Twin Dragon's [Closed]

[Vareal]

Twin Dragons

~Part 1~

 

 

 

âGo on ahead, Iâll meet you two at the gate.â Nedral reassured a slightly concerned Shamad and a stoic Luther.

 

Luther nodded as Nedral turned and walked off, beckoning Shamad to follow. âCâmon Condy, let us hurry up anâ wait.â

 

Shamad looked over his shoulder after Nedral. âWhere is she going?â

 

âSheâs got some business to take care of, nothinâ to worry about.â

 

 

âIâm worried about leaving her alone for so long in a strange placeâ¦â Aixa remarked quietly.

 

Nedral walked briskly down the sandstone streets of Ulâdah, ignoring the bustle of people and merchants shouting back and forth, holding conversations of nonchalant issues, all the while oblivious to their surroundings.

 

âI know, but we canât take her with us.â Nedral replied, ignoring the Hyur she bumped into who had turned and shouted a few obscenities. âThe best we can do is to make sure sheâs well taken care of.â Aixa gestured her reply.

 

Nedral wound her way down into the lower levels, making her way to the outer fringe to a small outlet built into the outer wall of the city, a ragged wooden door guarded the entrance. She stared for a long moment at the door, hesitating, she studied the cracks in the old, dry wood, the rusted hinges and separation plates bolting the door together. She finally took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and opened the door.

 

Despite being rusted, the door opened smoothly and quietly with little resistance for how thick it was. The air inside was moist and dull, dimly lit with several candles that decorated the walls of a hallway that led some paces further into the wall. She walked slowly, counting her steps as she went, recalling some distant memory.

 

When she reached the end of the hallway, it branched off in either direction, doors on both sides of the walls that led to rooms that, no doubt, housed other patients in varying degrees of health. She turned at the sound of an opening and closing door to her left as an elderly Hyur with a long, salt-and-pepper beard and a warm smile. He turned and saw Nedral, eyed her for a moment, then hobbled over to her, balancing himself on a cane.

 

âHello. Aixa, was it?â His voice cracked with age but was otherwise friendly and warm.

 

Nedral nodded. âYes, doctor.â

 

He sniffed and itched his red, cauliflower nose. âI didnât expect to see you back sâsoon.â

 

âAhh, business brought me back sooner than I would have liked, trust me.â She sighed. âHow is she?â

 

The doctor thought a long moment, twisting the hairs on the end of his beard. âDespite of her malnutrition and horrible living conditions, not to mention the physical abuse over the past few years, her wounds are healing rather well and quickly. Mentally, however, is another story. But thatâs most always the case in situations such as your mothers.â

 

Nedral nodded. âMay I see her?â

 

âOf course, this way.â He gestured for her to follow and lead her down the hallway to the right. He stopped at the sixth door on the right and faced Nedral, putting both hands on his cane. âBefore you go in, I have to warn you that loud noises or sudden movements frighten her and may cause her to regress, so just watch yourself while youâre in there.â

 

Nedral nodded and opened the door slowly, moving inside even more quietly. She surveyed the room, it was rather small with a single bed and a wooden rocking chair. In it sat a stoic looking Miqoâte woman, slowly rocking back and forth, her arms crossed lightly across her chest, looking off into space.

 

Nedral stepped further into the room then stopped, hesitating. âMother.â She said quietly and as gently as possible.

 

Aixaâs mother looked up to Nedral, stared for a moment, then a look of such utter fear crossed her face, the likes Nedral had never seen before not even on the face of those at the end of her blade, about to open deathâs door. She began to scream and leapt out of her chair and hunkered down by her bead. âNo! Monster!â She shouted.

 

Nedral was taken aback and stumbled backwards, her brow furrowing and her eyes rimed with sadness and concern, remembering the events that caused Aixaâs mother to think of her that way.

 

 

Nedral moved quickly and silently across the courtyard, leaving Luther to take care of the bulk of the slaves, towards the small hut on the other side of the quarry. The full moon was high in the sky, partly shrouded by a dark ominous cloud floating lazily overhead, providing her with plenty of shadow to wade through in the wide-open space.

