Omnixius
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DKP 5-4 Sources of Power
🕑 Added 2020-03-06 18:09:20 +0000 UTC
Thayle awoke to a sensation of warmth and safety. She was in bed, laying on her back with Lilly to her left curled over her. Gersius was on her right, a wall of muscle towering over her. His arm was laid across her body, holding her securely.
She turned her head to look at him and smiled to see he was awake his eyes watching her.
“This was your idea, wasn't it?” she asked him quietly.
He nodded gently. “I wanted you to feel safe.”
Thayle looked into his eyes and saw the light of his aura. She saw how much of it flowed to her demonstrating his love clearly.
“Gersius, I am sorry,” she said.
“Do not be sorry for what happened earlier, your anger is understandable,” he replied.
Thayle started to shake her head but felt Lilly's chin in her hair and decided against disturbing her.
“No, not about that. I am sorry I have not been fair to you.”
“How have you not been fair to me?”
Thayle smiled and blinked her eyes a few times as a gentle blush came to her cheeks. “I am sorry because I don’t tell you how much I love you. I do love you, and I want you to know it.”
“You have told me before, and I can see your aura, I know it every time I look at you.”
“I have been a priestess a long time, Gersius, I know the aura tells you the truth, but I also know that sometimes you just want to hear it said.” She stopped and studied his face before continuing. “I love you,” she said quietly.
“I love you too,” he replied. “And Lilly treasures you.”
Thayle smiled and tried to look at the dragon curled around her.
“She is such a sweet thing. Why is Shadros so different?”
“He is still under the curse and struggling to understand emotion,” Gersius replied. “Hopefully, Mingfe is making progress with him.”
“She is,” Thayle sighed. “She told me he is starting to have moments of conflict.”
Gersius nodded and began to stroke her stomach.
“You slept the whole way back,” he replied. “You were emotionally exhausted.”
Thayle looked away and took a deep breath. “It all hit me at once,” she replied. “I spent that morning explaining to my army that they had to go on. Then I see what happened at that temple, and I have to bring those broken women back. It's going to do nothing but cause more fear and resentment. It will take those women weeks to heal naturally, and the whole while the others will gossip about it.”
“The priests of Vellis were able to heal some of it,” Gersius said. “They can manage wounds that are older.”
“They did?” Thayle said with a shocked tone.
Gersius nodded. “Not all of it, but some of them are looking much better.”
“Thank Ulustrah for that,” Thayle sighed. “I lost myself there. I forgot who I was and saw only an enemy I wanted to punish.”
“I know,” Gersius said. “Your anger became so intense I had to push you from my mind.”
She looked to him and filled with a sense of shame. “I am sorry. I don’t know if I can walk this path. I may be trained to lead and fight, but I was never trained to see everything I love burned.”
Gersius nodded and stroked her stomach. “Nobody can walk this path alone. You will stumble, and when you do, Lilly and I will carry you.”
Thayle took a deep breath and nodded. “I am going to have to face my women and address what happened. I feel like all I ever do is make excuses for what is happening.”
“There is a more serious problem in the camp,” Gersius said.
Thayle looked to his eyes with confusion.
“What?”
Gersius stopped stroking her side and met her gaze with one of pure discomfort.
“Three of the men from that temple were not boys. They were fully trained and disciplined brothers. They stood by and said nothing when the raven priest arrived and accused your order of crimes. They also stood by when one of their brothers objected and was arrested, beaten, and hung.”
“They hung him?” she said, alarmed.
Gersius nodded. “His body was still swinging from a tree behind the temple. Lengwin is not looking at their lack of character well. He had one of your priestesses stand by as he questioned them. They have shamed themselves under the full understanding of what they were doing.”
“What is Lengwin going to do?” Thayle asked.
Gersius sighed. “Lengwin is a holy priest. He can find them guilty of abandoning their faith and their principles, but he cannot pass the kind of judgment he wishes to pass. To do so would put blood on his hands.”
Thayle gasped as her mouth fell open. “Then who has to pass judgment?”
“We do,” Gersius said. “Lengwin is going to strip them of their titles, and then they can stand judgment. Before he strips them, he is going to offer them the final redemption.”
Thayle felt confused at those words. “What does that mean?”
Gersius began to stroke her stomach again. “It works like the challenge of faith. They will be given a chance to pray to Astikar and ask to be judged by the god himself. Astikar then has the right to judge them first; otherwise, I will do it.”
“What will happen if Astikar acts?” Thayle asked.
