story17

       A stormy sky filled his view as two creatures of ancient power waged an old fight. Flying high in the air, breathing a mixture of poisonous liquids down upon its adversary; a winged serpent of monstrous size circled in billowy clouds. The other creature, being land bound, leaped out of the way of the dangerous missile; shooting its own mixture of electricity and mist at its winged cousin. Continuing their dance, dodging the other’s attack, the gigantic reptiles seemed to capture his attention…

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          Suddenly awakened from his dream, he felt a young boy was shaking him, saying, “Starr, get up. I need help wit’ Zan.”
          Rising from his sleeping roll, Starr followed the boy out of the family hut. Looking about once outside, he noticed Zan, the family’s burden beast, once again clung stranded on a rock tower. How the three-legged beast had climbed the steep towering rock configuration mystified the whole family. Zan stood about the size of the young boy, but carried less weight. Having retrieved Zan before, Starr resolved himself to climbing the lofty rock tower. Using cracks in the rocks has handholds, he crawled up and around the tall tower. When he finally reached the top, Zan slobbered all over Starr's grayish face.
          “Cease, you spawn of Korreth,” he said, pushing the soft hoofed Zan out of his face. Though it was impossible for Zan to smile with her hose-like snout she seemed to be grinning. Rising totally on to the top of the rock tower, Starr noticed there was barely enough room for him or Zan. Raising his eyes, he took in the expanse of the shadow covered land. Light slowly seeped from the view and would continue to leave for another month. The desert-like land would change greatly in those months.
          Plants used to the light would grow dormant and the dark plants that had been sleeping through the light season would emerge. Growing to almost monstrous size, the dark mostly carnivorous plants would overcome the land. Soon it would become unsafe to let Barg, his younger brother, out alone without someone carrying a ballof.
          Out of the entire family, Starr was best at handling the long pole with its duel blade ends. Most of Starr’s foster brothers handled the rewp more proficiently, because it only required one hand to use the torso long blade. Though an effective weapon against foes, it had proven almost useless against the long reaching vines of the carnivorous dark plants. Fairly soon the tall cliffs to the south would prevent the plants from over taking the farm, but until then, they would surround the house closely by a ring of fire to fend off the dark plants. Keeping watch and tending the fire would soon take each of the unmarried sons’ time. Spending the long time alone, away from his cruel, abusive older siblings, never truly bothered Starr.
          Since Mallion, his foster father, had found Starr bundled up outside the family’s hut, the older siblings had troubled him. Taking him in as one of their own, the family boys nevertheless treated Starr poorly, mainly because of his different appearance. Yet, the siblings who were born after Starr’s arrival were close to the outcast. With early exposure to his peculiar qualities, they, had accepted Starr’s different appearance.
          Zan’s nudge brought Starr swiftly out of his meandering thoughts and back to the present duty. Lifting the beast, Starr held Zan in one straining arm, as he climbed swiftly down. When they were on the ground Starr dropped Zan, sending the beast running for home and safety. Watching Zan leave toward the sea, Starr began to regret he had not looked upon the sea while he on the tower. The view on the rock tower was almost equal to the tower he used as a hideout to the north.
          Following Zan home, Starr’s young foster brother, Barg, talked constantly, from topics of a pointless nature to others out of nowhere. Though he looked at the boy, few of the topics actually registered in his mind. He daydreamed about the time he and Barg were playing Stash ‘N Spot in mid-light season. The game of seek-and-find was always one of Barg’s favorite. Being a good brother to the younger siblings meant a lot to Starr, mainly due to his own ostracized relationship with his older siblings.
          Reaching the boundary of the yard close to the family’s hut finally broke Starr’s daydream. The fires were already burning around the yard, in another month they would be blazing. Gazing at the casting light all around the habitat of the hut, Starr felt a slight tinge of foreboding. He was often right with his insight of the future; once he had a dream of a new baby and later Dae, his foster mother, had given birth to Barg. It was the same with Herria and Silla; he had possessed the same premonitions with all his younger siblings. Recently, though, his dreams were filled with the godly serpents: Audobon, the flying serpent, and Korreth, the land-bound serpent. Both were formidable, but Korreth gave off a feeling of hate and darkness when Starr focused on him in his dreams, while Audobon gave off feelings of joy and a sense of hopefulness. Though Korreth was the main religion and no other was allowed, Starr had been secretly following belief in Audobon with Caso the hermit.
          Caso was the one person Starr knew who would openly discuss his disapproval of Korreth’s following. He often said “That a god requires no sacrifices of a life, any life.” Much of what the old hermit said made sense to Starr. Given an ability of incantations, much of the time Starr spent with Caso was learning spells. “Control is something that takes time, or great necessity to acquire”, Caso would say to Star after being unsuccessful with a spell.