Trezlor moved towards Kaida, “You were to remain hidden, child.”
“I am not a child and I will not be hidden! I am not an embarrassment….”
“No, Kaida, I did not mean that, child. Only we wanted to protect you,” Trezlor’s voice cracked with emotion.
Kaida looked at her grandmother Trezlor, to her father, Braaf, and finally at her mother’s father, King Ynir. She thrust her chin forward and reached for the white orb which dangled beneath her tunic. She placed it on top of her clothing for the light to shine against it.
“I am Kaida, the daughter of Kiayla, the granddaughter of King Ynir. I am also the daughter of Braaf, a Zentoor Dragon and granddaughter to Trezlor, the Counselor of Amas.” Kaida looked upon every eye, with defiance.
King Ynir spoke. “Kaida? What are these things you claim?”
In an instant, Kaida slid from the protection of Zlemtec’s union and strode directly in front of the King still mounted on his woolly beast. The Triglor sensed an attack and his flared nostrils blew the Stone Magic onto Kaida. Without a thought, Kaida raised her hand, deflecting the magic backwards and the King’s mount became rigid, then turned to stone.
A clamor of commotion stirred all those watching. “I have heard enough of your words against one another,” spat the riled Princess of Paradys, the granddaughter of King Ynir and granddaughter of the Counselor of Amas. “When and where your dispute originated is not of my concern. Only the ‘why’ concerns me. I have come to you for more reasons than to find my birth families. Yes, it is true. I am Dragon-borne.”
The ruckus grew to a fevered pitch. “Quiet!” demanded the Dragon-borne, her staff held high, lightning flashing through the stones. “You will listen. I have been judged by both sides and I will have my say, which is long overdue.”
King Ynir was captivated by the staff, his memory flashed to a conversation with the guardians of his daughter. The one who looked like Kiayla, rolled back her head and the sky thundered. From out of the sky a staff was thrust into her hands. She held a staff that rippled with lightning which enabled us all to understand, Paradysians and Dragons alike, she said she was not Kiayla but there is something so familiar about her…. He returned his attention to the fine details of her face, the color of her hair, the stubbornness of her soul. She must….
Kaida sounded her staff against the ground. “You will know me and my heritage and why I am here. You will grant me all my words, then, and only then, you will make your own decisions. But know this, all of you. This quarrel ends here. If you decide to wage battle, you will battle against me! I am more than prepared, you can not fathom the Magic I hold.”
Zlemtec, standing by her side, let a low rumble out, giving his wings a stretch, he dazzled a smile to his Kaida. He was willing in this moment to fight them all. The energy flying off of her made his snout flare with excitement. He could feel it with every pulse of his coursing rivers within his scaled body. It was not simply the energy radiating from Kaida, it was the now, the moment, the History in the making. He felt his energies stretch out and spiral with hers. They would make their stand.
“I have only just learned of you, my family from distant planets. My parents, the ones who raised me as their own, Queen and King of the Mursei Hail of Dragons, gave me the information after our meeting with who I now know as my birth mother’s guardians. They had traveled to my planet, Urthe, following a faint beacon from my Heritage orb.” Kaida lifted the white translucent orb and lightly sprung the lid, watching King Ynir’s eyes widen.
“This orb was worn by my birth mother. Our Urthe went through a great shaking and a ‘peoples’, as we call them on Urthe, stumbled out from her cave and sought refuge. She found a place where the mountains did not shake and crawled inside. It was the grand caves of the Mursei Dragons. She was heavy with child and very weak. A large group of the Mursei flew out of the caves on their way to battle their enemies. It was then, Rynik, the soon to be King of Mursei found her. She was giving birth….” Kaida fought back the quivering of her voice, but could not wrestle back the escaped tear traveling down her cheek.
“She … she could not finish, she did not survive. She passed on to her Ancestors as she gave birth to me, her hand clutching the orb I wear. Rynik had to complete the birth as I had not fully come into the light. Here, I show you this!” she pulled the tunic down to expose the scars on her left shoulder, the mark of the Dragon.
