The Prologue

When: Afternoon, Day 2, Tria Quarter, 81374
Where: Council Chamber, Ajita, Ramath-lehi

The afternoon was humid and brimming with foreboding as the Council of Twelve assembled within the Council Chamber. The members had received notice just a few marks earlier that their monthly meeting was still on schedule and was to be attended as planned. Now the Council found themselves seated around a familiar low black stone table, held up by four thick and very sturdy decorated legs. The legs of the table tapered off into dangerous claws that curled at the knuckle and rested upon the dark grey marble floor. The table had always been an item that was often associated with the Council. Its dark black surface was so polished that it gleamed and mirrored back the reflections of all those who looked into it. Rumor had it that the table itself was enchanted. Though even if it was, no one knew the secret to unlocking its hidden powers. The table also bore several engraved family names and their crests, each one having played a significant role in Ramathian history. The room itself was dimly lit, contrasting the bright probing sunshine outside. The temperature within the room was also much lower that the sweltering heat that was making up the blunt of the afternoon. Typical weather for the Tria quarter.

No noise drifted in from the outer world. The immense chamber walls and the heavy deep purple drapery that adorned them cut off all sound from either leaving or entering the chamber. So far only ten members of the Council of Twelve were present. As of yet, there had still been no sign of Zamfir and Karryasa Grader. The Arch Magos and Magosai seemed to be taking their time in making an appearance at the meeting. It was just assumed that they were dealing with several last minute preparations.

The waiting members busied themselves, talking amongst one another, telling jokes, asking about family, commenting on the weather, all in all, just attempting to converse casually. In fact, everyone was fairly edgy about the items that were to be addressed at this meeting. The Dragyn twins in particular. Lorax and Draco Dragyn, known more widely on Ramath-lehi as “The Terrible Twosome” were quietly dreading the Grader’s words. Today the fate of a world would be decided. Although the pair seemed jovial and in good spirits as they talked to the other council members, it was only a façade. Each was anxiously awaiting the results of this meeting.

As if summoned by some unheard cue, a faint jangling sound made all eyes, big and small, snap to the front of the room. The source of the sound was Karryasa Grader’s necklace. A feared emblem of the Grader’s reign. The necklace itself was assumed to be made out of the fore-claws of the powerful and now exiled (assumed dead), Iversia Seneca. One of Karryasa’s rivals whom she had defeated and had taken the claws as her own prize. Whether or not this was true, the very sound of those claws jangling was enough to intimidate even some of the bravest and strongest of hearts. Karryasa stared back at the others, her one clear orange eye looked over all that was assembled before her, while the grayed-over one seemed to gaze off into nothingness. Zamfir’s figure stood near her like some bulky henchman, ready to attack any that dare threaten his mate’s safety. How Zamfir and Karryasa had slipped into the room without anyone noticing was unknown. Especially with Karryasa’s hindering limp. Such a thing was to be overlooked and forgotten however. These kinds of things happened all the time. If the Graders wished to be seen, they were, if they wanted to pass by unnoticed, then they simply made it so. Zamfir’s aqua tail-flame flickered violently in the sparse light of the Council Chamber. His yellow-orange eyes seemed to glow as he looked to Karryasa. The Chamber room was relatively silent now. Only the expertly trained ear could pick up the faint sounds of breathing and heartbeats.

“Nice of you all to make it.” Karryasa said at last, breaking the silence. Her words were smooth and sincere. However, the calmness in her voice failed to register in the rest of the pendragons. For the most part they were antsy and anxious to hear the results of this meeting. Assassin Avrum in particular was looking exceptionally irritated. He twirled a small knife in his hands, a slightly disgusted look plastered upon his face. Assassin’s kinked flame-less tail flicked to and fro, twisting about in the air in an impatient dance. Things were happening too slowly for him. Tired of waiting and being kept in suspense, Assassin slammed his fist down onto the table, the handle of his knife bashing against the black surface. The sound faintly echoed about the room as Assassin rose his voice.

“Listen! I’ve got a blind ma on Earth, and it’s not like she’s gonna be able to actually see those soul suckers coming! I want to know what’s being done, and I want to know now!” The urgency in Assassin’s voice seemed to phase everyone in the room. Everyone except the Grader’s of course. A low murmur swept about the crowd.

“Patience.” Zamfir’s calm gaze rested upon Assassin. He wasn’t angry. Not in the slightest. It took more than a random outburst to disturb his cool.

