Light of the Dark

by N. Saraven

  The tribal kobold led the companions away from the centre. The noises slowly died away as they walked. As it turned out, the little cottages occupied a fairly big territory; the friends could still see them, scattered all around. Although no other squares were found anywhere else than the centre. That seemed to be truly the heart of the village, where every important thing happened. The kobolds maybe used these huts only for sleep.

  The tribal was still not mistaken when he said that they did not have to walk too far. The companions still could see huts, when the sound of a waterfall caught their attention. It got stronger as they strolled, and slowly a huge, grey stone wall appeared in the distance before them. Suddenly they arrived at a wide riverbank, which they started to follow to the waterfall.

  The companions walked in utter awe. They could hardly believe their eyes. They had never seen such a big cascade before. A rainbow shone near it, as the dim sunlight met the spray in the air. It ended in a fairly big, somewhat round-shaped pool, from which the river continued.

  The tribal gave a loud shout which made the friends wince once more. They were so occupied by the scenery that the cry startled even Enargit. Glancing around, they saw more kobolds, who put traps in the water or fished with nets at the bank.

  “Da being ya dracos.” The tribal pointed towards the fall, then left the companions without any further ado. He walked to his friends, smiling and laughing, as they patted each other on the shoulder.

  The friends started forwards again, following the stream to the cascade. They passed women, who gutted huge fishes at the treeline, preparing them for something. The little path which was cleared at the bank became a wide space at the waterfall. There lay the three dragons, comfortably sleeping. Apparently the loud noise did not bother them at all. Half-eaten fish lying all around showed that the kobolds had treated them with great hospitality.

  The attention towards them made Nighthunter open his eyes.

  “Thank the Gods.” Enargit sighed as he watched them awaken. Nighthunter immediately poked the others as well when he saw the Leader. He also bowed his head a little as the companions got closer.

  “How did you get here?” asked Neila, glancing around. She had to almost shout to overcome the noise of the waterfall.

  “Well …” started Nighthunter, a little abashed. “It all started because my brothers were hungry. They tried to hunt down a big beast, but during the pursuit we went deeper into the forest than intended. When we realised that we were lost, we stayed put and waited. Not much after dark, Eteryon came and guided us here.”

  “Eteryon?” asked Veilon; this drew his attention.

  “Yes, do you know him?”

  “I doubt it, but I do know that name.” The paragon seemed lost in thought. “In that book I mentioned earlier, there was a kobold named Eteryon. He was the one who led those kobolds away from the ones who we now call nomads. According to the story, once all kobolds lived together, somewhat in harmony. The signs were already there, showing the different races, but the later-known paragons did not leave yet. In those times, Eteryon, with a fairly huge crowd, left the original Homeland and then practically disappeared. Nobody believed that they prevailed. Even the writer of that book mentioned only that they were swallowed by a ‘hostile, new world’. This was the last word anybody ever heard from them.”

  “Well, apparently they live and thrive,” mused Neila sarcastically.

  “Anyhow,” Nighthunter replied, “Eteryon guided us here. We got food, and we could rest. They were very nice.”

  “Finally something that did not end in a disaster …” murmured Enargit, which made Nighthunter glance at him questioningly. The Leader just motioned that it was not important.

  “Well, if we’re here, we might as well get the most out of it, so shall we look around?” said Neila, and started for the huge stone wall before them.

  It stretched widely in both directions, seemingly dividing the landscape in two. It was covered with plant life, which liked the constant spray. But as Neila walked alongside it, she spotted a blank part. The Master strolled forwards, eyeing that bald spot, trying to solve the mystery. It looked like the plants decided not to grow there, just because … who knew what reasons plants had …

  As she got closer, she saw carvings in the stone. She stood right under the spot, but she could not make anything sensible out. She then backed away. From a little distance, the lines suddenly formed a picture.

  Neila gasped as she finally recognised what she was looking at.

  “Come here at once! You must see this!” she cried out. Her voice made the others trot to join her. To their question, she just pointed at the wall, so they looked as well.

  “Is it … a map …?” whispered Veilon, as if he could not really believe his eyes.

  “A map of the three worlds,” realised Enargit with widened eyes, which was a strange enough look from him.

  “But … I don’t understand.” Neila looked even more confused than the rest. “It shows the lands as if …”

  “… as if they were part of one world …” finished the paragon. His mouth fell open, then he glanced at the others.

  29. The map

  “What in the name of the Gods does that mean?!” cried out Neila, but everybody else just shook their heads.

  At least, Veilon and Enargit did. The other shadow dragons stayed in the background, chatting lively amidst themselves. They did not really care about some strange map; it was the Leaders’ job to do so, as they always said. As a result, most of the ‘common dragons’ knew nothing of anything, so nobody asked them anything after a while in the Tower.

  “Maybe we should ask Eteryon,” mused the Master, when she had had enough of staring at the map. It obviously would not say anything just because they were eyeing it sternly.

  “Ey see, ya descaverd da map,” announced a voice behind the companions, so they turned in alarm. They had not noticed him at all. The tribal stood calmly with folded arms, glancing at the map.

