by T D Raufson
Charles looked directly at Elaine and added, “Magic, Elaine. You’re an enchantress, a sorceress. Powers like these have not existed in centuries. There is no way you could have known until now. This must be very hard to deal with. I’m sorry you’ve had to face this alone, but we’re all here to help.”
Aldrich nodded.
Kaliastrid grinned at her and added, “I don’t know if Helena knew or not. I didn’t know what it meant when we first met, but it makes sense. Dragons are magical. We can direct magic to do what we want with just a thought. Humans could never use magic that way. They wanted our help becoming magical, and they even researched for many generations how to make magic happen. That is where tales of wizards come from. But you are something else entirely. It seems that the problem of innately magical humans has been resolved. We can only guide you. How it works for you is personal. You’ll have to experiment to find out.”
“So, what? I’m a witch?”
Melissa smiled at her. “A witch? No. Witches and wizards study magic. They learn how to capture magic into forms and rituals. They can never hope to be as powerful as you will be. Sorcerers and the enchanted live in magic. It is part of them. It is part of you. You channel it into what you want to happen.”
“I don’t want to burn holes in my clothes and books.”
“All innates go through this as adolescents when the magic becomes more powerful. They usually have parents who know how it works for them that can explain it,” Kaliastrid said.
“Someday you may even be able to create powerful magical talismans like this one.” Melissa pointed to the pendant around her neck. “Human wizards never matched the magical abilities of the magical races. They turned it into science because they couldn’t sense it. You may be the first of your kind.”
“Not the last, though,” Aldrich’s voice added warning.
Melissa continued, “Like I said, You will be very powerful if you give yourself to the powers you’re experiencing. Ultimately, that is the only way you will learn to control them. Right now, it’s difficult because you’re afraid of them.”
“And, like I told you yesterday,” Kaliastrid added, “it is critical that you control it. If it controls you, it can be catastrophic.”
Elaine nodded at the warning again with her eyes wide. She was trying to understand what was happening to her. Melissa really looked at the girl for the first time in a few weeks. She had changed some since coming there. She was growing into something more than any human had ever been. Melissa could see that she was struggling with the new problem. The conflict in her head drove her to look around the room as if she was looking for something from each person.
When she looked at Melissa and their eyes met, Melissa felt a warm comforting acceptance in her mind. For an instant the pain that had been lurking beneath the surface vanished. When the contact broke, the pain flowed back in like a tide.
Elaine looked at Kaliastrid and Aldrich next, holding the connection for a moment before moving on to Charles. He smiled at her, and she lingered there for a little longer. Her face showed a moment of concern and then she smiled at him as well. When the young girl completed her circuit, Melissa could feel the emotional turmoil subsiding, and the room relaxed with a universal emotional sigh.
“I think I know what happened. I think I know why the dragons disappeared,” Elaine announced.
Melissa said nothing, but looked at Kaliastrid and Charles for some indication they knew what she was reporting. When no one responded, Melissa rolled with the next surprise of the day.
“Okay. I’m listening. What happened?”
Elaine walked over to the table and leaned forward over the books and timeline. She seemed to struggle again for a moment, as if afraid of what she was about to say.
“How bad can it be? I’m nervous now. Charles, can you help her with this?”
“I’ve no idea what she’s about to tell you. I’d like to hear it, though.”
Melissa noticed the smile that passed between them as he moved over to stand next to her. It was a mix of pride and reassurance. She stood up a little straighter and turned to look Melissa in the eyes. Aldrich moved beside Elaine as well and looked up at her. Although he had just arrived, he seemed to know where she was going.
“First, I’m not positive. I’ve had this idea for about a week, but I needed more proof. I seem to be a part of that puzzle, or at least a hint.”
Melissa nodded, and Elaine seemed to gain more confidence.
“All of the books, even the oldest ones we’ve found, tell stories of how the dragons, apparently you guys, were helping the humans in Swabia and most of Europe at the time. Swabia was the center of your power and would have remained so if you had not disappeared. I believe this is when the first cycle of human-dragons took over. This is also the point in history where all magic vanished from this world, religion took over, and man descended into a dark age. It was almost like someone turned off a switch and humans were alone. In the midst of this turmoil, Swabia lost all control and was swallowed into the countries that formed around it, Human countries that came out of the dark ages far more powerful than it.”
“You’re suggesting this happened just prior to the European Dark Ages, then?” Aldrich asked.
“That seems to fit with the timeline. I pieced that together from legends and tales hidden in this library. None of this is in any history books. Some groups, mostly the Church, demonized magic and dragons during the Dark Ages. But, I found one book, written after the Renaissance, that talked about wizards who fought dragons.”
“Don’t you mean knights who fought dragons?” Charles asked.
“You would think that, based on your European education about dragon mythology, but that was why it was such an interesting book. Humans have been meticulously taught that mortal men, knights in shining armor, went out to do battle with dragons and slay them. I hadn’t really thought about how insane it was to believe that a knight with a lance and a sword could slay a dragon, not until I read this book. Not until I saw an actual dragon.”
