The Dragon's Cry

You turn into a dragon and shriek at the offensive boulder.

The boulder mercilessly plummets down, and you fear that your efforts would be for naught.

Valeris finally looks up at the boulder, realization glimmering in her eyes. And even then, her gaze is cold and defiant.

You increase the intensity of your shriek and finally see cracks flowering from your shriek's focal point. The boulder explodes in a shower of rocky debris.

And rains directly down upon Valeris.

"NO!" you cry. You swoop down to the spot where Valeris was last seen and see only rubble.

You hear a mocking laugh drift down from the mountain above.

Fierce, you fly up to the ledge, shrieking your defiance.

And stop short, hovering in wide-eyed surprise at the lone figure waiting casually for your arrival.

On the ledge, stands a lone man with a scraggly red beard and a broad rakish grin. He wears a chain-mail vest over a bright red tunic, black leggings, sturdy boots frilled with goat wool, and a pair of crude but effective earplugs made of wood and wool.

A ring of enigmatic design is on his finger. It flashes in the sun.

The man claps his hands in mock admiration. "Bravo, my lad. Bravo! That shriek of yours is definitely formidable. Jolly good." He chuckles, almost amiably. "But... " He taps his ears. "Plugged ears don't hear."

With another clap, the once empty cliffs are suddenly teeming with bandits of every kind known to man. Seeping out of the shadows, the bandits hold amongst them a large stone that glows with an eerie violet light.

Suddenly, you feel weak and find it hard to keep yourself aloft. Looking down, you realize that your skin has lost its scaly texture and is slowly turning pink. Your point of view lowers as your neck shortens. Your wings regress to stubs and soon vanish. Within seconds, you have changed back into your human form.

"How?" you gasp. And plummet down to the hard rock below.

Lying bruised and bloody on the rocky cliffs, you painfully raise your now human head to see the rakish man standing over you, grinning.

"The name's Ranin. I trust your stay will be pleasant..."

You wake up in a brightly lit cavern. The red rock gleams with the time of the ages. Ancient cave paintings dance across the cave walls, shadows twisting them into grotesque mockeries of life.

You roll to your right and see at the far end, a barred opening.

"Ah, our young friend awakens."

You roll back to your original position and gape at the one who called himself Ranin, still garbed in his rugged finery and wearing his amiable yet disturbing smile. You try to stand but find yourself tied down with iron chain and shackles.

Ranin grins at your failed attempts and raises a hand, "Here let me help you with those." A bright flash of light blasts forth from the ornate ring on his finger and you find yourself free with no sign of the bonds that had previously held you.

"How...?" you stammer.

The roguish Ranin expresses mocked surprise. "Oh! You mean, how did I free you of your shackles?" The blinding light shines forth from his ring again and the shackles appear, neatly piled on the ground in front of you. "Or how did I enter your cell without you noticing?" As Ranin says this, the ring glows -- but this time with a much subdued light as if eclipsed -- and you see the rogue melt before your eyes into the surrounding shadows. "Any questions?" comes Ranin's disembodied voice.

You just stare, dumbfounded.

"Good." And Ranin materializes once more. "You see," Ranin explains, holding up his ringed finger, "the catalyst for my previous ... displays, shall we say, is this ring."

You look more closely at the ring now and find it to be bearing a clear half-sphered crystal with an engraving of the sun within. The sun itself looks like it may have once been clear but now a roiling darkness plays across its face, placing it in constant shadow.

"As is yours."

You pull your eyes away from the hypnotic patterns. "Mine?" you ask incredulously. "What sorcerous powers do I have?"

"Have you ever wondered how you can make that ear-piercing shriek? And I'm sure there are other abilities you have not displayed to me that..." He studies your blank stare. "Ah, so you haven't reached your potential." Ranin shakes his head in sympathy. "A shame, really. You would have known power far beyond your mortal coils. Now," and his eyes turn hard, "where is the ring?"

"What ring?"

Ranin's eyebrow twitched and his smile becomes stony. "Don't be mocking me, boy. I am referring to the Ring of Sound, of course. As is my Ring of Light and Shadow the source of my power, so is the Ring of Sound the source of yours. As a Child of the Ring, you should know that. Now, again... Where. Is. The. Ring?"

"What ring?!" you scream, and the reverberations of your sonic shout shakes the whole prison cell. For an instant, Ranin's mask of power crumbles to reveal fear and awe. But anger soon erases them.

"You fool!"

You scream again. The cell shakes some more and the cave paintings shiver as if in fear of your might.

"Do you know the mountain may crumble with the stress you're putting on its foundations?! Stop this insanity at once!"

Having seen Ranin scared, you press your advantage. "After what you did to Valeris, you deserve the same fate she met." The walls shook harder. Pebbles of rock tumble down the fissured face. Your throat grows hoarse.

Ranin laughs heartily, as if enjoying a good joke. "I was not the one who buried her, kid. The blame," he nods in your direction, "is on the one who shattered the ammunition."

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!!" You scream louder, transforming into dragon form. Your scream becomes higher-pitched. Sharper. Deafening.

Larger chunks of rock are now falling from the ceiling. You hear confused shouts from Ranin's men out in the tunnels. You and Ranin now can both barely stand.

Ranin, however, remains cool, smiling smugly. "Listen, boy, where will you run off to? You can't possibly survive this. You're at the heart of the largest mountain on this continent."

You grunt with the effort of maintaining your scream, but refuse to respond.

"I've got plans for that ring of yours, boy. And I see you've got spunk. So, let's make a deal. Stop this display and I may be willing to let you in on my plans and teach you a little about that ring of yours, as well."

Larger chunks of rock are now falling, creating a hellish scene around Ranin. Shadows from the backlight of the cell's torches writhe across Ranin's otherwise angelic features, warping his face into ... something else.

Unbiddenly, you shiver. Yet you are also curious about your ring, if indeed you have one...

"I'm warning you, kid. Either hear me out or we both die."

Should you...

Contributed by Wayne Sung

Things to consider while writing in this branch

The ring Ranin's referring to is the Ring of Sound. Where could Shree be keeping it if he holds it and its power? Or is the ring somewhere else entirely? With his parents? Embedded in his genetic code (interesting but may be a challenge to further the ring plotline that way)?
What is the range of powers Ranin possesses? Why didn't he just stop Shree when he started screaming?
If Shree were to shake the mountain to the ground, how would he survive?
For that matter, Ranin mentioned Shree having more power than just his shriek. What is the range of Shree's sonic powers?
Is Silvera actually dead?


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