Legacy of Waste, A Warrior Born pt.1

He stood there, on hind legs, staring at the vast starry sky. Gusts of wind stirred the sand at his feet.  An impenetrable dome of dry air covered the desert, leaving nostrils stinging and mouths tasteless. Any onlooker would have mistaken Elmynon for nothing more than a large man at first glance. They would see a lion at the second. He was neither; they called his people the Adanraw, Lion men. Elmynon bore his mane, his tail and the fur on his chest (it was uncommon among the men of his people to wear conservative clothing) with pride for he knew that he was more than just a crossbreed.

Because the “Adanraw” were a nomadic people they were often thought of was primitive and unfit for civilized society, many men looked down on the adanraw with pity and often exclaimed “the lion men are nothing more than stupid half-breeds who aren’t smart enough to settle down,”. This was not true, the adanraw were in fact an incredibly wise people. They had no need for social normality and they could find their own way around the desert without the help of a human map.

It was risky being what the human’s term half-breed and being out in the open, any human passerby was likely to run away in fear only to return with an army ready to eliminate the “pest problem”. Elmynon was not afraid, there were no roads for miles and besides the dead tree he stood next to, there was no noticeable landmark for miles. If everything went as he planned, Elmynon would only meet with one human tonight, a human that would never leave his side again.

It was nearing half a decade previous that Elmynon decided to venture to the human city of syruthia as a political sentry. Being the son of his people’s chieftain, Elmynon wanted to end the political unrest between his father and the king of the capital. He was young, a mere 187 years old when he began his travels. He travelled alone for there was a like hatred for the humans in his father’s tribe. The human city received him with an angry scowl and a slur-filled diction. Only two people every accepted him as a being and let him sleep somewhere out of the cold, A young man of 24 years and his younger sister of 19. Their names were Armond and Leena and they would be Elmynon’s family for the months to come.

After his initial visit, in which Elmynon was unable to see the king, he returned to his tribe to tell of the hope he had found in a human family. He tried to convince his tribe that the humans would not be as prejudice if they were able to live among men. The tribe was deeply rooted in their own prejudice and soon became annoyed with Elmynon’s teachings. His father, being a man of his people, told his son privately that he agreed though he could not announce so publicly, he condoned Elmynon’s travels and wished him luck if he chose to live amongst the humans once more.

The next few years of Elmynon’s life were spent travelling back and forth between Syruthia City and his tribesmen trying to convince both to understand his pleas. While in Syruthia, Elmynon grew fond of his expanding number of human friends. He grew especially fond of the girl who first showed him compassion, his now housekeeper, Leena. Leena was always with Elmynon when she could be and as she grew into adulthood, her feelings turned from mere friendship to something more. Leenas father was a stubborn old baker and refused to accept his daughter’s affection. With each growing month, Elmynon and Leena grew more and more in love, some days not leaving each other’s sight. Elmynon lost all hope in ever contacting the king and was then travelling just to meet with his love. It was not long before the bore his child. Wedlock was forbidden by her father and so the child would live in Syruthia with it’s mother.

It was Leena who he expected to meet on the night he stood by the dead tree. It was this night that Leena was expected to birth their child.