Legend's Awakening

by Jensine Odom

  “You have enslaved their minds,” Sylaena accuses, the look in her eyes turning dangerous as they come to rest on the daggers in my hands. “Where did you get those?! They are not yours!” She swipes at my right hand, trying to grab Arrakis away from me, her purple dress swishing with the movement.

  Caedryn stops her, grabbing her hand and shoving her back, then standing between us. “I gave them to her, Mother.”

  “Those were Eagan’s,” Sylaena cries hysterically. “You had no right!”

  “I had every right,” Caedryn yells back. “You were thought dead, and Father’s whereabouts unknown!”

  “Why aren’t you dead, by the way?” I ask, suspicious, and Sylaena just glares, refusing to answer.

  Caedryn’s mind catches on to my thoughts. “Answer her, Mother,” he says softly, the implications of what she has to say breaking him.

  “I will do no such thing! I am the High Royal!”

  “You were the High Royal,” Malakai interjects evenly, taking Sylaena’s hand in the same calming gesture Caedryn uses on me. “Just as I was the Knight-Commander.” He turns a proud smile on Caedryn, silently bestowing that honor on his son. “We knew this would come to pass, if we returned.”

  “What do you mean if you returned?” Zaara asks now, looking between her parents.

  “You are correct, Malakai.” Sylaena takes a deep breath, then looks around at all of us. “Sit, this may take some time.”

  Looking to me for the OK, everyone waits. I sheath my daggers and sit, gesturing for everyone to do the same. Sylaena still looks unhappy about losing her title, but sits as well, her dress pooling around her in lilac ripples. Malakai joins her side, taking her hand in his, offering strength.

  “To understand the ending, you must know the beginning,” Sylaena starts cryptically. “Malakai and I were going to flee, leaving you to your fates, as we had done before. You see, we aren’t from this world, but another one entirely; known as Illysium.”

  Story Time

  DISBELIEF and shock ripples through the audience as Sylaena pauses for a dramatically long time. A smug smile tugs at the corners of her lips, the kind that makes me want to punch it right off her face, but I calm myself. I’m just still butthurt from her challenge a moment ago.

  “We lived peacefully. Dragons did not war with one another. Knights did not exist. With no need for oversight, Royals were not bound to the draquus. Until the day we named Kyros our High Royal.

  “You see, Kyros was an Esper; the first. When he took High Royal after our father died, he set out to unite all dragonkind. Under that false pretense of peace, he quietly began to eliminate the other Royals of lesser clans, assimilating them with ours to grow our numbers.

  “Our mother confronted him about this, and although he denied wrongdoing, her body was found soon after. That is when I discovered his true plan. Like Drustana, he not only wished to rule all dragonkind, but the world, and like Drustana, used his Esper abilities to corrupt the minds of the weak. Those that defied him were killed.

  “It took some time, but I mounted a rebellion, and although his Acolytes were many, we prevailed. I became High Royal. Not wishing to be like Kyros, I simply exiled him.

  “With Svartiirstiin in ruins, I built a new magical city, Aevarandiir, to keep us safe, and mandated all Royals be bound to a draquus, to ensure none would sunder dragonkind into chaos again. We had peace once more.

  “That is when the Honorless corruption began. Several of our young ones, after having come of age, could disregard their honorbinding. Like with Kyros, I had them exiled.

  “Soon, however, the number of Honorless young began to increase, and I was forced to turn more and more of our kind out, disheartening many. In turn, those Honorless did what I did not expect. They created clans and began to raid the city.

  “I created the Knights to deal with this new threat. Although I tried desperately to keep them safe, my people began to turn on me, some whispering Kyros was a better ruler than I. Many left the protective walls of Aevarandiir to join the Honorless.

  “Kyros took this opportunity of our weakened state to retaliate. Commanding an army of Honorless and beastlocked, he quickly overtook Aevarandiir. We were no match for his force.

  “I am not proud of what I did next, but I felt it necessary to the survival of my kind, whatever remained of it. I fled, taking Malakai, young Eagan, what few of my loyal people that could escape, and as many draquus as possible to the Elviin. There we procured the travelstones necessary to leave our doomed world behind, and our people to their own fate.

