As Haustis drew breath to volunteer, Lydria spoke over her, stopping any discussion before it could start. She strung the short bow she carried and nocked an emerald arrow to the string, running her hand along the shaft once, brightening the trio of stiff sapphire feathers in an outline of crackling blue. She looked into the eyes of her companions and walked away before her courage was interrupted by needless words.
The path carried on the same as it had since they arrived at the bottom of the gorge. The air was motionless and Lydria found herself scuffing her feet on the ground just to hear noise and reassure herself she hadn’t lost her hearing. She held the arrow against the bow with her left middle finger, her half index finger flicking the shaft of the arrow in nervous anticipation. She walked without holding the string, her right hand empty.
A scratching noise made her stop and looking back she was not surprised to see that the path was gone. A wall of blackness forced her onward, but the sound slowed her, and she noticed a very pale shadow, her own, caused by the faint light of her collar. Putting the bow down, she pulled her shirt up and wrapped it around her neck, exposing her stomach, but covering the light made when she cast a shield around herself and muffled her footsteps.
The rocks in the area seemed to grow from the ground until they were large enough to hide behind and she took advantage of every one, watching and listening carefully for any new noise. The scratching sound of rocks grating on one another reached her again, not regularly, but with enough consistency she realized something was close ahead. Peering over a large boulder set on a bend in the path, she felt the warmth of the rock, and as her head crested the stone, she fell back to her feet and clutched a hand to her chest.
In a clearing around the bend was the largest dragon she had ever seen. Even in the poor light and with the brief glimpse, Lydria was sure the image would never leave her. Its scales shifted colors so that it was like looking at a rainbow under water and its size made a mockery of the dragons of Eigrae which were stronger than anything and anyone, she had ever seen. The creature beyond the bend was far larger, and likely, far stronger than even Burvig. Did she have to get by it? Did she have to kill it? Either outcome seemed less and less likely, but Wilmamen did say it had happened – once.
Thinking of Burvig and how much smaller the red was than what blocked her way, she considered Burvig’s disposition, his intelligence, and his desire to be left in peace, so she returned her arrow to its quiver, and prepared to step around the boulder and into the beast’s field of view.
But first, there was something she needed to know. “Greetings, great dragon. I have come to speak with you.”
She didn’t hear a reply at first, but the scratching stopped, and she could hear the creature sniffing the air around it. “Who are you that can speak with me? And why can I not smell you?”
Lydria considered that the shield may have offered her some protection from her odor, but, she thought, it was just as likely that the dead air simply hadn’t yet brought it to the dragon.
“Will you treat with me fairly, if I come to you unarmed?”
There was an uncertain moment when Lydria was sure the dragon had pinpointed her location and would blast her with fire, but instead she answered calmly, her words measured and careful. “I would more than welcome a chance to speak with you. It has been a long time since someone has been with me, much less spoken to me. Come forward so that I might see you for myself. You intrigue me.”
Before leaving the protection of the boulder, Lydria laid out four arrows and balanced them on the top of a rock. Her father had always told her the best soldiers worked for peace but prepared for treachery. She didn’t know this dragon or her intent. The arrows were a back up plan if peaceful coexistence proved impossible. With a quick wave of her hands she produced a dim blue light that traced the lines of each of the arrows as she placed them on the rock.
The first step she took was silent, and she returned her footfalls to their normal state, the crunching of small rocks and dirt magnified by the tension she felt.
Leaving the safety of the boulder Lydria felt small and insignificant. The creature before her was enormous, it’s legs small towers and its head far above the dragons of Eigrae, even though it had not raised itself to its full height.
“You are bold to come to me so. What is it you wish?”
“I am Lydria…” She paused for a moment to see if the dragon would grant her own name, but she did not, instead waiting patiently for the human to continue. “I have been sent to find a path – we would speak with Vul Griffis.” Whatever it was that made Lydria tell the truth she was never sure, but the dragon recognized the name of Griffis.
