THE LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC
(An original epic story unraveling overtime with sequential posts)
THE PROLOGUE
The northernmost border of Korion had
been marked by a range of lofty, serrated peaks, seven in number, appropriately
named “The Pillars of Heaven”. Their astral
summits (stellar zeniths) were completely obscured by crowning clouds,
relegating all perception of their true elevation to the realm of fantasy. Snow and ice permanently capped the
stratospheric part of this mystic range and from the north (the north-pole) the
driving, howling winds thrashed the slopes mercilessly, scouring the glacier
clean of any life form. Ergo, the popular folklore of Korion had always
maintained that the breath of the world was being drawn in through these august
peaks. This inhospitable region of sub-freezing temperatures meanwhile had
effectively deterred any human from traversing it; yet remarkably, the national
lore persisted of an ancient race, old beyond the Earth itself, possessing
powers most strange and subtle, dwelling and thriving in this desolation.
In that never ending cycle of nature, as anew (afresh) the
darkness enshrouded (veiled) the Earth in obscurity, on the majestic slopes the
falling flakes yet again sought refuge from the relentless scourge of the wind
by hiding in crevices and under ledges in swirling eddies.
Silence fell at the conclusion of Dwengzur’s report. The primary,
the most ancient one known as “Aegeus”, thoughtfully stroking his long, fiery
red beard, now slightly leaned forward and without moving his lips, in measured
intonation suggested to Dwengzur that the report may need a touch more
elaboration. Before Dwengzur had a
chance to show his surprise at this most unusual request, the other Elders
displaying an uncharacteristic curiosity added their collective nods and silent
murmurs, as if in droning chorus. “Yes, brother,” their voices burst in
his head, tells us more news of the outside world. “Tell
us of the recent changes!”
“This is most peculiar! Much has
changed during my long absence; why this sudden interest in the forsaken mortal
realms?” Dwengzur
locking his mind up and retreating to that private segment that could not be
penetrated, a privileged right, he for a spell, pondered. Centuries had passed
since the last great struggle that’d in the interim seriously depleted their
numbers and erased in its entirety the female gender of their race. From thence
unable to propagate, their longevity being the only other boon to their special
powers- yes, the final war had been won but at a heavy cost.
Cassars, rock spirit entities, that had eventually been enslaved by Karns and so kept in check- had been the catalyst of this catastrophic dissention (discord) among existing ancient races. Set against one another the other elite powers had all one by one been eliminated, purged, extinguished. As sole remaining custodians of this world, by consensus of the elders of Karn, they had spared Cassars from total annihilation only to imprison them and allowed the species of men to have the sole dominion over Earth.
 |
| Cassars |
 |
| Cassars (in another form) |
Since that time, spanning several centuries now, race of Karn had secretly co-existed with men, in the remotes corner of these icy-peaks; meanwhile, affording mankind that certain measure of safety- as Cassars’ contained or bested by the utilization of ice or water were then indefinitely imprisoned in the protective water crystal amulet that each Karn wore. It was a bane (burden) to be endured till the end of time.
~
The ancient race of Karn had always lived by very stringent tribal
laws. On most rare instance, any would
be offender, without mercy and without the benefit of any trial, would be
condemned to be a non-entity and then swiftly terminated.
The other unwritten law was that no one got to leave the tribe,
willingly or unwillingly, alive. But
then one resourceful renegade Immortal known as Chandor, (also known as Zandar
Kuntzu, the name he’d adapted at outside), had succeeded in doing the
impossible.
 |
| Dwengzur |
The day before Dwengzur was to depart on the most difficult and dire assignment, he’d been secretly informed (briefed) By Elder Aegeus (who had the power to only visit the sight and invoking an incantation, pick up all that had transpired there) on the pertinent details relating to this case:
It so happened that Chandor (Zandar Kuntzu) was the only surviving direct descendent of the primary, the most ancient Aegeus. Chandor hence, carried the Royal bloodline and the rare gene that would enable him, when he reached the Earth years of 40, to be transformed at will, into the most fearsome creature, Dragon.
