A/N: Eventually someone's going to make an Omake about the Main Character instead of his greatest enemy...that day is not today. Though at least this one is more focused on world-building?
Lightning Blooded
Hazdru'bl, Son of Hamil'kr trekked carefully after his Father, the early afternoon sun battering down on him like a wave. Sweat mixed with the oils that had once held his often unmanageable wiry hair in place, leaving the back of the hand he'd used to wipe it away uncomfortably slick. What he did not manage to wipe from his brow collected dust instead though thankfully none drifted to his eyes. If he lost his ability to see clearly he risked tumbling down the cliffside they journeyed across and no man would tell tales of that save as warning to their sons not to be an appearance-obsessed fool.
No, that would not be how Hazdru'bl, Heir to a line dating to Grazdan's First Legion would meet his end. Though that time may be coming soon indeed as the shadows darting between the many crevices of this rocky hell warned. His Father had taken him to a land that had never belonged to Men, all so that his son would take the first step towards achieving what he could not.
Victory against Valyria.
"We are almost there, My Son." Hamil'kr the one-time Octarch of Mighty Ghis warned his eldest son and heir. Hamil'kr had once been dubbed Hamil'kr the Fearless and it was a well earned epithet yet what fear armies of Valyrian sheep-fuckers and their unnatural mounts could not inspire their coming destination more than managed. It was not the kind of fear Hazdru'bl was used to seeing in a man grown, it was rather like the caution the boy's friends displayed when dared to do something particularly brazen by their peers.
A resigned kind of fear towards a task that
must be done else the shame of not doing it could well cause one to die just from the failure to act.
A piercing shriek echoing through the pointed pillars of the No Man's Land almost caused Hazdru'bl to miss a step, sending a chunk of their erstwhile path bouncing down the cliffside. Father hissed, quickly grabbing the boy's sleeve in a vice grip as they both looked down below to see
something stir in the depths of the canyon they straddled in their journey.
"Faster...carefully." Was his father's contradictory order as the man unerringly guided his son the rest of the way, their backs now firmly placed to the earthen wall behind them. Eventually the pair surmounted the narrow path and came upon a large chasm carved into the side of the great stone monolith they'd been edging towards for hours. It could rival the entryways of the Great Pyramids of Ghis and put those of lesser cities like Astapor to shame. Smaller entrances dotted the rock face above the cave entrance, like sally ports of a fortress that only one kind of creature could make true use of.
A kind of creature that now glared from the depths of one of those holes, bronze-colored eyes focused on the two intruders of their most treasured holding. A single hook-like finger clawed at the entrance, pulling the monstrous visage of the harpy into the light of midday. The creature, despite being larger than any man grown Hazdru'bl had seen moved languidly down the cliff face, like a cat stalking towards a mouse. Her almost woman-like face never glanced away from them as she fully emerged from her hiding spot, her wings folded into something approaching arms with the last part of her to appear from the darkness was her almost equally dark tail.
"Do as I taught you, arms behind your back but do not bow your head, not to this one. She is but a sentry." Father ordered in his lowest whisper yet even that caused the Harpy to hiss in warning as Hazdru'bl heeded the man's instructions.
The barbed point of her tail scraped across the stone as she finally came to the ground and even crouched low as she was the beast was still taller than Hazdru'bl's father by at least a foot if not more. As the creature closed within arm's reach Hazdru'bl dared to examine her more closely. This was not the first time he had seen a Harpy but it was by far the closest he'd come to one. She was covered in a thin coating of dark brown hair from face to talon, the only part of her without it was the tail that most said resembled a scorpion's yet the boy felt it looked more like an elephant's hide. It was segmented, yes, and darkly colored as well yet it did not have the look of a carapace.
Though for all she looked a monster there was a certain humanness to the Harpy as well. Her face was indeed bestial yet her eyes were round if almond shaped, her lips a softer brown though her yellowed fangs distracted most from them and her mane was luxurious...if still the color of blood from a deep wound. Dark with hints of red.
A trait every true-blooded Ghiscari held, even Hazdru'bl, a legacy of Grazdan the Great...The Son of the Harpy...
...Though most men seemed eager to ignore all of that and focused exclusively on the fact that Harpy's had breasts.
The Sentry's spiteful gaze boring down on him snapped Hazdru'bl from his ruminations on her and her kind. She leaned down low enough to look the boy in the eyes, face curling into something that on a human woman might seem a sultry smile yet with those fangs gleaming at him he could not help but think it a hungry look. Nearing enough that their noses could have touched the Harpy breathed in deeply…
...And immediately recoiled as if he had struck
her with lightning, the harpy's expression was almost comical in it's surprise. Her nose twitching constantly, her eyes seemed to blink over a dozen times in but a second and her tail swayed sinuously around her where before it's tip had been subtly edging behind them. If he did not know any better he might have thought she had breathed in a flask of wine...which was not too far from the truth.
