Dark Moon Rising (The Prophecies of Zanufey)
Page 44
‘That will make the game much more fun, Dragon spawn, but you are naïve to believe you can resist me. Since the Maphraxies invaded your pathetic land I have taken many of your kind. They all grovelled at my feet and then I devoured their souls. Taking the soul is so much more rewarding than destroying the body,’ Keteth relished.
‘You are strong, Draxian, stronger even than many Ancients. But they all fell to me, as will you, and your power will become my power.’
Rage surged within Asaph as he saw in The Recollection the souls of his people devoured and destroyed, their screams ringing through his mind. He closed his eyes and tried to shut them out as that hateful laughter echoed around him.
‘Now, your mind is my dominion. Tell me who you are and why you have come, Dragon spawn.’ The words were deafening.
Pain surged through his mind again like bolts of lightning threatening to tear him into two. The pain became his world and he prayed death would come. Images and memories flickered through the pain as Keteth shuffled through his memories like a scavenger tearing flesh from a carcass. He fought to keep Keteth from who he was and any memories of Issa, but Keteth was so strong, his power far greater than Asaph’s rage.
He must not know who I am!
If Keteth discovered his heritage then so too would Baelthrom.
I will not fail Issa. I will not betray my family! If I die now who else will remember them? Who else will know how they died?
The pain went on for what felt like hours and then it paused. He lay there shaking and gasping, hating himself for his wretchedness.
‘Give in to me!’ Keteth roared and the pain began again only stronger.
Asaph screamed and pulled away. He turned inward, the last and only place he could go to flee from the abomination, doing the only thing he could to hide his true self and memories of Issa.
The chains about him could not hold his retreating consciousness and they fell away as the prison cell faded. In the distance he heard Keteth chuckle in surprise at his evasive prey.
Asaph fled down the recesses of his mind, the last place that Keteth had not yet taken, but it was a last desperate attempt to survive a little longer for Keteth could easily follow. He prayed over and again to Feygriene, but she was far from this place.
‘Pray all you want, boy, there is no Goddess here...’ Keteth’s voice was slick like oil.
The pain lessened the deeper Asaph withdrew into his own mind. Abruptly the magnificent Dragon Door appeared before him with its long elegant snout protruding outwards and wide searching eyes.
For the first time in a long time he felt the Dragon within stir as he fumbled for the handle but there was none. He searched the door frantically but could find no way to open it.
Laughter echoed and then a scuttling sound as if thousands of insects were fast approaching. Why doesn’t the door open? More laughter, this time closer, and the scuttling footsteps slowed. He made another frantic search but found nothing, he stepped back.
Think! The answer is there if only I could think! No fear. Fear is death, fear does not exist… Think! He tried to remember some clue from his past, from Coronos’s teachings, from The Recollection, some answer to the riddle of the Dragon Door. His mind was blank. The door was shut.
Slowly he turned away from the door and looked into the blackness. A sickly greenish light grew and a form began to take shape. He forced the fear away; he had to stand his ground.
I am the last Dragon Lord. I shall fight and die as one!
Then a thought came to him. His hand flew to his chest and touched the red markings still sore from the Trial by Fire. He thought of the golden face of Feygriene. She called me the “Dawn Bringer”.
‘I am the Dawn Bringer,’ he said softly. The name gave him strength and drove the fear from his heart. As soon as he had spoken his name and driven the fear away another light grew in the darkness, this time from behind him and it was warm and bright. He looked back over his shoulder. The Dragon Door was opening, spilling out white light so bright he could not look at it. Asaph laughed and ran towards the warm light.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The Dragon Dream
The white light dissipated and a world before him took shape. Asaph stood on an endless plain of grass undulating like a rich green ocean in the wind. In the distance snow-peaked mountains towered above evergreen forests. The air was cool and fresh and filled with bird song.
In the clear blue sky, not one but two suns shone down. Two suns of Feygriene to bless the world, he thought, breathing in deeply. He had the strangest feeling that he had come home after a very long journey.
‘Welcome, brother,’ a deep voice came from behind him.
