by Eric Vall
Her words cut through me like daggers, and all I could do was listen helplessly as her terrible, crimson eyes stared at me. She was pure and merciless judgement, and I could understand how she was feared by most. But there was no need to fear judgement if you haven’t done anything wrong.
And I hadn’t. I’d done nothing wrong to receive such harsh and cruel judgement, so I kind of wanted to tell her to fuck off, but she was a goddess.
“I am not weak,” I managed to force out from underneath her judgement. “I will not fail.”
The Dark Lady covered her mouth with her hand and let out a laugh that echoed throughout the gardens. She seemed to be genuinely amused by my words. Even so, the amusement faded quickly, and her face grew cold again.
“Who seeks to take this dragon into his home?” the Dark Lady asked as she wrinkled her nose again. “Who is it who seeks to take this dragon into his house, to make him one of the noble blood and ancient lineage of the House of Hatra el Shamash?”
“Ruslan, son of Tristan, does,” Ruslan answered clearly and stepped forward. “I seek to take the black dragon known as Evan into my house and home as my son and heir.”
“Why?” The Dark Lady tilted her head as she rubbed her chin. “Why do you take this dragon as your heir? Are you and the Keeper of Knowledge not in bed with one another? Will you not regret this?”
“I will not.” The Elder shook his head as he placed his hand on my shoulder. “If it weren’t for his dedication, Hatra would be ashes. He is an honorable man, full of a need to protect the weak and the innocent.”
The Dark Lady stared at Ruslan for one long moment, as if she were judging all of his past actions and even his future ones.
“Who has ever heard of a fox as the father of a dragon?” The Dark Lady let out a small snort as she languidly tapped her crimson nails against her cheek. “I wonder just how many ripples this will cause. Those old fools on their thrones in the high heavens would be aghast at this, but I? This is amusing to me, just how will the lineage of Hatra el Shamash change with the merging of this new blood?”
“Shall this child plead once more?” Alyona interrupted as her amethyst eyes glowed. “Are the ones she has brought before you not fitting of your blessing? Are they not all you, in your great wisdom, have always admired and sought for? Would you not make them father and son in truth and by blood?”
“Hnnn.” The Dark Lady huffed as she turned to face Alyona. “Your answer is already known, child of jade. You wish for him to be heir to Hatra el Shamash so none may question his lineage or his merits.”
The strange deity smiled darkly at Alyona as a small laugh tumbled from her lips, and then she bent forward in a shallow bow.
Alyona smiled mysteriously back at the Dark Lady. “Merciful gods that dwell in the heavens above, saints and sages who live upon the earth below, we beseech you today to magnanimously stand in witness and bless the rebirth of this dragon.”
The Dark Lady lifted her hand in Ruslan’s direction, and a pale drop of light flickered out from Ruslan’s chest. The drop of light swayed in the air as it moved from Ruslan and into the Dark Lady’s outstretched hand. Then it melted into her hand as if it had never been there.
“So be it!” The Dark Lady exclaimed as she placed that same hand on my chest. “We shall preach no more, dragon, so take this gift and use it well. You are a child of Hatra of the line of the Sword, do not waste this gift or I shall take your soul.”
I didn’t know what to expect since the ceremony had not gone the way I thought it would, but I really didn’t expect what happened next.
A dark glow enveloped the Dark Lady’s hand as my chest felt like it was being pried apart by steel claws. A cruel light had taken root in her terrible crimson eyes, and I stared back frantically at the creature who made a mockery of Alyona’s face.
It was like I was dying. My heart was beating like crazy, like I was a rabbit about to be torn apart by the merciless claws of a hawk. I staggered and fell to my knees as the onslaught of oppressive power drove every thought and memory out of my mind.
All I could feel was an encompassing gaze that seemed to be judging me as every moment passed.
Everything that made me who I am was scooped out for a moment and then mixed back in with something else, something greater than I was before.
