D.K.R Year 0 New Blood Part 4 Trial of the Earthen Heart

  • Sensing its job was done, at least for now, the black dragon fell dormant again. Quinchal lowered the hatchling to eye level and a

    look of both terror and confusion crept across his face,

    "If only we had a hist tree here, then you would grow fast as a weed." He chuckled as the Argonian just looked at him with blind

    indifference

     

    Hasir tried to kick his furs off but failed and started to become fussy. Quinchal was not sure what the Argonian wanted to do. He

    took the hatchling out of the cocoon and set him on the cushion. What happened next shocked the tsaesci, Hasir struggled to his feet

    and looked first at his feet and then at Quinchal. The tsaesci expected Hasir to topple over, needing the tsaesci'srobes for support, but

    that did not happen. Quinchal was dumbstruck; he did not know how in Oblivion Hasir managed to stand on his own feet. 

     

    Quinchal  looked up at the statue and sighed,

    "I will never understand the hists' powers." He said, chuckling to himseelf

     

    Hasir eyed him with suspicion as if he was trying to figure out what he was saying. Quinchal was befuddled as to how in Oblivion a

    hist could act when it had communicated telepathically with a dragon statue that just so happened to be full of hist sap. He knew full

    well that Akavir and Blackmarsh are on two completely different continents and they should in no way be linked together as they

    are now. Quinchal's only guess was that someone, either for good or evil, linked the two unrelated objects together.

     

    He looked at Hasir and smiled. He did not know all the effects of Hist sap or how certain Argonians react to it but at that moment

    Quinchal knew that Hasir was special in his own way and no amount of prophecy would change that. He walked over to Hasir, picked

    him up and told him how he was chosen as Hasir's godfather.

     

    He told Hasir that he had met his parents when he went on a trip down to Blackmarsh to try to clear his mind after a stressful day of

    his dragonknight training,

    "My battlespirit master, which, er, just is a fancy word for teacher, was a Ka'Po'Tun that went by the name of Xuen Xiong. He trained me

    to my breaking point one day and I had to take a break. I went down to Blackmarsh, which is where where I met you and your parents.

    We talked a bit. They told me of a beautiful hatchling that they had left with the egg-tenders and asked me to be your godfather and

    asked me to go and see if the egg-tenders will allow me to see you."

     

    He wiped a tear from his eye,

    "Naturally, I accepted, though I did not know what was about to befall your homeland many months after." He turned to Hasir and

    smiled, "So I set out to find your parents after I heard what happened, searched all of Blackmarsh and Morrowind and found

    them alive and well amongst other Argonians in a village near Gnaar Mok."

     

    He grinned at the hatchling again but immediately his smile faded,

    "Why am I telling you this? You can not comprehend any word I am saying."

     

    Quinchal looked up and saw the histsap had begun to flow from the dragon again. He picked up Hasir and once again, let the histsap

    run over his tongue. Unseen by Quinchal, Hasir's vocal chords started to form. Quinchal turned Hasir to face him and found he was

    also much heavier than before, his body had lengthened to that of a one year old hatchling.

     
    Quinchal knew, to keep the growth going, he had to bring Hasir back to this stone dragon every two days or so because he did not

    have his own proper hist tree to gather nutrients from. He placed Hasir back down on the cushion again and told him that when he

    met him he knew he had great potential to become a dragonknight and still honor his parents wishes of being brought up as a

    shadowscale. He told Hasir, who sat eyeing him with curiosity that dragonknights are the most versatile fighters in all of Tamriel

    whereas most warriors can fill only one role really well and other ones not so well. The dragonknight can perform defense, offense

    and stealth equally well.

     

    Hasir asked him if he has to become a dragonkinght and that his dad expected him to be a shadowscale. Quinchal was taken aback,

    not by the question, but by how fast the hist sap was working; Moments before Hasir could not speak and now here he is forming

    complete sentences and asking questions.

     

    Quinchal looked at him and gave him a sly smile,

    "Hasir, you don't have to be anything you don't want. I am merely telling you what a dragonknight is; what you do with the

    information is your own business. If you choose to not follow this path, I will fully understand and won't be mad at you."

     

    Quinchal got up and proceeded out of the temple, as he was about to cross the threshold, he looked back at the Argonian and

    smiled,

    "If you do change you mind about this I will meet you at the top of Wixhslaxh mountain." Not soon after he said that, he

    dematerialized and rematerialized fifteen feet away at the top of the mountain, leaving Hasir alone with his thoughts. 

     

    Hasir weighed the alternatives: on one claw, it would be fun to learn an ancient Akavirian fighting style, on the other claw, though, if he

    did this, his parents would be really mad at him. Hasir was a reptile who was down for adventure, a little bending of the rules didn't hurt

    either. After all, he decided to live by the beat of his own drum, not by societal rules. Hasir went outside to the rear of the temple to

    see a thirty foot high mountain with no visible peak staring down at him.

     

    To complete this particular trial, one must have faith enough to reach the top without shoes. Hasir took his leather shoes off and

    put them in a bush near the mountain for safe keeping and then began his trek up the unforgiving mountain. Hasir found the first

    part easy as it had stones just far enough apart that he could use them as steps. The second part got a little tougher with stones so

    far apart that he had to jump from one to the other. The third part was even harder with small gaps between the rocks and also

    there was nothing to prevent him from falling off the side of the mountain like there had been for the first two legs. Hasir had to

    jump the gap to get from one rock to the next, but, he managed to succeed. 

     

    The fourth leg of the mountain was more difficult than when he started. First off, the stones were placed so far apart that

    he would have to use both his arms and feet to propel himself from one stone to the next. The second thing that made this leg of

    the journey more difficult was that there was no floor beneath the rocks. There were just stuck on the side of the mountain, and

    they were also loose. Hasir half ran, half jumped from one stone to the next, never staying where he was for too long because as soon

    as he stepped on a stone, it gave way. He eventually made it to the top of the mountain; leaving the dangerous, steep cliff behind.

     

    His feet were aching when Hasir approached the temple at the top of the mountain. Quinchal nodded his approval of Hasir making it

    all this way. Hoping the hike tested his physical body as well as his spirit. Quinchal, seeing that the argonian's feet were aching,

    motioned for Hasir to sit on a velvet cushion and provided a basin with water for the argonian to rest his feet in.