LIROIDS: SNAKE

Chapter Five: The Burning Crown

Chapter Five: The Burning Crown

The dawn over Tan was a blaze of fire, the rising sun breaking through storm clouds to gild the crusader king's camp in gold. Banners flapped in the wind, emblazoned with the twin sigils of Ciria's memory and Tan of Tan's flame. Soldiers marched in ordered lines, shields gleaming, spears raised like a forest of iron. Priests stood among them, holding braziers of white fire, their chants weaving strength into the hearts of men.

The king himself rode at the front, armor polished like the sun, his golden blade raised high. His voice carried across the fields: "Today, we break the curse of Cellok! Today, we burn the shadows from the earth!"

His army roared, faith burning as fiercely as the torches in their hands.

And by the gods may Tan keep to his promise, he thought to himself as fear took hold of him, he would not let his men falter, for he would keep a strong face and pray hard that the crane god would show his men mercy. For Tan was a twisted and hard god to please... He shows no compassion, not even to his sires. He prayed hard that he had gotten the crane god's attention.

He looked to the sky as the past replayed in his mind.

He was sound asleep beside his wife, but when he awoke, he was in the garden, and darkness was like a veil hovering over his kingdom. He closed his nose for the sharp stench of death greeted him, and just then, from the shadows came Tan.

He was a brown haired beauty, tall and muscular with a commanding presence and a terrible grin on his face. "You look like the perfect vessel."

The king bowed to the god he worshiped, for his very presence sent chills down his spine. Why would they serve such a being? He wished his ancestors were alive to answer.

"What would such a gracious being like yourself seek from a mortal nobody like me?"

Tans' laughter sounded like the creatures from the world in which he commanded.

"I seek your service," Tan squats before him

"What could I possibly offer you?" He trembled in fear

Tan stood and faced the dark sky. "I have a plan and I need an executioner... one who is precise, clean, and has the men for it". He turned to him with a mischievous grin planted on his face, "... and you, my king, are the only man I can count on for the job."

"Think carefully before you answer, mortal king," He spoke with venom and a daring tone.

The king thought hard, for Tan could wipe them out with a wave of his finger. "What do you desire of me?"

"Finally, the right answer," He gave a murderous grin.

Back to the present. He thought to himself, what if he could have said no? It was better to be dead than to do Tan's bidding. The liroids do not forget a wrong done to them, and here he was creating a big scar.

"My king, the soldiers await your command," a general called out to him.

He steadied himself, "Tell the men to ready themselves."

"Yes, my lord," the general replied.

From a far-off Distance, Tan watched the images at play on the field and relished in the blood bath about to take place.

"You're a hard man to please, father." A brown haired, pale-skinned man stood beside him. "Baiting Evilside is not good for us."

Tan turned to look at his eldest. "Oh... dearest Tam... it brings me joy to cause such conflicts"

"The veil will soon summon a meeting..." He looked past his father to the carnage about to take place. "I don't think Goddess Cirax or any of the others would like this".

Tam was the only son who tried to make sure he was not outcast by the veil. The veil, a meeting of all the gods. Not a place he fancied, for he had messed with a lot of mortals all his life. The other gods never liked him anyway; he had to find ways to have his fill of fun.

"I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I always do."

He watched as the pride of all his sires lectured him, "You should place all blame for my personality on your siblings.. he spoke with disappointment.

Tam said nothing for a second, and then he spoke the words he always uttered to his younger ones, "Stop being a child and forget the past, father."

One reason he favored Tam was his lack of compassion for frugal and unnecessary things. "You are so much like your mother...much more than you know"

Tam knew his father meant every word, though he found it hard to utter them, for his father was a cruel man.

Tan watched as his son disappeared into the shadows.

"Now for the entertainment," he spoke with delight in his tone.

From the hills, Snake and Dragon watched. Snake's eyes narrowed, studying every line, every formation. His serpents stirred restlessly, sensing blood. Beside him, Dragon grinned, his fiery hair whipping in the wind.

"They look ready for a war," Dragon said.

"They are," Snake replied softly. "Faith makes men strong."

Dragon spat. "Faith makes men blind." He lifted his great blade, its edge catching the dawn. "Let us cut the eyes from their skulls."

Snake laid a hand on his brother's arm. "Not yet. We strike as shadows, not storms."

Dragon's grin widened. "Then you strike as shadow. I strike as a storm."

Dragon was too reckless and impulsive, but his brute force always got the job done.

The first wave fell at night. Snake slipped into the enemy camp, his serpents winding through tents, biting at throats. He moved like silence itself, his daggers finding the gaps in armor. Priests awoke to choking screams, their holy fire sputtering as venom blackened their veins.

Dragon came behind, roaring as he split tents apart with his blade. He set fire to wagons of grain, toppled siege engines, and scattered men with wild laughter. His strength was unmatched, his fury unstoppable.

But when priests raised their torches, the flames leapt to meet him. White fire blinding his vision, forcing him back, and only Snake's shadows saved him from being consumed.

