The monument; once a spot of great worship and holyness. Now, the once grand Cascadian statue to Bernal's god had been reduced to dust, and the air was thick with darkness and corruption. A young man, hardly older than 20, stood in the middle of the ruins, staring sullenly at the ground. He held a hat in his hand, roses seeming to grow out of the hat, entwined in the vines which wrapped around it.

The man began to sing in a hurt, trembling voice. It was a song of pain and loss, of betrayal and agony. But it was also a song of promises, of things yet to come, and of a day when things would be better. "Darkness Abides
Evil Resides
In this ugly yet beautiful world
Monsters make their home
Even the greatest heros stand alone
In this ugly yet beautiful world
But love is a gift,
Something everyone is born with
In this ugly yet beautiful world
How can we live
In a world where such suffering thrives
And where our worst dreams have come true
In this ugly yet beautiful world?
But how can we not?
Without the love of another
Why would we call anyone brother
Why would the world even bother
To tell of its boundless glory
To a deaf audience?
Yes, it is both our blessing and our curse
To be the authors of our chapter
In this ugly yet beautiful world."

The figure sat on the ground, several tears streaming onto the ground. He looked up to the skys, and then sighed. "The gods allowed all of this to happen. How very ungodlike of them. It could've been so glorious...." He sighed, and pushed himself off of the ground. He seemed quite distraught, and he obviously took little joy from being here.

The young man picked one of the many roses sprouting from his hat, and his breath hitched. "To what was lost. What can never be brought back. May things one day be as they should." He kissed the petals of the rose gently, allowing it to fall to the ground, where it struck, and seemed to dissapate, into dozens of maggots. He turned, his teeth peeling back into a primal grin, one devoid of any sort of good mirth. "One more down..."

The man's demeaner changed in an instant with the rose gone. He had lost his somber and serious attitude, and he was know almost bouncing, walking around the ruins and looking at the damage done. "My my, this is all so very saddening. But, no point dwelling in the past. There's much work to be done!" The figure tipped his hat back onto his head, tilting it just slightly so it covered his eyes. A cane was held tightly in his other hand, adorned with a skull at the very top.

Yaksha began to saunter away from the ruined site, whistling to himself. To anyone listening, the tune would've sounded jaunty and carefree; he'd have seemed like any other happy-go-lucky normal person. In truth, the song he had in mind was quite dark and dreadful, and it fit perfectly with the 'work' that had to be done. He whirled on the ball of his foot, halting his whistling quickly.

He quickly examined the nearby ruins, walking over to a large rock, one no doubt flung by the demon's arising. He gave a genteel laugh, and stood against the rock, his hands crossed over his chest. Within several seconds, he had faded into the rock, seeming to anyone coming by as an odd jutt in the rock, but not as a person. His lips curled up into a knowing sneer, and he began to cackle madly in his mind.

Silence filled the ruins, but not of the normal kind. This was the silence of someone trying very hard to be quiet. It was the utter absense of sound that seemed to appear whenever silence was needed, even in such a confined area. The wind itself seemed to have dropped, as if nature itself was on the side of this one individual.

Yaksha's mind began to wander, to those days when he, a demon approaching 300, had been young, even by human standards. There had been laughter, and the rough hands of other demons. Yaksha had been devoid of any true fighting skill as a child, and so was an outcast of sorts. What sort of demon can't even kill a wolf!?
Look at the little wimp, can't even lift a rock without struggling!

Even as he had grown older, he hadn't been very physically gifted. But, it was apparant to all who came close enough to him that was was more of a demon than anyone else. Physically, he was no better than a human. Mentally, he was more crafty, devious, and bloodthirsty than anyone else he had known. Even without physical prowess, he grew through the ranks quickly, establishing himself as a demon of unparalled dark nature.

Bloodlust, savagery, and a dark intellect to match that of any demon over 100. Yaksha was without any doubt a prodigy of his day and age, and he quickly gathered a group of followers. His quick wit, quicker tongue, and mellifluous words could turn even the toughest of demons into a willing pawn within minutes. Yaksha carried nary a scruple in the world, and would never be too good to resort to some dirty means to gain what he wished.

A demon among demons, he was known as. He couldn't kill a wolf worth a damn, but he was easily good enough to trick the older ones of their own wolves or meals. He could turn a human against his own kind within an hour. All that was needed to turn any mission from total failure to resounding success was Yaksha, standing at the sidelines. An ever calculating mind, always one step ahead....

