When he finally got his head out into the open air, where it was far fresher than it was inside, he slouched his shoulders in respite, having recognised those crimson scales only too well. He was inside Jimzin’s mouth, and was, perhaps, being transported to some undisclosed location. But why?
“Jimzin, where are you taking me?” he demanded, after being snatched up so rashly. “You need to take me back! I have to tell those people something and it can’t wait! Can’t you hear me? Where are we off to?”
The dragon answered him with a snort and a kick of his thorny head. And, there, in the outlying distance, the boy discerned the dewy shoulders of the great Andin’s Shield. It wouldn’t be long before they would touch ground there. He was flying by dragon, after all. And even the slowest of dragons could challenge the wind.
A short time later, more of those clouds were becoming familiar to our William. There was a certain uniqueness to Ebyulán’s dreamlike landscapes. Old Thedius was awaiting their arrival, just like before, and he looked as jolly as ever, with his arms open to William’s visit. Jimzin, dropping his paws onto the cloud, then lowered his mouth so William could climb free.
“Praises to you, my dear, dragony friend!” King Thide said, and laughed with a fine clap. “Praises to you, indeed! Don’t be a stranger now. And be sure to give Varmanna and Turogoth my best.”
Taking this as the polite dismissal it was, Jimzin left them to their business. As stubborn as dragons can be, it turns out that even they cannot refuse the charms of this majestic place, or Thedius, either. Certainly a rare thing that not even young Wren had the good fortune to experience.
Before launching off, Jimzin acknowledged the boy somewhat more gently than William was ever accustomed to from him. As if to say, ‘keep your chin up, lad.’ He smiled back at the dragon and watched him leave. Jimzin galloped into a takeoff, then disappeared into a cluster of blooming clouds, through which many rays had shone, and they were finally alone.
“Thedius, what’s going on?” William asked, approaching the king like a person stuck for time. “Why am I here?”
“I apologize for the rude pick-up.” Thedius grinned, settling himself in for what was to be a long discussion. “However, no matter who you are on this world, there is really no contending with the stubbornness of dragons. I asked Jimzin to carry you here, not put you in his mouth. Most distasteful, I’d imagine. Now, down to brass tacks, shall we? Did you say anything to the Dwelvin-Mites?”
Put out for not being given a straight answer, the lad asked confusedly, “S-Say anything? You mean about Anun, is it?”
“What else?”
“But how did—”
“I am the person who people go to for the answers, am I not?” Thedius merrily implied.
Not at all amused, William said, “Apparently so! Okay then, answer me this! After all this talk about deceit from Vahna Webble—which I know you know about, by the way—who was it? Was it Anun who deceived me?”
With a deflated sigh, the man answered, “Deceit, deceit. Oh, how worlds would be at peace without such a defection as deceit. Yes, it is true. Anun was the one who betrayed you.”
Part of William wanted to believe that he was wrong about this. But now that he was hearing it from someone else—Thedius Thide, no less—it struck him all the harder, like a tenderizing mallet to the heart, painfully softening its fibres. And the way he answered him so coolly made him even more flustered.
He then demanded, “So one o’ the few people I actually trusted…who I was actually protecting…happened to be the one who was lying to me all along?”
“Is it actually that difficult to believe?”
Baffled that he could even think this, William argued, “Yes! Yes, it is! And if you already knew about it, then why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you warn me? ‘Um, by the way, William…that one whose house you were in, she isn’t your friend at all. She’s your enemy. And she’s trying to kill you!’ That would’ve been nice! Was everything she told me a lie? What about all those things she told me in the Grollo? About the spell on Ballycongraggon. Was that just a load o’ old rubbish too?”
Clearly his jolly approach wasn’t helping, so sympathizing with William on a more staidly plane, Thedius explained, “Anun told you just enough for you to trust her. Had she not been so convincing, would you still have went on your journey?”
William paused.
