Legend of The Roseblack
Legend of The Roseblack
Author's note: This is an "anger story", pure and simple... I'm writing this in a REALLY bad
mood brought on my several of my so-called friends screwing me over just to suit their
needs... but that's not important... not like anyone here wants to hear about that ^_^;; The
setting for this is different from "Life's Fun Bits" But the lead character, me, remains the
same.
Well... here goes...
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The rain stung at the faces of the Legionnaires who held guard at the South Wall
of the city of Chalais. The rain hadn't let up for the past three days, and the field beneath the
wall was a mire of mud and ruined corpses. For two whole days the city had been under
siege from The Armies of Kasanti. Kasanti was the kingdom to the East, peopled by a race
that claimed to hold ancestry from the dragons of legend. Of course, the Kasanti were barely
Reptilian. Appearing mostly as humans with scaled eyebrows and other ridges of scales. Only
rarely were there Kasanti with tails, or claws. The War with the Kasanti had been at a
standstill for nearly 20 years. Neither side had surrendered in that time, but the fighting had
been halted until three months prior, when The Kasanti armies had sacked the outpost fifty
leagues to the east of Chalais.
"Hey, did you hear the rumor?" One of the younger guardsmen asked, adjusting
his overly large helmet.
The older guard snorted, "Hey, that's enough of that horsecrap..."
"But what if it's not a rumor?" the younger grunt asked impatiently, only to get
answered by a fist to the face, sending him sprawling.
"There'll be no God-cursed talk of monsters in this detail, you got that?!" the older
soldier growled, flexing his fist.
The younger grunt whimpered and sat back up, while the others murmured
among themselves. The older soldier bent down to pick up his dropped cigar and relit it,
when something knocked his helmet off. He snarled and turned, "What do you think you're
doing you little Shi...."
The apparition before him caused him to freeze where he stood. Perched on the
wall, glaring at the older soldier and his fifteen grunts, was a creature none of them had ever
seen. It was obviously female, from the curves on the being's Green Jade armor. Black-
violet talons gripped the stone, accented by the brightly pearlescent white hide that covered
the creature. From her back hung a massive pair of wings; the undersides colored a brilliant
mulberry red. Glowing green eyes stared from underneath a shimmering mane of copper
hair, pulled back into a loose braid that fell between the wings. The head of the female was
distinctly reptilian in shape, despite the lack of scales over the majority of the face. At her
waist hung the Standard Kasanti paired swords that all of their warriors carried, but across
the back of her waist hung a massive Kasanti blade, easily as long as she was tall. Her tail
lashed lazily behind her as she sneered at the older soldier, eyes filled with a strange mirth.
"Sergeant, I would be careful what you refer to your opponents as," The reptilian
warrior hissed, a chilling steam seeping from the spaces between her glistening teeth as she
spoke.
The Sergeant backed away, drawing his heavy broadsword, stammering, "D-
Demon!!"
The Female creature chuckled, "Dragon, actually... and yes... those rumors were
true..." she hopped down to stand before the guard troop looming over them and staring with
her piercing green eyes.
"To arms!" Came the shout from the guardsmen at the back.
"Don't draw!" The dragoness roared, rooting the entire squad to their places. She
glared at them all, wings shifting a bit to add to her imposing presence, "If you draw your
sword you will die."
The sergeant snarled, "There's only one of you!" He lunged with a wild overhand
cut that was deftly deflected with the dragoness' forearm guard.
"Be thankful for small miracles, whelp," She snarled, turning the sword stroke
aside effortlessly and stuffing her armored knee up into the sergeant's chest. Before he could
even gasp in pain as the air was forced from his lungs, the dragoness' other hand had
gripped his unhelmeted head and forcibly twisted his head one hundred-eighty degrees on
his neck, snapping it cleanly. She dropped the dead sergeant do the floor and scowled, "Who
else wishes to die this night??"
"W-why are you here?" one of the soldiers asked, shaking. The man beside him
had just wet himself.
She folded her arms, "to find someone important to me that was kidnapped by
one of your leaders. She is here, and I will have her back. Will you stand in my way, or will
you stand aside?"
Another guard stepped forward, his longsword and shield at the ready, "I will
stand in your way monster!"
She laughed, "Lambs to the slaughter."
"Hold your tongue, beast!" The guard lunged, shield first aiming to knock her off
her feet. He was stopped in is tracks by a heavy impact on his shield that nearly lifted him off
the ground. He recovered only to see the dragoness moving her tail back behind herself. He
shook his head and reconsidered, standing ready.
"Such courage so easily shaken by a simple Tail swat?" she laughed, changing her
stance. "Fine, We'll do this on your terms..." She reached back behind her and pulled the
oversized Kasanti blade free of it's stone scabbard, "Zanshato..."
The guard dropped his shield knowing it would only slow him down against such a
large blade. He stepped in and hacked at her shoulder, the armor she wore taking the attack
easily, but the heavier blade still bit a massive divot from the finely crafted jade.
The dragoness stood her ground.
