2025-12-25 06:02:53
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Truth
Dragon and Snake shared a lighter moment as they walked together toward the temple, the weight of recent events easing just enough to allow breath between them.It was Liroid tradition, unchanged since the first roots took hold, that no one departed on a journey without first stepping into sacred ground. Even assassins, even generals, even those steeped in blood.Especially them.The temple rose quietly and immensely, its living stone veins pulsing faintly with rootlight. Incense drifted through the air, carrying the familiar scent of sap and old prayers. High Priestess Moon and Xylem were absent, their duties elsewhere, so it was Priestess Yellow who attended to them.Barefoot, as tradition demanded.Dragon glanced sideways at Snake as they approached the altar. “You were hard on Dark,” he said gently. “Necessary, perhaps…but hard.”Snake exhaled. “Dark never listens unless the words come from a place sharp enough to wound. Soft truths slip past her.”Dragon stopped walking and turne
Warning
He met Dragon and Dark at their family home, and the moment Snake crossed the threshold, memory struck him like a living thing.The house had not changed, not in its true essence. The stone still carried warmth, the beams still groaned softly as if breathing, but they had. And somehow, that made the place ache even more.He could almost hear their father again.Rhel’s laughter had once filled these halls, deep and unrestrained, a sound that made the world feel safer than it was. Rhel had been warmth given form, a presence that gathered them all without force. Around him, even Doom had softened. She had always kept to herself, distant and sharp as frost, but whenever Rhel entered a room, something in her eyes would ignite, a light, fragile, and fleeting.Snake had never known where that light went after their father died. He suspected it had been buried with him.Dark, then, had been all fire and mischief. Explosive, rebellious, forever testing boundaries just to see which ones would b
Bonding
Snake went to see Evilside the next day.The chamber was quieter than usual, the roots beneath the floor faintly glowing as if listening. Evilside stood by the open archway, watching Cellok wake beneath her, elders moving like shadows, messengers whispering, the world continuing despite the fractures beneath it.They spoke first of duty.“There is a breach along the southern crossings,” Evilside said calmly. “A king who believes distance makes him untouchable. You and Dragon will remind him otherwise.”Snake inclined his head. “As always.”She continued, outlining routes, names, precautions, everything precise, everything safe. Too safe.Snake knew her well enough to hear what she was not saying.When she finally paused, he lowered his gaze deliberately, choosing his words carefully. She smiled then, not amused, but knowing.“You’re worried,” she said.Snake exhaled. “I would be foolish not to be.”Evilside turned to face him fully. For a moment, she was not the Shadow Queen, not the
BreakDown
Everyone in the hall knew one immutable truth: Dark did not bend.Not to the elders. Not to blood. Not even to gods.That was why Evilside moved quickly.Before Dark could ignite the room beyond repair, the goddess drew the two apart, Dark sent away under Darkside’s reluctant grip, and Irinrod pulled into the private study, the doors sealing shut behind them with a sound like judgment.Evilside stood at the center of the chamber, ancient and unyielding.Her voice, when she spoke, was calm.“Irinrod,” she said, “your husband is long dead. He refused to bow. His fate was sealed by his own will.”Irinrod laughed, sharp, broken.“Dren was no different from Nonia’s King Beb. Tell me, Mother…why did Beb live when Dren could not?”Death stepped forward, eyes cold. “It was his choice. Let the dead rest.”That was when Irinrod finally snapped.“You have always been a heartless mother,” she hissed. “And you wonder where I learned to turn my heart to stone.”The room seemed to shrink around her
Darks Fury
Irinrod approached Dark, who had just entered the hall. She was clearly tired from the long ride here, but Lady Irin could not wait long.Irinrod said, whispering something to Dark that clearly provoked her, and Snake watched from his corn. He knew his sister too well; she would not sit back for this. Her respect for the elders was on a short leash; everyone knew that.Everyone was still eating when the hall answered to Dark’s fury. The only thing to get her so worked up was when it had to do with her husband, King Beroot.“It better not be or else she would raise hell,” Dragon spoke in fear for dark.Darkside Quickly stood, “I need to do something before she does anything stupid.”It was too late, “You Liroids and your petty laws that only benefit one person.”Irinrod looked at her, “You'd better respect yourself, Dark.”Dark stood toe to toe with her and spat, “You must finish what you started, My LADY.”Her sarcasm did not sit well with Irinrod. Evilside arose and asked, “What seem
The Great Hall
Evilside’s fingers tightened briefly around Snake’s wrist before she released him, her expression smoothing into something unreadable as she returned to the noise of the great hall. Snake lingered on the balcony a moment longer, breathing in the scent of sap and old stone, then followed her back inside.The hall roared with layered conversation, elders debating in low, dangerous tones, generals laughing too loudly, priests murmuring blessings over steaming bowls of root stew. Cellok was never quiet when the high ranks gathered; too many histories shared the same air.Snake returned to Darkside’s side. Blood had rejoined them as well, rubbing his ear where Moon, his mother, had tugged it mercilessly.“She enjoys humiliating me,” Blood muttered.Darkside smirked. “She enjoys reminding you that you’re still her child.”Blood glanced across the hall. “I’m surrounded by grandmothers. It’s a tactical nightmare.”Snake’s eyes drifted again, inevitably, to Doom.She sat stiffly at a side tabl
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