Omnixius
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DKP 5-6 blessing or curse
🕑 Added 2020-03-21 00:57:28 +0000 UTC
Gersius was alone with his thoughts in the meeting tent. He leaned over the table in the middle, studying an assortment of maps as he planned his next moves. Time was running short, and more objectives were being added on a nearly daily basis. The most pressing of which was the liberation of a camp holding the women of Ulustrah. He focused on the logistics of that task, but his mind kept wandering to the previous day.
“What has you brooding?” Thayle asked as she entered the tent.
He looked up from his work but didn't respond. She was feeling his mood over the bind and already knew the truth. She knew those deaths haunted him and were replaying in his thoughts. He wanted to sit in meditation to settle the matter in his mind. He always found it best to confront such feelings head-on and put them to rest. He would try to meditate tonight after he dealt with the planning for tomorrow.
“You feel very tense,” Thayle said as she approached. “Worse now that I am here.”
He did feel worse for her, especially. The army was over the border of Lengwin's domain and into the district of another high priest. This man was sent letters and appeals by rider, but so far, no response was received. The camp holding the women of Ulustrah was in his domain, and reports suggested there were more. His scouts already located the first camp, a full days march ahead. It was watched from a distance to try and determine the strength of its garrison. With those reports came additional information about the condition of the camp.
This was what worried Gersius the most. Marching on this camp and revealing for all the conditions there. Thayle was already suffering under the burden of her command. She wasn’t taking the systematic destruction of her order lightly, and this camp would challenge her.
“You're worried about me,” she said, reading his thoughts. “This camp ahead of us. Your afraid I will be upset by what I find there.”
Gersius lowered his head and let out a deep sigh. The binding link they shared was a great blessing, allowing them to feel each other's emotions and if close enough surface thoughts. If they made physical contact, they could see vividly what the other person was imagining or dreaming. It was a wonderful boon when one wanted to share love, but it was a curse when you tried to keep a worry to yourself.
“I am concerned how this war is already affecting you,” he said and turned back to his maps. “I do not want you to become like me.”
“What’s wrong with who you are?” she asked as she approached.
He lifted his head and looked to the ceiling of the tent.
“I carry the scars of many battles in my heart. I had to learn how to set them aside in order to go on and do what needs doing.”
“I can learn to do the same,” Thayle said.
He closed his eyes and tried not to imagine her hardening her heart like his.
“Thayle, every time you have to swallow the pain, a little portion of yourself will go with it. I love you for the light that fills you, and I do not want to see you darkened.”
Her hands came around his neck, and she leaned into his back. Her head pressed to his as he tried to think of a way to spare her what was coming.
“I have to go forward,” Thayle whispered. “I promise to try and hold on to who I am.”
He nodded and looked down at the map on the table. If the march held the same pace, they would be at that camp an hour before they would have stopped to make a camp of their own. It would only make sense to camp there, but what harm might that cause? If Thayle and her women spent a night in that place listening to the angry stories of it captives, what fires of anger might that stoke?
“You can’t worry about that,” Thayle whispered. “We should stay in the camp.”
He laughed to be reminded yet again that she was reading his thoughts.
“It is very hard to have a private moment with you two around.”
She smiled and nestled into him firmly. “You, I, and that silly dragon are one. There is no such thing as privacy between us. If you can survive all the battles you have been through and still be the man you are, then so can I. I am sorry I have been so angry; it comes from having to face my order and their pain.”
“Your women are very angry,” he said. “I am hearing about incidents in the camp between them and priests of Astikar.”
“Do you blame them?” Thayle asked.
“No,” he said. “But they need to understand that the Father Abbot has taken advantage of a powerful belief. The order of Astikar is raised to believe that nobody is as honest and holy as the Father Abbot, and his word is the word of Astikar. He has used this conditioning to further a lie so terrible and all-consuming that it is making monsters of men. But they need to acknowledge how often those men crumble once the lie is revealed, and how quickly they repent and join us.”
“It's hard to make them understand,” Thayle said. “On the one hand they want justice, and on the other, they are convinced they are marching to their deaths. That kind of anger festers terribly.”
Gersius nodded. “Try to imagine how hard it would be if Prime Arlin turned like the Father Abbot did. How difficult would it be to persuade people they were following a lie.”
