Embers at Galdrilene

by Audra Trosper

  “What is this Dragon Song?” Kirynn asked. “You have mentioned it several times.”

  “That is the hum you hear in your mind. Of course, all of you have heard more than the hum. You are also picking up on your unhatched dragon’s feelings and they are picking up on yours. What you feel now is something I have only read about. No one from my time progressed so far before Hatching.”

  Vaddoc poured another cup of tea. “Why not?”

  “Every youngster knew what the Dragon Song was. They would leave their homes and go to the nearest Guardian Tower where they were offered passage to Galdrilene on dragon back. It was considered the greatest honor to be called by the Dragon Song. Among Dragon Riders it was a duty to make sure the Foundlings arrived safely. If you six had Emerged before or even during the war you would not have had to wait to be bonded with your dragon.”

  “Wait a minute,” Kellinar sat forward, a scowl on his face. “Now you are telling us we have blasted dragons in our heads? Dragons we are supposed to form some sort of bond with?”

  Emallya nodded. “Yes.”

  “How do you know how long we’ve been hearing it?” Mckale asked. He wasn’t sure how he felt about everything, but his father had told him to go to Galdrilene and he trusted his father. In his mind the Dragon Song hummed as if the young dragon was happy to finally be recognized.

  “When the young dragons begin to sing to their riders, the eggs will start to glow with the softest light and the humming can be heard if you are in close proximity to the eggs.”

  “What happens,” Kirynn asked, “if the person dies before the egg hatches?”

  Sadness shadowed Emallya’s face again when she answered. “The young dragon in the egg dies with its destined rider and the egg becomes dark. Five hundred years ago, when the war ended in that final tragic event, there were three clutches of eggs. One clutch laid by Rylin. Thirty two eggs in all.” She looked around the group. “The six that belong to you are all that is left. They died one by one over the centuries. The last two died almost sixteen years ago now. I tracked the Foundlings to a small mountain town called Lowden, but I arrived several months too late. They died in a fire.”

  “I think you speak of my parents.” Maleena’s voice drew their attention.

  Mckale reached Maleena’s side before she finished speaking. Relief washed through him. “How do you feel?”

  Maleena pushed herself from her sleeping roll and moved to sit with the others. “I feel tired, very tired.”

  He helped her to sit. “I didn’t sense you were awake.”

  “I’ve been awake for some time.” She turned to Emallya. “Your story is an amazing one. I might not believe it if I wasn’t sure you were speaking of my parents at the last.”

  Emallya regarded her for a moment. “Why do you think I speak of them?”

  “When I first started to hear the hum, or the Dragon Song as you call it, I told my grandmother. She said my mother and father both heard it. Nana thought it was a symptom of magic although she herself never heard it. She could heal with magic though, so I suspect she would’ve been one of those called only by their magic. I lived with my grandmother from the time I was three, after my parents died in a fire. Our little farm was outside Lowden.”

  Emallya looked surprised. “You are the one I searched for. When I saw what you did this morning, I thought you might be. I felt you from time to time, but you always eluded me. I have only known one other who could do that, she was very powerful. She and her dragon were killed just before the last battle, not far from where Lowden is now.”

  Maleena’s eyes widened. “I think I should tell you the story my grandmother told me.”

  Mckale listened with interest as she told of the young woman found by a farmer and how she had been pregnant, but only lived long enough to give birth to a daughter. She told them of the scroll and the pendant and how the young woman said to keep it and pass it down to each generation of daughters.

  Emallya leaned forward, her eyes intent. “Do you have the scroll and the pendant?”

  “Of course. My grandmother told me to always keep it with me no matter what,” Maleena said. She rose and walked to the packs sitting on the grass behind them. Mckale watched her rummage into the bottom of one.

  She tucked her chestnut hair behind her ears and stood. The morning light deepened the violet color of her eyes as she walked back with the scroll in one hand and the silver chain with its golden star pendant in the other. The necklace sparkled in the bright sunshine as she handed it to Emallya along with the scroll. His curiosity piqued, he leaned forward to get a better look at the objects.

