He didn’t think this was how their pilgrimage was supposed to go. When a mage presents themselves to another realms matriarch, they were supposed to hem and haw about if the mage was worthy. It was a slight chance of a blessing and extremely rare. Yet here the four of them were, standing in the eyes of the matriarchs, being granted wisdom and power.

Kaden already had the power of water. He didn’t know what more they could give him, but he was pleased that all of his companions were receiving their second blessings. If every realm was going to be as hard as this one, then they would need more healing. That was going to be the first thing he needed to teach them.

The glittering hints of magic were falling around them. It was drifting about as if it was like snow falling slowly from the skies. Lifting his hand up, he watched as it twirled around his fingers before absorbing into his skin. Each glow was like a small prick against his hand.

He watched as the blue glowing light swirled around his partners and their dragons. “What did the magic do to dragons?” He thought.

Reese was spreading his arms as the magic fell around them. Sayori’s head was titled into the sky with her eyes closed, feeling the cool water magic on her face. Evonne had her hands clasped as she her hung head in a dutiful bow.

They had shown compassion. When the people needed them, they were the first to defend them. They ran toward the storm, defended the people at the castle, a castle they had no connection to. They didn’t have to fight for the water nation and heir people, but they did. Them and their dragons decided to fight right alongside Xada and the other water dragons. He swelled with pride that his companions stepped up as they had and were being rewarded for it.

The magic swirled around them, pooling the energy that the matriarchs released. He wondered if the magic was coming from the dragons themselves or the ones they consumed. The thought of the matriarchs reusing the magic of the corrupted dragons dropped his pride.

They had consumed them. He wondered if this was what they could do with dragons and magic in general. They could consume entire dragons and take their magic from them. His thoughts were running wild in his mind. He wondered if the magic they took back was still corrupted or had it been purified some way. It had to have been purified if they were using that to bless the rest of them.

Kaden watched as it swirled around them, gaining speed. He wanted to believe that they purified it, that what his partners were being blessed with wasn’t corrupted magic. He had a knot in his throat as he watched the magic sink into each of them. Their gasps could be heard as it invade their beings.

Their bodies all sunk down into their dragons, limp and inert. He didn’t know if this was what happened to him or if this was because they were of another realm. That knot grew further as he thought that this may be their end and the matriarchs were lying.

He didn’t know why he was feeling suspicious of the matriarchs. They hadn’t given him a reason to. So far, they had shown him the path, shown him the visions to be able to stop more atrocities. Yet in the back of his mind, he was wary of any gifts. No one gives gifts without expecting something. Even if that something is merely friendship. It was what that friendship entailed that mattered.

The magic was swirling around them all, still pulsing and absorbing into his own body as well. He didn’t fall over as his companions had. Instead, he was feeling an intense heat. It was causing sweat to break out on his forehead.

It was worming its way through his body, infusing it with more magic, he could only assume. He had already been filled by the magic of a whole nest. What was the magic of the matriarchs going to do for him? He watched as his fingertips started to glow. The light spread into his hands and up his arms.

He didn’t know if one human body could even handle that much magic. His body was on fire. The light was painful, making him wince as it spread further and further. He wasn’t sure if his body could handle that much magic as it seared through his body.

This was just the blue magic, the water magic. They were filling the well with just their brand of it. He wondered what would happen to him if any other matriarch decided to bless him as well. Would his cup run over? Thoughts of his body just popping into a magical explosion ran through his mind as the glow moved over his body.

He heard Sayori gasp and his eyes cut back to her. She was breathing hard as she regained consciousness. Looking around in panic, he saw her trying to piece together where she even was. They were disoriented from the blessing.

He looked back to the matriarchs. All of them had their mouths open as magic rained down around them. He wondered how they could judge them at all. He was once told that people are usually judged when young and, as they get older, they could change. This is how you got rogue mages that do dangerous things.

“How do they know we will be benevolent all through our lives?” He was whispering to himself.

“We don’t.” The rumble in his mind answered the question he thought no one could hear. “We must have faith that your kind will do what is right.”

Faith. They had to trust they were making the right choice. It wasn’t like there were a bunch of rogue mages running around. So they weren’t wrong most of the time. It did happen though; the ambassador being one of those.

“Can’t you take the magic back?” He spoke out loud, assuming they’d hear him. He saw Sayori looking at him, as if she too, was hearing this conversation.

“Would you like to be consumed too?” He saw the matriarch closest to him give that rumble of a laugh as if it was her who said this.

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Another voice echoed, not as deep, but just as oppressive. “We can. It would require drastic measures. We choose not to cause such pain and strife on your people and hope you will take care of your own.”

The fact that he was just talking with several ancient matriarchs about how they blessed people weren’t lost on him. Looking down at his hands, the glowing was fading. His conversation with the matriarchs had distracted him from the pain. His own amplification must be over.

“What about the visions? You’ve been showing me a great war?”

“Yes.”

“Are you not concerned about it, then? Would you take those measures then to prevent it?”

Silence.

“Why couldn’t you just stop the ones who are trying to cause this war like you had today?”

Silence.

“These dragons were corrupted! You stepped in today! Why can’t you step in later?”

“We will.”

He let out a huff. He wondered why he had to be involved at all. “Why give me visions, then? I can’t stop all the bad mages.”