“For abandoning their principles and turning on a brother who they served with for over ten years, for refusing to abandon his faith, I doubt any of them will survive. If he doesn't, and I have to deal with them, I promise none of them will survive.”
“I'm sorry,” Thayle said. “I may be angry, but I never wanted this to fall on your shoulders or mine.”
“Lengwin is angry at the boys, but he understands they were raised on lies. They were never allowed to know or even question the truth. Those men had years of training in it. They have no excuse for what they did.”
“But other priests have raided our temples, and you haven’t passed such judgment on them,” Thayle pressed.
Gersius nodded. “The others believed the lie that I betrayed the brotherhood with the aid of your order. However, they still treated the members of your temple with respect. They asked for your surrender first, and if combat did take place, struck only to subdue. When the battles were over, they healed the wounded and took great care to see them treated respectfully. They didn't attack without warning, beat them mercilessly, leave them to suffer in their wounds, and then hang one of their own for objecting.”
Thayle closed her eyes as he made it painfully clear.
“This war is making monsters of us all,” she whispered.
“And it is going to get worse,” he replied.
“I wish you could gather the entire order of Astikar and make them stand against you in this test of faith,” Thayle said.
“I wish I could drag the Father Abbot out to stand against me,” he replied. “But he will never agree to such a challenge. The test is rare because both priests must be convinced they are right and willing to put it to the test. When one knows he is lying or is being deceitful, he will find excuses as to why he will not accept.”
Thayle nodded her understanding and looked away.
“My order has no such test, but then we can see the truth. It is only an issue when both parties believe they are honest.”
“How so?” Gersius asked.
Thayle licked at a lip and glanced back.
“The aura only shows the lie if you know your lying. If you believe you are telling the truth, it shows as the truth. The light is a reflection of your heart's condition, not an external judgment.”
“So if you believed something strongly enough, it will show as truth even if it is very wrong?”
Thayle nodded gently, trying not to disturb Lilly.
“But it's like you said to those boys. Deep down, most people know the truth, and that shows in their light.” She watched as his eyes registered her words but carried another worry. “What is it?” she asked.
Gersius looked her firmly in the eyes and began to stroke her stomach again.
“Lengwin wants to meet with us as soon as can be managed this morning.”
“About what?”
“About the fact that those boys were able to call on divine power. He questioned some of them, and they don't even understand how to make the link to their faith.”
“What?” Thayle said as the shock ran over her. “Then how were they throwing hammers?”
“I do not know,” Gersius said. “He wanted to discuss it with all of us.”
Thayle nodded as the impossible thought ran through her mind.
Lilly awoke a minute latter and insisted on holding Thayle tightly. She was happy that some of Thayle’s anger had subsided but worried that it would only come back at the next town.
Thayle wanted to assure her it was alright, but deep down, she knew the pain was just waiting to resurface. The war was affecting her, and the suffering it brought on her order was killing her inside.
Once they were out of bed, they wasted no time in looking for Lengwin. He insisted on discussing the matter instead of training or prayers, and they agreed to postpone their other duties. Lengwin requested that Thayle bring three women of her order who best understood the principles of faith. He also requested the presence of the most faithful of the order of Vellis be present, as well as two holy priests of Astikar.
When the meeting began, he laid out what he had discovered so far. These boys were little more than conscripts. They received less than two months of training, nearly all of which was combat-related. The only spiritual training they received was heavily bent to the belief that Astikars power flowed first to the Father Abbot and then to them. It was through the Father Abbot they received their power, and their duty to protect him was absolute. They had almost no understanding of the nature of the divine or how to meditate. Only one man in their whole number understood a focus technique, and he learned that from a family member who was a priest of Gorrin.
“So how are they accessing their power?” Lilly asked. “I train my acolytes every day, walking them through meditations, and they aren't nearly as strong as those boys are.
Lengwin shook his head. “This is the mystery I can’t solve. Honestly, I have often wondered how you were able to embrace the connection so quickly.”
Lilly looked at him in confusion before the understanding sank in.
“I had a great deal of training in focus already. We dragons can access the power of our solus, much like you can the divine, and I have hundreds of years of practice. I also had the binding link I share with Gersius and Thayle to show me how to use that focus to make the link. It was simple to adapt what I already knew to do so.”
“Understandable then,” Lengwin acknowledged. “But it offers no insight into how these boys are doing it. I can’t fathom how they were able to hurl hammers of Astikar.”
“Or use a bulwark of protection, and call on divine strength,” Gersius reminded.
