After a few uncomfortable moments, where Juraviel had to reassure the couple repeatedly that he was no spy, and that, yes, he was of the tu d’elfin faerie spoken of in their legends, he managed to coax the story out of them. Balachuk told it, primarily, recounting Brynn’s time in the village, and how she had taken down the Yatol priest and the warrior. He spoke of his last meeting with her, when she had left to join Ashwarawu’s rebel band.
Balachuk’s voice grew solemn as he told Juraviel of the disastrous battle of Dharyan.
„She is dead, then?“ the elf asked, barely able to get the words past the lump in his slender throat.
„So I would guess,“ Balachuk replied, seeming equally troubled.
„We heard rumors that a Jhesta Tu was there, and took her riding off from the battle,“ Tsolona quickly interjected. „Heard that she, or he, killed another of the Chezhou-Lei.“
„Rumors,“ Balachuk huffed.
„Not all of them died at the gates of Dharyan!“ Tsolona insisted.
„Then why did she not return to us?“ the old man countered. So you just do not know?“ Juraviel asked.
A few To-gai-ru returned from the battlefield and are scattered about the steppes,“ Balachuk explained. „It is not something they are free to talk about.“
Not in pride or practicality,“ said Tsolona, echoing a common To-gai-ru saying.
Belli’mar Juraviel paused for a bit to digest it all. „Jhesta Tu?“ he asked at length, unfamiliar with the name.
„Group of mystics who live somewhere far to the south,“ Balachuk explained. „One was said to be riding with Ashwarawu.“
„Do you have any idea of where I might turn to find Brynn’s trail, if it did lead from Dharyan?“ the elf asked, and the old couple looked to each other, but Juraviel knew even before the two blank stares came back at him that they had no idea of how to respond.
Juraviel found Cazzira outside of the house, waiting for him in the shadows.
„A legend comes to life,“ she said with a grin.
„Let us hope that another one remains alive,“ Juraviel replied grimly, and they left the village to find Agradeleous, that they might head out to the south and east.
/
„This is what Yatol has shown to me,“ Chezru Douan said calmly, bringing his arms in dramatically and crossing them over his chest as he slowly closed his eyes.
Around him, all of the priests in attendance murmured their accord and their prayers, and even one of the other two Chezhou-Lei warriors nodded, his face a mask of acceptance. Kaliit Timig wanted to scream out! He hadn’t come for permission to go to the Mountains of Fire, but rather, just to inform the Chezru Chieftain that the Chezhou-Lei warriors had assembled and were ready to begin their march. Months had passed since he had first informed Yakim Douan of the need for the Chezhou-Lei to exact revenge over the hated Jhesta Tu, and not once before this day had Yakim Douan indicated that there would be anything but agreement coming from him.
And now the Chezru Chieftain had walked into the morning audience with the surprising announcement that he would allow Kaliit Timig to take only half of the warriors to the south, and that a force of Jacintha soldiers, not Chezhou-Lei, would accompany them. The Kaliit’s frustration was only more profound, since Douan had proclaimed this as a vision of Yatol. The Chezhou-Lei, like all of the Chezru, considered Douan the God-Voice, who communicated directly with Yatol; and thus, it was not their place to question him.
Not publicly, at least.
Kaliit Timig bowed his head. „In what capacity are the soldiers of Jacintha to be used?“ he asked.
„In whatever capacity the leader of the Chezhou-Lei contingent desires,“ Douan answered, his eyes still closed as if he was then in direct contact with Yatol.
Kaliit Timig tilted his head to the side a bit at the surprising words. „The leader“ of the Chezhou-Lei? What might Yakim Douan mean by that, since Kaliit Timig was obviously the leader, and had obviously, despite his aded age, planned to travel to tne Mountains of Fire? Had the Chezru Refrain just subtly stated that Timig would not be going?
