I looked out across the expanse of water stretched out before me. I missed home. I missed my friends and family. I missed Yalra. There was nothing I could do. The Fangs were taking my far away, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. Every day I woke up on that filthy ship, my eyes stung from the dirt swirling around the dark room below deck where the captives were placed. They would feed us chunks of a large, brown, slimy dish they called maggotloaf, which the Fangs seemed to enjoy, and as a result, weren’t too happy about having to share their precious meal with us. It didn’t matter much anyways, because many of the captives went hungry, refusing to eat such a repulsive meal, those who did manage to stomach it, like me, became sick, and by the time we got to Dang, almost everyone was too sick or starved to move.
When we reached Dang, most of the Fangs were put to the task of dragging our sickly and malnourished bodies all the way to Castle Throg, a journey I do not remember much of, because I was too sickly to remember much. When we got there, we were given enough real food to nurse us back to consciousness, although we were kept in a prison as repulsive as the ship we came in. As soon as someone was well enough to speak, they took them away from the prison, and they were never seen again.
On one such day, I was finally well enough to walk a little, and I knew that soon they would come and take me away as well. But they didn’t. I watched everyone in that prison disappear, little by little, and soon, just me and five others were left. Then she came. A lady whispered about among the prison cells, the one known as the Stonekeeper.
She was the most terrifying thing I ever saw. Clothed in black from top to bottom, she had the countenance of someone that held the secrets of the world. “Come with me” she said to all of us in the jail. She opened the door and beckoned us to follow her. We did. She led us to a room, it was filled with a mixture of people and Fangs. What I saw there scared me to death.
Another Stonekeeper, one that looked a bit older, was leading people into a tiny room, that glowed with a magnificent light. “Sing the song of the ancient stones, and the blood of the beast will imbue your bones” she chanted, leading people into the tiny room. The door closed, and a haunting melody that drew me in and nearly engulfed my entire being was heard. It was beautiful, yet I felt like I should fight against it. I continued this internal battle until at last, with a hiss, the door opened, and out came a Fang. Where there was once a normal Skreean, out from there came a Fang! The Fang was led away and told, “Your name is Galtora.” As I looked at the Fang’s beady eyes, and her evil disposition, I realized something I wish I realized sooner, although I am not sure it would have made a difference. That Fang was Yalra! The beautiful woman I had once known was now replaced with an evil Fang. I was too shocked by this realization to do anything, so I just stared at her quietly, thinking about all I had planned in my life, and how these Fangs destroyed it all, and ultimately, how my Yalra was now one of them. One of those who destroyed my life! What was left for me? Nothing. My home, my life, and now my Yalra was completely gone. Instead of being at home, I was a pawn in the game of evil! Instead of a life, I now had an empty void. And instead of Yalra, I had before me, an enemy. A woeful discovery.
I didn’t even notice when me and those with me were being pushed towards the line for melding. “Wait!” The Stonekeeper said, walking towards me. “You recognized that girl, didn’t you?” She asked. I nodded in response, too grieved to speak. “I have a job for you,” she said. “I could let you become another beast like the rest of your friends, but I have decided that I have something else for you. What is your name?” “My name is—” I started to say, but she caught me off. “No! Whatever you are going to say is not your name! You will now be known as the Shadowed Driver of the Black Carriage!” She cried, “The one who comes in the night by Shadowed Steed with Shadowed Tack! You will bring us the Fangs of the future!” “I cannot, and will not serve your evil purposes!” I replied, rather disturbed by the news of what she wanted me to do. She gave me a smile that made my skin crawl, and the hairs at the back of my neck crawl, and said, “Why, but you must. Do you not want to see your precious Glipwood again? You will get the opportunity to go back to the place you love.”
That made me stop for a moment.
I would get to see the land I loved so dearly. Everything I had ever known came from there. I knew that I could either choose to stay back at the castle and become a Fang, or I could go back to where I grew up and live as a human. I thought then that I was making a noble choice, choosing to go back, but now I know it was pure foolishness to accept anything from them.
I started back to Skree with a few Fangs and the Stonekeeper a day later. I was fed normal food, and I was feeling rather hopeful. We finally arrived at Glipwood . I do not know what I was expecting, but it certainly was not the ruin and poverty that I saw. Houses were burned down. People who managed to hid during the Fang attack were now living in poverty and struggling to survive. It was a painful sight to see. I started work that night. I put on a black cloak and drove through Glipwood that first night. It pained me terrible at first to hear the wails of families as those they loved were separated from them, never to be seen again. But I got used to it. And that is my woeful beginning
Riding into the Glipwood jail on this stormy night, I waited as the Fangs lead out a family. Three children, one with a crippled leg, and two adults, one without a leg and old enough to be a grandfather. I looked at them sadly, knowing that they would be driven off to an unspeakable fate. But then a very strange thing happened.
This family, half crippled members and all, apparently were not tied, and began to struggling and fight against the Fangs, they took down a few, but it was obvious that they would not win the battle so easily. Then I heard a strange noise. Looking up I saw a man with claws for hands screaming. He landed claw first on a Fang, and thrashed and clawed away with a passion that I have never seen before in any man. I watched as the Fangs fell to the ground and crumbled to dust. Watching them, I realized that I would be next. I had to leave. I urged my steeds forward, eager to leave. I was about to round a bend when I felt something hard hit my skull. Everything went black.
This is amazing, poor Yarla.