“Precisely as I thought. Strange you should remember everything she told you, lad, while forgetting everything she left out. The most significant details of all, as it so happens. While everything she told you about the spell was true, she still kept you in the dark about your Symphogram, without which, it would have been next to impossible for you to defeat your enemy. Her ignorance of its whereabouts gave her choice of little else. Not only that, but she warned you away from Redmun, too; who ended up teaching you how to understand yourself, and what you stood for. It was only by unbelievable coincidence that he happened to have the Symphogram on him too.
“Essentially, she sent you out into a world of unimaginable peril, unprepared, whilst not knowing what to expect or what to look out for. And, comparable to her mother before her, she did occasionally mix her truths to throw you off. I am genuinely sorry for keeping this from you, my lad. I had my suspicions, though I was not certain of her intentions; until I saw her leading the Dwelvin-Mites out into the open that night. I prayed she might have recognised her mistakes before then, but unfortunately, it was not so. Once I saw the Grollo opening up, and those helpless creatures emerging, I knew that she intended to go through with her plan.”
“Plan? What plan?! But she was helping me. That night in the fields, I heard her voice. She was guiding me to Thérn’s tower.”
“Too right, she did.” The man smirked, more so out of disapproval. “And you almost didn’t make it out of there alive. If you can recall, she led you into quite a few dangerous situations. Trying to drain you of strength, I’d imagine. Demoralizing you for what was to come. Which reminds me”
Removing William’s walking stick from his bundle, Thedius snapped it over his knee, thereby freeing, from its shards a curious haze which, upon manifesting itself into a hideous spirit, cast itself down from Ebyulán, into the shadows of beneath, where it would forever cower.
“What was that thing?” the boy started, poised for something terrible, when Thedius explained, “That’s how she kept her eye on you, boy, through her enchanted staff. Funny, it didn’t even work that well half the time. Through it, you heard her voice. Common parlour tricks really, is all. All it takes is a few simple spells and a bit of imagination. But you weren’t to know that, being a visitor to the realm.”
“But what did she hope to achieve?” William asked, sitting next to Thedius. “I mean, why did she do all o’ this? Did she know Drevol? Was she working for him or something?”
“When the child, Anun, abandoned Webble all that time ago, back in the years of the Elderland, she decided upon her road. Worse yet, she committed to it. The long, grim road to deceit. Everywhere she roamed, she would lie to people; abuse their trust in order to gain whatever she wanted. Be it companionship, which would eventually curdle into a dictatorship, or things such as riches or land; you name it, she coveted it. She was very gifted in that way. Sadly, beauty can be the most dangerous gift of all. It can influence even the strongest of minds. A single kiss has the potential to crumble entire empires.
“Many died because of that young girl. Some were children. Some even babies. Eventually the people awoke to her ways. They became mindful of this girl who could manipulate anyone or anything into doing whatever her heart desired. Hence, they did what any angry mob would do. They took her prisoner, whilst some few of her victim’s kin bet her within an inch of her life.
“On the eve of her capture, however, young Anun managed to slip away long enough to stage her own death.”
“And how did she manage that?” William asked.
“She stalked a girl throu
gh the woods, that very night. A poor, dark haired girl. Pummelled her with a rock took, so that her face was virtually unrecognizable. And then she dressed the body in her own blood-smeared dress, before flinging her over a waterfall. The body was found by a group of fishermen a few days later, washed-up in a stream, bloated beyond all recognition. After that, Anun was proclaimed dead. Meanwhile, Anun herself was off changing her appearance, and her name.”
“Changing her name? You mean, it wasn’t always Anun?” The boy gasped.
“Gildrèdt was her birth name; the name people knew.” Thedius nodded. “Years then passed, when she made her return as a strange Samaritan, name of Anun, who nobody recognized. Her hair had been changed using yellow plant oils, and her face had matured. She resided amongst the good people, pretending to care for them, until such a time came that she could pick up where she left off, with her devious antics. Last thing she expected was to be foiled, for a Pooka was born. Anun saw just how powerful he was, and how impossible trying to oppose him would be. So, instead, she upheld up her guise as ‘carer of the people,’ of whom she led into safety, away from this tyrant.
