The Tale of the Lizard Queen
"Grab it!"
A pale brown lizards zips across the sun baked sand, dodging the grasping hands of several children. Footsteps thunder after as each misses and takes up the pursuit, until a small crowd is rumbling behind the panicked creature.
It spies a crack in the side of a wall and dives in, its back legs flapping in the air a second before squeezing through, a final taunt to the children.
"Aww, man!" One shouts, followed by a chorus of disappointed groans.
"Ye should leave it be," a wheezy voice barks and all turn. An aged man with close cropped silvery hair, a wide brimmed hat and sand coated rags rocks in a chair, just out of the glare of the sun. Each rock creaks against the floorboards of the deck and the children shuffle away at his words.
"Why? It's just a lizard," a voice chimes from the group and the others nod hurriedly in agreement. The man continues to rock, back and forth, back and forth, and an unkind smirk splits his weather-worn face.
"Ye ever hear the tale of the Lizard Queen?" The children share perplexed looks, shaking their heads. They move closer with wide-eyed interest, any caution they had for this man evaporating.
"Take a seat and listen then."
"Why's that matter? Not gonna stop me chasing lizards," the boy announced. All eyes turned to him and the man slowly looked down.
"Ye should be careful. The Lizard Queen watches over all her children, and ye might not know you're being watched." One of the man's iris' shifted and a black slit, like that of a reptile, replaced his eye, locking onto the troublesome boy.
The boy screamed, as did the other children and they ran, falling, tripping and stumbling away, until the street was clear and quiet once more.
A pale brown lizards zips across the sun baked sand, dodging the grasping hands of several children. Footsteps thunder after as each misses and takes up the pursuit, until a small crowd is rumbling behind the panicked creature.
It spies a crack in the side of a wall and dives in, its back legs flapping in the air a second before squeezing through, a final taunt to the children.
"Aww, man!" One shouts, followed by a chorus of disappointed groans.
"Ye should leave it be," a wheezy voice barks and all turn. An aged man with close cropped silvery hair, a wide brimmed hat and sand coated rags rocks in a chair, just out of the glare of the sun. Each rock creaks against the floorboards of the deck and the children shuffle away at his words.
"Why? It's just a lizard," a voice chimes from the group and the others nod hurriedly in agreement. The man continues to rock, back and forth, back and forth, and an unkind smirk splits his weather-worn face.
"Ye ever hear the tale of the Lizard Queen?" The children share perplexed looks, shaking their heads. They move closer with wide-eyed interest, any caution they had for this man evaporating.
"Take a seat and listen then."
Back before the cataclysm and the ancient world, deep within the Heartland Jungles, was a tribe of the strangest creatures.
Snake people, all curling bodies and shimmering scales, living like us, in towns and villages, but high up in trees.
These snakes ruled a great kingdom that covered the jungles, building temples all about and soaking them in the blood of their enemies.
Snake people, all curling bodies and shimmering scales, living like us, in towns and villages, but high up in trees.
These snakes ruled a great kingdom that covered the jungles, building temples all about and soaking them in the blood of their enemies.
But one day from the shells of their broodmothers hatched an oddity.
A snake with legs and a short and stubby tail, hardly made for slithering at all.
'What fresh monstrosity was this', many of the faith-havers called, citing it should be killed for its strangeness.
But one broodmother took a liking to this oddity, this mutant, and raised her voice against the faith-havers.
'What harm could such a strange creature do?'
That broodmother's name was Shalazara, and she named her child Ilzirasha, meaning 'Lone One'
The creature grew alongside its snake brethren, but apart.
For none wished to play with the mutant, and those that did had only the illest of intentions.
Ilzirasha grew and learned of the harsh world she had been borne to.
And each day her scales grew harder, her talons and fangs longer and her mind sharper.
For only in Shalazara's embrace was she safe, and only by her cunning was she kept that way.
Years passed.
Until her fifteenth.
Upon the night when the blood and ash moons fill the sky together.
When broodmothers' years pass, and they begin to fade.
A snake with legs and a short and stubby tail, hardly made for slithering at all.
'What fresh monstrosity was this', many of the faith-havers called, citing it should be killed for its strangeness.
But one broodmother took a liking to this oddity, this mutant, and raised her voice against the faith-havers.
'What harm could such a strange creature do?'
That broodmother's name was Shalazara, and she named her child Ilzirasha, meaning 'Lone One'
The creature grew alongside its snake brethren, but apart.
For none wished to play with the mutant, and those that did had only the illest of intentions.
Ilzirasha grew and learned of the harsh world she had been borne to.
And each day her scales grew harder, her talons and fangs longer and her mind sharper.
For only in Shalazara's embrace was she safe, and only by her cunning was she kept that way.
Years passed.
Until her fifteenth.
Upon the night when the blood and ash moons fill the sky together.
When broodmothers' years pass, and they begin to fade.
They grant their gifts to a child of their choosing.
Of all the brood of Shalazara, none had connected with her as Ilzirasha.
The years they'd spent together, when others would have left, had bred familiarity and love.
But they knew not what it was and had no word for it.
Alien concepts to alien creatures.
The faith-havers, discovering this blasphemy, destroyed Ilzirasha's first clutch of eggs.
All except one.
One Shalazara hid before they were imprisoned.
Death was their punishment. To be fed to the mighty Lashiaz, the Great Snake. For their crimes against nature.
