Omnixius
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DKP 7-7 A challenge for peace
🕑 Added 2021-08-14 16:27:29 +0000 UTCThe morning sun filtered through the trees in golden rays that kissed the damp ground. The wind was slight, stirring only the tallest leaves in a gentle rustle as it passed. Below that canopy, Lilly moved as quickly as she could, her feet shuffling in practiced steps as her swords crossed to deflect the dagger coming her way.
“You’re too slow,” Ayawa scolded as Lilly and Gedris sparred.
“I am going as fast as I can,” Lilly growled as Gedris tried to cut. Lilly stepped away from the blow and tried to put the longer reach of her swords to use. Gedris batted the weapon aside and came in with the other dagger forcing Lilly to step back again.
Ayawa shook her head and scolded Lilly for being trapped on the defensive. Lilly tried to change the momentum and found herself stepping back again.
“It isn't my fault,” Lilly sighed. “The bind might give me access to his knowledge, but I still have to practice it. There is never enough time to practice like I need to.”
“What do you spend all your time on?” Ayawa asked. “Kissing that wife of yours, I assume.”
“Hardly,” Lilly groaned and made a desperate slash. “I spend most of my time in Balisha's temple. I have to oversee the repairs, train the faithful, lead the prayer services. When I do have time away, Sarah has some formal function lined up that I have to attend. I have to steal quick pecks when I pass one of them in a hall, and I haven't been able to kiss Thayle in three days.”
Gedris snickered, causing Lilly to frown.
“You have it easy,” Lilly protested. “They do everything with you. Look at me. I get sent away all the time now. I hardly see Gersius except for an hour or two at night, and he rarely sleeps now.”
“He has an empire to build and several wars to win,” Ayawa reminded.
“Which is why we have to do whatever it takes to end this one,” Lilly replied and managed to swipe at Gedris and drive her back for once.
Tavis stepped up to stand beside Ayawa and reminded Lilly that the invading tribes had reacted poorly to her being a dragon. Even worse, to knowing she was the wife of the human Gersius.
“What can I do about that?” Lilly said with an angry sigh. “I don’t care if they disagree with who I love.”
Ayawa was quick to remind her of the devastation the coupling of humans and dragons had caused the southern tribes. Lilly had heard the story before and fully understood the fall the once-powerful southern lands had suffered. She wished there was some way to show them that this wasn't the same. Solesta wasn't there to oppose them this time, and the divines were all solidly behind Balisha, well, except Yuthan. If the south gave her half a chance, she would be a blessing to them. She wished there was some gift she could give them to help them see this was a blessing.
Gedris suddenly dashed in with a series of rapid cuts forcing Lilly to parry again and again. The danger was her weapons were longer and slower, and Gedris was making quick stabs. Before she knew it, her swords were tangled, and the match was over, a dagger at her chest.
“You’re too slow,” Ayawa said again. “You need to spar every day for an hour at least.”
Lilly dropped her arms in frustration as Gedris stepped back and smiled at her. “I thought you were much better than last time.”
“Thank you,” Lilly replied and put her sword away. She held on to the sword of Balisha and turned it over in a sunbeam.
“How is that weapon not making you off balance?” Tavis asked and approached to look at it more closely.
Lilly shrugged and gave it a few swings before holding it out for him to see.
“I don’t know how it works, but it changes size when I am a dragon to fit my hand,” she said.
Tavis carefully took it from her and held it out, giving it a few practice swipes. “It is carefully balanced despite the size,” he said and drew one of his short blades with his other hand. He went through a few maneuvers with practiced swipes before handing the sword back. “I can't explain it, but it feels like a weapon half its weight.”
“Has Balisha said anything about it?” Gedris asked as she reached out to touch it.