I forced myself back onto my feet and gritted my teeth as I took in a deep breath to steady myself from the onslaught of pain.
“Thank you,” I bit out to the cruel goddess as I stood up, “Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens, for your blessing.”
With a snort, the Dark Lady pulled her hand off my chest and disappeared into nothingness as Alyona sighed deeply in relief.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned.” Ruslan blinked at me and rubbed his head before he broke out into another grin. “But at least I got a son out of it.”
I couldn’t help the smile that broke across my face at those words. I was his son now, and that meant Hatra was in my blood.
While the ceremony had gone differently than expected, I could still give the gift I’d planned for the city. It was a promise of hope and new beginnings, and the words reverberated in my mind as I turned to stare at everyone who witnessed the adoption ceremony.
“The glorious days of old can never return, Hatra will never be what it once was,” I declared in a loud voice as I looked out on the faces of my people, and my heart swelled with pride. “But I promise you I will rebuild the Lunar Palace. I promise you Hatra will be even greater than it was in the days of old. Hatra el Shamash will be reborn, and never again will the walls of this city crumble before any army. They will stand strong, just as the blood of Hatra did this past thousand years. It’s true, an army of demons did destroy the walls of the city, but they did not destroy the spirit of Hatra. Hatra has lived on within her people, within all of you who stand here before me.”
A thunderous roar came up from the crowd as they cheered my name, and my heart leapt into my throat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Laika in the back of the crowd, and the wolf Demi-Human lifted two fingers in a salute before she disappeared into the roaring throngs of people.
“Thank you, my son.” Ruslan came up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Thank you for returning hope to Hatra.”
Chapter 6
A tent and food laden table had been set up near where the ritual took place in the ruins of a pavilion. The roof crumbled away a long time ago, but the stone columns still remained and cast a bit of shade.
Openings along the sides of the tent allowed me to look out onto the overgrown gardens of the Lunar Palace, and I noticed the small group of villagers standing off to the side of the tent. It was clear they were, essentially, the servants waiting on us.
The only people in the tent with me were my new family, and it was like the House of Hatra was having a family dinner or something.
Well, except for Alyona. The priestess had excused herself and left almost immediately after my speech. I wanted to follow after her, but I realized she probably needed to rest after the ceremony.
“Usually,” Julia began as she sat down at the table, “there would be feasts and dancing after an adoption ceremony, especially after one is taken into a noble family, even a fallen one such as ours. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of celebrating such a fortuitous event in such a grand manner.”
I glanced at the wide spread of freshly baked bread, the variety of roasted meat, and the vegetables I knew came fresh from Hatra’s farms. There was more than enough food in the city so no one would starve, we had magic to thank for that, but there was a certain amount of pride to be maintained. There was no trade with the outside world thanks to the miasma that once plagued Hatra and continued to plague the surrounding countryside. Thanks to that, we only had what we could make with our own power.
The status quo wouldn’t stay like that for long, though. Now that I was Lord Evan, there were more than a few plans I’d already thought up for my city.
“It won’t be long before we can have feasts so extravagant they’ll be written down in history,” I replied as I leaned back in my own chair. “Hatra won’t be looked down upon nor will we be as poor as we were these past thousand years.”
Deserts were often valuable, just because they lacked water didn’t mean treasure wasn’t buried right under the surface. There could be anything from gold to emeralds underneath those shifting sands, and with the Crimson Dragon in the canyons, that meant no one would have gone anywhere near those lands since they would have feared dying at her claws. Not to mention the deadly miasma roaming the countryside.
So, the desert was going to be a source of income for Hatra, be it gold or jewels or even glasswork. I would see to it personally.
“What’s going on in that mind of yours?” Ruslan asked as he slid a jug of wine over to me and raised an eyebrow. “You look like you’ve struck gold.”
“Figuratively speaking.” I grinned back as I poured some of the oddly clear alcohol for myself. “What do you know about the desert and the aqueducts? Julia, you found the original schematics for the aqueducts, right?”
