To Expose The Shadow

The last three days had been a blur for Ascar. When he had tried to scare off Darzarath from his no longer existing house, he had expected that one potential outcome would have been his death. Never he would have imagined that the very being he expected to be murdered by, would become his new boss.

He adjusted his brand new tie, straightened his dashing new suit, and cleared his throat as he mentally went over what he needed to do for today's event.

He entered the studio, and Darzarath was there, in her disguised human form, standing behind a podium, looking over some papers as a whole filming crew buzzed around, setting up lights and checking cables. She too had some quite interesting three days, mostly due to the rather spectacularly destructive kidnapping of Ascar by her. The local authorities were not amused at all by having a mythical creature show up in the middle of the night and level a whole house and wreck half a dozen cars.

"Miss Zarodav, we're starting in 3 minutes." The director called to her from behind the extensive camera setup at the darker end of the room.

Darzarath simply acknowledged him as she kept reading through her notes. She smiled at the thought that soon the name he just called her by, Daria Zarodav, would soon be no more than an alias to the rest of the world, just like what it has always been for her.

Ascar approached her, and she turned around to nod at him.

"You've already assured me about this, but I need to hear it one last time because I still can't believe it" He said. "Are you truly serious about this? Running for presidency is not a task that many can honestly undertake without giving up a lot along the way."

She looked back at him with an amused grin.

"Yes. I am perfectly sure I want to do this, Ascar." She replied him. "I understand and appreciate your concern, but I can assure you I'll be fine."

"Of course."

Ascar let out a defeated sigh as he headed for the other end of the room, behind the camera crew. He had given her everything he had about Hopter and those officially connected to him, and in spite of the very little dirt there actually was on Hopter, Darzarath was still convinced she had something on him. Ascar didn't know if he was impressed or horrified.

He watched as slowly the camera and studio crew got to their positions, far from the camera's eye, as the director began calling for the various last checks.

Lights shifted one last time, cameras where fixed and set.

"We're on in 10, 9, 8..." The director began counting down.

Darzarath straightened her suit dress one last time as the lighs adjusted themselves one last time.

"4, 3, 2, 1..."

"People of Seralia." She began. "In light of recent events, it has become clear that one cannot simply stand aside and watch passively as many horrible things happens across our country. It is a direct call to my action, when those that seek to govern this country, those did their best work into making this wonderful piece of our great world even better than it already was, are falsely accused on the behalf of those that would only seek to destroy our nation."

Ascar listened silently from behind the cameras. He did witness Darzarath's charisma before in the past couple of days, and his attempt to uncover more about her cryptic public image had led him to watch and listen several times to her few public appearance before. He was certain that this speech of hers had been carefully planned, calculated, framed to fit her agenda without showing her full deck of cards. But something about it didn't feel right to him.

"I spent years making this company, Dracotronics, a pinnacle of economic, social and technological success. I watched governments after governments succeed and fail one after the other. I watched my fellow citizens suffer and flourish in consequence. I beheld the greatest events in this country's history, in both good and bad fate."

Ascar looked around. Some of the crew in the studio were starting to wonder just what was the point of her speech. He did partake in some rehearsals these past couple of days, and this speech was not what she rehearsed. He began pondering just what she was trying to communicate with this as she continued.

"In the past, I've lied. I've cheated. I've done things that best would stay unspoken. But I did not let those slashes of darkness define my present and my future. I beheld the greatest minds in history being born, grow, learn and achieve the greatness for which we remember them."

Ascar kept noticing some silent commotion among the film crew. The director especially seemed to be holding on to the chair by the nails. That's when Darzarath pulled her first ace. She rose her right hand, in a gesture similar to swearing an oath, and then passed her left hand over it. Thin black smoke-like tendrils propagated from her left hand, wrapping around the other. As the smoke dispersed, human skin was replaced by scales. By the time she retracted her left hand, her whole right hand and forearm had turned into her real draconic limb, albeit at a more human size.

"Today, I put the past lies to rest. Today, Daria Zarodav makes way for my true self. Today, I officially join forces with Jorg Kolman's party for the upcoming elections of the Seralian Year 3412."

At this point the director essentially jumped off the chair and began gesturing to cut the feed. Ascar stepped towards him and put a hand on his shoulder while shaking his head.

"For the first time, one of my kind takes a direct step towards joining forces with a humanoid race for reasons beyond personal gain or self interest. Tomorrow, I'll be beginning my electoral tour in the country, starting from Fartrail, I'll then meet with Kolman in Hurgas the day after. I invite anyone who has the means to, to come to Fartrail. Those who will be there shall bear witness to consistency of the truth that carries my words."

Darzarath left the podium, heading for behind the cameras, after which quickly the live feed was cut to what Ascar could see being a brief ad for her upcoming campaign.

Ascar entered Darzarath's quarters, her real personal quarters, and before him was Darzarath, sitting on her haunches in front of the giant TV screen that would've better suited in an over sized cinema theater hadn't she been the size of one herself.

She was watching the news, or at least rapidly zapping by several news channels across the globe, half of which he could not recognize. It had been not even a couple hours since her broadcast, and already her brief speech had gone completely viral on all media.

"So..... how is everyone taking it?" He began as he noticed her eye peeking down at him.

"So far? They are more shocked that Daria Zarodav would enter politics than contemplating that little trick I pulled off." She answered as she raised her right forepaw, wiggling its toes. "I supposed I showed too little for too short of a time. Tomorrow will be different."

"Right." He said as he headed for a sofa not far from the opposite end of the room respect to the screen.

"I suppose you don't fully agree with my line of action." She said as she turned to fully face him.

"No, I don't agree with it." He replied with a raised hand. "At least, not with part of what I've seen so far."

"You're going to have to be more specific then." She said, turning off the screen with what essentially was a comically giant remote.

"Okay. First of all, presentation." He began to explain. "Although anyone that watched the broadcast indeed knew who they were looking at, you went straight for the punch instead of just throwing the bait and slowly reeling them in."

She was staring at him. Not in stern disapproval, nor in amusement. She was actually paying attention to every word of his, and he couldn't help but feel a bit squeamish.

"Second.... uh... Ah, yes." He continued. "As you've said yourself just now, you showed too little for too short of a time. That's why nobody paid too much attention to it. You already threw your punch, and everyone was busier being in awe at the punch than preparing for the upcoming left hook."

She blinked, taking in his words as fast as he said them.

"Third, and not less important, this is a cold start." He explained. "Nobody knows what to expect of you, just as nobody expected you to take such a drastic political turn all of a sudden. People don't know what kind of politics you prefer. People don't understand the full picture the way you see it, because they don't have the luck of having seen about 5 millennia worth of history with their own eyes."

"I see." She murmured. "I guess that my aim to create an heavy impact entry overreached my intended scope."

"Well.... I'd be more inclined to say that if this is your first run on the public scene, then some things could use improvement before going forward."

She lowered herself down, her head getting a bit too close for comfort for him even if it was still several meters away.

"Admittedly, yes." She conceded. "This is the first time in... I'm afraid a few thousand years too many since I participated on the public scene. Crux of the matter is, back then it was me against the very peoples of the land. Making a stunning entry was the best way to avoid futile conflict where it could be avoided. They want to found a village next to my lair? No can do, or the shadows will swallow its sun. They want to start a mine too close to my lair? Let sleeping dragons lie."

"I... can't really immagine how things were a thousand years or more ago." He said. "But today is not yesterday. You don't need to do an heavy impact entry. You need to capture their attention and not let go of it."

"And how do you suggest to do that, Assistant Ascar?" She teased with a grin.

"Well, let's start with what you were planning for tomorrow..."