a bit, Vand started to feel relaxed, even as his heart beat faster than usual. A slight feeling of euphoria was dimmed by sedation. He looked into Taniin's eyes. They were bloodshot, making them a purpleish color. The bowl was starting to run dry, so Taniin asked for more hashish.

"More?" the server said, "What a birthday."

"Yeah, thanks, my friend," Taniin replied, shaking his hand.

"You truly are 'the people's prince,'" the server affirmed, smiling. Within an hour, the two scaled young men had smoked the rest of it. It really was relaxing, in a way, but Vand's mouth was dry, and he was very hungry and thirsty. He took out a plump helmet and ate it, along with chugging from his waterskin. Without asking, or needing to, Taniin took another mushroom from Vand's bag and ate it. Shortly, all their food and drink was gone. Timed seemed to flow faster and slower at once. A sense of paranoia set in, and Vand wished to leave immediately.

"Uh...let's go to, like...uhm...maybe just back to the garden. Sorry, can't think straight," offered Taniin. Neither can I... They followed the familiar path back into the garden, the world becoming a blur. Everything was out of focus, like nothing could be seen or thought of for long. "Vand," he began, "do you get the feeling we're being watched? Followed even?"

"No." He paused. "Uh, yes? It's probably just the..the...stuff, y'know?" His train of thought was distracted, pulling itself in different directions, searching for but never finding substance. As sedated as he felt, he was far from silence or sleep. The only coherent thought he could grasp was, Mot has left me. The two of them sat down against the base of a statue of a great Wyrm, wings spread, leaning back on its back talons with its panther claws at the ready.

"This is my best, uh, my most—er—" Taniin stuttered, "my favorite statue in the garden, cause, uhm, I imagine it's of the guy, er, the dragon—y'know, the Wyrm?"

"Uh-huh."

"So it's like I, uh, actually have family."

"But you have family, the royal family."

"I'm not really their family."

"But, they raised you?"

"They didn't make me, doesn't matter."

"I never cared who made me."

"What? Why not?"

"That's just not what it's like, back home."

"So what is it like underground, 'back home?'" Taniin questioned.

Vand went through his memory, back to his early childhood. It took him a while to put it into words. "Well," he said, "all the eggs from a family go to the nursery. We don't really do parents. A few clans do, but most of us never care who specifically made us."

"So it's like everyone's your cousin?"

"I guess that might be a decent analogy. Even outside your family, it's like the whole clan is family," he explained. "And it's exhausting," Vand groaned.

Taniin thought for a moment, then asked, "And the environment? What's it look like?"

"Most places are just rock, but in certain caves, there's abundant silt, clay, or soil. There's no sky in the Abyss. Even in the biggest nethers—oh, that's a massive cave, at least the size of a...hill—even there, you can see the stony roof—well, if you have night vision—"

"I do," Taniin interjected, and showed his teeth, his eyes happy. Oh, that's a smile! Of course.

"Well, you can see the walls and roof of the cave. Even without night vision, plenty of caves are lit by glowing plants or minerals. Oh yeah, the plants are way different. A lot more of them are mushrooms or lichens—"

"Neither of those are plants."

"Uh...and the animals are usually smaller. Nothing as big as a camel. My clan raises a lot of goats."

"Ah, so there are goats down there still? Hooved and horned?"

"What? Oh, the goats back home are different. They have these...pads on their feet, that let them climb stuff."

"And what's life like down there?" Taniin started to stretch as he asked, "Society, I mean." He got on his stomach and began doing push-ups.

"Home...they spent a lot of their time working. Forging tools, weapons, and...jewellry. Merchants going on trips to the surface. Cultivating the plants—or whatever, growing in the caves. I was never good at anything, though. I spent most of my time just lingering. Brooding. The only activities I actually liked were listening to stories, and praying. The happiest memory I have is when I visited the temple of Mot." He should not have said that.

Taniin sat back down. "Mot? You follow Mot?" Well, the Truth can never be destroyed.

Vand proclaimed with piety, "Yes. I'm a devout worshipper of Mot. I revere it, as does my clan above all others. I came from it, I will return to it, and I grasp at it in times of solace." Taniin did not look shocked or mortified as Vand expected. Instead, he looked almost...relaxed. Excited, even. With a steady approach, Taniin hugged Vand tightly, his bulky, plumed chest as soft and cool as a mossy cavern floor. Vand instinctively went limp.

"No mortal has ever spoken a thing so sincere, so Truthful, in all of Eternity, all of Abystyx," Taniin spoke, in admiration. The seldom spoken name of the World. From the highest part of the Sky to the bottom of Hell, anywhere enveloped in the firmament of stars, any time since Creation, nobody doomed to die ever said such a thing? It could not be True. Plenty of Kobolds worshipped Mot, Chlorites in particular. Though, they were the exception, the only living people to actually admire it. He doesn't get out much, does he. Gods, I am a hypocrite. Taniin gently stroked his back. "Vand, everyone around me fears the darkness. They fear me. The Wyrm that made me, well, they haven't shown themself, whoever they are. I wish I had your courage to be so—so contrary."

Vand hissed, and he squirmed. He pushed against Taniin's large, rough-scaled belly and was gently released. He breathed heavily, in, out, and back in. He shouted, "It's not courage! I can't be 'agreeable' no matter how hard I try!"

"I'm...sorry," Taniin said, slumping. Vand felt a pang of guilt. He knew he was in the right, but he could only think, why do I always fight?! Vand started to run away, just picking a direction and going. "Wait, watch out, there's someone—Aagh! No!!" Something sharp pinched Vand's arm, and he started to fall into an unnatural slumber, dreamless and filled with white noise.