by A. Wrighton
“With how much?”
“For now, saving her is all I can agree to. Politics, you see.”
Alaister nodded slowly.
“Where were you taking her? Surely bringing her out in the open like that was not without reason.”
The Rogue officers collectively stirred. Only Alaister’s steel gray eyes were undisturbed. Alaister glanced back at Callon who was being attended to by an obscene number of people. Only Kalyna felt Alaister’s stare and turned around. Her copper eyes were untamed but obedient, and immediately she read his silenced thoughts. Her eyes shifted to Nylan and then back to Alaister. Kalyna nodded before returning to Callon.
“We are searching for the Solasti Palace Ruins,” Alaister said.
“Solasti… that’s by Mount Lynae?”
“Yes.”
“With all your Beasts and the last Runic?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not concerned about the Sickness?”
Alaister’s mouth opened.
Nylan fought his urge to smile at the naivety. Lythgorians had stories of Solera, just as Solerans did about Lythgor. Of course, he knew.
“You know about that?” Alaister asked.
“My favorite scary story. I can only assume that it is true.”
“Mostly – yes. We know the risks.”
Lanthar stretched and opened his mouth to speak but paused. His mind hesitated elsewhere for a moment before returning to the cavern. “You do not have to join us,” Lanthar said. “We could always use lookouts—”
“Flattered, but unlikely. We have no fear of that place. Our Dragons are of a different bloodline and are more than likely immune to anything lurking in the dust of that old place.”
“They are magnificent creatures in their own right,” Vylain murmured as he stared at the lurking black Beasts outside the opening. Vylain knew his surprise and admiration was matched by the reactions the Lythgorians had upon seeing the Soleran Dragons. Though the Soleran Beasts were abnormally massive with insanely vibrant colors, they lacked up-curved wing claws at the apex of each of their wing folds. Meanwhile, the Lythgorian Beasts had a normal heft and the razor sharp wing claws, but their colors were dark and muted.
It made sense.
According to the legends, Lythgor had long ago surrounded itself in a shroud of darkness to hide themselves from passersby. To remain isolated. Undisturbed. They named it the Void. And, while the Void had protected the Lythgorians from any tainted acquaintance or interaction on their home soil, it also served as a mandate to any living thing on the Lythgorian continent that to survive, you would have to blend in. The perpetual state of varied darkness the Void provided meant that the Beasts could not afford to be brightly marked and colored. The Lythgorian Dragon had to blend into the darkness, meet its depths. The Lythgorian Dragon had to be as dark as nothingness.
Nylan’s Dragon was no exception – he was a prime example of the retreat of Lythgorian Dragons to darkness. Nylan’s Beast, a male Water Dragon called Fynix, remained on the Ledge. As the curtain of night fell, Fynix disappeared almost entirely. He was nearly indiscernible against the growing darkness, and it caused Vylain’s blood to chill. Whether the Lythgorians ended as allies or enemies, it was a bestial advantage to be remembered.
“We will leave at the darkest hour of dawn,” Alaister said.
“Then we will eagerly be by your side. Just tell us where to fly,” Nylan said. He caught Alaister’s hesitation and could not blame him. They were strangers – legends from tales that Alaister had to reconcile into viable attack formations with neither Commander knowing how far they could trust the other.
Nylan frowned. His gut told him he could take Alaister at face value and his gut had not failed him, yet. The rest of the Rogue officers left something to be deciphered. Lanthar’s distrust was insanely apparent, but if behind his silence stood something formidable; he would be a viable ally. Callon would take the most convincing, or some small miracle from the looks of his temper, but his rank meant he had mental acuity and prowess. And, Nylan noted that Callon wore two rapiers – a master swordsman would be a valuable asset to any command. Shifting his gaze to Vylain, though not as high ranking but certainly of some importance and uprising value, Nylan stared. Something about Vylain, his enthusiasm or his enchantment with the Beasts settled uneasily. He was too curious. Too kind.
