Chapter 414: Leap of Faith (1) (1/2)

Heaving a sigh, Aiden looked down onto the slightly trembling, nervous little skink leader, before finally speaking up and voicing the question.

”Thuk, leader of the skinks, I have heard your plea. I understand your plight. Would you be willing to place your trust in someone like me and join my cause?”

Suddenly memories flashed in Thuk's mind. Events of the past, the image of his parents, his birth village far away in a marshland, where several other types of Lizardman lived together forming a real community.

Those early days were the best days of his life. Several other types of lizardmen, tall, short, hulking monstrosities or lean, human-like figures lived together in large settlements they called Temple-Cities.

Their kind was devoted to their Ancient Ones, the proud and mighty dragons that vanished from the face of Eora many, many millennia ago. Still, their heritage, their glory continued living on with their distant descendants, the wide variety of lizardmen.

In his home, each individual race had their own job, their own function that ultimately continued to make the entire society work without any real issues.

As Skinks, their main responsibility was border patrol and being sent out as scouts. Being small, agile, and fast creatures together with their natural affinity to the swamplands, they were perfectly suited for the role.

His father, just like him, was actually one of the rare variants, a mutation in their race, which they called Chameleon Skinks. The main difference they shared was their slightly larger size compared to their kin, their oversized yellow balls of eyes and their namesake, their unique racial trait to blend their skin tone with the surrounding environment, giving them a vast boost to their stealthiness.

Unfortunately, their 'Golden Days' as he often liked to remember it came to an abrupt, and disastrous end. During one night, whilst most of them were asleep, suddenly loud strange, loud noises scared the temple-city residents out of their beds and homes.

Before the scouts could come back, huge, towering metal contraptions appeared. They looked like large metal golems, with a much leaner, human-like shape and a glass, crystalline cockpit at the center of their torsos.

These machines were humongous, towering over the skies, some even reaching 10 meters in height. Their metal limbs ended in a variety of oversized weapons: Sometimes a humongous bastard sword's blade, a giant hammer-head…in some cases the chained metal spiked ball spilled their kin's blood.

Thuk gulped, closed his eyes, and shook his head, dispelling the bad, nightmarish memories and slowly cleared his mind.

This wasn't the time to reminisce or think about the bad. This was his and his people's chance to make the decision that would change their destiny. All the bad, all the death they have seen…

This was the moment, to take that first step towards the oh-so-sweet allure of revenge.

Thuk clenched his fists, there was no more hesitation in him. He slowly opened his mouth, and firmly, curtly responded to their new lord's call.

”Yessh, my Lord. Pleasshe allow us to join! Let me and my brotherssh and sisterssh ssherve you from here on out! Pleasshe give us the chance for a better future, to take revenge on those that tormented ussh!”

Aiden smiled as he listened to the little figures hissing, blurred answer. He nodded at his declaration, at his plea, slowly reaching out and placing his right hand over his feathery top of the head.

”Rest assured, Thuk. I promise you, just like I promised to the others before you: I will not rest until your hearts are calm. If your heart's desire is dead set on revenge, I will give you the opportunity.”