“It is impossible,” one of the holy priests commented. “No man can call on such power without training.”
“And yet they did,” Gersius said firmly. “They took a shield wall formation with practiced precision. They covered it with a bulwark of faith that protected them from Lilly's breath.”
“Interesting,” A woman of Ulustrah by the name of Sellina interrupted. “So, this defense was capable of stopping the dragon?”
“It stopped her breath,” he corrected. “It broke easily when tested with her claws. Once they were in hand to hand, none of them were skilled enough in the sword to be a challenge.”
“At least that can ’t be learned overnight,” she replied.
“I am disturbed to hear these conscripts are being led by captains drawn from the raven guard,” a dour holy priest of Astikar commented. He was an aged man with a long wrinkled face. His name was Malikus, and his faith and knowledge of the order were peerless. If not for his rather unsympathetic outlook on things, he would have made a good Father Abbot. However, as he proved now, he had a sharp eye for essential details. It was very disturbing that brainwashed boys were being led to battle by the raven guard.
“Is our road going to be littered with the bodies of fool boys led to believe they are dying for a good cause?” one of the women asked.
“If they can call on divine power with ease, it is likely to be littered with the bodies of our sisters,” Selina added.
“If the raven guard are going to be leading such units, they could grow rapidly in number,” Malikus pressed. “They will represent a great threat to our campaign.”
Lengwin looked tired and shook his head at the comments.
“What we need to know right now is how they are using the power they have no connection to,” he pressed.
“They can’t be,” Malikus said flatly.
“I agree, “ Sellina added in a motherly tone. “It is an impossibility that a boy could call on such power without the proper training or conditioning.”
Thayle felt her anger boiling up to hear such ridiculous statements. She slammed a hand on the table, drawing all eyes.
“Denying what is happening is pointless. You may as well point to the sun and declare it can’t be there. Those boys are calling on power despite what you want to believe. Now, does anyone have anything they can offer that might shed some light on the mystery?”
“If they were dragons, I would say they could be consuming gold to power their blessings,” Lilly said.
“What?” Lengwin asked in confusion.
Lilly looked nervously about as she realized she had just given away one of her secrets. She swallowed and took a breath before explaining how dragons absorbed the magic of metals and could use it to power weaves. She felt foolish for exposing her ability, but none of the people in the room seemed to be surprised.
“Weaves maybe,” Malikus said with a wave of his hand. “But these are blessings, unique to each divine. Surely it has to be another way.”
“Have we tested them to make sure they are not dragons?” one of the women asked. “When their eyes are not glowing, they are nearly impossible to identify.”
“You can see the dragon form in the aura,” Thayle reminded them. “None of them are dragons.”
“Then we are back to the mystery of where they get their power,” Malikus said with a grunt.
“They claim it comes from Astikar?” Sellina questioned.
“Through the Father Abbot,” Lengwin replied.
“Do they pray to the Father Abbot?” the woman pressed, causing the others to look up.
Lengwin was silent a moment as he considered the question. “I don’t know, but I want to find out.”
A runner was dispatched, and a few minutes later, one of the boys stood before the meeting with his head bowed. He was questioned ferociously about the source of his power and to whom he prayed. He was pressed to recite some of the prayers he knew so all could listen. To Gersius's great shock, he did indeed pray to the Father Abbot, not Astikar. The boy was dismissed so the meeting could continue in secret.
“This is even more impossible,” Malikus sighed. “The Father Abbot has no authority to grant power.”
“Only a divine can grant a blessing,” the women of Ulustrah agreed.
It was the man appointed by the priests of Vellis who asked the question that made them all go silent.
“Is perhaps the Father Abbot a dragon?”
The room fell into a deathly silence, and the gathered members shared worried glances.
“It can't be,” Gersius said, breaking the silence after it had gone on too long.
“Even if he was, how would that change anything?” Sellina asked.
Gersius looked at Lilly, who felt decidedly uncomfortable over the bind.
“Do you want to explain it?”
All eyes turned to Lilly as she nervously scratched at the table with her fingers.
“Explain what?” Sellina asked.
Thayle put a hand over Lilly’s and squeezed to reassure her.
“I will tell them, sweetheart. You correct me if I go astray.”
Lilly nodded, and Thayle turned to the others whose stares could bore holes through stone.
“Lilly acts as a sort of well of power. When Gersius and I need to, we can draw on that power to feed our blessings. This is why I can heal better than any woman of Ulustrah. I am weaving Lilly’s strength into Ulustrahs, to boost the magic.”