  “Pliz tell us, whats bei these maps’ meaning?” asked Veilon, turning halfway back to it.

  Eteryon rose both brows in astonishment. His eyes told that he truly did not understand the meaning of the question. What should a map’s function be, if not guiding? But then he shrugged and answered. Probably it should not be so strange if different people did not know basic things of the world …

  “Es ya wish. Hier being da map o’ ur world. Es ur Elder ar seyin, ef ya muv far in away, ya’ll agot back to where ya startd. In da while, ya wud see da three lands, da Caracen, da Nimron, und da Tryan. We ar hier.” The tribal pointed at the centre of the map. “At Caracen.”

  “What did ya said …?” gasped Veilon. His eyes widened as he blinked in surprise.

  The others waited in silence, although Neila’s twitching showed that she could hardly do so. She could not understand a word, so it took an eternity it seemed until she finally got answers.

  “Impossible …” whispered the paragon, paled. He seemed as if he would need to sit down for a moment or two. As Neila glanced at Enargit, the shadow dragon looked just as stunned. This made Neila even more itchy.

  “We are in Caracen …” said the Ruler, turning to her, which made her snort.

  “That is impossible. We are on Nimron, you know that … a different world?” argued Neila sarcastically, although as she regarded the paragon, her golden eyes showed that she started to wonder about his sanity. Maybe the shock before proved to be a bigger deal than it should.

  Neila glanced at the shadow Leader for support, but he stared at the map on the wall, seemingly not paying any attention to their discussion. She sighed.

  Veilon, seeing her unconvinced gaze, took a deep breath, then started to explain, pointing at the carving.

  “Eteryon says that there is only one world. And what we know as worlds are only huge lands, like on the map, look.” He motioned around, watching Neila’s reactions. “We are here, in the south end of Caracen. That means we came from north, and th
e Anaca-lake is right there.”

  The Master still did not seem convinced, although everything was there in front of her eyes. Even labels could be seen on the map above some points. She knew what those points should be; still, it was unbelievable.

  The carving showed everything and much more than Neila had ever known of the worlds. Or rather, just world. As it turned out, even she and Halgor, who travelled a lot between and after the Dragonwars, knew only a little bit. They gained a lot of maps, yet as Neila thought about it now, not two of them were identical. For example, none of them showed exactly how big the Whitelands were, or the Nimron, for that matter, where they lived. Even if the Masters liked discovering and charting, they did not do the one, most important thing—seeing the borders from high above.

  Neila’s thoughts swirled around fast and wild, making her lose the big picture.

  “Wait a moment,” she cut in, drawing every eye. “You are telling me that we live in a world, in which Caracen, Nimron, and Trian are only big lands? And if I would be on the way from, I don’t know, the Caracen, after a while I would get back to where I started?”

  “Well, yes.” Veilon nodded.

  Neila really did not want to believe this. On the other hand, the proof lay on the wall in front of her. Still, it meant that most of what she believed in, what she knew, was wrong. Which was not an easy thing to just accept. Those in Varomor obviously had a lot of pieces. If they would have put it together …

  “It was before our eyes the whole time; still nobody knew about it,” murmured Neila. She felt heavy in her heart. “If you haven’t concealed it from us on purpose.” She turned to Enargit, who did not seem surprised by the accusation, nor did he behave guiltily.

  “I knew a lot of things, that is true. But I never made the discovery myself.” He shook his head. It appeared that he did not take this easy either.

  “Alright, let us say that this whole … thing is true.” Neila turned to Eteryon, as Veilon translated. “How did you know?”

  The tribal kobold only grinned.

  “Wii discoverd. Ya dunt?”

  Neila became pale in anger after the paragon shyly translated the answer. Everybody knew that discovering was a sensitive object when it came to Neila. She and Halgor walked around the worlds a lot more than the other species. Until they met Enargit, they were the ones who had the deepest and most thorough knowledge of the lands. Then everything changed when Enargit appeared. But this was acceptable for the Masters because of the uniqueness of the situation. When a seemingly primeval person insulted her like this, however, she could not take it.

  Neila’s whole body stiffened, ready to jump on the kobold and tear him apart. Veilon saw the fury in the golden gaze, so he stepped closer to her, just to hold her back if needed. He thought maybe the calmness emitted by him could soothe her mood as well.

  Of course, Eteryon’s sly grin helped nothing about the situation. He obviously mocked her with his behaviour.

  The tribal kobolds appeared different beforehand—more open, tender, and innocent in a way. Primitive, it might have been seen in the eyes of others. To overthrow this belief in such a cruel manner, however, suited the kobolds as a species more than anything. The tribal seemed to be a completely other person in that moment. As if he truly could not let this false picture stay in the heads of their guests.

  The fact that he enjoyed himself so much during the conversation only fuelled Neila’s anger.

  “Be calm, be calm.” Veilon tried to cool Neila down. She was still fixated on the grinning tribal.

  “I assume they are in contact with the Gods too,” rumbled Enargit in the background, who also glanced more and more at the raging Master. He was ready to step in if Veilon did not succeed.

  However, it seemed that the paragon knew how to handle her. Neila frantically swirled back to the map, showing her back to the tribal, whose grin widened at this.

