Echoes

by Christine Grey

  “You said your mother was killed. Did you have a father?” Darius was genuinely interested. Dragons were not typically forthcoming with personal information, and in all his time in Darak, he had only read a brief passage or two on dragon lore.

  I have no idea who my father was, and all I know of my mother is that she died trying to protect me. Oke said she could have saved herself by abandoning the nest. He was unable to arrive in time to save her. My mother must have been extraordinary. I’m sorry I never knew her.

  Oke told me he kept me warm when he took me back to his home. He had a cottage deep in the Ever Wood. My earliest recollection is of his eyes. As I recall, the day I hatched, he was standing over me with a delighted grin on his face. I looked up into those mischievous eyes and just stared. On that day, one eye was blue, and the other a mossy green. Being newly hatched, I had no knowledge of anything, so seeing the face of a man did not alarm me.

  Time flew by for the two of us. After only a few weeks of bumping around inside the small cottage, Oke constructed a place for me to shelter outside of his home. He was exceedingly patient, but I wasn’t particularly graceful, and his furniture suffered for it. He enlarged one of his windows so I could put my head inside and speak to him through it. When I had grown still larger, he added an opening in the roof with a mat of rushes that could be closed against the rain when needed.

  I learned to speak quickly, and he taught me to read several languages. He read to me every day. He told me histories of whole races of people that are now long gone. He shared tales of the gods, and the one god, Rah. Rah always confounded me. How a being can always have been makes no sense to me. Oke told me that Rah is the creator of all things, the original circle, without beginning or end. Rah is too much of a mystery to me.

  Tolah is my God. He was the first of all dragon kind, both mother and father. Oke said that Rah created Tolah, as he did everything else. I’m all right with that. Tolah had to come from somewhere. With Tolah, I know where I stand. Rah is too unpredictable, always weaving new threads into the world to create some ultimate design that only he can see.

  “Is Tolah still alive?” Dearra asked.

  So far as I know. I haven’t heard from him in over a thousand years, so—

  “Heard from him? What does that mean?” Dearra couldn’t imagine how dragons could possibly correspond with each other.

  Like I said, Tolah is the first dragon. We say He, but Tolah is both male and female. Every dragon can hear and speak with Tolah, if He chooses to respond, that is. We pray to Him, but He rarely speaks back, unless it is to give a command or warning of some kind, and even that is rare. When I was trapped in the sword, I was able to hear mortals, but I could no longer hear Tolah.

  “If he didn’t talk much, how did you even know you weren’t able to hear him anymore?”

  His presence is always felt. It’s like a vibration, or hum.

  “And that was gone?”

  Completely.

  “You said you were with Oke for several hundred years. How did he die?” Darius asked.

  I should have seen it coming, but he was always old, so I didn’t notice him aging in any noticeable way, except that he seemed to move a bit more slowly, and tire more easily. He used to disappear for days at a time. He would take long, rambling walks through the woods and then appear again out of the blue. I was off doing my own exploring, so we would sometimes spend weeks apart. I returned after one such journey and poked my head through the roof opening to find him lying in bed. It was near to mid-day, and I had expected to find him puttering about, or deep in one of his books.

  ‘Oh, good. You have returned,’ he said to me. ‘I so hoped you would arrive in time to wish me well before I left.’

  I was confused by his words, of course. He had gone off many times, and we had never said goodbye before. Where could he be going that would require a goodbye?

  I asked him where he was off to this time, and why he was lying down if he was getting ready for a trip. He told me that he was going to die. Rah had allowed him many, many years, but it was time to be moving on.

  Die? I didn’t understand what he’d meant. Animals died. Plants died. He and I lived forever, unless we died at the hands of another. Old age was not something that affected us.

  ‘I am not a dragon, Brin’du Drak’Tir. I was never meant to go on forever,’ he said to me. ‘There is so much I should have told you, but I always assumed we had more time, and now it is too late for long tales. You must leave here, and make your way to the fairies.’