“Then I may as well eat you, for if you continue on your path Vul Griffis will have you back at the beach before you can raise your hands.”
“Do you think I’m so easily cowed, that one man might treat me so ill?” Despite herself Lydria was upset with the dragon’s low opinion of her.
The dragon’s eyes shifted, widening slightly and then narrowing as if taking in Lydria’s form properly for the first time. “I do not think anything of you for I do not know you. In truth, if you can get past me, perhaps you can make it to the throne of Vul Griffis, though I do not know how.”
“So, I must get past you? There is no other way?”
“Regretfully, there is not. But as you have been civil to me, I will make your end as painless as I may.” And without so much as a pause after her last word, the dragon let forth a stream of fire that reflected her colors – blues, yellows, purples, reds…all those and more enveloped Lydria and caused her skin to redden like she had been too long in the summer sun. The heat was uncomfortable and her hair began to singe at the edges, but her shield held, and when the dragon stopped, Lydria saw her collar had erupted into a light of its own, a small blue sun in a land of darkness, and raising her hand before the dragon could be sure of what she had seen, the first arrow flew from its perch, flying over the head of the dragon and exploding into a hundred flashes, each with a loud retort like condensed thunder. They did no damage, but the effect on the dragon was immediate.
“What is this – you say you come unarmed, and here I am assaulted?”
“You said you would treat with me fairly.”
“Bah! I need no fire for you, small thing.” The dragon lurched from her position, remarkably fast for something so enormous and her feet came down several feet from Lydria, the impact throwing her to her back where she was quickly pressed between the ground and the cold snout of the dragon.
“What will you do now, little human? Will you taunt me with fire and noise again?”
Lydria was thankful there was no smell in the Nethyn Plains and that the creature pressing her nose against the magic shield – mere inches from her body – was not given to slobber as she was sure her shield would not protect her from drowning. Instead, Lydria acted on instinct, and reached her hands up and grabbed the bottom curl of the dragon’s nostrils and pulled, lancing the creature with healing power as she had with Ellaster.
The effect was both positive and terrifying. While the dragon pulled away, she also opened her mouth and screamed as if she’d been run through, and that was when Lydria noticed the chain around its neck, pulled taught. The dragon was as much a captive in this place as she – perhaps more.
Hanging above the ground holding onto the dragon’s nostrils, Lydria dropped to the ground and sprinted to the rock wall, hugging it with her back. A second arrow swooped down from the boulder, ignoring the thick armor of the dragon and flying instead into its open mouth where it buried its point into the roof of the creature’s mouth, both its ends sprouting severe blue blades that grew many times their normal size, lodging themselves in the roof and jaw of the dragon as it bit down to remove it.
The dragon screamed again, and despite its inability to open its mouth wide, its roar caused the rocks to vibrate and Lydria’s stomach to loosen uncomfortably. Even her shield weakened against the onslaught of dra
gon voice.
“Do you yield, dragon?” The arrow grew to a spear and then to a small tree trunk and continued to grow until Lydria could see the bright blue tips struggling to break free of the scales on either side of the creature’s snout. Sensing her advantage, she brought the third arrow down and as it reached the enemy it burst into a dozen pointed weapons, their magic tips glowing like fires in the sky before striking the dragon’s scales.
Lydria felt the dragon laugh in her head until the beast realized the weapons did not fall uselessly to the ground. Reaching the dragon and not penetrating her scales, they began to spin, burrowing their way through the scales, slowly and inexorably, grinding through the thick plating until they reached the soft flesh underneath. When they did, Lydria was thrown again, her bowels vacating themselves in an uncontrollable surge and she could feel her heart and stomach begin to quiver as if they might explode. And for a moment, the beast’s screaming stopped as she realized what was happening and fell onto her side.
Her collar burning furiously, Lydria called forth the last arrow, which hovered above the dragon and shattered into a curtain of crackling blue energy around the beast, sealing it in a cobalt screen that caused its rage to go quiet.