The room was silent as the group began to consider the revelations.
“But, this power flows because you are bound to each other?” Malikus suggested.
“Yes,” Thayle said with a shake of her head. “I don't know how it all works, but we assume that the binding is what allows it.”
“What if that isn't what allows it?” Sellina asked. “What if there is a way for a dragon to gift their power to another?”
“I don't know of any way to do that,” Lilly argued. “But then I am very young for a dragon, and I didn't pay much attention to my mother's lessons.”
“Then it could be possible?” Malikus asked.
“The Father Abbot is not a dragon,” Gersius stated flatly. “He would be under the curse and unable to manage his feelings. He would not have seen any value in such a scheme, or derive any pleasure from working with humans.”
“And what of these other dragons?” Sellina asked. “Are they not under the curse as well? yet they behave as well as any human.”
“They are being shielded by a divine,” Gersius argued back. “Balisha is protecting them with what little power she has.”
“And the Father Abbot couldn’t be shielded as well?” Sellina questioned with a deadly serious expression.
“But who would be protecting him?” Lilly asked. “Balisha is the queen of dragons. Only she can protect a dragon from the curse.”
“You know that for certain?” Sellina aked with a firm glare.
“Well, no,” Lilly said.
“Then another divine could be protecting the Father Abbot,” the woman went on.
Lilly looked lost and turned to Gersius for guidance.
“I do not think Astikar would protect him,” Gersius replied for her.
“Who said it had to be Astikar?” Malikus added. “There are many more divines.”
“But it has to be Astikar,” Lengwin said. “They are using his blessings.”
“Does it?” Thayle asked. “Many divines share blessings. We can all heal to some respect. Nearly all of them have strength and protections.”
“But the hammers,” Lengwin argued. “Only Astikar can throw hammers.”
“Is it impossible to believe another divine could have hammers?” Thayle pressed.
“We are getting confused here,” Gersius said. “The original point was that the Father Abbot might be a dragon. I am nearly certain he is not, but even if he was and a lesser divine was protecting him from the curse, and that divine had hammers like Astikar, how would that channel through the Father Abbot to these boys? They would still need to know how to make the connection.”
“There must be another way,” Malikus said. “Some way to access the power that doesn't require the level of discipline we are familiar with.”
“Has anyone thought to have the boys demonstrate it?” Sellina asked.
“Several times,” Lengwin said. “I can attest they are not using it the same way we are.”
“But they must be doing something,” Sellina pressed. “Some method or technique that would give us insight into how.”
Lengwin sighed and slumped his shoulders in frustration. “They seem to reach for it like we do, but they have no concept of the techniques. They utter a prayer to the Father Abbot, and the power comes.”
Sellina ’s face soured as if the answer was ridiculous but couldn’t deny the fact that it wasn’t.
“Then we have to face the fact that our foes might be much stronger than we believed, and they can train priests much faster than we can. We are likely to see a great increase in casualties in the days ahead.”
“They may have access to power, but they are poorly trained for combat,” Gersius said.
Sellina looked at him with a stone-faced expression and shook her head. “I would rather they knew how to use a sword than have uncontrolled access to divine power. A sword can kill a man; a pillar of fire can lay waste to a village.”
Gersius sat back in his chair as whispers circled the table.
“Only a gifted priest with years of training can manage the holy fire,” he insisted.
“Those boys can call on hammers of Astikar with ease. Are we willing to gamble the holy fire won't come just as easily?” she countered.
Gersius looked to Lilly and Thayle to see genuine fear on their faces. If these false priests could call on so dangerous a blessing, their war campaign was as good as over.
“We need to question one of them to determine the full extent of their ability,” Malikus said. “Then, we can panic over what it means for our future.”
“Agreed,” Lengwin said with a hint of worry in his voice.
The meeting went on for another hour, but nothing of significance was gained. They continued to argue how the boys used power, but couldn't find a reasonable explanation. Lengwin called an end and suggested they consider the problem over the day and meet again in the evening.
Thayle went off to deal with the problems that were growing among her forces. The two women walked with her and informed her of the dangers, and the bitter resentment that was brewing. Many saw the priests of Astikar as the enemy and made no distinction between Lengwin's men and the Father Abbots. Already there had been arguments and threats made between the two groups, and the battered women who arrived last night sent many into a rage. They wanted the boys punished regardless of their youth and the lies they were fed.