  ‘The fairies? What have they to do with me?’ I asked him.

  ‘I’m not entirely sure,’ he responded, but Rah has a plan, and you are most certainly a part of it.’

  I thought he had lost his mind. Rah had a plan for me? That didn’t seem likely. Tolah had told me nothing, and so, in my mind, that was all that mattered. Who even knew where to find the fairies? They were secretive and hid away from the rest of the realms. I had only met a handful in my lifetime, and I didn’t like any of them. They could hear my thoughts, which I found extremely intrusive and annoying. They were respectful enough about it, but having them answer a question I had not asked aloud was irritating.

  “You poor thing,” Dearra said, rolling her eyes.

  Well, that’s neither here nor there, Brin said sourly. The point is, I didn’t exactly warm to them, certainly not to the point where I would want to seek them out.

  I asked Oke to explain himself, but he did not respond. I saw that he was no longer breathing. I felt a strange pain deep in my chest, and I was concerned that whatever had taken Oke might also be affecting me. It was a horrible feeling, and it only got worse with each passing second. I backed away from the cottage, and I tried to take slow breaths, but there was no relief. A moment later, and I was overcome with a trembling in my legs, and I found that I could no longer stand. I was certain, at this point, that I was the victim of some horrible spell, or perhaps I had been poisoned.

  There was a splash of water in front of me, which I couldn’t believe—first I was poisoned, and now it was going to rain on me, and I hate the rain. As the shower progressed, I realized it fell only under my head and nowhere else. I looked up and searched the sky, but the few clouds that had drifted overhead were white and billowy, giving no sign they had been the source of the shower, and I didn’t understand.

  “You were crying, weren’t you, Brin?”

  Yes, Dearra, I was crying. It was the first time it had ever happened to me. I can’t say I felt relieved once I’d figured it out—understanding that I was shedding tears over the loss of my friend only seemed to intensify my pain.

  I stayed at his side for days, unable to leave him. I took some of the books with me, but I couldn’t carry many, so I only selected a few. The oldest ones. The ones Oke treasured most. Some of the books were dangerous, and I didn’t think he would want them to fall into the wrong hands. Also, I couldn’t just leave his body there to be defiled by animals or the elements, so, in the end, I burned the cottage.

  After that, I wasn’t sure where to go, except I knew it was definitely not going to be in the direction of any fairies. As I said, I hated rain, and I thought that someplace nice and dry, with good caves and very few trees, might be nice. A desert seemed like a good choice. The forest reminded me too much of Oke, besides, and the fairies loved forests as well, so there were two good reasons to avoid them. Eventually, I ended up in the Breken desert, and… well…you know the rest.

  “Why didn’t you ever tell us that story before, Brin?” Dearra asked.

  You never asked, girl. Besides, it’s not the kind of information you share with just anyone. Darius was correct when he said that we dragons prefer our privacy.

  The hour is almost up, Dearra. It’s time to go to the Great Hall.

  “Already?”

  “Don’t worry, Dearra. Brin and I will be with you,” Darius said, gently setting Dearra back on her own two feet.

  “I know you will.” Dea
rra lifted her head a bit higher and smoothed her hair to make herself more presentable. “I can do this. It’s what my father would want me to do, besides,” she said. Darius took her arm and escorted her from the weapons room.

  Chapter 5

  The great hall was crowded, but not overly so, and it was obvious that not everyone had come. Dearra wondered if it was so the people would not overwhelm her, or if there might be some other reason.

  She approached the head table. Her father’s chair loomed before her, looking larger and more imposing than she remembered. She stood beside it and reached out her hand to touch the wood. She glanced up and she saw Daniel give her a brief nod, encouraging her to take her place.

  Dearra sat in her father’s chair and shifted uncomfortably. She felt small sitting there. Small and insignificant. “Thank you all for coming.”

