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They sat around the fire, the five of them. The only color left on their faces was granted by the flicker of the flames, dancing across their stony visages. Their eyes were half open, staring through the embers towards a point impossibly far away. Not a one of them could focus. The days before had marked the beginning of the end for them all. The roaring from its mouth still shook their skin. What was left of their hides and armor was tattered, torn and broken, barely holding together. The crackling of blue conflagrations still popped in their ears, and their own blood left the bitter taste of iron on their tongues. They'd wrapped their wounds as best they could, but they all felt it, one and the same. There was a burning in their veins. Kirin broke the silence."Thank you." The words were a little forced, and clearly uncomfortable to say. "I wouldn't be here now if you hadn't stepped in. It was pointless, though. You know that as well as I do. There's you, being true to your title as always, Ember. You can't just sit still and let things happen..." He kicked his boot into a log, scattering the embers and causing them to dance on the updraft. "You always flit around. And now you're going to burn out, like the lot of us." Maoreson sighed. "And then what? Sit back and watch you guys have all the fun? Mask over there had already taken a claw across the face. That blasted mask of his was the only reason he's still here. Pale is no better off - I saw him get some of that dragon's spit in that wound on his back. Pale or not, you're whiter than you should be. We'd all be gone if it weren't for Min-Khan. What difference does-" "Enough, Ember. We were all there. We know." Min-Khan said. "And I'd be just as well-off as all of you if you hadn't been there with me. You've made your axes proud this day. But... we know how this story ends." They sat quietly for a while, watching the fire again. Min-Khan sighed. They were all correct to have expected this. His family fought with honor, passion and fury - they fought for the power they had, earned it with every callous and paid for it with every broken bone and chipped tooth. This dragon god, though... it rewarded his followers with power at little cost. It fits that every one of its claws, every tooth and every scale would be dripping with poison. And now? It had paid the price for its deeds, but so did the lot of them, his brothers... And they should have known as much. They fought with anger always, drew their power from it... But this battle, they needed more. This time, they gave in to their rage. They had no choice - they needed the strength, and they knew that it would cost them. They poisoned themselves as much as that dragon had. Their bodies could only handle so much. And now... "Brothers... It's time we stop wandering. The dragon tribes are no more, the raids are over. Let's give our family a true home and a safety that we never knew." The next morning, the Elder and his guides went. They travelled into the Wilderness to make the home in which the Barbarians live to this day. Their runes had the story mostly right. Min-Khan had taken his men on a mission which could never have been survived, but where it departs from reality is that they all knew what they were getting into. They did what had to be done for their family, for their kin. They stand in their home to this day, the four Stone Guardians, looking over their path. Kin Maoreson, The Ember, who embodies the flippant, temperamental nature of their younger souls. Kirin Shintaru, The Lion, who stands as a monolith, embodying their courage and fury. N'Tang Veihell, The Mask, who more so than anyone knew that an unsophisticated facade causes your enemies to underestimate you. And lastly, Fahl Ronwan, The Pale, who stood for the quiet ones of them, who preferred to stay in the shadows and observe. -LordJalin | |