Omnixius
patreon
DKP 4-20 Valley of Dreams
🕑 Added 2019-12-18 23:21:46 +0000 UTC
They flew in silence, searching the road below for Lengwin and the marching army. None of them felt like talking about what happened, or what it might mean for the future. Gersius held Thayle firmly around the waist feeling her anger burn over the bind. To see a temple to her goddess burning affected her deeply, and she was not ready to discuss it. When the lines of marching soldiers and wagons came into view, Lilly began to descend.
She landed in a field some fifty yards away so as not to frighten the horses and let Gersius and Thayle down. There she sat and waited for the caravan to pass her by so she could move to the rear. As she did some of her acolytes who were not busy leading horses or wagons walked out to see her.
Gersius and Thayle went directly to the head of the column and sought out Lengwin. He needed to know that the strain between the two faiths had become much worse. They fell into the column and walked beside his horse so they could deliver the news.
“I did not expect to see you back until morning,” Lengwin said as they approached him. He wore a simple outfit of white tunic over red pants tucked into black boots. His dark beard had an almost curly look to it, and his eyes were bright. The only mark of station he wore was a simple necklace of Astikar, a gold chain with a red star with eight rays.
Gersius approached him with a face of stone. “We had a complication and thought it best to return and report,” he said in a dire tone.
Lengwin’s cherry demeanor vanished instantly to hear the tone of Gersius’s voice.
“What happened?”
“One of the towns we visited was a war zone. The priests of Astikar were attacking the temple of Ulustrah. They burned the temple and its surrounding gardens,” Gersius said.
Lengwin closed his eyes and sighed. “Then the road ahead will be littered with battles and bodies. The False father is determined to do as much damage as he can.”
“We managed to save the priests of Ulustrah,” Gersius said as they walked down the road.
“What of the priests of Astikar?” Lengwin asked.
“They were good men with strong hearts.”
“Were?” Lengwin pressed?
Gersius looked at Lengwin and shook his head. “They are all dead. They believed they were doing Astikar's work, and that he would protect them. Despite our pleas, they refused to yield.”
Lengwin hung his head and muttered silently to himself. Several of the priests marching ahead of them looked over their shoulders, having overheard.
“Does knowing your brothers are dying upset you?” Gersius asked the closest man.
The man turned enough to give Gersius a bow and answered. “Of course it does, my lord. They are my brothers, after all. I only wish another way could be found to bring them to our cause instead of trampling them under it.”
Gersius nodded. “You are a good man; your answer is just and merciful, you will do great things for Astikar.”
He is right; we must find a way to turn these men to our cause,” Lengwin said, getting control of himself.
Gersius nodded his agreement but couldn’t think of a solution.
“We can’t start butchering out own order,” Lengwin added.
“Gersius tried to persuade the men,” Thayle said. “He declared himself the dragon knight, but their captain refused to accept it. He said that the dragon knight would be a man of Astikar and would himself uphold the decrees of the Father Abbot.”
There were grumblings from the men around them as Thayle looked around.
“What is that about?” she asked.
One of the riders leaned forward to address her. “You will forgive us, Lady Dragon knight, but we have been told since joining the order that the dragon would be a man of Astikar.”
“Technically, he is a man of Astikar,” Thayle said. “But, your order drove him out.”
The man nodded that he understood but went on. “We are made to learn some of the passages so that we can quote them. They are very clear in what they say. There will be only one dragon knight, it will be a man, and he will be a priest of Astikar. It even talks about him hurling hammers of Astikar while wearing the armor.”
Thayle looked to Gersius, and he nodded that this was indeed true.
“But that doesn't make sense,” she said. “The dragon knight is a title of Balisha. Why would she pass her title on to a priest of Astikar?”
“Why did she pass it to a priestess of Ulustrah?” Lengwin asked.
Thayle was speechless as she pondered the question.
Gersius took over the conversation when Thayle could not find a reply.