  She looked around the room and made eye contact with as many as she could, before realizing that Carly was not there. She frowned a little, but then began again. “I’m sorry that I haven’t come before you sooner. I was…not myself. The problem now is that the Breken will be coming, and we need to go to King Jaymes. We won’t be able to stop them on our own, and we will likely have to abandon the island and head for the mainland to make a stand there.”

  It was a bit blunt, but Dearra thought it would be for the best to skip the preliminaries and get right to the heart of the matter.

  “Abandon the island?” Trevor said. “What do you mean, ‘abandon the island?’” Dearra turned to face Trevor when he spoke. She didn’t think she had said more than a hello to the farmer in years. He kept mostly to himself and didn’t usually join the others for meal times in the keep.

  “I know it’s hard to imagine,” Dearra answered, “but there will be far too many for us. We need to position ourselves nearer the capital.”

  Several others were talking amongst themselves, and some restless shuffling was going on toward the back of the room.

  “Dearra,” Trevor said, “you’re young. I can understand you wanting to be cautious, but abandoning the island is the last thing we should do. We have faced the Breken before, and we have never run away. Doing so would give them a base too near Mirin Tor.”

  “We have never faced them as we will now, Trevor.”

  “How many could they possibly send? Even if they sent a hundred warriors, or two hundred for that matter, it makes more sense to meet the threat here, where we know the area.” Trevor’s voice grew louder as his confidence increased.

  Darius stepped to stand beside Dearra. “They won’t send hundreds, Trevor. They will send thousands. If they can organize and get the other cities to join them, I expect over forty thousand.”

  The whispers and mumbled conversations ceased, and all was quiet until Trevor began to laugh. He was soon joined by another, and then another.

  “Are you daft, Breken?” Trevor didn’t even try to control his laughter. “Forty thousand? No wonder Dearra is over-reacting. This Breken has been telling her tales!”

  “Trevor!” Daniel bellowed. “I believe Darius. He has proven himself honest and honorable. What reason would he have to lie?”

  “What reason? He’s a Breken! Don’t you think it’s all just a little bit coincidental that he shows up here and gets left behind? Then he, oh so generously, offers to travel with us to Parsaia, and then comes back with stories of an epic invasion.”

  “Enough,” William said. “You’re wrong, Trevor.”

  Dearra noticed there were quite a few people who didn’t look so sure he was wrong. The nervous whispers resumed.

  “William, your loyalty to your brother does you credit,” Trevor continued, “but it is misplaced. He has fooled you as well. I’m afraid your kind heart has led you astray.”

  “Was he fooled when Darius risked his life to pull my husband and Daniel to safety in the blizzard last year?” Catherine almost growled. “Trevor, think. Think of all the times Darius has risked everything for one of us.”

  “Breken subterfuge, Catherine. He would look for any opportunity to get in our good graces. The Breken are known for their schemes. Can you imagine the tremendous advantage a couple hundred Breken would have were they able to take the island? The mainland would be essentially bottled up. There’s no other way around the reef except past us. We must make our stand here, as we always have!”

  Several voices called out in agreement, and a large number of Maj simply nodded.

  Daniel leaned in and whispered to Dearra, “Put a stop to this. It’s all well and good to let them have their say, but you are Lord of Maj now.”

  Dearra sat shaking her head in mute denial. She had thought the people of Maj had all come to accept and trust Darius, as she had, but obviously, that was not the case. Trevor didn’t seem to be hostile to Darius, but he clearly did not trust him.

  “Dearra’s right, though. We should send word to King Jaymes. Any Breken attack is still a threat. Besides, it’s past time the king knew of our guest—or should I say, guests—as there are now two Breken visitors on our island.” Trevor crossed his arms, looked to Dearra, and lifted a brow in question, awaiting her response.

  Dearra leaned back in her chair and fixed her gaze on Trevor. She knew she was being challenged, and she didn’t like it. While it was true that she was young and inexperienced, she wasn’t completely unprepared. She had studied her father for eighteen years, and she had learned from him.