  Emallya stared at the scroll. “Eileana took this with her when she left Sharren, a nation on the edge of the desert that no longer exists. Shadow Riders attacked her on her way back to Galdrilene. We thought it lost when she disappeared. We found her dragon’s body, but not hers. Her bondmate couldn’t reach her. We thought her dead. Her bondmate and his dragon died a few days later in the battle that killed Rylin. Did your grandmother mention a book? Was there anything about a book in her story?”

  Maleena shook her head. “She didn’t say anything about a book. Why? What kind of book?”

  “A very special one. We thought both the book and the scroll were in the hands of the Benduiren. Since the scroll is not then perhaps the book is not either.”

  Vaddoc’s brow furrowed. “What would it matter if the Benduiren had this scroll or the book in their possession?”

  “If they had the book and found someone who could read it...it could prove disastrous.” Emallya ran her finger along the edge on the scroll and rolled it open. They all crowded around her peering over her shoulder.

  Mckale looked at the strange symbols in confusion. He knew the basics of reading, but this wasn’t typical script. He couldn’t make sense of the symbols drawn neatly across the scroll.

  “What does it say?” Maleena whispered.

  “Much of it I don’t understand. Eileana was part of the group that studied it. The book I spoke of is written in the same way. The workings of the most powerful magic weavings are in that book. This scroll was copied from it so Eileana could easily use the symbols.”

  Serena leaned closer as the others sat back down in their places around the fire. Strands of her black hair fell across her face and she tucked them behind her ears, her dark blue eyes traveling over the aged skin of the scroll. “What language is this?”

  “An ancient one only a few, Eileana included, could read and understand. It is written in symbols that are actually images and...I am not very good at explaining it.” Emallya sighed. “This was never my calling. Eileana and her group spent years poring over it, but the understanding of it is beyond me. You are either able to read it or you are not. It cannot be learned.

  “There is a young woman named Anevay, at Galdrilene, she can read it.” She pointed at a group of symbols. “I recognize these even if I cannot tell you their meaning. I have seen them used and I know what they do. They will help us reach our destination sooner. The risk is high, though. I will have to think on it.”

  As Serena resettled herself, Maleena accepted a cup of tea from Kirynn and looked at Emallya. “The women of my family have guarded the scroll since the end of the War of Fire. I’m glad it has found its way back to the proper hands. What about the chain and pendant?”

  Emallya picked up the chain and traced her finger across the stones at the points of the star. “Five elements,” she touched the center stone, “woven together by the sixth. All of you together are part of the whole. Galdrilene is fortunate to have one from each element called.

  “This was Eileana’s. Each rider is given one to show their status as a Dragon Rider. The stones represent the different elements of magic. The sapphire is Wind and Water, the ruby is Fire, the yellow amian is Healing, the gold diamond is Light, and the Emerald is earth. The dragon gem in the center is Spirit.”

  Mckale stared at the green gem. Earth magic. Is that what he used?r />
  Emallya ran her hand along the length of the chain. “The silver chain is given to those who bond silver dragons. It lets people know the rider uses Spirit magic so they know to avoid touching the rider. Touch makes shutting someone out almost impossible, especially if the Spirit rider is unprepared for it. I am surprised Eileana did not tell the couple that found her any of this.”

  “From what my grandmother said, the young woman barely knew where she was,” Maleena said.

  Emallya gave a small, sad chuckle. “Eileana was younger than me, but only by about twenty years. She was over a hundred years old when that farmer found her.”

  Emallya sipped on the tea Serena handed her and addressed the group. “You have all taken this better than I hoped. I worried you would be unwilling to continue traveling with me.”

  “It’s a lot to take in,” Mckale said. His mind filled with questions that died on his tongue. As much as he wanted to ask them, could he fully trust the answers? Maybe he should wait and see where this path led. It all came down to his father. “When my magic came out, my father told me to go to the city of Galdrilene and seek help there. I trust my father. I don’t think he would send me into danger.”