Another vicious attack landed across the front chestplate, taking another chunk
from the armor's surface.
The dragoness stood her ground.
Realizing that she wasn't moving, the guard too the attack to her head, aiming to
cleave her head apart along the line of that annoying smirk. At the last second, she tilted her
head aside, the blade lopping off her left horn about a third of the way from the tip.
The dragoness gripped and raised her sword.
The guard growled and Swing at her leg, but she shifted her stance slightly and
the heavy blade rang off the thick Jade cuisses, taking another chunk from the beautifully
crafted armor. He looked up righteous anger in his eyes as she gave a hissing grunt of effort,
bringing that terrible blade down upon the guardsman. He saw steel for a fleeting second and
then his world went dark.
The dragoness pried her blade from the floor easily, not giving the split
guardsman's corpse a second thought as she whipped the large blade, snapping the blood
from the surface before reaching back and sliding it back into it's scabbard.
"One cut is all I need... Are there any more who feel they can stand against me?"
she straightened back up and folded her arms, waiting. None approached. "Good. Now,
Corporal, Would you be so kind as to take me to your commander? I've ordered the siege
halted for the time being... Perhaps we could negotiate more amicable terms... But I need to
speak with your commander."
The young guardsman nodded dumbly, "This way, Miss...?"
The dragoness smiled and patted the corporal's shoulder; "I'll answer to 'Lady',
for now."
He nodded again, still astounded, "O-of course miss... ahhh, I mean... Lady..."
She smirked and followed the corporal down the stairs inside the nearby tower.
Four guards with bowguns fell in behind 'Lady' and the corporal as they marched through the
south sector of the city. Citizens, haggard and worn from the seemingly endless siege
watched the small procession, a few cheered, thinking the dragoness to be some captured
thing. Others screamed and hid, seeing her as a monster. There were a few things thrown at
her, and she neatly plucked an apple out of the air, used her talon to cut of all the rotten bits,
and then took a few bites from it.
The march took nearly an hour, and then they came across the citadel guards.
The four larger men crossed their pikes and bared the path.
"Your prisoner will surrender its weapons!" they commanded.
The Dragoness frowned, "I am no prisoner. I am here to speak with the ruler of
this city."
The citadel guards frowned, "You are a Kasanti Weapon, and you will surrender
your blades!!"
Her lips tightened into a frown and she stared viciously, "I am a Kasanti GENERAL,
and I will be shown respect... I came here in a peaceable manner, but, if you insist, I can
tear this city apart to speak with the ruler. Now, either stand aside or I will walk through
you..."
"Try it, beast!" The guards challenged, readying themselves. All the preparation
could not have prepared them for what happened next. The dragoness took in a massive
lungful of air, and then opened her fanged maw wide exhaling and letting loose a torrent of
frigid gas that froze the citadel guards solid, along with the heavy door behind them.
The corporal had ducked aside and avoided the blast, but he was frozen by fear,
seeing what she had just done. She calmly walked up to the guards and neatly punched each
one's head into tiny pieces, then with a mighty kick, she caved in the door and marched
inside.
"What is the meaning of this!! What sort of abomination ARE you?!" Gandri, Duke
of Westfallen, asked at the top of his lungs, pointing at the armored Dragoness that stood in
the doorway to his audience chambers.
"SILENCE!" She roared, shaking the tiled walls of the decorated room, "You
arrogant, self-righteous, money-hungry pig... Did you really think that taking a Kasanti girl
prisoner wouldn't bring some retribution?"
"P-prisoner?! That girl was bought and paid for!" The Duke wailed.
The Dragoness' emerald eyes flashed in anger, "paid for?! You lying scum!! Your
guardsmen laid waste to Thianti and took fifteen Kasanti women prisoner. We've recovered
the other fourteen, you have the last. And I daresay you are the unluckiest of all the men
who have been found to have those women."
"Why do you say that?"
The dragoness stepped closer, "because she was my friend..."
The duke quailed, "y-your friend?! B-but... My Saya? The friend of a beast?" The
duke squealed like a pig as the Dragoness slammed her talons into the ornate chair next to
his head, making him duck.
"I am no beast. My name is Roseblack Luvasih, First General of the Western Lotus
Army. Sayashi Mianki is not your property. You will let her go, or I will take her from this den
of infestation by force..."
"GUARDS!!!" The Duke screamed, sounding much like a young girl, instead of the
middle-aged man he was. Roseblack snarled and spun away from him, raking her talons
across his face in the process, tearing out eyes and flesh easily. She stalked deeper into the
citadel, seething. Two guards barred her path and she stopped.
"The duke's chambers... where are they?"
The guards saw the near faceless duke writhing on the ground, gurgling in pain.
The left most one shivered and pointed back down the hall, "T-the second door... o-o-on the l-
l-left!"
"Thank you... Keep your blades sheathed and you may yet live to see sunrise."
