by Sam Ferguson
“A bit late for the bird to be making the nest,” Lepkin noted.
Erik turned form the window and looked to his tutor. “Maybe his other nest got destroyed,” he said.
Lepkin nodded. “He won’t likely be able to have a mate this year,” he pointed out. “Seems pointless to build a nest without having a mate, or hatchlings.”
Erik shook his head. “I don’t know, he may as well prepare now,” he said with a shrug. “Perhaps he has a mate, or maybe he will have one next spring.”
Lepkin smiled. “We are not unlike the bluebird,” he said.
Erik narrowed his eyes and drew his brow together.
Lepkin nodded and looked back to the bird. “I don’t know that his first nest was destroyed, but whatever the reason, he is building a nest now, so that he can have a better future. We are like that. We are trying to build a better future for the Middle Kingdom. One where we can each have the hope of resting safely.”
“That’s putting it very simply,” Erik said.
“But the basic principle is the same,” Lepkin countered. “The bird works for a future that he hopes for, but is not certain will come. He toils to make a safe place for that future. We do the same. We are hoping for a future that is better than what we now have.”
“I didn’t take the test,” Erik said abruptly. “We don’t even know if I am the Champion of Truth.”
Lepkin tapped a finger on the table. “If you were not the Champion of Truth, then the sword would not burn white for you,” he countered. “You are the champion, I am sure of it.”
“But how will we win? I have no special powers. I can’t even see auras like Marlin can. How will I defeat the magic, or the dragon for that matter? I am just a boy.”
“Just a boy?” Lady Dimwater echoed sarcastically. “You accompanied me to Spiekery to defeat a shadowfiend, do you remember?”
“You fought the demon,” Erik said.
“But you helped me confront him, and then you fought the swordsman as well. Not any mere boy would do that.”
“Let us not forget about the tournament at Kuldiga Academy either,” Lepkin said. “None of us helped you then.”
Erik nodded. “But I was only fighting other kids.”
Lepkin grew impatient and crossed his arms. “Well then, how do you explain turning into a dragon and laying waste to the corrupt senators in Drakei Glazei, or defeating the warlock who came to attack your home?”
“I only accessed your power,” Erik countered. “And the warlock was asleep.”
“Being humble is one thing,” Dimwater said. “But you are being annoying at the moment. You should at least acknowledge the things you have accomplished. It is not any boy who could do the things you have done, even with our help.”
Lepkin nodded and leaned forward. “You didn’t access my power,” he said.
Erik looked up quickly and met Lepkin’s fierce eyes. He opened his mouth, but the words didn’t come out. Lepkin arched a brow and nodded decisively.
Just then the serving lady returned with a large platter heaped with skewered lamb and scalloped potatoes with cheese. Erik looked at the food and somehow it seemed less inviting to him than knowing what Lepkin meant. As soon as the lady turned and left Erik looked back to Lepkin.
“What do you mean?”
“It was your power,” Lepkin said casually as he took a piece of lamb and plopped it into his mouth.
“My power?” Erik repeated. “What do you mean?”
Lepkin grinned widely, which was still something that Erik was trying to get used to. The big man finished his bite and looked to Dimwater. She nodded and glanced to Erik. Lepkin returned the nod and wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. “Have you ever heard of the Sahale?” he asked.
Erik shook his head. “What is a Sahale?”
“You,” Lepkin said pointedly. “You are a Sahale.” Lepkin ran his thumb along the edge of the table as he phrased his next sentence. “You remember why I said I chose you to be my apprentice?” he asked.
Erik nodded. “Yes,” he said.
“Well, there was another reason besides what I told you.” He was quick to add, “What I said about your character and experience was true. Those were very important factors in my choosing you, but there is something else that I was looking for as well. For you to understand, I need to explain a few things.”
Lepkin pushed the platter of food toward Erik and motioned for him to take some food. Erik took some meat and scalloped potatoes while Lady Dimwater poured water into his cup for him.
