Chapter 20: December 1st, 1589

“Come fellow squire! We have a mission to complete today!” Sárkány said as he was addressing to his partner.

“I am not your squire...” Tefnut said in an almost quiet irritation.

It was a beautiful day in a place that would eventually become Dare County, North Carolina. Sárkány was in his human form dressed in colonial attire as he looked at the Egyptian Goddess Tefnut that was also in her human form. Sárkány looked like a Hungarian man that stood at six feet tall. Tefnut, on the other hand, looked like an Egyptian woman.

“Nonsense, my cat friend! We have a mission of great importance! A mission of glory, honor, and respect amongst the gods and goddesses. It is our first mission from the Coalition of Deities! We search high and wide for the Lintarsha Shards to restore our lost brethren and to slay Cataclysm once again!” he said in a bright and prideful manner.

Tefnut took a good look at her surroundings. They were deep on the island by the Roanoke Colony. Forest and trees surrounded them. The landscape was beautiful, and the sun was shining brightly.

“Hmmm...” She said, almost bored. “I will keep on a lookout.”

“That is the spirit squire! Today we shall find a shard and prove that we can resemble this crystal in the name of a united group of gods of Earth! Just like my circle of dragon companions, we shall prevail and set a great and wonderful example of what gods can do!”

“I am not your squire... , “ she quietly.

“And for that, my great cat friend! I shall narrate this great tale! This story of how we will find a shard and lead us to respect and recognition amongst others!”

“Whatever...” Tefnut said as her eyes rolled.

Sárkány walked as he took a good look at his surroundings with Tefnut showing a bored look to herself like she did not want to be there.

“Today, we are on an assignment from the Coalition to seek out a magical disturbance that has been spotted in this area! Could this be a shard, we wonder? Could it be a lost deity misplaced after our challenging battle with Cataclysm? Could it be a rogue immortal for us?” he lifted his finger in the sky “Only we can find out!”

They were heading towards a place known as the Roanoke Colony, one of the first founded colonies in North America by England. It was first established in 1585 by Sir Francis Drake. It was plagued with problems including bad relations with the Native Americans that by 1587 the colony was reestablished by John White. In 1587, the settlement was established with about 116 men, women, and children. It was marked with the struggle to develop but the war with Spain meant that England could not lend any relief efforts for the fledgling colony.

The birds chirping and wildlife in the forest highlighted the scene. It produced a calm island, and it seemed all was well.

“The heroes,” Sárkány explained. “Was on a quest to search out the Roanoke Colony and ask the villagers of any activity they considered unusual! We march through the forest, determined to reach the colony. There are human disguises that will allow us to learn of the surrounding environment leading us one step closer to our goal! Come fellow kitty squire!”

“Ugh...” She said hesitantly as she walked close by the marching man. He walked in a proud stance as if nothing could hurt him.

The march southward took twenty minutes through the forest.

“The trek long and hard did not faultier our heroes as they were close to the settlement! We stand ready, ready to come to our search in finding the sacred piece of shard! We march through thicket and bush! Nothing can stop us as we search through this island with my trusty cat squire! Nothing will stop us! Nothing will hamper us! Nothing will get in our way!”

Tefnut’s nose began to perk up as she could smell something. She gave a quiet hand signal to Sárkány.

“What is this?! It seems that our trusty comrade has picked up a clue! We near the colony!”

Tefnut’s face cringed as she lifted up her hand to sense something terrible had happened. She had an expression of anger and disgust.

“I smell blood,” she commented.

Sárkány’s face went from proud and happy to seriousness. “What is this!? Danger awaits us! We must get to the colony immediately!”

Tefnut began to run in the direction to investigate the danger she was picking up. Whatever it was, she was picking up magic ahead of her. They were close to the colony, and it seemed something had already reached the settlement before they did. It was powerful whatever was ahead of them. Their foot folly marked their run as they plowed through forest, shrub, grass, and tree to get there. Nothing could stop them.

“I stand ready to help you, my trusty feline comrade!” yelled Sárkány. Tefnut seemed unfazed as she neared the settlement of Roanoke.

She stopped immediately as she came to a quick stop. They were at the outer edge of the colony. The colony was marked with a dirt mound that served as a makeshift fence. Her hand shifted as she was trying to read the area of any magic and any usage of it. It scanned the entire area around her. She closed her eyes as she focused.

“I am sensing powerful magic,” Tefnut said. “ ... something came through here and...”

The dragon got in front of her almost to shield her. “Don’t worry, trusty squire! I am ready to face whatever evil stands in front of us and to ... oh.”

His eyes befell upon a human body. His body was that of a man that was near the outer edge of the colony. He was dressed in typical colonial ware of the time period. It sat by a tree that displayed the words “Croatoan” on it. It seemed like he managed to etch the words before he died.