Lilly shook her head. Balisha didn't say anything that didn't have to do with stars or glowing lights. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't had a vision in weeks, not since before the battle for Calathen. She had prayed about the sword specifically but had received nothing in reply. Gersius was sure she was meant to have it, but then why wouldn't he use it? He said he had Astikar's sword, but that made more sense for Sarah to have. Sarah was happy with her falcon's blade and said she didn't care, but Lilly could always feel a twinge of regret over the bind.
“Tell me more about the earth mother,” Lilly asked as they ended the sparring match for the day.
“I have told you all I can about her already,” Ayawa replied with a scowl. “Why are you so interested in the divines?”
The questions seemed strange to Lilly. She was a high priestess of a divine and, by her very nature, deeply interested in them. She wanted to understand the roles the divines played and how they were connected. Somehow the earth mother was separate, a divine that didn’t play by the same rules as the others. This fascinated Lilly as it showed there might be a hierarchy among the divines.
“Gersius once told me that a lot of the monsters in the world were created by the earth mother. Thayle told me the sprites are extensions of her, sent to heal the world and restore the balance of nature.”
Ayawa nodded and sat on a log, her long braided hair draped over a shoulder.
“The monsters were created out of her outrage over what the divines had done to the world,” Ayawa said. “She was so angered she turned-on men and dragons alike, creating new creatures in the blink of an eye to drive both races out of the wilds.”
“Sarah says giants were made to kill dragons,” Lilly offered. “She says we so slaughtered the humans that the giants were made to match our size. I don't know if she is right, though.”
“What makes you think she isn’t right?” Gedris asked and sat beside Ayawa.
Lilly shrugged as she considered a thought. “I have killed giants, and they are a challenge for my size, but I doubt they could be a threat to Sarah. My mother could crush one with a single hand.”
“Your mother can't possibly be that big,” Ayawa remarked as if the thought was ridiculous. “Anyways, the sprites always existed and at one time used to bless humans. They often sought out kind and noblemen to mate with.”
“Why?” Lilly asked, now honestly curious.
“All sprites are female,” Gedris answered. “They can’t reproduce without human men.”
“Their all female?” Lilly asked, unable to believe it.
Gedris recounted what she learned about the sprites while studying the faith of Ulustrah. They were always female and lived four to five hundred years. They made lairs in secluded places, usually far from humankind, because men were often cruel to them now.
“We saw some sprites,” Lilly said as she remembered the forest sprites far to the north. “They talked like birds and were very excited to see Gersius.”
Ayawa started to laugh as Tavis smiled broadly. Lilly realized that if sprites looked for kind and noblemen, they probably thought Gersius was perfect. She relayed the part of the story where she shouted at them to stay away from her husband and made them laugh harder.
“A pity,” Tavis said. “You could have had a sprite for a wife.”
Lilly took a moment to imagine one of those green-haired beauties as a wife, but Gedris spoiled the concept. She explained that once a sprite mated, she fled to a secluded lair to have the child. It was almost always female and a sprite. On the rare occasions when the child was male, it was often returned in secret to the father. Those men sometimes had traces of their sprite heritage, like oddly colored hair or skin. She also pointed out that forest sprites were bonded to a hidden tree and would refuse to travel far from it.
“So she wouldn’t have wanted to come back with us,” Lilly said with a nod.
“What you need is a water or earth sprite,” Gedris teased. “They will go anywhere there is water or earth.”
“They will have the same problem with the mother wanting to run off to have the child alone,” Ayawa remarked with a shake of her head.
Gedris shrugged with a smile and suggested that for Gersius, a sprite might want to remain. There was even an old legend about a king that was so kind that he had three sprites as wives who stayed at his side all his life.
“Now that one is a fantasy story,” Ayawa laughed and then snapped her head to the side. “Quiet, somebody is coming.”
They all went silent as Ayawa got up and took her bow firmly in hand. Lilly didn't hear anything at first, but eventually, she could hear the breaking of branches and the stomp of feet.
“It's a large group,” Tavis said as they scattered to take cover.
“It’s coming from behind us,” Gedris whispered as Ayawa guided her to a bush.
