by Jordan Baker
A drop of blood fell to the ground, landing on the dry stone walkway of the battlement, and through the blinding pain and the cold feeling of his essence being pulled from him as the beat of his heart grew weak, Fergus felt a strange sensation, almost as though the world around him began to shake. He felt his heart beating in his chest, then it stopped and for a moment he gasped at the feeling of emptiness within him, then he felt another presence, like the feeling of someone coming up behind him and his strength suddenly returned. Fergus gasped, catching his breath and shoved the Darga away from him, knocking the creature backwards. The sword, held tightly in the creature's grasp slid free from his chest, and Fergus leapt forward, smashing his fist into the lizard man's scaled face. The Darga stumbled in surprise at the ferocity of his opponent, who had just taken a mortal blow, and from his strength, which was as great as his own. Fergus brought his axe down upon the lizard's chest and the blade bit deep into flesh, crushing bone and spattering blood as the Darga's ribs split in two. Fergus shoved him to the ground and pulled his axe free, then he looked down at the bloody hole in his midsection, where the sword had cut him. The wound still bled a little but he was surprised to see that it was already healing, and the pain was beginning to recede as well.
"What's this?" he muttered as the wound closed up before his eyes.
"Blood of the defender," whispered a chorus of voices and Fergus shook his head and stuck his finger in his ear at the sound.
He looked up and saw Brian fighting several of the Darga, and he raised his axe and rushed toward them as countless enemy soldiers clambered over the walls. He caught one of the creatures in the back of the head, spilling more of the black blood onto his axe, and he noticed that it was eating away at the metal of the blade. Ignoring it, Fergus smashed into another lizard man, knocking the creature away from Brian, who already had his hands full, fighting two more of the creatures.
"We've got to go, Brian!" Fergus yelled. "There's too many."
Brian was tired from fighting, having already taken down a half dozen of the winged Darga, and he could barely do much more than smile through his teeth and nod at the big man as he fended off another attack. Though his armor was helping restore him, the powers of the god were draining his strength faster than it could be replenished, and numerous Darga had gotten past him and had begun dropping fire onto the buildings behind the walls. Flames spread across the stone and wooden structures, with smoke choking the air and blocking much of the path to the entrance to the tunnels, but it appeared that the people who had taken refuge in the stone fortress had managed to escape into the tunnels under the keep.
As much as Brian wanted to stay and fight, he knew he would not hold out for long against the scores of soldiers and fearsome lizard men that were flooding over the walls. He gritted his teeth and put on a burst of energy, using brute force to bash away at the Darga with his axes, and Fergus cleared a path with several swings of his giant axe, then the two of them made a run for it, leaping onto a stairway and racing down from the walls. The lizard men and Xallan soldiers pursued them from atop the wall, while more winged Darga followed above as Brian and Fergus dashed through the flames and smoke, making their way along the tight corridors between the burning buildings of the city. They made it to the inner walls of the keep and Fergus hit the lever that dropped the portcullis, hoping to slow down their pursuers, but several Darga caught it before it hit the ground and pushed it up and out of the way. They rounded a corner and ducked into the entrance of the tunnels, closing the heavy, stone door behind them. A moment later, the lizard men and the soldiers were surprised to find that their quarry had disappeared and they continued on into the keep, setting fire to everything in their path, that no matter where the people of White Falls, who had dared to defy them might hide, they would surely perish.
In the darkness, behind the stone entrance, all was silent, save for Brian and Fergus breathing heavily, exhausted from the frantic battle and their narrow escape. The sound of White Falls being torn apart by its attackers and the heat and smoke of the fires was now little more than a faraway echo through the thick stone of the keep. Brian struck a piece of flint and lit his torch, and he and Fergus made their way deeper into the tunnels. As they passed through a portal in the passageway, they both felt something change in the air around them, and a heavy stone door began to slide closed behind them.
"Did you do that?" Fergus asked.
"No," Brian told him and he turned back and shone his torch at the door.
