Chapter CLXXIV: Introductions ~Lady North

The woman walked alone through the marble hallway, making her usual inspection rounds. Several Children approached her on occasion, asking for her guidance on different matters. It had been hard work, but she was glad her Tower was now filled with intelligent, loyal Children. For the first time in a long while, peace had finally found its way to Dirun Island. She sighed and tried to keep focus. The peace was good. Matters could be settled at last, things could settle down, and she wouldn’t have any distractions from her work.

Dear, sweet goddess it was boring. Sure, she was grateful for the pause in the chaos, but there was a tiny voice in the back of her mind, yelling for action. She felt alive when there was a fight. On one hand, she wanted everything to right itself peacefully, but yet she yearned to be out on the field, fighting, and taking down any and all who stood in her way. The woman sighed again, stopping her rounds. Her mind had wandered too much again, her focus shattered.

“Lady?” a young girl’s timid voice turned her attention away from her self-reproach.

The woman smiled, noticing it belonged to little Misty. The little one had been at the Tower for as long as she could remember. The small red-haired girl seemed to be warming to her lately, but still held a fair share of shyness.

“Yes Misty?” the elder replied, smiling again at seeing the girl blush, knowing she had remembered her name, and not because she had done anything wrong.

“Richard bade me to report on the two fallen Towers,” she answered.

The woman’s smile was replaced by a frown as she remembered the events leading to the destruction of the South Tower, as well as the West Tower. Curse Apollyon to the darkest of abysses. He should have been taken out in the beginning when they had the chance. Once more the woman sighed, shaking her head sadly.

“Continue,” she said to the little girl, forcing herself to smile so that she didn’t think she did anything wrong.

“The South Tower has been obliterated. Where there was once an impressive structure of beauty, there is now a deep, ugly crater. Just as you hoped, weeds, grass, and saplings are starting to grow among the debris, and will soon become vast grassland to match that of its surroundings. The West Tower has collapsed, and is now a pile of rubble. New trees are starting to grow around it, enfolding it into the surrounding forest. Soon it will be nothing more than forgotten ruins. All the troops have moved out, and the Island is as it was before…only two Towers short…”

Misty trailed off, unable to hold the indifferent attitude that usually was protocol when delivering a report. The young girl sniffled, and quickly brushed away the tears that were forming in her eyes.

The elder quickly went down on her right knee, drawing the little Child into her arms. Unable to contain herself, Misty threw her arms around the woman’s neck, crying into the shoulder of her dress. The woman rocked the girl gently, making soft soothing noises, encouraging the tears yet hoping to keep her calm. The last thing they needed now was another rogue thunderstorm. After a few minutes the girl’s tears slowed, and with a soft hiccup, she backed out of the woman’s arms, looking down in shame.

“Please excuse me, Lady North, for my moment of weakness,” she said softly.

The woman smiled down at her again, lifting her face to meet her eyes.

“Tears shed in memory of another are never a sign of weakness, Misty. Only when you think of nothing but the memory, will you turn weak. Just remember to carry them in your heart, and beseech their guidance if you are ever to need it in the future.”

Misty returned to her rare smile, and suddenly hugged the woman again. Lady North returned the embrace, and sent the Child along on her way to her work. Once again, she was alone. The woman looked around the hallway, noticing that she was near the room Kyara’nya usually kept to. Deciding to drop in on her companion, she walked down the marble floor, her clothed feet making only the noise of the soft rustle of fabric.

She knocked lightly on the massive door that was supposed to be the entrance to a large meeting and dinning area, but was skilfully remodelled into a bedroom for a large dragon. Lady North heard a loud grunt from inside, and took that as a form of consent that she could enter.

“Blast it all! Can’t you little things leave me alone! I’m tired, dang you, and I want to sleep! What is so hard to…” the large creature turned around, its large yellow eyes resting on her. “Oh! Hello mommy!”

In an instant, the woman was sheltered by a massive wing, leading her in closer. She smiled, and shook her head slightly.

“Children keeping you awake, my not-so-little-boy?” she asked. “I’m surprised you have to bellow at them more than once. Usually getting yelled at by a large dragon will keep you away from it for a decent amount of time.”

“Ah, it is nothing,” he chuckled, waving a claw dismissively. “None of it holds any importance, and that is what gets me so aggravated. They never saw a dragon before, and apparently, I am quite pleasing to the eye.”