“But Magos, I must know…” Assassin growled, then fell back into his seat, slipping his knife quietly out of sight. Just as he was putting away the knife, Assassin jerked hard to the left as he was jabbed sharply in the ribs by Talis Adamaint. Talis was known for his superiority over machina technology… and his odd quirks. Not to mention his fetishes for the colours purple, orange, pink, and lime green. Assassin shot Talis a cold glare. Talis returned the glare with a playful, almost amicable smile.

“Now, who here does not know what is going on?” Asked Karryasa, looking about the room. Talis slowly rose his left hand, a sly grin planted upon his face. Of course, he knew exactly what was going on. He had been one of the first pendragons to know. All he wanted to do was cause trouble, and so far he was succeeding. Karryasa let out an exasperated sigh as she saw Talis’ raised hand. Yet, she decided to humour him.

“Talis, what occurs roughly ever seven years?” She asked, looking at him fixedly. Talis appeared to think this over heavily for a moment.

“Assassin here takes a bath?” He guessed after a while, a wicked smirk traced upon his thin black lips. Not only did this earn him a hint of a smile from Karryasa; it also bought him a hard backhand smack from Assassin. Talis lay sprawled on the floor, fairly uninjured, as a weak childish laugh bubbled out of him. Karryasa, ignoring Talis now, addressed the rest of the council.

“Rapine invasions occur in intervals of about seven years.” Karryasa said, looking to Zamfir for a brief moment. It became apparent that the two of them were speaking telepathically back and forth. About what - the others could only guess.

“Rapine? Oh, really? I hadn’t heard.” Talis said sarcastically, pulling himself up off the floor as he did so. Karryasa ignored him completely and continued talking, her voice slightly louder than before.

“Every seven years the rapine come out of hiding to feast upon the souls of all things living. For those whose souls are devoured… All hope is annihilated. The souls stolen by the rapine are ripped out of the life and death cycle and pushed into the White Void, never to find their final resting-place in Fronima.” Karryasa paused here, as if remembering something. Something troubling. “We’ve received word that the rapine’s next target is Earth…It was inevitable. A planet so full of life and energy would attract them like a nioti to adventure. So this has been expected for quite some time. We need to decide what our next course of action is, if any.”

“Why not just blow the planet up?” Talis said offhandedly.

“No!” Lorax and Draco cried out in unison, their voices slightly shrill. Zamfir lifted a paw, motioning for the two of them to be quiet. Once they had settled somewhat, he spoke.

“The thought of destroying Earth had occurred to us – but if you recall, all weapons of such devastation were ordered to be put to rest. None exist. None should exist, and none surely should be in development.” Zamfir said, looking pointedly at Talis. Talis shrunk away from the table as Zamfir continued. “No. Destroying Earth is not an option.”

“But it would deal such a hard blow to the rapine…” Talis murmured; though his comment was lost in the loud chatter that had suddenly arisen.

“From a scientific perspective, it would be quite a pity and a great loss to lose Earth. I’ve visited the planet several times while doing biological research…It would be a waste to see such a large learning asset become obsolete.” The speaker was Ramix Sun, a respected healer and teacher whose lineage could be traced so far back that it was astounding. The two Dragyn’s were nodding eagerly.

“Not only is Earth considered a learning asset, it was Thanos’ and Saris legacy. We need to protect it. For the sake of keeping their memories alive.” Voiced Lorax. Thanos and Sari Dragyn were Lorax and Draco’s long since deceased parents and the previous Magos and Magosai before the steadfast reign of the Graders.

Karryasa and Zamfir exchanged a wordless glance but otherwise said nothing. Many rumours surrounded the deaths of the two former Dragyn leaders. Yet like all rumours, each started off with a thread of truth which quickly became distorted and unrecognizable. The rumour that seemed to be the most believable was that the Dragyns eldest son, Terez, had been the mastermind behind it all. He had plotted the downfall of his own parents. His plan would have been simple and clean: Get rid of his parents and take Ramathian leadership for himself. One family had gotten in his way though - the Graders. Now many suspect that Terez was aiming to destroy both the Graders and his parents in one devastating blow, then with the public stricken, he’d let his own followers sweep him into office. However, where Terez’ assassination attempt succeeded with his parents, it failed with the Graders. Always they had been ones to cheat death. Though there had been many suspicions...

Sari and Thanos had been the sole victims of a massive, and to-date, unexplained machina explosion. No traces of either of their bodies were ever found. Some say that the explosion was so great that a gateway to Fronima opened up and pulled them in. Others say that they staged their own deaths in order to escape from work induced stress. Some more thought that Terez, or even the Graders, had disposed of the bodies so as to be rid of any hardcore evidence. Then again, some pendragons have even claimed that Sari and Thanos knew that they were going to die and accordingly made plans or that maybe they were even gods themselves. Of course, all of these were just allegations and theories and lacked any real proof.

