by Lori Hyrup
Zephyron rubbed his chin. “Interesting. Where I come from, the dragon is called Lothtoru and the man is Brashuun.”
The priest eyed Zephyron. “I don’t know what village you are from, my boy, but I have never heard those names. Are you a man of the shard?”
Zephyron looked to Aria for assistance.
Aria said, “Zephyron here is a traveler. He is more of a man of…nature than of worship.” Zephyron raised an eyebrow at her. “He is not very familiar with the teachings of the Order of the Shard.”
“I see. Well, my boy, you and I should have a sit. You have an eye for artistic quality. I would love to have a chance to provide you with any information you may be lacking.”
“Priest Gavron,” Aria interrupted, “we are only passing through Braylore on a mission. I came here to commune with the shard, if that is okay.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Of course, Kruusta…”
“Aria,” Aria filled in at his hesitation.
“Of course, Kruusta Aria. Forgive my fading memory. I know we’ve met before, but my recollection of names and faces is fading.”
“That’s quite all right.” Even when the priest was younger, his ability to recall names of people had been flimsy at best. His memory regarding any fact about the shards or their history, however, was unmarred.
“Did you need me to commune for you?”
“No, thank you. I would prefer to do it myself, if that is okay.”
“Absolutely. We do not have worship today, so you shouldn’t be interrupted. I will be in my study if you should need anything.” With a shallow bow of his head, the priest returned down the aisle and disappeared into a door at the side of the chamber.
Aria kept her eyes on the door where the man had disappeared and said, “I get the feeling you know more about these images. Would you care to enlighten a curious kruusta?”
“Lothtoru was the first Guardian,” he answered, his voice somber. “Obviously, he was a dragon.”
Aria turned to face Zephyron. “I always thought dragons were just myths,” she said.
Zephyron shook his head. “They were real. In fact they were Mattekan’s most advanced race for thousands of years.”
“So what happened?”
Zephyron frowned. “Humans happened. Do you remember when Kharra and I told you about how Mattekan created an impassible mountain range out of the sea, cutting Marimon off from the rest of the world so those people could not spread their practice of mining crystal to other places?”
Aria nodded.
Zephyron explained that at the same time Marimon was being cut off from the rest of the world, Mattekan—the entity that was also their world—called its first Guardian as an additional measure of protection. Because most humans could not hear Mattekan, the Guardians were to become its means to communicate on a more direct level. The first Guardians came from Mattekan’s most advanced, intelligent, and connected race: the dragons.
A handful of individuals from the newer generations of humans had eventually developed a connection with Mattekan and manifested leyoen, but they had failed to get the couren to stop their mining practices. In fact only the leyoen users believed in what was happening off the shores to the north as the Serpent Spine Mountains rose from the sea. They gave up trying to convince the others and fled north before the mountain range could cut them off from the rest of the world. They settled on the southern tip of what would become Aerous and over time spread out.
During their expansion of Aerous, humans encountered and fought against all manner of nightmarish beasts. When the humans encountered the dragons for the first time, they only saw them as more monsters. With their fully developed leyoen abilities and greater numbers, humans attacked the dragons. The fighting was brutal and lasted several years.
Some of the humans began to see the difference between dragons and the other creatures they fought, but they had trouble making their leadership believe them. Wyverns, winged reptilians that were intelligent and malicious enemies of the dragons, were among those other creatures. After the wyvern Malicolc and its minions overran Sadon, the humans’ oldest and most important city, and threatened to destroy all of the humans who had left Marimon, a young human named Brashuun sought out the aid of the dragon Lothtoru against the wishes of his elders.
As the humans made their last stand, Brashuun returned, riding on the back of Lothtoru. With the powers of the Guardian, they turned back Malicolc and his minions, and the humans prevailed. But Lothtoru was mortally wounded by Malicolc during the encounter. Having witnessed the Guardian’s aid and sacrifice, the humans finally realized their grievous error.
