Mountain Dwellers: The Dromas Rider Family

Part II

... Volume 4: The Walking Dragon Terravox ... In the year 3865 of the Light Calendar, Aquila experienced unstable weather, while inland Amphoreus was struck by alternating droughts and floods. Crops failed before harvest, and the land became littered with corpses of the starved. Faced with famine, the nations turned their eyes to Earth's creations, slaughtering their kind to fill their kitchens. According to historical records, species such as the Fearfool Birds and the Audubon Pigeons, which should have thrived in the wild, were hunted to extinction within just five years. To protect his kin, Geocles led the Dromas Legion on raids across the land again and again. With each campaign, the Mountainbreaker saw more clearly the cruelty hidden beneath the mask of civilization worn by Kephale's descendants. He once heard the dying wail of a dromas cut in half, and witnessed a chimera struggling in a boiling cauldron while the culprits stood by, mouths watering as they waited to eat. After witnessing such horrors time and again, the once-honorable hero known as the Mountainbreaker gradually became cold, violent, and vengeful toward all other races. In the Month of Everday in Light Calendar 3868, the Dromas Legion launched an expedition to the Silo Kossas Peninsula, rescuing dromases trapped by the black tide. They crossed Idilia Bay, avoided the Kremnos Fortress, passed the eastern ridges of the Grove, and returned to the Oleinus Plateau. While traversing the Dolos Plains, they encountered a battlefield scene: a colossal dromas stood alone amid the chaos, carrying a cluster of chimeras and beasts on its back. Its form was more gigantic and imposing than that of any ordinary dromas. Armies from nearby city-states encircled it, loosing volleys of arrows in disarray. Though the arrows could not pierce its hide, the young upon its back fell one by one. In that moment, its body was soaked in red as if draped in a robe of blood, and its anguished cry shook the land. Geocles saw this and gave the order to charge. The Dromas Legion surged like a flood, scattering enemy troops in all directions. The Mountainbreaker rushed forward, examined the great beast's wounds, and questioned the origin of the attackers. The beast gave no reply. Geocles then led the Dromas Legion in pursuit, riding straight to the gates of the city. The walls of earth and stone collapsed under the weight of the Dromas Legion like they were made of paper. In moments, half the city-state lay flattened underfoot. Just as the Dromas Legion prepared to wipe out the last of their enemies, the giant beast rushed forward and shouted a command to stop. "The Mountain Dwellers have never been fond of war. If this is your way, then who are you to speak for us?" Geocles found the words absurd. "The Dromas Legion saved you from the encirclement, and now you dare lecture me?" The two clashed amid the broken ruins. The chieftain of the Mountain Dwellers had always claimed divine strength and often wrestled with dromases without falling behind. But this time, no matter how he pushed, the beast refused to yield. Instead, it pressed forward, driving Geocles back step by step, and then slammed into him with full force, hurling him into the city wall. Brick and stone exploded outward. The warlord was left embedded in the rock, and it took him some time before he emerged, covered in dust and grime. ... The arrival of mighty Terravox sealed the final gap in the Dromas Legion's rise to power. In the past, the Mountain Dwellers had Geocles to lead them. Now, the dromases moved under the command of the Dromas King. The traps once crafted to counter them had become meaningless. In every battle, Terravox charged ahead, turning his power to shatter mountains and his armor resistant to blade or metal into a force that crushed all obstacles beneath his feet. Terravox's most vital role was to cleanse the lingering violence within the army. At that time, Geocles, the first among the Mountain Dwellers to raise a banner in rebellion, led his iron cavalry across city-states. Though his cause was just, he gradually lost his mercy. After entering the camp, Terravox rekindled the Mountain Dwellers' ancestral sense of kindness. With unmatched power, he shattered enemy lines. With unshakable authority, he put an end to needless slaughter. At first, Geocles remained wary that their enemies might seek revenge. But once he saw Terravox's disciplined command and how even the Kremnos Army could not shake the Dromas Legion, he laid down his doubts and placed his trust in him. In time, these two heroes, so different in nature, became the closest of companions. Terravox softened the Mountainbreaker's wrath with his own gentleness, while the Mountainbreaker's hardened path also left its imprint on Terravox. The ancient dromas, who had lived apart from humankind for over five millennia, first came to understand what it meant to be accused, to witness the cruelty of human hearts, and... to face betrayal. As the one who had once defied ancestral law and fled his homeland, Geocles understood these things well. Before the Leviathan who had never broken an oath, he passed on the philosophy of betrayal and survival not with speeches, but through his every action. By then, the bond between man and beast had already become inseparable. Over fifty years later, during the assault on Georios, the Mountainbreaker witnessed his most trusted comrade turn traitor, and the once-invincible Dromas Legion collapse like a breached dam. He refused to surrender and fell into a rocky abyss. "Only survival is worth blind loyalty. All else may be betrayed." ...