“My order would see the lie for what it is, but I get your point,” she said. “If we didn't have the sight, we would be in the same position.”
Gersius nodded and reached up to put his hand over hers on his shoulder.
“Tell me something, how is there is a prime of your order in Calathen when Prime Arlin is in Eastgate?.”
“There is more than one prime, Gersius; eight at last count. Each rules over a region kind of how the high priests of Astikar rule districts. Prime Arlin is the head; they all answer to him. Why did you want to know?”
“I just wondered how there could be a prime in Calathen and Eastgate,” he said. “But now that I understand, I have another question. Where is the prime of this region?”
Thayle thought about it and had to lift her head as the question sank in.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I should have Jaylin contact Eastgate and ask them who was in charge here.”
“It was only a curious question,” Gersius said.
“No, now that you bring it up, I should have thought it of my self. Whoever it is should have come to me long ago, if for no better reason than to challenge my authority like the others.”
“Maybe Ulustrah spoke to her and gave her another duty,” he suggested.
Thayle smiled and let out a little laugh.
“What is so funny?”
“It would amuse you to know that nearly all the primes are men,” Thayle said. “Ulustrah chooses them herself by ceremony, and almost always chooses a man. If I am correct, only two of the current primes are women.”
“Why would she choose so many men?” Gersius asked. “Your order has so few of them.”
“It has a lot to do with their nature,” Thayle said. “A man who can honestly devote himself to the goddess when surrounded by dozens of women is a rare thing. It takes a great deal of self-discipline and compassion on their part, both qualities prized by Ulustrah. Our order is plagued by men who want to join solely because of the large number of women. Few of these men last more than a week, but the ones who do often go on to distinguish themselves. There have been some notable women in the past, but for the most part, it goes to men. It angered Alayse when she found out, but she always had a fiery temper.”
“It seems very strange,” Gersius said.
“Well, if you consider the fact that the thousands of sub-administrator posts in the order are all held by women, then it really doesn't matter. The Primes don't rule directly and fill more of a parental role. It's the Grand priestesses, and the ranks below that do most of the work. The primes are the only ones that can call us to war, or assemble the faith for a greater purpose, but otherwise, the lower ranks that are full of women run things.”
“But still,” Gersius pressed.
Thayle laughed and stepped back to turn him around.
“I think Ulustrah does it to test us,” she said. “She wants to see who loves her and will accept who she picks, over who has some kind of bias or anger, and can't accept it.”
“And this Alayse was angry about it?”
“Terribly,” Thayle said. “She does not like the idea of a woman answering to a man.
“A lot of women feel that way,” he said. “Especially in this camp.”
Thayle laughed again and looked into his eyes.
“They all follow you. You have proven time and time again that you are worthy. Man or woman, if you have a good heart, and the courage to set a course, people will follow you.”
“Let's hope Sarah will,” he said, moving on to his next thought.
“Why worry about her?”
“She is a powerful personality,” he said. “She is old enough to have seen the world before it fell, and ruled a kingdom.”
“I spoke to her about that,” Thayle said. “She ruled a tiny kingdom for a handful of years before the war started. It isn’t like she ruled an empire for thousands.”
“Still, she deserves great respect, both as a dragon and a priestess of Astikar from the order of hawks.”
“You can honor her titles, but she will follow you,” Thayle said. “And I will do my best to stay strong when we liberate that camp. I promise to come to you if I find my strength fading.”
He walked to her and lifted her chin with a finger so he could look down into her eyes.
“All I care about are you and Lilly, can you follow me?”
Thayle smiled and stepped up on her toes to kiss him. She released him and nodded her head.
“I will follow you anywhere, and that dragon worships you. She would follow you into certain death and not think twice about it.”
“Sometimes, Lilly's blind devotion to me is very frightening. Where I am going may be certain death.”
“Then you will go with your wives at your side,” she said. “Now, let’s talk about what happens next. Once we liberate this camp, how do we proceed?”
Gersius gestured to the table and leaned over a map. He pointed at a town and made a line with his finger.
“We will round the mountains in four days. Once we do, it is another week to where I told Tavis and Ayawa to meet us with the others.”
“The fort you talked about in the foothills,” Thayle said.
“It is five days from the river that separates the common lands from the empire,” Gersius said.
“Then we're almost there,” Thayle replied. “In just over two weeks, we could be crossing the river into all-out war.”