"Too loud," Snake hissed as they escaped the camp.

"Too quiet," Dragon growled.

At dawn, the crusader king stood over the bodies of his dead. His jaw was tight, his voice cold with fury.

The body count was too much; he had lost good men to the serpent's blade. His men were angry; they would draw blood. He was closer. He had to find a way to appease their anger.

"They think shadows will break us? They think serpents and fire will scatter us? No. For every man they kill, two will rise. For every torch they snuff out, a hundred more will burn." He raised his sword high, its golden edge blazing with holy light. "Tan of Tan does not falter. Ciria does not sleep. The shadows will be consumed."

The men roared, their faith burning brighter than their grief.

In Doomsany, Queen Dark listened to the reports with sharp delight. "The crusader king burns his men in faith, but faith is no armor. My brothers carve through his heart already." The news was a thrill; she longed to be on the battlefield herself. Nothing gave her more joy than drinking the blood of defiant mortals.

Scream tilted her veiled head, voice muffled and dreadful. "Faith that grows brighter in loss is more dangerous than faith that trembles. Let it swell too high, and it will explode. The king must die before the fire consumes us all."

She wanted Snake and Dragon home quickly before the worst could happen. But Dark did not care; all she wanted was the crown meant for another.

Dark's lips curved. "Then the crown must fall soon."

Snake and Dragon met again in the hills. Dragon's scales still sheltered his skin, but his grin was as fierce as ever.

"You see how they cling to their god," he said. "The harder we strike, the harder they burn."

Snake was silent, his eyes fixed on the horizon.

"You think of your family," Dragon said.

Snake turned sharply.

"You think of Trina. Of Shiver. You wonder if the fire will reach them." Dragon's grin softened. "I think of mine, too. Passion walks closer to the fire every day. Flame hungers for war, Fury whispers lies, and Rage laughs in the dark. We are fathers, Snake, but we are also cursed. Our children are threads in this web, whether we will it or not."

Snake's lips tightened. "Then let us end this before the web breaks."

The battle was joined on the plain of Meris.

The crusader king's army stood in perfect lines, shields raised, spears braced, torches burning white. The priests sang, their chants rising like thunder. The king rode before them, golden blade blazing like a second sun.

Snake and Dragon stood opposite, cloaked in shadow and fire, their presence alone enough to send tremors through the ranks.

The king lifted his blade. "Today, light consumes shadow!"

Snake raised his daggers, serpents coiling around his arms. "Today, shadow silences light." He wondered if those were the lies mortals told themselves every day.

Dragon lifted his great sword, flames bursting from its edge. "Today, we feast on fire!"

The armies clashed.

Snake slipped through soldiers like smoke, his serpents striking, his blades drinking blood. He was everywhere and nowhere, a whisper of death in the dark.

Dragon thundered into the lines, his blade sweeping wide, scattering men like leaves. He burned their torches with his own flames, laughing as he shattered shields and bones alike.

The crusader king met them both. His golden blade clashed with Dragon's fire, sparks flying as the ground quaked beneath their blows. Snake darted in, his daggers seeking flesh, but the king's faith flared too bright as each strike turned aside by light itself. He felt tan in every deflection of his strikes.

"You will not break me," the king roared. "I am Tan's chosen! Ciria's vengeance burns in my hand!"

Dragon laughed, pressing harder. "Then let us see if your god bleeds!"

The duel raged, fire against light, shadow against faith.

Far away, in Kindraloy, Trina clutched Shiver as he writhed in sleep, the Tar mark burning black along his arm. His power would consume him in the future. She cursed the blood he carried in his veins. Fearing the unknown, she whispered prayers to a god she no longer knew if she believed in.

In Doomsany, Flame stood atop a tower, watching the smoke of battle rise in the distance, his young eyes alight with hunger. Fury whispered to courtiers, twisting their hearts to her will. Passion, far away, knelt in a temple of Tan, her hands clasped before a torch, her lips whispering prayers for a father who fought in shadows.

And in her chamber of crystals, Glass fell to her knees as visions tore through her mind. She saw Snake's daggers shatter, Dragon's flame gutter, the crusader king's sword blazing brighter still. She saw Shiver rise with the mark blazing, Flame igniting a city, Fury crowning herself in whispers, Passion walking away into light.

"Every shadow carries its end," she gasped.

On the plain of Meris, the duel reached its height.

Snake's serpents struck, Dragon's fire roared, the king's blade blazed. The earth itself split beneath them, scorched by flame, blackened by shadow, purified by light. Soldiers scattered, too afraid to get near the clash of gods and monsters.

The king's sword burned brighter, faith flaring with every word he spoke. "For Tan! For Ciria! For the light!"

Snake hissed, striking low. Dragon roared, striking high. The king met them both, his golden blade shattering Dragon's flames, turning Snake's daggers aside.

And still he stood.

The battle raged until the plain was ash and ruin, until night itself seemed to burn with holy fire.

And in the silence after, as smoke choked the air and blood stained the earth, none could say who had won. Only that the war of fire and faith had truly begun.