“It could be Two Crows,” Ayawa whispered as she strained to see through the trees. She was the first to see the men in armor spilling around the trunks as they marched through the forest. They were men from King Daniels army, marching in a broken formation as they blundered through the growth.
“Those are King Daniels men,” Tavis said as he broke cover. “They must be trying to advance and make contact with the enemy.”
“What?” Lilly growled and stormed out of her hiding place. “I told them I was going to negotiate first!” She marched past the group and into an opening directly in the path of the advancing men, where she shouted to them to halt.
Men looked confused to see a blue-haired woman in a pretty white dress demanding they stop. They formed a rough line a dozen paces from her as a man with a red plume on his helm pushed his way forward.
“Are you a refugee?” the plumed man asked once he was close enough to speak to Lilly.
“I am your Empress, Lilly Dra'Udwan!” she shouted back. “On whose authority are you advancing?”
The man looked confused, and mumbled conversations broke out among the men behind him. He finally started to laugh and waved at Lilly to dismiss her.
“Out of the way, fool. We have all seen the empress Lilly and know her to be a fearsome dragon.”
Lilly visibly tensed as her hands curled into fists as if she were about the strike the man. He looked at her in confusion until Tavis ran out of the trees and put a hand on Lilly's arm.
“You may want to apologize,” Tavis said quickly.
“You?” the captain said in confusion. “You were with the dragon.” He looked up as Gedris and Ayawa came out of cover, causing him to raise a brow. “I saw you all on the dragon's back, but where is the Empress?”
“I’m the empress!” Lilly shouted as her eyes burst into blue flames.
“You had better answer her question,” Ayawa said as she reached Lilly and Tavis. “This is the Empress Lilly Dra’Udwan, the dragon you saw days ago.”
“But?” the man sputtered as he looked at Lilly and took a step away from her rage. He took a second look at Lilly as if trying to understand. “You are the dragon?” he asked.
“Yes!” Lilly shouted. “How do you humans know so little about us still? I have shown every human in Calathen and the armies that we dragons can take a human form. The word should have spread across the empire by now. Why did you think Gersius took me as a wife?”
“I. I didn’t know why,” the man said slowly.
“Did you think he married a beast?” Lilly demanded.
“Lilly, please calm down,” Ayawa pleaded. “They have been too busy with the war to hear about you and the empire.”
Lilly looked to Ayawa, then folded her arms with a sigh. “Just answer my first question. Who sent you south when I told you I was trying to bring peace?”
The captain looked embarrassed and replied that General Daniels ordered them to march south but avoid contact with the enemy. He was concerned that Lilly had no strength behind her to bargain with. They were to find her and camp behind her, so they were on hand if she needed them. They were also escorting the southern warriors they were told about, giving them secure passage.
“It might help with the negotiations if they know you are ready to fight,” Ayawa said.
Lilly sighed in frustration and relented, telling the captain to build his lines here. She then asked for the southern warriors to be brought up so they could talk with Two Crows and his forces. It took ten minutes, but eventually, the southern warriors arrived with the giant leader of their group astride a powerful house. He greeted Lilly with a stern nod and dismounted as the rest of his people set about creating their own camp.
“Have you found them yet?” he asked as Lilly led him away to speak with Ayawa and the others.
“We did. They were very rude,” Lilly replied and took him to where the others waited.
“I am glad you are here,” Ayawa said. “It is as we feared. They don’t respect me at all, and they are offended by Lilly.”
Two Crows nodded and let out a deep sigh, looking south as if to see his distant homelands. “Then how do you intend to proceed?”
“The woman we spoke to said she was going to gather the other tribe leaders and discuss the matter with them,” Lilly answered. “We go out every day to see if they have returned, but I can't even find them now.”
“They are planning something then,” Two Crows replied. “They have retreated a safe distance while they organize.”