Charles nodded agreement. Aldrich stroked his beard and chewed on what she was saying.
“You see, that was what everyone accepted, Saint George and the dragon and all. After hundreds of years of no dragons, no magic, and literature and the Church drawing both in rather negative ways, the world started to accept the notion that neither ever existed. They started to be glad they were just fiction. But, this one book put it into perspective. Witches and wizards, the few human ones that ever existed, disappeared at the same time as dragons because magic disappeared with them.”
“Some—outside of the mainstream—archeologists believe that the reason Europe descended into the Dark Ages was because of a technological blackout caused by the disappearance of magic,” Aldrich added.
“I read that, in here.” Elaine nodded excitedly at Aldrich’s point and smiled to have him support her story. “Just before the disappearance, according to some historians writing after the Renaissance, there was a push for humans to acquire magical powers however they could. There was a hint in these articles that humans had been striving for that goal for generations. You all just verified that, so we can continue under that assumption.” She paused again.
“Acquire, by what means?” Charles asked.
“They never explained that. To write something like that during that time was dangerous. I expect that the copies in this library may be the only surviving ones. So, why is that important?” Elaine was starting to enjoy the role of teacher. “According to the book about wizards who fought dragons, there was no way a warrior or knight could fight a dragon without magic because they were magical creatures. The author proposed that all of the fighters who ever faced a dragon were either wizards or they were fighters with magical help, like magical weapons. Once magic was gone and the magic of dragons forgotten—well, as much as it could be—it was easy for the authors to do two things: make heroes who fought dragons without magic and to make dragons evil.”<
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“Wait,” Melissa interrupted, “you’re saying that dragons and magic disappeared together?”
“Yes, and most of the positive stories about dragons were never told again, at least in Europe. The conspiracy doesn’t seem to spread to Asia and the Americas. Helena’s stories were always hidden in a niche. Her current stories were romances about dragons. That was why they sold so well. They were different. Every generation, she wrote positive tales of dragons who helped humans instead of subjugating them. Every generation, they were wildly popular. This was something that people wanted to believe. It seemed to be part of a shared consciousness, an archetype; and as you move farther and farther away from the point in history where dragons disappear it gets easier for people to accept that dragons could be intelligent and good.”
“So why do dragons always end up evil?” Charles asked.
“Because, for generations there have been more people writing or continuing the bad tales, until recently.”
“So, maybe that’s why the spell failed this time.” Kaliastrid joined the conversation, rubbing her temples. Aldrich stepped over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked over at him with a relieved look on her face.
Elaine nodded, picked up her point and explained it to everyone else. “Right, because humans, even humans who were really dragons, were able to see dragons in a positive way, so the pressure to keep them locked away relaxed on a subconscious level. Sooner or later the spell was going to fail.”
“Heliantra…” Kaliastrid added and then shifted to her human name, “Helena knew that was going to happen. She expected the spell to fail.”
Aldrich winced at the pain he was sharing with Kaliastrid. He reached his hand up and snapped his fingers at the sky as if he was frustrated, then opened his hand as if to let the pain he was feeling out of his hand. He grinned at Kaliastrid, and she nodded back to him.
“How do you know that Heliantra expected the spell to fail?” Melissa asked.
Kaliastrid shook her head and looked at her daughter with relief in her eyes. “I don’t know I just do. Memories of Heliantra are coming back to me as Elaine is explaining.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
Everyone watched them for a moment, waiting for an answer or another question. Neither of them continued, and finally Melissa looked back at Elaine to continue.
“The author of the book about wizards who fought dragons was Asian. He was the only one who would or could write something like that at the time. The Asians, you see, loved their dragons and hated to see them run down in literature. As soon as the West met the East and the cultures started to blend more, he wrote his book about how Europeans couldn’t possibly be right about knights killing dragons. You can imagine it was not well received in Europe. The version of his book we have is a translation, and a good one from what I can tell. In the forward, the editor, who is never identified, indicated the text was actually banned by the Church. But, what’s important is that he studied some interesting European folk tales that existed through the Dark Ages and used them to support his theories. One he referenced specifically was called Heliantra’s Ransom.”
Melissa, Kaliastrid and Charles all reacted to the title. “Right,” Elaine said, smiling. “We all know that name from the more modern of Helena’s novels. Helena and Heliantra are the same person, which makes my story even more likely. The old folk tale said...”
“You have it? You’ve read Heliantra’s Ransom?”
“No. See, I don’t think it ever really existed. If it did, it’s not in this library. It’s possible the author made it up as a reference to support his point. As I read his writing, it feels like he lived the events instead of just reading about them hundreds of years later. I thought that was impossible, but I’ve had to rethink possible since I’ve been reading books that Helena wrote over two hundred years ago. I expect the author was, like Helena, a dragon in human form. The lines between reality and fiction in these tales are very blurred. I couldn’t really prove any of this.”
Melissa shook her head in disappointment. “Go on.”
