Text in English

The ceramic jar broke into pieces when it hit the floor, pouring the scarce wine it contained. Dreiden took a long sip and held the glass with both hands, examining its contents in the darkness of the room, as if he could find in its dephts the answers he longed for so desperately.

Such a nonsense. Such madness.

He could imagine her, scolding him for drinking again. He would have beared all her reproaches, she would have taken away his glass, he would have attracted her to bed and in giggles and caresses the sweet reconciliation would have come. But those things would never take place. Now she was dead and the children... the children... The sweet dreaming of the drunkenness shattered and he felt the pain once again. So deep, so overwhelming that it made him numb and not even all the wine in the world could drown it ever. They were dead and he lived.

Such an injustice. Such a macabre joke.

She had sacrified her life for all the things she believed in. She had been powerful, yes. She hold an entire kingdom at her feet and her enemies muttered her name in whispers. She had served well her damn goddess, yes. But at the end she was no more than a pawn. Like him.

Until today.

Dreiden left the bed and walked with trembling step to the attic's window. He let the glass fall and it rolled gently out of his reach. Outside, the storm was a mirror of his inner chaos. A lightning allowed him to look at his own face in the window's glass for an instant. A part of him was glad she wasn't there to see what he had become. An incomplete being. A mask without a face.

A monster.

The children. Why the children? They weren't guilty of anything. If, at least they were alive he would have had a reason, a purpose. But they also were snatched away from him. He wanted to save them, give them a new Fate, but the gods deceived him again. Dreiden fell on his knees and clenched his fists in fury.

"Hear me, oh gods! Damn you all! You have deprived me of all that I loved. You have consumed my soul. Now I am a hollow being but the emptiness in my inner self grows and threatens to consume it all. You have played with the threads of our lives. You have ignored our prayers. But today I know your secrets. I know you're not immortal."

Lightning fell upon a nearer house that caught into fire inmediately. A lost crow crossed the window looking for shelter because the storm. Dreiden continued, fearless.

"Now you behold me on my knees. Bowed, yes, but unbroken." He raised his right arm. "Here it is, the key of my vengeance, the Sign of the Damned. The Oath have been taken again and at the end I have understood my Fate. With my help, the Great Serpent will raise from his slumber and the Six will break their chains and will be One again. You will be cast out from the Celestial Halls, pursued in fire and blood and consumed by rage and oblivion and the foundations of the Cosmos will crack. This ill world will be purified from your poisonous influence and all that is will cease to be and it shall begin again."

Outside, a thunder answered his challenge.



Texto en español

La jarra de cerámica se hizo pedazos al estrellarse contra el suelo, derramando el escaso vino que aún contenía en su interior. Dreiden echó un largo trago del vaso y luego lo aferró con ambas manos, examinando su contenido en la oscuridad de la habitación, como si pudiese hallar en su interior las respuestas que ansiaba tan desesperadamente.

Qué sinsentido. Qué locura.

Podía imaginarla allí, regañándole por volver a beber. Habría soportado pacientemente sus reproches, ella le habría quitado el vaso, él la hubiese atraído hacia la cama y entre risas y caricias hubiese llegado la dulce reconciliación. Pero eso ya no sucedería nunca más. Ahora ella estaba muerta, y los niños… los niños… La dulce ensoñación de la embriaguez se hizo añicos y volvió a sentir el dolor. Tan profundo, tan abrumador que le nublaba el juicio, y ni todo el vino del mundo podría ahogarlo jamás. Ellos estaban muertos y él vivía.

Qué injusticia. Qué broma macabra.

Ella había sacrificado su vida por todo aquello en lo que creía. Había sido poderosa, sí. Tuvo un reino entero a sus pies, y sus enemigos pronunciaban su nombre entre susurros. Había servido bien a su maldita diosa, sí. Pero al final, no había sido más que un peón. Como él.

Hasta hoy.

Dreiden se levantó de la cama y avanzó con el paso inseguro hasta la ventana de la buhardilla. Dejó caer el vaso, que rodó mansamente lejos de su alcance. Fuera, la tormenta era un fiel reflejo de la agitación en su interior. Un relámpago le permitió contemplar su rostro en el cristal por unos instantes. Una parte de él se alegró de que ella no estuviese allí para ver en qué se había convertido. Un ser incompleto. Una máscara sin rostro.

Un monstruo.

Los niños… ¿Por qué los niños? No tenían culpa de nada. Si al menos ellos siguiesen con vida tendría una razón, un propósito. Pero también le habían sido arrebatados. Él quiso salvarles, darles un nuevo Destino, pero los dioses se habían vuelto a burlar de él. Dreiden cayó de rodillas y apretó los puños con rabia.

-¡Oídme, oh, dioses! Me habéis despojado de todo cuanto amaba. Habéis devorado mi alma. Ahora soy un ser hueco, pero el vacío de mi interior crece y amenaza con devorarlo todo. Habéis jugado con las hebras de nuestras vidas. Habéis desoído nuestas súplicas. Pero hoy conozco vuestros secretos. Sé que no sois inmortales.

Un rayo cayó en una casa cercana, que empezó a arder de inmediato. Un cuervo perdido cruzó por la ventana, buscando refugio de la tempestad. Dreiden prosiguió, impávido.

-Hoy me veis de rodillas. Postrado, sí, pero no roto –alzó el brazo derecho-. He aquí el instrumento de mi venganza, el Signo de los Malditos. El Sello ha sido renovado y al fin he comprendido mi Destino. Con mi ayuda la Gran Serpiente se alzará de su letargo y los Seis romperán sus cadenas y serán Uno de nuevo. Seréis expulsados de las Moradas Celestiales, perseguidos a sangre y fuego y consumidos por la rabia y el olvido, y los cimientos del Cosmos se agrietarán. Este mundo enfermo será purgado de vuestra venenosa influencia y todo lo que es dejará de ser y empezará de nuevo.

Fuera, Un trueno respondió a su desafío.


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Well, did you read the text? LOL, good, cookie for you!
This time I envisioned this pic while listening to a song (Incomplete from Backstreet Boys... curious it was form BsB ). I commented it to my boyfriend and both decided that the song fit for a "what if?" in his campaign... "what if my character Shaliara dies and Dreiden, her lover, still lives?" And that's how this pic came to my mind He was an assassin and if she dies he will want revenge... He was tattooed once, and bond with a demon who confered him powers and he "feeds" it with blood in his murders. An example can be seen in another pic (with text) of mine here -> [link] They're called the Serpent Society, with Serpens God of the assassins as their patron.

When I finished this pic I asked my boyfriend for a text. Dreiden, the society and all are part of his RPG campaign after all. Normally I make a picture out of a text but now I would like a text of this "what if" :LOL: I remembered that, for example, ~keiko32 likes these texts (as I do too)

As always, a looot of time, this one in perspective and things like that (and I messed up). An anatomy book for reference, it was a it difficult to me this time . Scrap with no color here -> [link] (4 hours) And the OpenCanvas (7-8 hours) My monitor is a bit dark, so I don't know how the light will appear to you , I wanted to do it a bit darky, as the scene was darky. Main tone: dark blue Tears a bit messed up still, but, hey, I'll improve I promise I don't know, but I like the details: wine, the broken jar, the glass... I am usually bored while doing elements on backgrond but this time I tried to do it good

Hey, I'm slowy...

Well, you get another cookie!