by Eric Vall
“There are hundreds of books on dragons.” Polina’s sweet voice echoed throughout the atrium, and the scent of spring filled my senses.
“Dragons?” I stirred from my dark thoughts and blinked at the dryad. “What do the books say? Are they lore or actual research?”
“Actual research, that’s what’s incredible.” Polina dragged one slender finger down the length of the page, and I noticed her nails were the same green as her hair. “And the majority of them are written by the same person.”
“Who?” I tilted my head as I wondered how a person had even been able to research dragons.
I’d learned the hard way that dragons weren’t on friendly terms with humanity, so there being actual research on my race was a pleasant surprise.
“It reads Ura, the Dragon of the Wind.” Polina left the book open and tugged at her wild braid in excitement.
“Wait, a dragon?” I sat up and slammed my hands on the table. “A dragon wrote all of those books?”
“Yes!” Polina’s voice rose as she patted the catalogue. “This could change written history. It’s written that dragons have always looked down on and hated humans even though they mostly kept their distance, but this implies that dragons and mortals once lived in harmony. Maybe it even has the reason why dragons and mortals hate each other now.”
My excitement faded away as I realized the enormity of what was said. If these books could change history, then that meant that the knowledge inside of them was dangerous. It could have even been dangerous enough for a city to be destroyed in one night.
The doubts I had about the scholar Olivier rose up in my mind again. Had he somehow known about this treasure trove?
“Polina, are any of them missing?” My eyes searched through the strange letters on the pages, and I growled in frustration at the fact that I couldn’t read them.
“I can check.” Polina looked at me with calm eyes and a steady voice.
She didn’t deserve my anger. I didn’t even know why the anger had come so late, the battle was already over. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and the tension in my body relaxed.
“While you’re at it, can you check on predator like abilities for dragons?” I gently asked as I stood up from the table and moved toward the staircase.
“Predator like?” Polina’s green eyes glittered with curiosity, and I couldn’t help but smile back at her. “What do you mean?”
“Keeping what you kill, I guess.” I vividly remembered the dragon I had faced in the canyon beyond Hatra and how she had gone on about taking my power.
“Hmm, I’ll keep an eye out for it,” Polina hummed as she tilted her head and stood up from the table with the catalogue in hand.
“I’m gonna go out for some fresh air, let me know if you find anything.” I nodded and started climbing the staircase as Polina began walking along the bookshelves.
There was no doubt in my mind that Polina would be able to find out everything I had asked her. She had come off as someone who was beyond thorough and a born scholar, even if she fought on the battlefield.
A part of me was saddened at the thought that such cheerful girls like Polina and her sisters were forced to take up swords in this world. They shouldn’t have such heavy burdens on their shoulders, they should be able to be living happily and gleefully.
The sky opened up around me as I left the library, and I closed my eyes. The air smelled clean, and I could find no scent of rotting corpses. I opened my eyes and saw that the streets were clear. I had no way of knowing just how long I had been down in the library, but it had been enough time for the bodies to be removed and the debris cleaned up.
Smoke rose in the distance, and I realized the villagers must have burned the bodies. That was the only way to clear the city of the corpses so quickly and to prevent any disease from spreading.
Aimlessly, I wandered through the city until my feet took me back to the living quarters. Then I stopped in front of the tent I had left Alyona in.
Someone had brought in pillows, and I recognized the blanket that covered her as being one of the ones from her sleeping area in the infirmary. With a start, I remembered her pile of books and papers as well as the imprisoned miasma. I hoped that someone had been able to salvage them.
I sat down on the floor next to the bed, and I breathed in the priestess’s scent. Just being near her was enough to calm my raging instincts, and I could feel my mind clear. Then I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind to feel her power and presence.
Alyona’s breathing was steady, and her heart had a gentle pace. She seemed so peaceful that I could have believed she was just sleeping and not trapped in a coma. The hand that I held in one of mine seemed to be even more delicate than before, and I wanted to protect her.
But I hadn’t been able to. This was twice now that she was hurt while I was nearby, and I would never let it happen a third time.
Laika entered the tent a few minutes later, and I smelled rather than saw that she was covered in dirt and dust.
“Has there been any change?” she asked, and the swordswoman’s voice had an oddness to it I couldn’t identify.
“None at all.” I opened my eyes to look at the swordswoman, and I observed that she was just as affected by Alyona’s condition as I was. “She just keeps sleeping no matter what I do.”
“Do you think she’s that Alyona? The White Jade Sect one?” Laika clenched her fists helplessly and paced in the tent.
I thought about her words for a moment but decided they didn’t matter. It didn’t matter if I thought our Alyona was the White Jade Sect’s Alyona and heir to Rahma.
Alyona was Alyona, and that was all that would ever matter to me.
“It doesn’t matter.” I smiled tiredly as I lifted a hand to touch the white lock of hair that slipped off the bed. “All that matters is that she wakes up and smiles at us again. Her past can wait until she has a future again.”
Laika clenched her jaw and turned on her heel to walk out of the tent.
I didn’t ask where she went, and I simply closed my eyes as I thought about everything that needed to get done in order to rebuild Hatra first.