  “The world the travelstones chose was a primitive Earth, with enough magical energies to support us. There were also people here, something we discovered later. They were similar to us, but unable to shift, and much less intelligent. They attacked some of us in our dragon form, to disastrous results.

  “To broker peace with them, I created the Vanguard; dragons who sacrificed their ability to shift but gained the ability to persuade even the most stubborn of minds. Their marks were removed, replaced with a single sigil on their left arm. This allowed them to walk amongst the humans without betraying their origins.

  “We had peace, for a time. Dragonkind began to rebuild what it had lost. Then the Honorless corruption returned, along with the discovery of a few Espers. Once more, I was forced to turn out my own kind, but I had learned my lesson with Kyros. To ensure the safety of my people, I had the Espers executed.

  “So it was for centuries. As our numbers grew, so did the Honorless. Just as before, they formed clans, and we were forced to defend ourselves. The cycle continued, with no way for us to stop it.

  “To make matters worse, the humans grew more bold, with new religions condoning dragon hunting, even calling it holy. I sent the Vanguard out once more to reeducate the humans and remind them of their pact with us, but it was to their doom they went.

  “Drustana had learned of our plans, through Meirana, and met ahead of the Vanguard with the human leaders, convincing them of our ability to shift. They believed her lies, and slew the Vanguard upon arrival, fearing they were there to simply infiltrate and destroy the leaders.

  “We would have never learned of Drustana’s part in all of this had Eagan’s soulbound not managed to escape and alert us before succumbing to her wounds. That night we captured Drustana, as well as all her Acolytes. Meirana was executed; Drustana and the others exiled. Had we known what Drustana was truly capable of and the extent of her treachery, we would have executed her.

  “With our secret revealed to the blood thirsty humans, it was time for dragonkind to go dormant, only Malakai and I would not be joining our people. We had decided it best to flee once again, but upon finding the mutilated Royals and Caedryn missing, we knew we could no longer outrun this curse that has chased us across time and worlds.

  “We decided we would go dormant elsewhere, to await the time dragonkind awakened once more and return to defeat this corruption.” From Sylaena’s triumphant tone, she was hoping this would be a more rousing story. How quickly she forgot most of the dragons present are these so called corrupted Honorless she wants to eliminate.

  Sylaena looks around at her audience, but no one’s terribly enthused. The Knights all look a little betrayed, and the Outcasts are still unimpressed. I’m angry.

  “You’re nothing but a coward,” I snarl, unentangling my legs from themselves and climbing to my feet. “Even though you chose to stay, you still abandoned your people to their fate! The least you could’ve done was awaken the Honorbound to save them from becoming beastlocked!”

  Sylaena didn’t like being called a coward, and stands quickly to meet me, Malakai quickly following her, resting a hand on her arm to stop her from doing something stupid. I almost wish he would let her hit me.

  “You are correct,” Sylaena breathes, her shoulders falling in defeat. “When I decided to remain, I could have released the Honorbound. I did not, out of fear. I have no excuse.”

  What a bitch! I can’t
be mad at her now, not with her agreeing! With a deep breath in and out my nose, I step closer. “At least you admit your mistake.” I reach out for her shoulder in a gesture of peace, but she pulls away from me, her cold eyes meeting mine.

  “Do not touch me,” she snaps.

  “Alright.” I put my hands up and step back. She’s going to be hard to turn, with her centuries, maybe even millennia, of prejudice. That’s alright, though; I don’t need her to accept me, just concede to me. “Tell me more about the Vanguard.”

  Sylaena takes a breath of relief, tension flowing out of her, and nods. “As I said, they were Knights that sacrificed their ability to shift, but gained the ability of persuasion. Their powers were held in their weapons; in the event a Vanguard was lost, the weapon was given to another deserving of the gift.”

  “So Dagabrjota was one of these weapons, and it chose my brother?”

