Ange let out a weary sigh as she laid down on the saddle, relaxing her shoulders as she reached for one of the feathers that fluttered in the breeze atop Showl’s head. She gently grabbed the small white feather, rubbing it between her fingers to feel its texture.
“I have a lot of questions,” she admitted, distracting herself with the plumage, worried to ask him what was bothering her.
“Speak freely, little thief. I promise to be honest.”
“It’s not your honesty I am worried about, but your anger,” she replied truthfully.
His thoughts were silent and troubled, contemplating her words. He didn’t respond, waiting for her to continue.
Ange let out a heavy sigh, swearing she had never sighed so much in her life. “You were dead set on not becoming part of the battle, of involving me in the fight. And I didn’t expect you to relent, I thought I was going to have to pull some stupid move or line to get you to turn around,” her thoughts paused, recalling the battle that had only occurred that very morning. “But then something happened that I didn’t understand. Our markings suddenly appeared, then you abruptly turned around and your anger…” She remembered it with a shudder of dread. “It was like I was being swallowed in flames, I didn’t know someone could ever feel so furious.”
She swallowed painfully as the truth began to pour out of her without stop.
“I was frightened by it. I’ve never felt so frightened in my life by someone’s emotions. I bet if I could have seen your face, you would be more daunting than Corvus in his dragon form…And then you were blocking me from your mind, I couldn’t understand what had gone wrong, and then we were suddenly in a fight…and I was so useless, bewildered, and unprepared.”
She let her thoughts trail into silence as she tucked the feather back down in place and crossed her arms under her chin as a lengthy breath escaped her lips.
The sun vanished over the horizon, the deep purples and oranges of the sky began to change to inky shades of black. One of the larger moons had peeked past the horizon to the west, brilliant and only three parts full.
His thoughts slowly came to her, like a slow moving creek, spilling cool water into her mind. Behind his words she sensed deep sorrow and regret, even shame.
“There is something I managed to neglect when I first spoke to you of the effects the bonding had on us dragons. Two in fact. That is what I wish to discuss with you.”
Ange extended out her hand, silent, as she brushed his feathers away to reveal one of his white crown scales. She brushed her fingers over the rigid areas before stroking the smooth planes of the boney plate.
“When Taliesin bound us to the human species, he also inscribed one last law upon us… He gave the humans the power…to control us, to enslave us, and rob us of our wills.”
Ange’s hand froze over the scale, she took in a sharp breath, startled by his words.
“You mean to tell me…that I controlled you back there? That I…forced you to turn around?” Ange asked horrified.
Showl’s response was careful and prolonged, quiet and restrained.
“Yes.”
Ange withdrew her hand, leaving his scale open to the wind, she curled her limbs away from his head. Shame and guilt washed through her and she had no words to describe her feelings at the injustice Showl must have felt under her actions, even if she had committed them unintentionally.
“Do not feel so guilty, my little Soulbound. I had not thought to mention to you the power you held over me, I thought it was irrelevant at the time. Forgive me…my anger was unwarranted and I treated you cruelly. Never in my existence had I ever been controlled. I was not prepared for the anger that had seared through me at the experience. Long ago I had reconciled with the fact that it could someday happen, but I had promised to myself that I would not scorn my Dragonbound for the act, that instead I would try to understand why they had done it. But under the shackles of your words, and the void that had ensnared my mind into silence, I could not help feel the fury that had burned to life within me. I was so blind to my anger that I did not for a moment consider that you had no idea what had just occurred and because of that I placed you in greater peril...”
“Wait! Are you telling me…that I’m the first to take your will away? In all your lifetimes, I am the first?”
His voice was hesitant, a long pause of silence existed before he replied.
“Yes, Angeline. You were the first. I have only lived two lives, remember, I was the last of the original Rexes and Regina to die. Only the Phoenix Queen remains, she alone has not experienced a second life or beyond.”
Ange frowned feeling soiled and pathetic, she couldn’t shake away the agony and shame Showl had set off in her. She could no more hide her sorrow nor deny it, she only hoped Showl could eventually forgive her for the cruel injustice.
“Do not feel so sad, little thief,” His voice rebuked with a growl. “It is not like you to feel guilt nor shame. There is nothing to forgive, you did it instinctually, unintentionally. I cannot stay angry with you for something you did by accident.”
“That does not justify the crime though, Showl! The fact that I wronged you does not change by any degree if the action was intentional or unintentional,” she snarled, determined to prove her point.
Showl’s voice chuckled deep in her head, amused. “Like stealing food to survive?”
Ange’s mind went into shock and she fell silent at the comparison.
“You know, for a thief, you have a strong sense of justice and honor,” he commented quietly.
Ange was taken aback by his words, she fell silent and frowned deeply as she relaxed on the saddle once again and renewed her inspection of one of his scales. Troubled by his words.
“Do not feel bad, my little Soulbound. As I said, it does not befit you. Let us leave this dark experience behind us.”
Ange’s eyes turned as another figure left from the darkening castle, shadowy wings raised a dark and lithe form into the sky and Ange immediately recognized Corvus and Amaris.