Slowly, I felt my body relax, and the exhaustion from the day began to grab a hold of me. Every part of me ached, and I just wanted to surrender to sleep. Surely, it would be fine if I slept for a bit.
“Evan!” Polina’s voice startled me awake. “You’ll never guess!”
“What?” I blearily blinked at her as I stretched my neck.
“You were right, there're books missing from the library.” Polina almost vibrated from sheer excitement as she spoke quickly and waved her arms around. “But not just that, dragons do keep what they kill! It’s incredible, this would rewrite all our understanding of dragons if it got out to any of the academies and scholars in Rahma. Even beyond the borders, this is monumental, not just for mages and cultivators but also for the politics of the land.”
The dryad spoke so fast I barely understood a word she said considering I had just woken up. What really stuck in my mind was that whatever she had found was important enough that it could change even the politics of Rahma.
“Slow down there.” I sat up properly and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Take a breath and speak slowly. I won’t understand if you just speed talk.”
“Dragons take on the abilities of whatever creature they killed.” Polina drew in a breath and spoke slowly as if she were considering the impact of her next words. “It’s how they’ve been able to stay on the top of the food chain for eons. They’re unstoppable because with every kill, they become stronger and gain more power. The weaker, untaught dragons can use these newly acquired powers once or twice, and then they’d have to kill again for the same power. But the older dragons can use it continuously. There is no limit for them.”
It made sense to me. I remembered how odd the sensation of slipping through stone had been and how natural it had felt to me.
“Then the stone giants I kill
ed?” I asked.
“You took their abilities!” Polina was so visibly excited, but all I could think of was Hatra.
I didn’t know the full extent of the powers that the stone giants had, but if they could help me rebuild Hatra, then that was all that mattered. It was as if the candle of hope that had been inside of me had grown into a bonfire.
“Thank you, Polina.” I stood and pressed a kiss to the dryad’s forehead.
“Evan!” Polina squeaked as she covered her forehead.
I laughed and shook my head as I ducked out of the tent. My feet and instincts were taking me toward the outer wall. Fixing the defenses of Hatra had always been at the top of my mental to do list with regard to the city. But with this discovery that I somehow had absorbed the powers of the stone giants, I wanted to go out there now. I needed to be on the wall and closer to that stone to see if it sung to me similarly to the way that the canyon stone had sung to me before.
If I could immediately raise walls around Hatra, or even just in sections, that would be a relief to not just me but the Elders. I didn’t know anything about architecture, so I’d have to learn quite a bit from the books Polina was searching for. The last thing I wanted was for whatever I built with that power to collapse and hurt people.
When I reached the walls, I realized a wolf had already beat me to them. Laika leaned on one of the battlements and looked out across the trench I had made earlier. It was hard to believe that all of the events from today had really happened in only one day.
“Laika?” I climbed the last of the steps and came to a stop next to the swordswoman. “What are you doing out here alone?”
She smiled at me, but there was a tightness to that smile I hadn’t seen during our short friendship.
“I am struggling with a decision.” Laika lifted her shoulders in a shrug and sighed.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” I placed my hand on her shoulder and hoped I would be able to help her.
“Could you listen to me?” Laika’s voice was usually strong and firm, even when teasing there was still strength to it, but now it was full of doubt.
“Always.” I nodded immediately and smiled to reassure her. “Anytime you need an ear, I’ll be here for you.”
We stood in silence for a time as the clouds shifted in the sky above us. I could tell that soon it would be dusk, and the three moons of Inati would rise above us again. Even so, I waited because I wouldn’t rush my friend to spit out whatever was bothering her.
“We have already, technically, fulfilled our contract with Lady Alyona.” Laika spoke haltingly, and she dug her fingers into the stone in front of her. “But in my heart, I do not want to leave this place.”
“Then don’t.” I placed my hand on top of one of hers and squeezed it in reassurance. “Stay here and help rebuild Hatra.”
“I cannot just abandon my obligations and responsibilities,” Laika laughed bitterly as she shook her head. “I’ve already shirked them long enough.”
“What are they?” I had forgotten that Laika and the other adventurers would leave as soon as the miasma had been defeated. “Is it anything that can be done from here? Anything that can be put aside until later?”
“I’ve already put them aside for my Lady and this mission.” Laika sighed again, and her free hand traced the embroidered design on her gorget. “I have a guild to help lead, and I can’t do it from here.”
I blinked once and then twice. It had been obvious to me that Laika had been the leader of the group of adventurers I had met, but I hadn’t realized she was a leader within the guild, too.
“You left the guild for Alyona?” I didn’t keep the awe and respect out of my voice.
Leaving her guild behind for this mission couldn’t have been an easy decision. Especially since I thought that guild leaders were supposed to stay behind and run their guilds. At least that’s how it worked in most of the games and TV shows I’d seen.
“How could I not have?” Laika squeezed my hand back with a smile. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. You’re just as enthralled, if not more so, than I am.”
“You have a point there.” I nodded as I thought about how close the two women were, and I wondered just how they had become such good friends. There was loyalty and trust there that didn’t come simply from Alyona being a priestess.