For one mutant, is to be studied, but more, could bring calamity.
Shalazara despaired for her daughter.
She had no concern for herself, knowing her life would fade quickly with the loss of her gift.
But could not let the gift of broodmother passed to her daughter, be squandered.
And high within the temple prison she plotted their escape.
Upon the morn, when the snake people are slow to rise she made her move.
Using magics she'd kept hidden, she freed her daughter and bade her flee, revealing the hiding place of the last of her clutch.
And with that Ilzirasha made her escape.
She fled into the jungle and beyond, not stopping or slowing, for fear of her child's life.
She fled, finding a city of metal, with shiny walls and floors and the half metal beings that ruled it, but they reviled her organic body and bade her leave.
She continued to the massive hives of Kril'then, where huge insects rule, but was turned back for her strangeness.
She journeyed on to the kingdoms of beasts and elementals, but could find no place there and was chased away.
Eventually she came to a mountain's heart, where water fell and a world grew.
One like the Heartland Jungles in temper and ardour, and there she hatched the first of her brood.
Unknown to her, she had found the sacred falls of Yinx.
A place where the waters gleam light and a lost god rests eternally.
Her first child, was born not long after, a demi-god of gigantic proportions, and with all her rage.
Of all the brood of Shalazara, none had connected with her as Ilzirasha.
The years they'd spent together, when others would have left, had bred familiarity and love.
But they knew not what it was and had no word for it.
Alien concepts to alien creatures.
The faith-havers, discovering this blasphemy, destroyed Ilzirasha's first clutch of eggs.
All except one.
One Shalazara hid before they were imprisoned.
Death was their punishment. To be fed to the mighty Lashiaz, the Great Snake. For their crimes against nature.
For one mutant, is to be studied, but more, could bring calamity.
Shalazara despaired for her daughter.
She had no concern for herself, knowing her life would fade quickly with the loss of her gift.
But could not let the gift of broodmother passed to her daughter, be squandered.
And high within the temple prison she plotted their escape.
Upon the morn, when the snake people are slow to rise she made her move.
Using magics she'd kept hidden, she freed her daughter and bade her flee, revealing the hiding place of the last of her clutch.
And with that Ilzirasha made her escape.
She fled into the jungle and beyond, not stopping or slowing, for fear of her child's life.
She fled, finding a city of metal, with shiny walls and floors and the half metal beings that ruled it, but they reviled her organic body and bade her leave.
She continued to the massive hives of Kril'then, where huge insects rule, but was turned back for her strangeness.
She journeyed on to the kingdoms of beasts and elementals, but could find no place there and was chased away.
Eventually she came to a mountain's heart, where water fell and a world grew.
One like the Heartland Jungles in temper and ardour, and there she hatched the first of her brood.
Unknown to her, she had found the sacred falls of Yinx.
A place where the waters gleam light and a lost god rests eternally.
Her first child, was born not long after, a demi-god of gigantic proportions, and with all her rage.
She named him Kelaksha, meaning 'First One'
His form resembled a dragon, but long and wavy, with a great head and mane, and lightning flared around his body.
Whatever Ilzirasha had endured, he felt a hundred fold.
He erupted through the mountain's top, the sound a warning to those that had hurt his mother.
And he flew the world, returning to the Heartland Jungle.
Where Shalazara lay decrepit and wasting. For her captors knew her suffering would endure this way.
And she smiled upon sight of Kelaksha's majesty, as he opened his mouth and lay the snake kingdom to ash.
Her revenge satisfied Ilzirasha rejoiced, settling the Falls of Yinx and birthing her children.
They say she birthed many races, all of scales and different shapes.
From the mightiest dragons, to the lizards of XieYin, all are her progeny.
And even today, her empires persist.
And many tell the tale of the Lizard Queen.
His form resembled a dragon, but long and wavy, with a great head and mane, and lightning flared around his body.
Whatever Ilzirasha had endured, he felt a hundred fold.
He erupted through the mountain's top, the sound a warning to those that had hurt his mother.
And he flew the world, returning to the Heartland Jungle.
Where Shalazara lay decrepit and wasting. For her captors knew her suffering would endure this way.
And she smiled upon sight of Kelaksha's majesty, as he opened his mouth and lay the snake kingdom to ash.
Her revenge satisfied Ilzirasha rejoiced, settling the Falls of Yinx and birthing her children.
They say she birthed many races, all of scales and different shapes.
From the mightiest dragons, to the lizards of XieYin, all are her progeny.
And even today, her empires persist.
And many tell the tale of the Lizard Queen.
The man leant back in his chair, and looked skyward as if seeking something above as the tale ended. The children stared with faces of awe and interest, all except one, who stood aside, arms crossed.
"Why's that matter? Not gonna stop me chasing lizards," the boy announced. All eyes turned to him and the man slowly looked down.
"Ye should be careful. The Lizard Queen watches over all her children, and ye might not know you're being watched." One of the man's iris' shifted and a black slit, like that of a reptile, replaced his eye, locking onto the troublesome boy.
The boy screamed, as did the other children and they ran, falling, tripping and stumbling away, until the street was clear and quiet once more.
The brown lizard crawled from where it had hidden, across the floor and up the chair to sit comfortably on the man's arm. He smiled at the creature and sucked in a slow, hissing breath. A chuckle.
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