The Dawn Gods War.

Volume Two, The Dance Of The Damned: Chapter One

The Mirror sea, mirrored the stars.

It was psychedelic. If not for a functional inner ear, Catha would have been unable to tell up from down. The cat sized bundle in her lap wiggled. Soft scales moved, lifting slightly, color shifting as they moved. Colors rippled and moved, much like the tufted grain heads of rye grass swaying in a breeze.

Badua, Nights Wing.

Learning that much , the young Draeg’s name had been labor intensive. Idly, Catha traced finger tips along the folded wings.

Strange that they felt , almost exactly like her own in texture. The softest, fluffiest velvet she could imagine. Where Catha’s vestigial wings were of a singular color.

The Draeg wings were kaleidoscopic, constantly shifting patterns and color.

In Time, the entanglement would be learned. Draeg and AOS Sidhe, mapping each other’s minds, emotions, selves. There could be no instruction manual in doing this. No more than a manual would help a new born child learn to crawl, walk, run, speak, listen, see.

Time for intricate mind merging.

The process would produce an entirely new entity. Split between Draeg and AOS Sidhe. A merged being, Catha/Badua, Badua/Catha.

Cathbadua in essence, entered into another childhood. A childhood shared in, with, of Badua. Together, they learned to fly. To listen to the soul storm that all Draeg shared. To forge their bond, their union of mind, of hearts.

Years passed as if in a dream.

Things happened outside of the Draeg creche of the mirror sea. Faraway things. War, rumors of war. No one quite knew what to make of war.

The initial response to the treacherous Fomorii had been a hive mind of madness and fury. Worlds had ceased. All of that was still incomprehensible.

Catha with Badua had spent those years growing together. Untouched by the outside world. Unconcerned, until the outside world of horrors had come, uninvited, to introduce hell.

The fall along the orbital plane took decades. The craft, an adapted Moonlet, exuded No outward signs of radiation, propulsion, or presence of technology whatsoever. This was crucial to the mission. A covert insertion, followed by devastating strikes on the inner system realm of Aos Sidhe.

Launched from the oort cloud, the orbit the craft followed had taken a century already.

Still, the craft had yet to cross the still forming Asteroid belt. Rail guns launched drones with Chemical rockets. The drones moved considerably faster, the chemical rockets only to be used for orbital maneuver and adjustments. The Aos Sidhe could easily detect any form of electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, more primitive systems were employed. The Fomorii could afford to be patient. The Drones passively detected, and recorded all electro magnetic transmissions detected, relaying the data collected via quantum entangled com systems. Slowly the Fomorii evaluated and developed their plans. There was a certain sense of satisfaction in phase one, set to commence within the near future. Using the debris from the destroyed home world as weapons seemed almost poetic. Secrecy was paramount. The Aos Sidhe must not have any suspicion or all would fail.

Laughter, is there a more joyous sound? Aside from your name on the lips of your lover at the peak of passion, no there is not.

When that laughter is over the devastation of a world. Accompanied by tears, and the screams and cries of the Damned and dying. I do believe that laughter is terrifying.

Catha was a survivor so to speak.

Part of her had survived.

Badua had sheltered her body with his body. Physically, he had survived as well.

Mentally...

The Draeg did not share a hive mind. More of a sort of hive soul. Badua’s soul had become chaos, fury, fear, rage, pain, mostly his soul had become silent.

The silence is what brought the fear. Badua had never known such silence. Catha had survived, however her mind had effectively shut down in shock. Their connection was scrambled. Badua could hear, her vocalized laughter. What broadcast from Catha’s mind was, something Badua could not comprehend.

The Mirror sea lay deceptively still. The flames and destruction reflected across the still surface were so violent that Badua expected storm waves to be crashing in response.

There was only the stillness that mirrored the hellscape of mountain peaks. Skies burning as pieces of the moonlets rained down from orbit. Somewhere, far away on the far side of the world a massive eruption poured hot gases and magma out. The clouds from that nightmare framed the horizon.

Badua, too wounded and weak to take flight could do nothing. He studied Catha. Her body trembled. She continued laughing. With no other ideas of action, Badu pulled Catha close to keep her warm and curled about her sheltering her with his body.

Time passed. At some point, Catha, slept, as did Badua. As usual, their dreams merged. They Flew free. Sky dancing. Swooping low close over the mirror sea. Close enough that the wind of their passing left rippling wakes on the smooth waters.

Catha leapt to consciousness. The pain was. It was , shocking. Pain so intense that it effectively stunned her into a distant numbness. Badua stirred. Catha stumbled to the waters edge. She examined herself. Arms scarred, burnt, deformed.

