Talismans

by Lisa Lowell

  “No,” Owailion found himself interrupting. He didn't know the rules of the conclave but surely a human had never been invited and so they had never decided if he even had a voice. “No, those stones are important. The markings on them, those are writing…a message from one human to another. A message perhaps left for me, to help me protect the Land. Whoever wrote on the stones expected humans to read them, not the dragons. You dragons do not need writings in stone and now I will not be able to know what the message said.”

  That observation brought an echoing silence. Not even thoughts floated out into the air for a moment. Did they feel Owailion had made a mistake? Maybe the concept of writing had stunned them? Or were they going to punish him for speaking in their conclave at all?

  Thankfully, Mohan broke the impasse. “Do any of you have a memory of the stones that you could share with Owailion that shows the markings clearly?”

  But the uncomfortable silence continued with every dragon shielding his or her thoughts, leaving a void in the morning air. “Then we have a greater problem,” Mohan shifted. “How were they stolen? Someone has come and taken that which was placed within the Seal. Presumably someone found a way through that would not alert any of us. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how this has occurred?”

  Again the silence deafened. The other dragons might have been critical of Mohan's involvement but Owailion knew they respected his strength as a magician and would never truly question his ability to keep the Seal solid at all times. They also universally respected Tamaar's assurance that no one had sailed toward the coastline without her thwarting it. But no one would verbalize their true doubts. Owailion squirmed uncomfortably under the unspoken until an inspired idea struck him, emerging from his burgeoning Wise One instincts.

  “This is silly. With all the magic at our command, can no one go back in time to see what it was like a few days ago?” he suggested boldly.

  Every dragon eye rolled up to look at him atop Mohan's neck. So it had not occurred to the dragons to try this? Given their tremendous age, perhaps the dragons never realized that there was a past and somehow they could go back and observe it.

  “You misunderstand, little one,” Mohan replied for them all, using the nickname he had given to Owailion when he had first hatched. “We do not know when the stones were taken. They were of little interest to us except when the demons come there. So none of us actively watched them or even checked them in….in probably a hundred years. Do you wish to go back in time and watch them for a century?”

  Owailion felt like he had just been kicked in the gut with disappointment. “Well, at least teach me how to check the Seal to be sure it is intact. Perhaps we can sense how it was broken…if it was actually broken.”

  “What do you mean?” asked a female dragon he could not identify.

  “I hate to make this kind of accusation but…but all of you would sense if something broke the Seal, correct? Your magic is maintaining it. Well then, what if the stones have not left the Land by the hand of an outlander? What if a dragon from within the Seal were to take them, hide them or then remove them out of the Land when the interest in them was forgotten? Dragons leave the Land from time to time don't they and the Seal is not broken for them?”

  Now the silence rang with the emptiness of thoughts hidden behind powerful shields. None of the dragons wanted to be overheard thinking about his suggestion. It implied that one of those present broke their oath to protect the Land. They distrusted their human enough to not reply until they knew for sure that the accusation was not true. Owailion sat in the uncomfortable silence and realized that his presence might not be welcome. They did not want to force him to leave, but they also wanted to address his suggestions without a human influence.

  “If you would let me, I would like to return to the coastline. I wish to study the Seal there. When you wish to have me return, please call me,” Owailion announced.

  Then without their leave, he used his memory to return to the top of the volcano he had 'hatched' from, Jonjonel. He carefully imagined the dawn had not arrived yet, and steam would still rise from the caldera. Owailion used ishulin and left the dragons to discuss their dilemma in privacy.

  Chapter 4 – Glass Globes

  Owailion emerged on the peak of Jonjonel, looking out to sea. The predawn mist hid the waters below him, and the plain to the north was about to plunge back into winter. The wind off the water tore at his clothing and morning, such as it was, had yet to reach this far west. He conjured himself a jacket and put it on.

  Finally Owailion looked down to where the volcano's skirt met the ocean. The entire coastline seemed to be a cliff as far as he could see. If he were to reach out to touch the Seal, he would have to get down there. He took a careful moment to assess what the scene would be like there at the base of the cliff and then transitioned again.

  At the cliff's edge he looked down and saw tide was full in and the surf beat incessantly right against the sheer stone. How would anyone sail a ship anywhere here and expect to climb up the face of the Land. No safe portage or dock could be conjured to make that attempt anywhere along the coast. The roar and crash of water, even now in the mildest time of year would leave any ship battered and broken against the rocks. But was the Seal still unbroken?

  Experimentally Owailion reached his arm out over the edge, seeking some resistance. Where did the Seal start? Would it resist him leaving it? Could he get back inside if he left? Many questions remained and he had few answers. He wanted to find the rune stones, but human fear and instinctive limitations kept pushing back against magic exploration.

  Greatly daring, Owailion imagined himself on a crystal bridge that he could walk out over the ocean, feeling his way forward. He would not fall, plunging down into the water and sharp rocks below, he promised himself. Then, with his arm still outstretched, Owailion took a step out, beyond the cliff. His magic worked and he did not fall, but it took all of his concentration to not look down. He took another step, and then a third and his hand met resistance: the Seal.