  “It would seem so,” Sylaena agrees, unsure. “I did not know simple humans could be considered worthy.” The way she spit out humans makes me wonder if she at least half agrees with Drustana about us being superior. “I can understand why you were chosen, but you are still able to transform.” She furrows her brows, looking beyond me as her thoughts overcome her.

  “Son, do you possess the other weapons?” Malakai asks Caedryn, breaking the silence.

  “Yes. I also have a few dragons in mind to receive them,” Caedryn answers firmly, like no one will sway him from this course.

  “I was simply going to tell you to do so,” Malakai returns with a smile.

  Caedryn nods respectfully, then swings the pack off his back, laying it on the ground and unrolling it to reveal the first weapon; Nacht-Brekker. I’m pretty sure I know who’s going to get it.

  “Tristin,” Caedryn calls, echoing my thoughts.

  “Alright!” Tristin jumps to his feet in celebration, running over.

  Just before his hand can claim the handle of the axe, I take it, getting an idea. Holding it between my hands, I then present it to Tristin. With a suspicious look, he tries to grab it again, but I’m not going to take it away this time.

  The moment his hand encircles the handle, a familiar energy rushes through me. Something changes, then the energy moves into Tristin. His eyes go blank for an instant, then refocus.

  “Nacht-Brekker,” Tristin tells me, his face confused, like he’s not sure why he’s speaking.

  With a nod, I release the weapon, letting him have it completely, and the colors shift from green and blue to purple and green. Tristin smiles like a kid on Christmas morning, then presses a spot in the handle, breaking the double headed axe into two separate weapons.

  “This’ll do nicely,” Tristin gloats, affecting a heavy Scottish accent, and Caedryn laughs, handing him the scabbard for Nacht-Brekker.

  “Can you shift?” Sylaena asks Tristin.

  In answer, Tristin steps back with a huge grin and shifts, his bulky, T-Rex looking dragon filling the space between all of us.

  “How is this possible?” Sylaena asks, confused.

  “It would seem the Vanguard no longer need to hide,” Malakai answers, and like magic, Sylaena’s confusion disappears.

  “Either that or I broke the binding magic within the weapon,” I offer.

  Sylaena glares at me. “That is not possible.”

  “Is it, though?” I ask sarcastically, something Sylaena definitely doesn’t appreciate.

  Caedryn hides a chuckle and just hands me the next weapon; Caliburn.

  “Baldure,” we say together, better than if we had rehearsed it.

  With a slight shock, Baldure walks forward to accept his new weapon. The same energy courses through me first, then him, and just like Tristin, his eyes go blank for a brief moment, then focus.

  “Caliburn,” he says, and the emerald glows, gold flowing into the details of the blade; a dragon made of Celtic knots.

  I nod, and he steps away, shifting as Tristin had done, his massive dragon proving the pattern to hold.

  “He is Honorless,” Sylaena gasps. “How can this be?”

  “The same way a mere human was chosen,” I chide without giving her the benefit of a look.

  Without skipping a beat, I hold my hands out for the next and final weapon; Eros. “Alivia,” I call by myself, Caedryn giving me the honor.

  Her eyes go wide, and she takes an unsure step back behind her huge brother. Baldure laughs and pushes her forward. With one last look back for strength, she walks up to me, her hand tentatively touching Eros’s hilt.

  Go ahead, Alivia. You deserve this, I send to her, giving her confidence, and her hand claims the weapon.

  When the energy rushes through me, her mind joins mine, and we stand before a multicolored flame. Mine.

  After the next two Vanguard are named, share this bond with the others. I will assist you, Alivia says cryptically, then leaves. “Eros,” she states aloud, the golden topaz turning blue.

  If the first Honorless Vanguard surprised Sylaena, the second pissed her off. Her thin mouth is pressed into an even thinner line, and her eyes have gone colder, if that’s even possible.

  “There you have it,” I say, addressing the crowd and ignoring Sylaena. “Our Vanguard!” I gesture for the others to join me, and raise their hands with mine.

  “Not quite yet,” Sylaena interrupts the cheers coming from everyone, her mouth curving into an unpleasant smile. “There will be two more Vanguard,” she announces, her eyes darting quickly between Caedryn and Zaara.

