Legends of Belariath

Xalk

Xalk's Awakening

….The scene is rather hot and dark, You hear groans and rumbles as the bowels of the very earth stir. In a small cavern deep beneath the surface of the lands, you see an ancient dragon….his nostrils smolder as he breathes heavily. His tail and massive muscles twitch as his mouth opens revealing razor sharp teeth, and again closing. This ancient dragon sleeping so deeply, yet so seemingly restless. Looking upon the creature closer now slowly over his dark scales and black leathery wing , you begin to hear cries of pain not coming from the beast…but around the cavern he occupies. Squinting your eyes you can hardly believe what your ears are hearing. You stop , concentrating on the whispers and faint cries you hear that seem to surround this ancient beast. All at once the cries grow to screams, and what seem to have been whispers turn to sobbing voices. A feeling approaches you as your eyes close, you cannot control it nor do you have the urge to. Images take over your mind, the voices screaming and cries let out in your mind, you seem badly beaten bloodied bodies, children with blood strewn across their bodies, deformed creatures with not an ounce of recognition. The dragons eyes seem to open in a zombie state, snake like yellow eyes stare into oblivion as a red glow engulfs them. The dragons mouth drops open letting out almost groan with a name”….Xalk !”. At once everything stops, you are in a world of black and all is quiet. You open your eyes and realize you’ve been sleeping….

Xalk lay naked on the ground not too far from a band of thieves. The whole night while Xalk , the camp twisted and turned with the torment of nightmares. On normal mornings these thieves would make their way to town in search of petty treasures that would come from the pockets of others. They were somewhat on edge this morning though, thinking perhaps a curse had fallen upon them as they talked of each others dreams the previous night. This day on their way to town they would find something rather strange…but a treasure indeed. Xalk awoke covering his eyes with his hand from the light. He had no idea where he was, in fact he didn’t have any idea of who he was really. As he gazed upon his hands with his mercury eyes he wondered to himself “Who am I?”. A dark, powerful, mystic voice replied to him in his head, blocking out the noise of his surroundings “Your name is Xalk , your going to face a difficult road ahead. At times I will guide you, though I rely mostly on your free will. In time, The great dragons will call upon you, when were in need. In which case, you were born to heed their call. Born from a dream you have gained everything you need to know to survive, everything you need to know is in your mind…it’s a matter of unlocking it.” The voice faded as Xalk looked to his legs and tail admiring his mercury scales on his tail seeing his face in their glimmer. He touched his wings admiring them as well, he glanced ahead seeing smoke rising from a distance…he got to his feet, and with his first step he stumbled, in an instant a feeling ran down his spine, it was like that of an epiphany. He began to walk with ease, in the direction of the smoke. As Xalk near the smoke he began to see figures moving as he looked closer the beings in which he saw, if ask, he would call humans. They were dressed in ragged clothes and dark cloaks. One wore a necklace, and seemed to show dominance to others in the camp. Though Xalk couldn’t put words to it in his mind he knew what it meant. As walk took another step he could feel a rope wrap tightly around his ankle as he gets swiped off his feet. He hung in the air dangling, a bell ringing as he bounced on the rope that held him. He calmly hung their upside down as he heard deep cries within the camp “Dinner!”. The rapid beat of footsteps could be heard closing in on him. As the men approach their victim they gasp looking at a creature they have never seen before. “Get the shackles and chains” The necklace bearing human cried. In a rush three other men ran back to the camp, again the rapid beat of footsteps cam nearing him along with the sound of metal clanging. Xalk merely submitted to their every movement, letting them clamp him in their devices of entrapment. The men brutally cut him down letting him drop harshly upon the ground, they beat him senseless to an unconscious state. Before he entered a world of darkness he hear a mans voice say “Take no chances, he could be hostile”. A voice sounded in his head again “This is your path, These men will teach you what you need to escape.” As he awoke caged , within the camp, the men eating greedily around the fire his mercury eyes gazing upon them making them uneasy. The man in the necklace looking over his shoulder wearily , getting to his feet walking to him. “Creature, you’ve been out for two days, my men lay restless at night, they talked behind me, I hear whispers that you’ve put a curse on us while we sleep, is this so? “ In anger he rattled the cage “BEAST SPEAK TO ME!!!”. Xalk opened his mouth as words flowed off his tongue “I am Xalk…I have not the abilities to curse your men”. The man laughed at this as he yelled angrily “You are a prisoner, a slave to us, you have no name… “. Walk merely gazed at the men his eyes looking curiously at him. The man walked back and continued his meal. For two more winters Xalk learned from the thieves, watching them as they dragged him through town in a cloak so noone could see him. He watched the men steal from peoples pockets, pick locks , rape, pillage and kill. When at camp, The men would beat him, starve him, and make him do the labor they could not. Xalk withstood it all knowing there was a greater purpose to it all…one night when being caged back up he waited till the men were sleeping deeply, the presence of the Drak Sen making them sleep so tormented. He reached in his pocket pulling out a lock pick he had stolen from one of the mens pocket. He eagerly picked at this shackles. After successfully breaking through the locks he began working on his cage…within a matter of minutes he was free. Walk walked freely through the camp with stealth. He picked up the cloak the men made him wear through town. Quickly he threw it over his body putting the hood up to hide himself…As he walked he noticed a black serpentine armband. The item quickly peaked his interest as he picked it up and left the camp. Xalk traveled town through town, picking a pocket or two to meet his needs, mainly food. No town seemed to set well with him…until fur winters later when he entered the town of Nanthalion. As he made his way through town seeing a variety of races , even ones such as himself. He walked the path and found a place called “The Lonely Inn”. He entered the place, watching seeing people engage in acts he hadn’t seen before…it thrilled him, as his very sense of being felt like he belonged…..

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