The aqueducts had originally fed Hatra’s massive waterworks, but they’d been destroyed the night Hatra fell a thousand years ago. What remained of the original system was the underground tunnel that diverted water into the city’s underground cisterns. Those cisterns then fed the wells and bathhouses in the city, which supplied Hatra with fresh water.
“I did,” Julia answered with a nod.
I grinned as I realized all I would have to do was essentially treat the ruins of the waterways like they were a giant puzzle. It would be as easy as pie with my ability to control stone, and I wouldn’t even have to go through the trouble of flying in the air and lifting any of the insanely heavy rocks.
Life was good.
“For enchanting buildings, does that need to happen right when it’s being constructed?” I asked. “Or can it be done later, added on like a layer of paint or something?”
“From my research,” Julia replied as she set a piece of meat on her plate, “it’s all dependent on the power of the enchanter.”
“Alyona will obviously be able to do that.” My words dripped with confidence as I waved my hand. “I’ll fix up the aqueducts, and I’ll bring her there later to enchant them to be unbreakable.”
With anyone else, my words would have been arrogance or false pride, but they weren’t when it came to Alyona. She had the power and ability to back up any claim. If she said she would be able to do it, nothing on the face of this world would be able to stop her.
I smirked to myself as I compared Alyona to a living in-game cheat. If this was a game or a show, she would have been an almost unbeatable NPC on the hero’s side.
“Bring one of the schematics of the city,” Ruslan ordered one of the villagers standing off to the side of the tent.
The man nodded, and a few minutes later, a map of the city was placed on the table in front of us.
“Who can be spared?” I asked as I looked down at the map of Hatra and crossed my arms. “My concentration is going to be fixing the aqueducts, so I need someone to watch my back. My first choice would be Laika and Anton, but we’re going to need more people. When those water demons attacked, we were almost outnumbered. So, maybe fifteen or twenty warriors from the guild would be good, I think.”
“It would be best to take a local,” Moskal spoke up for the first time and glanced over at me. “I would suggest Leon. He is a blooded warrior, but is not blinded by the idea of glory nor does he follow orders without question.”
That sounded fine by me, I didn’t want people who just did what I asked without thinking. Life would be far too boring like that, and I would end up becoming complacent. I might miss out on different viewpoints, which wouldn’t be interesting at all.
“Then let’s get to it.” I smirked as I stood up from the table. “We’ll leave in thirty minutes, that should be enough time for everyone to get to the front gate.”
“A bit bossy now, aren’t you?” Ruslan snickered as he leaned back in his chair. “Who put you in charge?”
“You did,” I chuckled as I grabbed a piece of bread from the table, ripped it open a bit, and put some meat and cheese inside. “You’re the one who decided adopting me and naming me heir was a good idea.”
“It’s a bit too late for you to start complaining, dear,” Julia giggled behind her fan as she looked at the fox by her side. “You’re going to have to live with him now, unless you want the Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens to strike you down?”
“Hey, hey!” Ruslan lifted his hands in the air as his ears flopped back. “I’m just a fox, I can’t help but tease people. It’s in the job description, you know?”
“How about you add being a messenger to that job description,” I teased as I moved toward the tent’s opening. “Remember, thirty minutes and I’m heading out!”
Behind me, I heard the twack of Julia’s fan hitting Ruslan, and I snorted into the sandwich I’d snatched from the table. A few moments later, and several fire foxes darted past me in different directions, and I knew my team would meet me soon.
It took me thirty minutes to leisurely walk to the main gate, and I was able to finish my sandwich. By the time I arrived, a group of around thirty people were waiting for me.
Leon’s bright golden hair was easy to pick out amongst the sea of dark gray and dark blue hair of the wolf Demi-Humans accompanying him. Next to him, adjusting the bracers on her arms, was Laika in full armor, and Anton lagged behind them with his arms crossed behind his head.
