By the time they reached the hill the sun was up, its full roundness clearing the horizon and promising a hot, humid day.
The path to the top of the hill was slick with moisture and those who followed Lydria, used sticks or grabbed at trees or roots to help them up the incline. At the top, the hill gave way to a shallow bowl, clear of trees and full of the smell of freshly turned earth. At the inside edge of the bowl, curled up on its side, lay a green dragon with its snout pushed down toward its front claws and its tail along its side and wrapped around its feet, idly flopping in a regular rhythm. The site was unexpected, but no one moved to enter the dragon’s bowl. As she watched the dragon’s breathing, Lydria reached out to the creature’s mind, surprised it hadn’t reached out to her.
“Are you well, green dragon?”
The beast’s tail stopped twitching and its right eye opened lazily, scanning the bowl and the rim above until it stopped on Lydria.
“Wielder. We are well. Just tired. We accomplished our mission and freed our creator, and he has flown away with my husband Garprax and the widow Jex. We will join them soon.”
“We?”
“I am Synca, and this is my son. But he does not yet have a name.”
Lydria looked more closely and finally saw the dragon’s tail was covering a baby dragon, moist and still, his mouth opened just enough where she could see the shining white teeth already prominent in his jaw. He was smaller than the dragon Keldon had killed as it broke free of the pillar at Solwyn, but not much – the dragon was as large as herself.
“May I approach, Synca?”
“You may, though only you. He has not eaten yet, and I would not want him to think your friends will be his first meal.”
Lydria quickly explained what was happening to her friends, who looked both relieved and terrified, and asked them to hunt while she spoke to Synca. “Bring whatever you can find. Perryn can help you clean it and move it here but leave it on the top side of the hill, over the dragons so the young one will smell it.”
As the others moved off to the woods below, Lydria told Kimi what she was going to do, and then she started down the bowl.
“Garprax said you were clever and trusting. He said the first wielder is a friend of dragons, even though he thinks no other human will be, and so he trusts in Wynter to turn us back to our old selves.” Synca’s voice betrayed little, but her eyes told Lydria what she was really thinking. The scales around her large eyes moved like skin, and despite the enormous teeth Synca bore, her face was not without expression.
“Now that your son has come, you don’t want Wynter to succeed, do you?” Lydria didn’t want to ask the question, but knew she had to find out. “Your son can never become human, can he?”
“No, Wielder, he cannot. And I will not leave him willingly.”
“What will you do, Synca?”
“I will do what all mothers do. I will find a way. I will raise my son – even without a collar, I’m sure I will understand him.”
The conversation had taken Lydria across the crater to where the dragons lay, and now she could see the baby well. Its eyes were only just starting to open, but its wings, such as they were, still lay folded against his body, with little of the leathery surface that allowed the enormous creatures to fly.
“I have no idea how long it will be before he can fly, if that’s what you’re wondering. But I expect he will manage short distances quickly. We will continue south in small journeys until we reach the others. Garprax is waiting to see him, but he must protect Wynter. Without his collar, Wynter requires much tending. He is little more than a child himself, compared to dragons.” Synca sighed, a great shuddering ran along her spine and her tail shook vigorously, almost knocking Lydria to the ground. When she began again, her voice was lower, as if she were ashamed at what she was about to say. “Wynter has always spoken to himself, or to someone only he can hear. In Solwyn, he spoke to his dead wife who pushed him to cruelness. Now he speaks with his son. He speaks to him quietly, and often smiles while he does. While his son is not his wife, Wynter is driven to find a way to reach his son, and he assures us that if he can reach Sol, he can undo the magic that made us as we are now.”
Lydria sat quietly as Synca finished. For several moments they sat in silence, until Lydria noticed the creamy and speckled brown remains of an egg nearby and looked at Synca who nodded slowly.
“It was a great surprise when that came out of me,” the new mother laughed. “I could tell I was pregnant but thought I would give birth as I would have as a human. It is much easier this way, I think.”
