by A. Evermore
Glorious! That was the only way to describe how he felt when he flew.
Barely moving his wings he circled higher and higher until the air grew thin and he could see the curve of Maioria and the seas to the east and the south and the west. Higher he circled until he could just glimpse the northern sea and beyond the tiniest sliver of a dark landmass. Could that be Drax? It must be. It had once been his home. It would be home again, one day.
Still higher he climbed until there was no air to lift him and there he hung, breathing the thin air on the edge of the atmosphere, looking at a world that was falling into eternal darkness. In this near airless orbit he closed his eyes, his ancient dragon mind turned inwards, pulling away from the outside world, and he wandered its cavernous corridors until finally the majestic dragon door stood before him. At his will it opened and the light engulfed him.
Joy filled Asaph like a physical thing surrounding him, hugging him and pushing the darkness away. He breathed in the fresh air and opened his eyes. The lush green grassy hills rolled away into the distance under a rich blue sky. White mountains towered beyond the hills and two large golden suns shone down. Perhaps the Dragon Dream was home, truly home, the home of the soul. Oh let me never leave this place! He cried within though knowing he could never stay. He walked upon the thick grass in lumbering footsteps, his gigantic tail swinging out behind him.
‘Faelsun,’ Faelsun, he called aloud and silently with his mind. Only moments had passed when a deep dragon voice came from behind.
‘Welcome again, my son, I see a man before me where once there stood a boy.’
Asaph turned and looked at the serene white dragon. The sun shone brightly off his pristine scales and his eyes were light blue glistening sapphires, much like Asaph’s own, only lighter.
‘I have seen the truth of what happened to our mighty land, Drax. I seek a way to make amends to what was done. I seek to take our land back but I don’t know how and I don’t think I can do this alone. Can you help me?’ he said, unable to stop the raw need surfacing in his voice.
Faelsun’s face was sad, in as much as a dragon’s face could be sad, and this disturbed Asaph for they were in a place where sadness should not exist. They were home and far from the darkness, sadness did not belong here.
‘Maybe the time for us has passed, my son. Perhaps Feygriene calls all her dragons home from the mortal material worlds. Perhaps we should rest and be thankful that we still have the Dragon Dream, young prince.’
‘Our time cannot be over, it has but just begun!’ Asaph said, his own deep voice rumbling. ‘Feygriene came to me, I undertook the Trial By Fire and survived. She would not have done all of that if there was no hope. Even her night sister, Zanufey, came to me, led me to the Raven Queen. Why would she do that if our time is at an end?’
‘For you life has just begun and there is much for you to learn,’ Faelsun said. ‘You have all the vigour and passion of youth, death for you is far away. But I am ancient and I see a world that is failing like it never has before...
‘Think on why Drax was betrayed. Vornus was no different to any other. In this world the desire to live forever in our current form is the most seductive potion you will ever live to witness but it is destroying the very essence of life, true eternal life as it was meant to be. For a long time now beings have lived and died upon Maioria because of the Great Rift. Death is unnatural, and they have long forgotten what it is like to be eternal.
‘It is every being’s innermost desire to live forever, to never experience the horror of death of themselves or their loved ones. Baelthrom now has this gift, the gift of immortality. Think you you can fight yours and everyone’s inner most desire? Can you stand the thought of dying when the chance to live forever is now real? Baelthrom knows this well and in this is he infinitely clever and infinitely powerful for he would lock us all into physical form and deny our spirit freedom.
‘The truth is we do not die, we only change form. The problem is no one remembers this. Few know what I know, few see what I see, Asaph. The path back to the goddess, to the Source of All, is fading away. The Immortal Lord works his unholy magic in potent ways. Soon our bodies and souls will be trapped here eternally, under Baelthrom’s dominion. He will become our new god and the beings upon Maioria will forget that the goddess ever existed. And none could say otherwise for when that happens the goddess, in any of her guises, will not be able to reach us for we will have fallen too far,’ Faelsun replied.
