Welcome to Gaia! ::

Here're the first two chapters from my writings of my own story, of which the first part of the plot will be posted below. Leave comments on what you think, and I'll try to put some more up if they are liked. ^_^

BTW You copy this, you die. Got it? ^_^*

Intro

"Before this time existed an age much different from our own; the people of the world built upon the world with iron and flames. They, too, fed upon this planet, feeding off of its resources and destroying what they did not create. The people consumed it all, save for a single clan; they were called the Kodavri.

"The Kodavri were not like the others; they embraced the world and all of its beauty, shunning the people who destroyed all that they touched. They made a home in the center of it all, on the lonely peak of the mountain that was their continent. There they lived in peace, learning to bend the very universe to their will.

"Then the destroyers came. The cities of the Kodavri fell without mercy, women raped and beaten, men strung across the walls upon chords of steel. Their children were turned into fuel, burned in the furnaces that fed the destroyers' vile machines. With those children, the trees, and the life that they sheltered, were crushed and burned.

"The Kodavri had no choice but to fight. They assembled their mages and created the crystals of power. On their first battle, lightning arched through the sky, and the destroyers choked upon the smoke of their own machines. That was when the war began.

"The war raged for years and years, death littering the ashen wastes that had once been the forests of the Kodavri. The treads of their machines ruined the rivers, draining the land of its life blood. Neither side would yield, but the destroyers had numbers while the Kodavri were quickly dying, shafts of metal piercing their bodies.

"When the time came that the Kodavri were pushed to the center of what was once their paradise, now their stronghold, they decided to punish the destroyers for their greed. They gathered the crystals and filled them with the power of Medashi, the bending way, and thrust it into the core of their world.

"Light filled the sky for only a moment, but the damage was done. Flaming rock spewed forth from the land and fell from the sky, and the destroyers were purged through. Only the people of the coasts remained, and their ambition was quelled as the broken bits of machine and destroyer alike rained down upon them from what was left of the slopes. Inside that shattered rim lay nothing. Nothing but the small clan of Kodavri and destroyers that had been within the stronghold, shielded by the strength of the Medashi. They ventured forth from their hiding place to see their world of ash.

"That day, the Kodavri vowed to take revenge on what was left of the destroyers, denounced back to their original name; human. The few destroyers were punished, twisted by the Kodavri as fitting punishment for their crimes. They were the first of the loyal race of the Dvardka.

"The Dvardka served the Kodavri in penance, hoping that one day the sins of their cursed ancestors could be forgiven. They scraped together a life there, feeding on the little life that crept into their wastes. There they stayed until the humans came once more.

"The Dvardka had a chance to prove their loyalty; they swore to punish the humans, taking their women to bear the children of the Dvardka and slaughtering the greedy men who sought to destroy them. The men were clever, but the Dvardka were strong.

"And so, to this day, the Dvardka serve the Kodavri in hopes of gaining our salvation, for our ancestors' sin is now our own to bear. The humans must be wiped clean, and the Kodavri, the powerful and pure, must rise to give life to our broken world once more. It is only through them that we can attain peace."
Losaba eased back into a crouch, his claws clicking against the ever-gray stone that was the land. His audience, a small creature with short, grayed hair stared up at him in awe, its sharp-toothed mouth hanging open. Raising his bony limb, Losaba closed the child's mouth and was rewarded with a playful n**.

"Now, little Ithkak, it's time that you slept. There are no more stories to tell of our kind." Losaba heaved a great sigh of exhaustion; retelling stories of ages long past left him muddle-headed.

Hissing, the child did as he was told, crawling into a gap between the stones where no adult could reach. "Dvard'ka fight?" the child asked. His youth made sounding the word correctly difficult. It was irritating at times, but Losaba found it an amusing trait.

"Yes, Ithkak, we fight. We fight because we must in order to survive."

Thinking hard, Ithkak probed further. "Dvardka fight humans?"

Gurgling, Losaba tapped the ground with his claws
thoughtfully. "Not just humans. We fight other Dvardka to survive. If you kill a human, you must eat it to survive. If another Dvardka is hungry, he will try to take it from you. If that Dvardka takes it from you, you will starve. If you fight off the Dvardka, you will have a meal."

"And if I kill the Dvardka?" Ithkak squeaked, both curious and terrified of the thought.

"Then you have two."

Descent

Guard duty was one of the less favorable jobs in the City of Mountains, especially in the bone-chilling temperatures of the wastes. Caught in an eddy of winds encircling the colossal plateau, to walk outside of a heated corridor was to have your chin hairs turned to icicles. The same stone that, on the inside of a hut, would threaten to burn one's fingertips would do quite the opposite on the outside, turning into a more potent threat of the freeze instead of the burn.