“Just the one?”
“Just one. I don’t know if that’s normal or not, but there was just one. And as I’m the first to do it, I suppose that’s normal until it isn’t.”
Lydria couldn’t help but laugh and she reached out and hugged Synca’s snout and then gently rubbed the smooth underneath of the baby dragon’s chin, saying, He’s lovely, Synca.”
“Thank you.”
Lydria jumped back and Synca lifted her head high.
“My baby speaks!”
Codex of the Prime Wielder
Power and Balance
Wesolk’s place in the history of Eigrae is largely assured because of magic. It is interesting that all people, wherever they are from, think of their home as the center of all that happens in the world. The reality, of course, is that what happens within any kingdom is largely lost to those beyond its borders. Until recently, Wesolk was no different. Magic, however, has made what happens within Wesolk’s borders important to the rulers of other lands.
Krieger sees the rise of magic as an instrument of peace. Being within the borders of the land that controls all 30 of the stones and having personal knowledge of magic and those who wield it, this is not unexpected. But I have asked him to consider: if he were a counselor to a king of another kingdom, one bordering Wesolk, if he would feel the same. To his credit, after much thought, he offered that he would not.
That Krieger can see both sides has not, however, had the effect I had hoped. It is my belief the stones should be dispersed beyond Wesolk. Haustis, and now Krieger, believe they should not only stay within Wesolk, but should be gathered together again. Haustis has gone so far as to mention dropping them all to the bottom of the Great Eastern Sea.
The stones must be spread out so that there is balance. Just as the power of magic gives us peace now, it may invite war later. Neighbors will join with neighbors to fight the great power in the area. And if they do so, magic will not prevail, for alone of all our neighbors, we understand the limitations of magic. And while we may not understand those limitations completely, we know that magic is not a weapon in and of itself.
No, it is far better to distribute stones to our neighbors than to have them taken by force to the utter ruin of our people.
Lydria
6 - Missions
“Synca’s son can speak and understand us, and he already seems especially fond of Pars.” Lydria was mobbed by Haustis and the others and she climbed back aboard the ship and began to tell the story of their time on the island. “Synca agreed it would be best for her and her son to return north to Dragaven. It will be safe and there are many to watch out for them both. When her son is ready, they can go south again to find the others. And she let me have this.”
From the bottom of the small boat they had rowed back to the ship, Lydria removed the fragmented egg shell that had held Synca’s child. Even in pieces it was enormous, fully three feet wide. Grettune came to look at it almost at once, holding it and looking at the still moist inside of the shell with great interest.
“I thought this might appeal to you, Grettune. Take it to the captain and see that he has it safely delivered to Tower Cargile, so we can study it when we return.”
As Grettune and Perryn brought the eggshell below, the captain of the ship happily set sail again toward Port Ogdam on the southern coast. Lydria watched Haustis speaking to Pars by the port side railing as the
others set about preparing food. For an older man Pars was still straight and tall, his pointed beard level with Haustis’ eyes. At his side, Pars carried a long sword Lydria could see had been well cared for, and a large, curved knife that was primarily a hunting weapon. On his back, however, Pars carried a sizeable bow, nearly as tall as Haustis, it’s single curve gracefully arched in such a way that told Lydria the bow was not meant to be pulled back far, but that the power it would produce would be substantial. It was a weapon for hunting large animals at close range. Sitting on the deck next to the bow was a quiver of arrows, black as night, like the bow, and thick.
“You probably shouldn’t stare at people so long like that.” Kimi pushed against Lydria’s legs and forced her to look away from Pars and rebalance. She knelt to let Kimi greet her with his enormous wet tongue roughly scraping across her face. “I’m glad you are back safely, I want to get off this ship.”
The trip south went faster than expected thanks to fair winds and sailing through the night and by morning, the ship had docked Port Ogdam and the group split to go their separate ways. Before they had arrived, however, Krieger wanted to use the remaining time on board to learn what Pars knew of the lands to the south. Relin told his tale of how the Eifen had been captured and of the Qorghal. When he was finished, they waited for Pars.
