Ulalume.

[Inception]

A gallant knight, dismissed from armor and duty stood beside his faithful beauty in honor. The hill was the tallest of the entire plain, a pedestal to which they engaged in what the norm would call a date. The sun's calm shine was accompanied with crisp winds that blew through his snow covered scalp. The shimmering rays hit reflective eyes of black and stirred with the burning passion of a dragoon, telling the journey of one whom had experienced everything life had to offer him thus far with elegance and pride.

His tall form stood just beside her own, and then his head turned to face her. A smile that the world had never seen before was bore. A great event was soon to transpire upon the sun rise, the horizon was giving birth to a golden sphere of beauty and it was a sign of things to come. The dragoon soon turned to face her, and rising from his side was the very hand that pointed into the sky that day that his world changed forevermore. His index pointed to the rising sun and his mouth parted to release words of calm.

"Isn't it beautiful? The sun rising moments after retaking the dragon's den? The Age of Dragons is upon us once more..."

The darkness was pushed outward with the expansion and conquest of light within the sky, mirroring the events of their very world. The smile grew.

[King]

Indeed, it was.

It was such a shame though, that the morning would play host to a dramatic, heart breaking event. It had been several long months since Sasha received the offer to join the Terrenus Military as a Peace Keeper, but never once did she bring it to Evaristus's attention. Even though she was never truly into romanticism, she did love him, and she simply couldn't muster the strength to tell him she was leaving - and that they would probably never see each other again. Jett Cr'Ysiander, the current Keeper of Ashville, had approached her himself and offered her his position over Ashville. The details weren't entirely clear, but from what was said, it was easy to discern it was everything she could have wanted. How could she possible refuse?

"It is," she mused, "But I'm sure there will be more."

It's now or never. . . Just do it.

As a dragonier, Sasha had faced challenges that would make the greatest of heroes crumple in terror and defeat; she had slew the mightiest of creatures in the conquest for the Dragon's Den, and even enslaved greater beasts to her will. She was not the type to know fear. Yet, in this moment she hesitated; she was still unable to speak. Meanwhile, the sun lazily rolled over the curved horizon of hills and mountains, bathing her flawless form in its light. She rose a had to shied her face from its radiance, and out of the corner of her eye she saw his smile. Strangely, she smiled back.

Yes, the morning was truly beautiful.

[Inception]

Evaristus had rehearsed days before he appeared before the sober sky of bright colors. A moment that would be defined in less than a few seconds had taken months of preparation out of nervousness and fright. Regardless he now stood by her side, the very smile she gave giving him strength. The sky that was being washed in a river of light showed the slightest hint resistance against the darkness that hungered. Evaristus' smile did not fade, even as his right leg gave away and he slid into a kneel before her. The reality of the situation seemed clear to Evaristus, they would become marry and live in the Dragon's Den as legends beyond that of their ancestors.

The unkempt white stalk of hair was blown from his face gently, and her baby smooth skin lured his amazed gaze. His eyes ran from her heels, to her svelte sculpture, and then to her own unique eyes. They were the most beautiful part about her, eyes that truly spoke to him a secret language. He just knew she was communicating shock and joy at that moment. Then he began to speak, a tone that rivaled a mother's tone with their baby child.

"You're beautiful, Sasha. You are the most amazing thing to enter my life, more amazing than the honor that blesses me, and more amazing than the armor that rests upon my shoulders. More amazing than the towering stature of the Dragon's Den, and more amazing than the mightiest dragon encounter. You are the greatest in the world...Sasha..."

It wasn't hesitance, it was his emotion that overtook him. He stopped for a moment, looked to the ground, and then his eyes rose again with a shine that would never be seen again.

"Will you marry me, Sasha?"

[King]

"Will you marry me, Sasha?"

God damn it!

It all happened so fast she didn't have time to stop him. She had the creeping suspicion he planned to propose the moment he began his long monologue, and the fact he fell to his knee only confirmed her thoughts. Again, she tried to force herself to speak and interrupt the ritual-- only to find herself silent. It was as if the very air itself had been sucked out of her lungs, or if she had been born a mute. The only sound she could discern from her being was a rapidly beating heart, which sounded and felt as if boomed greater than any drum of war. Time was standing still, and in that brief moment that felt like an eternity, she found her resolve.

"E-Evaristus," she stammered. "We need to talk. . ."

Her new found resolve was far more feeble than she would have liked, and it was effortlessly washed away in a river of shame and embarrassment, forcing her to turn away from him. "I've been offered a position in the Terrenus Military. . . And I've accepted it. I'm leaving tomorrow, and I don't believe I will be able to return. This is probably the last time we will ever see one another."