Looking at her reflection on the still waters, She realized that the source of the searing pains on her back, marked the vacant place her vestigial wings had been.

Parts of her were hideously scarred. Her arms and hands now resembled talons more than hands. Still, Catha was alive. Badua was alive.

Where there was life, there could be, vengeance.

Together Catha with Badua became, vengeance, Avagddu

The terror on nights wings

Fury and the madness of rage manifest. The Fomorii would pay.

Dragons flew, leaving their fiery trails across the autumn skies. Catha knew, that they were not really dragons, that they were actually fragments left from a world killer that the Aos Sidhe had intercepted in the distant past. Long before she had been born.

True Dragons had once ruled the skies of the red planet.  Once Aos Sidhe had ridden them, soaring in joyous exhilaration. Sadly that had been eons before her birth. Before the destruction of the sacred realm. The world's of wonder in the ages of glory. Before the deaths of worlds.

Catha often dreamed of the freedom of dragon flight. The closest she could find now was in wind riding. Flying with  the wind driven body wings. Like, kites. Nearly as agile as birds, still limited by up drafts, wind and terrain which governed low altitude air flows.

The first Time Catha had seen Nodens,  was on her fifteenth decalogue.  Fifteen decades. Her coming out celebration, the formal introduction into Aos Sidhe society.

An Adolescent beauty to be sure.

Nodens, had been on the kings guard, part of an aerial insertion demonstration done in her honor. The guards had appeared, in the predawn skies as faint streaks of fire. Like, meteors they flew from low orbit.

Performing aerobatic maneuvers,  leaving long shining trails of colorful plasma, interacting super sonic shock waves, complex artistic patterns as they flew, dancing in fire and the breaking dawn.

Catha was spellbound, it was spectacularly beautiful.

The team landed in the open central courtyard of the palace in ranked formation.  Sweeping in, banking up suddenly and seeming to step lightly from the sky onto the ground.

The wing suits retracted into the glittering titanium ceramic armor the team wore.  Twelve warriors stood, male and female, Their helms shaped as dragons.

The dragons head and neck formed the nasal guard. The Body formed the bowl of the Helm, out stretched Claws formed cheek guards, the tail, segmented, flexible protected the neck.  Out Stretched wings, swept up from the sides of the helm. The wings moved as the warriors moved  giving the illusion of living dragons .

Swords were drawn in salute.

The Team knelt before Catha.

Her personal guard formally presented on her name day.

Oath was sworn, fealty made.

One by one the guards rose, approached Catha, knelt, laying sword at her feet swearing blood oath to her. Each guard cut their right hand, to bleed into the chalice Catha held. As she accepted their oath, Catha ritually tasted of their blood. Forming a bond, a knowing with each of her personal guard.

Nodens was the fourth to kneel and swear. Catha looked into his eyes and drew in a startled breath. Lightning swept sapphires blazed at her looking into her. When she took the ritual taste it was as if he ignited her soul. As she knew him, so he knew her.

Catha could not remember any of the other guards after that.

The rest of her name day existed only in her mind as the taste of Him, and the lightning fires of his eyes.

She knew him, Catha had dreamt him. Here had come her Dragon lord.  It was an intensity forever etched into her soul, to forever shape her heart.

Nodens, loved orbital inserts.

Falling, flying, it was an incredible rush of freedom and unadulterated joy. Stepping out of the hold in low earth orbit was, actually a bit terrifying the first time. Nodens had been unable to shit for a week afterwards.

The second time was worse.

Something happened on his third jump.

He knew what to expect, and that contrary to all his physical sensory input he was not going to die as an indistinct smear of burnt ash on the clouds or as a splash of unrecognizable ooze on the ground.

Nodens, enjoyed himself. By the time his feet grounded all he wanted was to jump again. He had found his purpose.  The subsequent missions, strikes by the Kings Fianna against high value Fomorii targets was another purpose. The struggle between AOS Sidhe and the Fomorii was not a struggle of ideologies, it was the fight between life, and death.

Not a battle between good and evil, neither side could be in truth called either. Composed of a composite of both good and evil.

It was more a struggle between the messy chaos of life and the death, inherent in perfect order. Chaos brought both life and death. Pure order brought only, death. Nothing, stillness. Non existence.

The Aos Sidhe are chaos embodied.

The Fomorii are implacable death.

Of the two, it may be argued that the Fomorii, were the embodiment of evil.  Because the Fomorii hated everything about their creators, the Aos Sidhe.

