by M A Bernier
“I was hardly older than she was when I lost my mother.” Anger then swept across her face as she lifted her head and looked at the others. “I never got her back but I swear by all my kind that little girl will have her mother back and whoever has her will pay a heavy price.”
“Syl.” Alys stroked the dragon’s cheek once. “I may not have your wisdom or your age, but I know what pain can do if it is kept locked away deep inside; what happened to her, tell us please.”
Syl did not speak for several long moments. They watched and waited in silence as gained control over the painful memories that choked her words. She looked at the ocean and reflection of the setting sun for a short time before speaking to them. “It was just before we had to leave this world, after defeating Lysithia. The war among your kind was influence by her but she never directly intervened, except with us. She wanted domination and total subjugation of everything living, including dragons. She summoned an army of shadow dragons even greater than what you saw when the colonist returned to Earth. Beneath the surface in this realm and others another war raged. I remember very little except the numbers of our kind being mercilessly killed or maimed and condemned to die a slow death at her army. Near the end her forces discovered the hatcheries. They struck with brutal force killing the unborn and the young without mercy. I and other hatchling dragons watched, too young to fight, as one by one dragon and egg were destroyed. One of the shadow dragons that I was unprotected and flew towards me. Instead of running I leapt up and wrapped myself around the creature's neck and held on while I bit and breathed what little fire I could. It flew wildly trying to shake me off and did succeed. I tried to fly to safety but it smashed the weight of its body upon me and I crashed to the ground. In too much pain to move I lay there as it raised its head and claws about to strike. It was then my mother, already badly bruised and hurt charged the creature breathing fire upon it. She might have survived were it not for several other shadow dragons joining the melee. I watched, utterly helpless as they attacked her again and again without mercy until she no longer moved, then I blacked out. When I woke up I looked and saw my father’s face before me. He was crying and it was the only time I have ever seen him cry. I turned my head and realized I was curled within my mother’s front legs with her head beside me. She was barely breathing but opened her eyes.
“My brave little Syl."
“Mother.” I pleaded
“Hush my little one. You fought bravely.”
“I couldn’t stop him mother. I couldn’t stop them from hurting you.” I could not help buy cry as I spoke to her.
“But you did save the other young dragons. Because of you they are alive.”
“She closed her eyes for a moment, I was sure the long breath she took was going to be her last one but she opened her eyes one more time.”
“I must sleep my little one.” She said to me. “I must sleep and wait for you beyond the veil.”
“She nuzzled me once more closed her eyes and they never opened again.” Syl said as she stood suddenly upon the crest of the sand dune. She took the deepest breath that Alys and the others had ever seen a dragon would take and for a time it seemed she would not stop. Her head turned upward sharply. A column of fire mixed with the deepness of a dragon's voice exploded. Anger, pain and rage burst forth for more than a minute as she released so much that had been contained and eaten at her soul like a disease. All the people in the nearby towns and villages stopped what they were doing. They heard the pain and saw the column of fire burst forth and instinctively knew it came from a dragon’s heart. No one feared what Syl might do to them, their hearts burned on fire with hers even if they did not know why.
Syl looked at her friends once she her body had calmed itself. “I swear to you if any of those taken cannot be brought back home the enemy will pay, I will hunt them down if it takes me an eternity to do so.”
It was not long before sunset when one man dressed in a guard's outfit and a sword at his side walked from the shoreline to the group waiting at the crest of the dune. He inclined his head and address Eryyn. The ship is ready for departure; the supplies and crew are aboard and await you. The guard turned to Alys and Syl. “My ladies may I escort you?” Alys and Syl were speechless at such chivalry from a complete stranger. They looked at one another then allowed the escort to proceed. The offer did lift Syl’s dampened spirits. Both Alys and Syl walked side by side just behind the escort. Jaymee, Ardant and Eryyn walked dutifully behind.
“What is that all about?” Ardant asked Eryyn quietly.