Turning to face him once more, Sasha took several steps in retreat. She had to get away.

"G-good bye."

[Inception]

It was as if his very flesh had been ripped from bone and torn into pieces. She turned from him and retreated, offering a saddened goodbye that he was not content with. The very world around him ebbed away until he was robbed of vision, blind in anger and fury. Everything he had strived for—everything he had committed to—it wasn’t just for him! He hadn’t slain beast of ancient relic for his own glory, for an image that he alone looked forward towards—

No. It couldn’t end this way. His right hand grasped the smooth walking pole he had brought on their ascent, whipping it upward to reveal it was more than that. The famous fauchard, Wishblade was brandished and it’s heavenly blade came to rest upon her retreating shoulder before she could get far. It did not cleave or damage her lustrous skin, but instead built tension between both polearm and flesh.

“I can’t let you walk away from me, Sasha. I love you, I love you! I LOVE YOU MORE THAN THE STARS AND THE HEAVEN’S RADIANT GLOW! DO NOT DARE WALK AWAY FROM ME!!”

Was she to leave her lover for a mere opportunity of power and citizenship within Terrenus? Did she really even commit to loving someone such as himself? Perhaps it was all a lie, but it was a lie that he wanted to believe to be true. She had to love him; he could tell from her hesitance that she loved him…didn’t she? Tears for the first time since his sister’s death welled within his eyes, threatening to trickle down his face in a saddening combination of fury and lamentation.

[King]

Even though she could easily feel the pressure and tension between the staff and her shoulder, Sasha did not fear it. Such anger -- such passion. Truly, the dragonier found herself standing at the brink. Though she remained silent, her face was distorted in obvious discomfort and pain while her mind screamed uncontrollably. A sea of words were flooding into her lungs, but they could not escape her quivering, locked lips. Her heart was beating too fast; it felt as if it was literally moments away from exploding inside of her chest. She wanted to reach for it to try and calm herself, but her body was paralyzed in the wake of the nervous break down. She wanted to turn around and beg Evaristus for forgiveness and tell him she didn't mean it; she wanted to accepted his proposal.

Suddenly, time stood still.

Sasha, finish this.

He doesn't understand. . .

Then you will make him understand.

I-I can't. . . I don't want to hurt him anymore.

If you won't--

. . . Fine.

As the silence settled in once more, Sasha's faced smoothed and grew cold. Supple, limp fingers that once swayed lifelessly in the breeze furled into fists stronger than the most potent of steel. Her nails dug into the flesh of her palms until several streams of blood were trickling from either hand. "Regret is for the weak," she muttered to herself in a harsh tone, and in a voice that had become icy and metallic. "I have new goals now, Evaristus. . ." There was no sound or beautiful cluster of ambiance to signal the arrival of Sasha's lance, but rather, a basic and fundamental display: it simply appeared within her left hand. Had it be forged from any lesser material, it would have instantly shattered beneath the inhuman pressure of her vice-like grip.

As for Evaristus, if he had taken the time to notice the Dragon Soul's arrival, if he dared to even waste a fraction of a second admiring its deadly beauty, he would not have had the time to react to the powerful sweep of a strike aiming to severe his head clean from his shoulders. With a pivot, the attack came as a obsidian blur against the many colors of the sunrise and open plain, reducing the earth behind its swinging blade to a fine dust from the sheer ferocity of its momentum.

Strong, chestnut eyes were now stained red as they had become waterfalls of tears. ". . . And love is not one of them!"

[Inception]

The surprise that came with the swift assault verbally followed by an attack that threatened to tear his head from his shoulders was devastating. Perhaps so devastating that he couldn’t sufficiently consider her one that loved him, but an enemy—out of reaction—just like all of the others. The edge missed by a thin margin, his body ducking beneath the swinging pole arm, before his own jutted with the celerity and calculated speed that he was renowned for. It was a reaction, he didn’t intend on doing what he had just done, something that would haunt him more than the event that occurred itself forevermore.

Her eye was struck with the tip of the fauchard, slipping into her pupil and digging her into face ferociously. Blood splattered along the edge of the ancient armament, and it was upon hearing that sickening crunch and spill of blood that he realized what he had just done. Had he been allowed to continue any longer, she probably would have died. The spear slipped into her skull but didn’t stop there by any means. If he was given the chance, he was going to shove Wishblade through her entire skull and severe her head vertically.