Dwengzur’s assignment had been to find and destroy
him as well as the child that he’d secretly sired, well before that time. Extrapolating
on this, Elder Aegeus had then revealed to Dwngzur that, in an undisclosed
sector of the main Cave, a prisoner had been held for some time now who
happened to be the daughter of His Eminence Olavingemar. Her name was Tekubzan, the most enchanting
creature born to the race of Karn. In fact, she’d been the sole surviving female
species of their race who had escaped total inhalation because of her secret (captivity)
incarceration. At the earth age of 10,
at the Divination Ceremony where the new generation’s fortunes were read, her
ominous prediction had revealed that she unfortunately was the carrier of a
seed that would be the harbinger of, utter obliteration (eradication) of their
(Karn’s) race. She was therefore
condemned to die by the Chief Elders in a unanimous vote in order to circumvent
(avoid, prevent) this inevitability. His Eminence Olavigemar entrusted this
task to his most trusted and able assistant Meju, but he at the last moment had
found out that he could not carry out this sentence. Instead, he privately
consulted the Stars and chose another option, a preferred alternative to her
execution. Of course, he’d paid the ultimate price in order to preserve this
great secret forever, the very secret that had been discovered only recently
due to a strange set of circumstances. Anyhow,
her life had been spared but she’d been condemned nevertheless to a far crueler
fate: an imprisonment for life behind an impenetrable, a one piece of solid
rock at the furthest point and the deepest recesses of the Cave which the
Elders of Karn once a year held counsel. The thickness of it muted all sound
from escaping. The council meetings were later transferred at a more favorable
location. For nearly a decade, this fair
maiden had languished in the dark, well forgotten, save for her father who secretly
still longed for his only offspring. Tekubzan being an immortal never needed
sustenance or liquids; she’d been therefore only provided by Meju (before his
demise), some textiles and garments to appropriately (cover her body) cloth
herself as she grew up. She lived in
solitary confinement and in pitch darkness behind that solid rock wall that
looked to be a natural part of the cave. In time she was totally forgotten,
especially by the new generation which Chandor (Zandar Kuntzu) happened to
be.
Chandor (Zandar) at 20 earth years, possessing a curious and explorative nature, more than once had secretly ventured into the forbidden depths of the Cavern. Due to rare, once in a millennium seismic event, a fissure, a crack had occurred on the solid wall, which Chandor (Zandar), on one of his expeditions, came upon. He drew near to examine it. With his unusual and super-human hearing, he at that point happened to detect the slight sound of stirring behind, telling of a life, a creature that must have dwelled there. He enlarged the gap as best as he could, and holing up a light to it, peered in to investigate the source. He was shocked to discover an enchanting being, clearly a female creature staring back at him. He worked diligently and secretly for almost a year, till eventually he could get the opening large enough to get his physical body through it. The beautiful creature clad in tattered clothing on the other side was frightened at first and besides which, forgotten the vernacular. But no words were necessary for communication. He pitied and same time was terribly drawn to her. From then on, whenever he could he stole away and visited her. In time having gained her confidence, the two grew quite close. They spent many happy moments together and eventually fell deeply in love with each other. Being sort of a rebel in character, he would not shy away from most taboos; but he was nevertheless reluctant to be too intimate with her, knowing the consequence, knowing that if he did, she might be impregnated. When the desire became too great for them to resist, thinking he’d taken apt precautions, the two one night shared a most blissful, intimate time together. That time he’d left after promising to visit her the next day. But unforeseen circumstances had prevented him for many months from calling on her. When he finally could get away, he rushed to the forbidden pace to present her the most precious gift an ask her to be his mate forever. He’d decided well before this to rescue her from her prison and after the two had made good their escape from the mountain, he would make sure she would never be impregnated, to live a long and happy life with him in some secret location, in some remote corner of the world.
Fate unfortunately had intervened to destroy all his hopes and
dreams. What greeted him instead, was a heart-wrenching tragedy. He found her
long dead with a precious naked infant wrapped in a cloth, beside her. A brief
note etched on a wall had recounted her most dire ordeal which she’d
courageously faced. Worse, however, been the days of waiting and longing for
him; though trusting him, her generous heart had forever absolved him from any
blame. Finally, when his eyes beheld the words of her written declaration of
lasting love for him, his heart ripped open, and he broke down and sobbed
uncontrollably for quite some time.
Eventually a slight whimper from the infant boy, whom she had
transferred her life force to after severing the umbilical cord, the poor
entity which had waited in darkness and solitude for so many months, had just
at that point in time drew his attention. He at once dried his tears, tenderly
picked up his son and pressed him to his bosom. After a long spell, eventually
reason took hold. As the ground was hard, he fetched many rocks and reverently
covered the body of his beloved in order to provide her at least some solace in
afterlife; he said his prayers and then made a solemn wow to take good care of
their beloved offspring. He’d made good
his escape and disappeared for many a year, living in secret
and under disguise, as a woodsman, close to some remote village in Korion.
Elder Aegeus abilities being vast and mysterious, he had seen the truth
in a vision. For reasons known only to him however, he’d kept some facts that
Dwengzur had discovered only later, to himself. Dwengzur at the time had only
been instructed to find Zandar and eliminate, him and his mortal wife and the
male child they had.