Startled, Asaph spun around and froze. Slowly his eyes drifted upwards to stare into the face of a shimmering silver-white Dragon the size of a mountain. Blue eyes bigger than dinner plates complete with long black slits stared down at him; the sun glinted off his pristine scales. Two dark silver horns curved back behind long ears and tendrils of smoke drifted up from a long snout, evidence of the perpetual fire that burned within. Despite the Dragon’s fearsome size there was nothing but gentleness in his demeanour.
‘Why, Asaph, have you left it so long?’ the Dragon asked him, sounding sad.
Asaph shook his head in confusion, too stunned to speak.
‘You are safe here, for a time,’ the Dragon continued, ‘but you cannot stay long for your body will soon perish from the mortal world without your mind and soul. Come, let us make up for lost time, I must take you quickly to the Tower of the Flame.’
Asaph’s mouth opened and closed, his mind was a whir of thoughts and questions, but the Dragon did not wait and flapped his massive wings launching his bulk easily into the air.
‘Where exactly are we and who are you?’ Asaph blurted out, ‘I feel like I know you for some reason,’ he shook his head. He had never met this silver Dragon though he felt so familiar. It must be locked in The Recollection but he could not bring it to mind.
The white Dragon hovered above the ground, ‘We are in the Dragon Dream, young one, the only place where you and I and all Dragons and Dragon Lords can commune in peace. Names have no meaning to Dragons but many of your kind call me Faelsun. It means, ‘The Finder’ for I find all Dragon kin seeking sanctuary and bring them here, which is how you found the Dragon Door kept secret within you.’
‘Zanufey brought me here,’ Asaph whispered to himself and then louder, ‘I have seen the Tower of the Flame. There I met an Ancient and the Sun Goddess Herself tested me by fire. It is how I knew to find the Raven Queen, my beloved...’ he trailed, off feeling foolish.
‘Indeed,’ Faelsun breathed smokily, ‘She came to you and brought you here. Most Dragon Lords would have visited here when they were children. So, you see, you are a little behind. Come now, we must fly north to the Tower of the Flame.’
‘Who created this place?’
‘The Dragon Dream is just that... There is little time to explain all. Always there was the Dream, a shared dream amongst Dragons, like The Recollection that we all share, of a place with endless skies, boundless freedom; a dream shared in our blood. So, in a word, this place has always existed. I am its protector and I welcome you to the Dragon Dream,’ Faelsun bowed his head.
‘Is this a dream then?’ Asaph asked, though it certainly didn’t feel like a dream.
‘Yes, and... no,’ Faelsun replied, ‘the universe is vast. There are many worlds, many dimensions, more than anyone can imagine. The Dragon Dream is a world, a realm, a plane of existence amongst the many planes if you like, to which all Dragons will come eventually. None but Dragons may stay for long. You have come here, guided by your spirit, at a time of your greatest peril but very soon you must return and fight that which destroys you. First I must take you to the Tower of the Flame where there is someone who can help you be free of the White Beast’s prison. Well, you can’t fly without wings now can you?’ Faelsun said, grinning with a thousand gleaming teeth.
‘It’s no use,’ his shoulders slumped, ‘it comes only when I am angry.’
‘You must not think or try but know and do. You are thinking you are not the Dragon and are willing it to come but it will not. You must know that you are the Dragon,’ Faelsun said patiently.
Asaph nodded swallowing his frustration. Closing his eyes he grew still and a memory came to him. He flew high in blue skies over forests and rivers, he was free and wild and the world sped below him. He opened his eyes and looked upon the world with his Dragon sight; with a shock he found he was already airborne though he had not felt any of the changes his usual physical human body would feel. He laughed aloud, making thick black smoke burst from his nostrils.
Faelsun returned an equally smoky laugh and beat his wings powerfully, lifting himself high into the air. Asaph did the same and joined the white Dragon and together they soared. He yearned to fly higher and faster but Faelsun, sensing his young companions newness to flying, warned against it.
‘Easy, young one, it takes time to master the air.’