Alaister’s voice broke the tepid silence and startled Nylan’s thoughts back to the present moment. “Leave one of your men with Callon and scout DeLorne. Vylain, take the Second Dredth with Gage.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Nylan, you and your other will fly with me.”
Lanthar shook down Alaister’s words, unsure if he had heard correctly. “Alaister….”
Alaister waved off Lanthar’s reluctance. “They are our allies now and I’m sure Commander Bendran can fly second. He does – after all – fly first.”
Lanthar exhaled, nodding.
Nylan smiled at the hint of challenge. “Eagerly, Commander Paine.”
“Lanthar, Kal will ride with you.”
“Understood, Commander.”
“We are in agreement then?” Alaister asked.
Nylan extended his hand and nodded. “We are agreed.”
Nylan’s pale hand wrapped around Alaister’s tanner hand. They shook firmly and briefly before Nylan excused himself to tend to his massive black Beast. He walked away slowly, careful not to draw more attention to himself. Some of the Lythgorian traits remained secrets to the Solerans still and the longer that remained the case the better. Especially when it came to their exceptional hearing. Lythgorians could easily hear twice as far as Solerans – a fortunate consequence for living in the shadows. Nylan kept his eyes low as he walked, listening carefully to the officers’ discussion.
“Alaister – your back is to him if he flies second. You have too much value to the Rogues to be haphazard with your Second, let alone Third,” Lanthar said.
Vylain nodded. “He’s right, Commander. Reconsider. I can take Bendran and—”
“No. One thing my father insisted upon was that you keep those you do not yet trust, closest. That maxim stands.”
Neither officer made a sound.
“Let’s check on Callon,” Alaister said with a warming smile. “Relax. It will be all right.”
“I pray to the Listener that it will,” Lanthar said. “And the Watcher.”
Alaister and Nylan both paused at the mentioning of both Gods.
“It will be,” Alaister mumbled. “It will be.”
LEOSAN CAVERN
SOUTHERN SOLERAN MOUNTAINS, SOLASTI
The Monk stood at the entrance to the cavern looking like a sacrificial fodder to the approaching Dragons. In the hours of darkness that came attached to early morning, the monk’s body seemed to quake, while his eyes remained steady on the Beasts. Kalyna could not fault his nerves. She still fought the urge to fear the great Beasts and only their misplaced kindness allowed her to put it past her mind.
The Monk looked just like a Monastery of the Sky monk, save for his robes. His goldenrod sash and white robe seemed proper against the snowy backdrop, but how he kept it so clean, if he truly walked everywhere was beyond understanding.
Blythet landed just after Jaxin and Fynix set down. The two Commanders approached the monk as a living set of light and dark. Lanthar quickly pulled Kalyna down and issued a command for her to wait there. She wouldn’t have listened had Vylain not also stayed back, one hand resting calmly on his hilt the other against his hip.
“Sometimes, Kalyna, you will learn Alaister does actually know best,” Vylain said. “Monks from the Monastery of the Sun don’t speak to women. They’d find it an improper and disheveling ordeal.”
“I see.”
“But, that doesn’t mean we can’t get a better listen.” Vylain smiled and nudged Kalyna closer to where the Monk stood. “Come on, then.”
Kalyna followed Vylain’s slow footsteps until they stood a half Dragon
behind Alaister. The men’s voices carried along the cold mountain wind, but Kalyna strained to see the Monk’s face despite Vylain preventing any direct view.
“I am Alaister Paine, Commander of the Rogue Dragonics.”
“Brother Droit.”
“G’morning Brother Droit,” Alaister said.
“Yes, a bright day is to come from the looks of it. We must hide you in here. The Father feels it is far enough from where the ruins are rumored to be, to not run the risk of contamination or attention. There is a deep canyon north of here where the Beasts may reside.”
“Thank you, Brother.”
“Of course. Now come, we must get inside before the sun breaks.” Brother Droit gestured for the group to follow him into the cavern. He paused when he saw Kalyna’s face but quickly recovered.