“It’s an old custom of sorts.” Responded Eryyn. “Guards are expected not only to protect us physically but also by their presence provide us peace of mind. Syl’s recent expression of pain and unrest did not go un-noticed for a variety of reasons. Even though the guard could not really alleviate her anguish the offer in itself is an offer of sympathy and understanding. When our world first began to recover it was considered the greatest honor for a guard to offer his protection.” Alys and Syl understood the chivalry and the code of this man. They felt no insult at his words.
“Certainly he knows Alys and Syl are quite capable of taking care of themselves?” Replied Ardant.
“Of course he does.” Eryyn smiled at Ardant. “Why do you think our two ladies were speechless? For a simple guard to offer his protection knowing the enemies they might face either physically or emotionally would overwhelm him shows perhaps great love of duty. He would lay down his life for them no matter how futile his effort may be. I am sure you would have done the same for anyone on board the colony vessel.”
“Without question.” Responded Ardant. “I guess I have just gotten used to Alys and Syl as two ladies more than capable of defending themselves with far greater ease and efficiency that what I am used to. Perhaps being a soldier of sorts and being around both men and women who have trained hard physically has force me to see things in a more cold light sometimes.” Ardant glanced a second time at Eryyn as he smiled broadly without looking at anything at all. “What do you find amusing?”
“Well, I was the same way with Alys, Rian and Kend from the time we were children. I did learn something else though after we returned to Earth.”
“And that is?” Asked Ardant. Eryyn stopped and Jaymee and Ardant stopped with him. Eryyn looked at Jaymee for a few moments before responding.
“We all need protection at some point in our lives. Sometimes it isn’t just the body which needs protection, but the heart itself.” Like Eryyn’s heart, Jaymee’s broke when his parents died. His heart would never have begun to mend if not for Alys and Eryyn. Eryyn looked at Jaymee then at Ardant. “Shall we go gentlemen?” He pointed to the sky where a single cloud floated above them but not moving as the others did. It was shaped like an arrow pointing to the South. “We have a lost city to find and an enemy to defeat.”
Alys and Syl slowed only enough to allow a discreet distance to form between them and their escort so they could speak to on another in private. It was not that they wanted to hide anything from him, it was the need to feel they could talk as sisters just as the men were talking as brothers. Alys began the conversation.
“It had never occurred to me why your mother was no longer with you. I am deeply sorry for your loss Syl. My mother and father are still alive so I will not pretend to understand what you feel, but I will be a friend, a sister if I can.”
“Thank you Alys.” Syl’s voice was notably subdued. “But you do not give yourself enough credit for your feelings.” She paused for a few moments; “As a dragon I can sense the heart of another, and the feelings a heart can hide. I know how you felt when you thought you lost Eryyn and those feelings are very much like my own. Do not be shy or withdrawn with me, I consider you as close as I would a sister, speak freely and I will not be offended. If I cannot answer it would not be because I do not wish to but because I am unable.”
“Thank you Syl. There is one difference though, Eryyn returned and your mother did not. The feelings of lo
ss I have are somewhat healed by his presence. Your mother died to save your life, and she was not able to return to you. I cannot see your heart as you do mine, but I hear your words and I know that pain is with you still. What right do I have to offer comfort for such a burden?”
“The same right I have to offer comfort for the burden you carry sister.” Syl glanced at Alys and could see the puzzlement in her eyes. “You touched the DragonStone in my father’s presence, I know of the burden you carry as well. I know of the day coming when your destiny will no longer be as Eryyn’s. I know the burden in your heart you carry for him and your need to protect him. I no more share that path you must walk than the one I faced which brought me to my mother’s death. How then do I offer comfort? Does that make what we want to share and offer to each other any less?” Syl and Alys looked only for a moment at each other as they continued to walk. In Alys’s eyes Syl saw the pain and the understanding, if even only for a moment. “There are times my dear sister when there is no harm in thinking of one self, so long as it does not lead to a path of self destruction.”