 

As she came up to the brightly lit hut, she put her back to the side of the wall next to the window and looked around in either direction, making sure there wasnât a missed patrol looming about. Satisfied she was alone outside the hut, she carefully peered through the window.

 

Inside she saw two ruggedly dressed Hyur, a large Roegadyn that nearly put Luther to shame. A tall thing Elezen and a short scruffy looking Lalafell were also in the mix. They were all sitting around a square table, empty bottles and glasses litted the table, laughing and making lewd remarks to and taunting a poor Miqoâte woman. Nedral instantly recognized the woman as Aixaâs mother.

 

The large Roegadyn huffed and grabbed her tail, giving it a harsh pull, forcing her to sit in his lap. She let out a yelp as she fell onto him, his large had groped at her breast and he forced his mouth over hers muffling her cry. The otherâs around the table laughed, finishing off drinks and pouring more. The Miqoâte fought with the Roegadyn, her arms flailing, hitting a wine bottle and knocking it to the floor with a clatter, spilling it contents.

 

The Roegadyn fumed and slapped the woman full across the face then threw her violently to the ground. âClumsy whore! Clean it up!â The woman sobbed and curled up on the floor. The Roegadyn kicked her in the side, hard, knocking the wind out of her. âLick it up!â

 

As Nedral watched the mistreatment, she began to fill with rage and, fueled by the vast amounts of emotion and anger Aixa was shooting through her body, Nedral went into a blind frenzy. She backed away from the window and walked up to the door. She unsheathed her sword angrily and huffed.

 

âKill them all!â Aixa shouted through her mind.

 

Using all her might and the force of her small body, she kicked down the door letting out a guttural grunt. The two Hyur were closest and before anyone inside realized what had happened, Nedral had already removed one of their heads with a flash and spray of blood and was on the other one.

 

The Hyur barely had enough time to unsheathe his sword and parry Nedralâs attack. Nedral nimbly stepped to the side as the Hyur counter attacked. As his sword hit the ground, Nedral quickly disarmed him by brining her sword down on his close to the hilt, then brought her blade up with a flash, slitting his throat.

 

She was hit from behind and thrown into the wall. She hit hard and let out a grunt. She recovered quickly and turned around in time to block an attack from the Elezen. Be hind the foul smelling man, the Roegadyn flipped the table over, resting on its side, and picked up a large axe. Nedral pushed the Elezen back then with an upward swing, parried the mans oncoming attack and knocking him off balance. She quickly brought her sword down, slicing deeply into his chest, blood spewing forth, hitting Nedral in the face.

 

She looked up through her bloodied hair at the Roegadyn who stood at the ready and stood up straight, eyeing the large man. She began walking towards him when she was suddenly tripped and fell face first into the wood floor with a resounding crack. Blood pooled out from her nose and it took her a few seconds to recover. When she looked up, she saw the Lalafell scrambling to tie her feet together. She wrestled with the tiny man for a moment before freeing one of her legs. She cocked her leg back and kicked him square in the face, sending him flying into the wall with a thud. She jumped to her feet, moved quickly to the Lalafell and picked him up by his hair. She watched coldly as he flailed about under her fist, his tiny arms and legs a blur. She raised him a little higher then ran her sword through his gut and out his back, severing his spinal cord. He instantly stopped moving, a surprised look spread over his face. She watched him until his eyes began to glaze over then pulled her blade out and threw him violently to the other side of the small room. He hit the ground with a sickening thud as blood poured from his wound.

 

She turned in time to see an empty wine bottle flying towards her and she reflexively threw up her left hand to block it. The bottle shattered over the back of her hand, cutting deeply, the shards flying past her face causing myriad tiny cuts that began to bleed and run down her already bloody face. The Roegadyn charged her, axe to his side, and swung horizontally at her. Shewas barely able to dodge the large axe as it flew by her and into the wall, burying itself into the wood. She looked down to see a cut across her stomach that, while wasnât fatal or overly deep, bled quite profusely. She looked up just in time to see a large fist hit her directly in her noise with another crack, breaking the bruised bone beneath.