Faces filled with awe as Kaida told her story. Some eyes filled with compassion while others held shock.
“Now, perhaps you will understand the rest. I, myself, had to return to my beginning to fully understand. You have heard of ‘The Legend.’ I speak of the Legend of the Dragon Child. The one who was foretold to become the bridge of understanding and peace between the Dragons and ‘peoples.’ She would carry the mark of the Dragon. She would be found by the ‘peoples’ by her fifth year, alone in the forest, with no parents to be found.”
Loud whispers filled the air and every eye was cemented on Kaida.
“I am the Legend. I will fulfill my Destiny. I have learned much in a short time of who I am and the deeper understanding of why I am. It is not only because I carry the mark of the Dragon, as I had thought, nor that I fulfilled the prophecy by being found by the ‘peoples’ in the manner foretold. It is because of you. It is because my birth mother, a Paradysian fell in love with a Zentoor, a Golden Dragon, and they became Bonded. They shared a rare and unique relationship, one of symbiosis. A relationship where the two become One,” Kaida said as she turned and smiled at Zlemtec, “the same relationship I have with Zlemtec.”
“The Legend exists not only because I carry the mark, it exists because I am Dragon-borne. How could I come to you proclaiming to be the Legend without carrying a piece of each of you in my being? The fear of each other started here. It tore my mother from her Bonded, it forced her into a new world, alone and carrying me inside her. Without your knowing, you, the Paradysians and the Zentoors, created the Legend. You created me.”
Tears flowed from the eyes of the Golden Dragons and the yellow-haired people of Paradys. Heaving shoulders leaning against each other, tracing their fears and cruelties back to their points of origination. Back to the instance when the Future could have been rewritten, to where there would have been no need of the Dragon Child, back to where the stories would have been erased.
Kaida and Zlemtec stood center, as a great enveloping closed in. At last, Dragons and yellow-haired people embraced in love, in mind and in soul. They embraced their own.
Kaida reveled in the embrace of her family, the thoughts of nonacceptance sliding away like used up storm clouds, bringing to light the depths of her soul. She slowly untangled herself from the arms and wings of them and stepped back.
“Family and new friends, by your loving gestures to me and Zlemtec, is it true you are willing to embrace one another again, to build upon your old values?”
King Ynir was the first to respond. “Daughter of my daughter, nothing would bring me greater happiness than to follow the old path, therein lies great Wisdom.”
Trezlor, who’s smile radiated like her golden scales, added, “Agreed. We have been friends for many long years. I was a friend to your father, his father and the father before him. I will hold a meeting this very day of all our Zentoor Dragons and make it clear….” she said as she cast a scrutinizing look towards Akkren, “if our policies are not adhered to, those Dragons will be shunned and sent away from our world.”
Akkren felt his golden scales grow hot and turn to the color of burnished bronze. “I know I have no right to ask, but I ask for forgiveness for my … behavior. I allowed a hatred to grow instead of seeking reasoning. My friends and I would return to Paradys to make amends by clearing the damage we caused to your growing fields and sharing a month’s horde of our gold to your treasury. Perhaps that might allow you to buy new plants to fill your fields again.”
The Counselor was pleased by the earnestness of his heart. She cast her eyes
towards the King, hoping he felt it also.
“Yes, Akkren, you will be allowed to bring your friends and help restore what was destroyed. I must forgive you, for I, myself, fell into the same mire you wrestled through.”
Kaida climbed up onto Zlemtec and relished the moment. “We will return to you again to see what progress you have made.”
“What?” The question came from different locations surrounding her.
“I had wished to bring you back to our home, Kaida.” King Ynir blurted out.
“We have only just met, daughter of mine,” replied her Dragon father. “I want to share our home with you, to hear all about you.” His eyes leaked his hopes and dreams down his cheeks.