After the deaths of the former leaders, Ramath-lehi was in a state of despair. The Graders already had very high influential and political power in the great scheme of things, so Terez could hardly be considered serious competition. They simply swept him aside and took over. At first the inhabitants were wary of this dramatic change but gradually they came to accept it. Terez of course could never bring himself to accept what had happened. Eventually some of his own followers revealed him and brought him to the attention of the Graders. Terez was later charged with treason, yet the Graders for some reason didn’t kill him. Instead they “Degraded” him, which is a process involving the crossing out of his Stripes in order to bring shame upon an individual and indicate a great failure. Terez was from then on labelled as a rogue and forced to become a scapegoat, taking the blame for many crimes that he didn’t commit. Terez himself should have been on the Council of Twelve was it not for this, but due to the Graders, that privilege went to his younger siblings – Lorax and Draco.

The council room seemed to have fallen into a state of chaos. Everyone seemed to be arguing and pitted against the two Dragyn’s and Ramix. The only exceptions were Karryasa and Zamfir who remained silent throughout it all.

“You’ve already had more than ample time to study Earth. Why bother wasting any more of our resources? The planet already is gripped by death. Each passing day that grip gets tighter. Why let the planet slowly die and choke on its own filth when the rapine can bring about a swift end?” This was Lakmir Grader, Zamfir’s younger brother. Always the realist.

“Swift!” roared Draco, he’d had his own dealings with the rapine before. One such brush with death and rapine in particular tore away the life of his mate Robyn from him. The wound this made on his heart was still fresh and bothered him immensely. “The rapine are never swift! Their attacks are prolonged. Deliberately! They deliberately stretch them out in order to make everyone suffer! Earth doesn’t deserve that – no one does!” Draco continued. Lorax was trying desperately to calm his brother whose temper had now grown as hot as his own pelage. His words and actions passed by unheeded. Still the arguments grew and spread like wildfire as words were thrown about. Some threatening, some accusing, and even a few that were afraid.

“I will have no part in this ‘war’ against the soulsuckers.” Assassin said at last, “Just get my ma’ out of there. That’s all I ask.”

“I’ll ‘ave nothing to do with it either.” Talis said, a placid smile on his muzzle.

The Council room was shocked into silence. All eyes swung to meet with Talis'. The Adamaint Empire was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, machina influences on Ramath-lehi. Without Talis' consent, the idea setting up Ramathian defences against the rapine on Earth even with the help of the Ramathian military would be obsolete. Talis gave the rest of the Council a challenging look, but it didn't take long before his defiant gaze wavered and his violet eyes positioned themselves upon the table.

The calm and commanding voice of Zamfir broke the crowd's silence.

“You'll do what you're told,” he said simply. His tone hanging over Talis' head like a heavy threat. No one was quite sure exactly just who it was that Talis worked for. Some believed that he was a strong Grader supporter, yet others thought that he dealt with the largely growing Anti-Grader movement. He was a popular pendragon. His multiple circles of friends and ties threaded themselves all throughout Ramath-lehi. When it was asked of him, he'd help those in need, only asking for one thing in return - a favour. These favours he would then exchange for small things. Perhaps a weekend together to have some company when he was lonely, a meal, a book, a bit of manual labour, and in the most extreme of cases, a murder. His requests were usually always reasonable, and no one ever denied them. Unfortunately for Talis, his wide circle of friends did not include the Arch Magos and Magosai.

Talis pushed himself up to his feet. Even though he was standing at his full height, the majority of those sitting were still taller than him. He wanted to speak! He wanted to shout actually. Scream at Zamfir. Bring up everything that Zamfir had denied him. All of his experiments that Zamfir had put to an end. All of the research that the co-leaders had outlawed and deprived him of. His eyes welled, not with tears of rage, but tears of personal hurt. Talis opened his mouth to speak, his words tripped over his own tongue and he sputtered.

“Never you mind,” Karryasa simpered. “You need not fret, Talis.”

“We've already come to our decision,” Zamfir stated, glancing about the room as he spoke. Lorax and Draco exchanged tentative, but hopeful smiles to one another. Perhaps Earth still had a chance? Talis made another move to speak, his words catching again in his throat. He wavered in the air for a moment, then toppled backwards in defeat, his plush chair catching his slight body. Arguing with the leader pair would be futile if their minds were made up already.

“Earth is going to be evacuated of all pendragon life forms. Scientists and exploration teams alike. Actually, the command for full evacuation is already in motion.” Zamfir began slowly. Lorax and Draco wore twin pained expressions.

“However,” Zamfir continued, “we will be sending a small military task force to Earth.”