AWAKENING

Awakening

By, Cathbad

I stir.

Something has disturbed my long rest.

Someone has intruded upon my sanctuary.  I can sense the intruder.  Even in my half-sleep I can smell her.  I can feel the stone’s light tremble as she walks tunnels long hidden from even the dwarves.  The heat from her body disturbs the subterranean currents my body has become attuned to.

She is but two levels from where I lay, encased in my solitude, ensconced in my tomb of rock. 

I hate her.

I know not how long my rest has been, but I know this awakening comes earlier than I have intended!  I know that this interloper has destroyed the peaceful non-existence of my long slumber.

I expand myself; feeling the resistance of the stone pressing in on me. 

Loving stone, how long you have caressed my body, protecting me from dangers I have secluded myself from!

And now I must break you.  I must crack the shell of my entombment, that I may deal with this fool, who dares to break in on my peace.  I must shatter the stone that covers me.

My cocoon.

But I am no fluttering butterfly, who’s anger is abated with a kiss of the wind.  No, my friend, you have disturbed the slumber of a monster; a beast who has no love for your – or any kind.

You have brought your filthy body here, in the clothes of the pauper.  Did you think to beg me for a boon?

Instead, you shall face the wrath and retribution of one who hates you, almost as much as he hates the sun, so blessedly long removed from his sight!

I stretch my forearms, dismayed for their lack of strength… or their aesthetic charm.

Muscles scream in protest.  Pain racks my body, but I do not scream out.  I must not alert the hated intruder to my whereabouts.  Not yet.

I dream of tearing the elven criminal apart.  I revel in the image of tossing away her limbs, Ripping her torso asunder.  Reveling in the image of her entrails spilling upon the stone at my large feet.   

I stretch out one long, powerfull leg, causing the stone to crumble about it.  I smile at the pain, knowing I will repay it threefold on my victim, and I shall do it soon.

She is now a single level above me, strolling nonchalantly through what was once and will be again be my home.  Waking on feet she will not long now have.  Breathing through lungs that shall be my bread.  Out of a head that will adorn my mantle.

Arching my back, and stone breaks with crackles and snaps.  Stone falls about my self, and I imagine her fear as she feels the tremors my awakening is causing.  My smile, it is said, can ice the strongest heart, weaken the bravest will.  I feel the rubble fall from my face as that smile stretches muscle and sinew.

My body can now shift; to and fro I rock, loosening my hard blanket that time has stiffened through the long, silent years against my leathery skin. 

Hard is my skin, but not cold.  Even now, the not-quite-dormant fire rekindles anew.  The heat begins to warm my innards, bringing me closer to full wakefulness.  And with renewed flame comes renewed strength.

I rock harder against the walls of my self-imposed prison, built so long ago, to escape – for but a while – a cold and hate-filled world.

I am sure they have forgotten me.  My name will be but myth in their minds, old stories told by a generation older than the survivors who will soon get to know me.  Soon my name shall leap from the pages of fairy tales and will once again bring fear by its mere utterance!

I have loved flesh, and soon I will taste it again.  Ahh, the feel of fresh meat being rend between my teeth.  The gush of hot blood rushing down my throat.  The sheer pleasure of filling my mouth with more and more!

With renewed effort, I break hard stone.  With eyes now open, as capable of seeing in the dark as the abomination traversing my sacred tunnels I watch the rubble fall away.  And knowing she can no longer escape me, I allow myself the release of a great cry:  A howl born of pain, hunger… and new-found freedom!

I glory in the knowledge of how my voice has sent a sword of fear piercing the chest of this feminine fool.  Run, my beauty; it matters not.  I am too close to freedom, you too far from it.

My limbs are now capable of stretching fully forth.  The air is now thick enough for me to take great gulps of it.  Quickly, the walls of my boudoir begin to crumble.  A fury of falling rock, great gusts of stone dust, and the moaning of the great mountain itself announce to even the gods that the greatest of the Great Race has once again risen from his tomb!

I scream as the last remnants of the cocoon fall away.  The force of my voice shatters the panels I long ago set to block out the sun.  And wide shafts of light once again reveal my great and horrible lair!  Again I cry out, against the pain of my parched throat, out of the sheer anger and joy of freedom!

My wings, unfolded once more, batter against the current in this underground stronghold.  My lungs fill with both air and bile – the catalysts for my fires!

And my senses fill with the recognition of… her. 

There she stands, in my very lair.  Wielding a sword birthed by the skills of her own people, in armor once worn as skin by my own.

An Elven Warrior revealed.

And all I can do is smile.

What a glorious day!  Awakened against my will, yes, but to the glory and thrill of Battle, as well!

Let this new age begin!  I scream my desire to the gods, and face my would-be assassin with a sneer of unadulterated pleasure.

Let the New Age of Darganau begin!