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The great beast Azureth began simply as a cruel misfit of science. Spawned by
the hands of men, seeming almost as a malevolent joke as he hatched from his egg
clad with scales and feathers alike. They sought to combine the ancient power of
the dragon, the fierce and commanding lord of the skies- with the gentle agility
of a bird, who darts about the sky as though it were his playground. Such human
magicians could not believe that their own work had created such a creature,
they waited patiently to train him for their own ends.
Soon, they discovered that this poor, tormented mutant of two noble creatures
was hardly as strong or quick as they had hoped, and all were sorely
dissapointed in him. They held a council, the regent wizards of the land and the
mighty kings. They agreed they would release him into the wild, and let the
forces of nature deal with him as is appropriate.
With neither instinct nor skill to guide him, Azureth stumbled into the
forest world like a beacon- shimmering blue scales about his body, and the
radiant blue feathers of his wings. There was no safety from his predators
unless he took to the sky, almost blending into the endless sea of clouds and
air. With time on his side, from his almost eternally long lifespawn of his
dragon blood, he learned to become one of the predators.
Over the decades he earned a name for himself in the world of men, they knew
of Azureth and the forest which he called his own. They did not seek to tread in
his land, though no tales were known of him killing men for the crime of
trespassing. He did not have a hoard of treasure as other dragons, nor did he
welcome travelers openly like the mystic birds of stories. He sat alone in his
realm, knowing only the solace of the sky to envelop his unnatural beauty.
However, his apathy towards men may have proved to be his own death. Greedy
knights with visions of grandeur came to his lair, their eyes flashing with
unjustified hatred for this beast that was neither threat nor help. They figured
he would be an easier kill than a full blooded dragon, and they all came as
though in a line. Once Azureth had freed himself from one knight, the next would
come in line with his emblem flying high beside him. They wore him down, and he
began to wonder if death was not better than a life being hunted and shunned
from jealousy and hatred alike.
Even with his will to live diminished, he fought. He knew that to give up his
own life to the greed of men was a sin that even a creature created by greed
could not allow. The day came, though, when a whole cavalry arrived to his lair,
wielding spears for his scales and wicked arrows for his wings. Though he tried,
he could not fight them all, and he was killed, his scales fluttering off his
body like a splash of bluest water. His feathers tore from his wings as he
thrashed wildly, unable to believe that the vicious men who birthed him now
sought to kill him for nothing beyond their own glory.
They burnt his remains. But the ashes stirred. They swirled around and crept
upwards, compelled by nature to reassemble themselves. He was not a mutant of
science, he was a noble creature deserving of life and happiness. He rose from
his own ashes, born again from the life which he wasted, alive in his newfound
natural state. From the bosom of the land, he emerged anew, his scales flashing
ever more brightly, his feathered wings ever more magnificent for he was now
born of nature, and he knew no angst.
He took to the skies, ashes falling from him as he rose, trailing behind him
the misgiven life of pain and apathy. When the men looked up high, they saw his
glory and might, he was alive again after death. He was truly lord, now, and the
men who had killed him fled to the farthest ends of the world they knew. He was
the protector of his forest, not a lonely creature who had forsaken his duties
due to his own confusion. He was the grand Azureth, and those who spoke his name
spoke it with awe.
He is Azureth, the protector, the beast of unparalled beauty and valor- born
solely of Mother Nature's blood into the world. |
