Demiourgos

by Chris Williams

  “It was luck that’s all.” Rose shook her head and sheathed her sword and followed Liostro as he walked back toward them. “Who would think that all those years dancing and training would come in handy?”

  “Fate at work I guess but how did you turn so quickly to meet my blade coming down for you?” Liostro queried curiously.

  Rose shrugged, not knowing the answer herself. “It all happened so fast; honestly I have no explanation.”

  “Undeniably what Leonidus told me was true.” Liostro let slip without thinking then quickly attempted to change the subject. “We will have to explore this style of swordsmanship more.”

  “What did he tell you?” Rose grasped him by the arm and spun him around to face her; she refused to let his icy blue eyes pull her in this time. She met his stony gaze unwaveringly for a long silent moment ignoring the stares she was getting from Avreel and Nina. In his eyes she saw conflict and something unspoken that she could not name. It seemed like an eternity she waited for him to say something, anything. “Liostro tell me.”

  “I cannot. My mouth finds words before my head can filter them.” Liostro tried to look away from her beautiful golden glare but even he, the black betrayer, could not lie to her or keep secrets. Tossing the two weapons up to Nina he sat down on the lowest step of the stairwell and sighed. “He made me promise not to say anything.”

  Nina was the first to speak from above them, her blonde hair playing with the wind idly. “With what we know how can you cling to that?”

  “I get the point.” Liostro ran a hand through his long blonde hair and looked up at Rose pleadingly. “Know that I could never carry out his orders.”

  Rose nodded and indicated for him to continue with one hand and did not take her eyes off of him for a moment. The silence between them was agonizing but she could not bear to break it to tell him to hurry with the information he had been hiding.

  “Leonidus had a fear; one that I told him was unfounded.” Liostro started quietly now looking down at the deck. “The night before we left Leonidus came to me in secret and awoke me from my sleep. He told me that your power was greater than anything the world had ever seen; he said that your skill would be unmatched and would only grow with time. It was almost in a hysterical panic that he told me you were the chosen one in some ancient prophecy. He explained that the magic at your command is a living being. It is tapped from the remains of the dead gods from the first age and that consciousness would bend itself to suit your needs much easier than for anyone else. His fear was that you would initiate the Drakna’rasha and that you would be consumed by the magic or worse.”

  “The what?” Rose did not attempt to pronounce the ancient elven word.

  “Spellrage.” Avreel translated for her while simultaneously eyeing Liostro.

  Seeing the recognition on Rose’s face Liostro nearly blanched. The reason Rose had been so weak and drained when they had first come together was evident now. “Please tell me your weakness when we first found you was not due to the ritual he mentioned.”

  “Do not change the subject.” Rose found herself unable to escape her anger and she knew the sweat on his brow wasn’t just from their workout, it was something more. “What else did he tell you?”

  For a long moment Liostro was silent and did not look up at them even when Avreel and Nina walked past him to stand by Rose. When he had gathered up the sufficient strength he looked up at her again. “He told me if you were to fall down the path of the magi of old that I would be obligated to destroy you.”

  Rose was shocked to hear him say it out loud though her own fears had told her what he was going to say. It took a long time for her to stop working her jaw in shock and actually expel words but when she did they were more heated than she had intended. “How could you not tell me this? You profess your love to me yet you keep something this grave a secret from me?”

  “Rose I would not have acted on his request if my life depended on it for the same reason you just mentioned.” Liostro cursed his tongue as he attempted to flounder his way out of the mess he had just created. “You must believe me; I could never harm you willingly. Please forgive my silence!”

  When the others left them to their conversation and returned to the quarterdeck Rose stood there for a moment searching his eyes and wondering what to do. She was angry at him because of what he had kept from her but Leonidus had been a trusted ally at that time. There was some doubt as to his loyalty but no proof. The true complication was that of her heart. She wanted to believe him because she loved him and she wanted to trust him but she wondered now if he could be trusted. The silence between them was loud enough to make everyone uncomfortable.

  “My heart grows heavy Liostro.” She finally said in a low voice. “I find myself surrounded by enemies at every corner and turn, they watch and lie in wait just hoping for a chance to spring on me. Though you used to be one of those enemies albeit briefly I embraced you with open arms as did the elves and you have given me no reason not to trust you. But promise me one thing.”

  “Anything, you know that.” Liostro replied eagerly.

  Rose paused for a moment searching his gaze and handsome face before continuing. “No more secrets between us.”

  “I will lay my soul bare for you to peruse.” Liostro promised wholeheartedly. “I swear it here and now that I will hold no secrets.”

  “Good.” She smiled for him though she did not feel it. Even though it felt good to have him promise to be forthright and honest she still had a festering trust issue that she knew no one could deny her given her past and present. It was getting harder each day to trust anyone but Liostro, Nina and even Avreel though she had known the hoofed elf for a shorter time. The last thing she needed was a reason to stop trusting any of them.

  The rest of them had gone back to busying themselves while she sat on the same step Liostro had been occupying. Her list of reasons not to trust the man who had taught her magic was growing. She wondered what he could gain from hampering her if she was so important to the greater scheme of things. Movement caught the corner of her eye and she turned only to find the entrance to the captain’s quarters and below deck empty. “Did someone go down to the hold?”

