TORIN YOUTH - CHAPTER 00: THE TRAITOR (PROLOGUE)
Updated: 3 days ago
Over Crystal Island (also known as Iracal Island), smoke plumes rise above a shattered forest battlefield as gigantic silhouettes clash in the sky. In a war that has raged for over a century, the humans of Torin City, joined by giant harpies, clash with giant, winged feline-human hybrids called sphinxes.
An armored harpy dives, her breastplate and helm crafted by her human allies. A Torinian archer is mounted on her helm, held securely in place by cords. He carefully aims through the wind rushing past him and looses elemental arrows as they swoop toward a sphinx. From underneath her shining helm, the furious avian giantess directs her sharp talons toward her enemy.
The harpy examines the sphinx, sizing up her muscular, humanlike body, save for the fur covering sections of it, the wings on her back, and the feline ears and tail. Though the sphinx lacks armor of her own and wears only an animal-skin loincloth, she matches the harpy’s ferocity and retaliates, tearing her foe from the air with her deadly claws. Their colossal bodies snap trees as they fall—lofty trees which can tower even over giants in this world.
The sphinxes do not fight alone in this battle; they are joined by their own small allies, the elves of the Atomata valley. The elves deploy living constructs in the shapes and sizes of many creatures—marvels of magic and mechanical engineering. They are no match for the might of the Torinians, however.
The Torinian humans meet them on the ground, armed with weapons charged with elemental magic. Perhaps most notable are the ballistae—enormous crystal rods manned by up to four legionnaires, capable of unleashing devastating fire, wind, or lightning strikes upon a target. It is a power respected even by giants 15 to 20 times larger than humans.
As the elven weapons exchange fire across the battlefield with the advancing Torinians, a Torinian Legate studies a marked map inside his command tent, tracking his legion’s progress into elven territory.
“This is it,” he says to his fellow legionnaires with certainty on his face. “We have the upper hand over the enemy. If we win here, we break their hold on the Valley of Atomata—and with it, their backbone. Give everything you have.”
As he is left alone in the tent, Legate Taiyo knows that victory is certain, and yet he is plagued by an unsettling gut feeling.
“Why?” he asks himself. “We have the enemy on the run. So, why do I feel fear?”
The Legate thinks about his daughter. He remembers the night he left home—when he tucked the six-year-old girl with long, strawberry-blond hair into her bed and made a promise to return.
“The sooner we take this valley, the sooner we can go home,” he sighs, longing to see her again. “Then I can keep my promise to her and finish the story.”
A centurion bursts into the tent with urgency etched on his face, jarring the Legate out of his daydream.
“Legate Taiyo—the Scarlet Vixen has been sighted! She could strike at any moment.”
The certainty that shone on the Legate’s face before those under his command melts away in an instant. He pounds his fist against the table in rage.
“Gods damn it! That she-devil couldn’t have picked a worse time. Get the ballistae trained on her now. Kill her before she kills us!”
As Taiyo storms out of his tent, a female soldier with long, curly auburn hair braided into a ponytail is concealed under a cloak outside, listening intently. Her hazel eyes peer into the forest, spotting the chaos inflicted by a gigantic fox-human hybrid woman.
“I was right—she’s here. It’s now or never,” she says quietly before slipping away toward the Vixen.
Deeper into the forest, the Scarlet Vixen towers over the battlefield, staring down at the soldiers with one yellow eye and one silver eye. Long, scarlet hair flows from her head, draping over her right shoulder. Standing over 30 meters—or 99 feet—tall, she moves gracefully on her hands and feet, her three tails swaying independently behind her.
On the Vixen’s forehead, a mark resembling an open eye glows as she flexes her psionic power. The giantess unleashes a telekinetic shockwave, snapping trees and hurling both the soldiers and their weapons aside like leaves blowing in the wind.
The disruption doesn’t go unnoticed by the sphinxes, who are finally able to reclaim territory as the Torinian forces weaken.
“The Vixen is on the battlefield,” the maned leader calls out to his forces.
A subordinate prepares to switch targets, her feline eyes flickering with uncertainty.
“Should we attack her?” she asks.
“No. She is not our enemy this time,” the sphinx leader answers. “Press forward while the bird people scatter under her assault.”
With Torinian lines collapsing under the surprise attack from the scarlet-haired giantess, the sphinxes advance and flank their enemies.
High above, the giant blood-red harpy Aello spots the sphinxes exploiting the chaos. With her red skin and feathers, dark violet sclerae and red irises, and two horns pointing forward from the sides of her head, her appearance has led to her being dubbed “Aello the Demon” by the Torinian people.
“Damn them!”
She dives, striking at the sphinxes in a desperate attempt to halt their advance.
“Sphinxes incoming! Cover your rear!”