“I have heard of the Qorghal but despite my travels have never met one,” Pars said coolly, leaning back in his seat against the ship’s bulkhead and swirling mulled wine in a wooden cup. “They are not the only people who inhabit the lands we enter. There are also the Chag Ca’Grae, whom I know from stories. It was on one of their trails where I met the Eifen Wae Ilsit and warned him that the path he had chosen was a path of the Chag Ca’Grae. He is a wise leader and chose not to continue down that road. The Qorghal I am happy to have never met, for they are said to be vicious and cruel and mortal enemies of the Chag Ca’Grae, but I have met those who have seen them, and they say the Qorghal are thin and decrepit looking but those who think them weak would be unwise. They are hunched from walking through caves made for smaller people – the Chag Ca’Grae as some would have you believe. But the Qorghal are resourceful and work together well like ants. They will often overwhelm their enemies, suffering many casualties to ensure a victory over even a few foes.”
“Are they so well trained they can suffer those losses easily?” Krieger was surprised a group would so willingly lose so many of its number.
“They do not regard life the same way we do – which makes me wonder why they captured your people rather than killing them.” Pars looked to Relin, who having no answer, did not try to give one and the old scholar saw no one in the group had an answer. “The Qorghal do not make most things, and what they do make is crude. So, they take what they need from others,” Pars explained. “Those I spoke with who had seen the Qorghal said that to fight against them was like looking at the remnants of century’s worth of battlefields scraped together and put to work again. Do not be fooled. They will kill you if it takes a hundred of them to do so. They do not honor flags of parley, nor do they sit idly to talk. They fight, and they kill, and they take. That is how the Qorghal survive.”
Not letting so much as a breath intervene before he spoke, Krieger began reiterating the assignments that awaited them all. “The mission Pars, Relin, Haustis and Lydria will take into the southwest will not be easy. Nor will the path Grettune, Perryn and I take to the south and east.” Krieger looked smoothly at everyone assembled and reached into a satchel. Unwinding a length of cord from the bag, he used a knife to break a hardened seal and brought out a sheet of parchment, and a small leather tube, also sealed and tied.
“Greetings,” Krieger read from the sheet in front of him. “The documents in the tube outline terms for a treaty between Wesolk and Dar’Ahlmon. You are tasked, as emissaries of King Edgar I of Wesolk, to deliver these documents into the hands of the Dynast Rykaba Ah Grethje III, Ruler of the Dominion of Dar’Ahlmon, the Vassal States of Dal’Kalayn, Dal’Mrus, and Dal’Dijje, and the islands bordering those lands in the Sea of Ahlmon. These documents are for the eyes of the Dynast Ah Grethje alone and are not to be given into the hand of any other. If you are not allowed access to the Dynast to deliver this message, you may remain in Dar’Ahlmon for such a time as the Dynast is willing to sponsor your presence. If, however, after 30 days, the Dynast Ah Grethje has not accepted the documents from your possession, you are to destroy the documents and return to Bayside. The King will meet you upon your return. If the documents are taken from you by force, return to Wesolk at your earliest opportunity – do not wait for a response from the Dynast.”
Krieger paused for a moment before squinting his eyes and continuing. “Here, in a different hand, one I think must be the king’s own, is written something else.” No one made a sound while they watched Krieger’s face – his lips moved, but he was not reading, and occasionally, he would look to his hand, or at something other than the parchment in front of him. Finally, after many minutes of this, he resumed as if he had merely paused for breath. “Krieger, Wielders, Friends – there is trouble in Dar’Ahlmon. There have been rumors of an attempted overthrow of the Dynast. Find what you can and return home swiftly. Good luck. Edgar.”
“Well, that’s cheery, then,” said Perryn. “Is it too late to join the group going to fight the murderous hordes of beast men?” Everyone laughed, though none heartily, but Lydria could see that Krieger appreciated the attempt to lighten the mood. Each group would face danger, and now each could see that neither route presented a preferred option.