“Whatever the reason the divines did choose us. They delivered Lilly, the armor, and now Thayle's sword. There must be a reason why this does not match the prophecy.”
“I hope others won't hold you to this standard,” Lengwin said. “It will give them cause to resist you.”
“The only reason I did not walk through the golden gate as a priest of Astikar is because the Father Abbot would now allow it,” Gersius argued. “I would not be in this position if he had not acted to prevent it.”
“We all know that,” Lengwin said. “But many ahead may not. They believe you attacked Whiteford and that the Father Abbot saved the city. He is the hero to their eyes, and you are the villain.”
“All we can do is send them messengers and appear in person to try to reason with them,” Gersius said. “Many are already disturbed by the order to restrain the priestesses of Ulustrah.”
“Restrain?” Thayle remarked. “That man said his orders were to eradicate us.”
Lengwin flinched at the remark and looked around nervously.
“Surely he misspoke,” Lengwin said.
“I was standing right there. He said his orders were to eradicate our faithful from the land. He was to burn our temples and arrest or slay all her followers.”
“He said if necessary,” Gersius corrected.
“Does it matter?” Thayle asked. “Slain or imprisoned, he is still wiping my faith from the land.”
Lengwin listened to the exchange with worry and interrupted.
“Who said this?”
Gersius sighed to think of the captain who would not yield. Such bravery was rare in men, and he lamented that such a man had to die.
“The captain leading them said the Father Abbots direct orders were to eradicate the order of Ulustrah.”
Lengwin nodded as his face darkened. “How will I ever clean this stain on our honor?”
“Just getting to Calathen and putting an end to his madness will go a long way,” Gersius said. “Time will have to heal the rest of the wounds.”
“Gersius, we are a month away from Calathen still. How much damage can he do with that much time?”
“Whatever harm he intended to do in the empire he has likely already done,” Gersius said. “We have minimized what he can do in the northern kingdoms.”
Lengwin nodded, but one of the knights behind him spoke up.
“What if we fail?” the man asked.
Gersius turned to look at the man who spoke. “We will not fail. The Father Abbot has tried to stop me a dozen times already. This madness he is spreading is because I keep getting away. He is growing desperate in his efforts to prevent me from reaching Calathen and reforming the empire. It is proof that we are winning.”
The man nodded, but Gersius knew many of them shared the same fear. What if they lost in the end? He looked to Thayle, who simmered in anger over her order being eradicated for a lie. How had his desire to save so many people resulted in the destruction of so many more?
As he pondered this impossible thought, Lilly met with her followers.
Lilly watched her acolytes approach as the column passed.
“Hello, young ones,” Lilly said as they arrived. “Why have you come out to me?”
“We wanted to see you as a dragon,” a young woman named Hikehia said.
“You have seen me in my true form many times,” Lilly said.
“We always see you from afar,” she replied. “We seldom get to see you up close.”
Lilly lowered her head to meet her pupils at eye level.
“Well, take a good look, because not many dragons will tolerate such company. We are driven to live solitary lives and rarely seek the company of our own kind, let alone that of humans.”
“But you like human company?” another asked.
“My curse is broken, and I have learned to value the company of others. I still am not as sure with people as Thayle or Gersius are, but I am learning.”
As the end of the line appeared, she saw the black form that was Shadros bringing up the rear. Mingfe walked beside him, but the two were not talking. Lilly sighed and twitched her tail in irritation to see him and feel his presence growing in the bind. She wondered what insults he was waiting to spew at her for the company she valued.
“Has Shadros behaved while we were gone?” she asked.
The woman who spoke looked back to him and nodded. “He and the priestess Mingfe had some kind of argument, but he has done nothing to disrupt the march.”
Lilly lifted her head high to look at him and met his gaze as he looked back. She could feel his frustration and anger from where she sat. More so, now she felt his disgust when his eyes spotted the saddle on her back. She briefly considered sending the acolytes away, but another idea entered her mind.