None had solved the issue of how Yaksha could always watch a fight and be so very sure of himself, but Yaksha himself merely laughed when he remembered this. The reason was simple, the same reason anyone who was confronted with a fanatic on any topic would've told you. His voice rang out clearly through the ruins, just low enough to be thought of as a whisper of the wind.
"It's just a game...."

And so it was to the demon. War, death, all of it was nothing more than a way to pass some time for him. A good war was comparable to a game of chess in his own mind. The front lines, pawns; good for little but dying and protecting the higher-ups. Just behind them, the knights and bishops, the rooks. Powerful enough to warrent some mention, but still easily expendable. The queen, a powerhouse of any group, but their death, while lamentable, was not unremediable. And then the king. The one person you had to protect, the one who must never even battle for the sake of safety.

Yaksha held no more value for human life than any human did for the animals around them. Humans were there to get a job done, and to do it to the letter. Anything less was mutiny, and anyone who couldn't follow orders deserved all they got. The darkest mind of the last three centuries was still alive and well, and even now it catalogued all he knew in order of importance.

Yet still, none were high enough to warrent any true interest from the demonic prodigy. Only a select few were of that level, and those few would be visited themselves by our own resident Hannibal Lecter, when the time came. Yaksha smiled darkly, and surveyed the surroundings, waiting for the inevitable....

It was lovely out for the dragon, as she thought it was anyway as she wandered through the ruins of the old monument. She had never been around here when it was fixed, but when she heard the news of Cascadia tearing itself from the world to float high in the sky, she had to come see it for herself. It wasn't hard for her to get up here, since she was able to fly easily. When she reached the land in the air, she had changed back into human form, and entered the city.

Today, she wore a long black dress that seemed to always flutter around her legs. She wore sandals too, that went to her knees, but of course hidden by the long dress. Her hair fell over her shoulders, the green streaks seemed to stand out more in her black hair. Two swords hung at her sides, one on each side, on the right, was her lightning blade, on her left, was her blade of air. Around her slender neck was Blackquill looking exactly like a small dragon necklace, and tied near her lightning blade, was a small bag, her bag of Neverending Space.

She walked around the ruined monument, her feet making very little noise. She suddenly stopped, thinking she heard something. Her hand instantly went to her side, and she glanced to her side, but noticed no one from where she stood. Quill glanced up, obviously she heard it too.

"Probably just the wind, Blackquill." Sava said, smiling slightly. "Sides, even if it isn't, and a ghost or something, I can handle that." She said, tapping her bag where her Spirit blade was, along with all of her other equipment.

Her foot hit a rock, knocking it away from her, and it hit another, making some clattering noises, but today, the dragon in human form wasn't trying to be sneaky or anything, there was no point for it right now.

She pulled a strand of black hair away from her eyes and continued on her wandering around the ruined monument.

Yaksha pulled away from the rock near him, and smiled, walking forward. He stopped before Nightwind, and bowed, his cane held tightly in his hand. "Hello, miss. It's a beautiful day to go for a walk, wouldn't you say?" He rose from his bow, and then took his hat off of his head, making a sweeping gesture. "All such a beauty." He reached up to his hat, and plucked a flower, handing it to her elogently. "A rose is such a terrific thing, wouldn't you agree?"

Yaksha made a gentle laugh, and began to look at the woman before him. His voice had grown soft and mellifluous, with the slightly clipped word of a gentleman. "Yet the rose isn't heardly as precious as you, miss."

Sava heard the person come towards, and she turned gracefully to watch the man. Her magic sensing evil, but she paid it no heed, for now anyway, but she will stay on guard, it was rare to find it down. The dragon woman watched the strange man bow before her, then stood and spoke to her, she cocked her head slightly, and nodded a slight smile creasing over her features.

"Indeed it is a nice day, I couldn't resist not coming up here today." She said in a polite voice. Then he took a rose from his hat, and handed it to her. A rose. She hesitated before taking it, and stared at its petals. She barely heard what he said next because she seemed entranced to the rose for a moment, almost losing herself in the past again, so she didn't even answer to what the man said, until his next words came.

"Yet the rose isn't heardly as precious as you, miss."

She looked instantly up at the man, eyes flashing darkly for a mere second. She had heard almost the same word from her old lover, Fios, who she basically wanted dead now.