  “Aftre ya managd to held bick yar chooserin wone, Eye continu.” Eteryon broke the momentary silence, with which he earned Veilon’s angry glance. The stern look could make a lot of people run, but not the tribal.

  “If ya’re continuing da speeching, next time let I her do whatever to you,” he barked, but the other just shrugged.

  Enargit snorted in the background, which made the dark mage realise he too understood the discussion. He almost blushed at the thought; what if the Leader decided to share their little chat with Neila …?

  In that moment, it also dawned on him that the tribals probably thought that Neila and he were chosen to be together. Maybe when she saved him from the bunch of women, they thought that was a thing only a spouse would do. Especially since Neila might not use only kind words or actions to do so … So the energy in her actions could feed their imagination. If they believed this, it would explain their different behaviour towards him afterwards.

  Veilon rubbed his aching eyes. He really did not want to think about this right now. He looked at Eteryon again, who waited patiently.

  “You spoke, that you having others things to saying,” said the dark mage, which made the others listen as well.

  “Yesa. Every-ya knows, dat wii ar great explorars. Wii scoutd all dree lands, met manious new peopl.”

  “Then how come nobody has ever heard from you?” murmured Enargit, which drew Neila’s questioning look.

  The dragon quickly filled the blanks. He truly did understand the discussion, it seemed, although for some reason, he did not want to speak. So this remained to be Veilon’s job.

  Hearing the question, Eteryon made a wry, secretive smile. His gaze flared up.

  He became a person of whom the companions turned wary. They did not feel safe at all.

  “Wii nevr let dem discovr usu,” Eteryon answered, which made Neila shiver, but even Veilon recalled some spells in his mind. Just in case …

  This whole situation put every other tribal kobold in another light in the eyes of the companions. Nobody knew after this how much of their behaviour was true. Maybe nothing, maybe some, maybe all. It was a terrific cover, nonetheless. But they became a liability, a source of danger in a way, especially since they apparently knew more about them than they would have ever believed.

  “But how ya could doing all of these?” mused Veilon under his breath, although Eteryon heard it.

  “Wii hav allotof strong sipps, an’ friends.”

  “I can imagine what kind of ‘friends’ those could be … The birds chirped, or what?” snorted Neila, rolling her eyes.

  “Híhí, somtims da happend tu.” The tribal chuckled without waiting for the translation.

  Everybody stared at him utterly stunned; their mouths dropped open.

  “You understood us the whole time!” cried out Neila. The tribal gave a teasing laugh.

  “Of course.”

  Eteryon changed to smooth paragon, although he spoke with a heavy accent, which still made him difficult to understand. He obviously knew the common tongue too, since the companions talked in it until now. Albeit he would not speak it, apparently.

  “Oh, the Gods struck you with their lightning!” snapped Neila furiously; her gaze showed nothing good for the kobold. “I’ll kill you! I will!”

  “Well now, daughter of Setal, there is no need for such aggression.” The kobold held his hands up.

  “So you are in touch with the Gods,” rumbled Enargit under his breath, answering his own previous question.

  “Naturally. We are no barbarians!” The tribal’s eyes flared up as he glanced at Veilon. He obviously did not like the way the other races behaved towards the Creators.

  The mage narrowed his eyes in disagreement. He got no respect whatsoever that a Ruler as himself should have. The other must have seen the sign on him, so he knew who he was. Yet …

  “Then stop this childish nonsense and be serious!” snapped Neila, glancing at the tribal angrily, who only rose a brow, catching her gaze. For a few moments they stood eyeing each other, but at the end the kobold turned his head away first,
with a faint smile.

  “As you wish. What would you like to know?” asked Eteryon with a smooth, sincere voice.

  The other three shadow dragons only crouched on the ground, out of the way, exchanging questioning looks. Their happy chatter died as soon as they sensed the change in the air around them. Now they looked at their companions, waiting.

  “Let’s start at the beginning,” started Neila, but before she could say anything more, the tribal held up his hand to stop her.

  “Before we go into details, let us go to a more comfortable place. I would like to introduce you to the Council of Elders, if you don’t mind. There, we can speak freely.”

  Neila welcomed the idea with pure mistrust; however, she nodded in the end. Eteryon gave a faint smile and motioned them to follow him. He led the companions back to the centre of the tribal village, leaving the lost dragons on their own again. They followed them, of course, but stayed out of their way, joining their others at the main square.

  When their little group arrived at the main space, Eteryon stopped at the only two-room hut. He waited for the somewhat slower companions at the entrance, gesturing them to go inside. They had to bow low to do so, otherwise they would bang their heads on the low-hanging doorway. They went in one after another, completely dismissing Halgor’s questioning gaze at them. If they saw the elven at all, they did not show it in any way.

  The dark elven did not handle this very well because, when he caught Eteryon’s gaze, he started for the hut also. He must have noticed the extreme change in the others’ behaviour, which drew his attention. He surely wanted some answers. So, leaving the youngsters behind, he stepped to the entrance of the big cottage. But when he wanted to go inside, the tribal blocked his way in.