Lydria cleaned herself with a wave and stood with her hands on her knees, looking through the semi-opaque shimmering curtain and exhaling deeply as her heart slowed and the noises of her own body began to mellow and finally resolve themselves into near-silence once again. The dragon was still on its side, a blue blade fully above and below its snout, holding closed its great jaws. The blades that had burrowed into the creature’s hide had grown proportionately, and while she could only see the enormous sapphire feathers, she knew the arrows had gone through the creature and pinned it to the ground.
Had it been any other creature on Eigrae, it would be breathing its last. On Eigrae, however, the effort would likely have killed Lydria as well. The first arrow would have cost next to nothing to cast, but the second would have taxed her greatly. If she had used the third arrow on a beast such as Burvig on Eigrae, it would kill the dragon, but she was sure it would effectively end her own usefulness as well.
The wielder walked around the creature, watching as its scales started to fade, moving from a single color to a single color, settling at last on red. Over several moments, the red began to fade and Lydria walked through the barrier to stand by the dragon’s side. With a thought, all but two of the weapons pinning the dragon to the ground dissolved, and with them their wounds. The dragon’s color brightened and shifted to red and then green.
“What are you?”
“I can be what you want,” Lydria said. “I can be the end of you, or I can be your friend. But if you choose the latter, and betray me again, you will not get a second chance.”
The dragon said nothing but scraped his head along the ground in an unmistakable nod.
Lydria looked at the dragon and placed a hand near the hard ridge at the corner of her eye, an eye that was nearly as tall as herself, and she poured her golden light into the dragon, she also reached deep to sense her truthfulness. When she was convinced the dragon was beaten, she removed the weapon in its jaw before walking around her to see the chain that held the beast to the rock wall. It was made of bone, blackened and hardened by fire, but up close unmistakable as the spines of many creatures – humans, Eifen, and others she did not recognize. Lydria shuddered, thinking of the broken spines of men she had seen on battlefields, but never like this and never so many, weaved together like the fibers of a basket.
“Would you be free, dragon?” Lydria conjured a magic blade and held it’s crackling blue light over a spine unlike any she had seen before. The answer did not come immediately, but quickly, and she did not expect it.
“No. There is no freedom for me by your hand. I was made here and here I shall remain. It is where I belong – to guard this path, and to torture the minds of those who walk this land unguided and with malice in their hearts. My chain is made from those who try to pass – each one lengthening my reach. One day, my chain will be long enough to allow me to cross the Placid Abyss. When that happens, then I will be free.”
Lydria steeled herself not to back away from the enormous beast as she spoke. Her words strengthened her body. With no arrows left, Lydria was unsure she could cow the creature again. The creature, however, seemed content to honor her word and talk.
“You are now my voice to Eigrae, living one. None there have heard my name – the name of Unshegrig. But my near death has shown me my purpose. When you return to your world, you will free me into the minds of men. And when my chain has reached its length, and I am free, I will leave the Nethyn Plains. I will fly across the Placid Abyss and into the Melting Grae. Then I will make my way to Eigrae. As your blue blades sank into me, I saw for the first time my destiny - to be the destroyer of your world. And you, wielder, you will ride between my wings, your midnight sword destroying all it touches. Now, gather your friends and go. Make haste past me and let me consider my destiny, for which I have you to thank.”
Unshegrig, lowered her enormous head once, and walked as far as she could from where the chain was sunk into the wall and then strained against her bonds as if trying to break free. The chain snapped tight, each bone held fast in a straight line with no signs of stress or failure. But the rock it was attached to shivered and broke, a thin outline of darkness appearing against the greys of the stone.
Lydria called the others who came running up the path and she motioned them to the door Unshegrig had opened, not wanting to explain what had happened or what the dragon had said. In her heart, Lydria knew the dragon was right. She would tell others what the beast had said. But she did not have the Sword of True Death, and she would not ride the dragon’s wings in service to this grim destiny.