Tavis cleared his throat as he looked at Lilly with a shake of his head. “You should never have shown them your human form. I bet they are planning some means to capture you and use you as a bargaining chip against Gersius.”
“How could they possibly capture me?” Lilly asked. “I always go in my dragon form.”
“I don’t know how, but the way that woman smiled when you showed her your form,” Tavis pressed as he remembered the scene. “She was delighted to know you could take this shape.”
“Hmm,” Two crows said as he listened to the exchange. “She has revealed the value of herself to the tribes. They are here to gain an advantage, and nothing in this land is as valuable as she is. It only makes sense that they would want to gain her.”
“So they are laying a trap for me as we speak?” Lilly asked.
Two Crows looked past her to Ayawa and asked if they were always returning to the same place? When she said that, he suggested they never go to the same place twice to avoid allowing them to prepare the terrain.
“How are they going to capture a dragon?” Gedris asked with a skeptical tone. “She never goes in her human form. They would have to come here and catch her unaware.”
Two Crows and Ayawa both snapped to attention staring at one another as that thought settled in.
“Get Lilly into the army,” Ayawa shouted as she ran for her bow. Tavis grabbed Lilly by the arms and rushed off for the lines of soldiers as Two Crows barked commands to bring his warriors to attention.
“What is happening?” Lilly shouted as Tavis practically ran her into the groups of soldiers.
“What is going on here?” the captain asked as Tavis ran Lilly right to him.
“We have reason to believe the southern tribes are hunting for her,” Tavis said in a hurried tone. “It explains why they haven’t shown up to meet again. They are probably searching for our camp so they can take her by surprise like this.”
“You think they are coming here?” Lilly asked in shock.
“Better to attack the human woman than the dragon,” Tavis said as a cry of alarm echoed from behind him. He looked up to see black streaks in the sky and shouted arrows moments before they started to fall on them.
Lilly stood her ground defiantly, annoyed that these insects thought to kill or capture her. She was grateful to the captain, who ran to her defense and stood before her with his shield up, deflecting a random arrow.
“I need a place to change,” Lilly growled.
“You can't run off into the trees,” Tavis said as he drew his weapons. “We are probably surrounded, and you would be picked off before you could complete the transformation.”
“Well, I can't change here!” Lilly shouted. “I have to undress first.”
“I have only three hundred and fifty men, but I will set them in ranks around the Empress,” the captain said and began to bark orders. Arrows continued to fall around them, indicating they were being fired for range, not accuracy. The captain assigned five men to create a shield wall over Lilly while the rest were put into walls on every side, protecting her in the center. Tavis ran off to help Ayawa and Gedris, leaving Lilly fuming as she considered her options.
“You men need to give me some room,” she said at last.
“My lady, we are ordered to protect you,” one of them said as another arrow thumped off a shield.
“Go and join the others,” Lilly growled. “I have other dresses I can wear.”
Tavis reached the trees where Gedris crouched in cover while Ayawa tried to spot the elusive attackers. Two Crows and his people had their great bows out as well, using trees and rocks for protection as they scanned the forest for the enemy.
“Lilly is safe,” Tavis said as he reached Ayawa. “We were stupid to think we could just sit here and wait.”
“They told us they would meet with the others and give us a reply,” Ayawa answered. “My people don’t usually speak in vague or twisted words. We had no reason to believe they wouldn’t meet with us again on even ground.”
“Still, we should have made a camp farther back,” Tavis said. “Thank the divines King Daniels sent men to help secure Lilly.”
“It may not be enough,” Ayawa scolded. “They are firing from range, and we can't see them through the trees. We will have to advance on them if we want to have a chance to shoot back.”
“That will give them the advantage of cover and a chance to pick us off,” Tavis replied. “We don't even know how many of them there are.”
“We can’t stay here,” Gedris said from below. “And one of you needs to teach me how to use the bow. I am useless in a ranged fight unless I resort to my blessings.”
