《The Compendium》 Do I want Serenity? Do I want Serenity Why must serenity be The peacefulness said to be a breeze through trees Yet without its opposers, can we ever be free? What is it to be human without anxiety, I''m not anything without that pressure and disruption Why the point in peace, when reaching it means you failed If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Missing it means you''ve gained something A permanent rest No more tests Ultimately serenity is failure For if I achieve it I will be nothing. Agitation is the need for air Growling in my head like a hunger For humans hunger, life hungers What am I if not a ravenous animal What are we worth, what can we do For not being hungry means you are full Means you are done. I don''t want to be done I want to cause a disruption Weeping is the dragon with no more gold to collect No one wants to be that dragon. I don''t want my fire to dim, so bright like the heart of that dragon I want more, forever and ever, which means my need for serenity is wrong, isn''t it? Maybe all I am is a monster, feasting on others and myself Perhaps that''s what it means to be human To want something we don''t truly desire Have a hunger that cant ever be satiated For as soon as we are done we are nothing, and being nothing is something that can''t be. Fuck serenity, it''s nothing. I want to be something Ambush Ambush. Try as we might, we could not defeat them. Thirteen men strong we patrolled our post, talked up as the best of the best, awarded, lauded, cheered on everytime we all returned home. We fought as a well oiled machine, the staple of the western battalion, our ranged attacks devastating to any enemy who came in range. Should they survive the accuracy of the three eyes trio, the enemy would have to contend with the front ranks, and were surely as good as dead. Steel on steel our bulwark was said to be unmatched, reinforced in a dying dragon''s flame, unbreakable and magical in nature, so it was only fitting when the second prince, our leader, took that post and became one of us. He would hack with his curved short sword, smash with his mace if need be, crushing and slicing and killing any enemies that dared challenge us. And yet it was all for nought, for he was cut down in an instant, the three eyes trio had their other eyes removed, and suddenly we were sightless, armorless, and at an enemies mercy. The first time we retreated just the prince had died, our eyes still alive, still firing, still hurting. The monster''s screams could be heard, a devilish, squealing that grated on your mind until you couldn''t stand it. No matter what we threw at them they wouldn''t die forever, oh they''d stop and fall and rot, but days later they would be back, flesh grown around arrows and sword slices closed like they were never there. We had found a cave, the large awning of an entrance spelling death of it collapsed, but warmth was more important in the desolate dead forest we resided in. By this point we didn''t realize we were already dead. Come tomorrow, we all dreamed it. The day after that? It''s just me. Our eyes were picked off in the night, deciding to keep watch. One at a time, Travis was pulled first, his deranged scream shaking us awake as he thrashed and was drug into the darkness. We all sat and listened as they ate him. Our three water boys, on their first tour and little more than farmhands, pleaded to make a run for it with us, but we refused. Outside was more of a death with the coming blizzard than being eaten one at a time. Come morning Jesse and Quentin were gone too, Quentin swearing in his southern islander accent all the way. When I looked at the men around me, I knew we were already dead. They looked at me and knew it too. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. As I write this book the fires are dwindling, the one thing we now know is a weakness of these creatures, and even still I wonder why Commander Drak sent us this far north. I suppose it doesn''t matter, it''s staring at me even still, it''s beady black eyes rotating like a carriage wheel, the hairs on its crustaceous body twitching as it inspects me. The others made a run for it, and I do not know if they made it. What I do know is as I''m writing people back home are reading, and that''s all that matters. I implore you, don''t come north, leave the wastes to be. I''ve been thinking of ways to fight, to have a chance of survival, and have tried imbuing my sword with a fire enchantment, but to no avail. This creature has adept external control on mystical energies, and is more intelligent than it seems. Six legs, a hundred eyes, and furs the size of spokes on wheels. It''s bulbous body just waiting to get it''s hands on me. It actually started drooling earlier, just sitting there, watching me, waiting. The fires are almost dead now. The only hope I have to kill it is to sacrifice myself, and I don''t know if I can do it. Which death would be worse? Who knows. I guess I should find out. Closing the book Alec Bradwinn the second set it down, it instantly fizzled into dust against the cold damp stone. Walking to the edge of the ring of fire entrapping and keeping him safe he watched as the creature turned, following his movements. ¡°I don''t know if you can understand me, but know this. I will be the end of you, as it''s the end of me. You can smother my magic and crush my bones, but when my sword of flame slices through you, just know we will scream together in the underworld.