“In her noble acts, they saw courage, and selflessness, and so it was that the innocent civilians of Lythiann soon became dependent on her strength and leadership. They looked up to her. And when they discovered the Grollo, there they remained, under her watchful eye, as it were.
“Night after day, in the solitude of her own keep, Anun obsessed over Briggun’s power, until she coveted it more, and more, and more. From this, a plan began to manifest in her treacherous mind.
“Employing her abilities of allure and beauty, she first came forth as the creator of Lythiann. By then the Mites were already so enchanted by her that her word was deemed void of any explanation. Still, to add authenticity, she offered one anyway.
“She explained that, the only reason she’d kept it secret in the first place was to show equality amongst her people. To avoid ‘fuss,’ was how she put it. A brash excuse; granted, it worked, all thanks to her charm. Her reasoning was actually regarded as humble, and they loved her all the more for it. Her allure was indeed strong, lad. You yourself know this better than anyone.
“From that blustery night henceforth, the Dwelvin-Mites branded her their saviour and creator; worshipping the very dust she walked upon, without any doubt in their minds. Already, this had the potential to be her greatest ploy yet. And now that she’d earned their complete trust, the first part of Anun’s plot was complete. Next she had to, somehow, meet with Briggun to strike the ‘bargain’ she’d been fabricating. A trade. Mysun’s heir and followers, for his all-powerful Pooka’s Claw.
“She planned on delivering to him—in person, I might add—all of the remaining Dwelvin-Mites from the great flee, and the boy who was destined to inherit the Wrythus, in exchange for that one small token, his Claw. For legend says that, once the eclipse burns red, Briggun’s Claw would infuse a portion of its undying power onto anyone who wears it, but only after the eclipse hails, or else it was useless, so her timing needed to be perfect. She needed the Claw fully charged before telling Briggun anything. That way she could bask in its power whilst Drevol had, in his possession, his own little trophy. You. Legend, nonetheless, is not prophecy, and so scarcely holds truth. Briggun knew so, too. Foolishly, Anun chose to believe in the Pooka’s Claw, having always trusted such folly as you well know. She believed that she could be just as powerful as him, when the time came.
“Because she needed to time everything in conjunction with the onset of the eclipse, the exchange could not happen right away. Otherwise the Pooka would simply take his prize, leaving her powerless and exposed; a useless Claw in her possession. However, with the Claw in her grasp, and the eclipse, soon on its way, he might think twice, she thought.
“To avoid raising eyebrows in the Grollo, in the meantime, Anun would first need to send the youngling out on his adventure, as written in the prophecy, only she would do so in such a way that he would embark unprepared. And with her being the self-styled ‘queen of the universe’ by that stage, she knew she had the ability to pull this off without a hitch. All she needed to do was sabotage Mysun’s inevitable return, by telling the unwary child only part of what it was he needed to know. Enough to make him go through with it—case in point, his homeland curse—yet less for him to be successful, lest he should prove an honest threat before the end—case in point, the Symphogram. Then, once the boy had been destroyed, Mysun’s soul would be forever gone from this world.”
“Why did she have to lead the Dwelvin-Mites herself, when the time came?” asked William.
“She would need to lead the Dwelvin-Mites herself,” the king answered, “to dampen any other suspicions. She would need to convince them that you were danger for them to march behind her.”
“And how did she plan on making this deal with Drevol?”
“In order to convey all of this back to the dark one, she required a creature who could make it in and out of the Grollo unseen. One who could travel through the earth at speed. A perfect beast to do her bidding.”
“Glorgan!” William deduced.