It was made of a greenish stone that looked like a few parts of the keep that had been unearthed when layers of plaster and brick had been torn away when Kaleb had flooded the keep, during the battle to take White Falls back from Cerric's man, Baron Manfred not that long ago. Brian touched its smooth surface with his hand and he could suddenly hear the sounds of voices, the familiar chorus of the keep, but no longer speaking as one, the way they usually did. It was as though he was listening in as they talked amongst themselves and they seemed to be upset by something.
"What is it? I can hear you," he told them.
"What's that? Who's there?" Fergus asked.
"It's the voices of the keep," Brian said. "Something is wrong."
"Sacrifice," the voices replied.
"Aye, I heard 'em," Fergus said, nearly jumping at the eerie sound. "So that's what they sound like."
"You can hear them?" Brian was surprised.
"I suppose so," Fergus said with a shrug. "It's mighty strange."
"If I might speak to the spirits of the keep, privately," Kroma rumbled in Brian's mind. "You may listen, but it might be best if your friend does not."
"Go ahead," Brian responded in his thoughts, suddenly worried about Fergus. He felt Kroma reach out his hand and touch the smooth green stone of the door.
"Keepers," Kroma rumbled.
"You have returned," the voices chimed with excited whispers.
"That I have," Kroma replied. "What of the surface, what happens above the stone?"
"Fires burn. Wood becomes ash. Stone become dust."
"And what of these walls. Will they hold?"
"Safe. Defended. The fires will not burn."
"Good." Kroma was pleased. "What of the big man who travels with us? He could not hear you before."
"Sacrifice. We have given. Now we must keep. A defender of the blood is he."
"I see, it is as I thought," Kroma's voice echoed in Brian's thoughts.
"I'm not sure I understand," Brian said as he removed his hand from the stone, and the chattering of the voices faded.
"It appears your friend is now bound to the keep," Kroma told him.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he is a defender, like the spirits. Notice the hole in his shirt, the mark of blood."
"Yes, but he doesn't appear to be wounded."
"He was saved by the spirits."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Brian was glad that the spirits had helped Fergus.
"It was a mortal wound, Brian." Kroma's tone sounded serious. "It means he died, or he would have were it not for the power of the keep, which holds him back from the edge of death. He is a keeper now, like the spirits, forever bound to the stone."
"So he is like me, then. I took the oath. The voices said I was of the blood."
"Except, you are still alive, Brian." Kroma said. "Your friend, Fergus, has died."
Brian was more than a little confused. The big man was standing right in front of him, and what Kroma was telling him did not make any sense.
"But he isn't dead, Kroma," Brian insisted.
"Not exactly, as I said, he is on the edge of death," Kroma replied. "The spirits have kept him from falling, but without the power to keep him, he will fall."
"Brian," Fergus said, waving at him. "What's the matter, lad?"
"Nothing," Brian said, realizing he was just standing there, staring blankly. "Sorry, Fergus. Let's get moving."
"Tell me, Kroma. Does this mean that Fergus c
an never leave?" Brian asked as he continued down the passageway.
"He must remain close to the spirits, yes."
"Should I tell him?"
"It would be best. Were he to venture too far from the power of the spirits, he would surely die."
"The spirits are in all these passageways," Brian commented. "They were even at Maramyr."
"Yes," Kroma said. "It is not the worst fate, to be a keeper."
"I suppose I will be a keeper some day as well," Brian said.
"It is likely, for you have taken the oath."
"What are the keepers?" Brian asked. "It seems like they are part of the walls and these tunnels, but someone built these places. Were the keepers always here or did they come after?"
"The keepers are the spirits of those who have defended the lives that seek protection within the stone. Long ago, they took an oath, one that endured beyond the living world, for the power of the keep forever echoes with their determination, with their resolve."
"How come they said I had the blood of the defenders?" Brian asked.
"You are descended from a defender, someone who was oathbound. The keepers were not always just spirits and voices. At one time, they lived as anyone would, save for their oath, and the power that keeps them."