‘It cannot be,’ Asaph began, struggling to find the words to describe what his spirit knew to be true. ‘The goddess, the Source of All, is eternal, is all around us, we can never not be a part of it,’ but even as he spoke the wise and ancient being that was Faelsun instilled doubt that crept into his heart.
‘What you say is right, Asaph, but you can forget that you are part of the divine, and that is as good as being so. It is hard for you to understand and that is all right. To live and die and live again is the way of life here. But what if one did not die? If one being lives trapped forever in their current form then how do they ever return to One Source of All, the point of joyous unity from which we all came? To be eternal we must be able to grow our current form, to be more of who we are until we have expanded the all of us back into that single point of all unity.
‘We, all of us, are becoming trapped in an immortal body so as we can never ascend back to the One Source. Do you not see my son? The old world is crumbling, the new age looms before us, one which will undo the very fabric of our being,’ Faelsun said.
Asaph could not believe what he was hearing from the one being he thought would know what to do. ‘We have a chance, we can defeat the Immortal Lord and all his armies, we have to!’ The world he knew was indeed crumbling before his very eyes. What Faelsun spoke of was far beyond him, he had never even considered the greater future of Maioria, but he knew that Faelsun was correct. The wise dragon’s words had taken his world and shredded it with knives of truth so it lay in fragments at his feet.
I came here for solace, for help, but all I have found is more sorrow. He shook his great head in denial and the sadness somehow brought on his human form. He wanted to run, to scream, to beat his chest with his fists and tear out his hair. He could not believe that there was no chance, no future, he would not believe it. But all the denying of it did not make it untrue. His eyes wandered over the landscape and he noticed that the grass was becoming brown and patchy, the sky grey and the suns dull and lacking heat. Was the Dragon Dream fading? ‘I cannot let this be,’ Asaph said, shaking his head.
‘My son, you must understand that what is so is what must be.’
He knew Faelsun was trying to help him, to comfort him, to ease the pain of the truth that stabbed him. Anger flared.
‘She showed me the way to Issa and I found her,’ Asaph said firmly. ‘She is the Night Goddess’s chosen, she is the Raven Queen, the one who can unite us and lead us against the Maphraxies. The dark moon has risen. Why would the goddess do that if our world is ending?’
‘Asaph, the Night Goddess comes not only to fight the enemy but to claim her children, to lead those that still live free of Baelthrom’s immortality along the path of the dead. A mercy mission to save those that can still be saved, to return them back to the loving fold of the Great Mother before they are lost forever. There is much you do not know, cannot know, even I can only grasp but a small part of Her grand design.’
‘No, I refuse to believe this, I will not lie down and die, I cannot! I will have my revenge, I must! It cannot be this way, Feygriene curse it, it cannot! Faelsun, I will tear myself apart to see the fall of the Maphraxies, to see Maioria free and alive once more. Issa and I came here to do this, of that I am certain. Together we have a chance, greater than any chance Maioria has ever had before,’ Asaph blurted, desperate to cling on the last remnants of hope he was able to find.
Faelsun watched as the young Dragon Lord let the force of his emotions work through him like a tornado, and who w
as he to tell the last remaining Dragon Lord that all hope was lost? Would he have been any different? He doubted it.
‘I will wait here for you, young Asaph, I will wait and watch and welcome you home. You have a strength rarely seen amongst our half dragon, half human kin. You will need that strength to survive these dark times. You need be taught nothing other than that which you already know. The teachings of the old Dragon Lords are part of yesterday, of what went before, they will not help you now.
‘All I can say to you now is this; do not look for counsel outside of yourself but seek the answers from within. Listen to the voices of your ancestors in the dragon memory but do not blindly follow what they say. Be your own master. This is the greatest advice I can give you, the only armour I can place upon your body.’
‘I will prove to you that this is not the end. You will see the Maioria free and shining once more,’ Asaph’s eyes were alight with the fire of life and with that he bowed and turned away.