“I am going to follow the wagons and walk beside Shadros. I want you to walk with me, but stay to my left where he can not reach you.”
They nodded their consent as Lilly started to walk off with them, clumped together beside her. One of the men asked her what dragons liked to eat. She as so tempted to say people, but she didn't think they were ready for that joke. She explained how little they ate and how, when they did eat, it was usually any large animal they could catch. Few dragons ever bothered with plants, and certainly never entertained the idea of cooking them.
They fell in line beside Shadros as she explained it all.
“But you like cooked food,” he suggested.
“I do,” Lilly replied. “But I would never have tried it, if not for Gersius. I was content to live my life alone in my dragon form and never know the wonders of human foods.”
She looked to Shadros, who glared back with a single angry eye.
“Do you like your human form or your dragon form more?” one of the women asked.
Lilly tipped her head to look down at the woman. “I like both my forms for different reasons. I am and always will be the dragon. This is the form where I am in my full power and glory. However, I have come to appreciate the things that can only be done in my human form. Eating human food is just one of the many pleasures that form allows. Sleeping in the arms of my loves in another.”
“Do not deceive them,” Shadros said with a low growl. “You are not a dragon.”
Lilly lifted her head and shook it in irritation. “Why because I am not a wild animal like you?”
“I am not an animal; I am a dragon. I am what I am, and I do not carry any shame for it. You, however, reek of shame for betraying what was born to your blood.”
“You are a lizard looking up at a being you can't understand. Since you can't grasp anything greater than yourself, you attack it saying it must be beneath you.”
“I am not a lizard!” he roared. “I am a dragon, and unlike you, I will not be broken!”
“You think I am broken?” Lilly laughed. “I may be the only dragon in the land who isn’t broken. There is only one other dragon I know who is free of the curse, and he would call you a wild animal and put you down.”
“Then you both betray your blood.”
“You need to learn to hold your tongue,” Mingfe snapped.
“Why? She is a slave to weakness, and craves the frailty of her human form.”
Mingfe went to scold him, but Lilly yelled over her.
“You are a slave to an ancient curse that binds your heart and prevents you from reaching your full potential. You waste your long years away in a hole in the ground guarding a pile of metal. You do nothing with yourself, you accomplish nothing with your time, and you have no impact on the world around you. You are as useless as a broken jug and as pointless as a shield made of paper.”
“And you have accomplished something with your time?” he laughed.
Lilly threw her head high as if the question was stupid.
“I am the highest priestess of the order of Balisha. Those who walk beside me are my followers, and I train them to praise the goddess. I am also a wife to a wonderful man and woman who shower me with love. I am trusted by these humans and included in all they do. They thank me and praise me for my ways, and I get to share in their experiences. You, on the other hand, get to walk in the rear, watching everything unfold before you but never being a part of it. You only want to go back to your cave and let time forget you. Your only desire in life is to be nothing.”
He snarled so viciously her acolytes backed away, but Lilly stared him down. Mingfe yelled up at him as she waved her spear, and he quieted down.
Lilly looked down at the woman who was trying to reach him. She had seen Mingfe touch him, but that seemed to matter little. His heart still burned with anger, and Mingfe was not sufficient to quench that fire.
“I wanted you to be one of our accomplishments. I wanted to reach the heart of a second dragon and show him how to enjoy the things I enjoy. But the curse is strong on you, and you hate so deeply none of us can reach you. I have already suggested they send you away, but they wanted to give you more time. I think any time we spend on you is wasted, and I will make my suggestion again.
He looked away from her with his head low, and his tail thrashing in anger. She gave up and sent her followers away before taking back to the sky and flying ahead on the road. There she landed and changed into her human form and waited for the column to catch up.
The saddle was lifted into a wagon, and the march resumed with Lilly beside her lovers in anger.
