The entire continent seed to be a lting pot of rumors, speculations, and untold secrets. In every corner, from the bustling markets to the dark corners of the taverns, there was talk of what seed to be a legend co true.
Carcom, the traitor dragon, had attacked his own clan, and the dragons, in a united act, had struck him down, but as in every story that travels by word of mouth, the details varied as much as the tones of the voices that told them.
In the port of Cannaris, where the sails of the ships mingled with the sll of salt and fish, a group of rchants argued next to so boxes of spices. "I tell you, I heard it from a captain who arrived this morning from the east," said a man with a sun-tanned face.
Pausing, he added, "Carcom betrayed his own people. He decided he no longer wanted to live under the laws of the dragons and attacked them directly." "A dragon attacking other dragons?" another, with scruffy hair and a rough voice spoke again, "It makes no sense. What would I gain from that?"
The first shrugged. As he said, "Who understands these beasts? But the captain said that the dragons eliminated him. Shot him down in mid-flight, they say."
A woman passing by them, carrying a basket of fruit, stopped upon hearing the conversation. "And what does Purgatory have to do with this? Because I also heard that Carcom was one of their own."
The man with the scruffy hair snorted in disbelief. "Purgatory? A dragon serving a group of mortals? Don’t make laugh." The woman raised an eyebrow asking, "No? And then how do you explain that where Purgatory causes chaos, there is always sothing related to dragons?"
Silence fell briefly between the three, broken only by the crash of the waves. In a tavern in Galicia, the air was thick with smoke and laughter, but in a corner, two older n were talking quietly, their wine glasses clinking occasionally.
"I always knew dragons weren’t as united as the stories say," said one, with a shiny bald head and fingers adorned with rings. "Carcom is proof of that". "Do you really believe that?" replied his companion, with a grey beard and a tired expression. "I heard that Carcom went mad, that sothing consud him from within."
"Sothing? What do you an by that?" the grey-bearded man leaned forward, whispering in a conspiratorial tone. "There are those who say that Purgatory managed to control him. I don’t know how, but imagine what they could do with a dragon under their command."
The bald man leaned back, incredulous, but visibly disturbed. "That’s crazy. If they could control dragons, the continent would already be theirs." The bearded man took a long sip of wine before answering.
"Maybe. But the truth is that Carcom was different. He always was. And now he’s dead. We may never know the whole story." In the plains of Rivers, where river trade was the backbone of the economy, rumors traveled as fast as the currents.
At a market on the banks of a river, a group of peasants talked as they exchanged wheat for tools. "My cousin, who works on the docks, heard that the dragons chased him for days before finally killing him," said a rough-handed man as he carried a sack of grain.
"They say it was a terrible sight, fire, and shadows everywhere," he added. "And why did he attack his own clan?" asked another, younger man, with his arms crossed. "I don’t know, but what I do know is that Purgatory is behind this."
An old woman, who was selling herbs, intervened from her stall. "Why do they always have to bla Purgatory for everything? Dragons don’t need anyone to manipulate them into turning against themselves. Carcom was always a threat, even to their own kind."
The young man shook his head. "I don’t think so. A dragon doesn’t act like that without a reason." The old woman smiled, but there was sothing dark in her expression. "There are always reasons, boy. We just rarely understand them."
In the kingdom of Dunnas, where stories were told around campfires, rumors about Carcom took on a more mystical tone. In a rural tavern, a group of travelers shared stories while drinking ale and eating freshly baked bread.
"They say Carcom not only attacked the dragons but tried to steal sothing from them," said a deep-voiced man, his face barely illuminated by the firelight. "Sothing powerful, sothing even we couldn’t possibly understand."
"And what could that be?" asked a woman, wrapping her cloak tighter around herself to protect herself from the cold. The man paused, letting the silence add weight to his words.
"I don’t know, but whatever it is, the dragons didn’t let him live to tell the tale," he said. Another man, younger and with an easy laugh, chid in. "And what about Purgatory? I’d bet my horse that they’re involved. What if Carcom was working for them and tried to betray them too?"
"Or maybe Carcom betrayed them first and then tried to redeem himself with the dragons," the woman suggested, with a mocking smile. The group burst into laughter, but the deep-voiced man didn’t share the mirth.
"Whatever it is, one thing is clear: if the dragons are capable of uniting to kill one of their own, there’s nothing they can’t do when it cos to protecting what they consider theirs," he said.
In a private hall of nobles in Galicia, the atmosphere was more sophisticated, but the rumors were just as fervent. A silver-haired man spoke to an elegantly dressed woman, while the others listened attentively.
"It is a proven fact that Carcom attacked your clan. The dragons themselves confird it, but what intrigues is why," one of them said. "Perhaps it was revenge," the woman suggested a glass of wine in her hand. Explore more at .Côm
After a pause she added, "It was always said that Carcom was different, an outcast. Maybe he finally decided he didn’t want to follow the rules of his own people."
Another, younger noble interrupted with a sarcastic smile, "And don’t you find it curious that all this is happening while Purgatory is causing chaos on the continent? I don’t believe in coincidences."
The silver-haired man nodded slowly saying, "True. But until we have proof, we can’t claim that they are connected." The woman took a sip of wine before answering. "Proof or not, the rumors are already here. And when enough people believe in sothing, it becos true."
Across the continent, stories of Carcom and his supposed link to Purgatory spread like wildfire on the wind. So were embellished with grandiose details; others were whispered in fear as if the re ntion of them might bring bad luck, but in every conversation, one feeling prevailed: the world was changing, and dragons, those majestic creatures that many considered invulnerable, also had their own shadows.
And among those shadows, the figure of Carcom, the traitor dragon, stood as a reminder that even the most powerful beings could fall. Ordinary people did not really know who Carcom was, but that did not exempt them from creating rumors.
Just like the rumors of the chaos caused by Purgatory, the rumors of Carcom fighting dragons and losing his life created rumors. No one knew where they started, but they were already spreading throughout the continent.
Again, few knew the reality of what had happened and the stories were increasingly conspiratorial, and although most were poorly founded rumors, the reality was that now everyone knew things that were previously kept hidden.
Now, everyone believed that the dragons were hiding sothing, that Purgatory was dangerous, and that the shadows of the continent were darker than they seed. A feeling of uncertainty and worry arose, but few knew the full truth.
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