“I promise I won’t do it again,” Ange swore with conviction, determined to keep the promise no matter the circumstance.
“Do not make promises you might not be able to keep, little thief. But I appreciate your effort,” he replied gladdened by her words as they leveled out to a calm breeze. Night had fully descended upon the world, the stars shone with distant light, two moons graced the heavens they flew.
Ange stared up at the starry sky, surprised by the quantity of lights that mantle the black sky like dust. In the city she had never seen as many stars in the sky as now. She stubbornly thought of her promise and she decided she would do everything in her power to keep it.
She observed the constellations for a while and then after started making her own, charting the stars into knew shapes. Showl was content, allowing her to leisurely distract herself as they flew in silence for a time.
The sound of beating wings brought her back to the present, she leaned out and peered past Showl’s head to the air below, a dark shape was silhouetted faintly against the dark grey sea and as it sped up Ange recognized Corvus and Amaris as they pulled out ahead of them.
Ange gazed after them quizzically, wondering what they were doing.
“They are surely watching us,” Showl mentioned as he read her thoughts. “Making sure we don’t escape,” he snarled a bit annoyed.
Ange frowned, finding it hard to believe that was the Sky Warrior’s objective. In all the stories she had heard, she had only heard of their valor and humble nobility, the vision she had of them left doubts for her to believe they were willing to be deceptive and capable of being compassionless.
Amaris turned on her saddle and waved with a smile, her grin turned in a challenging smirk. Corvus’s white eye looked back momentarily before he tilted into a steep dive, rapidly leaving them behind.
Ange smiled competitively and grasped the handles in ready.
“Shall we give them a run for their money?” Ange asked e
xcitedly.
An audible sigh escaped Showl’s jaws as one of his golden eyes tilted up to look at her. “We are not even done talking, little thief.”
“Awww,” Ange whined, slumping in her seat.
Showl’s golden eye rolled as Ange pouted, trying to appear as begging as possible.
He blinked and lowered his gaze.
“A assure you Amaris will still be taunting us for a race after we finish speaking,” he promised.
Ange laid back down on the saddle and reluctantly conceded to his wishes.
“How do you now that?” Ange asked, curious.
“When I was alive as Harfang, they were my pupils. They were younger then and I grew to know them and their dragons very well. I left Ileana and Grace in charge of the Sky Warriors if I was ever to perish, much to the protest of the older dragons and Dragonbounds. But I had confidence in their ability to lead and protect the order despite Ileana’s age. She had Grace by her side to help her lead. Amaris…has always been a bit more carefree, but she was faithful and true fast to her sister and she is a lot brighter than she leads others to believe.”
“Sounds like you know them very well,” Ange commented feeling a bit envious.
“I did,” Show agreed softly. “But it has been nearly eight hundred years since. They could have changed, though it would seem Amaris has changed little, Ileana on the other hand…she seems to have become more serious, older with the duty I left her.”
Ange thought on his words, surprised by the span of time he spoke of.
“So they are both over eight hundred years old? They don’t look any older than twenty. And…their eyes don’t look ancient like yours.”
“That is because my soul is far older in living age, little thief,” an ancient echo chimed in his words.
Ange frowned and began thinking of the concept of time, how her life would span lifetimes if she managed to live that long. She found it mindboggling, and almost impossible to believe as well as a bit sad.
“Time.”
The word pestered her unrelentingly.
“Showl…what happened this morning? Did…did I really do what I think I did? Did I freeze time?”
Showl’s thoughts became heavy, troubled, and pensive, swallowed in darkness.
“You did, little thief. That indeed you did, and it nearly killed you too.”
Ange’s finger’s clenched as she sucked in a sharp breath, troubled that her suspicions had been confirmed.
“How…how is that even possible?” she asked baffled.
“It isn’t, little thief. What I am about to share with you is a deeply kept secret of the Council, it was a secret kept even from our own kind,” Showl informed her darkly, his voice gaining a note of enigma. She could almost sense the mystery that surrounded the secret of the Council.
“A secret kept even from your own kind?” Ange repeated shocked, an ominous feeling began to pervade through her and she feared she wasn’t about to like what Showl was about to share with her.
“There are some of us among the ten that are born ‘praeditum’ or in your tongue, endowed, gifted. The Endowed were born with a gift befitting a god.”
“Be…befitting a god?” Ange stammered surprised by the revelation.
“It was exceedingly rare for one of us to be born with one of these gifts. The gift always falls under our element in some way and allowed us to perform acts outside of the norm of reality.”
“Does that have to do something with the words you mentioned earlier? Imperium something?” Ange asked recalling his words before she lost consciousness.
“Imperium universi. Yes. It roughly means control of the universe or controls all. These powers were beyond any mortal understanding, it is an even greater mystery to us than the ten Reginas’ and Rexes’ ability to be reborn,” Showl explained as they slowly lost altitude, the breeze flowing coolly past them. “But there is a catch.”
“Of course,” Ange replied sarcastically, unsurprised by the fact.
“As you discovered for yourself, these powers can kill us. Rapidly.”