19-The Bridge to Vul
The doorway opened by Unshegrig led to a tall, narrow tunnel and Lydria’s collar still burned fiercely enough to cast a pale blue light well in advance of their steps. As she calmed, her light receded and Hokra conjured four small globes that flew forward, continuing in a straight line that went on for an unlikely distance. They walked slowly at first, and then, with more hurried steps until they reached the third ball of light and began running toward the last. When they reached it, the path ended and Lydria thought she had been tricked by the dragon.
“What is this? Do we have to go back now and fight the dragon again, or are we trapped here?” Haustis could feel and hear the panic rising in her sister’s voice and placed her left hand on the shorter woman’s neck, her right clutched around her amulet. Lydria’s breathing slowed almost at once and her collar faded to its normal, barely perceptible glow.
“Thank you, sister. The dragon catches me off guard, even now.” Haustis said nothing but gently pulled Lydria to her and rested the wielder’s head on her shoulders, stroking her straight black hair.
“Even the strongest warriors eventually meet someone who tests them, and then it is not uncommon, nor unseemly, that these warriors sit by themselves for a time and cry. Their tears cleanse them and make them stronger, as will yours.”
“Yes,” Lydria sniffed, smiling up at Haustis and pulling away from her, “but warriors have a chance to rest, and we do not.”
“No, but perhaps that is why there is no door from this place. Maybe the dragon helps you by making you wait.” Haustis looked to Hokra who nodded in agreement and the two women sat down with their backs to the high, straight walls. Hokra provided them with warm tea and moved back to the end of the wall where he stood, moving his thick fingers across the rock.
When they had finished their tea, Lydria stood and looked to Hokra, who smiled and asked if she were ready to go.
“Go where?”
Hokra wiggled his fingers in the air in front of his face and said only, “out.”
Minutes later Hokra had created a doorway through several feet of rock that opened to a large cave. Despite the lack of movement of the air, even the cave felt fres
h after so long in the tunnel and it was a large space, so they spread out and stretched, lifting their heads and hands, happy to be free from the confinement of the narrow walkway.
“How did you know?” Lydria asked.
“I could feel this space through the rock. Even though it is dead, there was very little pressure against it, and I knew there must be an open space beyond.”
“But if someone has beaten this beast before, how did they get out? Where are their remains if they did not get out?”
“That, my dear, is not our concern right now.” Dravud rejoined them, coming into the cavern from an opening opposite the tunnel. “We are near to Vul and so near to Griffis. I would be underestimating him greatly if I thought he were unaware of your victory.”
“Where do we go from here?” Haustis asked.
Dravud opened his mouth as if to speak and then closed it, smiling and then laughing lightly. “I do not know. No one has ever made it here before – not by this path.”
“There are other paths?” Lydria balled her fists like she would attack the guide if he said yes.
“Calm yourself,” Dravud said. “You come unbidden and you are not of this place. You cannot take the paths that those who would reside in Vul can take.”
Nodding in understanding Lydria asked another question. “Are there many in Vul?”
“Consider Eigrae,” Dravud said, his left arm folded across his chest and his right arm resting upon it, his fingers by his chin. “In a place where people can choose to do right and live well or search out riches and war, is there ever any shortage of the latter? Yes, Vul has many people. They do not deny their fate as those in Eigroth; they have not merely accepted their fate as those in Herewist; and they do not embrace their fate as those in Agubend. In Vul the people have become their fate. They are fully what they were meant to become, but still, they are not all evil. Remember, the Nethyn Plains has become a place where only those who aspire to the grey will cross the Placid Abyss. In all four kingdoms of the Nethyn Plains there is only one who is evil. Only one who has found the border between pure evil and grey and stands there resolutely, looking at all the outcomes in front of him and choosing only those that will keep his feet locked in place. The elders of the Melting Grae were wise in building this place for him. Their failure was not leaving him alone.”
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