Tefnut went up to the body and checked it out. It seemed as if the body was drained of all life as it slumped to the ground. Blood poured from the mouth as the lifeless body starred at one direction.

“Quick and painless,” Tefnut noted as she put her hand on his head. “Whatever attacked this man hit him so fast that he did not have time to respond. He looked like he was in the middle of writing a message on the tree.”

“Croatoans! Whatever did this must be them! We must confront these people and...”

She interrupted the dragon, “Sárkány, we have no idea what the history of this colony is and who and what they are doing. We have no idea if they are responsible for this. We need more evidence before we start assigning blame. I can tell, though, from this that this is foul play, and something magical did happen here. It was quick, whatever it was. I am sensing no life ahead of us at the colony.”

Sárkány cringed as he starred at the colony entrance ahead of them. There were still smoke plumes coming from the distance of the colony ahead of them. In the far distance, they could see another body. This was another man with a similar look. They ran up and checked up the body. It was completely dead and lifeless, staring at a direction with blood coming out of the body. Tefnut also examined the body.

“Once again,” she said. “I sense no life. Whatever did this was fast. He had little time to react and little time to put up a defense. It almost seems to be invisible that did this. It attacked, left him dead, and went to the next target.”

Sárkány held up a fist, “Are we in danger, fellow comrade?!”

“I don’t sense it is here. Whatever it was, it struck killed everyone at the colony and left. This thing seems to feed on humans. It could ambush us, but I would sense it coming. It’s gone now. Hmmm...”

He was ready. “Do we need to keep up these forms!?”

The Egyptian woman shook her head “There would be no life here to see us the way we are now. I think we should return to our normal forms and be ready for anything that might be around here. We need more clues.”

“Agreed!”

Sárkány and Tefnut emitted a bright light from their bodies as they reverted to their bodies. Sárkány stood as a bipedal dragon with wings and armor. His sword sheathed in his scabbard, ready to be used. His armor newly furnished from Diablo himself made with the finest magical steel he could make. His wings stood prepared if he ever needed to take flight. His spiked tail hung low from his back. He stood ready to challenge any foe that could pose a danger to them.

Tefnut, on the other hand, stood as a bipedal seven-foot walking cat. She had the features of a lioness with fur that covered her body. She wore an ancient Egyptian dress. Her hair was that of a tan color. Her breasts stood out as average for a woman of her height covered in a dress. Her tail was also typical of that of a lioness as well. Like that of a cat, she had whiskers, a tail that would perk and move around as she looked and walked and pointed ears that protruded from her head. She carried a small, one-handed Egyptian staff with a blue emerald at the top of the staff itself. On the bottom of it was a blade that protruded about one foot in length that she could use in self-defense if need be. Her real power lied in her magic casting abilities than anything else. She was the Goddess of Moisture, after all.

“Ah ... much better,” Tefnut said as her feline eyes beheld the area. She took a good look at the surrounding environment as she carefully examined one of the dead bodies. Sárkány pulled out his sword and maintained a careful and observant stance checking to make sure they were not going to get ambushed.

Tefnut’s furred hands checked the dead human’s body. “We need to head to the center of the colony to learn more.”

“Right fellow cat comrade! I will charge forward!” he yelled as he began to run past the walls and into the center of the colony. It was not big as it consisted of several buildings surrounded by dirt and log walls that protected its center. Again it was oddly quiet.

Sárkány’s feet and claws dug into the ground hard as he charged. His tail swung to and fro, but there was nothing to face him. Tefnut walked up behind him to investigate the surrounding area. There were more bodies, all exhibiting the same signs. All of them were dead. It was evident that foul play was set in motion.

“These human mortals were alive recently. Whatever did this did it hard and fast,” she said.

Sárkány’s sword was at the ready as he looked around. Tefnut decided to check one of the large homes, most likely the house that belonged to the person in charge of the colony. It was a primitive grass hut building put together by basic materials. Inside all indicated the same thing that the people had little to no time to react.

“Hmmm... , “ she said out loud. “I think I found something, Sárkány.”

The dragon got to the edge of the entrance, still keeping a lookout for anything hostile. Tefnut was checking the table of John White’s home and found a journal that was on the table. She looked around the home and did not find anything else. There was nobody or any sign of his family. She decided to open up the journal and read the latest entries.

“November 24^th, 1589,” she read out loud. “Our crops are struggling to grow to meet the demands of the population. Without relief aid, we are sure to be stripped of more food. We are doing everything we can to keep ourselves going. We met more of the Crotan Indians that are offering help for us, but we are not sure if they are true to their word or not. During our tilling of the soil, one of our men discovered a rock that gave a rainbow color...”