“What did he say to you?” Thayle asked. “Did he call you names again?”
“I don't care what he calls me,” Lilly said. “It's who he is that bothers me. I look at him, and I see myself in all that rage and arrogance. Just knowing I was like that sickens me.”
“Where you ever like that, though?” Gersius asked.
Lilly sighed. “Gersius, you met me when I was broken and vulnerable. You never saw me when I was deep in the curse. I doubt you would have been able to tell us apart.”
He glanced at her and reached for her hand.
“I do not believe that. You yelled at me and told me how mighty you were, but you never behaved as he does. Rarely did I feel true anger from you like I do him. And that only came when you spoke about your wings.”
Lilly nodded but looked up into his eyes. “That may be so, but I assure you, I was a dragon just like he is. Had I not been broken that day, I would have killed you.”
“Let’s not talk about this again,” Thayle interrupted. “The day has had enough emotional turmoil to add that to it.”
“I would suggest we make camp early so we can rest, but Lengwin is right, we need to get to Calathen with all haste,” Gersius said.
“I wish we could fly the whole army there and take them by surprise in the morning,” Thayle grumbled.
“Even if we had enough dragons to carry them, Calathen is still days away by flight,” Gersius said.
“I know where it is,” Thayle said. “I just want to get there and put an end to all this.”
He nodded and put his arm around her and pulled her in.
“I promise you, one day, we will stand in Lilly's valley and watch as Lilly plays with a baby.”
Thayle smiled and looked up at him. “That was a sweet thing to say.”
“The road ahead is long, but our time of rest is coming. Trust me; there are golden years ahead.”
Thayle sighed and leaned into him as far as her armor would allow. For the rest of the day, they marched, pressing well into the evening before a halting. Once the tents were up, Gersius, Thayle, and Lilly sat in that night's meeting.
After the long list of issues, they were finally left alone in the meeting tent to think. Their mood was dour, so Lilly dragged them to the bedchambers and worked to love them. Eventually, they were settled into bed with Lilly curled into his left side while Thayle laid on his right.
“We live such a strange life,” Thayle said. “We have terrible moments of pain and struggle, followed by powerful moments of love. I don't know how much of this I can take. I need some consistency.”
“We all do,” Gersius said. “I started this quest to end the war so I could retire in peace, buy a farm, and hopefully start a family. I never intended for it to turn into such a conflict of faiths.”
Thayle ran a hand up his chest and smirked slightly. “How were you going to buy a farm and start a family once you became emperor of the dragon empire.”
He shrugged and ran his hand down her back. “I suppose I hadn't considered that. It seems no matter what I do. My path leads to more duty and obligation. I wish we were in Lilly's valley. I wish you could see how isolated and beautiful it is.”
“I dream of that day,” Thayle said. “But it will have to wait.”
Lilly chewed on a lip and ran a hand along his leg.
“Maybe you don’t have to wait,” she suggested.
Gersius lifted his head from the pillow and looked down at her.
“What do you mean?”
Lilly looked up with beautiful blue eyes that still glowed. “There is something we dragons can do that I am very bad at. Maybe since we share a soul, you could do it with me?”
“Do what?” Thayle asked.
“My mother told me that dragons could walk in their dreams. She tried to teach it to me a dozen times, but I never listened. In the last few weeks, I have been trying to do it. I have gotten it right a couple of times, but mostly by accident.”
Gersius rubbed her back as she got uncomfortable while trying to explain it.
“What does walk in your dreams mean?” Thayle asked.
Lilly looked away as she ran her hand up and down Gersius’s leg.
“My mother said there was a dream world that mirrored this one. Dragons who sleep for a long time enter this world and are awake there. It has some important meaning to dragons, and my mother said we once used it for something.”
“A dream world?” Thayle repeated. “But dreams are just in your mind.”
“Most dreams are,” Lilly said. “But there is another world that exists with this one where dragons dream. It is a place of loneliness where the only other inhabitants are dragons. Sometimes when we dream, we feel one another and get a sense of where we are in the real world.”