Asaph marvelled at how Faelsun moved at great speed through the sky with barely a twitch of his wings.
‘Feel the wind, young Asaph, try to sense when it will change and flow through it accordingly.’
He followed Faelsun’s tuition and felt the wind whooshing under his wings, lifting him higher. A little tilt downward and the wind would rush on top of his wings and he would move down. He practised turning, dipping one wing lower than the other, and curved around in a graceful arc.
‘I wish we had time to teach you more,’ Faelsun said regretfully, ‘but still, you are already gliding well, a fast learner I am sure,’ Faelsun encouraged, ‘your body will remember what your mind has learnt here when you return to it.’
Asaph grinned, all teeth and smoke, and followed Faelsun. Mountains and forests sped below them. Long silver rivers emptied into sparkling lakes and out again on their long journey to the sea. Asaph felt like he knew this place intimately, though he had only been here once before.
The ocean came into view, an endless expanse of blue green waters reminding him of Issa, those eyes in which he could drown. He longed for her company and the feeling was strange in his Dragon form for Dragons were solitary creatures.
An island loomed on the horizon and from a distance it looked like a sleeping Dragon rising defiantly out of the sea. This time as they neared he had longer to look upon the massive castle, it seemed even bigger than before.
The flame-red stone stood out starkly against the glittering blue ocean. Its turrets were the Dragon’s horns and a long winding path to the sea was its tail. As before storm clouds began to gather around the flying Dragons as they drew closer, blocking the castle from view. White and blue magic crackled within the billowing grey masses.
‘A storm to protect the castle,’ Faelsun explained.
Dark clouds, lightning and lashing rain engulfed them. Asaph laughed in exhilaration, flying within the storm, the lightning crackling around him and the wind buffeting his body. Through the rain they circled down onto a large platform before the massive main turret. As they landed the rain ceased, the clouds went and warm sunlight shone down upon them.
Asaph could feel the presence of other Dragons, pure Dragons and Dragon Lords alike, and he was humbled and excited by their presence. They touched his mind in greeting, like soft brushes of a feather, and whispered ‘brother’. Respectfully he acknowledged them back, surprised at how natural the Dragon mind talk was. He wanted to speak more but what could he say? Besides, flying took up most of his concentration.
Far from adept at landing he stumbled heavily onto the platform, massive claws raking cobbles the size of boulders for purchase. He stood tall and tried to hide his embarrassment but Faelsun grinned, ‘It gets easier every time,’ he said reassuringly.
‘How are there so many Dragons here?’ Asaph breathed, as he followed the white Dragon towards the giant archway that led into the fortress. Walking was certainly not as easy as flying and much less elegant, Asaph decided, longing to be flying in the storm once again.
‘Some are the eternal guardians of this place. Others are those who left before the Immortal Lord destroyed Drax. Still others are those who have died but chosen to remain here before returning to the Fire in the Sky. No Dragon Lord has been here since he destroyed Drax, for he destroyed them all. I dare not speak his name aloud here,’ Faelsun admitted with a grimace.
‘Your mother saw the face of Zanufey and, thank the Night Goddess, she was not enslaved by Baelthrom,’ Faelsun added softly, answering Asaph’s unspoken question held deep within him. The golden Dragon looked away.
‘Some who go to the Fire in the Sky return here to help others. From here Maioria can be watched and helped, without bringing harm to ourselves or this place, and your mother’s presence is close,’ Faelsun explained. Asaph remained silent, considering the other Dragon’s words.
Two Dragons stood guard, one dark silver, one royal blue, and both smaller than he and Faelsun. Both Dragon guards stood unmoving, unflinching, as if made of stone. They greeted him and Faelsun respectfully without speaking and for the first time Asaph really felt the difference between Pure Dragons and Dragon Lords. Pure Dragons were older; their minds wilder, feral and tempestuous.
Asaph recognised the minds of the Dragon Lords within the fortress; they were more familiar to him. Their minds were more logical than Pure Dragons. Their thoughts were ordered into rows rather than into the entwining circles of Pure Dragons; the magic that flowed from them was constructed, controlled, rather than wild and raw. Dragon Lords could fear and love whereas a Pure Dragon could not.
