An Assassin's Respite

The Echos of War

Bahamut can be seen flying towards a mountain whose peak towers over the surrounding terrain. He lands and enters the mountain through an opening. After a brief walk, he enters the throne room where Amaraz, king of the dragons, was perched. He was a massive jet-black dragon. Spikes lined the edges of his wings and his back. His skin was best described as armor-plated and his eyes were a dark amethyst color. He was more of a bipedal dragon much like Bahamut.

“Ah, Bahamut, I’ve been waiting for you.” He says as he moves from his throne to greet him. 

“I apologize for making you wait,” Bahamut replies.

“There’s no need to apologize, I’m sure the journey was long and arduous,” Amaraz assures him.

“I thank you for your forgiveness,” Bahamut says.

“Of course, now, what did you think of them?” He asks.

Amaraz had tasked Bahamut with observing the humans. He had been away for 100 years in order to get a full understanding of their race. They had been around for several thousand years and had developed languages and cultures that varied between groups. Recently, Amaraz had gained a sudden intrigue with them. While with them, Bahamut had interacted with them, protected them, and offered assistance in their lives. He had become known as a sacred beast to them.

“They seemed to be a lot like us, my lord. They have feelings and are able to think for themselves. They are also quite intelligent especially considering the short amount of time they have existed. They are quite weak on the other hand. They struggle with taking down passive creatures like deers, but their intelligence has led to them creating weapons that make it possible for them to take them out.” He answers.

“I see,” Amaraz mumbles as he walks towards an opening that acts as a window.

“Do you think that they will ever pose a threat to us?” He asks.

“I am unsure. They are early in their species life cycle, so it’s hard to tell.” Bahamut answers.

“Hm,” Amaraz grumbles while staring out the window.

“Sir, if I may offer my opinion,” Bahamut asks with a bow.

“You may.” He says.

“I think it would be more beneficial to us to form a partnership of sorts with the humans. We dragons live lives that dwarf the lifespan of humans so we lack the drive to make the most of our lives that humans have. I think a partnership with them could lead to great things for both of our races.” He states.

“How so?” Amaraz asks.

“For starters, due to our life span, there will come a time where food will become an issue, these humans-” He begins to explain but Amaraz interrupts him.

“They can serve as a farmable food source!” He exclaims.

“What? No, we could utilize their interesting farming techniques to produce food when we can’t find any on our own.” Bahamut corrects.

“It was just a joke, Bahamut. So, you’re saying that these humans could be of use to us?” Amaraz questions.

“I think so,” Bahamut confirms.

Amaraz was silent for a moment as he stared at the horizon through his window deep in thought.

“I think I will observe the humans myself. Then I will make my decision.” He says.

“Understood. I hope you are able to see in them what I can.” Bahamut says before leaving the room.

Several years would pass before Amaraz would contact Bahamut. Once again, Bahamut lands on Amaraz’s mountain and is surprised to see other prominent dragons.

“Athena? What are you doing here, I thought you despised Amaraz?” Bahamut notes in surprise.

Athena was a brilliant white dragon whose scales were more of a feathery fur. Her eyes were crystal white and she had a somewhat griffon-like appearance.

“I do, but he seemed rather urgent in his summons of me.” She says as she makes her way towards the throne room.

“Well if it isn’t the suck-up.” A voice from behind him says.

Bahamut turns to see Kirin approaching him. 

“And if it isn’t the lazy and impolite cur.” Bahamut scoffs.

“You two should stop arguing so much,” Karma says as he glides past the pair.

The two glared at each other as they follow him to the throne room. As they walk in they see other prominent dragons; the storm dragon, the dragon of the sea, the dragon of ice, and others. There had never been a gathering of dragons on this scale, whatever Amaraz was going to say was going to be extremely important.

“I thank you all for gathering here. It is rare to have so many of you all gathered here at once, and I apologize for the inconvenience. But I have something of utmost importance that I wanted to discuss. As you all know, there is another form of intelligent life on our planet that we have come to call humans. I had Bahamut observe them for some time and upon hearing his opinion on them, I went to observe them myself and what I saw was troubling, to say the least. Although the species was far inferior to us in terms of power, their ability to reproduce far surpasses ours. Their numbers will continue to rise and with their ability to adapt and evolve, they could very well lead to our downfall sooner or later.” Amaraz starts.

“Sir, what are you saying?” Bahamut asks in concern.

“I am saying that it would be in our best interests to exterminate the humans before they become too troublesome.” He explains.

“But sir!” Bahamut begins to argue, but Athena places a hand on his shoulder.

“Amaraz, I do not think that your decision is a wise one. Your decision seems to be one made from fear rather than logic.” She points out.