Thayle struggled with the turmoil in her heart. She understood they were young and easily manipulated, but there was a very real desire to see them punished herself. She understood this was born of a need to strike back and visit some harm on the enemy but wasn't sure she cared.
Gersius would never allow them to harm the boys, and she knew deep down it was wrong. Still, something had to be done to give the women of her forces a victory. From the mauling they took in the battle, to the battered women now laying in the camp recovering, they were filled with emotional stress. Sooner or later, they would need to vent that stress or risk collapse. She prayed to Ulustrah that she wouldn't be one of the first.
Lilly took her acolytes through prayers and then skipped the training. She was far too occupied with worriy, and the acolytes were needed to begin breaking down the camp.
As the work began, she walked to the tents of Ulustrah to see Thayle was addressing the mass of her women again. Unwilling to interrupt, she wandered around the side to where Shadros lay in the grass watching from a distance with a single eye.
“Shadros,” she called to alert him to her presence.
“What do you want? Is there another town you wish to assist the rodents in killing one another?”
“Why must you be so horrible all the time?” Lilly asked. “We asked you for help, and you did really well.”
He huffed and looked down on her before lowering his head to sniff at her.
“Why do you smell like that?” he asked.
Lilly held up her arms and sniffed at herself. She realized she smelled like Thayle's oils and smiled at why; however, she wasn't going to tell him.
“It's oil the humans wear,” Lilly said, leaving out any detail. “They like to use it to mask their scent.”
“What is wrong with how they smell?” he asked.
Lilly shrugged, she didn't care how they smelled either. She was rather fond of how Gersius smelled after he had been sparring.
Shadros glared at her and lifted his head high to look out over the camp. He started in the direction of the meeting tent, and his tail began to twitch. Lilly noted the gesture and a strange fluctuation of colors in his aura as he stared off.
“What are you thinking about?” Lilly asked.
“The sword,” he replied. “The one you took from my lair. She used it in the battle yesterday.”
Lilly thought about the strange weapon and the green metal that made up its blade. She wondered if he knew the power that was locked in the metal. “What about it?” she asked.
“What purpose does it serve for her?”
Lilly almost sighed in relief to hear the simple question.
“She was told to get it by a messenger who said the divines wanted her to have it,” Lilly said. “He told us where it was, that’s why we came to your lair.”
Shadros looked down at her with a single eye.
“You were told where the sword was?”
Lilly nodded and looked up at the dragon that was carefully watching her.
“Shadros, you need to understand the divines are leading us for a greater purpose. They picked Gersius to set all this in motion. They chose us to be their champions to see their purpose through. I am Balisha's champion, Thayle is Ulustrahs, the red Sutherisa is Astikars.”
“And who is Gersius champion of?” he asked.
Lilly went quiet as she wondered the answer herself. Which divine called Gersius his champion? He had taken it rather hard to know he wasn't Astikars or Balisha's, but surely he was important? This whole campaign was his doing, and without him, it would have failed time and time again. He was more important than any of them, and yet, he wasn't a champion?
“I don’t know,” Lilly whispered.
The dragon sniffed at the air and looked back to the women of Ulustrah.
“That sword is why I know so little of my mother and our ways. It pains me to admit it, but you probably know more of our history than I do.”
“I could tell you everything I know, but it isn't very much either,” Lilly said. “I bet Sutherisa and Numidel could teach us both a great deal more.”
“Do you not feel the pride of a dragon any longer?” he said, turning his head to glare at her. “I would not grovel before you or them for such aid.”
Lilly saw the pain in his aura and felt a deep well of pity, something she knew he couldn't understand. She was like him once, so prideful and sure in her power, she unable to ask for help. She needed nothing from others, and there was nothing she couldn't do. But these past weeks showed her a whole new world and a new way of thinking.
From the moment Gersius led her out of the valley, she needed him. She couldn't fly and take care of herself any longer. She needed him for protection, for food, for everything. At the time, she hated her condition, but like everything else, it was a lesson meant to teach her. Now she understood that everybody needed help from others, and the strongest ones were not afraid to ask for it.
“I still feel the pride of my dragon blood,” Lilly replied. “But I have grown beyond it. I will ask them to teach us both, so you don't have to.”
He looked away back to the camp of Ulustrah as if searching for Thayle.
“That sword bothers you,” Lilly said.
“It is a symbol of my pain,” he replied. “It reminds me of what I lost.”
“You loved your mother.”
His head snapped around, and he lowered it to look her in the eyes.
