The Creation of the Children of Taraqa

Yrax: Spawn of Greed

The Creation of the Children of Taraqa

The Eigots begotten by the Lady Premye were many and even when Lady Taraqa had entered the Betwixt to commence Her Dream, many remained. The children of Premye watched over the Eights as the Lady Premye had commanded.

But some of the children lost faith in their cause. They became curious, and greedy, and wanted the power of the Dragon-Gods for themselves. Some children of Premye stole Eigots to used the power locked inside for their own purposes.

When these Eigots hatched, they were malformed and twisted, both in body and in nature.Instead of wings, these spawn had numerous long legs with webbing between them, and topped with a single claw tipped with poison. Their heads were bulbous, their mouths filled with rows of razor sharp teeth. They contained no fire within, no intelligence and no desire to Dream. They were mindless creatures driven by the instinct to destroy, and their appetite was ravenous.

The Dragon-Gods looked upon the malformed spawn and named them Yrax, which means ‘destroyer’ in the old tongue. The Dragon-Gods banished the Yrax to the Betwixt—the dark nothingness that existed before the Lady Premye, and which filled the spaces between and around the worlds Dreamed into existence.

The Betwixt did not satisfy the appetites of the Yrax. There was nothing to devour, nothing to destroy. The Yrax were drawn to the edges of the Betwixt, to gnaw on the fabric that separated the worlds from the Betwixt. They were driven insane by the proximity of the life within, but unable to find it.

The Lady Serysse was a beautiful Dragon-God, perhaps the most beautiful of them all. Her scales were a luminescent, pearly white and gleamed like the face of the moon on a dark night. Her Dreams were full of beauty, life, hope and love. She Dreamed a world of unparalleled beauty. She rested from the exertions of the first rush of creation, and She admired her Dreams.

The Yrax were drawn to all that made the world of Serysse beautiful—life, hope, love. They massed at the edge of the Betwixt and gnawed, scratched, and pounded at the barrier until they broke through.

The Yrax poured forth, their twisted, malformed, ravenous bodies fell upon the world of Serysse and every touch scarred the beautiful landscape.

The Lady Serysse writhed in physical and emotional pain as Her Dreams were damaged beyond repair, devoured and finally destroyed. The Yrax left a trail of destruction in their wake, devouring all life until the land was bare, the ground a shiny, black and crumbling wasteland. The oceans of Serysse went black, andtheir tides moved no more. The skies became grey, the air unmoving. No sun shone, no wind moved over land or water. Nothing grew. The once magnificent forests were mere skeletons crumbling on the horizons.

The Lady Serysse cried out to her brother- and sister-Gods for assistance. She could not banish the Yrax on Her own for Her magic was weakened by the recent exertions of Her first rush of Dreams.

Nor could the Dragon-Gods physically interfere, for breaking through the film of Their worlds would weaken them. They could not risk the Yrax tearing through other barriers to destroy Their worlds as well.

Instead, the Dragon-Gods created a people in the image of the Dragon-Gods, and gave them the power to traverse the Betwixt. These children of the Dragon-Gods were charged with fighting the Yrax, saving the world of Serysse, and forcing the Yrax back into the Betwixt.

The Lady Taraqa had just entered her Dreaming. Shewas stillcreating Her own world and did not yet have a people to fill it. She adopted the children of the Dragon-Gods as Her own.

Thus, the children of the Dragon-Gods, became the children of Taraqa, the Travellers and the guardians of the Dragonverse.

However, the Dragon-Gods paid a great price for their creation. In joining together to Dream the children of the Dragon-Gods, the Dragon-Gods gave up some of Their Dreaming magic. Neither the Lady Premye, nor any of the other Dragon-Gods, would ever bear any more Eigots. After the Yrax were banished, only three Eigots remained.

The Lady Premye’s sorrow became anger with Her children who had forsaken their duty, betrayed Her, and unleashed theevil of the Yrax on the Dragonverse.She took the remaining three Eigots from the care of Her children, thenShe found one loyal daughter of Premye who was still faithful and instructed her to guard the last remaining Eigots.This daughter of Premye promised to recruit a small number of others to assist her. Together, they became the Order of the Three, charged with the sacred duty to protect and care for the final three Eigots.