“It’s been an interesting day,” Krieger said, indicating the meeting was done and they were expected to leave. “We should all prepare ourselves for travel and get the best sleep we can. We will meet late tonight for a final meal aboard and the captain tells me we should dock at Port Ogdam before first light. We should have plenty of time to get through the city and onto our respective paths before the people are up and about. Grettune and Lydria, if you can disguise us with your magic so that we may pass quickly and without attracting attention, that would be best. At the city gate by the dock I will go first, and we will be granted access and a runner will see us out a rarely used and well-hidden gate to the forests east of the city. From there, we split up.”
Codex of the Prime Wielder
Eigrae
It has long been known that there are other kingdoms across the great Eastern Sea, but little is known about the lands to the west beyond the forests. As Relin the Eifen has told us, there are many miles of lands to the west that harbor many different types of creatures – some of them like ourselves and some who would be very foreign to us. Among these are those he called the marshmen or rargal, and which he described as savage, cruel and lacking in any grace or mercy.
To the south of Wesolk, we know there lies the desert kingdom of Dar’Ahlmon, but we know very little about it. We know there are other, smaller nations or states that border Dar’Ahlmon and that some of these have been annexed by the larger state.
With magic, all kingdoms outside of Wesolk will look to us to see how this new power develops. It is, as Krieger has stated often, a power that will create imbalance. While that imbalance may for a time lead to peace, it will, in his estimation, ultimately lead to conflict. It is for this reason Lydria is determined to scatter the remaining Stones of Power throughout Eigrae; not only so that other kingdoms will feel less threatened by Wesolk, but so that those kingdoms inclined to violence will think twice if there are multiple kingdoms who hold such power.
Haustis, ever the voice for consolidation of the stones, is not unmoved by Krieger’s assertion, and she continues to consult the spirits for guidance, and urges caution and hesitancy in further spreading magic.
What we know now for certain is that Eigrae is not so small that any one kingdom, such as Wesolk, has influence far beyond its own borders. What we are discovering, is that there are more people on Eigrae than just humans or Eifen…or dragons. What will we find ne
xt?
Grettune
7 - Hokra
Leaving Krieger, Grettune, and Perryn at the edge of Port Ogdam was difficult. Grettune had been Lydria’s near constant companion for much of the last year as Haustis wandered the eastern woods and met for secret rendezvous with Edgar. The connection shared by Lydria and Grettune began with magic but had gradually evolved to something deeper – where the two could feel as if they knew the thoughts of the other. Still, Lydria had both Haustis and Kimi with her now, as well as Relin and Pars, so while she was sad to be separated from her friend, she knew she was in good company all the same.
Between Pars, Relin, Haustis, and Kimi, Lydria felt all but unnecessary as they traversed the woods. Each could read trails and marks as well as the other, and more than once Haustis walked next to her friend and commented on the extraordinary abilities of Pars.
“For a human, he is very connected with Eigrae,” Haustis said at least once during their first three days of travel. “Here in the woods, it is easier to see how he is related to Edgar.”
“Does it make you sad, to have someone so like, but so different to Edgar here near you all the time?” Lydria started to consider what her friend was going through and the anxiousness it might cause her. The Eifen warrior had been spending a lot of time with Pars and the two seemed very much alike in their knowledge of plants, animals, and their genuine concern for the well-being of the forest.
Haustis considered her friend’s question while they walked, her eyes locked onto the shape of Pars as he moved through the woods several dozen paces ahead of them. “Not sad, no. I think that as he is Edgar’s brother, it helps me appreciate him in a different way.”
Lydria didn’t say anything and Haustis didn’t offer more. The wielder understood her friend was still sorting through her feelings, and she felt sorry for the king and Haustis. It reminded her of how she felt when they discovered the previous Haustis was Drae Ghern’s wife, long since thought dead.
Magic's Genesis- Sword of Wilmamen Page 5
