Daruk
The fragile balance of light and darkness. Broken. Broken after years of peace and harmony. Decades, centuries in fact. My penmanship isn't great, but I hope to tell you the story before the curse kills me. I wish to tell you the story of how it happened.
How the word "death" became prominent and how our species was.... annihilated. Tell you of The Shatterpoint.
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I woke early the morning of the incident and I remember my older brother Marth coming into my sleeping quarters and scolding me for being messy. This was when my sister came into the room, her normally white feathers mangled with blood.
"Daruk! Marth! The d...demons.... Ashervil...." she fell to the ground, groaning in pain, her golden beak stained with blood.
I ran to her side, gently laying my talon upon her side and gingerly turning her over. I almost vomited when I saw the condition she was in. The rot spreading through her chest, making her feathers fall out and turn black. Her blue eyes darted like scared fish in a river.
I could see that Marth tried to remain calm, but I saw the panic in his golden eyes and the way his pale gray feathers were ruffled. "Hazel.... try to tell us what's going on."
Her eyes blazed in pain, but she gave a tiny nod. We both helped her up, supporting her wings with our own. Her talons scratched the wooden floor of our cottage.
"I was.... doing my patrol of the area.... protecting our treasure and Ashervil broke the barrier! H...he brought an army and... and.... they killed everyone in the treasury! I tried to flee and one stabbed a quill he had shed through my chest and poisoned me..... I took him down by skewering my beak through one of his hearts.... he bled to death...." she looked seriously at me and Marth. "G...go warn father.... tell him to come with his best men....." she then coughed, blood dripping from her beak.
Marth held her head up to him with one talon. "No. What we need to do is get you a medic," he replied. "I will go fetch one—"
Hazel laid a bloodied golden talon on his chest and looked at him seriously, her blue eyes blazing. "No. Don't do anything for me." I could see her pain and determination in her gaze.
Marth's eyes widened. "B...but you'll die! The poison will spread to your hearts!"
"If I die..... then at least I'll die protecting what I love..." pain and fierce love shone in her gaze.
Pain shone in Marth's gaze, but he nodded in fierce understanding.
I was bewildered that my sister would risk her life for us, but at the same time I understood her. I slowly pulled my wing away from her and Marth did the same. She slumped on the ground, her chest convulsing with rapid shallow breaths.
Marth looked at me sadly and left the room, beckoning me to follow with his wing. I walked up to Hazel and grabbed a sword from the wall, with pain in my eyes, I recited the message that went with the parting blow, planning to sever her head and end her suffering. I felt golden tears stream down my cheeks as I stared at her face, seeing her pain.
"Hazel.... my only sister..... with this sword blow.... I give you my utmost respect.... my pity..... and most importantly...... my love..... may you find clear skies and holy water to quench your thirst....." I closed my eyes and delivered the blow, sending her into the afterlife. After that, still with my eyes shut tight, I left the room, not looking back.
When I opened them again, I saw Marth giving me a sad knowing look. With great sorrow in our hearts, we left to warn our father, grabbing our metal claw covers just in case we ran into trouble. I slipped on the metal claws regretfully, for I hated violence and killing.
We ran out of the cottage, carrying very light to not slow our flying in any way. Outside war raged, demons flew in the skies, battling with bloodied angels who were clearly losing the fight. I could feel my feathers ruffling in nervousness and I could see my brother's feathers ruffling too.
Marth glanced back at me. "Fly low to the ground," he said. "it'll be harder for them to see us."
So we flew beneath the fighting, avoiding the fires from cottages that had been set alight with emerald flame.
Finally we arrived at father's cottage to see his guards fighting with demons. We ran to help and were able to make the demons flee without much injury. We escorted them in and gave them to the medic, immediately after running to father's chamber.
He turned around, startled. He looked so similar to Hazel that it made my chest hurt and took the breath from me. He had the same white feathers with gold tips and the same blue eyes. He looked at us quizzically. "What is the meaning of this Daruk, Marth? Where is Hazel?"
My hearts stopped when I heard this and I exchanged a glance with Marth.
Father saw this and looked at us with a hardened gaze. "Where is she!?" He said firmly.
Marth nudged me to tell him. I took a deep breath and raised my head. "Hazel was poisoned by the demons..... they stabbed her with a shed quill in her chest.... it was spreading to her hearts and I preformed the parting blow to end her suffering."
Father was quiet for a moment, he stood as still as a statue. Then a golden tear slowly rolled down his white cheek and he sucked in a pained breath.
"Oh Hazel..... my little girl......" he croaked, covering his face with one talon and sobbing, more golden tears falling to the floor.
We ran to his side and laid our wings on him to comfort him. He smiled for a moment, wiping his tears away and sniffling. "Oh my sons.... I love you." He then wrapped both wings around us in a hug.
"Hazel told us to tell you to bring the army and attack," Marth said.
He nodded and stood up, bringing his wings back to his sides. "Let us avenge Hazel and bring the end to this suffering!"
They then gathered the army and went on the battlefield. The demons did not expect this attack and were driven back. Marth and I ran with them, adorned with golden armor from father's treasury. The soldiers also wore this armor along with golden claws. We sliced and diced demon after demon, being like a whirl of blades and feathers.
I came upon a particular demon covered in quills and charged him, my pride and bravery shooting to far from what I could handle.
The demon stabbed me in the chest with multiple quills and I was knocked to the ground, breathless. My vision became blurry, littered with black spots. I closed my eyes, but then opened them when I heard a cry of fury. I saw Marth charging the demon with claws out and sinking his talons into its chest. My eyes widened with massive respect and gratitude.
The demon was killed and Marth ran to my side, saying something that I could not hear over the ringing I heard in my ears. Then I blacked out.
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I woke with a massive headache in the medic room of my father's cottage. I looked around and saw the two injured soldiers next to me. I tried to lift myself up, but found that I couldn't.
I heard talons clicking on the floor outside and then father walked into the room, dried tears on his face. It was clear that he had been crying for a long time. He turned to me.
"Father...." I croaked. "Where is Marth?"
He looked away from me, eyes glittering with buried grief. "He died. There was a quill buried in his back that he could not see. The poison reached his hearts and killed him. He died a very slow and painful death."
I could hardly breathe. I had lost two siblings in one day and it was too much for my heart to bear. I wailed silently and wished for my death, unwilling to live any longer.
Then there was a shriek outside and my father left the room to investigate. It was horribly silent after that. I waited for hours, but father never returned. That was when I began to feel the effects of the poison setting in and that my death was near. The two soldiers next to me were dead already and I knew in my heart that I was the only one left.
The demons left the area and I pulled some scroll paper and ink from the cabinet next to me and began to write.
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