“She's right,” Ayawa replied as she hopelessly searched for a target. “We have to get closer.” Even as she said it, a shadow passed overhead, and they looked up to see blue scales sailing across the sky.
“She changed,” Tavis said in surprise.
“She’s so pretty in her dragon form,” Gedris sighed. “We need to find a dragon to marry.”
“Suits me,” Tavis said with a grin, drawing a stern glare from Ayawa. They turned back when a roar filled the air, and Lilly sailed over the treetops, dousing the area beneath her in ice and frost.
“She's found them,” Tavis said as they strained to see her while she was so low. She went back into the air, and they could see the arrows chasing her. She dived on them again and froze a line across the forest, producing distant screams.
“We should advance while she has their attention,” yelled Two Crows from the side. “The soldiers of the kind are forming into proper lines.”
Ayawa nodded her agreement and slowly crept out of cover, advancing into the forest with Tavis at her side and Gedris firmly behind her. They advanced slowly, moving from cover to cover while at their flank, the army poured around the trees. They quickly got ahead as another blast of ice turned some part of the forest ahead to winter just before Lilly touched down.
“You fools made me ruin a dress!” Lilly shouted. Ayawa looked up as a man's body came crashing down through the trees, thrown by Lilly in her rage.
“I hope they hadn’t planned to lure her out,” Tavis said as they hurried to close the ground.
When they finally found the battle lines, the enemy was already in retreat. Dozens of men and women stood dead, frozen in ice where they stood. A dozen more were scattered across the ground where they had been ripped apart by an angry dragon. Lilly was chasing them through the trees, snapping trunks as she struggled to pursue her prey.
“Go back to your leaders and tell them I give them one more chance at peace!” she roared. “Tell them they meet with me, or I will hunt them like deer!”
“Lilly!” Ayawa called to get her attention, and Lilly turned about blood and gore dripping from her jaws.
“Ooh!” Gedris groaned to see the horrible display.
“Still think she looks pretty?” Ayawa scoffed and carefully picked her way into the battlegrounds as soldiers spilled around the sides.
Lilly sat on her rear and began to pull arrows out of her wings using her long jaws to reach the ones in back.
“Let me get those,” Gedris offered and came to her side as Lilly flattened a wing along the ground. “They don't pierce your scales do they?”
“Sometimes they get lucky,” Lilly said. “but they always stick in my wings. Sarah said they used to bring dragons down by filling their wings with arrows.”
“Your lucky they didn't send enough people to do that to you here,” Ayawa said. “This was just a raiding party. A small group sent to kill you.”
“I don’t know that I like your people,” Lilly growled as Gedris began to pluck arrows from her hide.
“My people have forgotten who they once were,” Ayawa said. “I hate to say it, but that was because of what you and Balisha represent. We might need to consider that this war might be sparked because of your marriage to Gersius.”
“But Solesta isn’t here anymore,” Lilly insisted.
“I don’t think that will matter,” Gedris said as she cast a bloody arrow aside. “They are worried about the earth mother being angered again. You don’t need Solesta to do that.”
“Gedris is right,” Ayawa agreed. “It’s a pity we never learned how to talk to the earth mother again. Then at least they could ask her what to do.”
“Why don’t your people take up the worship of the divines?” Lilly asked.
“Pride and tradition,” Ayawa replied. “We have always believed the earth mother was superior to the divines. We are raised to believe that only her worship is proper.”
“But you ran away from those teachings,” Lilly insisted. “You embraced new ideas.”
“I still believe the earth mother is the greatest of all the divines. We don't even see her as a divine. To us, she is something else.”
“And all your lost traditions and power were tied to her?” Lilly asked.
Ayawa nodded and began to help Gedris with the arrows. “We used to be able to communicate great distances. We could works blessings like you can. Our shaman could even transform into spirit animals and walk the dreams of others.”
“You could walk in the dream?” Lilly asked, suddenly very curious.
“What do you mean the dream?” Ayawa asked in return.
