[Vankara Saga 03.0] War of Atonement

by SJ West

  As I made my way back down the tunnel towards the lake, I began to hear a faint whispering sound, almost like someone calling out my name. I stopped walking to cancel out the noise of my own movements.

  “Sarah. …” a disembodied voice said.

  “Did you hear that?” I asked Aurora. “Did you hear someone say my name?”

  “No,” Aurora said, sounding surprised by my question. “Is that all they said? Just your name?”

  “Yes.” I closed my eyes, waiting for the voice to speak again.

  “Sarah. …”

  I jumped involuntarily when I heard its whisper, even though I was expecting it.

  “Can you tell where it’s coming from?” Aurora asked me.

  “No,” I admitted. I continued to walk down the tunnel until I came to the lake.

  “Sarah. …” I heard again, but was only able to tell that it had come from the right of me.

  I slowly began to walk by each of the tunnel entrances, listening for the voice. As it continued to call out my name intermittently, I was able to discern which tunnel to go down to seek out the source.

  “Don’t you think you should wait until Dracen returns? Perhaps it’s one of his experiments gone awry. I would advise against seeking the source of this voice you’re hearing. You have no idea what it could be!”

  I knew Aurora was right. The smart thing to do would be to wait for Dracen and the others to reach Ledmarrow. Yet, something was propelling me forward against my better judgment. I felt a deep-set need to figure out where the voice was coming from and not even common sense could make me cease my quest.

  “I’m sorry, Aurora, I have to figure out where it’s coming from.”

  Aurora huffed, expelling twin smoke trails from her nostrils.

  “Very well,” she said, resigning herself to my decision. “But I want it noted that I think this is a very bad idea. A very bad idea indeed.”

  I continued to walk up the tunnel until I came to a round iron door that was a foot taller than I was. I saw no knob to turn or any other way to open it.

  “Thank heavens,” Aurora said with much relief. “It looks like your search will have to stop here.”

  “No,” I replied, studying the door a moment longer before deciding on a course of action, “not necessarily.”

  I lifted my right hand and pressed its palm against the cold metal. After I heard a series of bolts slide into place, I took my hand away. I assumed the door might have the same safeguard on it that the gray marble stone on top of the mountain did. I was gratified to see that I was correct in my deduction as the door swung open on its own in front of us.

  “Oh my,” Aurora said in awe as we both stared dumbfounded at the sight before us.

  “Oh my” was right. …

  CHAPTER THREE

  After I stepped into the large, cavernous space, my eyes became fixated on the treasure that lay hidden within its walls. It was easy enough to discern what we were looking at because it was in the shape of a dragon. I knew this had to be the remains of Dracen’s dragon companion, Trill. The story Dracen told me concerning Trill had been a tale filled with ultimate sacrifice and an act of true love.

  Long ago, while Dracen lay on his deathbed, Trill transferred his life force into Dracen, not only saving his life but also transforming him into the world’s most formidable sorcerer. After Trill’s death, Dracen decided to transport the body of his savior here to Ledmarrow Mountain as a lasting tribute to their friendship. When Trill’s body decayed, it turned into trillian, a yellow gemstone that was able to amplify Dracen’s magical abilities even more.

  “He’s beautiful,” Aurora said respectfully of the sight.

  “Yes,” I agreed, “he is.”

  The trillian itself glowed softly, casting a warmth around the room that was both comforting and awe-inspiring. Slowly, I walked up to the head of the dragon as he lay in his eternal slumber and stretched out a hand to gently glide it across the curve of his large forehead, feeling the rise and fall of each individual scale.

  The stone warmed against my skin, and I felt a sense of calm … until I heard the voices.

  I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but their cries of despair and shouts of anger suddenly pervaded my mind. I took my hand away from Trill’s corpse, instantly severing my contact with the maelstrom of disembodied voices.

  “Sarah. …”

  I involuntarily jumped at the sound of my name being spoken because it sounded as though it had just been whispered in my ear.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orb of white light suddenly appear beside me. When I turned to face it fully, it slowly began to spin and grow in size.

  “What is that?” Aurora asked in awe of the spectacle.

  “I have no idea,” I answered, as I continued to watch the light take on a silhouette.

  Strangely enough, the sudden appearance of the light didn’t cause me to panic. In fact, I felt a sense of comfort from its presence. As it continued to grow in size, I began to realize the final form it would take. I just didn’t understand how such a miracle was possible.

  “Trill?” Aurora asked in disbelief. I wasn’t sure if she was talking to me or to the ghostly form of Dracen’s long dead dragon companion.

  “Greetings, little one,” Trill said, his baritone voice forceful, yet kind. “It’s been a while since I spoke with a fellow dragon. I am honored that Sarah is allowing me to converse with you.” Trill turned his attention to me. “It has been a long time since you and I spoke. I am happy to see you again.”

  “I’m sorry. I have no memory of us ever meeting,” I confessed. “Did we meet when I was living here as Kira?” It was the only logical explanation for Trill’s familiarity with me.

  “Yes. You were only a very small child when you and I first met,” Trill told me, his voice sounding fond of the remembrance.

