Astral Genealogy: Shadows of Etheria

Episode 1: A single spark

"So far, so good," the Kommo-o thought to himself, sprinting on all fours down the steep, rugged rockery of the mountain. His solid structure made easy work of the trek as he clambered across spikes at high speed, completely ignoring their obvious threat as if they dealt him no pain. He still travelled with a limbering gallop however, keeping a determined grip on the two strings of rope that kept a carriage strapped to his back. Its loose attachment irritated him with its constant movements.

He soon had to skid to a stop as he found his view obscured by his surroundings, a wide range of charcoal black mountains and a dusty sky that refused to let through even a spec of sunlight. He wiped his forehead and crinkled his nose, scanning the environment restlessly in search of his destination. The area stunk of embers and the dust in the air threatened to make him sneeze, but he was able to lock eyes with his target before long.

"There. We're almost there now, so don't even think about opening your mouth to anyone," he commanded, twisting his head to glance back at the carriage. He could just about make out the single passenger whimpering within, a lone Clefairy that seemed to do her best to avoid looking at him. "We've long lost your little heroes, so don't bother trying to cry out or anything. If you do, I'll have more than enough time to make you regret it."

He kept his voice low and growled his words, hoping that he had frightened her enough to obey. Judging by her pathetic squeak, he had succeeded and used that as his signal to carry on the rest of the way. Reaching the foot of the next mountain, his left claw abandoned one of the ropes carrying the carriage to start climbing it. He used that free hand to jab at the rock and hoist himself upwards. The reckless act caused the rocks to crumble and shake with his heavy body, whilst his carriage dangled dangerously from him, but he didn't care as he didn't have to climb this way for long. Before he knew it, he had reached the centre of this new mountain, where he unveiled its startling secret.

"Lord Jyararanga," a rough voice said in surprise. He had to take a moment to catch his breath before looking at who had spoken; giving a relieved sigh that it was a Zoroark. There were two of them gawking at him.

"I hope those surprised looks mean the illusion's still up. This castle isn't hiding itself," Jyararanga growled, dismissing the two of them to walk off. They gave him bothered looks and returned to guarding what was suddenly a smooth, well-decorated entryway to a castle. A clean red carpet covered the centre of the hallway and all paths that branched from it, whilst lit candles adorned the walls to brighten the place. If it wasn't for the black brickwork lining those walls and the ceiling, one would never guess that a castle was built into the mountains this way. Its entrance was being visually hidden by the impressive illusions that could only be made by a Zoroark, so they made for the best guards as well.

The castle was lively and productive with a variety of tough Pokémon the Kommo-o was used to seeing. Each of them gave him an astonished look and immediately stopped whatever they were doing to move aside once they saw him and what he was carrying. He ignored them all without much more than an annoyed look, resuming the hurried gallop he'd taken to get this far in the first place. After another long trek up royal stairways and hallways of increasing elaborateness, he finally reached his royal chambers, where he unloaded the carriage next to his nest of hay and rock.

"Get out here, now!" he commanded once again, snapping the backs of his arms together. They made a horribly loud ringing sound that resembled a steel bell, causing the Clefairy to squeal as she obeyed. She tripped out of the carriage and searched for him, trembling so much that she couldn't stand in one spot. "We don't have much time, so you had best follow my orders perfectly. I don't need you to do much."

The Clefairy didn't reply with anything more than continued whimpers, leading to a moment of silence. He stared down at her and sighed, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. "Listen to me. If you do a good job, I'll take you home. So just listen to me and do exactly as I say, okay? You won't get hurt or anything. That's a promise," he said, leaving his arms to rest on the floor.