A woman back from the initial crowd, “My husband has worked here for almost twenty years! Will he go back to being an apprentice?”
Ora stood to look at her, “It takes a certain type of person to master working with magic. If your husband has that talent, he will need to apprentice and learn new things.”
Someone else shouted out, “Are you a golem?”
Ora smiled, “No, I am human. A daughter of the empire and Takhissis. But remember, there are many forms of life in this world. Even a golem can have life.” She whistled a peculiar sound and seconds later, the falcon flashed in the afternoon sun and landed on her wrist. Unlike a bird with the flutter of feathers, this one had a metallic sound to it and barely audible whirring sound. After it landed, it preened at its wing feathers and Ora stroked its head. It pressed up to her touch and seemed pleased.
She called a small boy up to her and placed the bird on his wrist. “It, it’s light!” the boy cried moving his arm up and down. “I thought it’d be super heavy!”
Other kids came forward to touch the falcon, who seemed pleased by the attention and let its wings and legs be yanked on. As afternoon stretched into sunset, Ora eventually said, “I’d love to stay and play but it is time for me to call it a night. I suspect that I will not see you all again for at least several months.”
As the crowd dispersed, Ishan’s wife came up to her side and asked her, “You don’t show yet, how are you feeling?”
Ora grinned. “That obvious?”
“No, but I know when I see that look. Plus, Malcor is like our son. Does he know?”
“He will. I told him to look for me at Tania’s eastern gate when the snow first falls. But, I haven’t heard anything from him at all.”
“Nothing?” Ishan’s wife gasped with deep concern. “We are so worried about him. All these things happening, it makes us wonder what kind of folk have taken him in. And, yet, he is just a boy.”
“Not a boy so much as a dreamer. The things I have seen him go through. The last I saw him, he had completed the first rite – a combat ritual that is part of becoming a paladin. He set a new record in an Order that is famous for breaking records.” She chuckled but it was hard to make it seem like nothing when she still so vividly remembered how Malcor had fought through the Rite of Pain, for days. “Do you think he will be pleased?” and patted her stomach.
“I don’t know R’Dar. In all his years with us, we watched him struggle with girls, with courtship, and he felt inferior to his friend Calvin. Calvin always had his way with any young thing that caught his eye. Malcor, not so much. And, maybe this is me as a mother, but Malcor’s size and intensity seemed to keep the girls at arm’s length. Why, I remember this one time, there had been a festival at the shrine and Malcor, oh he wanted to dance with this beautiful lass. He wanted to ask her to dance and he just stared at her. Eventually, she came over and asked him if he wanted to and Calvin interrupted them.”
“That sounds like him, though my interactions with him have been more on the intense side. I first saw him lying wounded and healed him. He had slain his attacker. Each time after that, his destiny chases him more than most.”
“Ah, yes. That I have seen. I can’t tell you how many nights we’d wake up to the sound of the forge and find Malcor there, unresponsive, working on that sword or his dragon. I assume it has meaning?”
Ora nodded, “Most certainly. It was a vision from the Queen. The dragon especially. Though it has a name, we simply call that one the Heretic, a dragon who chose a different path than the Queen’s.” Seeing the mother’s look of concern, she hurried to add, “Oh, don’t worry. That Malcor made such a thing does not by itself mean anything. In fact, it is remarkable due to the fact that the doctrine about the Heretic are almost never discussed. And Malcor’s statue is an exact likeness. Even the dragon emperor was most impressed and the High Priest Dar Kell commented on how perfect Malcor’s work was.”
“And how about Calvin then? His father has come by occasionally to see if we had heard from Malcor and by extension Calvin.”
“Yes, Calvin was with Malcor when I first met them. He was accepted into the Order of the Shield. Though after that, my duties with Sai only allowed me time for Malcor. I haven’t heard a thing since. The first rites are brutal though and it’s not like they give new knights a lot of free time. I’m sure you’ll hear soon enough.”