Kaida was feeling the same pangs as her family and told them, “Give me some time. I left my home and Urthe family at a critical time. There is a new threat coming against a respected peoples of our community, and if he is not stopped, would inflict radical changes in our lives. When the conflict is dealt with, we will return to share stories by the fire’s side.”
Her words were met with sniffles, nods and understanding. She waved and turned to Zlemtec and said, “Home!”
The flash of Blue and Gold glinted in the sun as the two who were One, became airborne, following the path to the portal that led to home. One step into the portal and a few wing beats of time, then they stepped out of the portal to familiar territory.
“We did it, Zlemtec! We did what was given to us to do and now we are home!”
“Not quite there, but closer than we were. Rest or fly?”
“If you are rested, I am ready to fly.”
He chuckled, “How did I know that would be your answer?”
“Because you know me so well,” Kaida said as her hand brushed the side of his muzzle.
The fine light hairs on Kaida’s arms bristled. She twisted around looking for the reason of the alarm she felt stab at her spine. Whispering, she said, “Invisibility Magic, now Zlemtec.” Unaware of what danger lurked or where, they took to the air, absorbing the colors around them.
After a short flight they were met with a sight that struck fear through them both. Outside a cave stood the Magician known as Flegmorr. His hands swirled overhead and then thrust towards the caves. In a sudden blast, the cave exploded in on itself, dust and rocks flying in the air.
“Hurry Zlemtec, we must tell Perthorn and the others what we saw. It looks as if Flegmorr has grown even more powerful.”
Zlemtec fought his roar down and flew silently with the great surge of his wings. “I only hope Zelspar has trained them well, we all need to be prepared for the danger approaching.”
“Knowing Zelspar, he has trained them all down to the tiniest detail.” Kaida swiveled her head back to look at the receding figure. A shiver traveled her spine. “We need to be quicker. I do not like this. Something … ominous radiates from that Magician, like a darkness of a gathering storm. And that storm is heading to our home.”
Flegmorr’s eyes, the color of dark souls scanned the horizon. He reached up and scratched Glik’s chin and said, “Soon. The battle will begin!”
Glik clicked his mouth and answered, “Yessss … soon.”
The End
About the Author:
You can find out the latest information regarding the author’s future books by following her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CherylsFantasies
The first in the series is The Legend of the Dragon Child.
It is available in both printed book and e-book through Amazon or wherever fine books are sold.
www.amazon.com/dp/B0789RR61F
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0789RR61F
www.amazon.ca/dp/B0789RR61F
www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0789RR61F
She had stumbled across his path long ago, in a time when two moons lit the night sky. She had been on one of her excursions, collecting Dragon scales for armor when she saw his eyes. Piercing eyes lurking between the boulders which guarded the mouth of a cave. Their eyes locked. Neither moved.
Ah, but first you should know something about her, of the Legend. You see, she carries a mark across her left shoulder, four deep slashing scars. The mark of the Dragon.
The villagers had found her in the forest, alone and bleeding. She had been curled around a Dragon’s scale of Blue and Gold. She was no more than five years of age. No parents were ever found. They took her in, half out of pity, half out of fear. She carried the mark. They had heard the stories. She might be the one they told would be found.
The Legend of the Dragon Child…
Now that the second book has been released, she is currently working on the third book of the series in which myths, magic and her wonderful Dragons entwine. Stay tuned for her announcement of a new children’s book to be coming soon.
A Note from the Author:
Thank you for reading my book, The Legend: Revealed. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did in creating it, as well as the first book, The Legend of the Dragon Child.
It would mean a great deal to me if you would leave a short review, sharing your thoughts of my book on Amazon. I do personally read all reviews in the effort to deliver the best quality for your reading enjoyment.
I look forward to our continued journey together as I work on Book Three, Zelspar and The Magicians, to bring you a wonderful combination of myths, magic and Dragons that I am eager to share with you.
Sincerely,
Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait
The Legend- Revealed Page 23