Kalyna glanced to Vylain certain that he too had seen Droit’s stare, but Vylain said nothing and his eyes remained on the journey of those before him. Turning back after a long pause, Vylain nudged Kalyna. “I have to settle the Beasts with one of the Lythgorians. If I don’t come back, kill them painfully for me, aye?”
Kalyna stammered, surprised at his sincerely vengeful tongue. “Of course,” she nodded.
Vylain smiled before returning to the Beasts with Tylus, the white-haired Lythgorian, in tow. Kalyna waited until she saw them both mount and take wing before jogging to catch up to the Rogues entering the cavern.
It was dark and musty. Kalyna rubbed her nose trying to paw out the stale air that existed the further into the cavern they went. Three steps further and it became too dark to see in front of her face. Kalyna paused to weigh the consequences of using Runes to light her way, but before she could finish rationalizing, Brother Droit lurched to a stop.
“Would the Runic mind… it has been a while since I’ve seen that glow.”
Alaister started to protest, but Kalyna quickly stepped forward and summoned a flame in the palm of her hand. The flame flickered and illuminated Nylan’s amused laugh and Alaister’s impatient and upset stare. Kalyna quickly retreated from Brother Droit, who stared with wide eyes and a stupidly open mouth. She mumbled apologies as she left turning to return to the middle of the pack, but Brother Droit grabbed the wrist that cradled the fire and stopped her fleeing. He inhaled deeply and smiled. Then, as if just realizing that she was a woman, Droit dropped her hand and stepped two strides ahead. He tilted his head apologetically.
“Always beautiful,” he said.
How Droit knew what a Runic fire looked like stunned Kalyna. He was not nearly as old as Synge or Vee. At least, he looked too young to have been alive when Runics wandered freely in the Solasti Kingdom. But, if Kalyna had learned anything, it was that, above all, looks deceived. She did not press Droit for answers either. Alaister was already glaring at her as he brewed a lecture. Gage collected Kalyna to walk a few strides behind the Brother, so that her firelight shone ahead but also exposed the way for the mass of the Rogues behind them.
“The Brothers and I have been hiking back with scrolls and books for the Runic.”
“Kalyna,” she said.
Alaister shot another glare, but Kalyna did not care.
“There are many and some are not too well taken care of, nevertheless it should at least offer something to resolve the situation. Brother Feynt was adamant about the documents containing anything about Runics at all, so there might be a lot of extra information.” He paused before turning into another tunnel. “Should you need us, one of you will have to descend the mountain on foot. Our Monastery is at the base of this cavern – about a quarter day’s walk.”
“Why not—”
Brother Droit waved off Nylan’s question. “Fly?” he asked.
“Yes,” Nylan said.
“We are the heaviest patrolled of the realms, Dragonic. It is best you let your Beasts rest and lay low.” Droit stopped at a cavern opening whose darkness was as endless as the sky.
“Thank you, Brother,” Alaister said with a deep bow.
“Of course. Stay the course, Rogues. Your time is coming. And may the Gods smile upon your quest. I must go now. May both Gods be with you all.”
“And with you,” murmured the Rogues. Their voices echoed about the large cavern after the disappearing monk. No Rogues spoke as they shuffled into the cavern, their boot steps reverberating with the sound of a mountain rainstorm.
Kalyna pushed through to the center of the cavern and cast her flame high into the air hoping she could find some way to keep it suspended. It had been a flighty guess, but she found that an air current two-thirds of the way to the top wove in a circular ribbon pattern. Kalyna commanded her fire to spread on the warm current. The blue firelight cast a mystical glow on the cavern.
The Rogues took in their eerie surroundings. The cavern was larger than their voices had allowed. Several Beasts could have found ample bedding room in the cavern, though there was no entrance large enough, and the only access tunnel was barely tall enough for the Rogues. In one corner of the cavern sat a large stack of documents.
Kalyna exhaled and pulled her hair into a loose braid. “I best get to sorting, I guess.”
“I’d love to assist you, Kalyna.” Nylan offered, startling her at his sudden proximity.