A small boy came over and marveled at all the gifts. “What are you going to do with these Ora?” While most of it was knick knacks with little value, all of it had been painstakingly made by wives and children. The falcon was a common theme.
Ora smiled. “Master Sai enjoys it when his work is appreciated. At a certain level, wealth and more glorious gifts become somewhat trite.” She looked at the boy who frowned. “Trite means he does not care about those things. I have found in the few years as his estate’s priestess that he seeks for new ways of viewing his creations. Remember, he is not human. He was never a child. He never sees his own work through the eyes of children. I will show him these and I expect that he will enjoy them greatly.”
“To not care about wealth, he must be a very powerful man.”
Ora looked out the window at the setting sun. “You could say he is less of a man and more of a god. Consider this, we are all children of the dragons. But, the dragon emperor made Sai personally.”
“It must be marvelous to have such magic and talent for it. As a priestess, may I ask, how did you become one?”
Chapter Sixty Six - Ora's Genesis
“I grew up in a kingship just outside of Morbatten. Usual story. Some feud here prompted a lord to take his retinue and leave. They established a fort on the wilderness’ western edge. The plan was to make it part of the route to the elven lands of Morilon. Things were good for a time, or so my parents told me. Then the fighting started. Another lord built a dam up river from us. It destroyed the lake and streams from which we drew water. War followed. My father died in it. My mother, well she considered fighting too, but at the last second fled and took me with her. I was barely nine when this happened. We were lucky. We almost starved to death when winter came.
“Looking at maps, you don’t appreciate how far things are when you’re cold and starving and constantly under threat of attack or capture as a slave or worse. A war party found us and to protect me, my mother agreed to enslavement at the price of her freedom – “
“But, no, slavery? Here?”
“Remember, slavery is illegal and criminal, yes. But, there are those who can choose to become such. That then makes it legal. I promised my mother I would find and free her. The slavers brought me back to Tania where they auctioned my mother off and I was set free on the streets of the capitol. Unlike Malcor and so many others who seem to have found a home, I had no one. Knew nothing. I was nine. It was still winter and I was alone.
“During the festival of the winter solstice, I remember laying down on the stone edge of the Dragon Fountain. I looked up at the sky. I remember everything about that moment because I was so alone and terrified and lonely. I knew I was going to die. And then I saw it.”
“What did you see R’Dar?”
“I saw the dragons. The emperor's sons flew over the city and then, as the emperor does, he leapt from his throne and joined them. They circled the city. I realized how gigantic a dragon and glorious he is. He dwarfs his sons. For the first time in my cold weeks, I forgot about death and loneliness. Well, you’ve seen them first hand at Malcor’s ceremony here right? Everyone around me bowed and honored them, but I could not move. A group of guardsmen came through to enforce respect and found me there, lying on my back, staring at the dragons. They ordered me to do them honor.
“I was nine, and starving, near death. I didn’t know what any of this meant. They were about to beat me, when one of the dread lords came. The winter dragon Ynt'taris. Even though he rules over winter in Tania, he does not fly with them in the solstice festival. He walks among the people. “Leave the child for
she is mine,” I remember him saying. He touched my fingers and all the cold left me and for the first time, I felt warm. Ynt’taris is rumored to be cruel and vicious, but I have never seen that side of the winter dragon. He picked me up and took me to the Temple. On his orders, I was enrolled as a priestess and never looked back. He saved me.”
“The dread lord must have seen something special in you then. Your destiny.”
“I asked him why he saved me when I passed my first rite and saw him again. You meet him you know. That is the first rite. He came to me on the emperor’s mountain and hugged me like we had always been family. I have never felt more a sense of belonging as I did then. Do you know what he said?”
By now, a new group of neighbors had formed and Ora looked out over their faces. Women, children, Ishan, and even a few of the other smiths. “He said, “Great things await in your destiny little jewel of the empire. Great things. I can hardly wait to soar the winter skies with a friend. And, you are a treasure far greater than a mountain of diamonds. I see Mother choosing you and in time the great Northern Temple will stand renewed in Tehra. By your hand.” It was my eleventh birthday and I had yet to learn of the role that temples play for the Goddess. Have you heard of the Northern Temple?”