  Invisible, even to magical eyes, the Seal felt smooth like glass, but firmer and substantial as stone. He reached as high as he could up against it, wondering if it formed a dome overhead, high enough to rise over the mountains so that outlander dragons could not simply fly in. Could he break through and leave the Land? Probably he could, if he had some idea of where to go, which he didn't. Was he originally from someplace on the other side of the Seal? Or was he from one of the stars above him, just now fading from sight in the dawning light. Would he ever know the answers?

  “No,” Mohan's voice replied, and then his body appeared behind Owailion on the cliff. Almost startled into falling, forgetting that he floated five feet out away from the edge, the human turned and caught himself and then deliberately walked back to solid ground.

  “No, what?” Owailion asked over the roaring of his startled heart.

  “No, you will never have all the answers,” Mohan replied frankly. “As for 'can you leave the Land', perhaps. I have left occasionally to fight out at sea and others have gone to other lands and then returned without breaking the Seal, but the dragons who left also used their magic to set up or maintain the Seal. Your magic is not part of the Seal so I do not know, and neither do you. Is it not enough to do; fight demons, battle sorcerers, build your palaces, find the rune stones and even make Talismans for the other Wise Ones?”

  Owailion dropped his head in shame. “I'm sorry. It is a failing of humans, I suppose. We are always curious and wanting to do and see more, even when we already have too much than we could ever possibly accomplish. I just wanted to find out the message on those stones.”

  “And touch the Seal,” Mohan added. “There are a few dragons, you might have noticed, who do not trust you as a human. I left the conclave when they began to accuse you of destroying the standing stones. You will not be able to assure them if you leave the Land to go exploring. Tamaar trusts you because she trusts me, but she and I are the only ones
who spoke up for you and there are many others who have not decided.”

  “It sounds as if you put me on trial,” Owailion almost protested, feeling his temper rise like the volcano. Yet he held it in check, unwilling to take his ire out on the dragon who had helped him, defended him despite the innate distrust they all held for the humans as a race.

  “After a fashion, they did put you on trial. But the Land is a paradise, not exile. You would do well to remember that,” Mohan advised.

  “It is a paradise, I agree,” agreed Owailion. “It's just that whenever limits are set, humans try to overcome them. There is an old adage; a horse will eat from the far side of the fence. It means that some people will never look at what they have that is wonderful in their life, only what is out of reach and unattainable. I guess I am often like that. I'm sorry. I should be content.”

  Mohan rumbled an agreement. “Did you discover what you wanted to learn by coming here to the Seal?”

  “Somewhat. How do I ishulin to a place that I have never seen? I could only approach the Seal from the volcano since I've only been here and Zema.”

  That question startled the dragon, who snorted and for the longest time remained silent.

  “How did you learn where you wanted to go?” Owailion prompted.

  Sheepishly Mohan replied, “I don't remember. Perhaps I have always known the Land. I remember being hatched here and learning to fly but I do not remember having to learn where I wished to go. It is as if the visions of all places emerged inside me when I hatched. I have just asked the others in the conclave and it appears that all dragons know where they wish to go and just go. Is this not the same for humans?”

  “No,” Owailion sighed in irritation. “How are we going to go anywhere but by foot?”

  “It will take a very long time. If you cannot walk that far I could take you. Where do you want to go?” Mohan asked innocently enough.

  Owailion laughed when he thought of all the tasks he had been given. Eventually he would have to go everywhere. He would be flitting around a vast continent, defending it from invasion. Also, he would be building homes for the other Wise Ones and finding demons forming. He especially needed instant travel after Mohan went to sleep and that meant he must see everything. How could he remember everywhere he needed to be?

  “Is there some way to know how a place looks if I have never been there? It seems unsafe to go to a place that I cannot imagine.”

  While he asked this aloud, Owailion also found himself with an unusual vision. He could not remember ever seeing crystal globes in his past, but he knew they existed; globes with miniaturized replicas of huge buildings, but encased in glass. He imagined holding this exact location, no matter how the weather and ocean might change as time passed, no matter what angle the sun might catch the mountain. Could he freeze 'Jonjonel's coastline' in glass and return here as a memory?

  Without meaning to, Owailion held out his hand and rather than imagining the place itself, he encased his memory into a sphere of glass and wished it to always update itself. He would be able to look and see how this place would appear no matter the erosion of time. And in his hand, the crystal ball appeared.

  Beneath him Mohan rumbled with pleasure. “Clever magic. You are indeed a Wise One. You must make one of your globes of all the locations you wish to see. Then you may return.”

  “Yes,” Owailion admitted, “but I need someplace to put these globes. I'm going to have thousands if I make them for all the places I must go.”

  “Put it with your Heart Stone,” Mohan suggested helpfully.

  Owailion waited for that to make sense and while he recalled the term, he had no frame of reference.

  “You do not know Heart Stone?” Mohan queried. “It is the key to magic. You must have it or you would not be a magician of the Land.”

  Owailion shook his head and added, “I came out of the mountain with nothing but my skin. Where would I get a Heart Stone?”