  Trevor’s cocky mien was the first to go, and his arms soon drifted to his sides. Dearra continued to look at him, her expression passive, until he broke eye contact, and looked around the group for support.

  “I only meant,” he said, his voice almost pleading, “that it would be unwise to make a hasty decision. I…I will, of course, do as Dearra commands.”

  “Lady Dearra,” William corrected. “It is Lady, isn’t it?” William asked. “Or do you prefer to be addressed in the old way, and be Lord Dearra?”

  Daniel spoke up. “It’s to be Lady Dearra. Unless someone has a problem with that,” he said, glaring at Trevor.

  “Yes, yes, of course. Lady Dearra,” Trevor amended.

  Dearra looked around the room, taking her time.

  She spoke quietly, forcing everyone to listen carefully in order to hear everything she said. “When Darius agreed to help in Phillip’s rescue, my father promised he would be brought back with us and allowed to go where he chose as a free man. He has chosen life with us, and I will honor my father’s word. As for Zusia, she saved my brother’s life, as much as anyone. She has also chosen to live here, and William and Catherine have adopted her as their own. There are no guests on this island, only Maj. Do I make myself clear?

  Everyone present agreed. Some quite loudly, others with only a nod, but agree they did.

  Darius leaned over and whispered to Daniel, “She’s back.”

  Daniel grunted and elbowed Darius away, but a quick grin flashed on his face.

  “Daniel?” Dearra said, looking up.

  Daniel stepped closer, awaiting her instruction.

  “We need to send someone to King Jaymes, immediately. Have Carly—” Dearra saw Daniel’s head shake slightly. Whatever the reason for Carly’s absence, she was evidently unable to go to the king. “On second thought, let’s have Bryan go. Carly has done quite enough traveling lately.”

  “Me?” Bryan squeaked.

  Dearra smiled at Bryan. He’d always been a quiet and kind man, and Dearra considered him a friend. “Yes, you. I need you, Bryan. I know I can count on you to relay my message and keep personal opinions out of it. Will you do it? I can send someone else if there’s a problem.”

  “No! I can go! I mean, I would be honored to be your representative, Lady Dearra.”

  “Thank you, Bryan. Choose a few to accompany you, and get ready. I would like for you to leave in a couple of hours. I will write my letter to the king, and you can be on your way.”

  Lady Dearra had made her decision, and people seemed to take that as their cue t
o leave. They filed out together, but Dearra didn’t miss the way Trevor surreptitiously nodded to three or four others as he left the room.

  “He might cause you a bit of trouble,” Daniel said. “I’ll speak to him.”

  “No, leave him be. If we try to silence him, we may just add fuel to the fire. He’ll make some noise for a while and then run out of interesting things to say.” Dearra closed her eyes and leaned her head back in the chair.

  “Dearra, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I—”

  “She needs some rest, Daniel.” Darius picked Dearra up and made to carry her from the Great Hall.

  “Darius, put me down.” Dearra’s voice was harsh, but when she saw the stricken look on his face, she softened. “You have to stop picking me up like that. I am not a child, and it makes me look weak in front of the others, besides.”

  What others? Brin said, making his opinion heard. You can barely stand up. It won’t hurt you to accept some help.

  “Stay out of it, Brin.” To Darius she said, “Darius, put me down.”

  Darius complied, but took hold of her hand and guided her from the hall.

  Once they were past the more well-traveled areas of the castle, Dearra leaned into Darius’s side and allowed him to support her.

  “Where was Carly? I haven’t seen her, and Daniel didn’t want me to send her to King Jaymes. Is everything okay?”

  “Daniel says she is ill. I haven’t seen her either.”

  Dearra stopped walking. “What do you mean ill? Is it something serious?” She turned around and started to walk back in the direction from which she had come, but she was stopped abruptly by an arm around her waist.

  “Stop, Dearra, just stop. She isn’t dying. Daniel has already sent Ann and Catherine to look at her, and they weren’t concerned. It’s probably the stress of everything that’s happened. If it were anything serious, don’t you think they would have said so?”