“It will all depend on how successful Tavis and Ayawa have been,” he said. “We will not know until we get there.”
“This fort is a safe place to mass an army?”
He ran his hand through his hair and nodded.
“I needed a place central to our advance, that was just outside the empire, and off the main roads.”
“That wasn’t a yes,” Thayle remarked.
“No place is safe to mass an army unless it is so far away it would not be useful,” he replied. “This was the best compromise given the situation.”
“But will it pay off,” Thayle said as she looked at the map. “Eastgate is two weeks further east than this. If they got to Eastgate just after we left, then this fort was already behind their lines before you started using it.”
“It is a ruin, overgrown, and forgotten. I doubt anybody would have thought to occupy it just because the two orders were fighting,” Gersius said.
“At least it’s well into the hills, the nearest town on this map is two days away,” she said.
“Exactly,” he agreed. “Too isolated to be of concern to anybody but sheepherders.”
“Let’s hope your right,” Thayle said as she leaned up.
“Thayle!” came Lilly's cry as she burst into the tent. She had her hands clasped together before her and ran to the table.
Gersius and Thayle turned in surprise to see the blue-haired woman come running.
“Sweetheart, what is wrong?” Thayle asked in alarm.
“Look at what I found!” Lilly said excitedly and opened her hands slowly to reveal a small brown creature.
“Lilly, that’s a toad,” Thayle said flatly.
“I found it behind the wagons,” she said.
Thayle looked to Gersius and smirked as he looked down at the small animal. Lilly was fascinated with the little things she never saw in her valley or noticed as a dragon. Now, as they traveled in human form, she frequently tried to catch insects and small animals.
“You are truly a mighty hunter,” he said.
Lilly closed her hands and glared at him.
“I will have you know that I have caught deer and even a horse before,” she said sharply. “I just wanted you to see what I found.”
“Well, get rid of it,” Thayle said and went back to looking down at the maps.
Gersius struggled not to laugh as Lilly shrugged, made a sudden movement, and then joined Thayle at the maps. He watched as Thayle looked over and turned to face her.
“What did you do with the toad?” Thayle asked.
Lilly looked at her with bright eyes and chewed, making a crunching sound that caused Thayle to recoil.
“Oh! Lilly!”
“What?” Lilly said, a leg popping out of her mouth for a second.
“I meant take it outside and let it go,” Thayle groaned.
“I wanted to see what it tasted like,” Lilly said innocently.
Gersius lost control and started to laugh as Thayle covered her face with a hand.
“It isn’t funny!” Thayle snapped. “I’m the one she spends hours kissing at night.”
Gersius could only wave as his eyes watered over. He was grateful for the moment of distraction Lilly provided form his otherwise dark thoughts.
Lilly made a loud swallow that only caused him to laugh harder as she looked at Thayle.
“Did I do something wrong?”
“Do you have to eat everything you catch?” Thayle asked.
Lilly shrugged. “Why not?”
“Ahhg! Dragons!” Thayle complained loudly and stalked over to the food table.
Lilly looked to Gersius with concern as he struggled to get composure and reassure her.
“You did nothing wrong. Thayle is not used to your dragon ability to eat nearly anything.”
“So your not mad at me?” she asked.
“How can he be mad at you, he lets you eat people,” Thayle cried from across the tent.
“Only the one time,” he shouted back.
“People taste better than that thing did, but they aren’t as easy to chew,” Lilly said.
“Just stop!” Thayle yelled as she poured herself a wine. “I am so disgusted I feel like I need to wash the taste out of my mouth.”
“Maybe next time you shouldn’t show Thayle anything you intend to eat,” Gersius said under his breath.
“I heard that,” Thayle cried. “She is kissing you tonight, and I am sleeping in the chair.”
Lilly smiled at him and stepped to his side, leaning into him to let out a deep breath.
“I love you,” she said.
“You tell me that every day,” he replied.
“I know, but I think about Shadros, and Sarah, and how they still don’t understand love. It makes me sad to know they don’t, especially Shadros.”
“Why him?”
“Because his mother said she loved him just before she died,” Lilly said. “She must have been free of the curse somehow and understood what love is. He is suffering over it, trying to figure out what she meant.”