"As much as you may like the talk of beauty and all, it gives me a headache, and I hate it when it makes me remember, it can get me snappy." She said, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, and went back to her "polite self". She reached up to Blackquill, who looked like a necklace again, and she stroked the fly dragons head.

"So, whats your name, sir?" She asked.

He stared at her for a moment, then bowed his head. "Memories of a lost love, I would guess. I can understand perfectly. Love is like a double-edged sword, one which wounds as it heals." He turned, and then sat in the dirt, looking over his shoulder at her. "You may call me Yaksha. I'm a chaotic evil, but that doesn't mean I can't be a nice guy." He turned his head back, and lay back, staring at the sky. "I'd understand if you wish to leave." Yaksha's face remained impassive, but tears began to well around his eyes, and he subtly cast emotion, a crushing pity for this traveller washing over Nightwind.

Sava listened to him speak, and closed her eyes lightly, banishing the old memories, and she kept telling herself that the elf was dead to her even when she had just recently saw him again, that day was terrible for her, she tried not to think of it at all. She then focused her attention to the man who said his name was Yaksha, and she was quite surprised he said he was evil. She cocked her head at him, and kept herself from laughing.

"No, I won't leave. Sides, I knew you were evil, sensed it. But I can easily protect myself if you pose a threat." She said, and looked at him if he dare try to attack her, then she went to a rock and sat on it, and hid a yawn behind her hand before resting in in her lap.

"Anyway, my names Savarkael Nightwind. Everyone calls me Sava though." She said. May not be smart giving out her name, but hey, he was talking to Sava, if he meant harm, she could turn into a dragon and probably eat him easily, not that she really wanted to though.

"I beleive I already stated that evil and bad aren't always synonymous. I'm evil, yeah. But it doesn't mean I'm an asshole. I guess you could consider this my day off. Being a bad guy can wear thin after a time." He stared at the sky, and then smiled. "Oh, to soar as a dragon would. To float through the clouds on the back of such a majestic creature. I would want nothing more than a chance to fly, to soar high in the air." He turned to Nightwind, and smiled. "Sava, I must say that name is simply captivating." He pushed himself up, walking right in front of her and dropping to one knee before her. "Savarkael Nightwind, whatever scars you harbor on your heart are no doubt deep. But no wound can heal without care. And you will never be complete again, until you can love without restraint." He knelt even further, his face literally in the dirt now. "One so precious as you should never be abandoned when she is in need. I will be here, every day, until your inner beauty is as flawless as your outer....."

When he mentioned soaring through like a dragon. She looked up into the sky, a knowing look passing through her eyes. She soared through the air everyday basicallyunless she had things to get done, or felt like playing human. She looked away from the sky and to Yaksha once more. And smiled slightly.

"Sava, I must say that name is simply captivating."

"Many have said so." She said, and so many has, she could barely count how many people thought the name was beautiful, though, there were only a few she believed it from. She sighed, wishing the past would just vanish for a few days like it had been. Then, he did something the dragon was not expecting, one thing no one had ever done, not even Fios had really done this when they loved each other, this was something new to the her, human behavior seemed to get stranger with each day.

Her mouth seemed to gape open slightly as she looked at him on the ground. Sure, she had wounds that weren't physical, but because of her past. After all, when she was young, she killed all her siblings, then her parents tried to kill her, then she was trapped as a human for ten years, and so many things have happened to her, all giving her despair, it seemed unbearable.

Sure, she may never be complete again, maybe not until she gives in to love, but that is a long time till then. She took a deep breath when he stopped talking, and shook her head lightly.

"Yes, I do have wound, so many its impossible to count, and no, I never will be complete for a long time... I am flattered by all that, but, I have rules, no falling in love again, makes you weak, foolish. Banish the past, makes you have emotional breakdowns normally. And never tell anyone your secrets, or more then they don't need to know. I'm not allowed to get close to anyone. People try. People fail." She said, and sighed again, then stood, walking a few steps from Yaksha, before turning around again.

"You can still try though, not in my business to tell what a human should try and not." She merely said, waving her hand slightly as if it didn't matter to her. And she had referred him as a human, even when she looked human right now.

Yaksha watched her, then his tongue flickered out, a small pink blur, licking his lower lip. He seemed to look right through her for a minute, then he nodded slowly. "I never once said I loved you. I only said I wish to see you healed. And the fact that you actually stated I was a human would mean you're not one, or at least you think you aren't." He pushed himself off the ground, and brushed off ihs clothes. "You are a beautiful woman, regardless of species."