“Thank you,” he told her.
She smiled and dished herself some food as well.
Lepkin then continued. “The Sahale are a special race. Their origin is extremely unique. During the time of the Ancients, long before Nagar the Black ever was known in this realm, there lived a very beautiful woman. The tales say her hair was red as fire, and hung down to her waist. She was slender, almost like a she-elf, but much taller of course. Her eyes were green, like emeralds, and her skin was a light golden brown. When she sang, the birds would come from miles around to listen to her music. Well, one day, after her fame had spread throughout the Middle Kingdom, a dragon came to listen to her sing. He was so captivated by her that he came every day thereafter to listen to her. When she would stop singing, he would tell her tales of the lands beyond the mountains.
“The two fell in love, which was unprecedented. The dragon went to Hiasyntar Ku’lai, and the Father of the Ancients devised a magic that would turn the dragon into a human so he could be with his love. As time went along the two of them married and had many children. The Ancients had no way of knowing, but the dragon blood still flowed through the veins of his children.”
Lady Dimwater swallowed a bite and jumped in. “The first one to change into a dragon was one of the couple’s grandchildren. It happened on the girl’s seventeenth birthday. No one knows exactly what sparked the change, but it happened.”
“That’s right,” Lepkin said. “As you can imagine, the family tried to keep it a secret, but a secret like that can’t remain hidden for long. As each of the children and grandchildren married and produced more children, the gift spread. After a couple of generations they began to be called the Sahale, which means the ‘gifted ones’ in elvish.”
“I am a Sahale?” Erik asked incredulously.
Lepkin nodded and pointed behind his ear. “You bear the mark of the Sahale.”
“What is that?”
“A small, crescent shaped birthmark behind your right ear,” Lepkin replied. “Let me finish with the history, and then I will answer your questions.”
Erik nodded and set his food down. He was too excited to be distracted by the food or the grumbling in his stomach.
“As is the way of all creatures, some of the Sahale were good and honest, while others abused their gift for power and glory. Eventually a council of mages was created to eradicate them all, declaring the Sahale to be abominations. The Ancients tried to persuade the humans, but at that time the king did not listen. He cast the dragons out of Drakei Glazei, declaring that any dragon that dared return during his reign would be deemed an enemy and killed on sight. He raised his armies to support the mages in their hunt of the Sahale and the Ancients left Drakei Glazei.”
“Where did they go?” Erik asked.
“That is when they established Valtuu Temple,” Lady Dimwater said. “A large group of humans defied the king and set up an autonomous region to protect the Ancients.”
“Why would the dragons need protection?” Erik asked. “If there were many of them, couldn’t they have just fought the humans?”
Lepkin nodded. “Some of them did, and most of them were slain. The Ancients, however, chose to flee rather than burn the kingdom they loved so dearly. The dwarves at that time acted as a buffer so no army could reach Valtuu Temple. The Ancients thought if they left the humans alone long enough, then they would realize their mistake.”
“But they didn’t,” Dim
water said. “Not until most of the Sahale had been destroyed, that is.”
Lepkin nodded sourly. “It is a dark day in our history,” he said. “We killed most of an entire race, nearly wiping them all off the face of the land. All because a couple of them had abused their power and the king decided all of them were evil.” Lepkin sighed. “A few did manage to live, of course. No one knows exactly how many survived the purge, but rumors and legend suggest that as many as twelve might have escaped. Of those who did survive, a few were able to have families and the gift continued to be passed down from generation to generation, though the families generally made every effort to conceal their true identity. On occasion, a person would come to Valtuu Temple, claiming to be a Sahale and asking for magic to make them normal, but there wasn’t anything to be done. Hiasyntar Ku’lai vowed not to interfere anymore for fear of creating more problems.
“When the king of that time passed away, his son continued the hunting of Sahale. He put a bounty of one thousand gold pieces out on any and every Sahale. So, any time a rumor sprang up about a Sahale sighting, warriors and hunters would flock to the area and kill the Sahale.”