On the evening of Lothtoru’s last breath, Brashuun, an empath, placed his hand on the Guardian dragon’s head. Witnesses claimed to see a nimbus of light surround both dragon and human.
Zephyron turned to the last relief, the one he had traced with his finger. “It was at that moment that Mattekan truly recognized humanity, and through Lothtoru’s fading spirit, the first human Guardian was called.”
“So Brashuun was the first human Guardian?”
Zephyron nodded.
Aria eyed the Guardian—she had actually come to believe his claim of this status—for several long moments and decided she believed his tale. “As I said, I’d always thought dragons were just myths, legends created by artists, sculptors, and storytellers.”
“You thought the same of Guardians.”
“True. So what happened to the dragons?”
Zephyron shrugged. “I don’t know. No one that I know has ever seen one. My fellow Guardians believe them to be extinct, but there are no definitive records about what may have happened to them.”
Aria nodded. “And the wyverns?”
“Oh, they’re still around.” Zephyron scowled. “Kelan used them against Aerous during the war. They are vain, temperamental creatures, and the Kelani leadership learned how to use that to their advantage. Those creatures were responsible for the deaths of many of my friends.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dredge up painful memories.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind. I just hate wyverns.”
“Well, your story was very enlightening. Thank you for sharing.”
Zephyron’s scowl softened to a smiled, though a hint of sadness ringed his eyes. “You are welcome, Kruusta.”
“Please, just call me Aria.”
Zephyron’s smile widened, and his eyes lit up. “Of course. I understand how daunting formality can be.”
“Thanks. Now let us check out the shard.”
Aria closed her eyes and touched the shard delicately, afraid of what she might sense. Within moments of placing her hand on the warm crystalline structure, a sense of euphoric exultation swallowed her, flooding every fiber of her being. Anticipation, excitement, welcome, and embrace—these were sentiments a corner of Aria’s mind understood. That was the reception she felt from the shard. It was not just the shard, though, but rather something deeper and more profound. Tender emotions stirred from within the kruusta that she never realized she possessed, and a longing resonated from the depths of Aria’s soul. Why either became evident, she could not determine.
Awareness engulfed Aria’s mind in a way that she had never before experienced in all her eighty-five years. She could sense every living thing—plant, beast, animal, human, and even Guardian—for miles around. The near-budding cherry blossoms sang like a symphony reaching for its crescendo. Hundreds of birds flittered about the trees, settled on rooftops, and fed their young. A family of mice living beneath the foundation of the temple gathered about a wedge of stolen bread; unlike other mice, these ate well. A falcon passed swiftly over the grassy fields between Braylore and the temple.
Aria sensed Zephyron beside her. Though her eyes were closed, she could see him in her mind as a beacon of white light, tendrils of which connected him to both the shard and the network of veins below the surface. He radiated curiosity and what she could only describe as acknowledgment. She sense
d Priest Gavron in his study, reading and oblivious to those outside. Though he radiated no light, a very thin white tendril connected him to the shard. Aria followed her awareness farther outward toward Braylore. Large groups of people traveled into, out of, and through the town.
Kharra broke the second carrot in half and held it up to Xierex. He took it from her fingers and bobbed his head appreciatively, his eyes lively as he enjoyed his snack. A tingling sensation tickled the edge of Kharra’s mind. Survival instincts kicking in, all of her senses immediately came alert, and she tightened her mental shields. Still, the sensation remained. On instinct Kharra threw her consciousness outward to sense for the intruder, systematically scanning the surrounding area. At last she encountered something. It was a consciousness and an awareness but not a mind, not really. The consciousness carried with it a familiarity.
Aria? Kharra sent out. No response came, and the consciousness faded from her detection. She was so in control of her abilities that Xierex never became aware of Kharra’s momentary alarm. He simply nudged her hand until she gave up the second half of the carrot.