“Anyway, the tale said that Heliantra was a popular, silvery-black dragon that lived in Europe and was considered good luck for the rulers of the regions around where France and Germany are now, Swabia. She had brought blessings to their land for generations, and she had helped humans in many ways until a new ruler appeared. The author highlighted the term ‘ruler.’ It is clear from the way everyone writes about him that he was not a king. He was not a fair man. The author argued that Heliantra knew the true source of his power, an ancient cult of dark wizard magic passed from one master wizard to the next but never shared beyond that. You see how all of this could be ignored as fairy tales if you discount the existence of magic? The cleansing of history was very complete.”
Elaine paused and took a breath as if what she was about to say was harder than what she had revealed already. Aldrich nodded agreement with her and seemed ready to take in more of the tale. He stood with his hand still raised and monitored Kaliastrid and Melissa. Elaine looked to Charles for support as she prepared to go on, and he smiled at her and nodded.
“The author argued, well more than argued, he stated that Heliantra was helping this evil wizard.”
Melissa and Kaliastrid growled at her words, but she bravely held up her hand to indicate there was more.
“In order to expose him for what he was and to end some kind of plot that he was part of, she was working with him, but in the end she was unable to stop him. The author suggests that she couldn’t do what she should have done because she was in love with the wizard ruler.”
Melissa and Kaliastrid inhaled sharply. Melissa shook her head in denial of the accusation about her grandmother.
“Before you get too excited, I can tell you that Helena as much as admits that she had affairs with humans in some of her earlier books,” Elaine continued. “Based on what I now understand—Helena was Heliantra—her modern books actually talk about it openly. Her older books were more cautious with the talk of relationships with dragons, but those were the most telling because she could write her true feelings about the kings without admitting anything. So, it is possible that she fell in love with the wizard ruler who was acting like he needed her help. It is even possible that she was charmed.”
“I’d believe that before I believe that she...” Melissa started but couldn’t finish.
“I think you’re closer than we want to admit.” Kaliastrid nodded. Her eyes seemed to be telling something more. Aldrich grimaced and wiggled his fingers in the air.
“What, mother? What are you saying?”
“Just, there were times, before I was human and forgot all of this, that Heliantra shared things with me. She was ashamed of how she felt about someone. I never realized what she was saying. I never realized it was him. Melissa, I’ve only just remembered. Forgive me; I had no intention of deceiving you. Thank you, Aldrich.”
He planted his feet into a slightly wider stance and nodded back at her.
Melissa couldn’t be mad at her. Her memories were as fractured as anyone’s. It was clear she was fighting pain to pull these memories out, and Aldrich was somehow enabling her deep dive into her mind. Melissa’s own spikes were suddenly subdued, but she could not find any memories to corroborate what Kasliastrid was saying. A flash of pain nearly knocked her out of her chair then subsided as Aldrich looked at her meekly and seemed to transport the pain from her directly into the air. When the pain receded, she saw a courtyard of a smaller castle. She saw the late evening sun falling over its walls. It looked deserted, but she knew it was not. It was the same castle from her flying dream. She knew someone was there waiting for her.
“Mother. She realized what was happening didn’t she? She realized he was using her.” She looked into her mother’s eyes as they shared a vision.
“Too late, I think, she realized that he was dangerous and she had to react to fix
what she had allowed to happen.”
“He trapped her,” Elaine said. “According to Wy Li, the wizard trapped her and requested a ransom for her release. He requested the heart of the dragons. I thought he was just being metaphorical, but he literally meant something very important to the dragons, didn’t he?”
“Who? Who did you say?”
Elaine looked at Kaliastrid eyes, wide, unsure of what she was asking as she was working through her own question.
“What name did you say?” Kaliastrid had a surprised look on her face as well.
“Wy Li? Lung Wy Li. He’s the author of the book I was talking about.”
Kaliastrid laughed. “Lung Wy Li is most certainly a dragon. In fact, he’s the oldest Emperor Dragon. He would have some idea of what he’s saying. What else does Wy Li have to say?”
Melissa had a vision of a long blue dragon standing in the outer courtyard of the castle depicted in the mural above their heads. He was delivering a long scroll to Heliantra and Kaliasrtid. She looked up for a moment and stared at her grandmother’s dragon face. Her tail was wrapped around the castle and the very tip was either touching or hovering just above an egg encrusted with gems and sitting on a tripod that looked like a tail and two claws emerging from it.
When she looked back down, Kaliastrid was looking at her and then together they looked up at the ceiling mural. When their eyes met again, there was realization in them. Melissa released her mother’s gaze but could feel the shared emptiness that had haunted her right after the emergence. She had been able to ignore it over time, but with the pain in her mind relaxed, she could feel the deep emptiness return. Where was the talisman? She looked to Elaine to continue her tale.
“What else?”
“What are you two thinking?” Charles asked.
Melissa kept the secret to herself and shook her head. She knew they were close to an answer. She knew they were close to figuring out why the spell had been cast.