Gersius thought about that a moment. How could she have been free of the curse? How could she have known what love was? Lilly was correct, Sarah and Numidel were protected from the curse, but Sarah still had no idea what love was. Numidel had a much better understanding; he took a human woman as a wife and had a relationship. He clearly felt the pain of loss for her passing and the children they could not have.
“Alright, what’s this love talk you two are having,” Thayle said as she arrived with her glass of wine.
“I was just saying it was sad that Shadros doesn’t understand what his mother said.”
“Oh, when she told him she loved him.”
Lilly nodded and stood straight. “He wants to understand it but doesn't' believe he can learn it from humans.”
“Is that why he's been extra grumpy with me the last two days?” Thayle asked.
Lilly shook her head and began to fidget with her hands.
“No, He is bothered that you're using the sword.”
Thayle reflexively looked to the flap that divided their private quarters from the rest of the tent. The sword was in there, carefully wrapped in a fur and hidden away.
“I suppose her dying over it makes him hate it,” she said. “Does he know what it is?”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Lilly said. “He reminded me of something I had forgotten when I thought we lost you.”
Gersius looked up, and Thayle took a sip of wine as Lilly fidgeted then continued.
“Do you remember the cave where we found it? How it was full of plants.”
“Oh, yes,” Thayle said. “I had forgotten that too. Falling into darkness and then being bound to a dragon who hated me so intensely must have pushed it from my mind. That was strange to see those plants there. I wonder what was causing it.”
“He said the sword did that,” Lilly added.
“The sword?” Thayle replied and looked to Gersius.
“I have nothing to offer you. It was very strange to see such vibrant plants underground,” he said.
“Shadros told me he tried to kill them with ice several times, but they always grew back rapidly, and always from the sword.”
“But, how can a sword grow plants?” Thayle asked as she turned to look to the private area again.
“Maybe it is tied to your goddess somehow?” Gersius suggested when he saw the confused look on Thayle’s face.
Thayle kept looking to the room as she replied. “A week ago, I would have denied that, but to hear it was Ulustrah who slew Appaterros with an emerald sword changes my opinion.”
“Most of the divines have a sword of some kind,” Gersius said. “Astikar has the dragon knights sword and the sword of mercy. Balisha has the fanged blade. Gorrin's priests had a dozen swords crafted for various purposes.”
“Didn’t Youthan have a sword?” Thayle asked.
Gersius rolled his eyes. “The deceiver's blade,” he said with contempt. “All I know of that weapon was that it was used in a duel so the priest could cheat.”
Thayle nodded and turned away from staring at the private room.
“So, this might be a sword from Ulustrah herself?”
“It could be,” he said. “You should look into your mirror and ask her.” He felt relieved to see her nod and relax her shoulders a bit.
“I have been so busy with things I haven’t sat and meditated in days,” she said. “I feel disconnected.”
“I was planning to do so tonight. We should take some time to meditate together,” he suggested. “We can sit together as we have done before.”
“And I can kiss my lover's neck,” Lilly teased.
“Augh!” Thayle cried and swirled her wine to take another sip. “You are not touching me with those frog lips.”
“I thought it was a toad?”
“It’s the same thing,” Thayle insisted and then shook her head.
Lilly Smiled and leaned into Gersius again. He loved the feeling of warmth she gave him and the need she seemed to have to make physical contact when she could.
“I don’t understand, if the dragon knight is of Balisha, why is the sword of Astikar?” she asked.
Gersius went to explain it but struggled to begin. Why was the sword of Astikar if the dragon knight was from Balisha?
“I do not know?” he said. “Too much of the past is either lost or shrouded in secrecy. I was always told the first dragon knight was a priest of Astikar. He left on a mission to find a dragon to unite the lands into one empire. Then he used the combined armies to defeat the Doan invasion. The prophecy said a second man would do the same when the Doan returned.
“And you did,” Lilly said sweetly.
“I had many doubts,” Gersius admitted. “When you lost your wings, I was sure I made a terrible mistake.”
“We have been over this before,” Lilly said. “If I hadn’t lost my wings, you and I would never have come together, and we would never have met Thayle.”
He nodded at the truth, but the pain was still very real.
“You do keep your wounds deep in your heart,” Thayle said. “You never forget the things you feel are your fault.”
“I never forget them, so I will not repeat them,” he replied.
Thayle stepped up and put her fingertips to his face as she stared into his eyes.