“Laika!” I called out to the wolf Demi-Human and waved her over to me.
“The Blue Tree Guild is ready to leave at your command,” Laika replied as she inclined her head in my direction but didn’t move to join me. “We can run behind you and keep a steady pace. Where do you wish to begin, My Lord?”
“We’ll start at the waterfalls near the Crimson Canyons,” I said with a frown, but I figured she had gone into Guild Leader mode, so I shrugged and went along with her strange formalness. “The plan is to work our way back to the city, it shouldn’t take us long. There’s about ten to fifteen miles, give or take, of aqueducts I’ll be fixing. Your duty during this time is to keep an eye out.”
“Do you think more water demons are going to come out of the river?” Anton’s ears and tail drooped as he eyed me with suspicion. “Those fuckers were a bitch to fight, they wouldn’t stay down.”
“No water demons,” I reassured the wolf as I stretched in preparation for the run ahead of us. “Alyona got rid of them permanently, so we don’t have to worry about them. This is only a precaution. I don’t want to have to worry about watching my back while repairing the aqueducts.”
“We’ll watch your back, My Lord,” Leon vowed as he stepped forward, and his golden eyes shone fiercely as he crossed his fist over his chest. “We will make sure nothing disturbs you during your work.”
“Well, it’s not like I won’t join in if there’s fighting,” I replied as I finished stretching. “Just try and keep a dragon out of a fight.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Leon laughed as he stepped back in line with Anton.
With that, I broke into a run and led the group toward the waterfall. They were able to easily keep pace with me, but I would expect nothing less from adventurers of their caliber. And while I knew I could push myself to run faster, and by extension, them, I held myself back. It would do no good for us to arrive exhausted from the start. I’d be able to push us all to the limit another day.
Twenty minutes later, I skidded to a stop just before the large waterfall and paused a moment to take in the serene setting. To my back was the desert, and on either side of me were the walls of the canyon and the ruined aqueducts of Hatra.
I glanced behind me to see Laika standing close by with a stern expression on her face. Her gaze was off to the distance, somewhere past the sand dunes of the desert.
“Did yo
u see something?” I walked over to where she stood and followed her gaze.
“No, my Lord,” Laika murmured, and her ears twitched when I came to a stop next to her. “I thought I sensed bloodlust, but there is nothing out there. Only the wind.”
I looked out into the desert, but I could hear nothing other than the shifting of sand. There were no heartbeats I could hear and no one I could smell approaching us. Still, if there was something lurking out there, there were thirty of us with sharp senses and even quicker fighting abilities.
“Maybe you were sensing the Crimson Dragon,” I replied as I dragged my gaze back to Laika. “Ruslan told me she won’t attack us as long as we stay outside of her canyon.”
“As you say, my Lord.” Laika’s eyes flickered away from me as she took a step back. “I dare not intrude on your time any longer. I shall go stand watch.”
Laika darted away from me before I could reply, and she headed up to one of the nearby dunes to keep watch. Her tail hung behind her and shifted lazily with the wind as she kept her dark eyes on the desert in front of her.
When she left so quickly after the adoption ceremony, I thought it had been my imagination. But now? I was sure Laika was avoiding me, I just didn’t know why. I’d have to find some time alone with her to get an answer out of the Demi-Human.
I frowned as I turned my attention to the crumbled remains of the aqueducts. The image of how they looked in the original schematics was clear in my mind, with straight lines and a slow descent toward the city. The stone would be smooth and seamless along the outside as it continued on down the length of the aqueducts and carried water.
The inside of the aqueducts was a completely different story, though, constructed of many different levels of cleverly carved stone filters that would need my complete attention.
I drew in a deep breath as I focused on the well of power inside of my chest and the way it called out to the world around me. Stone was my primary concern, but before I took control of the surrounding stone, I stretched my power deeper into the earth.