¡± Smiling, Alec called on his energies, the meager amount left desperate to leave it''s mark on the world. Alec had something different in mind however, and left a mark on himself. When his sword lit up in blood red flame and drips dropped down his arm to the floor the creature skittered, as though trying to understand how. In the back of his mind a demon roared, already growing stronger. Screaming back, Alec charged. Fall She''s falling, warm and cold. falling like a feather, the air begins to chill Even though I fear her, my heart sings out in thrill The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Stumbling under the moon, my soul screams out in fright, but even in the darkness, there''s a warm orange light. Embracing me I''m comforted as the colors fall, Around they tumble seeming to whisper, It''s the end for us all. Laying in my nest of fallen colors i chirp out in fear, For the night will soon come when they all come out in shambles, Hiding away I curl up beneath the bramble. The pumpkins begin to rot, that warm orange glow fading As the moonlight turns colder, the seasons begun its changing, All I remember is that warm orange light, and the colors falling, from which s he earns her name. Drefan, Pt 1 His roar was of the earth, splitting it in two. Each beat of his wings toppled trees, spun up sandstorms, tore houses from foundations, he was more a force of nature than beast. Drefan was the bane of the unworthy, a monster unlike any other. So why was he suddenly about to die? These thoughts swirled in his head of anger, as each moment he rose higher into the air. Something had pierced his side, a scale chipped off under his arm, a path to his fiery core. He knew it, all dragons knew it, one touch and boom, the core shuts down. So he rose, he flew, higher and higher, away from the pesky humans. The time for murder and mayhem would be soon, he vowed. Oh how right he was. The sound of whistling cut through the air and Drefan howled, his left wing pierced by another human invention. Large spikes jutted from it holding him in place, and Drefan saw his doom on the ground as several more ballistae moved into position. Twisting and turning he tore the spike through his wing, ignoring the pain. He could get away. He could turn and the horizon was right there- Drefan fell. He felt his core charging for a disperse of fiery breath, and smiled. They brought him right to their feet. The wind screamed by his ears, the tear in his wing seared as the open wound was torn further, but Drefan didn''t care. Those humans had made a grave error, they didn''t know about liquid death. Most dragons blew a thick fire, or bolts of jagged lightning. Drefan? He found acid to be much more intriguing, and took it for himself. He couldn''t wait to show them Just how magnificent he was. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°The dragon isn''t fighting sir!¡± Lieutenant Corben shouted this between frantic orders, his men steadily clearing the area, readying their shields. They all knew what this meant, the dragon wanted to fight on the ground. Looking around, the general could admit they should have chosen better ground to fight on, but to get this far was a miracle by itself, to hope for anything more than rough success was to court death, in his line of work. ¡°Corben!¡± The man turned to look immediately, a bit of fear plastered across his face. ¡°Call the mage, tell him it''s his turn to earn his worth. The dragon took it to the ground.¡± Nodding, Corben pulled a large scroll from a pack laying on the ground, reading words multiple times in pattern. Turning away as the message was sent the general continued barking orders. He could only hope the magic was here in time, for the fire was coming, and it was their only chance at survival. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Drefan snarled in anticipation as he crashed into the ground. Immediately spinning he shredded and destroyed all ballistae with his talons, but couldn''t find the humans who dared to attack his lustrous body. The dust kicked up from impact was just too thick, it billowed out like a blanket in the wind. So he waited. Drefan knew what he would do next, he knew the humans didn''t expect dragon''s acid, they only ever expected fire and ruin. Drefan much preferred the drawn out screams, and the acidic tang on the wind of dissolving flesh. He wasn''t so sure they would. As the dust cleared Drefan stood up to his full height, looking at the assembled ranks of humans, their large reinforced steel shields held by two men a piece, a sort of armor for their mushy interiors, who held pikes tipped with gleaming silver alloy under the rapidly setting sun. Did they really think they could hold the weight of a dragon''s ire? Drefan knew they couldn''t, and he couldn''t wait to see the looks on their faces when he waded through their blood. Drefan wouldn''t stop here, after he mutilated and decimated this excuse for an army, he would fly to the capital and melt it to the bedrock, not one building would be left standing, not a rat left alive. ¡°Do you know who I am!¡± The trees shook, men clutched their ears, birds took to the skies, no one could handle a dragon''s voice. ¡°I am Drefan the mutilator, razer of a thousand armies, destructor of the Bathlazar Mercenaries! I tore down their cities when they killed my brethren, and now, I will do the same to you.¡± Eyes to the sky he roared these words. Dragon fire called upon, it stoked in response. It was time. The heart beating within him pulsed, and gave him life, as well as magic. Green acidic magic, corrupting and corroding and dissolving all things. Drefan breathed, the only thing on his draconic mind, his breath of death. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª 235 miles away a mage stood, overlooking the ocean, and the sun. ¡°Now!¡± He shouted, watching hundreds of panes of mirrors tilted to focus the energy right onto him and several others. They began chanting, ignoring the torture of energies blasting through them, lessening the load upon the one who mattered. Down below almost 800 cattle sat pacing around, and the mage raised a hand. 800 life''s of energy, plus a mages control, plus a spell fit to fight a dragon''s magic. It had to be enough. Screaming the words for a magic barrier at the top of his lungs, the mage called upon his own core of magic, feeling it dry almost instantly, just to be replaced by a foreign blood magic. The 7 men around him took the energy first, the Impure burned by focused sun energy, the rest concentrated and adapted to human anatomy, for the mage to use. Doing so gave him the strength of a hundred mages, and for a moment, he channeled as much strength as a dragon. He knew where they were fighting, he knew exactly down to the centimeter where they stood. And so he chanted. He chanted as his skin began to smoke, as the people dropped one by one around him, dead. As the sun disappeared he stumbled, but stood firm, chanting. Then a sudden sharp pain overrode his magic, a physical weight slamming against the barrier so powerful he couldn''t possibly hold it. The mage collapsed, doctors shouted, and the site of extraordinary magic was silent.