Sensibly, while standing in such winds, protected by neither walls nor roofs, the only way to obtain heat was to huddle with others. This proved difficult with twenty guards spread out on over a mile of walls, each barely within calling range.

Fighting the urge to open his frozen lips to sneeze, Laevan pressed a frosty mitten to his face, chilled breath doing nothing to thaw his frozen appendages. Volunteering for the militia had not been one of the better choices of his life, but it had brought food to the table and wood to the mantle. His wife still complained of his choice, but he made it up to her at night under the warm covers. At the moment, though, he felt utterly alone and miserable in the cold. Any company would have been nice...

“Oy! Lae!”

He turned, eyes drooping with exhaustion. A man walked towards him, holding a steaming cup in his palms.

“Drevs," Laevan managed to say despite his frozen jaw. "I expected you to be cuddling up with your woman by now.”

Shivering, Drevas grinned, flashing yellowed teeth. He held the cup towards Laevan, encouraging him to drink the hot beef broth within. He gladly complied before pressing the mug to his chest.

“I would be, if the mutt hadn’t already taken my place under the covers.”

Laevan snorted in amusement. It was enjoyable, the feeling of heat cracking his joints free from their extended chill. He laid his spear aside against the wall, the pole of metal seemingly drooping with depression. Then again, weren’t they all?

“I always knew that b***h was getting a little extra lovin’ from that sad excuse for a rat.”

They both chuckled before the cold froze their humor once more.

“I wouldn’t be surprised with all the time I’ve been gone. I was afraid that she’d start putting those long fingers of hers to do some plumbing.”

An obscene gesture was made, and Laevan’s chest convulsed in laughter until he coughed. He quickly took another sip of stew.

“At least yours has a taste for it.”

“Oh. How has Clarel been faring? One month to go, isn’t it? She’s been talking with the wife about it, and I’ve heard her worrying over what’s going to happen. Ever since she lost the last child…”

Laevan’s expression fell back into its previous misery.

“It’s been rough. This is the third time she’s been with child, but if it turns out badly again…we've decided to stop trying.” A knot in his gut clenched in a dull ache. "I've asked enough from her, and putting her through it again and again just makes being together more painful.

A firm hand patted him on the back. He turned to see Drevas’ comforting expression.

“It’ll be fine, Lay. Just make sure she gets plenty to eat, a good nights sleep, and a nice warm bed to snuggle into. Tell you what; I’ll put in a good word or two to the governor and see if I can get you on leave for a while, just to get things set up for the big day, eh?”

He smiled, the knot loosening a bit.

“Thanks, Drevs, but I’ve got my duties laid out. Whatever needs to be done will be done in good time.”

Drevas blinked a moment in surprise, and then sighed in exasperation. He shook his head.

“Work always comes first with you. Working men shall never to bed, you know.”

“And bedded men are easily dead. You always know how to warm up a cold day.”

Turning, Drevas waved his friend goodbye.

“See you on another patro-“

A horrible thud broke the words with a sickening splat, something wet spraying onto Laevan’s face and onto Drevas’ coat, blackish-red liquid seeping into the cloth. Both men whirled to see a pool of liquefied flesh coating the walkway on the city side. Half of the Head-Councilman’s face remained intact, locked in terror. The broken limbs that remained twitched before growing still, freezing instantly.

Neither man moved, fixated upon the crimson mess that coated the gray stone of the city, a scar tarnishing the monotone.

Still in shock, Laevan turned his face skyward, searching for the man’s origin, only to see birds dropping down towards the city. No, these were far too big to be birds…

These were creatures. As they fell closer, he could make out hunched figures, claws and long limbs.

He grabbed his spear, holding it before him in fear. His voice broke the silence, barely a whisper.

“It’s them.”

Drevas didn’t move.

“We have to sound the horns, now, while we still have time.”

He sprinted along the wall, leaving the bloody mess behind him. It seemed an eternity before he burst through the outpost’s wooden door, startling the messengers and couriers within. He must have looked like a ghost, for he felt pale. He stood there a moment, unsure if he was awake or dreaming.

A large crash sounded above, the roof shattering under a tremendous weight. A scream echoed down the stairwell before a wet crunch punctuated silence.

Barely daring to make a sound, he managed to whisper.

“Dvardka.”

Hell broke loose as a gray-skinned beast with yellow eyes crashed through the ceiling, crushing a young man under its body. Its eyes flashed up to Laevan, and he instinctively thrust his spear out in front of him, only to slam into the wall a few feet behind. Darkness took him as four burning lines etched themselves down his chest, wet blood pooling in his jacket.

He could have sworn he heard cackling laughter.

Actually, the prologue is set up to be the backstory through the eyes of the storyteller. The actual plot is not as simple as the simple servitude of the Dvardka. Development will take place, but it comes later in the storyline. These first few parts serve to set the initial tone and set a small-scale example of what the world is like.