  “How did you know I prefer to be called Sarah now?” I asked, finding that particular knowledge of my current state of mind odd.

  “I heard you and Aurora speaking to one another when you entered the mountain,” Trill said, sounding apologetic for eavesdropping on our conversation. “I am sorry for that invasion into your privacy. I do humbly ask for your forgiveness. It’s just been so long since I was able to have a civilized conversation with anyone. I’m afraid I became overly excited and brash. I couldn’t prevent myself from calling out to you.”

  “How long has it been since you spoke to anyone?” I asked.

  “Since before Kira left us,” Trill said with a note of sadness.

  “I don’t understand,” I confessed. “Why haven’t you and Dracen spoken since then?”

  “I have never been able to speak to Dracen in my present form,” Trill said. “Not everyone has the ability to see and hear me. I wish I could have spoken to your father, though. I would have warned him about that boy who used him to create the plagues.”

  I remembered Karis well. He was Dracen’s last Fae apprentice and the one responsible for using Dracen to kill millions of people throughout the world. Nuala may have orchestrated the plan, but Karis was the one who carried it out. He used Dracen’s kindness and love for him to advance his own diabolical agenda. It was a betrayal I would never forget or forgive.

  “How is it that I can hear and see you, but Dracen isn’t able to?” I asked.

  “You were only four years old when you first discovered me in this chamber,” Trill told me. “The young can see things that adults refuse to believe in. Your heart and mind were open to all the possibilities of the world. You accepted my existence with your mind and welcomed my friendship with your heart.”

  “But surely I told Dracen I was speaking with you,” I said.

  “Yes, you did,” Trill replied. “And he did come here himself to see if he could speak with me, but it didn’t work. I believe he simply couldn’t bring himself to see me again. I feel sure it would have pained him to face the fact that I’m trapped here, and I would never knowingly force him to d
o something that would cause him so much sorrow.”

  “Trapped?” I asked. “Why are you trapped here?”

  “The bond between Dracen and I still exists,” Trill told me. “Even my death couldn’t sever it completely. For as long as this mountain stands, I shall remain here where my body lies.”

  “Is there no way for your soul to move on?”

  “I am unable to do that until Dracen dies.”

  “But you gave Dracen your immortality,” I pointed out. “He isn’t able to die.”

  “Thus, my quandary,” Trill admitted.

  “Do you regret what you did?”

  “Absolutely not,” Trill said resolutely. “Even if I could travel back through time with full knowledge of the consequences of my actions, I would not change anything that I did for Dracen. If he had died, you and your brother wouldn’t exist and the world would not be the same.”

  “Was my brother able to see you?” I asked.

  “No, he never could. I think he wanted to believe in the existence of spirits, but his mind was simply too logical to truly accept the possibility. Your mother wasn’t able to see me either—only you, Sarah.”

  “The voices I heard when I touched you, can you also hear them?” I asked Trill, looking back at his corporeal body and shivering slightly from the memory of the sensation I felt when I touched his remains. “Were those the souls of the dead who were killed by the plagues?”

  “Yes,” Trill answered with great pity in his voice. “Their souls were drawn back here to where it all began. I was so proud of Dracen for coming up with the idea of the automatons. It lessened their pain and gave some of them a new purpose, a new life.”

  “Trill. …” I fell silent because I wasn’t sure how to ask the question I had, but I was desperate to know the truth. “Trill, do you know if two people named Liam and Imogen Harker are still trapped inside the trillian?”

  “I’m sorry. I do not know the names of the souls confined within what’s left of my body,” Trill told me. “All of their souls are stuck in a state of flux. Their thoughts are muddled. They are aware of a great loss, but the concept of being dead seems to elude them, for some reason.”

  “Is there nothing else that can be done to help them?” I asked, my heart aching at the thought of my parents existing in a state of being that wasn’t truly dead or alive.

  “Not that I know of,” Trill answered with deep regret. “I wish there was.”

  I couldn’t deny that his answer was a great disappointment to me. Since the Harkers died in the last plague, it was almost a certainty that their souls were trapped inside the trillian. Dracen wouldn’t have had the opportunity to construct new automatons between the time of their deaths and my first visit to Ledmarrow. I felt helpless. I might rule a nation, but I was incapable of ending their torment. They didn’t deserve such a fate, and an instant determination grew inside my soul to find a way to help them and the others trapped within the mountain.

  As I looked at Trill, I began to wonder if Kira was somehow making sure I found all the pieces of my past in order to reconstruct it. Vincent told me that the odds of me recovering any more memories on my own were virtually impossible. The only other way for me to discover who I was would be through the memories of others. Finding Kira’s journal and Trill couldn’t simply be a coincidence. It was like being given a key into a locked room and discovering two windows inside it, each of which provided a different glimpse into a past I couldn’t remember.

  “How old did you say I was when I first found you?” I asked Trill.

  “You had just turned four,” Trill told me. “But you were extremely articulate for someone so young. You harbored a wisdom well beyond your years, even back then. I still see the same cleverness within you now. Tell me, Sarah, how many people have you been since you left Ledmarrow?”