Lilly shifted her head to look Ayawa in the eyes, their faces an arms-length apart.
“Where do you think Sarah and Numidel went when they were injured? We dragons enter another world, like this one but primal and ancient. We call it the dream because it often reflects things we dream about.”
“So that’s what they were doing,” Ayawa said in wonder.
Ayawa looked aghast at the idea and pulled another arrow free. “It must be different,” she said at last. “Our shaman would talk to wise spirits in this state to gain guidance and insight.”
“You were probably talking to ancient dragons,” Lilly offered. “The older dragons get, the longer they spend asleep and in the dream. Sarah said they even formed a kind of single-family through the dream where the oldest guided the younger.”
“We spoke to spirits of the earth mother,” Ayawa insisted and cast an arrow aside. “We didn’t associate with dragons.”
“You don't know because of what happened, but how do you know you didn't back then?” Lilly pressed.
Ayawa let out an exasperated sigh and yanked an arrow out to indicate her irritation. She went on to explain that her people have no legends or history of ever being allies of dragons. Lilly tried to argue that some of what they built had been aided by dragons, but Ayawa disagreed. To her, the earth mother made all things possible, and dragons were not needed to accomplish any of it.
Lilly let the matter drop when the captain of the army, a man named Lundris, informed her the enemy was scattering. She insisted the wounded men be brought to her, and she healed every man injured by arrows before healing herself. Gedris helped with the wounded, but Lilly did the bulk of it, all the while complaining that she had lost a dress.
When they finally returned to camp, she decided to stay in her dragon form and cleared a spot in the trees to lay. Gedris stood at her side talking to her about dragons and earth mother, sharing what they knew about both.
“It seems strange the earth mother would make monsters to punish people,” Lilly said.
“Men had caused just as much harm to the world as the dragons did,” Gedris said. “Things like trolls and dulloch came to swarm over the landscape and make vast areas uninhabitable to mankind. Thus nature could recover in peace, free from the ravages of war.”
“Well, I hope she stays asleep because Gersius wants to reclaim the north,” Lilly replied. “He plans to reclaim all the lands north of the mountains that were once part of the empire.”
“Those lands have been lost for a thousand years,” Gedris replied. “It will be infested with all manner of terrible things.”
Lilly knew Gedris was right, but Gersius didn't care. He was going to restore the empire to its full glory, and that meant reclaiming lands long lost to the wilds. He even spoke of pushing the wilds back and expanding north into lands not touched by man since Sarah once ruled a small kingdom.
“We think the Doan have an army someplace up there right now. They are trying to sneak around the mountains and ambush us from behind,” she said, at last, to keep the conversation going.
“This is what Ayawa’s people believe the earth mother doesn’t want,” Gedris said. “Men spilling blood in massive wars that burn the land and leave it barren. She will be saddened that war has returned to her wilds.”
“But Ayawa once said she sleeps. I wonder if that's why they had to go into the dream to speak to her? The more I hear about her, the more she sounds like a dragon.”
Gedris laughed and shook her head. She explained that no dragon could cause vast hoards of monsters to spring to life suddenly. Not to mention she caused other more terrible abominations to appear to hunt dragons.
“I still don’t think a dozen giants could even annoy my mother,” Lilly grumbled and turned about to lick the blood off a wing.
“Do you dragons clean yourself like that?” Gedris asked.
“How else would we do it?” Lilly replied and thought about it. “I guess we could find a lake or river to bathe in, provided you were small enough.”
“It just seems so animal-like to see you cleaning that way,” Gedris replied and looked at her curiously. “I find it very hard to think of you as an animal.”
“I don't,” Lilly replied. “What do we dragons do with our great strength and long lives? We dig holes and then lay in them for thousands of years. We venture out only to eat and to sometimes collect more wealth. The only thing we ever do of special note is have children, and we only do that because of the calling.” She paused a moment to consider a thought. “Well, except my mother. She as well passed her calling when she had me. She must have mated in trade for something.”