Lepkin took a drink of water and arched a brow as he looked off distantly through the window for a moment. “The dwarves then went to war with the humans until they forced the royal family out of the Middle Kingdom and in their place they appointed a new king. The new king was a wise wizard, who most of the people loved at that time. He had, in fact, been one of the first mages to hunt the Sahale, but through the years he had recanted his ways and he was quick to end the hunting of the Sahale. Some say it is because one of his daughters married a Sahale, but no one knows for sure.”
“The Ancients came back then, and eventually there was peace between the humans and dragons again,” Lady Dimwater said.
“I never knew that there was a war with the dwarves,” Erik said.
“It is a part of our history that we do not talk about often. We are not proud of it, and so we prefer to let it fade into the past,” Lepkin said. “However, it was many centuries ago. I don’t even think that Al’s great grandfather was alive during that time.”
Erik took a bite of food and chewed it quickly, washing it down with a swig of water. “And I am a Sahale?” he asked.
Lepkin nodded. “I am getting to that,” he said. “You bear the mark, as I already said. This mark is a special way to identify the Sahale. Males have it behind the right ear and females have it behind the left.”
“How did you learn about the mark?” Erik asked.
Lepkin grinned. “I am the Keeper of Secrets,” he said with a smirk. “There are quite a few things that I know.”
“The dragon who chose you to be the keeper told you then?” Erik guessed.
“Precisely,” Lepkin said. “It is important that I know how to identify a Sahale, because the dragons knew that only a Sahale would be able to use the magic of Allun Rha to defeat Nagar’s Secret.”
Erik scrunched his brow. “How did they know that?” he asked. “Allun Rha was a wizard.”
Lepkin held a finger in the air. “He was a Sahale,” he corrected. “He was a wizard, it is true, but there was something about him that protected him from the power of Nagar’s Secret. During a battle before Hamath Valley, he fought with Nagar and Tu’luh. They tried to use the magic on him, but it did not work. So, after Allun Rha and his army forced Nagar and Tu’luh to retreat, he went to work on the counter spell. It is a magic that he wrote in a book called The Illumination. He managed to complete it before the Battle of Hamath Valley and it was there that he used it to protect our allies when they fought Tu’luh’s army.”
“But it wasn’t perfect,” Dimwater said. “It protected the army and gave them an advantage, but it did not destroy Nagar’s magic. Worse still, Allun Rha was lost in the battle, as was his book. No one has been able to recover it.”
“So, I am the Champion of Truth because I am a Sahale?” Erik asked.
“No,” Lepkin said decisively. “Through the years, a few Sahale have been found. I myself found three Sahale before you, but I did not see in them the same potential I see in you.”
“What do you mean?” Erik asked
“Something about the Sahale protects them from Nagar’s magic. Somehow the mixture of human and dragon blood has created an inert resistance to it.”
“The Sahale also have a great potential as magic users,” Dimwater said. “Marlin clued me in to how your magic is different than mine, or another wizards, and it does have great potential indeed.”
Lepkin nodded. “However, being a Sahale is not enough. I still had to look for the right one. Someone with character and the will to choose the right in the face of overwhelming temptation. Just because someone is immune to the magic does not mean that they won’t choose to abuse Nagar’s Secret the same way that Tu’luh and Nagar would.”
“So that is why Tu’luh wanted me to join him,” Erik said. “He knew the book couldn’t force me, and he hoped that I would choose to use it.”
“Precisely,” Lepkin said.
“He showed me a terrible vision,” Erik commented. “One where the world ends because of the wars and strife that flood the lands. He said using Nagar’s Secret would avert the end of the world.”
Lepkin reached over and grabbed Erik’s chin and turned his face up to look into his eyes. “What is better, to live as slaves, or to die as free souls?”
Erik sighed. “I don’t know anymore,” he said with a shrug. “When I was with Tu’luh it seemed clear. Freedom was the better choice. Now, though, I don’t know.”