He knew he should have been afraid of the journey here and what awaited them at his destination but that is what Harpy's Gold was for. The plant had been sampled in every meal Hazdru'bl had eaten since being weaned from the teat of his Milk Nurse as it was for every nobly blooded Ghiscari. It was not from love of the taste, the plant was like a weak garlic or bittersweet onion with a similar effect on one's sweat. There was a reason most first meetings between the scions of Ghis and their ancient allies were held in the heat of midday after all. The plant's scent soothed Harpies like nothing else could...and it was said it could dull the scent of a man's fear.
"
Ghiiiissss…" The Sentry hissed at the two Ghiscari in something approaching acknowledgement. Her wings were spread wide a moment before quickly folding again, almost behind her back as she stepped towards the edge of the larger cavern entrance. Hazdru'bl's father moved towards the mouth of the cave, barely acknowledging the Sentry any longer and his son followed that tact.
The floor within was a porous and perilous thing made more so by the little light shining through the openings in the ceiling rarely facing directly downwards. There were no bones littering the ground as some might have expected and indeed the entire area seemed deserted. They saw nothing living through the pillars of light yet they often heard the same scratching sound the Sentry had made upon first exiting the caves. Once he and his Father were several minutes further within the tunnels of the cave Hazdru'bl began to hear water as well.
And then he heard the inhuman screams.
The main area of the Harpy's home was filled with a cacophony of cries, nests made of grass, hair, and lumps of more...exotic substances lined the walls on ridges carved from the stone. There were dozens surrounding the center where a nest thrice the size of any of the others rested, surrounding it was a moat of water fed by a steady flow of water falling from one of the dozens of holes lining the ceiling of the massive rocky antechamber.
And sitting within that nest that unlike the others was indeed lined with bones of a dozen different creatures ranging from men to dragon, her wings wrapped around her titanic form like a cloak was the undisputed master of this place. Golden eyes gazed upon the father and son as they entered what amounted to her court, nose flaring as she took them in. Without sound the cloak formed of her winged arms unfurled, extending to their full length and narrowing the light of the two Ghiscari's path.
"
Ghiiisss…" Came her shrill cry sending the rest of her kind into a deep and abiding silence, all of their attention coming from their squabbles to settle on the two small creatures entering their home.
"Mhysa." Father answered with a bow, arms stretched as wide as the Harpy's wings and Hazdru'bl followed suit though he kept his own arms closer to his chest.
Rising from the bow when his father did, Hazdru'bl was able to finally gaze upon the Queen Mother of this nest that had served his family for generations. There were statues atop pyramids that could be dwarfed by her presence though none were so...
wide...as she was. The Queen looked bloated compared to the Sentry, her bosom was twice the size of her guardian and her belly was thrice so. Yet there was a majesty to her the boy could not deny, regal enough he did not have trouble thinking of her in regards to the title Father had told him she held. At least to the thinking of men, Harpies were an alien society even after all these years of alliance.
But alien as they were, there were still more similarities between their two peoples than not and as Hazdru'bl raised the hand he'd used to swear himself against Valyria he saw understanding shine in the Queen's eyes. Her tail unfurled from where it had been hidden in the nest, untwining into the air like a coil of rope on a pier. It did not surprise him to see it was much longer than the Sentry's had been but he would not be surprised if it's length could reach any of the other nests within this chamber.
"
Ghiiisss…Caaarrr" She intoned, less acknowledging than before yet twice as solemn. As soon as the final hiss left her tongue the barbed point of her tail pricked the scarred line along Hazdru'bl's palm and suddenly all his blood from that one spot to the tips of his toes became
lightning. His Father, the Graces, and his tutors had all warned him of the pain. The Wine of Courage had been offered yet he'd turned it aside as they had warned the Harpies could tell when one used it and he had wanted their full respect.
He almost wished he had been more a coward then as he stood still, teeth gritted hard enough to crack, tears welling in his eyes. He did not let them fall, however, nor did he let his eyes leave the Queen Mother's as she assessed his reaction. In his pain-addled mind he could have sworn she was smiling at his reaction, the truth of it or the front he put on he could not know.
Eventually, after seconds or hours, the pain faded to a dull throb allowing him to take a deep breath to refill his burning lungs. He had only taken a drop's worth yet it had felt like the venom had been enough to fill a barrel. The boy heard his Father whispering soft words from behind yet Hazdru'bl kept his gaze firmly on the Harpy's own. The Queen withdrew her tail and Hamil'kr breathed a sigh of relief for now the harpies would know him as their own...