In truth, for the sake of his son, Zandar’d befriended a widowed
mortal female (a local farmer’s third daughter,) living alone with a son equal
in age to Zonar. Through mutual arrangement he took her as his mate and settled
down to work the fields like an ordinary farmer. His new wife had been a kindly sort and good
natured and from the start she’d treated toddler Zonar as one of her own. Zonar
had been a happy child then, though briefly, as he then had a brother.
Again, these details Dwengzur had discovered, later and quite by
accident:
Zandar’s firstborn son
Zonar was never told of his true heritage; he grew up believing the mortal
human was his mother. Zandar Kuntzu during his years living among the mortal
humans had undergone such a metamorphosis, in order to perfect his disguise,
that he had remained successfully well concealed for over a Decade, until the
day of reckoning when he had finally been hunted down by Dwengzur and along
with his mortal wife and mortal boy and a girl child were properly disposed of.
Then again Zandar Kntzu had foreseen this outcome well in advance
and had entrusted his toddler son Zonar to the care of another ordinary mortal
family, along with a complete set of instructions that would be visible when
his son reached teen years. Each male Immortal born, lived as a mortal being
until the age of adulthood, hence he was unremarkable (indiscernible) in that
period. After maturity, it was of course, a different story; the Immortal’s
congenital (inherited), varied (wide-ranging) powers were fully restored to him
and from then on, every time he used his innate powers, it left a subtle
subatomic trace that could easily be picked up by those who knew how.
At the time Zandar had further ensured Zonar’s safety by
purposefully remaining ignorant of the identities of the foster family and by
choosing an ancient, infirm go-between who had died soon afterwards. Any hope
of tracing Zonar hence, had become practically impossible. Before leaving Zandar Kuntzu had also
implanted a magical command in the toddler’s unconscious which prevented his son,
from teen years to adulthood, from knowing of or using his powers while still
hidden in Korion. Unfortunately, as the father
had known, it was this faint trace which had enabled Dwengzur to eventually to
find Zandar and his mortal family.
At the time Dwengzur had been assigned to this task of tracking
and disposing of this renegade Immortal Chando (Zandar Kuntzu), his immortal
son, as well all his intimate human associations (like his mortal wife and his
off springs), forced as he were the re-entry into the outside world, Dwengzur
had been privately instructed, by the most ancient elder, Aegeus, on this taboo
(most prohibited) skill, the means with which to track and kill another
Immortal.
~
In Dwengzur’s absence, each time he utilized his powers, through a beacon of sorts, Aegeus and the governing body of the elders of Karn, had tracked his steady progress (feat, achievement) and earlier progress, and in the interim, got ensnared in the, admittedly, intriguing affairs of man.
Dwengzur’s latest exploits, the acutely
unusual set of events however had been rather ambiguous and warily obscure, meriting
(necessitating) at present, an explanation.
“This is unwarranted curiosity,” Dwengzur reticently grumbled. “They should have had, after all these
centuries of abstinence, been immune to it and all! The Elder Aegeus’s present request countered their most sacred of unspoken laws. Perhaps after centuries of detachment, they’d
craved variance; a dangerous precedence, to say the least.”
Dwengzur, as he surreptitiously searched the faces of governing
body of Elders seated about, inwardly asked: “What degree of contamination would be acceptable, the inescapable
resulting consequence, and in the end, what would be forfeit?”
Casting a wary glance into the recesses of the cavern, where the
hibernating groups of the younger (middle-aged) clan members lay dormant, as if
in hibernation but regenerating, Dwengzur nodded to signal his eventual acquiescence
to their request and opened his mind once more for the siphoning of information.
“It so happens I have a singularly
intriguing mortal tale to impart, one with a particular charm all its own, as
well as an incipient promise of good. It
is a chronicle of good versus evil, a narrative in which courage, loyalty,
friendship, honor, sacrifice, romance, is pitted against, treachery greed, lust
for power and abominations of every imaginable kind; but firstly, it is a tale
of moral vengeance. You, my brothers,
who have long since purged yourself of these and other such frailties, you may
assume the task of an impartial judge. And at the end of it, decide whether one of the the main characters, Nevetsecnuac, of this tale had acted in a righteous cause, or was he
merely a pawn in the game of fate, a straw dog, blown about by Heaven's breath.”
He rose to his feet and summoned a tendril of flame to his
fingertip. Walking over to the cavern
wall, he incised a circle of fire as he invoked the familiar incantation:
"Zukonaren..koture..lozuk..
"Yeme..rike..tokure..kizerune..dom..
"Do-kume..ke..ki..
"Kazuuuemmm.”
The circle of flame instantly collapsed in upon itself at its
center then exploded outwards, creating the window to the world.
With an expansive gesture of his hand, Dwengzur invited,
"Behold!"
Just then eddies of burning mist had cleared away to reveal a
barren coastline.
~
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