  When Nina, Avreel and Liostro all answered her back she stood up and looked into the doorway only to see something heading down the stairs into the relative darkness. Curiously Rose followed inside and headed down the steps slowly while watching the crate-filled space around her for movement. With a gesture she conjured a series of floating lights around her and sent them out in different directions, checking the corners of the hold and sweeping inward from there. “Hello?”

  Something long and lizard-like jumped out from behind one of the boxes to try and catch her light but it failed and landed in the walkway between the crates. Spying her it darted back between two of the larger crates to hide.

  Though she knew she should be exercising caution she approached slowly putting one foot in front of the other until she stood before one of the crates. Peering around the corner she saw a small head doing the same from the back of the box just seconds before it scurried back again. “Hey now, why don’t you come out here I’m not going to hurt you.”

  Rose heard a light chirp in response and saw the little creature poke its head back around the box again. She crouched down on her knees and held her hand out to the strange creature. It did not seem dangerous to her. From this distance she could tell it felt scared and alone. She knew it was hungry also but she knew not how. Looking around she realized that Avreel and Nina had opened several of the crates. Walking slowly and deliberately she inspected each one. The boards under her feet creaked and she heard the little creature hiss a bit. In one of the last ones she spied what she was looking for in a large strip of meat. With two fingers she grabbed it and pulled it from the box, returning to where the little lizard creature was hiding. Rose held the strip of meat in front of her and waited to see if it would come out. “Come on out, I have something for you. I kn
ow you’re hungry little one.”

  After a few minutes of the small creature testing the waters by peering out and inching up to her a little at a time it finally snagged the treat from her fingers and scampered back into hiding, drawing a small giggle from her. It smacked its lips loudly as it chewed and she waited for it to finish. “See there? I’m not going to hurt you. Why don’t you come out here so I can have a look at you?”

  Rose sat down and crossed her legs waiting for it to reveal itself again. She did not wait long. The small creature eased its way around the corner rubbing its scales against the wood in an odd manner hugging the crate like a cat would. She could see it now under the hovering lights, it was covered in small scales from head to toe and all of them were a rusty amber hue. On its back it had a set of small wings that seemed to be underdeveloped. Its head was a little long and thin with a long snout and needle-like fangs and its eyes were all black and shiny. The little creature’s tail waved and swayed behind it as it approached her cautiously. All-in-all it was a very small creature only a bit larger than a newborn kitten. As it reached its muzzle out to sniff her fingers she smiled down at the strange looking thing and said soft encouraging things to it. “Now where in all the sands did you come from?”

  When the little creature chirped in response to her question as if answering she laughed lightly and attempted to touch its head; which the scaled being allowed. She heard a raspy purr in response and figured that it was enjoying the gesture. “Now I’m not so bad huh?”

  Rose almost gave a start when it climbed up her arm and perched on her shoulder until it nuzzled against her cheek and chirped again. “Affectionate little monster aren’t you? Still hungry boy?”

  She pulled another slice of the obviously salted meat from the large crate and offered it to the lizard which devoured it in a few strong bites. It ate three more until it seemed to be completely full. Rose giggled again and ran her hands across its smooth-scaled back. “Well little one, you need a name. What do you think about Talisbane?”

  It was odd but she could almost feel its approval. “You must have snuck on board, let’s go see if Avreel or Nina can tell me what you are.”

  Rose mounted the stairs and climbed slowly as not to jostle her new friend. The small creature curled up on her shoulder and she could feel it gripping her fur in its little claws. It didn’t hurt so she let him lay there as she exited the hold and stepped out on deck.

  “Rose I think we…” Avreel stopped mid-sentence and eyed the creature on the naarabi’s shoulder. “Where the hell did that come from?”

  Her eyes cast from Avreel to Talisbane and back. “He was in the hold, why?”

  “What the hell is it?” She shifted her hooves once and looked up at Liostro and Nina staring from the quarterdeck.

  “I was hoping you could tell me.” Rose said back to Avreel and followed her gaze.

  “A demi-drake!” Nina said excitedly with a smile on her face. “It’s a subspecies of dragon, more accurately a pseudo-dragon. I thought they were extinct! I’ve only ready about them in our library.”

  “Dragons are dangerous creatures maybe we should kill it.” Avreel said evenly while narrowing her eyes.

  Rose watched as Talisbane scampered down her back into her tunic and felt him move around beneath it only to poke his nose and head out of the front just enough to see Avreel and hiss its displeasure. “No Avreel, we won’t be killing him. He doesn’t look dangerous and I’ve already fed him so I don’t think the big scary dragon is going to try and eat you.”

  “Lump-skulled elf they aren’t dangerous.” Nina said to her with a shake of her head as she walked back toward the wheel casting an amused look to Liostro as he was heading down the stairs. “They’re really smart and they enjoy the company of people.”

  “Don’t worry little guy we won’t let the big bad xenophobic elf hurt you.” Liostro looked down at the small dragon and laughed when it crawled out of Rose’s shirt and perched back on her shoulder. “He likes you, so you should chose his name.”