“And your argument most likely stems from self-interest. These humans if anything are something that peak your interest. That is all.” Amaraz retorts.

“There is some truth to that statement, but these humans have more potential than us. We dragons can only go so far due to our slow evolution. However, humans evolve much more rapidly than us. It is very possible that by involving ourselves with them we could evolve faster and further than we could alone.” She adds.

“I disagree. I think that they are more of a danger than an asset.” Amaraz says.

“It seems that nothing we say will change your mind,” Athena says as she prepares to leave the throne room.

“Do you realize what you’re doing? If you leave, then that means you are against me.” Amaraz warns.

“Oh, threatening your fellow dragons already.” She notes as she leaves.

“Anyone else care to leave?” Amaraz asks.

“I do not agree with your decision, sir. The winds tell me that these humans are important. I will protect them.” Karma says as he leaves as well.

“I never did like following orders, I’ll do what I want,” Kirin says as he departs.

A few more dragons begin to leave the room until a little less than half of the original amount remained.

“Fools, all of them,” Amaraz exclaims.

“Amaraz, could you please reconsider?” Bahamut pleads.

“There is nothing to reconsider. I am the king of the dragons and my decision is final and absolute!” He shouts.

“I’m sorry that you think that,” Bahamut says as he turns his back to him for the first time.

“Bahamut. If you leave this room, I will treat you as an enemy.” Amaraz warns.

Bahamut ignores his warning and begins to leave the room.

“BAHAMUT!” Amaraz shouts in rage. 

His anger shook the room as Bahamut left. A sadness like no other passed over him as he knew that he would have to battle his old friend. The next couple of weeks were filled with chaos. Amaraz and every dragon that had remained in the throne room after he made his decision, along with their subjects ruthlessly attacked every human village they came in contact with. Bahamut gathered any dragon that would follow him and gave refuge to as many humans as possible. Despite the hostility from Amaraz, Bahamut still had hope that he would be able to persuade him to reconsider, but that changed after the third week of chaos.

Bahamut was at one of the refugee camps for humans when a fellow fire dragon approached. 

“Sir, I have terrible news!” He exclaims.

“What is it Vulcan?” Bahamut asks. He knew it wasn’t going to be good, the dragon before him was battered and bloodied.

“We had found a human village while we were out at the same time as some of Amaraz’s men. At first, nothing of importance happened as both sides were unsure of what to do next, but then Amaraz showed up. I knew instantly from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t there to talk. Soon after he showed up he attacked one of the dragons that was with us. It didn’t take long for the others to join in and soon, an all-out battle had unfolded.” He states.

“I… I see.” Bahamut says while trailing off. 

He was silent for only a short moment before a grim realization passed over his face.

“And the others? Where are they?” He asked in a panic.

The dragon merely shook his head in response, confirming his fears.

“Ifrit! What about him?” Bahamut asks.

Ifrit was a long-time friend of his. He had offered advice to him on many occasions and was like a brother. Vulcan said nothing. He couldn’t bring himself to say those words that would hurt Bahamut so bad. Bahamut simply lowers his head, holding back his tears with all his might.

“Sir Ifrit spent his last minutes giving me and the humans in the village time to escape. If it weren’t for his valiant sacrifice, we all may have perished that day. But… But if I had stayed, then maybe-” Vulcan begins to choke out through tears, but Bahamut stops him.

“You have nothing to regret. You made the right choice. Amaraz is the king for a reason, he is not someone that can be taken down easily. Now go get some rest.” He says in an attempt to alleviate the weight that was on his shoulders.

Vulcan lowers his head before shakily flying away. Bahamut quickly flies to his volcano home that was nearby. Once he lands, he quickly falls to the ground, overcome with sadness and anger. He roared ferociously, shaking the volcano and causing it to erupt.

The news of Amaraz’s actions spread like wildfire and soon enough, more dragons that were hesitant about picking a side quickly made their choices. Some feared garnering Amaraz’s wraith and sided with him while others feared what he may do in the future and instead sided with Bahamut. The war that would unfold would hold many names across different religions. Ancient Greeks would call it The Battle of the Gods, ancient Egyptians the war of Set and Horus. Each interpretation varied based on where they were during the conflict. Kirin and Karma had joined Bahamut at the forefront of the battles. Kirin was angered at the audacity of Amaraz to threaten him and Karma angry at the senseless violence that he had started.

Athena acted as their strategist. Her knowledge gave them an advantage that they sorely needed. Their goal of saving the humans and the number of dragons that joined Amaraz out of fear of facing him made battles difficult. Bahamut, Kirin, and Karma would be dubbed the three kings as they were the central figures of their side. There were few that could match their strength and it looked as if the war was going in their favor, but then Amaraz did the unthinkable.