No one had. Someone listening said, “Only the Temple at Morbatten and the other at Bloodstone. There are many shrines though.”
“In the old empire, there was a great temple called the Temple of Glass. Like a prism in the sunlight, the Glass served all dragons. Though it was desecrated and destroyed during the Kinslayer Wars, there is a priestess here who serves as High Priestess of that one and holds it in her heart. There are other temples too, lost in time and legend. The Northern Temple is one of these, a place of short sunlight and never-ending winter where the white dragons and those who love cold worship the Goddess.
“Anyways, this is neither here nor there. The winter dragon. He told me these things. Taught me these things. He was my mentor. By the time most priests are just entering the temple, I had completed my first and second rite. Because I was so young, Ynt’taris helped me and I faced and defeated my mighty foe.”
Ishan’s wife looked at her sidelong and said, “A mighty foe is the second rite. So, that is what Malcor and Calvin are doing? Hmmmm. I’m not sure that I like that. Very much. Let me guess… your mighty foe – you sought out your mother?”
Ora chuckled and said, “You are wise and savvy and surprisingly intuitive. Yes, that was my mighty foe. The dread lord was worried that, being as young as I was, I would let the victimization root in my heart and it would forever unnerve me. He may have been right. Facing the slavers as an eleven year old probably seemed comical to them. Fortunately, the requirement is to face a mighty foe, not defeat that foe. I challenged the head slaver to a fight and after beating me, he told me that my mother had passed away shortly after they had sold her to House Sai. Though beaten, I kept trying to fight and in trying I felt something awaken in me.” She touched her heart. “I felt a coldness here, so cold it became like fire, and at my crying and desperation, the coldness moved from my heart to my hands and suddenly, I fought with the Goddess' power and authority. Oh, I could feel Ynt’taris’ exultation and he roared when the last slaver fell at my command.
“Ynt’taris took me from that rite and victory to House Sai. I saw for the first time how beautiful Sai’s golems are. And I met him. The rest is history. I officially became a priestess.”
Chapter Sixty Seven - The Truce of Dragons
Alerius watched Malcor in the scrying ball by his golden throne. His fingers drummed one after another on the armrest and he said, “Be sure my ambassador uses this to reinforce our trade agreement with Ori. This Pha Rannnic knight, he angers me. For zealots obsessed with transparency and light, they have a knack for bending their own doctrine to suit their needs. Tell me, is the sceptre secure?”
Daryx, Dar Reznor, and Sai R’Dar knelt before the emperor. Sai spoke in answer, his clear voice saying, “Yes father, the golem sword of Kendra has enwrapped the device. I feed it extra power to hold the sceptre quiet.”
“Emperor,” Reznor spoke now. “My apprentice indicates the wand is of the greater order. It contains a hellhound, rather is a hellhound. As such, we must transport it back in the real world.”
Alerius nodded. “Have you uncovered its name?”
“No my lord, before attempting such we wished to have your permission and the wand safely held here in your or the guild’s laboratories.”
“Daryx, make all needful preparations for the sceptre to be brought back here by ship. Guarded, and safe.”
The three nodded and all left except for Sai. “Sai, you please me. Kendra’s sword is more than even I had hoped for. You surpass my own skill. Do you know how treasured you are?”
Sai bowed low, “Thank you father. How may I continue to serve?”
Alerius pointed to Malcor and said, “A day shall come where the boy will be challenged, same as his father. But, as a paladin, he must have a special sword. An avenger of radiant sun so bright it casts the shadows of doubt and chaos from his mind, and yet empowers his shadow-touched soul.”