Faelsun watched the young passionate Dragon Lord disappear back through the Dragon Door to be alone again in his airless orbit above the dying planet, Maioria. It had been ten years or more since he had seen him last in the Dragon Dream. Ten years to less than a month in his world. Ten years too long and much had changed. Between the realm of the Dragon Dream and Maioria time flowed very differently. Evolution was very slow in the mortal worlds compared to the ethereal ones.
‘The end is drawing near and it becomes harder to see the other worlds as the mist draws thicker around us,’ Faelsun said softly, talking to Feygriene if she was listening. ‘The Immortal Lord sucks the life and power from the universe itself... Blessed Feygriene, lead us home to your all-loving embrace before we are lost to you forever,’ he spoke his prayer aloud and afterwards he felt old, terribly old and tired. But there was still work to be done; his soul could not rest, not yet.
Perhaps there was hope; perhaps the young Dragon Lord was right. He had seen the love in his eyes when he spoke of her, the Raven Queen, a love that just might be strong enough to face the darkness.
But does he even fathom what she will have to become to destroy this enemy? To the death and beyond she will take them, could he bring her back from there? Would he have the strength? That path was dark, terribly dark. Had he, Guardian of the Dragon Dream, somehow lost his faith?
A tear formed in his eye, a tear! He wondered at that. In how many thousands of years had it been since the last? Dragons cannot cry. He watched the silver drop fall to the ground, twinkling in the sunlight as it fell; a tear of hope, a tear of love. Pray please not a tear of sorrow. The tear was lost in the grass but it was not gone, a silver crystal shining alone in the waning sunlight of the Dragon Dream.
Chapter 43
Life Seeker
THE hunting party arrived at the village mid afternoon exhausted and very hungry. But they shouted and laughed, jubilant in their victory, stomping and yelling to create as much noise as possible to announce their triumphant return. They passed through the village picking up a large number of curious and excited followers. They came to a stop in the clearing by the smithy where Issa had had her first sword fight. The karalanths clustered around them eager to hear the news as Rhul’ynth’s rich voice rang out over the enthralled crowd.
‘Today we have won a great victory.’
The crowd murmured amongst themselves and then hushed as Rhul’ynth continued. ‘Today we slew not just one of the hated foltoy, those bastards that have murdered many of us in the past, but three.’
A huge cheer exploded from the karalanths. Rhul’ynth waited until the noise quietened so she could speak again. ‘Though today has been a great victory, it is also been one which will instil fear into the heart of you as it did in us.’
Issa scanned the crowd for Asaph as Rhul’ynth spoke only to be disappointed when she could not find him. The embarrassment she had felt earlier about their kiss no longer seemed quite so important. She wanted him to hear about their victory, wanted to make him proud of her, though part of her wished she didn’t care quite so much.
Her eyes settled on the tall figure of Coronos as he leant upon his staff. He looked pale and though he was smiling at her there seemed to be a terrible sadness in his eyes. She chose to ignore it for now and smiled back exuberantly anyway. Where on earth was Asaph? Maybe they had had an argument, though she had never seen them argue before, not seriously. Sighing she turned her attention back to Rhul’ynth.
‘Today three foltoy of a different sort attacked us in an ambush organised like no other before, and they could speak!’ Rhul’ynth was silent for a moment, letting the news sink in to the shocked crowd. Triest’anth came to stand beside Coronos and both now looked worried.
‘Today we witnessed what we already suspected,’ Rhul’ynth continued, ‘that the enemy has grown stronger, smarter, quicker, and more numerous.’ The crowd spoke in worried tones amongst themselves and Rhul’ynth held up her hands to quieten them.
‘We all knew it would just be a matter of time before the evil head of our enemy would rise near to us, we cannot hide away forever. We know the Maphraxie method is to infiltrate us through their Life Seekers and any evil means they can. Baelthrom’s spies are everywhere, seen and unseen.
‘Our cousins to the east have sorely witnessed this. The Life Seekers are unseen spirits that infect the living, be it tree or beast or karalanth, and none yet know of a way to stop them. Many of our cousins to the north and east have suffered and we knew it would not be long before the evil spirits of Baelthrom reached here.’