  Rose nodded and stroked the small dragon’s head. “I have, his name is Talisbane.”

  “Yet another mouth to feed and ass to pull out of the fire.” Avreel said sourly and stalked past Rose into the hold while sticking her tongue out at the small dragon as it hissed at her.

  Chapter 15: Old Gods New Rules

  After getting over the shock of seeing a small dragon riding on Rose’s shoulder Avreel had explained to her that their goal was in sight. Rose had rushed to the rail nearly losing Talisbane in the process. Once she was at the prow she could see what Avreel was referring to, the ceiling of the cavern finally appeared to end off in the distance. They were still quite a way out but Rose could finally see the end of the vast sea. The mist and occasional droplets of water touched her face and was pleasantly cool. Nina had been piloting for a while so she decided to take over. Rose turned about and headed back to the aft of the ship. The small dragon on her shoulder yawned and cooed at her quietly and observed its surroundings keeping its chin down on her shoulder.

  Once she crested the quarterdeck she approached Nina and put her hands on the wheel. “I’m sure you’re exhausted by now I’ll take over.”

  “Thanks.” Nina said in reply as she let go of the wheel and stretched out as tall as she could. “I’m surprised to find a pseudo-dragon down here in the caverns. However from what I’ve read a pseudo-dragon will lay only a few eggs per year. They put each one in a different dragon’s nest. Because of that each one takes on characteristics of its nest-mates. Since you were among shadowdrakes you’re a shadow-half dragon.”

  Talisbane blinked at her for a moment then yawned again and looked around as if he was disinterested in the conversation. Rose listened intently, gathering information about her newfound friend. Nina sat near the rail and did a good amount of the talking, with Rose asking questions of her when they formulated in her head. She learned that dragons like Talisbane would take up with a more powerful creature mainly for protection. They were fiercely loyal and highly intelligent and once they were a certain age it was rumored they could even speak after a fashion. As if Talisbane had understood that statement he chirped lightly and licked his chops again. Rose also learned that his kind were more abundant in the wildlands which was a term she had not heard before. “What are the wildlands?”

  “Our people say it’s a place of great beauty and magic. They say that the elves all came from the wildlands a long time ago to settle on this world and make it their own. It’s where we learned to shape the trees though that art is all but lost nowadays. There are very few tree-shapers among us anymore.” Nina paused after that statement and wore a slightly troubled expression. “The strongest tree-shapers were among the sunmane legacy but none of us have been born with the gift for a long time. It’s like the powers of our people have been diminished.”

  “Could it have something to do with the sundering and the loss of magic?” Rose inquired curiously as she began following a path in her mind that seemed reasonable. “Leonidus told me that magic was only just introduced back into your peoples’ lives a short time ago. He also said that Humans and the rest of the world can’t shape magic yet save for a chosen few that he himself taught.”

  “It’s true; I’ve only met one human that could shape magic. It was grandfather’s former apprentice, the one who almost killed Barius. He was so friendly and kind until the night of his escape. Apparently he killed elves and two other human apprentices before the guardian and my grandfather kicked him out of our home for draining the forest recklessly.” Nina thought about it for a moment and shrugged offhandedly. “I suppose that could be the reason why but with the resurgence of magic why wouldn’t the gift return?”

  “Give it time.” Rose said simply and smiled over at the young elf. She knew not how but she had a feeling that the ancient powers of Nina’s people would return. As she stood steering the ship Liostro, Nina and Avreel all mulled around doing whatever chores Avreel barked out. She
was again lost in her own thoughts, handling the wheel again gave her a little apprehension but she had to be sure that disposing of the three rings would give them the reprieve they had been searching for. So far the plan seemed to be working.

  In the distance she watched the shoreline approaching, it seemed they would make it before daybreak if Nina took over for her at some point. The main thing on her mind was the Spellrage that Avreel had told her about. With the resurgence of her memories she could feel the ability resting deep within her mind. Her first use of it had been instinctual but something inside of her had flipped on at that moment. To make matters more complicated; since the death eater had died she felt, for lack of a better word, enhanced. Dipping down inside of her mind she focused her efforts on the rage itself. It had been powerful but sloppy, uncontrollable and if she were to need it again she would have to be able to control it at least to some extent.

  Holding out her hand Rose concentrated on summoning the silvery flames. When she tried it the ship jumped forward a little as if it had been supercharged for just a moment. She grinned sheepishly at the other three. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to do that.”

  “Be careful! This ship is a delicate and expensive craft. I hope to be able to stash it and return for the goods later so I’d rather it didn’t sink.” Avreel called from the railing of the lower deck angrily. With a huff she turned back to her duties.

  Rose studied her hand for a moment then put it back on the wheel. She would have to rely on piecing the puzzle together with her mind alone for now. Spying Liostro heading toward her she put on a smile for him, not too big but hopefully not too pitiful either. “We’re almost there.”

  “Something’s bothering you I can tell.” Liostro said as he leaned against the railing in front of her and glanced over his shoulder at the other two below them. “I tried to give you space but I’m worried. I was wondering if you want to talk about it.”