„T do not question your words, God-Voice,“ Timig began, his old voice holding steady, „but - “
„It is good that you do not question Yatol,“ Douan interrupted, ending
, ijne Of probing before it could ever begin. „I am shown that the honor
of^’our order is in need, and thus, whatever my personal fears, Yatol de-
° ands that I allow the Chezhou-Lei this journey. But I am shown, as well,
hat the integrity of Behren rests in no small part upon the valued swords of
,e Chezhou-Lei, and the kingdom cannot be unguarded for the months of this journey. Appoint your leader - Yatol Grysh’s man, Wan Atenn, is battle-seasoned and has earned high regard - and select those warriors who will go to avenge the death of Chezhou-Lei Dahmed Blie. Let them begin their march, and then you and I will determine the best way to redistribute those warriors left to my disposal.
„You do not approve?“ Yakim Douan asked a moment later, and Kaliit Timig realized that his expression was betraying his heart. „Do you fear the Jhesta Tu that much? They number fewer than two hundred, closer to a hundred, by every account, and many of those mystics are mere novices, young disciples who have never seen battle. Indeed, it is likely that this mystic who felled Chezhou-Lei Dahmed Blie is the only one of their order who has lifted a weapon, or his fist, against a real enemy. You will send a like number of seasoned, veteran warriors to battle mere children, and I will reinforce your warriors with four times that number. Rest assured, Kaliit Timig, that when the slaughter is completed, the Chezhou-Lei will be given all of the glory for the defeat of the Jhesta Tu.“
Kaliit Timig understood that he had been flanked on every front, and since Douan was speaking with the weight of Yatol behind him, the logic walls he had used to surround the Kaliit could not be scaled. The old man snapped a respectful bow, then stood at rigid attention. „Wan Atenn is a fine choice, God-Voice.“
„That is the advice of Yakim Douan, not Yatol,“ the Chezru Chieftain said with a chuckle, and all about him smiled, even snickered, at the sudden break of any tension.
„And it is advice I will take into consideration,“ Kaliit Timig assured him, and with another bow, the old Chezhou-Lei warrior left the audience chamber and the temple altogether. He had nearly three hundred of the world’s finest warriors preparing themselves for the long journey to the Mountains of Fire, choosing their mounts and fitting armor to horse and man. Now he had to go to them and explain that only half would take that ride.
He didn’t expect many cheers at that proclamation.
But Yakim Douan was God-Voice and could not be questioned.
And so on a bright morning in the second month of the year, half of the Chezhou-Lei warriors in all the world, a formidable army unto themselves, paraded out of Jacintha to the music of a hundred horns, their armored horses striding easily and proudly down the main boulevard of the city and out the southern gate. Behind them came a marching twenty-square, spear tips gleaming in the morning light.
Chezru Douan and Kaliit Timig watched the procession side by side, on a balcony of the great temple. „Yatol is ever wise,“ Douan remarked.
„Of course, God-Voice,“ the Kaliit promptly replied.
„My man in Honce-the-Bear, Daween Kusaad, is not pleased with the new Queen Jilseponie,“ Douan added, and that caught Timig by surprise, for never had the God-Voice been known to share such political information with his Chezhou-Lei elite guard.
„She is Abellican, you know,“ Douan went on when Timig looked at him questioningly. „A ranking member of the infidel Church, akin to an abbot in power.“
The Kaliit nodded, though he had not heard any such thing, nor did he much understand why it mattered.
„She was instrumental in the defeat of Abbot Olin of Entel in his bid to lead the Abellican Church, an ascension that would have surely strengthened the ties of Beh
ren and our neighbors to the north. I fear that her work toward his defeat may be an indication that King Danube, her husband, will take action against Abbot Olin in Entel, and will weaken the ties between our lands.“
Kaliit Timig had no idea of how he was supposed to respond, or even if he was supposed to respond, for Chezru Douan had never spoken to him about such matters, and he wasn’t quite sure what the man might be getting at.
But then Douan looked at him directly, his expression stern. „If King Danube moves against Abbot Olin of Entel, then we will support the man - perhaps we will even fight beside him to hold control of his city.“
Kaliit Timig’s old and drooping eyes widened at that! „You think to sail around the mountain spur and enter Honce-the-Bear? „
„If Yatol so decrees,“ the calm Chezru Chieftain said, and he looked back to the procession passing along the road below.