There were murmurs of agreement.
‘We must be strong, we are karalanths, when have we ever turned away from our enemies?’ Some cheered amongst shouts of “never!” and others just looked worried. ‘Today we won a great victory against those Maphraxie bastards. We are strong! We can beat them!’ she held up her arm, fist clenched and the roar from the crowd was deafening.
Out of nowhere a needle sharp pain struck through Issa’s mind making her wince, and then it was gone. She looked up hastily hoping no one else had seen her flinch for she didn’t want to ruin the moment. Luckily all eyes were upon Rhul’ynth stood in front of her.
‘We have two new huntresses amongst our ranks,’ Rhul’ynth said loudly, making Issa, suddenly sensitive to sound in her alert awareness, wince again. Rhul’ynth took hold of hers and Diarc’ynth’s arms. Issa smiled up at the woman, though worry was forming a knot in her belly.
‘Today I saw this woman become truly the Raven Queen,’ everyone was looking at her, her legs quivered under the weight of their stares and she smiled weakly at the crowd feeling her cheeks grow hot.
‘This day Zanufey’s chosen single handily slew a foltoy of immense proportions,’ sounds of awe drifted around the karalanths as a new level of respect for the two-foot was felt. ‘Praise the huntress, Issa the Raven Queen,’ great cheers exploded from a crowd eager to forget the might of their enemy.
Issa cringed, wishing the speech was over. She realised then how much she hated being the centre of attention, all those eyes watching her, it was exhausting. Would the woman also mention that I turned into a raven? She prayed not. Rhul’ynth smiled indulgently down at her, she managed a weak smile back as her arm was released. The cheering died down and Rhul’ynth continued to speak.
The karalanth’s voice then seemed to float down to her as she spoke, suddenly seeming very far away. The pain came again so sharp it blocked out all else and she tried not to cry out and double over. Danger, terrible danger, that was all she could describe the feeling as. It made her want to run away screaming. Then it was gone again and all was still and calm except her.
Fear slithered in the cold sweat that ran down her back, her body trembled and her eyes darted to the houses and then to the forest beyond. Nothing was there, nothing out of the ordinary, the trees, the houses, the animals and birds were as they were before. Nothing had changed. What then was wrong? What was the pain telling her? If that bloody raven was here I’d k
now what was wrong. But wherever her supposed protector and companion was, he was not here, and neither was Asaph. She suddenly felt very alone, and if she was honest, frightened.
Issa quelled the fear as best she could. Rhul’ynth clearly didn’t sense anything was wrong as she addressed the crowd. There was no point causing panic without knowing what the problem was, she reasoned. With all eyes on the karalanth woman, Issa closed her eyes, stilled her mind and observed the Flow, using it to reach outwards but not to use it. There could be magic wielders about and they would surely sense her.
She touched the mind of a sparrow far away and there she rested, seeing though its eyes. She saw the creature then, felt the sparrow’s fear as her own as she looked down upon the slathering beast lumbering through the trees, drool hanging like glue from its muzzle, its face contorted in a permanent snarl such as only a hideous Maphraxie could display. The sickly sweet yet rotten stench of immortality exuding from its oily pelt. The smell of the Black Drink…
The beast stopped, sniffed the air, and stood there for a while as if wondering where to go next. She pulled away from the sparrow, letting it fly away to seek shelter. She opened her eyes, sweat beaded on her brow and she swallowed fearfully. How far away was that beast?
Coronos was watching her now with a half-smile, half-frown. He knows I’ve felt something is wrong, can he sense it too? She smiled weakly at him nonetheless. What the hell should I do? She didn’t want to cause alarm, not without knowing where the beast was. If she caused panic the beast would hear and sense it and surely come straight for them. The crowd cheered again, this time for Diarc’ynth.
‘Not quite so loud,’ Issa whispered, pleading quietly as she stared about the forest. Her worried looks had not gone unnoticed and the most observant karalanths were now beginning to wonder what she was looking for. She could hold her silence no longer.