“What is this love you and the Mingfe keep speaking of? You and many of the others use this word as if it was as common as the rain.”
Lilly took a step back and tried to think of the best way to answer him. She hadn't understood love until she felt it, and even then, all it did was make her confused. It took weeks of struggling through it with Thayle at her side to get a concept of what it was. How would she convey that in words he would understand?
She looked at his eyes and tried and decided on a simple answer to start him on the path.
“Love is an emotion that takes you by surprise. It wells up from deep inside and lets you know that somebody means more to you than your own life. When you can look at somebody and know that you would die to protect them, then you will understand love.”
“You would die to protect the rodents?”
“I would die to protect Gersius and Thayle, and they would die to protect me,” Lilly said without hesitation.
He let out a deep breath and lifted his head away, looking again to the camp of women.
“So, my mother loved me, and she died to protect me,” he said. “That still doesn’t explain it.”
Lilly felt a deep pain as he linked the concepts to what his mother said.
“Yes, she did. I'm sorry,” Lilly replied.
“Shadros,” Lilly started, uncertain if she should continue. “Do you know anything about the sword?”
He didn't move or even glance her way. He kept watching the camp as if he could see the weapon.
“Like what?” he replied after the silence had gone on too long.
“Is there anything special about it you can tell us?”
“Did you not notice the cave you found it in?” he asked. “Did you not see the vegetation that grew on the walls.”
Lilly thought back to the day they found the sword and did remember the plants growing in the darkness. Thayle said such growth couldn't happen in the dark, and that even several priestesses of Ulustrah couldn't have kept those plants alive.
“I do remember it, what about it?”
“The sword caused that. I have tried several times to freeze it away. I coated the plants in ice and watched them die, but always they regrew in a matter of hours.”
“They did?”
He glanced down only briefly and then returned his gaze to the distant camp.
“There is a magic in that blade, much like the woman of this camp. I have seen them make sounds and cause plants to grow. They come together to join their power and raise whole trees. Their power is very much the same as that of the sword, and they wear similar colors.”
“They worship the goddess Ulustrah,” Lilly replied. “She blesses the harvest and the home.”
“Your Thayle is a champion of this goddess then, and she was told to come for the sword that grows plants.”
Lilly nodded in reply as he put the thoughts together.
“Then the tunnel collapses, and somehow she is unharmed while I am buried in the rock and helpless. She is lost, and I will not aid her, so she binds me to force me to lead her out. Now I here, trapped with you and the rodents, as you try and teach me what it is you think I should know.”
Lilly nodded as he looked down in her with narrow eyes.
“You say that these divines are guiding your steps. Does that mean I was put here by them?”
“Probably,” Lilly admitted. “It is one of the reasons why we have been trying to work with you. Thayle honestly believes the divines want you to be with us.” She was hopeful he was starting to see this in a new light that would encourage more cooperation. However, he quickly dashed those thoughts.
“So, I am a slave to these divines as well?”
Lilly sighed in frustration at the sudden turn.
“You're not a slave. Yes, you are here against your will, but we won't force you to do anything but follow us and listen to us. Gersius even told you that you didn't have to go.”
“He attacked my honor by accusing me of being a coward for not wanting to go!” Shadros snapped. “I am no fool. I understood the meaning of his words.”
Lilly held her tongue a moment, not wanting to lash back at him.
“I asked you to come with us because we needed your help. Gersius was just making a point of saying you are such a powerful dragon that there was no reason for you to grumble about going. He knew you were just being stubborn. He doesn't believe at all that you are a coward.”
“I grumble because I have to deal with them,” he said. “It wounds my pride to have to answer their questions.”
Lilly smiled slightly at the honest response. She felt that way for days after Gersius bound her. That night in the farmhouse, she told him how much it angered her to have to speak to him. For a moment, she tried to ponder when that feeling faded away. She realized it faded that day he danced with her in the apple grove, and the emotion that would one day be called love began to stir.
“I felt that way too,” Lilly admitted. “But I soon realized how wrong I was. Please, try and understand that you are here because we need you. We need your help because you are worth a hundred humans. If you will tolerate us just a little longer, you may come to see things as I do.”
“Why would I want that?”
Lilly stared into his eyes and made her words as soft as she could.
“Because on that day, you will understand what your mother truly meant when she said I love you, and you will grow to be ten times the dragon you are now. You will see the world in a way that our kind was forbidden to see, and you will know happiness and joy like you could never imagine.”
“You see the world like this?”
Lilly nodded. “And we desperately want to show you.”