“She never told you what it was?” Gedris asked.
“My mother told me so many things it makes my head hurt to consider them, but she left out even more. She never told me about the first dragon knight and that she was his dragon. She never told me about Balisha and that she was her only priestess. She never told me about the dragon wars or our history before the fall. She spent so much time teaching me your language and warning me not to attack your kind. She made me promise to avoid you whenever I could and not to eat your farm animals, or you would come looking for me.”
“She seems to have known you would have to talk to us one day,” Gedris suggested.
“She knew more than she ever let on, but I don’t understand why she didn’t tell me,” Lilly sighed.
“Could she have known you would walk this path?” Gedris asked. “Maybe she prepared you for it?”
“I have wondered that,” Lilly replied in a sad voice. “But I don’t understand why my mother didn’t do it herself then? What would she need me for?”
They spent the rest of the day and night trying to think of answers as a military camp was built around them. Lilly lay in her dragon form all night; her head held high as she looked out across the carpet of green that was the treetops. She had so many questions about her mother and no time to get answers. Gersius wanted to visit her mother and get those answers, but deep down, Lilly was afraid to know the truth. She considered what Ayawa had said instead, how her people used to enter the dream and speak to wise spirits. She was sure those spirits were dragons, probably appearing as people or animals to conceal their nature. The amazing thing was the fact that they could enter the dream at all. Sarah said humans did it by accident when they had deep, powerful dreams. Appearing as a phantom for only a few moments, but Ayawa's people were doing it intentionally, using the dream to gain wisdom and guidance.
When morning finally came, she was bored and missing her loved ones. She wanted Thayle at her side so she could curl around her and feel her body heat. Instead, she had a cool breeze blowing out of the west and rustling the leaves. Ayawa was up just before the light, and soon Tavis and Gedris were with her talking about the wisdom of flying out.
“We’re going out,” Lilly insisted. “I am giving them one last chance to avoid an open war with the empire.”
“They tried to kill you yesterday,” Ayawa reminded.
“I don’t care,” Lilly replied and stood up to put her saddle on. “Gersius wants to avoid this war, so I am going to do anything I can to help him avoid it.”
“You’re already at war,” Ayawa countered. “All you can do now is negotiate a peace.”
Lilly understood the current state of affairs. If all she could do was achieve peace, then that was what she would do. After yesterday and the number of people she killed, maybe they would be more willing to negotiate. After all, a dragon prowling the skies above their heads could spell disaster to their efforts.
She saddled up and collected her riders, taking to the skies to return to the meeting place. As Two Crows suggested, she landed a hundred paces away from the usual spot and only after circling three times to search the trees from above. Once down, she called out for them to come out and talk to her. They were all surprised when a dark mass of people approached from the south. They made no effort to hide their approach and walked as if on parade. Six strong men and women lead ranks of others marked in various colors and paints. They carried no weapons in hand but had plenty of them tied about their bodies. One of the women was the original speaker from days ago, and she, in particular, looked pleased to see they were back. The procession came to a stop twenty paces from Lilly as she turned sideways so her riders could address the group.
“So you have come back,” Sahli said with a wide smile.
“You sent people to attack us,” Lilly growled. “I killed them and sent what was left running back. I came here to make peace with you, so I give you one last chance to save your tribe the wrath of the empire.”
If her words made an impact on the gathered crowd, none of them showed it. Their eyes were full of distrust and something akin to disgust. Sahli stood motionless a moment then turned to introduce the six prominent members of the gathering as the leaders of tribes who came to see the truth that the empire had embraced the curse of dragons.
“I am not a curse,” Lilly replied. “If I was as bad as you think I am, would I be trying to avoid bloodshed with you?”
“You are the stepping stone to another fall,” Sahli replied. “A symbol of all we have lost because of your kind. I brought the leaders of my people to see for themselves that dragons are once again blending with men.”
