Origins

Apollo and the humans sat around the fire to ward off the cold air. The moon was high when Amalek spiraled down from the sky.

"Where’d you go?" asked Quinn.

Amalek’s avatar appeared. "For a hunt. I thought I might need the strength, so I found and swallowed a deer. I wanted to have a few days to digest; fighting on a full stomach is unpleasant."

"You swallowed a deer whole?" asked Davion.

"That’s how serpents eat," said Amalek. "I did have to trim the buck’s antlers first."

Amalek turned to Zebulun. "How long were you in the army?"

"Twenty-three years," said Zebulun.

"You were fourteen when they took you?" asked Amalek.

Zebulun nodded.

"When was your first battle?" asked Amalek.

"When I was sixteen," said Zebulun.

"You kill anyone in that first battle?" asked Amalek.

"I think so," said Zebulun, "but it’s tough to say. In the midst of melee, you hit someone and they go down. Maybe you hit them again for good measure, if you’re not sure. Maybe you killed them, maybe you just knocked them out."

"How did you feel?" asked Amalek.

"Terrified," said Zebulun, "at the start. I’d had two years of training. I knew what I was doing, and had confidence in my brothers in arms. That didn’t stop the animal fear."

"But you overcame it," said Amalek.

"So to speak," said Zebulun. "I learned, that day, that the thinking part of myself wasn’t the one in charge. I watched, helpless, as the beast I dwell within butchered men to save myself and my friends."

"I’ve read about this," said Davion, his eyes on the fire. "Survivors of traumatic situations often say they felt like they were watching themselves from the outside. They felt like they had no control over their actions."

"Right," said Zebulun. "The part of you that you think of as you is not the part who decides and acts. It’s just an advisor."

"That’s a terrifying thought," said Davion.

Quinn smirked at Davion. "Does it make you see yourself from the outside?"

Davion turned his head toward Quinn without raising his eyes, chuckled, and said, "Not yet."

"You’ve seen much combat," said Amalek. "Struck down many men."

"I have," said Zebulun.

"You advanced quickly?" asked Amalek. "When did you make captain?"

"I made corporal at seventeen," said Zebulun, "sergeant at nineteen, lieutenant at twenty-three, and captain at twenty-nine."

"So you’ve been leading men for twenty years," said Amalek.

"Right," said Zebulun.

"Good," said Amalek. "The leader of the attack should be experienced."

They sat in silence for a time.

"What about yourself, Amalek?" asked Zebulun. "How did you rise to power?"

"My story mirrors your own," said Amalek. "My father was a general in the army. He fell in battle against a kingdom that no longer exists. It was a meaningless death in a minor skirmish."

"Our house fell out of favor. Another dragon took our lands. I was only one hundred and fifty-one years old, but I was shrewd and ambitious. Having few options, I joined the army as well."

"Turns out I had a talent for magery. I turned the tide in many battles. Within a few decades, my reputation was such that I was able to depose the king and take his place. I was one hundred and ninety-nine."

"Then you expanded," said Zebulun.

"Yes," said Amalek. "I had grand designs, back then. With clever use of force, deception, and diplomacy, I managed to double the size of my kingdom by my three-hundred and seventh birthday. At age four hundred and one, I ruled the entire known world, save for a few of the island kingdoms. I conquered the last of those at four-hundred and forty-three."

"Then I fell ill," said Amalek, "and I left."

"So no one in the kingdom has seen you for almost two hundred years?" asked Davion.

"Correct," said Amalek. "I wonder how many of my friends and allies remain."

"You think they’ll help us?" asked Quinn.

"If they’re still my friends and allies," said Amalek. "The upcoming battle will do much to determine that. A dragon’s friends are limited to those who he believes can benefit him."

He looked around at the six of them. "We have to win."