  Mohan unexpectedly squatted down unexpectedly. “We must go immediately. Climb aboard.”

  Owailion obediently conjured himself a bag, put the globe he had made into it and then transferred to Mohan's forehead where he lashed himself down as the dragon turned and began to scramble up the volcano's side.

  As he climbed, the dragon began explaining. “A Heart Stone is a gift from God. He gives it to all creatures that are capable of good magic. It is part of a dragon's body, like our brain or lungs, next to our heart from the beginning when we hatch. I have looked inside you and it is not within. You must have left it in the mountain when you emerged. We shall look there.”

  “What does a Heart Stone do?” Owailion asked. “I mean besides make me capable of magic.”

  “Good magic,” Mohan qualified. “A Heart Stone will not let you do magic if it is evil. It is…a judge of you. It connects your magic with the earth, so that you can draw deep on the magic below. There are dragons that deliberately ripped it free and they will not be…be…they become like demons. They will not think of others or do what God has commanded. They refuse to feel compelled to do their duty. They are wild, feral, like animals and capable of evil, lying and deception. It is not good to go without your Heart Stone.”

  Owailion didn't know what to say, for his jaws rattled with each jarring step Mohan took clattering up the mountainside. All he knew was that his dragon guide feared a missing Heart Stone.

  “We are here. You must go back into your shell and find it. God would not have sent you to the Land without one. It is very dangerous to be without your stone.”

  Helpfully Mohan had latched himself onto the shelf where Owailion had emerged a few days before. Weak kneed from the precarious trip up the mountain, Owailion slid down the dragon's shoulder and staggered right onto the landing while the dragon placed his considerable snout right at the edge, as if he hoped to sniff out the missing item.

  “What do they look like?” Owailion asked innocently enough.

  The dragon's reply was alarmingly thorough. Mohan pressed an image into Owailion's mind of a great racing heart, blood coursing through arteries and right next to the beating heart, untouched by the blood and tissue, a perfectly formed glass globe, not unlike the one Owailion had crafted for himself as a memory, but this one swirled with a cloud of blue and lit from within, spinning like mist in the wake of a wind. It seemed small compared to the dragon's heart, but then size was relative. Mohan's heart must have been the size of an ox.

  “You must scan the mountain and find it. I hope it has not been destroyed when I pushed the sorcerer away,” Mohan admitted worriedly.

  Obediently Owailion turned to face the crushed rock face he had passed through the day he hatched and then closed his eyes and walked forward. Was there even a chamber left? With faith Owailion passed through the stone wall. He wished a torch into his raised fist and then opened his eyes. Boulders and rubble now littered the once bare floor and Owailion realized the cavern wasn't all that big. His fear and blindness had made it an abyss. Now he could barely squeeze between the fallen stones and the roof that he almost reached with his outstretched hand.

  Owailion held his light high, seeking the blue glow of a Heart Stone. He knew it had not been there, at least visibly, for any sliver of light in this cavern would have filled the space. Using his emerging instincts for magic Owailion reached out his mind and sought for the Heart Stone with his Wise One senses. His mind's eye looked through the stone, as if it had become transparent. And there, six inches under the original surface of the floor, a gentle glow, pulsed like a heart.

  Owailion could not reach past all the fallen rubble but he placed his hand on the stones, right above where his magic told him the Heart Stone lay hidden. Then he wished the globe to rise toward him. He watched in fascination as the glowing blue orb floated through solid rock and reached him. Brilliant light filled the cavern, catching the glint of crystals in the rubble. Owailion doused the useless torch now, just admiring the swirling orb. It hypnotized him.

  �
��I have it,” he called to Mohan.

  “Do you feel any different?” the dragon asked curiously. “It is supposed to make sure that you are always using your magic correctly.”

  Owailion walked back through the stone cavern wall, out onto the ledge so he could show Mohan, although he suspected the dragon could see through stone for himself. “I guess I must have already been using magic correctly. How will I know if I do it improperly?”

  “You will not be able to act,” the dragon stated emphatically. “It will block you. You can only do good magic, but then, you were chosen because you would not wish to do evil. God chose you to come at this time because He knew you.”

  “So am I ready then, to really start looking for the rune stones and fighting demons?” Owailion asked warily.

  “Ready?” replied Mohan, chuckling. “No, but I think you shall learn more if you start to work towards that end. What do you want to try first?”

  Owailion looked out over the forest beyond the volcano, and saw the vast chain of mountains sighed. “Where is Zema from here? Could you show me on a map?”

  “Map?”

  Chapter 5 – Directions

  Owailion carefully explained the concept of a map once they were on flat ground. When he conjured a piece of paper to try to sketch out something, it was too small for the dragon's eyes to focus on the small details. Next Owailion created a leather roll the size of a small cabin's floor and then walked right out onto it. He used magic and his finger to burn right into the surface. “See, this would be Jonjonel as seen from above. And here is the coastline, here along the western edge.”

  “Is this the writing you were saying was on the stones?” the dragon asked in curiosity, blocking out the sun as he brought his great head low over the makeshift map. “I don't hear the marks speaking.”