Yakim Douan did well to hide his smile at that time. He had no intention, of course, of supporting Olin with anything more than money against King Danube, if Danube was even thinking of moving against Olin overtly, which Douan thought absurd. But on the surface, at least, it all seemed plausible, and by embellishing the events of Honce-the-Bear to the Kaliit, he had given the old man more to think about and less to dwell upon.
He glanced down at Timig and recognized that the man was deep in thought. Up to that moment, Douan had known that Timig was angry that only half of his warriors could march on their road to revenge, but now, with a few well-aimed remarks, Douan had him questioning even sending, many. For the Chezhou-Lei, proud as they were and concerned with • honor, garnered that honor, above all else, by protecting Yatol’s Chezru priests and strict order.
^ Yakim Douan feared no move by Danube, against him or even against Abbot Olin. Queen Jilseponie was no firebrand seeking conquest, from all the information that Daween Kusaad had sent back. In fact, she was rarely ven in the Castle in Ursal at that time, for winter was on in full in the lorthern kingdom, in their God’s Year 842, and kindhearted Jilseponie was out every day among the poor and the sick. She and her husband were no threat. But Kaliit Timig didn’t have to know that.
Agradeleous sat on a termite mound, sharpening his claws - and even in this humanoid form, they were formidable! - on a large rock he had found, and looking none-too-happy, as usual.
„Do you think that he will put those weapons to use someday soon?“ Cazzira asked Juraviel, the two of them sitting across the way.
Juraviel shrugged, but in truth, it was a fear that had been bubbling inside of him for a long, long time. Ever since they had first come out of the mountains, when Agradeleous had reverted to his natural behemoth form and stretched his great wings in the mountain air, Juraviel had worked tirelessly to keep the dragon calm. For to the beast, all of the creatures about them - the humans included, and perhaps even particularly - were nothing more than potential meals, or outlets for his innate aggression. So far, Agradeleous had behaved himself well, with not a single human kill, as far as either of the elves knew. But of late, as the weeks had dragged to months and as the wind across the steppes had become uncomfortably cold, often with stinging hail or snow, the dragon’s patience had seemed on the wane.
Of late, Agradeleous seemed to be spending more time off to the side of the encampments, and often flexing his formidable, sinewy muscles, or sharpening those killing claws.
Juraviel understood the dragon’s frustration. His own frustration came from the lack of any real information about Brynn. One time of the many when he had eavesdropped on the conversations of unsuspecting humans, he had heard references to this mysterious Jhesta Tu mystic and the supposed rescue of the warrior woman from the battlefield outside of Dharyan, but other than that, he had learned nothing of any value. For Agradeleous, the frustration was even easier to sort out. The dragon had slept in peace for so many years, and when he had decided to accompany the elves to the surface, he had done so with the intention of finding great adventure. Thus far, at least, that had hardly been the case.
Cazzira’s question echoed ominously to Juraviel in context of that realization. On a whim, Agradeleous could level any of the many villages they had seen. It would take a trained army, powerfully outfitted, to bring down the dragon; among the four ancient races of Corona, only the demon dactyls were more individually powerful, and their might came from a combination of magic and physical strength. Even the demons could not match the sheer physical muscle of a dragon. Juraviel had never seen one before he had encountered Agradeleous, and though he had heard the stories of the ancient wurms told over and over again, that one moment when Agradeleous had come out of the tunnel and stretched his great wings had overwhelmed him. He could hardly imagine the devastation this one might cause if he became enraged.
Or bored.
Juraviel glanced across to the dragon, and it seemed to him to hold too much strength and energy within his current form, as if he would just explode back into his greater shape.
The elf was somewhat relieved a short while later, then, when a campfire appeared in the distance. Cazzira noticed it first and quietly motioned to Juraviel, but before the two could come up with any plan that might engage Agradeleous without bringing him dangerously close to the human camp, the dragon, too, spotted the distant light.
„Let us go and see those who would share the land with us,“ Agradeleous said, too eagerly, and the dragon took a loping stride away.