“One day, your life will be peaceful and simple, then Lilly and I will make you forget all of this.”
“You see how you are now?” he asked. “This is the Thayle I love. I worry this Thayle will die on the road ahead.”
“She has to go forward, she was chosen to be the one to lead the army,” Thayle replied.
He took a deep breath and put his hand over hers, pressing it to his cheek.
“Why are you two so sad all of a sudden?” Lilly asked as she felt the emotion over the bind.
Thayle looked up at her with a tender smile.
“Because I am so upset over what is happening to my order and the women who belong to it. Our husband is worried I will harden my heart and change.”
Lilly was quiet a moment as she considered the answer and then replied with an observation.
“When bad things happened to me, I learned how to love. Maybe you will learn something even more wonderful.”
Gersius laughed a little, and Thayle broadened her smile.
“Lilly, love comes to you so naturally, how did you ever live under the curse?” Thayle asked. “It’s as if you practiced loving all the long years of your life.”
“I can assure you I didn’t,” Lilly said. “But the events of those days broke down my beliefs and made me ready to accept new ones. Thankfully you and our husband were the ones to teach them to me.”
“She is very wise sometimes,” Gersius said.
“And then she eats toads,” Thayle added.
He laughed and reached for Lilly, pulling them both into a hug. They agreed to call an early night and sat in mediation in their private space. As always, Lilly sat in Gersius's lap while Thayle sat in hers. They opened their hearts to the divine, each one with their own fears and concerns.
Gersius struggled with the burdens of leadership, and with the memory of the three men. Thayle struggled with the pain of the war, and the question of the sword. Lilly asked how best to love her husband and wife to help them through the days ahead.
It was late in the night when the bulk of the camp was asleep, and only the sentries were about that Lilly stirred from her meditation. She heard the sound of gentle rain thumping the tent and distant thunder rumbling someplace way off. Thayle was turned to her side asleep in Lilly's lap, her head resting on Lilly's chest.
Lilly stroked her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Gersius was still deep in meditation, and she peeked into his thoughts to see him focused on the distant light of Balisha. She let the image go, such moments were intensely private and should not be intruded on. Slowly she stood up, lifting Thayle, and carried her to bed. Lilly was amazed at how light the woman was as she put her down on the mattress and pulled a blanket over her curled form. For a moment, she peeked at Thayle's dream to see them flying through the night sky, looking at the stars.
Lilly smiled to see Thayle was reliving that moment. It was a sight Lilly herself treasured, and she was happy to share it with her loved ones. Carefully she put on a light dress and tiptoed into the meeting tent. It was empty and quiet, the camp asleep after an emotional morning and a hard march.
She made her way to the back of the tent and out the little hallway that connected her changing ring. Gersius managed to find two small tents for Sarah and Numidel and attached them to the left and right of the ring. She was happy to see that both of them were awake, standing under the overhang, watching the rain.
“Sarah, Numidel,” Lilly called and approached the two dragons.
“I was told you slept like the humans do,” Sarah said. “I didn’t expect you to be up.”
“I sleep so I can be in my lover's arms,” Lilly said. “But I don't need to. Sometimes I lay awake all night rubbing Thayle, or listening to Gersius breath.”
Sarah looked at her with a studying gaze but said nothing as Numidel turned to address her.
“I am very pleased you understood my intention with the coins,” he said.
Lilly smiled at him and nodded. “You knew what I was going to do.”
He nodded his head. “The light of it was in your eyes. I knew you would pick the strongest desire, but I wanted you to have the weaker one as well.”
“Then Balisha did give you the blessing?” Sarah asked.
Lilly lowered her head and nodded.
“To think this is why the world was destroyed, and the first chance she gets Balisha does it again,” Sarah said bitterly.
Numidel turned to rebuke her for her careless words. “You can't blame Balisha for this. She followed her heart and did what she thought was right. Do not forget that Astikar stood by her side. He saw no harm in the gift.”
“Do they know?” Sarah asked with a gesture of her head to the tent.
“Thayle does, but I haven’t told Gersius yet,” Lilly said. “I don’t want to distract him from what he has to do.”
“You show more wisdom than Balisha,” Sarah said.
“Will you stop insulting the goddess,” Numidel said. “She only had our best interest at heart.”