He drew in a breath, and sat back on his heels, showing off his muscular underside and legs. Lady North laughed and jabbed a finger in his stomach, causing the indrawn breath to rush out of his mouth in a large stream of fire. Thankfully, nothing caught, since the precaution had been made to fully fireproof the room before allowing the dragon to live there.

Kyara’nya opened his eyes, after having closed them a few moments before. The woman groaned inwardly as she noted that they were now green. He looked around for a moment, trying to remember where he was, and then his eyes settled on her again.

“Hi mommy!!” he exclaimed, getting ready to run over and hug her. Lady North was prepared for this, however, and quickly jumped out of the way.

“Kyara’nya, sweetie, remember the talk we had about mommy being much smaller than you?” she asked him.

The large dragon thought for a moment, and then bared his large white teeth in a big dragon grin.

“You said ‘Kyara’nya, mommy likes the form she has right now, and would rather not become a dragon pancake,’” he replied. “’Please try to not flatten mommy when you want to give her a hug.’”

The woman laughed.

“That’s a good boy. Are you tired, dear? You have done much work these past few days, and you look a little more white than usual,” North stated, hoping silently that he would do as much.

It was bad enough that his mind had been partitioned because of the first incident with Apollyon, but at least his eyes could be used as an indicator, telling when he was older Kyara’nya, or younger Kyara’nya. Sadly, the Children had not quite grasped the concept of this matter, and a few ended up in the hospital wing of her Tower because Kyara’nya wanted to play with them. The woman laughed to herself as she remembered the time that Kyara’nya was trying to play with Sachiel, a dear friend on an adjacent plane, and wound up with his head in the wall. Oh, that was a very funny day indeed.

“What are you laughing at, mommy?” The dragon asked.

“Just remembering when Unkie Sachiel broke the wall with his head,” she replied.

Kyara’nya grinned again, and nodded.

“Well…he said I could play with him…” he replied. Suddenly his mouth opened wide, and a second stream of fire came forth, this time from a yawn. “I’m tired mommy…”

“Well, go lie down on your fresh straw and close your eyes,” she replied. “I’ll extinguish the lamps on my way out.”

The sound of a large dragon shuffling over to a pile of straw filled the room, followed by a loud thud as he collapsed onto it.

“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep, mommy?” he asked from the other side of the room.

“Of course, dear,” Lady North replied as she walked over to the straw.

Holding the skirt of her dress in both hands, she lowered herself onto it, smoothing out the wrinkles while she sat. Kyara’nya rearranged himself, trying to get comfortable, and when his position was suitable he rested his large head on his front legs, his eyes closed. The woman listened to the dragon’s breathing, and her mind started wandering again. This time though, she started thinking about her Sisters. She sighed softly, resting her chin in the palms of her hands, allowing her mind to run through the memories of when she was together with them. It just did not seem fair at all. Why did all three of them have to die, leaving her all alone with all four posts? She should have been killed off too. But the ways of the Fates never worked that way. She was sure the fact that she was still alive played a factor in the events that lead to the invasion of Dirun Island, and the destruction of the two Towers. Once again Lady North cursed the man involved in it all. The man who attacked Kyara’nya. The man who killed her sisters. The man who tainted her precious Island. Apollyon. It could have been worse, she reasoned. Kyara’nya could have died too. Then she would really have been left alone.

The woman shook her head rapidly, clearing the morbid thought from her mind. Goddess forbid, if that ever happened. Kyara’nya was the dearest thing to her most of all. She would do everything in her power to protect him; just like she would do everything she could to help her friends in Laria. The dragon was a handful once and awhile, but she never really minded. He was a welcome distraction to her daily work, which most of the time was nothing. The winds practically ran themselves, but she was there just to oversee where the currents ran, and to keep a daily record of which places had storms, droughts, and what not. If, for some reason, a flood suddenly came to a desert, she would get blamed for it.

The sound of Kyara’nya’s steady, rhythmic breathing brought her thoughts back to the ground. Noiselessly, Lady North stood up, brushing the stray straw from her skirt, and walked to the large doors. With the flick of her wrist, the lamps extinguished, plunging the room into total darkness. Carefully she opened the door, and stepped out into the hallway, closing it behind her. Sighing, the woman cleared her mind once again, and resumed her rounds.