Pyralis eyed her two little foals with deep pride. They were true offspring, the purest of pure kalona, born from herself and the great warrior stallion Ire. Their coupling had been an… interesting experience, and the fruits… Well, with such pure bloodlines there was no way they could fail her. But first, it was her job to educate them, to instruct them on their righteous path. They would not have easy lives, and she would not - could not - suffer weak offspring. “Gather around my little ones. It is time for me to tell you a story, a fairytale if you will. One that will shape your whole lives.”
Isveig sat up as soon as her mother spoke, ears shooting upright in abrupt attention. All her life, she had been raised with an expectation of obedience, and it was well drilled in. If mum said gather around, that meant you gather around now. She jumped up onto her hooves, giving her brother a slightly aloof shove, a snarky grin playing on the edge of her lips. She was the best child, and she intended to let everyone know it. After all, mother did not tolerate any nonsense, and Isveig wanted nothing more than to please her hot-tempered mother.
She noted her foals pushing at each other with joy – there, that true spark of kalona nature. Excellent. She would have to nurture that. Kalona had to be strong, independent. While there was strength in numbers, you had to be able to survive if the numbers turned on you. “Once upon a time, we kalona lived in a different realm.”
Isveig paused. She was still a young foal, and her mother hadn’t introduced a lot of concepts to her yet. “Excuse me mother, what’s a kalona?”
“You are, child. We are. Look closely. See my wings, leathery and strong, with supportive feathers at the base. Feel the fangs in your mouth. The horns upon your head. Your spaded tail. These are traits that make us kalona. Pure kalona. One must have all these traits to be pure, to be true. To not have other blood polluting you.”
“So… I’m a pure kalona?” Isveig focused on every word, trying to understand the underlying message.
“Of course, my petal. I would never have born you were you not.” No, Pyralis would never have accepted any half blood children. The shame that would have brought! “Now hush, I must tell you the rest of the tale.”
Isveig settled down once more, rapt with attention.
“Soquili today call it the ‘Demon Tree’, say it is a source of corruption and poison in our world, but these are cruel untruths, taught to little foals to make them hate us. Afraid of us. It was a dark, shadowy realm, but that does not make it an evil one, my little spitfires. It was here that the God Kalona raised us, moulded us. Created us to be fit for our destiny.”
Isveig gasped. “Created by.. a God?” Her eyes opened in awe. Was she descended from a God? She looked across at her brother, at his horns and leathery wings, marks of… Godhood?
“Yes, little one. For you see, we kalona are special. We are blessed by our God, raised in his name even. It is in our blood. It makes us strong. It gives us powers. And it is our destiny to rule over all others.” She let out just a touch of her dark magic, letting her influence touch her foals – to show them her true power.
Isveig felt a chill cross her. It was like all the strength was seeping from her bones – making her want to lie down. A leeching sickness, dark. Draining. She stared up in awe. Was this the great power her mother spoke of? She frowned for a moment, concentrating, trying to push through the weakness. After all – she was not weak. And she would not show it! She stood resolute, strong. And then she looked inwards, looking for a… strange feeling she wouldn’t have been able to describe. There – a low hum, deep within her. A small well of darkness. She reached for it, and suddenly there was power. Flooding out from her. Sickness, emanating out. Her influence was much weaker than her mothers, but it was there.
Pyralis felt the touch of Isveig’s powers and gave her a proud nod. “That’s it. Feel it. Channel it. It will serve you well in the future.” She cleared her throat. “The God Kalona blessed us, and released us from the shadow realm, so that we could take our rightful place in this world – as its rulers. But our numbers are small, and the other races – other Soquili without our great abilities – were not so eager to be ruled. And even worse, the trickster God Oyahusa stole our realm. He twisted it, creating what we now call ‘Shifters’. These were once fierce beasts, capable of overpowering all but the strongest of Soquili. Huge, wearing the pelts of animals they had slain upon their backs. But do not idolise these creatures, for they are just this. Beasts. Incapable of higher thought, ruled by their feral instincts. Strong, yes, but pathetic. And even worse, they can now be tamed by the Angeni. Acting like their pets – all ‘good’ and ‘fixed’.” Pyralis snarled. “And now the other races forget. They forget where the kalona came from, remembering only the Shifters, and they forget our duty. Our right.”
Isveig listened raptly. There were so many new terms – so much to learn. She flapped her wings, letting her dark powers subside once more. Ooph, that was exhausting! A wave of fatigue flashed over her, though she gritted her teeth and tried to focus. She would have to practice.
“And so, many moons ago, we kalona came together. We formed a great herd, many strong. All pure, all powerful.” Pyralis’ eyes became wistful. “We were ready to take our place. And we had a beautiful battle. Blood everywhere, skirmish after skirmish, fight after fight. But the weaker races numbered many – and they just kept coming and coming. They did not understand why we must rule, my children. They feared us, they fought and rebelled. They have been lied to – they believe themselves better than us. And, in their idiocy, they succeeded. We were defeated.” She took a moments pause, remembering the pain. “And that is the moral of the story, my children. Sometimes the strong do not win, sometimes the righteous and true do not get their happily ever after. Sometimes the evil wins.”
Isveig couldn’t believe it. How had they lost? Why had they fought against them? Were the other races really so stupid? To defy a God like that? She thrashed her tail in anger.
“But here’s the twist, my little flames of fire. The story is far from over. We may have been bested the first time, but as long as there are still kalona we can never lose. This is your future. Your destiny. To take up the mantle, grow our numbers, and finally defeat those who dared try to oppress us. The next chapter is yours to write… Our future. In your hooves. Do you understand? You must do me proud.”
The foal’s eyes steeled. Yes, she would.