„Better if I go alone, or with Cazzira,“ Juraviel quickly replied and the dragon stopped and spun about, a slight hiss escaping his mouth.
„At first,“ the elf quickly explained. „Let us catch them unawares, that they will be more truthful. If they have anything of interest to reveal, we will come back for you.“
„If they have anything of interest to reveal, they will tell it to me,“ Agradeleous answered, and he started away at a fast walk, then a loping trot, and Juraviel and Cazzira had to run flat out to keep up.
Agradeleous stopped outside the light of that fire and was not immediately noticed, for the ten men sitting about the flames were engaged in a boisterous conversation.
„We cannot go back to any town!“ one protested. „Don’t you think the Wraps will be looking for us? And what a fine prize our heads would make!“
„We cannot stay out here, with no food and no wagons to rob,“ a second argued. „I’d rather die fighting Wraps than freeze and starve out here where only the buzzards will find our rotting corpses!“
„Then you should have died with the rest at Dharyan!“ the first man shot back.
„Not that again!“ several cried at once, and one continued, „Are we to spend all our days thinking back to that cursed place?“
Out in the darkness, Agradeleous snapped a fiery gaze over Juraviel. „You want answers, and so you shall have them!“ he said in his rumbling inhuman voice, and it was loud enough to halt the conversation in the entrapment, with several men leaping up and a couple even lifting their weapons.
How they fell all over each other when the huge bipedal lizard walked right into their camp, his wings tucked in tight to his back, his small tail trailing.
One or two froze in terror, one or two screamed out and turned to flee, but these were To-gai-ru warriors here, and before Agradeleous could utter any sort of explanation, several came at him hard, weapons slashing.
Agradeleous didn’t retreat an inch, but rather, charged forward suddenly, into the largest concentration of opponents, four men charging shoulder to shoulder. Oblivious to their puny weapons, the dragon slammed in, scattering them, slamming them to the ground. One sword hooked under the dragon’s scaled breast, but Agradeleous just snapped his hand in and grabbed it across the blade, tearing it from the man’s grasp, then altered the angle of his rush and lowered his shoulder, smashing that man down below him.
And then he kicked the prone man, launching him through the air for a dozen feet.
The dragon spun and squeezed the sword, then threw it
to the ground, swinging his hand across to slap aside a spear thrusting for his torso.
From his left, a heavy axe swooped in at his neck.
Agradeleous roared and accepted the hit, which did no damage against his superb armor, and then his powerful legs twitched, launching him right into the axe-wielder, the impact knocking the man back and down.
But not to the ground, for the dragon’s hand shot out, engulfing the man’s face, and with strength that mocked the warriors, Agradeleous lifted the kicking and thrashing man up into the air.
„Do you wish to speak with me, or should I just kill you all?“ the dragon roared, and with his free hand, he caught the swinging arm of another swordsman, and then, with a flick of his wrist, sent the man flying away, head over heels.
„Well?“ the dragon demanded, and when he roared, he tensed, and his hand closed a bit on the head of the man he held high, bringing forth a pitiful squeal.
The remaining To-gai-ru held back, circling, weapons drawn, but it was obvious that none wanted to advance.
„No!“ came a cry from behind, and the already overwhelmed warriors turned to see two more strange creatures rushing into their firelight. „These are not our enemies!“ Belli’mar Juraviel shouted at the dragon. „They are To-gai-ru, kin of Brynn Dharielle!“
„Brynn?“ more than one man cried, obviously recognizing the name.
„Were you at Dharyan?“ the dragon bellowed, and he gave his prisoner another involuntary shake.
„What do you know - “ one of the To-gai-ru started to say, but Agradeleous cut him short.
„Were you at Dharyan?“ the dragon bellowed, so loudly that the roar echoed off into the darkness, so powerfully that his voice hit the speaking To-gai-ru like a mighty wind, forcing him back a step.
„We were there,“ he replied. „All of us.“
„Shut your mouth!“ another of the To-gai-ru warriors cried at him. „You’ll condemn us to the Wraps!“
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