“Tell that to the thousands of dragons who died for our best interests,” Sarah said with a hint of anger.
“I’m sorry,” Lilly said. “I just wanted Gersius to be happy. It’s the one thing he truly wants in all the world.”
“I thought he wanted to be emperor?” Sarah asked.
“He is only doing that to end the war,” Lilly corrected. “He wants the land to be at peace, so he has somewhere safe to raise a family.”
“Then he has never ruled before,” Sarah said. “He won't find rest with the crown on his head, only more burdens.”
“He knows,” Lilly said. “But he couldn’t think of any other path. It was this, or run, and Gersius never runs.”
Sarah looked her up and down and then turned to look out at the rain.
“I ruled a kingdom once. It was north and east of here. It wasn't very big, but it was mine, and I was very proud of it. We dragons were new to ruling or having anything more than our own interests. Humans saw us as powerful and wise, and when we carved out areas of the wilds, they flocked to our banners, and eagerly bowed.”
“Humans fear us tremendously now,” Lilly said.
“It is we who should fear humans,” Sarah said. “When they unite in their tens of thousands, no group of dragons has a prayer of defeating them.”
“Not to mention how clever they can be,” Numidel said. “They build machines of war capable of hurling spears that can skewer a dragon out of the sky.”
Lilly flinched to hear that comment and thought of the barbed weapon that brought her down.
“Why are you helping us then?” Lilly asked. “You don’t seem to care about humans.”
Sarah closed her eyes and held silent as the rain fell.
“I do care,” she said after a moment. “I believe there is some purpose to humans that we dragons were meant to learn. Astikar has told us that Balihsa and Solesta’s mission was good, but it went wrong. I would like to see a return to the age where dragons and men stood together. I would like to see what it would have looked like if it had gone right.”
“But you don’t think they should have children together?” Lilly asked.
Sarah looked at her with heavy eyes.
“Tell me, if you have his child, will it be human or dragon?”
Lilly paused to think of the answer. She asked this question of herself a hundred times but could never come to a solution.
“You don’t know,” Sarah said. “Are you afraid to find out?”
Lilly looked up and shook her head. “No, I am not afraid at all. I don’t care which it will be. All that matters to me is seeing him hold his child in his arms and knowing the love that will bring.”
“A good answer,” Numidel said with a smile.
“Solesta was afraid,” Sarah said. “And so were thousands of dragons.”
“Why, though?” Lilly asked.
Sarah reached a hand out to catch the falling rain. She let the drops splash in her palm a moment before looking to Lilly to answer.
“Do you know your history? Do you know that dragons were the first creatures to walk this world? It's our world, born of our blood, and we are the very pinnacle of strength and power. We have a purpose, born to our blood, and destined to the stars.”
“My mother said things like this all the time, but what does it mean?”
Sarah pulled her hand back and turned it over so the drops could fall away.
“It is just the story of our history, none who live know what it truly means anymore,” Sarah said then continued. “Humans came tens of thousands of years later. Dragons had already ruled the world for longer than men have existed.”
“Where did they come from?” Lilly asked.
“From the rock, like all life does. The spirit of this world gives birth to all living things so that it might be a garden for our kind.”
“So, we were created by the earth mother?” Lilly asked.
“No,” Numidel said. “We were created by something greater.”
“What?” Lilly asked.
Sarah shook her hand off and looked annoyed.
“We don't know. All we know is when this world was a barren rock; there were dragons on it. When the first plants began to grow, dragons were already ancient. When insects and animals started to appear, generations of dragons had come and gone.”
“This world was meant to be a garden for us?” Lilly pressed.
When Sarah didn't reply, Numidel nodded and interceded.
“Our oldest stories say this world was made for us. Its purpose was to teach us something. When the time of Balisha and Solesta came, we were sure the time of this purpose was on us. Then it all fell apart, and instead of becoming something more, we faced extinction.”
“So why are the humans here then?” Lilly asked.
“They must be part of the lesson,” Numidel said. “It is the reason why we never acted to hinder them. We allowed them to multiply and build their kingdoms. We retreated to the remote places of the world and watched, trying to learn what it was they were meant to teach us. This is why some dragons formed kingdoms of their own. They learned it from men, and were trying to understand.”
“It must have been hard to clear the wilds of giants and monsters,” Lilly said.
“There were no giants,” Sarah said bitterly.
