Kodan was in a dream, or at least he felt that way. The air was too thick, his body felt too heavy, yet his head was amazingly light. His first guess was that he was drunk, but he did not recall drinking. In fact he couldn�t remember much at all. He sat up entirely too quickly and the room seemed to tilt, until the mercenary was sure he was going to fall out of the bed. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, she was there.
There was a candle burning by his beside, but the light it was producing was not a warm, friendly glow. It was just light, cold, pure, uncaring light. Hyakuhei seemed to have been created by the shadows of this small candle. Her dress was long and black, to match her hair. Her skin was unnaturally white, like a corpses, but eerily warm. Her eyes were nothing but large black pupils, no iris of colour. She could have been a charcoal sketch, if not for the blood red lips. She smiled, and Kodan wouldn�t have been surprised to see fangs. "Sleep well?"
He put his hand to his head in a effort to keep it from rolling off his shoulders and onto the floor. "Like the dead."
She giggled, and Kodan cringed. A sound so innocent and light as a young girl�s giggle was terrifying when emitted by this shadow demon. "You might want to grow out of the habit of using that expression. I have friends who would take offence at it."
The mercenary was not in the least surprised that his new mistress probably knew a few ghosts. "What happened?" The fuzziness was slowly fading, replaced with a steady pounding that was threatening to become a headache.
Hyakuhei smiled and pointed to the foot of the bed where Miraria was tied. The girl was shivering and had her eyes shut tight. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath, possibly prayers. Kodan snorted. Not that they would really do her much good here. At the sound of the harsh noise he made, the girl shuddered and turned her head away from them. Kodan could see her throat...where it had been ripped open. Kodan smiled, realizing that Hyakuhei was probably the reason she was terrified, not him. That would soon change. Kodan stood and walked to the end of the bed. He knelt beside the injured cleric and forced her head to look at him. Her eyes were filled with tears that trickled slowly down her cheeks, cutting little rivers of soft flesh through the dirt and grime she seemed coated in. Kodan was momentarily mesmerised by her eyes, they seemed to catch the light from the cold, unpassionate candle and throw it back into the world, pure and bright. He leaned in and forced his lips against hers, enjoying the fact that she was so soft, and unresistant. She�d obviously had her courage beaten out of her...or bitten out of her. He pushed her up against the back board of the bed and reached for the remains of her dress. Hyakuhei�s unnerving laugh halted him.
"So desperate. So petty." She was resting on his bed, head on her arms, arms on the backboard. Kodan stood up, towering over both of the women. Hyakuhei looked up at him and batted her eyelashes. She smiled seductively. For a moment Kodan was torn between taking her and taking Miraria. Hottan Matsu�s presence quickly eliminated the one option. "You wanted to know why you woke up feeling like hell?" The intonation she put on the word hell sent shivers down Kodan�s spine.
"Yeah." Kodan�s desire was slowly being smothered by what he could see in Hyakuhei�s eyes.
She grinned, fully aware of the power she now held over him. "The cleric is the reason."
"How?" Kodan snorted and pulled Miraria, by her long, beautiful, tangled hair to her feet. "Think her goddess can hear her?"
Hyakuhei sat up on the bed and reached to the bedside table where a broken bottle of wine was sitting. "No. I think you left the bottle within her grasp when you tried to take her last night."
"A mistake I won�t repeat." He tossed the cleric onto the bed, giving Hyakuhei only a split second to get out of the way. The girl was beginning to freak him out.
"Honey," Hyakuhei stood and walked to the doorway. "I haven�t even begun." She turned and left in a whirl of black skirts, but the giggle lingered in the hallway, accompanied by a roar from Hottan Matsu.
Miraria covered her head with her hands and sobbed again. This was going to get worse before it got better.
* * * "Good morning."
Kodan jumped backwards and hit his head on the headboard. He grimaced and tried to look angry, when really he was freaked out. "Morning."
Hyakuhei was leaning over him, fully clothed in her long black dress and looking at him in such a way that he was painfully aware of the fact he wasn�t dressed. "You didn�t say good."
"You didn�t mean good." Kodan took the sheet with him as he headed for his dresser. He took the time to notice that Miraria had been removed from his bed and looked amazing. She was dressed in a long, dark blue robe and her hair was braided and tied with a ribbon of the same colour. The two pieces of her holy infinity symbol where hanging around her neck on separate silver chains. Her wrists were tied together with a length of black rope that also extended around her neck, forming a leash. Hyakuhei left Kodan to dress and turned to tormenting the girl. Kodan threw on the clothes provided for him, all black, and strapped on his sword. "What�s she all fancied up for?"