The Fomorii were especially jealous and hated anything created by the Aos Sidhe, including themselves.

That was the evil that Nodens had pledged himself to oppose and destroy. There could never be a peace between the Aos Sidhe and Fomorii. There could only be war. Until only one remained.

Thus, for ten decades, Nodens had found his purpose.

So he had reasoned. Until the day he had leapt out into the black of space and flew in plasma flames to earth, to kneel before, wonder. Red gold hair, Emerald flamed eyes, lips that cried out to be tasted, a smile of terrible promise. Her touch sent lightning through him. He desperately tried to drink her essence  through the vision of her before him.

Nodens could remember nothing of the ceremony that day. Her eyes and smile would mark him, haunting him through the ages.

That He had had the same effect on her, was obvious. Anyone watching when they met, could clearly see the interplay of their auras, their life's flames intertwining, dancing together. When Anam Croi met, it was plain for all to see.

Isis, noted the interchange. Osiris watched on , one eyebrow raised, considering. This one would have to be watched indeed!

The King and Queen exchanged looks. "Well, at least he is capable. No weak ones survive the training and becoming of the Fianna" Osiris murmured to his amused wife.  " Yes, he may well be strong enough." Isis replied.

Unspoken was the knowledge that this pairing would have to be watched closely. Both young, powerful, capable, impetuous, self assured. Yes, parents nightmares manifest. Osiris laughed. " She was never going to be easy was she love."

Isis sighed in  loving resignation, " She is our daughter after all.

Badbh studied the kneeling man before her.

Memories of the first time seeing him flashed between her and Macha and Nemain.  While they felt the reactions of young Catha, for the first time, Badbh was observing that this, Llew as he had named himself, burned even brighter than Nodens had. Something moved within her. Something began to smolder , then, burst into flame.

Llew had survived the bonding with Sword and Spear. Three had become one.

Macha and Nemain staggered as if struck. Then moved forward, the trio encircled the kneeling Llew. They reached out , collectively lifting him to his feet. " Do not kneel before us. We kneel to no one, to nothing. Let us finish the work. Let us end this. "

Smiling the four walked out of the hall of champions. The watching courtiers watched.  A new thing had arose.

Debate began about how , who, the rituals,

It had been announced, before the betrayal, that the princess heir, Cathbadua, and Nodens were betrothed. That in time They would be King and Queen of the Aos Sidhe.

Now,  Osiris and Isis were gone, destroyed by  Fomorii treachery. Cathbadua had been, transformed into the Morrigna, one had become three and Nodens had become Llew.

A new era of uncertainty lay before them.

Fragments remained. Pieces of time ravaged memories, distorted reflections of shattered remnants.

What tricks time, torment and trauma play on memory.

Love twists reality just as love twists the daggers of passion in the wounds of the heart. Badbh had oft repeated that love is merely trauma for the soul. Llew understood that belief thoroughly.

Life, all existence seemed built of trauma layered upon traumas. Scars made of scars, wounds that in truth never heal. Why bother? Then a flash of memory. Her smile, his name , become song in the breath of her speech.

Oh, yes, that's why.

Badbh strolled past, she placed an extra emphasis in her natural swaying movement. Llew watched, devouring her with his gaze. She pretended indifference. Damn him! She could feel the heat from his desire. It moved, molten, a damp liquid fire smoldering. Rage ignited in her heart. Impulsively she drew her dagger, turned and threw it at him. Llew made no attempt to block it or avoid the glittering missile. The dagger flew truly, burying itself to the hilt in Llew's chest. Llew grunted, smiled, and nodded towards her.

Badbh snarled, the insufferable man! Briefly she stroked the small axe that had balanced the dagger at her waist. With a toss of her long plaited hair, the deep colors of blood and fire crowned her in the afternoon sun. Badbh resumed her journey, stalking away.

Every one present busily ignored the entire exchange. Llew withdrew the dagger with a deep sigh. His breath bubbled, a pink foam formed at his lips. Head held high Llew saluted the retreating Badbh.

Calling out to her, “ I love your darkness! At it's heart burns a light that shames the stars.” Llew smiled as Badbh halted. She looked back at him for a moment, taking in his smile, she rolled her eyes and continued on her way.

Her feigned indifference did not fool Llew. No woman could be that angry at a man unless love, passion, and desire were not fanning the fire. Another day. Another wound. Love is complicated.

Love in this world, is, A Dance Of The Damned.

Even the Damned may love.

The fall is long, endless, leaving grace a faint memory.

That memory,

Is love.