LEGEND OF NEVETSECNUAC
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.
 |
| DWENGZUR |
Silence fell at the conclusion of Dwengzur’s report. The primary, the most ancient one known as “Aegeus”, thoughtfully stroking his long, snow white 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.
 |
| CESSARS |
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.
~
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.
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.
Dwengzu’s assignment had been to find and destroy him as well as the children (twin boy and girl) 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 EMINANCE OLAVIGEMAR |
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 twin infant boy and a girl, 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 twin infants, whom she had
transferred her life force to after severing the umbilical cord, the poor entities
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 daughter and pressed them 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 offsprings.
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 |
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 Dwengzu 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 chilren they had.
In truth, for the sake of his twin children, Zandar’d befriended a
widowed mortal female (a local farmer’s third daughter,) living alone with a
son equal in age to Zonar (boy twin) and Arnora (girl twin). 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 the toddlers
Zonar and Arnora as if they were her own. Zonar and Arnora had both been happy
children then, though briefly, as they then had an elder brother.
Again, these details Dwengzur had discovered, later and quite by
accident:
Zandar’s twin children
Zonar and Arnora were never told of their true heritage; in those early years they
had grown up believing the mortal human was their 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 Kuntzu had foreseen this outcome well in advance
and had entrusted his toddler twins Zonar and Arnora, separating them as
precautionary measure, to the care of two different ordinary mortal families,
along with a complete set of instructions that would be visible when they
reached teen years. Each Immortal born lived as a mortal being until the age of
adulthood, hence they were 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 them and from
then on, every time they used their 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 and Arnora’s safety
by purposefully remaining ignorant of the identities of the foster families and
by choosing an ancient, infirm go-between (to carry on the transaction) who had
died soon afterwards. Any hope of tracing Zonar and Arnora hence, had become practically
impossible. Before leaving Zandar Kuntzu
had also implanted a magical command in the toddlers’ unconscious which
prevented them, from teen years to adulthood, from knowing of or using their
powers while still hidden in Korion. Unfortunately,
it was through this faint trace which had eventually enabled Dwengzur to (detect,
locate) find Zandar and his mortal family.
~
“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.
His eyes closed, his face perfectly composed, his thoughts
perfectly lucid, moment later all seated about heard in their heads Dwengzur’s
somber voice resounding with respect and care.
“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 the
prince 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 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.
~
Note:
(Stay tuned for the next post. Chapter 1- Fisherman's prize. As
each chapter being so very long, it shall be divided into segments, culminating
in many, sequential posts, over time.)