“Yes, Glorgan, who too was bewitched by her spell. With everything arranged, he set out to see the Pooka on Anun’s behalf. Needless to say, it was some days after this meeting, when he was running one of his routine reports with his kin, that you ran into him. Pity he wasn’t gotten to sooner. For the Glog explained everything to the demon, that first meeting. And Briggun actually listened with surprising interest, and agreed to it, but not before warning the Glog against any funny business, otherwise both he and Anun would have hell to pay. The Glog swore it wouldn’t come to that, so the Pooka gave up his Claw and returned to his slumber until more tidings emerged. Surrendering it was of no major loss to him. He valued it, yes, as a decoration, but that was all. He had nothing to lose.
“Anun, thinking herself lucky with the Claw now hidden on her person, did not risk disappointing the demon. She feared his threat too much. She would guide you as far as she could from the Grollo, while breaking you down as much as possible along the way, using Barren Cities and ominous towers. This would leave you weak. An easy target. Incidentally, if it’s any consolation, she never underestimated your strength. She somehow knew that you would survive those trials by the skin of your teeth. Either that or it was a rash gamble on her part, should something or someone else steal the Pooka’s ‘prize kill’ unknowingly. And yet she did almost break your spirit. For you nearly gave up before the end, if you recall.
“All as it was, mysterious events such as the eclipse are tricky to gauge, unless one studied it avidly, such as your Erethaoí friend down there did. And when she eventually received a less than rough report of its onset, Anun had her pet Glog honour her side of the bargain by paying a visit to her wicked affiliate with news of your arrival, while she gathered forces in the Grollo.
“Little did she know, that the Pooka had already dealt with matters after learning of your presence from the prophet and was, instead waiting for her and the Dwelvin-Mites to walk right into his trap. This would be his final extermination. His banner to an unclaimed summit. To massacre the rebels who’d slipped his grasp. It was all prepared for Briggun’s taking. All of it. A roasted hog on a gilded platter. Meanwhile you, William, you were already dead, as far as he was concerned. Incinerated by his tornado. Last but not least, he could almost taste the flesh of the one who tried so foolishly to bargain with his malice. Anun; who was secretly brandishing his most cherished trinket, which he craved back. And his Nightleaf were on the way!
“Without hesitation, he deployed his nightly assassins to cut them off and slay them all. The first of which retrieved his Claw and ran straight back to his master with it. Meanwhile, the ambush had begun. Every one of those misfortunates were like sitting ducks, out there in the open. Of course, the Dwelvin-Mites believed in you so deeply, William, that they didn’t think twice about it; not to mention the influence Anun had over them behind close
d doors. None would have survived, had it not been for three stealthy dragons. One struck with Ice, and the other two, with poison and fire. Even Briggun thought everything had been taken care of that night.
“So you see, William. Had you disregarded the old woman’s advice, way back when, as Anun would have preferred you to, then in all probability you never would’ve learned what you did. Your curiosity did indeed work well to your advantage, young man.”
“Not well enough, by the looks o’ things,” William smirked, out of embarrassment.
Again taking pity, the king said, “Don’t be so hard on yourself, lad. Anun played a sly card. She had everyone fooled at one point or another. Even I! There wasn’t much you could do about it, especially when you had everything else to contend with. So ease off on yourself a bit. You did really, really well, bearing in mind what little you had to go on.”
It would have been nice to share in his optimism. Still, the fact remained that William did sometimes question her methods, and now that he turned out to be right, he was disgusted with himself for ignoring his gut.
Plastering over his humiliation with a layer of guilt, he then found himself asking, “Can you explain why I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about Vahna’s vision? The entire time, I thought it was Wren who was trying to pull the fast one, and I couldn’t say a word about it to anyone! That whole time, I was blaming the wrong person…like some fool! I should’ve known better.”
His voice weakened under the burden, and Thedius could see that it was doing him no good.
“Lad, come now, you are only upsetting yourse—”
“Please!” William insisted, looking gravely ahead. “I want to know everything. I’ve earned that much!”
The Other of One: Book Two Page 67