“Are you going to hide behind that?” Ayawa called from above. “Lilly has done nothing but try to speak to you and treat you with respect. When did the dragons ever attempt such a thing in the past?”
Sahli looked as if she wanted to spit as her eyes went up to meet Ayawa’s. “You were already an outcast to our people. Now you return on the back of the very beast we all despise. How much further could you fall?”
Ayawa stood tall and walked to the edge of Lilly's shoulder to glare down at the leadership below. Her face was hard as stone as she met the gaze of hundreds of her once kinsmen. Then, with a deep and focused tone, she berated them for being so blind.
“How many years have our people walked in ignorance?” Ayawa asked. “We hold on to the stories of who we once were, yet never do we try to restore it. We are content to accept that we have lost everything and blame the dragons for it. We hold on to an anger that is thousands of years old while doing nothing about it. We are a willfully blind and ignorant people, and I realized that if anything was going to change, I had to escape. You punish anyone who refuses to be blind and ignorant with you. You beat the desire to make change out of the young and tie any woman who desires more to a husband then teach her to know her place. You have chosen to avoid anything that might restore the past or offer insight to the earth mother. You can't see how magnificent this moment is, where a dragon has come to speak with you and treat you as equals. You can't see it because you know nothing but what has been beaten into your hearts. Dragons are bad and to blame for the loss of a past you are too cowardly to restore. So long as you can cling to your blame, you don't have to heal or take any responsibility for correcting it. I haven't fallen; I have seen the truth and risen above the stiff necks of a people content to be a fallen empire.”
Now there was a reaction as faces frowned and several of the gathered leaders spoke to one another in whispers. Sahli folded her arms as if insulted, her gaze going back to Lilly, who watched the exchange silently.
Two of the leaders stepped up and whispered to Sahli, who nodded and turned back, her smile returning.
“We are prepared to negotiate,” she said at last. “But we would do so in the way of honor, not with your bitter words.”
“And what will satisfy your honor?” Ayawa asked her gaze still hard as stone.
“Our peoples are already at war,” Sahli cried loud enough for all to hear. “Blood must be shed in order to make peace. I evoke the right of Sin Sugoa to determine who the winner of this war is.”
Ayawa smiled ever so slightly as she looked down on the woman who had just challenged her to a duel. She might be a warrior maiden, but Ayawa was called a prodigy with a knife, one of the best fighters in a hundred years.
“I accept your challenge,” Ayawa replied.
Sahli laughed and shook her head. “No, you have no honor with us or right to represent this dragon empire. My challenge isn't for you; it is for her,” she replied and pointed to Lilly.
All eyes turned to the blue head that looked down with startled eyes.
“Me?” Lilly said in surprise.
“In your human form,” Sahli added. “Show us you know how to use those weapons of yours. Show us this empire has more strength in it than the pretty little girl who is only fit for beds.”
“Why would I accept such a challenge?” Lilly demanded.
Sahli motioned to the crowd and smiled wide. “Because if you don't, I will send word to every tribe that the empire is committing the ancient crime. I will rally tens of thousands more to our banners and march across your land burning everything in our wake. Your land will never know peace so long as the southern tribes exist, and war with you will become our way of life. If you win, we will give you your peace and leave your lands. If you lose, we will keep those lands we have already taken but no more. You get your peace either way, but you must face me.”
“This is a fool's request, Sahli,” Ayawa shouted. “If you harm her, Gersius will fill the skies with dragons and burn the south to ash.”
“Then he is a man with no honor, and we are right to wage war on him!” Sahli shouted back to cheers from the gathered mass. “Come, you have heard our offer. Will you accept my challenge, or are you the beast we all know you to be?”
Lilly snarled and lowered her head to glare at the woman before her. She was angered that this insect was treating her like an animal, even more so that she dared to insult Gersius. With a low growl, she voiced the words Sahli sincerely wanted to hear.
“I accept!”