He looked at her, and then his face took on a slight flush. "Sava, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, could you show me your true form? I only want to know who exactly I am speaking to." His voice has lost some of its refined edge, turning into the voice of a nervous schoolboy, doing his best not to make a fool of himself. "Surely it would only make you more lovely..."

"I never once said I loved you. I only said I wish to see you healed...

No, he didn't say he loved her or anything, but it seemed to her that he was implying that he really liked her, well, she supposed anyone could guess that with the way he always talked about beauty. She watched him stand and ask if she would show her true form. She could, she was sort of curious to see what his reaction would be, probably the same as everyones, they always seemed calm around her in either form, well, except Lysan. A smirk played on her face, but it was soon gone.

"Very well, I will show you my true form." She said, then reached up to Blackquill, and let the fly dragon curl onto her hand, then the tiny dragon flew into the air, zipping around through the air, watching Sava.

Soon, the dragon woman who appeared human started changing. The transformation was quick, but it looked quite painful too, even though it wasn't. When it was done, there was a full grown dragon looking down at the man. She wasn't the largest of dragons, she appeared to be of medium size, with black and green scales. She looked to be a cross of the black dragons, and green dragons. Her dark eyes watched Yaksha.

"Well, this is it." She said, her voice deeper now that sometimes sounded almost like a growl in her throat.

Yaksha stared at her, his eyes wide, and then sat down, laughing softly. "I was talking to a dragon. About how great it would be to be a dragon. I must be the biggest idiot you've ever seen." His laughs slowly subsided, and then he leaned back, his head resting on her back leg. "Are you a fully grown dragon, or do you have more to come?" He began to scratch at her back leg, and stared up at the sky. "I think this day just got better than I thought it ever would've."

How great it was to be a dragon. Sava didn't know if she could agree with that, sure she hated Fios now, but when she was trapped as a human for those ten years, she sort of wished she could've stayed human to be with Fios, even if she would have died first. Oh, shut up, Sava, everyones dead to you now, Fios, mother... she thought to herself and shook her dragon head slightly.

"Are you a fully grown dragon, or do you have more to come?"

She turned her head to look at him as he leaned on her back leg. "Most dragons say I'm young adult dragon, I like to think I'm a full grown one." She answered. Blackqull flew to the top of Sava's head, and curled around one of the main horns on the larger dragons head.

She then took a few steps back from Yaksha, and shifted around until she was laying down, her front claws crossed. She held her head up high though, peering down at the man.

"Why are you here today, Yaksha?" She asked in her calm, but deep voice that was more used to speaking Draconic rather then Common.

Yaksha smiled, and leaned back. "Eating babies and kicking puppies, isn't that what all evil people do?" He began to scratch at her leg again, his voice soft but hurt. "It does so insult me when people beleive that just because I'm evil, I can't be NICE. That Chaotic can't be KIND. As if they're more than titles, more than names. It's like calling you a big lizard." He was obvious growing upset, but he took in a deep breath, and let it out after a minute.

"I'm sorry. That was extremely out of line. I just felt today was much too great a day to have anyone trying to slay me because I'm a fiend, because I'm heartless, because I'm evil. It's so very hard being a 'bad guy', just once I'd like a person who wouldn't care. They say love is blind, but I say it's just deaf. Deaf to the woeful cries of broken....." He sighed once more, then looked at a nearby cloud. "It's never easy, being thought of as worthless before you're even known."

Sava listened to him speak in silence. She didn't really evn know what to say though, so she merely stayed silent. When he was does talking, she still stayed silent, then sighed herself.

"To tell the truth, you don't seem that evil to me. And when people think you worthless, then its time to change their minds about that, so when they give you a glance even, you won't be worthless." She said. "You seem like me. When I first came to Imythess, I was nothing but a simple dragon that everyone believed evil, dangerous, now, I own a large home, most people respect, and barely any dragon slayer comes after me."

She remembered when she had first come here, her first friend had been Romanus, who she had not seen in years, which was said, she sort of liked him. Then, Shain, her best, and most trusted friend, no one else has ever reached as high as he had in Sava's friendship.

She dug one claw into the ground slightly, turning a few things up.

Yaksha looked up at her, his face in the 'duh' expression. "Well, I SAID it was my day off. And I'm evil, but I still can be nice." He looked up at her, and smiled, running a hand down her scaly side. "It really was nice to meet you, Nightwind. I'm glad we had this time together."