Kharra frowned. How had Aria touched her mind? She knew the consciousness had sensed her, which was a cause of concern. No one, not even her sister, could use their minds to detect Kharra unless she gave them permission.
With the alarm passed, Kharra stifled a yawn and meandered her way to her room.
Despite the quantity of people, Aria sought out and located Kharra’s presence at the Laughing Owl. She knew the young woman was feeding carrots to Xierex. In an instant Kharra’s mind suddenly grew alarmed. Was Kharra in danger? No, the woman relaxed almost as soon as her alarmed state had triggered. Like Zephyron, Kharra’s being was accompanied by the beacon of white light. A surprise to Aria though was that where Zephyron had dozens of tendrils connecting him to both the vein and the shard, Kharra was connected by hundreds. What that meant Aria could not quite understand.
Aria? Aria heard Kharra’s mind voice as clearly as if the woman was standing beside her and had said it aloud.
A warm hand on Aria’s shoulder drew her out of her trance and away from the voice. Almost regretfully she allowed herself to withdraw from the shard’s embrace. Aria took several deep breaths before she opened her eyes. Her mind still buzzed with activity, and her body felt more energized than ever. She thought herself observant before, but she now understood how limited her own perceptions of the world around her were.
“Are you okay?” Zephyron asked.
“Absolutely,” she said. “The reaction from this shard was different from anything I’ve ever experienced before. Through it I sensed everything—every person, every animal, every being—for miles around. I have never felt so alive.”
“Mattekan can have that effect to those who can tap into it,” Zephyron responded.
“Did you, by any chance, sense me?”
“I did,” Zephyron answered with a nod. “Guardians can always sense Mattekan’s structure, be they veins beneath the ground or shards protruding above. I can sense its power and strength or if it has been injured. It’s also from Mattekan that we Guardians get our power. We don’t, however, have the type of experience that you just described. You somehow became part of the network.
“I believe you’ve been given a great gift. You’ve essentially seen through the eyes of our world. Is that how your priests commune?”
“I don’t think so,” Aria answered with uncertainty. “At least it doesn’t match any of the descriptions they’ve given. The way they describe it, they pray to the shard, and eventually they receive an answer.”
“Maybe your connection has grown deeper over the years,” Zephyron offered.
“Perhaps.”
“What impressions did you glean?” he asked.
“From what I can tell, this shard is very healthy.”
Zephyron nodded as he scrutinized her. “Quite interesting.”
“It also seemed like it was waiting for me, expecting me. I know that sounds weird.”
“Not at all. The shard is an extension of Mattekan, and Mattekan is a sentient being. Its thoughts and behaviors may be foreign and hard to interpret for those of us who walk its surface, but it does have sentiments and desires. Your commune back in Murali may have made it aware of you or opened something within yourself that you could not access before.”
Aria nodded, her mind lost in thought. She had a lot of information to process. Together Aria and Zephyron returned to Braylore, and Aria attempted to describe to the Guardian some details of what she had experienced. As she walked, her eyes scanned every inch of the world around her, confirming everything her mind had sensed.
“That was you that I sensed last night, right?” Kharra asked as they broke their fast the following morning. She had fallen asleep by the time Aria and Zephyron had returned to Braylore.
Aria nodded. “I’m sorry if I scared you,” she said. “I didn’t know that was going to happen.”
Aria recited her experience from the night before and how she was able to sense the world around her. Somehow she had been able to recognize Kharra. Having been with Kharra and Zephyron for multiple days and introduced to their method of speaking from mind to mind, Aria was aware of that particular sensation. When she had connected with Kharra through the shard though, it had felt different; it was as if it was coming through her bones rather than a tickle from someone’s mind.
Zephyron’s head came up and his eyebrows rose. “Wait. You actually sensed Kharra?” he asked, his eyes momentarily shifting to Kharra and then back to Aria.
Aria bit into her slice of apple and nodded.