“They aren’t mages. We did not grant them this power. They took it.”

The serpents are normal people. They were still using rune magic and runed weapons, but they weren’t mages themselves. He wondered where they were getting this use. He knew that some of them were mages, like the Ambassador. Maybe they were teaching the others. Why were Loratyk’s runes being used on many runes?

Stopping the corrupted dragons was easy. They knew exactly which ones were corrupted and which weren’t. As dragons, they could tell the difference and stop them. They obviously can’t stop humans from twisting their magic normally. It was no wonder they couldn’t ascertain which human was using magic without them being involved at all.

“So you need me to find these people, otherwise there will be a war…”

“There will be a war if you help or not.”

It was his turn to gasp as another vision flooded his mind. It was a fast moving view over land. Homes were on fire. Lava was spewing from underground. The skies were an unnatural green and purple. The world was ending. There were dragons in the skies, crying out in pain. Everything was rushing by. They went over forests and mountains, plains and ocean. Everything was ending.

He took another breath, and he was back to reality. Motion caught his eye and he saw his other companions also breathing heavily. They had been granted the vision as well. He wasn’t alone anymore with that burden of the dragons. Evonne was looking around with tears streaming down her face. They had seen the world ending just as he had.

“The only difference is if you can slow the damage, so life survives.”

He heard Reese’s voice chime out. “Will the other matriarchs help us as you have?”

They hummed together and silence fell for several moments before one of them said, “We hope we are not the only ones with compassion on this.”

They hope. That meant that the other breeds might not be as willing to stop whatever was coming. He wondered what they would think, knowing that matriarchs can see into their minds if they would be willing to even bless them after this incident.

“You four will be our voice to the others. Maybe if their own kind is the one to intervene, they will be willing to help more.”

So they were betting on them to convince the others. The two matriarchs at the citadel, only one was a water dragon. So the wind dragons are aware and at least willing to intervene as well. He couldn’t say about the fire or earth dragons, though. He hoped that they were right, that they could help intervene in the incoming end of days.

The glowing was fading away. All of his companions were now alert and awake. Looking at their dragons, they were shimmering with a blue tint. Beelin looked more teal in color, Taldor was looking more greenish, and Jerri looked slightly purple. They hadn’t just blessed the mages, but their dragons as well. He had wondered how the white mages had silver and white dragons. It surprised him that it changed their colorings as well.

Every matriarch bowed toward them, lowering their heads. “You will be our voice in a world where no one considers what we have to say any longer. Go forth and save the world as we cannot.”

With a rush, they all flapped their wings at once, pushing the four of them into one another. Their dragons struggled to stay in the air as the matriarchs flew off. Just as quickly as they had arrived, they were gone.

The four of them detangled enough to keep afloat in the air. Reese shook his head, “So now we’re wrapped up in this vision shenanigan thing too?”

“Apparently so,” Sayori laughed.

Evonne’s face was wide with shock. “They talked to us.”

Kaden rubbed his head, trying to push the pain out of his mind. “Yeah they do that. I’d say you get used to it, but you don’t.”

“They talked to us,” she repeated.

Sayori laughed. “We’re supposed to do what now? How are we going to stop that end? That was horrific! Did you see the lava? LAVA.”

“Those skies were kinda cool looking though,” Reese added.

Kaden knew then that they had seen exactly as what he had. Part of him was wondering if they got exactly the same vision or if it was altered for them. He didn’t know what they were doing or how, but now he knew they had seen the destruction just the same.

“Was that the same as what you had seen before?” Reese asked as Beelin bobbed in the air.

“No,” he shook his head as he saw Vixenta and her dragon coming up behind them. “That was the actual end. They’ve only shown me clips of the war and possibilities between then.”

Sayori sighed and slunk into her dragon. “I really don’t want to have to do this in every realm, but I have a feeling we’re going to have dramatics everywhere we go.”

Evonne’s voice shook. “They said there will be a war if we help or not. We’re going to have to keep fighting.”

Vixenta flew near them and Kaden said quickly, “Let’s not go into too many details with others about this. You got blessed, that’s all.”

Vixenta called out to them and they all turned to face her. “Are you okay? Is everyone okay?”

Sayori nodded. “We’re fine. They blessed us!”

“We saw! I never thought I’d see multiple matriarchs, much less ones blessing people at the same time!”

Reese flexed his hand as he tried to will water into it. With a misty flurry, it appeared, but quickly blew away. His wind was still overtaking him. It would be a while before any of them were able to master both magics.

“Looks like that’s exactly what it was. Vixenta,” he winked at her and leaned forward with a sleezy grin, “would you like to give me some personal lessons in how to wield this magic?”

She laughed and said, “you will have time later to work on your new skills. We need to get back inside and check if there are any lingering assailants. The king has requested your presence already.

Kaden was brought back to the situation. There had been an attempted coop of the water nation. They had tried to assassinate the king. If there were wars to come, he could only wonder how bad they were going to get. A thought struck him.

“I need to find Loratyk’s son first,” he blurted out.

They all gave him confused looks. “He had said he needed to talk to me before the serpent attacks started. I have a feeling he might have some answers for us. It was Loratyk runes they were using, right Vix?”

She squinted her eyes at him shortening her name. “Yes. It was Loratyk runes even today.”

He looked to his companions, “Let’s go find us a Lord’s son.”