Hyakuhei was holding Miraria�s hands, as if she were an old friend. "Her funeral."
Kodan laughed and grabbed the leash. "Let�s not be late."
* * * Kodan�s stomach felt like it was being pushed out through his nose. His head swam and bursts of colour flashed before his eyes. He prayed that his bond was a little better at this teleporting thing than Hottan Matsu appeared to be. The feel of solid ground beneath his feet did wonders for his stomach and he tugged on the rope to make sure he still had his �pet�. Miraria made a choking noise and had to hurry to follow the rushing man. His excitement was killing her.
Kodan knew instinctively where to go, he could almost hear the hy-dragons calling him. He almost forgot that the poor cleric was behind him, so as he ran along the steps, she stubbed her toes and tripped. Her wrists were worn raw from the rubbing ropes and she was having trouble breathing because of the leash. She prayed Kodan would slow down, but as the Nero Sands burst into view, the candidate only sped up.
"Where do you think you�re going?" A rider who�d been stationed outside the door grabbed Kodan�s arm.
The mercenary fixed the man with the coldest stare he�d ever given. "Inside."
"Wait." He wasn�t going to let them pass. "You guys are who?"
"Kodan, from Krynn. Let me by!" Kodan rested his hand on his sword.
"What world? Oh like I care." G�non was just going to throw them both out. "Scram."
"We�re candidates." Kodan tried to calm his temper, but he knew he was going to miss it. He could already see that the hatching has started. Damn this man! Kodan was going to kill him and be done with it. He drew his sword and wrapped Miraria�s leash around his wrist.
"Candidates you say?" This appeared to cause the man pause. He leaned in the doorway. "Oy Sherra? Do we need any more candidates?"
A female voice answered from inside the room. "I guess the dragonets could use some choice. Let them in."
Without waiting for the irritating guard to acknowledge his leader�s remark, Kodan pushed through the doorway and onto the dark sands. As his eyes were still adjusting to the darkness, he heard a loud shriek that seemed to pierce his mind as well as his ears. A bright red dragonet was heading towards them, growling at Miraria while watching Kodan. Kodan, I have been waiting for you to arrive to hatch. The creature turned his complete attention to the cleric who was shaking with fear. Can I eat her?
Kodan grinned. "Sure you can, Pirnaros." He threw Miraria to the ground, anxious to watch this deadly red beast tear her apart. Pirnaros shrieked with blood lust and threw himself on top of her. His sharp claws began to slash at her chest, tearing the soft fabric of the new robe and ripping her flesh.
Miraria screamed. Her scream started as a low moan, but gradually rose to a noise of unholy proportions. She screamed at the general cruelty of the world, she screamed at the desperation of her situation, she screamed at the unfairness that let someone who was trying to do good down, she screamed at the violence of mortals, she screamed at the inherent evil of the hydras, and she screamed at the people who would let these beings into the world. She screamed loud, long and hard. She screamed, and Mishakal heard.
Daughter!! Rise!! Miraria, only now noticing that she was not being eaten, got to her feet. She was shocked to be alive, and relieved to hear her goddesses voice. She knew that the horrible hydra thing had been thrown from her. It sat crying, Kodan standing protectively over it. She noticed that the room was considerably brighter, and that the light was emanating from her. As the blue glow faded, she heard a female voice.
"What is that?"
Miraria stepped away from Kodan and removed the black rope from her hands and neck. She picked up the two pieces of the infinity symbol and pressed them back together. "It is the power of the Blue Lady, Mishakal."
Knights came to help her off the sands, obviously aware that this was not a good spot for her. As she was escorted past Kodan, now K�dan, she glared at him. Anger illuminating her eyes as Mishakal had illuminated her body. "I will stop you."
K�dan snorted. "Unlikely little healer girl."
Miraria was unfazed, she was in power once again. "A hy-dragon is a formidable opponent, but can it face a goddess?"
K�dan glared. "Can a goddess face Hyakuhei?"
Miraria turned and walked away, leaving the unspoken words hanging in the air. We�ll see...
Stick with K�dan and Pirnaros
Find out what happens to Miraria
Kodan impressed Pirnaros from Cy Dragonstake.
Miraria is a candidate at Cy Dragonstake.
Background from Morion Designs.