Kharra smiled at the Guardian. “It’s okay, Zephyron. I don’t think this was normal, except for maybe Aria somehow.”
Aria put up her hands in defense, scowling at no one in particular. “None of this is normal for me. As I told Zephyron last night, I’ve never had that type of experience before.” She let out an exasperated breath, composing herself. “It was as if my mind was part of the shard’s network. I could sense and feel every living being, you included. Is something wrong with that?”
Zephyron frowned. “Normally no one can sense Kharra—not Guardians, not leyoen users, no one. If you were able to do it last night, it is possible that someone else may be able to as well.”
Aria finished her apple. “I can see how that might be a cause of concern, particularly if you rely on that ability to bypass enemies.”
“As I said,” Kharra repeated, “I don’t think that was normal.”
“I don’t want to risk your safety any more than necessary,” Zephyron said, his voice sounding very much like the Guardian he was. Kharra though was apparently immune to his piercing gaze.
Aria cleared her throat. Both Kharra and Zephyron turned their attention to her. “Some risk may be unavoidable. The best we can do is be prepared for those times. When I sensed Kharra through the shard, she became aware of me. I imagine that she would be able to do the same with anyone else. So in the event that someone else is able to detect her through that method, we would have at least some warning. The three of us should be able to react quickly to something like that.”
Zephyron rubbed his forehead and exhaled. “You’re right.”
“Let’s get going,” Aria suggested. No one disagreed.
Aria’s thoughts wandered as they packed up their gear and headed out, and she barely heard the playful banter between her two companions. She did not remember climbing into her saddle as her mind continued to process all the details it had experienced the night before, and questions to which she had no answers continued to assault her. Neither Kharra nor Zephyron bothered her as she sorted through her internal chaos. At last, as they passed by the last building of the village, she shook her head clear and focused on the road ahead.
8
MIGHT OF THE TIGRON
Aria dismounted and joined Kharra and Zephyron along the edge of the vista. She caught the scent of the animals long before they came into view. A
s far as her eyes could see, the seething mass of animal life flowed like a network of rivers and lakes. From the current vantage point, Aria could not yet make out the details of specific species, but she estimated several thousand animals were there.
Zephyron studied the scene below with arms folded across his chest. “I’ve never seen so many animals in once place. Is this normal?” he asked.
With hands on her hips, Aria shifted her weight to her right foot. Her eyebrows came together slightly. “Each spring many types of animals migrate from the higher altitudes to these warmer regions to give birth to their offspring, but this is by far the biggest migration I’ve ever seen.” She ran her hand through her hair. “There is no going around this without losing at least two weeks of travel time.”
Zephyron and Kharra exchanged a look. “Through it,” Kharra said.
“Then we may as well get started,” Aria said. “It’s going to be slow.”
Zephyron grunted in agreement. “The last thing we need is a stampede,” he added.
Unsure of how the animals would react to Zephyron’s tigron form, they decided to make the trek on foot. As they made their way down the easy switchback road toward the wide green valley below, it became easier to distinguish individual animals. What baffled Aria the most, beyond just the quantity of wildlife that filled the area, was the huge mixture of different species.
The first Aria recognized was the unmistakable bulk of the kougan, large black-and-white-furred omnivores that usually lived together in small family groups deep in the lowland forests. Though shorter than zegus, their dense musculature made them twice as wide, and their rounded heads, small ears, thick necks, and powerful claws allowed them to both thrive in the dense forest environment and defend against any shard beasts they encountered.
There were also the graceful, long-legged faselles with their sleek tan hides and flicking white tails; the large striped canine-like creatures called derringers; thousands of clover-hooves with their long, sharp horns; several packs of well-fed vohlk and their yipping pups; and families of massive slohn, each led by an aging gray matriarch. Even more surprising was the presence of the much more elusive creatures—the beautiful red unihorns; the solitary, knuckle-walking black kong; and even a few herds of zegu. The multispecies congregation of animals left Aria bewildered.