She casually stepped past them, her tail swaying with each step. At the door she found it
locked. "Nothing's ever easy..." she muttered, hitting the door to test it. She hurt her palm
from the strike and blinked. With a snarl, she drew her oversized blade again and leaned into
the cut hacking the doors in half from top right to bottom left, then bringing the razor sharp
arc of steel back and mirroring the cut along the other angle. The door creaked, but held,
despite being ruined. She sheathed the blade and shouldered the door hard, bowling through
it and skittering to a stop on the marble floor.
A startled squeak greeted her, followed by the timid question in her native
language, "R-Rose?"
Roseblack looked around and saw Her friend, chained to the bed by finely crafted
gold chains and bracelet-manacles. She stared, "Sayashi?" The Girl was not who she
remembered. Sayashi had once had hair of a brilliant mahogany color, the tresses cascading
down to her knees. She had been slightly plump in all the proper places, and her eyes had
always been bright. The girl before her had blonde hair, cropped up short around her
shoulders, and she was almost disgustingly thin, save for the slight belly she carried. Her
eyes still sparkled, but the shine was dulled now.
"Rose? Is it really you?" The girl asked, her voice the most solid reminder that
she was indeed Roseblack's friend.
The Dragoness hurried over to the bed, "Saya, What did they do to you?"
The girl looked down, "I'm sorry... I didn't want you to find me like this... Some fat
duke's slave... They cut my hair, and I haven't been given much to eat because I don't
always do what I'm told..."
"You're chained... why?"
The girl looked away, "If I told you... would you please kill me?"
"WHAT?!"
The girl sighed, "I tried to kill myself when I found out... I hate myself more than
anything now..."
Roseblack looked at the girl, stunned, "What do you mean?"
"The duke... for many nights now he has made me his... I never let him willingly,
but... but..." she broke into tears, "He gave me child, Rose!"
The dragoness stared, as if struck by one of the so-called 'guns' the army was
developing. "Then... you mean..."
The girl nodded, sobbing, "I carry his foul child inside me now... and I want to die
because of it."
Roseblack shook her head, clearing the astonishment. She lightly slapped the girl
and frowned, "You will not die. Not here. Not now. I have risked everything to find you. For
you to die now because fate has seen to frown on you... that is foolish."
Sayashi blinked. Her Friend had never been so determined before. "Rose?"
The dragoness smiled, "You have me, remember? I won't ever let anything bad
happen to you again... okay?"
The girl blinked, her black scaled eyebrows high in confusion, "What are you
saying?"
Roseblack ran her talons through Saya's hair gently, "I'm saying that I finally
realized something very important."
The girl shivered at the gentleness of the touch, since for months she had only
known harshness, "And what is that?"
Rose leaned close and nuzzled the girl's neck affectionately, her cold breath
sending shivers across the girl's skin, "That I love you... very much. And if you are to have a
child, Even if it is the spawn of that fat peacock, We will make certain that it is raised as the
proud Kasanti his mother is."
Saya smiled, happy to see her friend's attitude hadn't changed much.
"Let's get you out of here, okay?" Rose gripped the chain and strained, snapping it
after a moment of prying. The second chain came off easier.
"How are we getting out though? The citadel is crawling with guards?"
Rose grinned, "Remember what we tried on my 14th birthday?"
The girl thought, "I remember us jumping off the roof trying to fly... I remember
you got hurt."
Rose laughed, "Let's just say I've been practicing... Find something to wear
besides that shirt, it's raining torrents out there..."
It took Saya a moment to find something of the duke's that fit her, but she
managed a pair of breeches and an overmantle. Rose walked out onto the balcony, the rain
soaking her again in an instant. She bent down a bit to let the smaller girl climb onto her
back, between her half-spread wings. Saya obliged, gently hanging on around Rose's
shoulders.
"Here we go!" Rose didn't wait. She stood and ran for the edge, leaping off into
the late night air, the rain beating against her spread wings and her compounded muscles
brought the large appendages down, giving her more lift. The pair sailed above the city's
rooftops, and Rose turned eastward, pulling a small gold whistle from her pocket; she led it
to Saya, "Here! Blow this!"
Saya knew better than to ask, so she simply wrapped her lips around the whistle
and blew, a cold eerie note biting through the wind around them as Rose winged East over
the walls of the city. Saya watched the Kasanti troops break camp and start pulling back.
Rose smiled, "In three hours, we'll be home in Thianti!"
Saya smiled, but inwardly she cried, knowing he life had changed forever...
It was 3 years later... The War between the Western states and the Kasanti had
not come to a halt, But the Kasanti were winning. Whispers carried through the Western
Legions of the Kasanti warrior who was simply called "The Roseblack", was single handedly
tearing apart entire squadrons of legionnaires. Within another year of the Kasanti onslaught,
the Western States fell, and the Kasanti Empire ruled the whole continent... Among The
Kasanti people, Tales were told of the General who was directly descendant from the Dragon
Gods, and how she single handedly turned the tide of the War... The descriptions of the
General vary, but All accounts of the tale held the same name... The Roseblack.
There is more to the legend, but that is a story for another time...
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