A Crumbling Empire[Private w/Remban]

It was terrible, really. Their fate. The LightWings’ home had been almost completely destroyed, reduced to rubble and ashes by the beasts of burden that had invaded. Uranus had tried to help, to defend the king, Devi. But all his efforts had been in vain. Even to this day, the Lightclaw is unsure what happened to his beloved emperor, but he no doubt suffered a gruesome fate at the claws of a monster, just like the rest of the empire Uranus had known since his birth.

And not only that, but even those similar to Uranus, had been slaughtered. All seven of the Reptilian tribes had seemingly disappeared overnight. Uranus himself was not sure about this exactly, as he did not know the details, but even in the two years that followed the destruction and chaos, he had not seen another LightClaw. And may the gods, if there are any, know that for certain. He had searched and searched, and could not find one signal of his kin, aside from a few bodies he had had the misfortune of coming across.

Everything had happened so suddenly. One moment, Uranus had been cheerfully sweeping around the forge, getting the area ready for one of the dragon blacksmiths, when he had heard the screams. Confused, he had decided to venture out of his usually comfort zone to investigate. And that’s when he had seen it. One of the most horrifying sights he’d ever seen by far. A swarm, a beastly swarm, of all sorts of creatures, some massive, about the size of an EarthWing, and some no bigger than himself.

Immediately, Uranus had rushed to the emperor. He had to protect him. He had dodged past several panicked maidens as they scattered to either hide or defend the empire. When he had made it to the king’s room, however, he had found it empty. Confused and desperate, Uranus had grabbed a sword from the royal armory, and rushed out into the fray, looking around, panic having seized his chest, for their most heavenly leader.

But he never found him. It was like Devi had disappeared, no doubt slain on the battlefield. Everything after that was a blur. Uranus remembered fire, he remembered seeing corpses stacked on corpses. He remembered the stench, oh gods the stench. His mind had practically been screaming at him to run, to find somewhere to hide, but he needed to find his master. And yet no signs of his highness.

Eventually, Uranus had been forced to leave the royal city, escaping with a horde of several other civilians. He had been blinded though, blinded by fear. His memory escaped him of what happened next, though the next thing he knew he was alone, in the jungle, in a place he’d never been before. He’d never left the palace ever, after all.

The next two years after that had felt like hell. The reptilian had been confused, worried. Surely this was just a small setback, right? Surely creatures as great as dragons would not be overpowered so easily? But when Uranus tried to return to the palace about a month later, he found it abandoned, and was nearly killed by an ambush of monsters.

His next encounter with a dragon hadn’t been any better. He was almost eaten alive. He had barely escaped with only a broken arm.

Ever since then, Uranus had been avoiding dragon contact, having made a small home for himself in the mountains of an old ruined LightWing temple. This one was very old though, and considering it’s size, he suspected it might have been a LightClaw temple, though, because of his lack of education, Uranus never knew for sure. But it was relatively safe and undamaged from the monster invasion. His size probably helped him to stay alive.

The ruins were rather large, with a small entrance, probably big enough for a LightWing to crawl into. They were intricately decorated with patterns and symbols that were gibberish and nonsense to most, and most of the ruin was underground, having been buried by an avalanche and weathering long ago.

Who knows what creatures might stumble onto it now, in this deceptively peaceful mountainside....