Alerius walked off his throne and at a hand sign, the attending priests and priestesses cleared the room and great passageway. Horns blew as the entire area emptied. With each step, Alerius’ human self pulled off as talons, claws, scales, and titanic mass clad about him like armor. His voice changed from his human purr to rumbling baritone, “The radiant sword must burn with the sun and with anti-sun. It must serve him as an avenger but, yes. He must have two swords. One for the sun and one for the shadows. And you shall craft it with him to protect his faith. My son, begin research into the applications of a shadow sword. The mace used by Kell should serve as a model, but it must channel and serve the Goddess. When Malcor brings you a bloodstone, that shall be the time of crafting.”
The emperor opened his hand and caught Sai onto his palm. The speed of their passage through the great tunnel increased and then Alerius burst out of his mountain and spread his wings to catch the thermal currents rising up from the city below. He roared and then turned north. Sai moved to sit beside the many horns that curved around his face. “You are going to Oranstakar father?”
“Yes, I must speak of the shadow clan and safeguard the Forsaken Isles. Those knights also concern me. We are overdue to speak with Oranstakar.”
They sped through the Barrier Mountains, a shield wall that separated the two countries and then the snowcapped mountains dropped to brown valleys and farmlands harvested and fallow waiting for spring. Cattle and sheep scattered as Alerius dipped down to take advantage of faster air currents. Soon, they crossed over a broken series of hills topped with towers and in the distance, the smokey haze of Commerce, Taysor’s capitol, came into view. Alerius sped straight at it and then veered west towards a lonely mountain on Commerce’s flank that watched over the city.
Warriors manning the city’s walls and towers pointed but most hid their faces or cowered in fear. Alerius landed at the base of the mountain and roared. Moments later, a golden scaled dragon delicate and serpentine, looked out from a cavern above and hissed down at Alerius, and then roared. Alerius roared back and then rapidly ascended the mountain claw over claw until he was eye to eye with the gold. The two eyed each other and then simultaneously, they humanshifted. Sai bowed before each.
The golden dragon retained his golden skin and all gold eyes. Where Alerius towered as a mighty warrior clad in armor and weaponry, Oranstakar the gold dragon wore the robes of a scholar. Tattoos wove around his arms in silver and copper white platinum jewelry adorned his ears, neck, and fingers. “A simple letter by courier would work just fine,” he said to Alerius.
“I need – “
“Yes, you always need.”
“My children have captured the Jade God’s sceptre. It bears a hellhound. We must remove it to Bloodstone.”
“Oh, I see.”
“A ship shall bring the artifact from Or
i to Morbatten. It must reach Tania safely. For that – “
“What are your plans for the device?”
"We will take it to Bloodstone, and destroy it. Same as the others.”
“Ah, but brother, you have not destroyed the others. I hear things. You have several? A few? Why keep them at all? They are vile and pose a risk you understand far better than most. Why not destroy it where it is? My people tell me it would not be hard.”
“Your people lie to you on multiple fronts. Do not insult me with what your petty humans say. Your idiot knights of Cuthbert almost drove the lich to the Necromancer. The damage to Ori is incalculable and they are not even allied with my nation. You are dead wrong in that destroying these is easy. You and I may as well go to the Abyss and knock on the jade one's throneplane.”
“So, you plan to bring it through your home and then on to Bloodstone?”
“Yes. During a cascade, when the gates are already open, only then can they be destroyed. And yes, I have several because cascades do not occur often enough to do this." Alerius hissed and stepped right into the gold's face as he said this. "Perhaps if you put your research aside and noted the real world, you would already know this."
The gold dragon shrugged, his voice impassive and without care, “My people have a busy beauty to them but fail to understand that I am anything other than a good luck fetish, to counter the mighty and dreadful Alerius. You shackle your people with chains of religion.”
Alerius put his hand on the gold dragon’s chest, “Yet you see and covet their worship, still. What you fail to understand is that treasure is treasure not because of its respect but because it is treasured.” Alerius pushed and Oranstakar fell back. “Stay out of my face gold one. The treaties with this isle require you and I to agree on any dragon involvement outside of our fixed numbers. But there is another thing we must discuss."
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