“What good would knowing that do you?” Thayle asked.
Lilly blushed and looked up with playful eyes. “So, we can find a mate when the calling comes.”
Gersius looked at Thayle with a surprised expression and then turned back to Lilly.
“But you tell us about some of your dreams. I even look into them and see you flying or laying in the sun of your valley.”
Lilly nodded. “That's the dream,” Lilly said. “Sometimes I have normal dreams, and sometimes I am in the dream. I don't have the control my mother said she had. I wish I had paid more attention to what she said.”
“So, there is a way to choose to enter this dream world?” Thayle asked.
Lilly shrugged. “When a dragon settles down for a long sleep, they enter the world naturally. They are awake in that world while they sleep here. My mother told me there was a way to enter this world intentionally, but I don't remember what she said.”
“Then you can't get to this world?” Thayle asked.
“Yes, I can sometimes. I do it accidentally when I sleep. I just don't know how to do it intentionally. When you see me flying in my valley, that's me flying in the dream.”
“Maybe we will gain this as a dragon gift?” Gersius suggested.
“How would we even know?” Thayle said. “If it feels like a dream, we would assume it was. We could go there a thousand times and never know it.”
“I know because I can feel this world around me,” Lilly said. “When you two move or speak, I know it is happening from inside the dream. I can choose to exit the dream and wake up.”
Gersius looked at Lilly with a curious expression. “Can two dragons meet in the dream?”
Lilly nodded. “My mother said they could. She said they met in the dream intentionally long ago. It was part of something dragons did that was important, but I don’t know how to find them. All I ever see are shadowy images of where they are sleeping.”
“Maybe the dream is unique to each dreamer,” Thayle pondered.
“No, every dreamer who goes deeply enough is in the dream. My mother was very clear that there was one dream. She called it Shillahdor.”
“That’s an odd name,” Thayle said. “Does that mean something.”
“In your language, it would be sleeping land or dreaming land.”
“How many dragons have you seen? Gersius asked.
Lilly thought about it as she counted in her head. “Maybe ten, but I hardly ever traveled in the dream. I flew off a few times where I felt a pull, but that was rare.”
“Was Shadros ever one of them?”
Lilly shook her head.
“Then there are a lot more dragons to find,” he said.
“They aren’t extinct,” Thayle remarked. “We know about the red and Numidel as well.”
Gersius shook his head. “So while you are in this dream, you can sense this world around you?”
Lilly nodded. “I can hear things going on here. If something moves close to me, I can sense it.”
“So that’s how you can sleep in caves for a hundred years and not be surprised,” he said.
“That and we lay protective weaves,” Lilly said. “Most dragons have layers of weaves that alert them if somebody comes near.”
“Right, you told us about that,” he said with a nod. “What did you mean when you said we might not have to wait?”
She curled to him tightly and reached over for Thayle’s hand.
“What if I could pull you two into the dream? I could dream of the valley and bring you there, and we could have some time just to ourselves.”
Gersius lifted his head to look at her in surprise.
“Can you do that?”
Lilly chewed her bottom lip and shrugged slightly.
“I can try. As I said, I have been trying to remember what my mother said about it. I know she said I could go there anytime I wanted. I just don't remember all the steps to how.”
“So, you don’t know the full process?” Thayle asked.
“I remember some of it,” Lilly said with a sigh. “It’s a lot like the teaching Gersius gave me for clearing your mind. She said I had to focus on a spot that was very familiar to me near where I wanted to be.”
“Near where you wanted to be?” Thayle asked.
Lilly rubbed at Thayle’s hand as she struggled to remember what her mother said.
“She said you could go to any place in the dream if you knew what it looked like.”
“I wonder if this works for humans?” Thayle pondered. “I would love to see my family's gardens again.”
“The dream world looks like our own?” Gersius asked.