  “Who is your father, Foundling?” Emallya asked.

  “Barden Mandarran”

  She nodded. “He is a good man.”

  Mckale felt a flush of surprise. “You know of my father?”

  “He came to Galdrilene as a young man, probably a couple of years younger than you. He trained with the Defenders as many in your line have. How do you think he knew of it?”

  “I knew he traveled when he was younger.” His father trained in Galdrilene? He knew about magic users and dragons? Everything was turned on its head. “I thought he was just trying to get me away from the Members of Peace by telling me to go there. I’m glad to know he has not sent me to chase smoke and shadows.”

  “Oh, but he has.” Emallya accepted the packet of food Serena offered her and took a long drink of tea before continuing. “The Benduiren have not existed this long without reason. It is believed they also have remaining eggs. They do not need to find one who is Called to hatch the eggs. They only need someone who can use magic, and is evil and depraved enough to give up half their life force for power. Someone strong enough to handle the splitting of their soul during the Hatching. They have attempted to hatch eggs several times, I could feel it, but so far they have failed. I felt the Hatching process start and fail to finish, which means the person was not strong enough to handle it. I have no doubt Shadow chasing is something you will be faced with one day.”

  Mckale took a deep breath as the pieces of the puzzle started to come together for him. “You said this Eileana was on her way back from a nation on the edge of the desert named Sharren?”

  Emallya nodded. “Yes, it used to stand between Calladar and Shadereen.”

  Understanding bloomed in him. “There is an inscription above the gates of Taragen and the gates of Marden. It reads, ‘The Three Sisters stand shoulder to shoulder as a barrier to the east. Their soldiers the first line of defense. They watch and wait. Always ready to defend against the shadows in the sunrise.’ Sharren was the third sister, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Emallya took a deep breath. “The Shadow Riders and the Kojen overwhelmed Sharren. Eileana’s dragon was injured in that battle and the Guardians forced to fall back. The Shadow Dragons razed every building to the ground. The few people left fled to the west.”

  Mckale barely heard her. How long had the Border Guards watched for the wrong thing? He looked first at Vaddoc then at Emallya. “We’ve been watching for the wrong thing.”

  Vaddoc’s gold eyes held confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “Always ready to defend against the shadows in the sunrise,” Mckale repeated. “The Watch began not as a guard against Kojen, but against the Shadow Dragons who made their home far out in the desert. To the east of both our home nations.”

  Vaddoc frowned. “It’s always been taught that we defended against Kojen.”

  Emallya brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “You are correct Mckale. The Watch was created as the first warning against the approach of Shadow Riders. It was also created as the first line of defense against those riders and the Kojen that came with them.”

  “How did people defend against dragons?” Kirynn asked, curiosity in her green eyes.

  A smile curved the corners of the older woman’s mouth. “There are ways, though they are long forgotten by the nations now.”

  A nagging question finally surfaced in Mckale’s mind. “If the dragons of Galdrilene were all destroyed what happened to the black dragons? Shouldn’t there still be some around?”

  Emallya sighed. “The last battle of the War of Fire happened above Galdrilene. All of the Shadow Riders, confident they would be able to take Galdrilene, took part. Rylin died three days before and I was unconscious. Galdrilene was without an experienced Silver Rider. A young silver tried to work the spell Maleena used this morning. The weave failed and collapsed on itself. It destroyed everything.” She stared at the cup in her hands. “The Kojen and Defenders fighting on the ground, the city and the mage towers, and every dragon in the sky.”

  “I woke to a nightmare. My dragon dead, my bondmate and his dragon missing. My fellow riders dead. The city destroyed and in flames. Dead and dying scattered everywhere. Dead draclets strewn across the ground by the lake.” Her voice cracked. Tears glistened in her eyes and she wiped them away.