"When were the first keepers?"
"I do not know, exactly, but they are very old, far older than I."
"That must be really old."
"Yes, it is."
"What did they defend from?" Brian asked. "It seems like a lot, that someone made these walls and the tunnels and the keepers took an oath. There must have been a reason for all of it."
"Yes, the reason it is often called the truth of fire."
"What is that?"
"It is an ancient story from another age, an age that ended when all the world was turned to flame."
"The whole world?"
"Yes, save for the few places that were kept safe, sanctuaries that were defended by the keepers."
"How did it happen, Kroma? Why did the world burn?"
"To save it from the darkness," Kroma told him. "Only the fire of truth can burn away the shadow."
CHAPTER THREE
"Lexi, wake up." Tash pushed gently on the blue skin and scales of her bare arm that rested on the cushioned mat.
Her eyes already wide open, Lexi stared blankly at the cloth roof of the tent as it billowed in the desert wind. When she had finally awakened, the world was very different, much like the way she felt when the traders had given her the blue potion, as though a desperate thirst within her had somehow been quenched, except the thirst did not return. Where she had always hid from the creature that lived inside her, now she had seen it and it scared her, and she was afraid of what she might do should she let herself be overcome by the rage of the beast. Lexi could feel the strange power that coursed through her, like a constant hum or vibration and she felt the creature, violent, powerful and angry, wanting to claw its way out, but she remained still. A voice, deep down in her throat, all the way in her belly wanted to scream, but she was silent, and if she did not think, then the bad thoughts would not come. If she did not move, no one would get hurt. If she did not speak, no one would hear the howling rage of the monster she had become.
"Lexi," Tash persisted. "I know you can hear me. Aaron went away and I'm scared for him."
Lexi kept her thoughts on remaining still, trying not to hear what her friend was saying, but she could not.
"I heard Ashan talking to someone and he said that Aaron was in danger from someone named Calexis," Tash told her, and Lexi felt her stomach lurch at the sound of her mother's name. "She has the shadow, he said, the god power, and it is too much for Aaron, that he would die. That's what Ashan said."
"What was it that I said?" Ashan asked as he entered the tent and Tash looked up at him, her face blushing that he might have heard her talking about him.
"You said Lexi should wake up," Tash told him.
"I did say that, but that's not what you were discussing, was it, young Tash?"
"No," Tash admitted, and she lowered her voice. "I heard you say Aaron could die."
"Ah," Ashan said. "Young ears hear many things."
"I didn't mean to listen," Tash said.
"It is no matter," Ashan replied and he sat down on the hard packed dirt next to the mat upon which Lexi lay, silently staring up at the roof of the tent. "I see Lexi has still not moved."
"No," Tash said. "Her eyes are open but she won't talk."
"I do not doubt that she has many thoughts to consider," Ashan said and he leaned over and smiled at Lexi. "When she is ready, perhaps we will discuss what she has learned about herself."
"You mean about the dragon?" Tash asked, tentatively.
"The truth of herself," Ashan replied. "She has learned the truth of her birthright, but she does not appear ready to accept herself. Perhaps she is afraid."
"I'm afraid of dragons," Tash said.
"That is wise," Ashan replied with a dry chuckle. "Dragons are fearsome creatures."
"Yes, they're fierce." Tash nodded.
"They are, and do you know why?"
"Because they're big and scary?"
Ashan laughed.
"They are that, but that is not why they are both fearsome and fierce. If you remember what I told you about dragons, they are the most powerful creatures, but because of the form they have taken, they are ruled by their emotions, and a dragon's emotions are so powerful they can drive them mad."
"I wouldn't want to make a dragon mad," Tash said.
"I do not mean anger, Tash, though an angry dragon is not to be trifled with. I mean madness, the loss of self, becoming a wild beast with no thoughts. It is an anathema to Ansari, though I suppose it is to the dragons as well."
"Anathema?"