“It's a near-exact copy,” Lilly said.
“Does that mean it can be different?”
“I don't know. I didn't do much traveling or notice any differences. Half the time, I don't even realize I am in the dream, but my mother said there were differences, and that you could change things in the dream.”
“Change them how?”
“I don’t know,” Lilly said in frustration.
“Maybe we should go meet your mother before attacking Calathen,” Thayle said. “I feel like she could teach us a great deal about the world.”
“My mother is ancient,” Lilly said. “I imagine she could teach you more than you could learn.”
“How old is she?” Gersius asked.
Lilly released Thayle’s hand and started to trace circles around a scar on Gersius’s chest.
“She should be seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-one.”
“Seven thousand?” Gersius stammered.
“That makes her older than the dragon war!” Thayle cried.
“My mother saw the dragon war,” Lilly said.
“Lilly!” Thayle cried. “Your mother might know some of the history we forgot. Who knows what she could tell us about the world that was lost.”
“She told me the world almost healed once, but a shadow struck in the night and ended that hope.”
“That means your mother knows the world is broken,” Gersius said. “She is not like Shadros at all. She is aware of what is going on. I would very much like to meet her.”
Lilly sighed. “She is not like me. She is much bigger than I am and very intimidating.”
“Is she free of the curse?” Thayle asked.
Lilly looked up into Thayle's eyes. “I don't know. I would assume she is cursed, but she doesn't act like Shadros. She spent a lot of time telling us stories and teaching us about humans.”
“Which means she knows humans,” Gersius said. “Your mother is a mystery I would love to unravel.”
“I wonder if we could find her in this dream?” Thayle said.
“I don't know how to do that,” Lilly said. “I wish I had listened to her, but I was like Shadros, and I didn't care.” She pulled her hand back as she became angry at herself.
“Lilly,” Gersius said with a tender voice. He pulled her tightly to himself and kissed the top of her head. “You were cursed, and it prevented you from understanding. You can't blame yourself for what you did while in that state. When we have time, we will visit your mother. You can go before her first and tell her about us. Then maybe we can all sit down and talk to her.”
Lilly sniffed and nodded as Thayle stroked her arm.
“So tell us about this dream some more. You think you can bring us into it?”
“I don't know,” Lilly said. “I miss the valley too, and I wanted to share it with you. I thought maybe I could get us there, and we could have a moment of peace. I am not sure how to do it or how to pull you in, but I want to try.”
“It sounds like a wonderful idea,” Thayle said. “Now relax, and don’t be upset about your mother. Think instead of how wonderful it’s going to be to talk to her with your mind clear.”
Lilly nodded and looked up into Thayle's beautiful, angled eyes.
“I am glad you're my wife and my best friend. I hope I am a good friend to you.”
“Sweetheart, I have never had a friend like you. I have never made a connection to another woman as I have with you. I can't think of any words that would adequately express how I feel about you.”
“I know how to express what I feel for you,” Lilly said softly.
Thayle looked deeply into her eyes as Lilly stared back.
“How?” she dared to ask the passionate dragon.
Lilly smiled and caressed Thayle’s cheek. “You are the greatest treasure in my hoard.”
Thayle curled her lips as she struggled not to tear up as Lilly’s words washed over her.
“The love of a dragon is a powerful thing,” Gersius said as he hugged them both.
With a smile, they settled into sleep in the embrace of love. Gersius focused on the warmth of his wives laying on his chest. Thayle swam in the beauty of Lilly's words, and Lilly cleared her mind with a gentle sigh. She tried to see a spot in her valley beside the little stream. As they faded into the still of the night, the war was pushed away. Here in the quiet of the dark, all they knew was the love that they shared. A love that led back to a valley in the mountains with a star shining brightly in the sky.
Comments
WhiteRabbit
False father-> false Father. would now allow. ->not. Abbots direct ->'s. Where you -> were.