Even as it occurred tears ran down his face, a waterfall of sadness cascading in fury. There was nothing that could describe the burning rage and grief that flourished in abundant amounts through his system, compelling him in ways he had never experienced before. For the first time in his life he felt as if he was entitled to kill that which he once loved more than the world itself. There was nothing he felt that could stop him from accomplishing the only goal that engulfed his entire mind at that moment.

“Then DIE! FOR YOUR DECEPTION, FOR YOUR LIES, FOR YOU—“

He was interrupted.

[King]

His retaliation was something Sasha did not expect. She had envisioned him deflecting the powerful but sloppy assault with his equally powerful weapon, leaping back to gather a stance so that the two broken lovers could pointlessly duel. However, he clearly had other plans.

There wasn't any pain at first. The fact her sight had been cut in two was all she needed to know, and instinctively she threw herself back. Sasha didn't see the surge of blood coming from the blinded side of her face, but oh, she could certainly feel it. She could smell the crimson rivers as they raced down her curved cheeks, filling her mouth with its stale metallic taste. She stumbled back, dropping her lance which reverted to a cloud of ashes before it could even touch the ground. It was clear the pain had slowly began to fill her, for both of her hands latched onto her face, covering the bleeding wound. Her mind was racing, chaotic, slowly twisting until at last-- it snapped.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" It was more of a guttural cry of torment and agony than a scream, yet the sharpest of banshee cries would've paled in comparison. Her body was racked with a pain so surreal she could no longer hold her weight, and so she crumpled to earth beneath them. She writhed, bucked and convulsed while spitting incoherent curses. But soon, her curses turned into sobbing - sobbing which echoed throughout the entirety of the rolling hills.

Then the earth shook.

Sasha's weeping only intensified as the trembling grew closer, as it strengthened. She knew what was about to transpire, and very soon, Evaristus would as well. Without warning, the earth between them was torn asunder as a massive, obsidian armored claw ripped through to the surface. The enormous monstrosity before Evaristus rose up like a black, crag-covered mountain of scales and hide. The dragon’s head was a spade-like terror spiked with cruel, burning red eyes that radiated with a frightening malevolence. Rivulets of lava and magma were visible beneath the great wyrm’s scorched scales, flowing freely across his being like blood from an open wound.

His two wings were ragged yet muscular, lined with the same scorched armor and scales. They seemed to quadruple his size as he spread them to their limits, blocking the rising sun and casting the valley into momentary darkness. With a single flap, the great wyrm launched itself into the sky leaving behind a tsunami of smog, fire, and shadow.

Evaristus would find that he was alone in the valley of ruination, submerged within a coffin of acrid dust and growing fires. Sasha, and her beloved mount, were slowly disappearing into the distance.

[Inception]

A tidal wave of riveting flames and broken earth crashed into his body, breaking bone and scorching flesh. The dragon had risen like a demon from hell, mobilizing the earth’s savage forces to consume him without remorse. The gaping maw of lava and blistering rock shot forth and crashed into him, silencing his yells beneath an endless pit of magma. Truthfully, that would have been the end of the dragoon’s tale, had he not had an ally of fortune as well. Jagged heated rocks ripped through him, until a giant unseen plunged into the wall of fire above, banishing the subversive tide by opening the faucet of mana and allowing its miraculous features force the heated earth outward from the epicenter where the chartreuse head with a set of golden eyes that banished pernicious elements from the world from their gaze alone.

The mountain that was that dragon of the sea averted her eyes to Evaristus’ fidgeting and writhing in agony and unrivaled pain. His very skin was scorched, and flesh was exposed revealing bone and innards of the once triumphant dragoon. Defeated and abandoned by his lover, the dragon’s long neck lowered the head of the wise creature.

“Prrrrr…paaaarrrr…paarrrrssuuuu hrrrrrrrrrr…”

Evaristus could barely make out a word, let alone a meaningful sentence. Regardless, the dragon understood, but declined.

Instead the dragon’s eyes radiated with a glow mirroring the sea, and a torrent overthrew the dragon’s once peaceful gaze. A marine light warmed the center of Evaristus’ burnt chest, capturing it in a calm light that sought to eradicate the pain before the procedure of healing him to the best of its ability was done. The dragon could only think that the only thing capable of doing such was Sasha’s own dragon of ancient lore.

“Mmm…” the dragon pondered deeply the unfortunate circumstances. Even if Evaristus lived past the healing process of one of the strongest dragons of the Dragon’s Den, he would forever be a dead man at heart.