As the General and highest-ranking member of Torin’s Legion, the legionnaires and other harpies follow her lead. However, the momentary distraction is fatal. Sphinxes surge past Aello and crash into the Torinian ranks.
Legate Taiyo watches his forces unravel. Defeat now seems inevitable. Desperation fills his heart.
“We were so close! This damned she-devil is ruining everything,” he says, throwing down his helm in frustration.
The giant sphinxes keep a cautious eye on the Vixen as they defeat the backline of the Torinians and their harpy allies, never certain how long the fox-eared giantess’s restraint toward them will last.
“This is a disaster,” Taiyo shouts angrily. “All ballistae—focus fire on the Scarlet Vixen! We cannot lose more men!”
Centurions shout orders and, despite the collapsing defenses, ballista crews pivot and take aim at the Scarlet Vixen.
A soldier cries out amid the chaos, “There’s someone with her! She—she’s got a hostage!”
Taiyo stiffens and looks closer, peering through the smoke.
As the dust settles, a female soldier standing directly before the Vixen removes her helmet. Her long, braided ponytail of auburn hair hangs over her shoulder, and her hazel eyes stare at the Torinian forces defiantly from underneath her curly fringes.
She casts off her cloak to reveal her own legionnaire armor beneath.
The Vixen gazes down at the woman below her, appearing calmed by her presence.
Legate Taiyo is horrified by the realization that hits him.
“No… it can’t be!”
He slams one foot forward and bellows across the battlefield, “CADMEIA—YOU TRAITOR!”
“FIRE! Kill the Vixen—and the traitor,” he commands, desperate to eliminate the Vixen.
Ballistae thunder and elemental bolts slam into the Scarlet Vixen, who steadies herself amid the barrage. Her telekinetic powers can save her from the worst of the blasts, but not all of it.
As the smoke dissipates, she looks down. Sorrow spreads across her face at what she sees.
Cadmeia’s body lies still on the forest floor between her hands.
Rage ignites—the Scarlet Vixen lifts her gaze and fixes on Legate Taiyo in the distance.
Across the battlefield, Taiyo sees that the scarlet-haired giantess yet lives. Panic grips him.
“Reload! Fire again!” he shouts urgently.
The Vixen charges.
Four soldiers scramble to ready a ballista as she rapidly closes in—
—but the Vixen crashes into it, shattering the frame under the weight of her hand and flinging the crew aside.
Taiyo is thrown to the ground as she lands nearby, blinded momentarily by surging wind and dirt.
The colossal fox narrows her eyes at the terrified Legate.
Taiyo barely raises his sword before a massive clawed hand slams down onto him.
He is lifted, dangling helplessly as the Vixen brings him before her face, and given only a single heartbeat to behold the fury burning in her eyes.
Her jaws part.
Legate Taiyo peers into the giantess’s gaping mouth, past her tongue and into the abyss beyond it, realizing that his greatest fear is about to come true.
“N-NO! DON’T—”
Nearby soldiers flee as their commander’s screams are muffled when the towering giantess seals him behind her lips.
As the last sliver of daylight is shut off and darkness engulfs him inside the Vixen’s mouth, Taiyo’s outstretched hand vanishes down her throat.
…
Twelve years later—after the disastrous battle in the Valley of Atomata, where the Torinians suffered devastating losses of life and territory due in no small part to the interference of the Scarlet Vixen—Torin City, ‘the light on the hill,’ still stands strong at the summit of Mount Litocoro.
In a world seemingly made for gigantic, man-eating creatures—where humans are little more than meals to those same beings—the city of Torin, where humans and giant harpies live in relative peace and harmony, offers humanity a safe haven.
Protected by two great walls that surround the city, by soldiers manning powerful energy-based weapons, and by giant harpies on constant patrol, Torin is as good a place to live as any human can hope for.
Recent generations of humans and harpies growing up together have forged bonds between them that appear unbreakable, boding well for the future of the city.
To some humans, however, Torin is not a safe haven…
…it is a prison, overseen by harpies who could feast upon the city’s inhabitants if they so desired. To such people, freedom can never be experienced as long as being human means being prey.
As fate would have it, all creatures—giant and human, predator and prey—must accept their destinies in the world they were born into.
For some, that is far easier said than done.
I am changing some chapter numbers. This was formerly chapter 01. Some of the original chapter 01 has been combined with the original version of chapter 02. Both combined make a new and longer chapter which follows this prologue.
I think maybe I best say it here, rather than just on the forum: despite the rather contracted writing, this script paints a pretty vivid picture all on its own. The deliberately short form also means it's extra brisk, pacing's a non-issue: not a single word is wasted.
That makes me curious, though: if not one word is wasted, then some of this stuff is more important than it looks. The song, and its lyrics, are probably going to be relevant in ways we don't understand yet. Overall, off to a promising start!