“It wasn’t about the money or the glory.” Laika’s eyes glittered as she motioned to the darkening sky above us. “She was like an endless and sparkling blue sky full of possibility and life. There was so much of her, she was so courageous and clever and beautiful that I had to follow her.”
A soft smile crossed my face as Laika spoke about Alyona. I knew what she meant by saying that Alyona sparkled. The priestess seemed to be the most beautiful woman either of us had ever met.
“Could you move the guild here?” I wondered out loud as I let go of Laika’s hand to drum my fingers on the stone wall.
“What?” Laika blinked up at me with confusion in her thundercloud eyes.
“Well, could you move the guild to Hatra?” I shrugged and motioned to the city behind us. “There’s more than enough room here for them.”
“The guild doesn’t stay in one place.” Laika laughed lightly and shook her head. “That would be breaking tradition. Tradition is how we’ve survived all the wars and miasma. We won’t throw it away.”
“No,” I sighed as I shook my head. “It would be the dawn of a new age for your guild. And for Hatra. Dragonsblood will be planted all around and in the city. The miasma won’t be able to come inside and harm anyone within the walls of the city once we build it. And I’ll be here. I’ll heal anyone and everyone in your guild. I’ll protect them just as I’ll protect the people of Hatra.”
I meant every single one of my words, and I knew Laika understood how honest I was being. If the Blue Tree Guild moved to Hatra, it would be beneficial to everyone involved.
“I knew it,” Laika laughed and wiped a tear away from her face. “The very moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you would be the strangest creature I’ll ever meet.”
“I’m hoping you mean that in a good way.” I grinned crookedly at her.
Laika smile back then stared off into the distance beyond the walls of Hatra and watched the way the forest trees withered only to reveal the bones of a mountain chain.
“I’ll stake the future of the Blue Tree Guild and entwine it with Hatra’s future,” she suddenly declared, and the Demi-Human’s eyes burned brightly as she grabbed my hands tightly. “I’ll send a message to them.”
“How soon could they get here?” Excitement crept into my voice as I pictured what the people of the Blue Tree Guild would be like.
“A week.” Laika’s ears tilted back as she frowned. “Maybe two. It all depends on where the airship is.”
“Airship?” I wondered if they were anything like the airships I had seen in Japanese video games or if they were something else.
“The pride and joy of our guild,” Laika laughed the loudest I’d ever heard her laugh, and she threw her head back to reveal a slender neck. “A grand airship built from the blue trees of the forest where our founder gathered the first guild members, and they vowed to serve no lord or king but the one who earned their loyalty.”
I thought about the charisma needed to convince people to follow someone outside of their feudal lords and masters. The original founder of the Blue Tree Guild had to have been one of the most impressive people to have lived upon this world.
“That sounds like an incredible founder.” I wondered what such a founder would do with Hatra, and if they would leave the city behind or do whatever it took to rebuild and protect it.
“Yes.” Laika stared at me with her stormy grey eyes, and they seemed to glow with the light of the setting sun. “I wonder, Evan, just what type of leader you shall become.”
Chapter 12
When I went back to Alyona’s tent, I found Ilya and Ilyushina asleep next to her. They were snuggled up
on either side of her, and their blue hair mingled in with her silver white locks.
A soft smile crossed my face, and then I looked at what had been added to the tent. Along the side was a table full of all the papers and books that had been in Alyona’s room back in the infirmary. I was relieved to know they had survived the attack, and I let out a small sigh. On the other side of the tent was another bed and a chest of drawers with a pile of blankets on top of it.
“Dragon?” Ilyushina’s voice was small, and she blinked blearily at me.
The little Asura rubbed at her eyes as she sat up in the bed. Her brother yawned and swung his legs off the edge of the bed as he sat up, too.
“Welcome back,” Ilya yawned again as he covered his mouth with his hands. “We tried to stay up and wait for you.”
My heart warmed at those words, and I knew the dragon side of me was happy the small children had waited for me. I thought of them as part of my pack already. Just as Alyona and Hatra were under my protection, so were they.
“Hey kiddos.” I walked over to the bed and sat in front of it. “When did you get here?”
“Ilyushina missed her star lady.” Ilyushina patted Alyona’s hair, and tears began to well up in her golden eyes.
I knew the little Asura was worried and terrified about the priestess. Alyona had become one of Ilyushina’s anchors, and now that anchor was out of reach.
“Oh?” I spoke quickly with mock hurt in my voice to distract Ilyushina. “And what about me?”
The tears faded quickly from her eyes, and confusion replaced them instead.
“Master Dragon is jealous?” Ilyushina leaned over Alyona and blinked up at me with curiosity in her large eyes.
“No, of course not.” I looked away and spoke as dramatically as I could. “I’m just hurt you didn’t miss me.”
“No, no!” Ilyushina yelped and waved her hands in the air furiously. “Ilyushina did miss Master Dragon, Ilya tell him!”
“Ilyushina, he’s just teasing,” Ilya laughed into his hands as he looked between his sister and I. “He knows you missed him.”
“Teasing?” Ilyushina tilted her head in confusion before she scowled and buried her face in the bed. “Oh! Both of you are mean. Ilyushina prefers star lady after all!”