Snippet #872045

The Circan King sat on his throne in a dimly lit room. His massive tawny brown wings were curled limply, halfway around his body, and his head was resting in his hands. The burly man sat in a hunched potion, quietly contemplating the darkness. His usually vivacious eyes were limpid and lifeless, and he made no movement as another figure shifted, almost supernaturally out of the darkness.

“What dark secret plagues your mind on today of all days, Good King?”

“Do you mock me, Saren?” the King replied in a half interested tone.

“Of course not. I live to serve,” Saren replied, his mass of dark hair almost covering his smoldering orange eyes -- eyes that stood out in the dim light like a burning hot coal.

“Why are you here?” the King asked, his patience growing thin.

“I assume that you have lived up to our little agreement?”

“I gave the Prince the news this morning. His, or should I say your little group has been selected and will leave Circa Island within the week. Of course he was delighted.”

“ . . . good. And you told him nothing about me?”

“Of course not. The boy wouldn’t remember even if I did.”

“Fine. Then consider my side of the bargain covered. I will tell no one your . . . secret.”

The King sighed as Saren left the room as if he had never been there. He wondered to himself just how trustworthy this mysterious Feral actually was.

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Ember walked out of the King’s chambers feeling more elated than he had in a long time. The day had finally arrived when he would be embarking on a journey to avenge his people, and perhaps to save the last of the struggling bird races. He knew that the war was not going well. Ferals outnumbered them, period. And though the Circa were excellent warriors, and the Nyx who were willing to help were incredible mages, more and more were dying in the bloody battles. Ember had convinced himself that if the remaining Regals could reconnect with their past, they would have a future, and they could help end the war once and for all.

And so, he decided to be the one Regal who would do what the others could not. He used his pull with the Circan King to set up a small army of soldiers: Circa, Nyx, and even a few Ferals, and this army was going to change the tides of the war. Or, at least, this was Ember’s hope.

His first and foremost goal was to find a Regal who remembered the old ways, so that the remaining Regal might have something to offer: the power to manipulate light. A power that had long ago been relinquished for the ways of peace. But look where that peace had brought the Regal. It had brought them a massive slaughter, wiping out more than half of their numbers. Ember was now convinced that giving up that power was a mistake that cost many Regal their lives. If they could have fought back, perhaps the loss would have been minimal.

He wanted to make up for this error. He wanted to seek justice for his fallen people. He wanted to help those left who needed it. This was his goal, and the reason his fateful journey started. Of course, he didn’t realize any of this until later in his life. He had no idea how life-altering his journey would be as he waited to meet the various people who would share it -- all with their own wounds, their own goals, and their own things to search for.