  “The baby I shifted into before I left was named April Pew by the couple who adopted me. Then, I became Sarah Harker, and now I’m Queen Emma Vankar.” Even as I said the words, it was hard for me to believe I had been so many different individuals in my life. How many people could claim to have four completely separate identities within their lifetime? I may have been born as Kira, but Sarah was the person I wanted to remain. I didn’t want to lose my identity amongst the others.

  “How often would I come visit you when I lived here?” I asked.

  “Every day up until the morning of Joselyn’s death,” Trill answered. “Do you have any memory of that time?”

  “Some. Vincent helped me find what memories of Kira remained in my mind. He couldn’t find many, but my daughter’s death was one of them.”

  “It makes sense that the most profound memories would stay intact,” Trill said. “Those are the ones that define who we are and direct us towards the path we’re meant to follow.”

  “Then you believe this has always been my fate? To become the Queen of Vankara?”

  “That is not for me to say,” Trill replied. “Some believe our destinies are written in stone, and some believe we are the architects of our own future.”

  “Which do you believe?”

  “I believe it’s a little bit of both. I think we are led down certain paths in our lives. When we come to the forks along those paths, the choice inevitably rests on our shoulders to determine which way we should go from there. Whether or not we choose the right path is impossible to predict. We simply have to adjust and live with the consequences of our decisions because they are the ones which ultimately chart the course of our lives.”

  “Seems as though there should be a better way to live than just guessing which direction we should go.”

  “Do you believe you have made the wrong choices?”

  “There’s no way to know for certain, is there? I have no way to compare my life as it is now to what it could have been.”

  “Considering what you have in your life at this particular moment in time,” Trill said, “would your life and the world be better off if you had remained here as Kira, forever mourning the loss of Joselyn? Or are you impacting lives for the better as you are now?”

  “I guess the answer depends on whether or not I can bring about an end to the war the Fae have started.”

  “Ahh, yes. The war. I did hear you say something about that the last time you were here in Dracen’s home. Can you tell me what has transpired since then?”

  I went on to tell Trill everything about the Fae seizing control of Iron City. I recounted my adventures in Kamora and on the dragon isle.

  “Then my brethren are on their way here?” Trill asked excitedly. “I wish I could see and speak with them.”

  “Why can’t you?”

  “I am unable to leave this cavern,” Trill said, looking around the stone walls of his eternal prison. “I cannot travel far from my body, and they are far too large to walk into the mountain. But to know they will be so close is still a comfort. I have no doubt they will help you defeat the Fae and retake your city. Gregoire is a mighty warrior. He will not allow his brother to continue his crusade to enslave humanity. He will do whatever needs to be done.”

  “Lives will be lost,” I said, feeling the impact of such loss, even though it hadn’t occurred yet.

  “Lives are always scarified during times of war,” Trill said understandingly. “This war was not of your making. You should feel no guilt over what has happened or what is to come. You are on the side of right, and it is your duty as the leader of this nation to help your people. You must be brave when others cower in fear. Show them that you are worth fighting for and beside, Sarah. That is the duty and mark of a true leader.”

  Trill lifted his head and looked at the stone ceiling above us as if he sensed something.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Do you feel them, little one?” Trill asked Aurora.

  “Yes,” Aurora answered. “We were expecting Gregoire and the others to come here.”

  “That is not Gregoire you sense,” Trill told us, sounding worried. “It
is his brother and those who follow his command.”

  “Nuala’s dragons are here?” I asked, feeling my whole body suddenly tingle from the implications of their sudden appearance.

  “Yes,” Trill answered.

  “I have to warn Vincent,” I said, quickly turning around to leave the cavern.

  “If Trill and I can sense their presence, he will already know they’re coming, Sarah,” Aurora told me.

  “I can’t leave him out there to face them alone,” I told her.

  “Sarah!” Trill called out before I stepped outside the room and into the tunnel.

  I turned around to face him.

  “Be careful,” he warned. “Tyr is nothing like his brother. He detests humans and would have no problem of conscience in causing you great harm.”

  “You said harm, not that he would kill me,” I pointed out. “Why wouldn’t he just take this opportunity to end my life?”

  “Because killing you would mean killing Aurora,” Trill replied. “Even someone such as him has a threshold of cruelty he will not cross. The killing of a young dragonling, especially a female one, would mar his soul forever.”

  I knew Trill’s words were true because I had already seen evidence of Tyr’s refusal to harm Aurora. When Tyr attacked my airship when we first returned to Iron City after our first trip to Ledmarrow, Aurora let out a wailing cry that shattered the windows within the cabin and warned the other dragons of her presence. It was nice to know that Tyr had some scruples, even if they might be few.

  “I won’t leave Vincent out there to face them by himself,” I told Trill. “So don’t ask me to.”

  Trill sighed heavily at my stubborn determination. “They haven’t traveled all this way simply to welcome you back home.”

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to go see what it is they have come for.”

  “Then I ask that you be very careful, Sarah,” Trill requested.