  Mckale drew a deep breath and let it out slow. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.”

  She shook her head. “I knew these questions would come. You have a right to know.”

  “You think there will be more black dragons?” Serena asked.

  Emallya nodded. “Yes, I do. This is the first time I have even come close to bringing a Foundling to Galdrilene. The Benduiren will know time is running out. After what you did this morning Maleena, they will be even more determined.”

  Kirynn loosened her braid and ran a comb through her long red hair. “What is a Benduiren? Serena mentioned it once, but then we got busy with something else and I forgot to ask what she meant.” Mckale had been about to ask the same thing.

  Emallya took a moment to eat a little of her food and wash it down with more tea before answering. “The Benduiren used to be Shadow Riders. When a Shadow Dragon is killed it takes half the rider’s soul with it. If the rider survives the loss of the life force they become Benduiren. They are the wasted remains of riders who live half in this world and half in the world of the dead. They are very difficult to kill for this reason. You can injure them as easily as you can injure anything else, but killing them is another matter. They are also called Shadow Seekers because they search for people willing to hatch black eggs.”

  “You said after what I did this morning the Benduiren will be more determined. How will they know what I did? Are they somewhere near?” Maleena asked. Her fingers toyed idly with the ends of her chestnut hair. Mckale felt the apprehension in her and wondered if she even realized she messed with her hair when she worried.

  “No, but they did not have to be. That much power being used made you burn like a forest fire in the minds of those who use magic. Even the mages at Galdrilene will have noticed it. The Benduiren will want you dead and they will do everything in their power to keep you from hatching an egg in Galdrilene.” Emallya sighed and set her cup down. “Which leaves us with a problem. We need to get to Galdrilene all the sooner now, but no matter how hard we ride, we are still weeks away. There is only one way to shorten the travel time.”

  “What way is that?” Vaddoc asked.

  “Through the lake,” she answered. The young dragon in Mckale’s mind rumbled uneasily.

  Kirynn’s eyes turned wary and her hands paused in the act of weaving her fiery hair back into a braid. “I thought you said touching it, even if fully trained, could be deadly.”

  “And I spoke the tru
th. The only reason Maleena survived this morning is because Rylin’s spirit acted like a shield. I would be your shield for this,” Emallya replied. “It is very dangerous and I have only done it once before. If we could avoid it, I would. The experience can be most unpleasant.”

  “Unpleasant in what way?” Mckale asked. The idea of having anything to do with the lake made him uneasy.

  Emallya seemed to consider a moment before answering. “Things are…different on the other side of the lake. It is difficult to explain.”

  The scowl on Kellinar’s face deepened and he ran a hand through his short, pale blond hair. “So we are just supposed to blindly follow you into a dragon-blasted lake you claim can kill us, without knowing much of anything and just flaming hope it all turns out okay?”

  “Kellinar,” Loki said, “You said we was going to follow her and we can’t break our word.”

  Emallya shook her head. “This changes things, young Loki.” Her look took them all in. “It will be very dangerous. You do not have to follow me anywhere. All of you have a choice. You can travel someplace else and hope to make a different life and keep what you can do a secret.

  “You can try to travel to Galdrilene over land if you wish and hope you can outrun the Kojen and Benduiren that are most assuredly headed this way as we speak.” She paused and looked around at them. “Or you can follow me. You must always freely choose your path. You will have a few days to make your choice. Maleena will need to rest before we attempt the lake if you decide to travel with me.”

  Kirynn shrugged. “I have no fear of death. I will travel with you.”

  Vaddoc nodded in agreement. “I, too, will follow where you lead.”

  Serena and Maleena voiced their assent in quick succession. Kellinar hesitated before finally agreeing. Mckale looked around; that left only him. Did he really have any choice? His father said he would be safe in Galdrilene. He glanced at Maleena. She intended to travel with Emallya. He smiled slightly to himself, realizing his choice was already made and nodded. “Yes, I will go with you.”