“I want to share to much more than I have seen with Eryyn.” Alys said. “I want to share with him forever our lives but I know it is not meant to be and that all things come to an end in time.” Alys paused. “It is difficult sometimes having some knowledge of what that end will be.” She absentmindedly wiped one tear from her cheek.
“When the time comes for you to release those feelings as I just did I will be there for you Alys.” They walked a bit in silence before Alys spoke again.
“What was she like?”
“Mother was the gentlest of all dragons with a heart for peace larger than any other. She was also the most beautiful, according to my father, but I think he may have been a bit unbiased in his opinion.” Alys could not suppress the smile at Syl’s comment. She was sure Eryyn thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world and beyond. “By all accounts and those I knew and know now my mother was truly the gentlest of us. Always she preferred the path of peace even though she knew in her heart that sometimes actions had to take the place of words or ideals. I think, in the end, it was her desire for peace which made her to most formidable enemy to Lysithia’s shadow dragon army when they came to attack. It is a matter of fact she stood her ground and destroyed twice the number of any other of our kind.”
“You feel guilty that you did not have her strength when you saw her fall.” Alys’s words were a statement, a confirmation of what Syl felt.
“I was only a hatchling, I could not hope to have her strength.”
“I hear your words but you have still not convinced yourself of that.” Syl’s large dragon mouth smiled as she looked at Alys.
“Are you sure you are not dragonkind and can pierce the veil of my heart?” Syl asked.
“I am sure.” Alys replied. “I see now why the little girl had such an effect upon you. You seek to make your mother’s memory proud by doing now for this little girl what you could not do as a child yourself.”
“In much the same way you wanted to make Lysithia pay for the pain she cause you when you thought she had killed Eryyn.”
”Evergreen kept me from walking over the precipice of rage, but only by a thin thread did I cling to reality.” Alys recalled in her mind the rage she had never thought could find its way to the surface when she thought Eryyn was dead. Rage from an endless source within her began to surface when she felt Eryyn’s life pass from her mind. Were it not for the protector Evergreen she would have gone to the edge of insanity for revenge. She suddenly realized how close she could have been to becoming like the dark mistress Lysithia, driven to hatred and madness by emotion.
“Then perhaps you can do the same for me and keep me from walking over that precipice as well.” Their short walk at an end as they reached the edge of the beach they shortly caught up with their escort as did Eryyn, Ardant and Jaymee. Syl of course did not accompany them onto the pier but instead took to flight. The others walked to the small boat and were rowed out to the larger ship waiting with the crew of guards who also would serve as ship's crew. The ship drew up its anchor as the sun set and sailed in the direction of the arrow shaped cloud. The captain stated he was hopeful their journey would continue in that direction for several days. A cargo ship bound for a small group of islands was a week overdue. He wanted to ask the islanders to be sure his captain friend had made it without harm. Perhaps he was delayed due to some minor ship's problem. Syl glided in and landed on the ship with such grace and steadiness the crew never felt the ship so much as shift in the slightest even though they saw her massive body make contact with it. She settled under the length of the leather canopy and closed her eyes for the night. Although dragons slept the never truly slept like human kind, one ear was always listening and the slightest unusual sound would wake her instantly to full alertness.
“Father?” Jaymee smiled at Syl was he walked by her just before she closed her eyes, he moved to where his father stood at the rail of the ship. Alys felt the need to stay with Syl. She rested silently between Syl’s tail and body staring out at the sky. Ardant had gone below not quite feeling completely comfortable on deck. “What do you think it was like during the time when Eriflen lived? Was the world like it is now?”
“I don’t know Jaymee.” He turned to his son. Eryyn had not had a staff in his hand for years but now carried the one given to him by EverGreen. “Even the old council had no direct knowledge of the city. I have searched my own mind since the knowledge was found in the books of the library, but the knowledge was passed down as rumor and myth. We may never know the full story of that time even if we do find the lost city.”