"Such creatures are not welcome among us, and it is a form we do not take, for it can lead to madness," Ashan explained. "It is a matter of long debate."
"You said you took dragon form," Tash said, remembering her own experience, which was something she was glad Lexi had not told anyone about.
"Once, long ago," Ashan said, suddenly looking very old. "I would not do such a thing ever again."
"What about Lexi?" Tash asked. "Is she not welcome? Will she become mad?"
Ashan looked at the young girl, sitting next to her friend, the strange half lizard creature.
"I do not know," he said. "The madness mostly affects the male dragons, and they must mate by a certain age or they become lost. Lexi may be lucky in this way, but she is different from other dragons. She is from an incomplete bloodline, but she has other power, from her human side, and it is as though the combination of the two may have replaced that which was taken. That is why I have tried to help her, for her own sake, that she might become who she truly is, but she is lacks the wisdom of her line, a kind of knowledge with which female dragons are born, so she must face the madness on her own, now that she has seen her true self."
"But if Lexi is a dragon, does that mean she is an anathema?" Tash struggled a little with the word.
"I'm afraid it does," Ashan said, and he looked at Lexi. "When she took her dragon form, even though it was for only an instant, she became an anathema to Ansari."
"What does that mean?"
"It means she will have to leave," Ashan said. "Dragons are not welcome among Ansari."
"What if I became a dragon?" Tash asked. "Would I have to leave?"
"It takes a lot of power and knowing to take such a form, Tash," Ashan told her. "And even if you were to achieve such a thing someday, you were not born a dragon, so you would not remain thus for very long, at least not without harm."
"What about Lexi? Will it hurt her to turn into a dragon?"
"No," Ashan said. "Her dragon form is as natural to her as the way she is now."
"She just wanted to be like everyone else," Tash said with a frown. "She wanted to look normal."
"Yes," Ashan said. "Lexi tried very hard to
achieve such a form, but the dragon blood and the power of her true being is too great. Perhaps once she has mastered that power, then she will be able to take other forms."
"Why can Ansari take any form they want and dragons can't?" Tash asked.
"Ansari is the center, the truth of self, knowing, being," Ashan told her. "To know Ansari is to be Ansari, and the truth of self means we can then take other forms, for the self remains true."
"So, now that Lexi has become a dragon, she can't just be Lexi?"
"True knowledge can only be gained through being, and it cannot be unlearned. To deny truth is to fall, to accept truth is to rise, and become, to know, to be true," Ashan said. "Lexi is a dragon, and the dragon is also Lexi."
"I think I understand," Tash said, even though she was not sure.
"Do you know who you are?" Ashan asked.
"Yes, I am Tash."
"And when you take different forms do you still know who you are?"
"Yes," she told him, remembering the only time she had not felt like herself was when she had become a dragon in the forest.
"And that is why you are Ansari," Ashan said.
"Lexi isn't though?" Tash asked. "How can dragons change forms, even though they aren't Ansari?"
"Other than a few exceptions, dragons can only take human form, and even then they aren't all that good at it." Ashan smirked. "They have this ability to take such a simple form because they were once Ansari."
"Really?" Tash was surprised.
"Long ago, long before I came to be in the world, Ansari became dragons and, because of that, they were no longer Ansari," he said.
"Why did they not want to be Ansari?"
"That I do not know," Ashan said. "It is likely that they sought power, for there would be no other reason for taking such a form."
"Are Ansari and dragons enemies?"
"No, we simply do not get along."
"I'm glad we're not enemies," Tash said. "I don't want to be enemies with Lexi. She's my friend."
"And that is your truth, yours and hers," Ashan said with a smile, and he pushed himself to his feet, then he looked down at Lexi. "Lexi cannot stay among us. While she was injured, Ansari allowed her to rest, for she was in Kasha's domain and under my watch, but now that she is awake, she must go. Say your farewells, Tash. With the coming of the sun, Ansari will move with the desert and Lexi will remain here if she chooses to pretend that she cannot move herself."