  Of course! I always thought their weapons were a little fancier than the others. The Vanguard powers must be dormant in them, and just need a little nudge.

  “Caedryn, Zaara,” I call, not completely meaning to steal the moment from Sylaena, but also not wanting her to be the one to awaken the magic; she’d bind their ability to shift just to spite me.

  Caedryn’s first, standing right beside me. He looks curiously between his mother and me, deciding to address the latter. “Yes, Xerxia?”

  “Your sword, please.” I put my hands out, and Caedryn lays his sword in them, his curiosity growing as a spark shoots through the weapon.

  A sleepy energy crawls across my skin, then quickens. I nod to Caedryn, who takes the sword again, and his eyes go blank.

  “Silverfang,” he says, awed, and sheaths his sword again before shifting, just to make sure he can.

  Zaara’s next, looking a little more indecisive than her brother was about who to choose. Sylaena tries a motherly look, the kind that says if you don’t come here, there’ll be consequences. I half expect her to start counting to three, and just wait patiently, refusing to play her game.

  With a deep breath, Zaara turns to me, offering up her sword and shield.

  “You have corrupted my children’s minds against me,” Sylaena hisses.

  “No, Mother,” Zaara defends me. “She cannot.” Zaara smiles, giving her weapons over completely.

  The magic within them wakes, moving slowly at first, and when it reaches its peak, I nod for Zaara to take the weapons once more.

  “Alpha and Omega,” she says calmly, and I release my grip.

  “Now I give you the Vanguard,” I announce, taking Zaara’s and Caedryn’s hands. Alright, Alivia, what’s the plan?

  In response, Alivia’s mind grabs mine, and she shows me how to do the same with the others. Surprisingly, Zaara doesn’t baulk. Once we’re all gathered, a huge room opens up, each of our flames burning bright behind us.

  We will now enter each soul together, Alivia instructs, bowing for me to go first into hers.

  Caedryn grabs my hand when I hesitate, and we step inside, joined by the others. A new tug in my heart center appears, then we’re back to the big hall of souls. I turn to lead us into mine, but Alivia stops me.

  No. You will be last, binding us together.

  With a nod, Alivia and I lead the others to the next soul, Baldure’s green flame flickering invitingly to me, little hints of color dancing inside. Next is Tristin’s, then Ze
bulon’s, which is less of a flame and more of a curtain of glimmering red light, like an aurora.

  Caedryn’s soul nearly pulls me in, then there’s Zaara’s, looking identical to Caedryn’s save for the electric blue tint in the flames.

  Unsure, I glance at Zaara. Is this alright with you?

  Yes, Zaara replies happily. While you were away Alivia helped me to understand.

  I step closer, looking one last time at Zaara. She nods, and I step in, joined shortly by the rest of the Vanguard. Because she’s new to this, it takes a moment for her to settle in with us, but eventually she does, and we move on to the last, which is mine.

  The flames flickered the colors of the rainbow before but are now joined by the colors of the other Vanguards souls, and when I glance at the others, they also have new colors in them, reflecting our bond. Letting everyone go ahead of me, I step in last, and something clicks into place.

  It is done, Alivia states, and when we step out of my soul, I find all of ours have merged into one roaring bonfire. We will always know of each other now.

  With that, each soul becomes its own, still containing remnants of the others, and our minds release, returning us to the present.

  Our hands are still raised, smiles still on our faces. The crowd’s still cheering, and Sylaena still looks pissed. Although it felt like we were in our minds for several minutes, time seems to have stood still out here.

  Malakai comes forward to congratulate us, begrudgingly followed by Sylaena. He clasps our hands, but Sylaena refuses to touch any of us, especially me.

  The white draquus comes forward, having been silent this whole time, and addresses Zebulon.

  There is no need for the Vanguard to be humanbound. I can make you a dragon, if you so wish, a soft, lilting female voice sounds in my mind.

  Tristin gives Zebulon an excited grin.

  Zebulon just shakes his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll stay this way.”

  As you wish, the draquus replies, a little annoyed, and turns to leave, but I stop her.