...And then the true ritual began.
The Queen Mother threw back her head and
screamed, wings furling into something closer to arms to allow her single claw-like fingers to grasp the edges of the giant nest. The other harpies joined their mistress in her cries and under the cacophony Hazdru'bl heard a wet sound, like wine sloshing into a goblet. The sound was coming from
under the Queen and the boy knew exactly what was happening, finally turning away from the Queen as he had no desire to bear witness to
that.
Eventually a rustling sound came from the large nest, first one and the expected second yet then came an unexpected third which caused even Father to break his distanced vigil to stand beside Hazdru'bl to see if their ears had heard the same thing. And indeed there were what could only be described as three fleshy sacks under the recovering Queen, her breaths deep and quick. She did not require long to regain herself which the boy found admirable, it had taken his own mother days to recover from birthing his siblings.
Still leaning on the edges of the nest the Queen hovered over the three newborns, her own surprise was plain to see and even Hazdru'bl could guess why. Harpies usually only gave birth to pairs, two or four but almost never three. Yet clearly the Queen Mother was an old hand at her duty as she quickly moved to finish the birthing. Her tail quickly hovered over the furthest of the clutch, her firstborn of this trio, and gently pricked into the flesh encasing it. Hazdru'bl did not miss how similarly it was done to his own initiation just minutes ago yet the reaction of himself and the newborn could not have been more different.
The moment the stinger's point left the encasement the chick within thrashed violently, ripping and tearing at it's prison. Shrill cries came from the now free newborn and the Mother leaned within sight of the chick whose bronze-tinted eyes looked into her own golden gaze. That done she moved on to her second born to repeat the process to similar results. Yet as she moved to do so she nudged the firstborn with the length of her tail to face towards Hazdru'bl and Hamil'kr. A dull, slow kind of acknowledgement seemed to come upon the infant Harpy that quickly faded into yet more shrill cries focused towards it's mother.
"Their babes are like birds, the first thing they see is the thing they are most loyal to. Everything after is secondary or in some cases tertiary. It is an honor enough to be the second thing they see, my Son. It will breed camaraderie into them when they serve with us later." Hamil'kr informed his son as the Mother Harpy went to work on the third child to seemingly no result. Hamil'kr sighed at the sight, "If the taste of another Harpy's venom cannot stir it to life then I doubt anything can, a loss for the nest that we cannot afford if we are to rebuild our forces. Odd ones out are always lost causes, as it is with the legions so it is with the nests."
"Mayhaps…" Hazdru'bl watched the Queen Mother push the stillborn away to focus on her living children. The third born roll within arm's reach of the Ghiscari boy, he could see through the thin hole left by it's mother's stinger that it's eyes were closed but it's mouth was open. "...but Ghis cannot afford anymore lost causes." Hazdru'bl declared as he raised his oath-marked hand and clenched it into a fist to draw out his venom-soaked blood. The blood dripped into the stillborn's mouth once, twice, and finally a third time.
And then the Third Born
screamed twice as loud as it's siblings, claws and teeth and stinger thrashing at it's prison. The flesh was made nothing in but a second, the newborn quickly rising into a crouch to see what tore it from it's rest. Eyes the color of rusted copper glared into Hazdru'bl's own darker eyes, a brief contest of wills played out between them with the infant quickly conceding with a full-bodied bow. With the sudden sound ending Hazdru'bl quickly noticed how silent the caverns had become. Looking around he saw the harpies on the walls staring at him with as gobsmacked an expression as his own father did.
The only one without the humorous expression was the Queen Mother herself who was watching Hazdru'bl with narrow eyes. Her tail snaked it's way towards the boy and the third-born causing Hamil'kr to hiss in sudden alarm, his hand quickly taking Hazdru'bl's shoulder. Yet before the father could pull his son back from the deadly stinger the tail was already lifting the newborn to one of her teats, the infant's eyes fixed on it's mother's now with the same look of dull acknowledgement the firstborn had given the two Ghiscari before. As the third born began to feed for the first time the Queen Mother again looked to Hazdru'bl, expression now unreadable.
And so the boy did the only thing that could come to mind, shaking off his Father's hand he bowed with arms fully outstretched. "Mhysa."
The title caused the Queen Mother to let out a pleased sounding hiss, almost as if she were
laughing. And then she unexpectedly gave a reply in turn that was swiftly taken up by her fellow harpies that would follow Hazdru'bl, Son of Hamil'kr for the rest of his days.
'
Barkhar, Barkhar, Hazdru'bl zo Barkhar, the title that would be taken up by all those who served under or against him.
Hazdru'bl the Lightning-Blooded.