** Satiation and Shadows **
Vuuaan, given permission from Jyn-Taa, found the opportunity to feed his hunger freely. He felt as elated as the moment his life returned to him when he was released from his tomb. All four island's inhabitants never even knew he was present until it was too late. Within a single night he ravaged every soul and fed of the lifeblood of his victims from all four islands. In the same instant they awoke to find him feeding upon them, they lost all will to fight and so the fleeing moment of panic was replaced by submission and then non-existence. Within moments of the feeding, the shadows were not far behind laying claim to the lifeless bodies that would soon rise to feed a hunger of their own. One by one the gathered and took them through shadowy passages not even Vuuaan could pass through, but he knew of them. He knew of the elemental demons and the shadow demon that was bound to them and their fate. As ancient as he was they were still older, but unlike him they were not free to roam as he pleased. He contemplated the plots within plots that might form and began to plan his way through them. Jyn-Taa held the knife from the tree of the dead. It was the only object that could again take his essence and imprison him again. He knew Jyn-Taa’s soul and thoughts, he would not betray him nor could Vuuaan do likewise so he rested those thoughts secure in that knowledge. The shadow and elemental demons however were another matter entirely. Were Vuuaan’s demon father Katanz to discover the abuse of his near useless followers he was sure no matter what distance place in the universe he roamed he would return. Jyn-Taa intended to have Vuuaan as his ally should Katanz return to take revenge upon him. Jyn-Taa knew Vuuaan would have to stand and fight with him since Katanz would hunt them both. The knife, for a time, would be secure until his father, or the elemental demons, prevailed. Then the knife’s fate would not be certain for either way he knew Jyn-Taa could not withstand such forces against him for long. If EverGreen and his friends prevailed they would be certain to take the knife from Jyn-Taa and use it to drive Vuuaan back to his imprisonment or into submission. The knife’s fate would again be in question. Vuuaan could not use force to take the knife, at least not overtly and not without help. There was not option for him to leave the knife in anyone’s hands least of all those who still worshipped his father. The more he pondered the many aspects of his situation the more he concluded the knife must at some point bec
ome part of his possession. To make the knife his there was only one other whom he could trust and that was his mother the witch goddess Vamira. As he thought of her name he took a moment to stretch his thoughts outward into existence beyond the known realms of mortal kind but careful not to allow his father to sense his searching. She still roamed somewhere beyond the farthest stars in the sky in defiance of Katanz. Alone she could not prevail against Katanz but with followers of her own, with Vuuann’s help and followers he would bring to his dark fortress then she could face Katanz with strength. Katanz would not dare to strike down Vamira, she was an elder witch goddess and even he knew the danger of slaying another of the elders. Jyn-Taa could not harm him because of the covenant between them, but he knew he would not yield the knife to him. It was the one weapon he could use to inflict great harm upon the elemental demons, but it was useless until he was no longer dependent upon them for his body. So, Vuuaan had agreed to give Jyn-Taa a portion of the essence that made him who he was, in doing so Jyn-Taa could be freed to slay a potential threat to Vuuaan. As he pondered this he knew in his mind the knife, no matter what is present place may be, must be his in the end. The knife could not be destroyed and even Katanz could not make the journey again to the Tree of the Dead without some great sacrifice of power. It is ironic as he thought of his father’s blinded rage and hatred that drove him to seek the Tree of the Dead. His petition for the knife, by sacrificing some of his power, could provide the one chance that others may prevail against him.
“Heeee isssss hherrree.” A whispery voice from behind Vuuaan spoke. He turned to see several shadow creatures with Odien standing in the center. “Tiiimmeee issssss shhhoorrttt."
“I am here to take to my master the gift of your covenant.” Stated Odien as the shadows moved apart from him as Vuuaan approached. Odien stood obediently as Vuuaan placed his hand against his chest and released a portion of the essence of what he had filled upon. Odien nearly collapsed from turmoil of the black power that he held within him but steadied himself shortly.