Valiance

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

*I look between the townsfolk in a mix between aggression and terror before finally, with great difficulty, running on all fours in the direction of the forest you came from; as I pass the alley you’ve ducked into, the world seems to hesitate as a ribbon of the gold dragon’s light lingers in the air and a spark of recognition flashes in my eyes before the scene resumes and I run into the forest*

@Artifact

*Narrows my eyes*
You’re joking, right?… That’s surely not what’s happening?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

<Snipped quote by Legend>

*Swipes my hand across you, shattering the spear and leaving deep grooves in your chest plate, and then looks between the near by townsfolks, my eye constricting the more distant they are*
Get—get away from me!
*My breathing grows heavier and I vault onto the table, paying no mind to its extreme heat*

@Artifact

*Speaks to the air*
I don’t know what you expect from me, dragon. But I refuse to engage with a pointless illusion. And I refuse to engage with the past in any meaningful way.

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Artifact>

Woah... HEY!

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

Come on, we need to go!
*Rushes toward the girl, pulling my spear from my back*

@Legend

*Looks solemnly on as you charge past me before I quickly duck around a corner behind a building to the developing scene, sighing as I rest my back against the wall*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

I guess not, huh? At least the rest of the city doesn't have to know that, right?
*Laughs, but a screech, followed by a reactionary high-pitched scream cuts through the noise of the crowd*
Heh?

@Legend

*Stops in my tracks and snaps my gaze over*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

Yeah, fair enough. I'm pretty hungry too. I'm still shocked it didn't put up more of a fight than that. Yeah, we lost some guys, but I fully expected it to wipe the floor with us. Maybe it was finally aging.

@Legend

*Takes the plate in one hand and bumps you on the shoulder with the other, clearly not focused fully on you but still showing a friendly gesture before I walk off with the food back from where I came*
Nothing lives forever, eh?

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

Hey, welcome back! Did you have the chance to talk to anyone about your part in this adventure? Everyone's buzzing.

@Legend

Soon.
*Takes a serving plate and tops it up with a share of the finest cuts of meat still available within arm’s reach*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

*On the far end of the table by myself and in some amount of confusion but delighted by the opportunity to eat, takes my share with my hands, biting into the tough organ meat*

@Artifact

*Does a double take back at you as I walk past, but doesn’t stare. Instead I slow to a halt, grunt in affirmation of what’s happening, and turn back around toward the infantry’s end of the beast*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

*Through cheers, the city gathers to feast and celebrate, clearly following a socioeconomic order as the warrior team gathers at the choice cuts and head, a scaly white, ancient beast the size of a man, followed by aristocrats and trailed by the poor, who get the worst cuts and organs*
What are we just standing here for? Let's have the best meal of our lives!
*Rushes over and takes my place with the rest of the infantry*

@Legend

*Turns and walks away when the stranger who had been speaking to me diverts his attention to the feast at hand*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

*The men place the board down on a prepared set of flat stones sectioned off with wooden slats, spanning the length of the town square; a red-headed troop among them stands at the head of the makeshift table and places his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice*
Warrior: Ladies and gentlemen, our ancestors have waited for this day for three hundred years. These fine men put their lives on the line to end this tyranny over our city. I won't waste your time or theirs with fanciful speech, but they can tell you the story themselves. We celebrate, for we lost not ten men this day. But we would have given the same had we all left to perish. I'll leave you with the first words spoken once the battle was over, by none other than Ghill, of course. We did it!
*Amidst the laugh of the crowd, the soldiers pull the tarp off the slats, revealing enough meat to feed the entire town, already prepared and sizzling on a hot metal sheet heated by stones below it and the flat stones prepared by the town*

@Legend

…
*Crosses my arms and watches the crowd, looking around as well for any inkling of something else going on*

Myriad Reality

<Snipped quote by Valiance>

*Grins*
Better. Come on.
*Ducks through the gate and jaunts toward the inner city, where festival preparations are hastily being set up*
Can you believe it? Three hundred years—not even our great great grandparents thought this day would come.

@Legend

Mm…
*Keeps an eye over my shoulder on what is being brought into town as we walk away*