“Nagar was not looking for peace when he created the magic with Tu’luh,” Dimwater said.
Lepkin shot her a look but she waved him off.
“You tell him about the Sahale and don’t want to explain who Nagar really was? The boy should know.”
“Let’s eat for now,” Lepkin said. “We can join with Tatev after the meal and Erik can talk with him about Nagar.”
Dimwater frowned, but she didn’t argue. The three of them stopped talking then and worked at eating the mound of cooling food before them. The savory smells and flavors that had so intrigued Erik before now seemed hollow and stale as he contemplated what he had just learned. He didn’t like the idea that so much had been kept from him. He could understand the reasons, but he still didn’t like it.
What else do you know that I don’t? Erik wondered to himself.
After the food was finished Lepkin wiped the left corner of his mouth and looked to Erik. “I know it is a lot to take in,” he said. “I want you to know that I would not have told you if I didn’t truly believe you were ready to hear it.”
Erik nodded and finished his last bite.
“We are here with you, until the end,” Lepkin said. “I will help you as best I can. As I also have the gift of changing into dragon form, I can tell you quite a lot.”
Erik scrunched his nose and peered at Lepkin. “If you are also a Sahale, then how did Nagar’s Secret change you at the temple?” he asked.
Lepkin smirked and shook his head. “I am not a Sahale,” he said. “I have a gift, but it is not the same. My gift is a temporary ability given to me through magic. Yours comes from a direct lineage. Being a dragon is in your blood. That is the difference. You have the combined blood of human and dragon.”
“It is like combining magics,” Dimwater said. “Combining the blood of the two races has somehow created an immunity among the Sahale that prevent the twisted magic from subjecting your heart to its will.”
“The other difference is I cannot pass my gift on to anyone,” Lepkin said. “Whereas you may pass your blood on to your future children.”
Children? That was an interesting thought.
“Enough for now,” Dimwater said. “Let’s retire for the evening.”
Erik and Lepkin finished eating while Dimwater rose from the table and disappeared around the corner to go upstairs. The lamb was cold now, but still delicious. The hos
tess came back then with a small plate topped with dark red cherries and set it before Erik with a wink and a smile before turning away.
“She used to have a son,” Lepkin said. “He died when he was about your age.”
Erik looked at the cherries and then glanced up after the hostess. “How did he die?” Erik asked.
“He took ill one winter,” Lepkin said. “I was here then, passing through on my way south. I left the town only a few days before he died. She has come a long way since then though,” he said with an admiring smile. “It’s hard to pick up the pieces after something like that, but she has done well.”
“What of her husband?” Erik asked.
“Never had one,” Lepkin said with a shrug. “Or if she had then I am not for knowing.” Lepkin set several gold coins on the table. “But I am always sure to tip her a little extra whenever I pass through.” Erik nodded, realizing that Lepkin was still teaching him what it truly meant to be a knight.
Erik ate the cherries, biting them in half and using his tongue to pluck the pit out from the fruit before he spit it onto his plate.
“Use your fingers to put the pit down,” Lepkin said. “It isn’t proper to spit it out onto your plate.”
Erik blushed a little, but did as Lepkin instructed him.
“I hope you exhibited better manners while you were in my body,” Lepkin said teasingly.
Erik smiled. “I guess that depends on what you consider to be good manners,” Erik said with a stifled chuckle.
“Indeed,” Lepkin agreed as he reached over and took a pair of cherries by the stem.
Once the food was gone they went up the stairs and followed the hall to the end. Lepkin opened the last door on the left and found Dimwater chatting with Tatev.
“Ah, there they are,” Tatev said with a quick wave.
“How long have you been here?” Lepkin asked.
Tatev shrugged. “A matter of minutes, not long,” he said. “We were just discussing the Immortal Mystics, and where we might be able to find The Illumination,” Tatev announced.
“Allun Rha’s book,” Lepkin noted with a quick nod as he motioned for Erik to go and sit next to Tatev.