They came into an open square and then on through a giant doorway into a reception room. As soon as they left the outdoors Asaph’s Dragon form retreated of its own will and so did Faelsun’s, surprisingly. Much to his relief he found he was clothed in his usual attire of boots, shirt and breaches. He even had his sword at his side.
Faelsun was taller, he stood strong and straight and had muscular broad shoulders despite his hair being pure white and lines of age on his face. His long hair was tied neatly back at the nape. His beard was the same colour as his hair and separated into two neat points that reached to his chest. He wore mostly brown leather, from his boots to his jerkin, and a white shirt set ablaze with a brilliant red silken scarf tucked around his neck.
From what Asaph had seen in The Recollection, his attire was like that of a rich duke or delinquent prince; over-clean, painfully fashionable, and quietly flamboyant. A long sword hung down from his belt in a soft leather sheath. The way he looked, the whole air about him, was of one untamed, and his power wild, like the magic of animals. A shimmer of light surrounded him.
‘Are you a Dragon Lord?’ Asaph asked in surprise, somehow he had assumed Faelsun was a Pure Dragon.
Faelsun smiled, arching one eyebrow questioningly, ‘I be a true Dragon. The human form I must create and so it is more an illusion than reality. All Dragon kin are as equals here, no matter what form they choose to take. Remember, we are not within the incarnate worlds here and the spirit can assume many forms,’ he said.
Asaph nodded and looked about the place, suddenly feeling as though he knew very little about a great many things, and all of them enthralling. The reception room was empty except for the many doors that lined the thick walls. Braziers lit the room and warmed it at the same time. It seemed everything had shrunk to its correct size for their human form and he wondered about the nature of illusion and reality.
Asaph followed Faelsun through dark corridors and brightly lit hallways, past winding staircases, and many doors, until he was certain he would never find his way out, not that he wanted to. The
y came to a great wooden door where Faelsun stopped and turned to Asaph.
‘Only you need enter, young Draxian,’ Faelsun said.
Asaph looked at the door and then at Faelsun.
‘Be strong, Dragon Lord, know that you will always find sanctuary in the Dragon Dream,’ Faelsun said with a warm smile, his blue eyes luminous in the dim light.
Asaph nodded and bowed in thanks and then stepped towards the door. It swung open silently. He was not surprised to enter the same octagon shaped room where he had met Yisufalni the Ancient but she was not here this time. The blue flame stood unwavering in the centre and he went towards it, the door swinging shut behind him.
Asaph stood alone before the flame and looked deeply into it. After a time a face formed in the flame and tears instantly blurred his vision as he looked back at his mother’s face. She smiled at him, hair like fire, eyes filled with love. She was speaking and he bent closer to hear. All at once the blue flame flared brightly and surrounded him. It was cool and healing, like stepping into a clear stream.
‘My son, you cannot face the White Beast alone,’ her voice echoed around him.
‘Call to the flame ring and reach for Zanufey’s Chosen, she can bring the Sword of Binding, do not be afraid to call for her. Your fates are entwined, like night and day. Together you walk a dark path and it will not be easy but you will succeed if you stay by her side. This message is my last. I now leave this place to go to the Fire in the Sky. Coming to the Dragon Dream will strengthen your soul but now you must return,’ her face began to fade.
‘Stay with me,’ he pleaded, but there was only silence. The chamber darkened as the flame shrunk until it was no bigger than an inch and the only light in the darkness. He shivered in the sudden cold, afraid and alone.
The Dragon Door shut.
‘No!’ he cried, desperately reaching for the fading blue flame.
Keteth’s laughter echoed and the bars of the White Beast’s prison closed once more around him. Keteth roared and lunged out of the darkness. Long snaking tentacles struck Asaph in the chest, flinging him down heavily to the cold stone floor. He fought the tentacles uselessly, they were too numerous and too strong. They weaved around him and tightened into a crushing embrace that forced the air from his lungs as he gasped for breath.