 

She stumbled back, letting out a cry of pain but instead of letting it hinder her, she used it to fuel her rage. She saw the Roegadyn struggling to get his axe of of the wall then ran up to him and bashed him several times in the face with the pommel of her sword. As he reeled back, holding his face, Nedral jumped nimbly onto the handle of the large axe, jumping off it kicking him in the side of the head as hard as she could. He flew to the side and Nedral fell to the floor, landing on her shoulder, her sword clattering on the floor.

 

Bruised and bloodied, she rose to her feet, picking up her sword. She stumbled slightly then shook away the dizziness that was beginning to settle in. She looked to the struggling Roegadyn who was struggling to get to his feet. She strode over to him, wrapped her hand around his neck and brought him to his feet. She pushed him back into the table. His back bent over the side of the table and he moaned, trying to come back to his senses. Nedral moved to the other side of the table then grabbed a handful of the Roegadynâs hair, jerking his head back harshly., then put the tip of her blade to the underside of his chin.

 

âYou fucked with the wrong cat.â She said coldly then with all her might, ran the blade up and into his head, piercing the hard bone of his skull and coming out the other side.

 

She released the sword and stumbled backwards a few steps as the Roegadyn fell to the floor with a heavy thud. She hit the wall and slid down to a sitting position, grateful to be off her feet. She became aware of sobbing to her left and she turned her head to see the Miqoâte woman in the corner crying, lying in a fetal position, her tail wrapped around her legs. Nedral noticed that a part of the womanâs tail had been cut off rather recently. Nedral raised a blooded hand towards the woman, the weight of her arm causing her weak body to fall over. She fought to stay conscious and attempted to crawl towards her.

 

âMotherâ¦â She said weakly, finally succumbing to the darkness.

 

Nedral was pushed aside and out of the room by a tall, Elezen nurse who ran to the cowering Miqoâte, trying to comfort her. She looked to her right and peered at the doctor through tear stained eyes. âWhat happened?â

 

âApparently,â he started, taking a moment to sigh and think. âWhatever it was she witnessed you do while saving her has left a scar on her memory, one that may or may not fade with time."

 

Nedral looked into the room as another nurse ran in to help the other. Despite Aixaâs cries in her mind, she turned and walked down the hallway, through the foyer and out the door, slamming it behind her.

 

âYou have to go back! I canât leave her like that!â

 

âThereâs nothing we can do. You saw how she looked at me, us, the fear was so deep and overwhelming it was like⦠it was like staring into the eyes of deathâs own mother come to reap His soul.â Nedral said aloud, ignoring the few people who glanced her way. Aixa withdrew, knowing the truth in Nedralâs words.

 

She leaned against the stone wall next to the door and sighed, closing her eyes. She wiped the tears that fell down her cheeks with the back of her hand then sank to the floor. She sat there for a long while, not looking up, when she remembered Luther and Shamad waiting for her at the entrance. She stood and went to walk away but was forestalled as a gruff, coarse voice called out to her.

 

ââEy thar, missâey, ye look like ye could use oâ bit oâ cheerinâ up. Well, luckâly olâ Red Eye âas got jesâ tha thing for you!â A raggedy looking Elezen, short for his race, with a pegged leg and a red eye patch over his right eye, hobbled up to Nedral and smiled. She cringed as she saw that several teeth were missing, the rest were yellow and black set into bleeding gums. A pirate.

 

âI am not in the mood for you likes, pirate.â She said and started to walk off.

 

Red Eye reached a hand out to her, just missing her arm as she walked briskly by. âEâere hear oâ tha Crimson Blades, thar lass?â

 

Nedral stopped and looked over her shoulder at the man. âWhat of them?â

 

âAhh,â he started and hobbled a little closer. âOnly legends be told âbout that lot, but Iâve seent âem, yes, and Iâve âeard tell of their trade marks. Spent oâ good portion oâ me life lookinâ fer one, but wenst I found it, âtwas out of my reach. But you! You, missâey, could get it and olâ Red Eye can tells you whâer ta go.â