Kalyna had not heard his approach. “Thank you,” she said warily.
“Of course.”
“I’ll come too,” Gage said unusually harsh. He smiled at Kalyna’s stunned face before leading the way to the stacks.
Kalyna quickly dictated a system for which document went where, stopping only once to catch Alaister’s eyes. She searched the gray-blue depths for acceptance not knowing why his approval mattered so because she found no bounds in Alaister’s uncertainty for Nylan. Nylan was odd, but he was also more likeable than some of the Rogues. Although she could not readily explain it, Kalyna instantly trusted Nylan. Something about him set her at ease, an ease only outdone by Alaister.
A soft smile grew in Alaister’s eyes.
Smiling, Kalyna returned her attention to the documents.
Their mutual trust of each other grew with each document. Nylan had chosen to stay long after Gage had abandoned Kalyna’s quest to assist Alaister instead. Kalyna sat cross-legged, her back resting against a large stalagmite, flipping through an illustrated manuscript. Nylan read over it upside down from his vantage point. Every now and then, Kalyna would take a sharp intake of breath as she tapped a word or image.
She laughed mockingly. “This prophecy…”
“The One who will return the Soleran Realm to balance?”
“Mmmm. It’s insanity. I can’t be her.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Not you too….”
He shook his head. “I do not know enough about that Prophecy to speak to its merits regarding you, but – what I do know is that your powers seem to fit the Prophecy. And, one day I will be lucky enough to see our Prophecy fulfilled too.”
“A Lythgorian Prophecy?”
“Yes, it speaks of a Runic that will bring hope back into the hearts of our people with their powers. They’ll be the descendant of the last Lythgorian Soul Runic.”
“So wouldn’t you know who the Runic is?”
“No… our last soul Runic left us generations ago. We don’t know where or why they went when they departed. They just… vanished. Our powers have grown darker without them.”
Kalyna scrunched her features and sighed. “Everyone and their Prophecies.”
Nylan laughed at her pinked cheeks; Kalyna was frustrated and did not realize her Fire Runes were showing. “It could all be just a bunch of hopeless talk wishing for something of nothing,” he said.
“Exactly.”
“At least there’s hope then.”
“Oh Watcher, not you too?”
Nylan smiled and handed Kalyna an odd shaped book. “Next book?”
“Next book.”
Kalyna took to pouring through the pages of the next book and the pink faded. Nylan frowned. She had
less control over her own natures than Runic children did in Lythgor. But that was something that had to come in time. Slowly. Patiently. Kalyna had been learning under an unfair advantage her entire life and it would take time to undo some of the damages.
Nylan looked at her copper eyes and flaxen hair. They could not afford time. He exhaled and picked up another book. It was frayed, its binding barely there. He flipped open the disintegrating cover and stared at the inked pages. It was written in the common Soleran tongue, not ancient Solastian, so his reading went well and he quickly showed Kalyna anything relevant.
She listened eagerly and asked questions, if she had any. From his little knowledge of Runics, as they were a class above his own in Lythgor, he tried to answer ably. But it was apparent he did not know all she wished for, and for Kalyna’s sake, he wished that he did. Because, if she could not control the pink that warmed her cheeks whenever she grew flustered or upset, she would lose it all. Her life. The Rogues’ lives. His.
Nylan sighed and flipped pages until he found a bit about a water Rune that created ladders and stairs. When he leaned over to tell Kalyna, he found her perplexed by an illustration in her manuscript. She twisted the image from side to side covering all angles. It was of a palace. She tapped the illustration twice.
“What’s so interesting about that one?” Nylan asked.
“You mean you can’t read Solastian?”
Her sarcasm refreshed.
He smiled. “Afraid not.”
“It’s mentioning the First War and the Battle of Callei where the Runics first discovered some of their more magnificently awe-inspiring abilities. There’s supposedly a huge mural on a wall, but the illustration for it has faded too much.”
“Where was this wall?”
“Lynae Palace, which is now lost as well. But we’ll find it…we have to find it,” she muttered.