Tefnut had a surprised look as Sárkány looked at her. Tefnut nodded, “Looks like the human mortals did discover a Lintarsha shard before we did. I will keep reading more of the events that transpired” as she flipped the page and continued reading.

“November 26^th, 1589, it feels nothing has gone right since we found this glowing crystal shard. It gives a radiant variety of colors. Some can’t stop staring at the thing. One of our men has even been preaching that with it, god gave us this shard and that we are destined to pave a new future with this colony. All it does is ensure that we do not get any food on the table as I have to remind them to keep trying to make more food. One of the men swore he was keeping an eye on the coastline and saw a Spanish warship traveling by. I almost feel like waving a signal to the ship and take us off this island, but I am not ready to give up yet. I have kept this mysterious crystal in the nearby home under guard. I am worried this crystal is only fueling something sinister.”

Sárkány decided to check the nearby home but found nothing in there. If the crystal shard was there, it isn’t anymore.

“No luck, my feline comrade!” he yelled into the hut, almost breaking her concentration as she nodded, flipped the page, and continued reading.

“November 27^th, 1589, We just lost two of our men today. During the night, there was a scream, and we found both of the men dead. It was as if the Reaper showed up and drained their bodies of life. Blood poured out of their mouths as their bodies lay still. I feel scared. It’s all that stupid discovery of the rainbow crystal a couple of days. I am tempted to cast it far into the sea as possible, but I just don’t know what to do anymore. I am currently in plan of taking as many people as possible and bringing them south to live with the Croatan Indians, but they might just as well kill us. This colony is cursed.”

“Hmm,” Tefnut said. “Blood pouring from the mouth and drained of energy and life. We are dealing with a bloodsucker that attacks and drains blood from the mouth. It strikes hard and fast.”

“Whatever it is, fellow cat friend, we will slay the creature!” he yelled. She flipped the page.

“November 28^th, 1589, We lost three more men during the night. I went and had the families rounded up and sleeping under heavy guard. The problem is whatever is doing this is targeting the guards instead. We only heard one of the men screamed while the others did not. Whatever it is, it strikes with such speed that they have little chance to react. All the bodies exhibit the same results in death. None of us are experts on what has happened. It must be the work of the savages or the Devil himself. Some of the men have also come to the conclusion that the crystal we found must be the reason we are suffering right now. We spotted the same Spanish warship again on the horizon. Where are John White and our damn relief so they can get us off this island?”

“We can at least rule out that Diablo is not the culprit,” Tefnut explained. “He would not bother doing something so trivial is this. He always works at the Furnace anyway and never leaves.”

“I stand ready! Come out foul creature so I can chop you down!” Sárkány yelled. Tefnut flipped the page.

“November 29^th, 1589, We lost two men during the night. Panic has spread throughout the colony. I have no choice but to get rid of the crystal. We have been burying the bodies in a makeshift grave not far from the Colony. One suggested that I burn the bodies to prevent anything from coming back to go after them or to prevent them from rising from the grave, and I agree. I was thinking of casting the crystal into the sea, but I am afraid that someone else will find it, and the cycle will begin again. If we just had more resources, we could put up a resistance against whatever this vile creature is. I grow weary as the day passes. I have decided to have the crystal disposed of. There is a small cave not far from here. I plan on tossing the crystal in the low-level cave. There I will bury this accursed crystal into the cave to never be seen again. John White’s granddaughter Virginia Dare has exhibited some signs of fever, another example of the curse of the crystal.”

“There are two more pages on the journal,” Tefnut said as she flipped the page. “I would like to take this journal with me so I can present this to the Coalition of Deities. I do not want the humans to know that they uncovered a Lintarsha shard. It would affect their society, and they would start massive campaigns to search for more of them or worse influence their societies in ways we never imagine.” She flipped to the next page.

“November 30^th, 1589, We have agreed to evacuate the town. We cannot reach an agreement on what direction to go. Some are heading south to the Croatoans to hopefully take us under their wing. One of the men even inscribed the message on a tree in case White ever returns. Some are heading west inland. I have agreed to stay here with ten brave men that have agreed to bury this crystal, and in case that bastard White ever shows up again. I have set up the task at hand to venture to this small cave with the men that is north from us. Five will stay at the colony to safeguard it. I informed the men that they should stay indoors as much as possible and only come out if they hear our signal.”

“Hmmm... , “ Tefnut said as she scratched her chin. Her claws played with the fur on her face as she thought about the clues in writing. “The moment they found the crystal, they were attacked by this creature. The moment the crystal was unearthed was when we started to pick it up. It also attracted this creature as well that was drawn to it. It saw the people as food or a threat or both.”