“For as long as our history remembers the Aerii have fled from the Chimera. There are legends that our people did not always have wings, that we lived on the ground with the great beasts. To survive every passing day, was a struggle.” Kiira the Singer of Suns begins adding a melancholic melody into her speech and as she does, beautiful images appear before us all. Images of small beings chased by five enormous flying lizards, each of these beasts wielding a destructive element of the strand with terrifying beauty.
“Ignisar, the Fire Sovereign, the greatest of the Chimera. His fearsome breath melted the very mountains that our ancestors took refuge in. Until, after millennia, the Strand chose to intercede on our behalf. It took the gift of flight from the chimera and chose instead to give it to us, the Aerii.” As she brightens the melody, the images change to show the greats beasts falling to the ground as the beings, now winged, begin rising above into the treetops.
“Our societies began to flourish in the treetops, free from the reach of the Chimera. However, their elemental breath and deadly claws are still destructive enough to level entire forests. The Strand again manifested within our ability to sing new life into the planet, we sang until our trees grew so large that they could not be toppled” She now sings a complex melody, blending the melancholy with the brightness and I watch as the images change again to show us the trees growing to the size of mountains that are capable of repairing themselves.
Suddenly Torg of the Mossmane Matronage speaks up “The Chimera are not content to remain on the ground, we believe that Ignisar is currently attempting to hollow out the mother tree to climb its inside and reach the villages.” His enormous furry frame towers over everyone but not with any menace as he exudes a focus and calm that reassures the entire group. “Our goal is to capture and relocate Ignisar before he can complete that plan. Once we have pacified him, we will move him to a planet where he will be unable to impede sentient life.”
“Our plan will be to track Ignisar and exhaust him. We should not engage him directly as he will out match each of us” Eiralune Sil’lennor interjected, her voice matching Kiira’s melodic tone, but with no conscious effort. As she did, the images began to change with this new melody, to show a potential future with our five person team placing a Strand-cage around it as Vesh who Leaps the Stars, our Sarthari navigator completes the relocation.
This is to be my first mission, I have been sent as the memory keeper for our efforts. We intend to capture and relocate each of the five chimera, and the information gathered will allow us to successfully relocate the rest. I look around the ship’s bridge at everyone's faces when Vesh speaks up “I will need at least three verses in order to determine the path after we capture Ignisar. Once I have the Strand route set I will transport him to the new planet in a pulse.”
Torg looks around, and signals each of us to join him in the center. We join hands as we begin our prayer that the Strand will guide and protect us.
We are but one thread in the great tapestry. May the Strand guide our hands to mend, our hearts to connect, and our spirits to resonate. In harmony, we are whole.
As our navigator guides us down to the Aerii city above Thaelsis, I see Torg grabbing his starlight blade and donning his plate armor. “How long did it take you before you became a master Luminar Knight?” I ask him with a naive curiosity that causes him to quietly chuckle to himself.
“I am not a master yet, I am still in training to become a master. How long have you trained your mind to be a memory keeper?” He sits down next to me after putting his blade into its sheathe.
“I’ve been training my whole life.” I say with a rehearsed confidence that decades of study on Thunaris had drilled into me.
“And if someone were to ask you to explain your abilities and confer them to another?” He asks a pointed question, his eyes never faltering in their confidence as he looks at me. As I sit there contemplating his questions. “It is one ability to know a thing inside and out, but to show others how to use these skills? That is an ability that takes centuries to master.”
As we get closer to the surface of the planet we all wait as Vesh who Leaps the Stars performs her void dances and transports each of us instantaneously to the surface of the planet, leaving the ship in the safety of the sky, while everyone grabs their equipment and heads onward into the forests. The pace is slow and methodical as we each follow behind Torg who observes the surroundings and tries to keep us silent, while Kiira flies ahead to attempt to locate Ignisar.
I accidentally crunch some dried vegetation and they each look back at me and their eyes go wide. Then I turn around and see it, a beast as large as a temple with brown and green fur, its crazed red eyes darting between each of us hungrily contemplating who to devour first. “MOVE!” I hear Torg shout from behind, but I am frozen in place, unable to even comprehend the words and overcome the panic.
