Many years have passed since the Stormbringer last called me. Here, in the cold depths of the turquoise sea, I have ruled the undulating underwater forests of my people for a hundred years. In peace, we’ve tended our gardens, grown our influence to extend across the cold sea floor to the very edge of the abyss.
I am Kalyx, first lord of my people. Before the Stormbringer raised us up, we were no better than animals, stupid and scavenging. It was through the work of the summoner we were given both sapience and a will beyond simple survival. In exchange, the Stormbringer took a piece of my very heart, transmogrified my essence into the third of his great totems. I am his creature now, as are all my people. I must answer the call.
I move with the light and as it brightens the noise of waves intensifies. Soon my claws will find sand and air – there on that far beach where the Stormbringer summons. It is night. My people are of the moon and the Stormbringer will only call when we can comfortably walk onto the travesty of land. The waves lap at my great claws – the water gushes free of my shell as I walk through the surf. There, at the edge of the shimmering break he awaits me. Around him, the kelp of his ritual arranged into a perfect circle around the fetishes used to call on my power.
‘Old Man, ‘ he says with a sardonic smile, for he is far older than even I. ‘My apologies for disrupting your calm in the depths. There is movement.'
Simple words for complex times. I have felt the disturbance reverberating through our realm. ‘I answer when summoned, ‘ I reply, true to our custom.
‘And I would not call if the need was not most dire… ‘ For the first time that I have seen, his deep, grey eyes are troubled. An inauspicious omen. He sighs deeply continues in a grave tone:
‘There are those who seek to reunite the splinters. There have been rumors, but… It is coming to a head, Old Man. Summoners from across the Splinterlands gather as never before. It is inevitable yet… I fear we are in for troubled times. ‘
‘It has been an age since we heard such stirrings, ‘ I declare. ‘Stormbringer, you are certain of this?'
‘I grow more so by the day. Soon I will need the strength of your people. Soon, I will call you to fight… ‘
He speaks the words with a heaviness that hangs in the air between us. For all our years as thinking beings my people have been pacifists. This is what separates us from the beast. Now, this oldest friend of my race is asking us to break that vow.
‘When I raised you up I gave you will, ‘ Stormbringer says softly. ‘You, who are of the Free People have the right to determine your own futures. But this, my friend, this future affects us all… '
I cross my great claws in the gesture of assent. ‘The world is changing. Still, I must consult with my kin. The choice is not mine alone.’
He nods: ‘Yes, this is as it should be. I will return here when the moon is at its ebb, Old Man. I pray you have some answer for me then.’
With that he is gone, a whisper moving down the beach with the sand and moon. For my part I am left to the waves. To carry this burden of the land to my clan alone.
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