“Why?” Ange demanded, finding the risk of these powers unfair.
“I don’t know, little thief. But this risk limits our use of these powers. I suppose it exists so that these powers cannot be abused.”
Ange scowled still thinking the limitation was unfair.
“Imagine the chaos, the destruction that could be sowed if an individual could freeze time over the entire universe indifferently, without restriction?”
Ange swallowed thinking carefully on his words and reluctantly agreed that he had a fair point, such powers could not be left in the hands of mortals without dire consequences. She knew that with power came the possibility of abuse, she had lived it. She was a testament to that very truth.
“So what does this have to do with the other effect of the bonding?” Ange asked in confusion.
“Taliesin was not aware of this secret, no one was. Do you recall what I told you about half our soul and control of our powers being ripped out of us once the spell was finished?”
Ange nodded then realized he could not see her nod, so she sent a silent confirmation.
“Well, when that occurred, our ability to use the imperium universi was stripped from us as well, those of us who had it at the time. Afterwards, if we were reborn after the Souls Binding Contract, we were also unable to determine if we had even been born with a gift. And when he shackled us to our Dragonbounds’ will, he unintentionally made it so that only our Dragonbound could use, summon, and control the imperium universi, making them too one of the Endowed. A possibility we, the Council, could never have even fathomed or foreseen.”
“No wonder the Adherent hate humans,” Ange commented, to which Showl had no response.
Ange frowned thoughtfully, thinking of the knowledge had had just shared with her carefully.
“Did you have this power in your last life?” Ange asked inquisitively.
“No, I didn’t. This is the first time I have experienced one of these endowments firsthand,” Show hesitated for a moment, articulating his next words carefully, they rang with hollow torment. “I must admit, it was frightening…feeling you die slowly and unable to stop it was the most unbearable experience I have ever suffered.”
Ange hunched her shoulders, feeling bad she had worried him. “You weren’t excited? Thrilled to find out that you- we had this power?”
“Not in the slightest,” he relied instantly and without a second thought. “In fact, I have never been in such a difficult predicament…”
Ange frowned, unable to follow his cloudy and jumbled thoughts.
“What’s the matter?” She asked concerned, finding herself feeling worried by his disturbed thoughts.
“I don’t know, Angeline. Remember when I told you that portions of Harfang’s memories had been sealed?”
“Yes,” Ange replied recalling the day Showl had first showed her the iced over sword.
“Well, our bonding was supposed to unlock them, but it didn’t. There is still gaps and shadows in my memories and when I try to remember I get a horrendous headache,” he growled frustrated.
Ange frowned vexed. She was aware of how vital this information was to both sides of the war, and now they were discovering they could still not access it. She expected they were going to have some very irritated dragons knocking on their door soon. Literally.
“The others are not going to like this,” Ange commented moderately.
“Indeed they won’t,” Showl agreed with a mental sigh.
“Showl…” Ange began carefully concerned with the topic she was about to bring up. “Was I imagining what I saw in the sky before I fainted?”
“No…I saw it too. But I don’t know how it was possible, an entire other world hanging in the sky.”
“How is it possible? Did it disappear after time began to run again?”
“Yes,” Showl replied bothered. “I feel like I should know something about it but…when I try
to remember there is a huge whole in my memory and I feel like blacking out trying to recall it. Clearly, Harfang went through great lengths to keep any information about that aberration in the sky from being divulged to anyone, even myself.”
“That is weird and troublesome,” Ange agreed prickled by curiosity and worry that no answers existed for them at the moment.
They sailed the sky in silence, contemplating, lost within their own thoughts as the stars above moved slowly by and the moons followed their own paths across the heavens. Three of the moons ran their course, the largest was full, the smallest was half filled and still waning, and the second to smallest was waning from its crescent shape and within a few nights would be a new moon.
Ange observed them feeling as if it was just within her reach to touch one.
“Perhaps it will take time for you to remember,” Ange suggested quietly.
“Perhaps,” Showl replied unconvinced. “Or I might not remember at all. Harfang’s last thoughts before his death were, ‘The destined pair will be the ones to unravel the mysteries I leave behind and end Phoenix’s tyranny once and for all so they may save our combined races.’”
Ange frowned. Digesting the heavy words Showl had just shared with her, thinking upon Harfang’s last words and the ‘destined pair’ he mentioned.
“So what now, Showl?” Ange whispered as she began playing with his unveiled scale again.
“What indeed,” Showl rumbled in his deep dragon voice, making vibrations run through his skull underneath her saddle. “Now you must decide our course of action. Will we try to make a run for it or shall we stay and cooperate and become members of the Sky Warriors and the Council as it is our place?”
Ange scowled and rubbed the scale a moment more before brushed the feathers back into place.
Gusting wind suddenly pushed them off course as a streaking black object launched past their side, stirring the wind and ruining their flight pattern. Showl only wobbled momentarily in their glide before leveling out once again.
Ange looked up after the object that had suddenly disturbed them.
Sky Warriors: Poleuthan's Thief (Sky Warriors Saga Book 1) Page 23