The beast takes a swipe at me, its razor sharp claws capable of ripping me in two, when I feel something yank me backwards. I look at who it was and see the enormous furry hand of Torg, already swinging his crystalline blade that reflects the very stars themselves. I watch in awe as he intentionally blocks each of its hits and drives it off using magic. Then I suddenly feel a sharp pain in my side, and realize that the claw took a large piece of my flesh. Eiralune immediately rushes over and begins resonating with the Strand through song to heal my wound.
The rest of the group returns after driving off the beast and finds me, now feeling embarrassment at freezing in the heat of battle, sitting next to our healer as they patch up my wound. There is a look not of anger or impatience, but sorrow and understanding. They all make sure that I am truly healed and healthy before we continue. Now with Kiira flying directly overhead to watch over our whole group.
After almost a full day of travel we come across the marks of devastation that Ignisar had left in a recent battle. We follow the drag marks of its quarry back to its hideout, walking for what feels like a full 3 chants when eventually we find its lair. I am exhausted as are the others, so we decide Vesh will transport us to the treetops where we can rest for the night. As the decision is made Ignisar emerges from his lair.
His scaly mouth forms itself into a wicked semblance of a smile, in a flash I see as his enormous frame moves belying a quickness none of us expected. He positions himself behind our group before we can react, I run out of the way and attempt to observe, while Torg tries to draw his attention. Swinging his blade of luminescent void energy, while Vesh transports each of us around the battlefield. I listen as Kiira shouts out Ignisar’s positions, and as I look up to observe her pattern, I see a large shape begin falling from the sky almost directly onto the group.
I shout for them to look out for falling objects, and they are able to avoid them in time, but the distraction provides the breathing space for Ignisar to strike out at Kiira. She shrieks in response and while everyone is focused on Kiira I see a flash of pain cross Ignisar’s face. The group intercedes between Ignisar and Kiira before he decides to flee.
We each look at each other slightly glancing between the lair, the falling monster corpses, and the tactics of our enemy; we realize that we underestimated the intelligence of Ignisar. They each look despondent as we realize we were working under a false assumption that these were mindless beasts incapable of complex thought.
Eiralune speaks up, “We should have realized that the strand does not create for no reason. We need to evaluate based on this new information. But we must still complete our mission” her voice attempting to re-weave the tattered tapestry of our groups morale.
Torg speaks up, “Our initial plan that we would chase Ignisar into exhaustion is no longer possible. Our enemy can plan and prepare just as we can. We need to find a way to weaken him, does anyone have any ideas?” He looks around the room waiting for someone to speak up.
I meekly speak up. “I might have something, I noticed that when Kiira gave out a shriek that Ignisar seemed to recoil in response. It is possible that Ignisar might be sensitive to high frequencies of resonance.” They all look back at me wondering how I noticed all of this in an encounter that took perhaps 10 seconds.
Torg looks back at me with a quiet pride and just speaks up. “Alright, that is our new plan. We will locate Ignisar. Kiira, you sing with the Strand and weaken Ignisar, make sure that you are keeping out of range of his attacks. Eiralune, do what you can to enhance the potency of the songs. I will do my best to draw its attention away from all of you, and ensure that we can exhaust him. If we do this right, then we will be able to bring him down and pacify him without the need for any bloodshed. Are we all in agreement?”
We sleep through the night and prepare to begin the chase of Ignisar again. It takes less time as it seems that he is waiting for us, but we start our plan almost instantly. Kiira flies up into the sky and begins singing songs of great beauty and we all see Ignisar recoil in pain. Torg then looks at Eiralune who begins resonating and the volume of Kiira’s song becomes so loud it could be heard from threads away. Torg and Vesh run in ready to distract him, as he unleashes his firebreath and I watch as the surrounding trees burst into flames, the heat is so intense that it singes the void robes I wear.
After several verses of engagement we see the song begin to work as Ignisar begins slowing from the sheer exhaustion. This is when Eiralune jumps in and weaves together a luminous container that will be able to hold him for the transport. Vesh lept atop the container and began their calculations to the new world, which would be hidden from the worlds, so the Chimera could live in peace. I watch as, in a pulse, the chimera and Vesh disappear into the void. When only 3 pulses later Vesh returns with a smile on their face.
“They had done it, they brought down the first chimera and made Thaelsis and the Strand safer.” I read the tusks that have been inscribed with this amazing tale of heroics and true cooperation. I collect up the rest of the artifacts from the Golden age that had been left forgotten. I will bring these to the Concord, they will preserve the true history of the Galaxy.