“What?” Lilly asked in confusion. “We ran into giants just trying to get there. When we got there, we ran into even worse things.”
Sarah looked at Numidel, and he shook his head in disdain.
“Giants, like humans, came later. We’re not sure how or why, but they appeared in the eighth year of the war, and rampaged into the northern kingdoms,” Numidel said.
“The eighth year? How long did the war last?” Lilly asked.
“Just over thirty years,” Sarah said.
“And giants just appeared?” Lilly asked.
Sarah folded her arms and looked out at the rain again. “A lot of things just appeared. It was as if the earth mother herself grew angry at us. Monsters of every kind seemed to crawl out of the deep places of the world and attack.”
Numidel nodded his agreement and added to it. “As the war grew worse, so did the things that crawled out. Monsters isn't a title that would do some of them justice. All the northern kingdoms were overrun with beasts that howled in the night and hunted man and dragon alike.”
“Is that where the bandersooks come from?” Lilly asked.
Sarah cocked her head to the side, forcing Lilly to describe the horrible creatures.
“Rutwolves,” Sarah said. “We called them rutwolves back then, and yes, they were very new and took a terrible toll on the people.”
“Things grew in size and strength as time went on,” Numidel said. “There are creatures, much like men only stronger. They stand a little taller than men with gray skin and sharp teeth. We called them the orloc, and they took over many of the cities when men abandoned them.”
“They were followed by the Ogrish, the ettins, and then the giants,” Sarah said. “It seemed like the beasts got bigger and stronger with every generation.”
“Why would they do that?” Lilly asked.
“Some surmised it was to kill us,” Numidel said. “They were growing in power so they could kill dragons. Slowly become large enough that only one or two of them were a match for us.”
“Just think of it, the world that is our garden so angered it tried to exterminate us,” Sarah spat. “All because of a mistake.”
“It wasn’t a mistake,” Numidel said.
“Let the outcome stand as the proof,” Sarah said.
Lilly stood by as they argued and felt terrible inside. She looked up a moment later to see they were both staring at her.
“I didn’t know any of this,” she said. “I just wanted to love him and make him happy. Why would such a desire cause so much harm?”
Sarah turned back to the rain with a sigh.
“Sometimes, I wish I knew what this love is. I would like to understand what was so important to risk everything.”
“I sincerely hope you find out someday,” Numidel said. “What little time I had with the emotion is difficult to express.”
Lilly looked to Numidel and nodded.
“Balisha told me this was what she wanted. That we learn to love from humans and enrich our kind with it. She admitted that she didn't realize dragons would fall in love with men, but when they did, she saw it as a greater blessing. It was Solesta who didn't, and she reacted so terribly to it that it led to this.”
“We know, child. We were there,” Sarah said. “But Solesta was willing to continue with the plan so long as men and dragons could not mix. When Balisha removed that barrier, even for just one dragon, it was too far.”
“Thankfully, Solesta is dead. There is nobody to rage over my blessing,” Lilly said.
Sarah folded her arms and looked at Numidel as he shifted uncomfortably.
“What is it?” Lilly asked.
“That may not be entirely true,” Numidel said.
“What isn’t true? Solesta is dead, isn’t she?” Lilly pressed.
Sarah straightened her back and loomed tall as she looked down on Lilly.
“Think child, and put the pieces together. A prophecy is unfolding, and the divines are involved up to their necks! They are scrambling to throw champions in the path of a danger that grows in the east.”
“So?” Lilly pressed.
Numidel stepped forward and licked at his lips before answering.
“The divines would not be so involved unless the danger was dire. They are not permitted to tamper with the world like they once could. They are only allowed to intervene when another divine breaks the rules.”
Lilly looked between the two and finally settled on Sarah, who folded her arms and looked down her nose at Lilly.
“One thing is certain. Something of immense power is behind the mystery of Doan and the chaos of Astikar. That something now stands against Balisha and the blessing you carry. If the divines are so involved that they needed four dragons and an army of men to face it, it must be powerful indeed.”
Lilly trembled at that sudden revelation. For the first time, she worried about what she had done and questioned the future. It was too late to turn back, but was there going to be a future where Gersius could raise his family?
Comments
WhiteRabbit
Astikar from the order of hawks -> falcons? So your not-> you're listening to Gersius breath-> breathe
