“Keep up, Kand. I don’t want to have to carry you back,” Aldrus called over the wind. The older rider had settled cross-legged on Kaikha-rin’s shoulders, while Tyrrick swayed on his feet upon Agmentha’s.
I’ll never fully adjust to being up so early, he thought around a yawn. Daybreak was simply too soon, and some habits rarely changed. “I’m doing my best given the circumstances,” he finally said.
“I’d hope not,” Aldrus countered. “Because we have another hour of flight before we pass the middle-lands, and two more to reach the edge of the infernal lands.”
Tyrrick sighed and resigned himself to a long three hours. To keep his dozing mind partially alert, he tried to recite what he knew about purification.
The oldest skill known to riders, predating them to the first of Corina Dei’s champions. Reading the aura of a man and discerning when they are truthful or lying, and when pushed, grappling the aura to forcefully extract answers. Those found guilty are often condemned, albeit to a gentler sentence depending on the outcome. How, exactly, one read an aura was easier in the modern day, and the reason why Lord Odhran had required his help in Cambra Village. Through enlightening, we borrow our partner’s gaze and see the unseen aura of Corina Dei ebbing and flowing in all her creation. And as we would strengthen the bond when in our lady’s presence, we reach out and take hold of that ebb to control it.
How, then, did the first champions see without our aid, Tyrrick? Agmentha interjected.
Lumas hasn’t covered the matter, nor Lord Odhran. I’d guess it would be some version of the same bond to Corina Dei herself that we experience when crafting our Coronacruxes, instead of to a dragon. He lifted his head and called over to Aldrus, “Master, how did purification come about?”
Aldrus stirred as if coming out of his own deep thoughts. “Eh? Haven’t you followed the olden scripture of our founding? It’s a gift from our lady. She adapted it to the dragons before she faded away.”
I guess I was right, Tyrrick sent to her. I wonder how many times I’ll have to borrow your power today?
At least this time you know to ask before delving in head-first as always, my silly rider.
He huffed at her. I know, I know, I’m sorry. He ran a hand over his bracelets, settling momentarily on the thinner band of black that Lord Odhran had passed to him at the end of Cambra Village’s mission. The obsidian remained threaded through with faintest yellow, sunset yellow, and was one of the last ties that the Lord of Insight carried of his late partner, Megidos, several years gone.
He called this a good luck charm, and I hope it will be, he sent to her. I’ve felt our bond strengthen since I’ve worn it-- yesterday’s enlightening came as easily as taking a breath. Maybe he found something in his research to apply before he passed it to me?
Perhaps.
They fell into a comfortable silence and the hours trickled by, rich grasslands and rolling hilltops gradually fading to rivers and waterfalls, winding valleys, and finally stiff dunes. Hard soil gave way to softer sand, yet volcanic black ashes liberally darkened the desert in meandering splotches, and ash could be tasted on the air as they thundered forward.
The infernal lands, Tyrrick sent, taking in the fiery domain spreading before them to the horizon and beyond. Harsh stone peaks jutted up from overturned earth, leaking flame and smog. How do the Draconians possibly survive there? He asked the same question aloud, “Master, how can anyone live in such a cursed place?”
“The villages eke by with ingenuity and hard work,” Aldrus said without a trace of humor or levity. “And Draconians don’t live, Kand. Draconians endure by their evil bond to the monster even our lady could not fully slay a thousand years ago.” He had climbed to his feet, and Kaikha began to veer down to a patch of sand and stone not yet smothered in ashes and flame, Harkon Village.
A few of the villagers looked up in alarm at the sound of their wings, throwing back dusty hoods to peer at the approaching riders closely. One of them shouted and began running, abandoning the enormous lizards they had been herding. Others took up the shout and joined in, and soon the better part of the entire village had emerged to welcome the two riders.
Perhaps two hundred men, women, and children formed a wide crescent around the space where Kaikha and Agmentha settled to the ground. Look at how weathered they are, even old Lumas looked better when I first began learning from him, Tyrrick thought. Dark, torn, and many-patched cloaks of leather offered some protection from the day’s dry heat, while beneath they wore shirts and trousers and boots similar to the Order. They had hair bleached white and darkened again by ashes to a charcoal gray in places, from the youngest boy to the eldest member, the village head, who wore a grizzled beard as he hobbled forward with a staff for support.
“What is the occasion, Lord Deimen?”
Aldrus dismounted from Kaikah’s back smoothly, marching forward to clasp the village head by his forearm and shake twice. “And a good morrow to you as well, Embrys Harkon.” They released hands and the older man laughed.
“Yes, forgive me for forgetting my manners,” Embrys said. “You may have noticed the encroachment has worsened since we last spoke to one of your Order. The wyrms are proving ill this season, and we have a surplus of their rotting hide in lieu of bellies full of food. Times are more difficult, and seeing no baskets of relief, I ask for a little more patience than usual, Lord Deiman…?” he trailed off.
“Aldrus,” the rider supplied. “And had we known of your situation, a few more of my allies would have joined me today. I’ll see to it that a proper accounting is made and aid will follow soon. With that said, our purpose here today is to ask more dire questions, if you would lead the way to a quieter location?”
Embrys nodded and lifted his voice as he turned toward the gathered folk. “You all heard Lord Aldrus, return to your duties. Relief will come, but it is not this day.”
I haven’t seen such disappointment before, Tyrrick sent to Agmentha. How come they never sent a messenger to the other villages?
Who is to say that they did not, and we are simply at the first of many purification’s to come? She asked.
He frowned. We’ll find out shortly, I suppose. Stay here and keep an eye out for anything, any scent or trail left behind by Serena and Beliax-rin.
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As if I were still so young as to squeeze into such tiny housing as these rugged hills offer. She gave him an affronted dismissal, and within the bond, her underlying amusement bled through, leaving them both silently laughing as Tyrrick followed behind Aldrus and Embrys.
They passed many stone doors built into the intermittently sandy and stiff terrain. Sunlight beat down as the clouds overhead scattered. The walk was slow, and Aldrus fell back to his apprentice’s side for long enough to say, “Prepare your eyes.” And seeing that Tyrrick understood what he meant, Aldrus upped his pace to again stay just behind the village head.
Are you ready this time? He sent to her. Receiving her soft brush of acknowledgement, he drew in a breath, closed his eyes momentarily, and on the exhale reached into the bond again; and at once, that electrifying power spread across his awareness, deepening every sense. He could hear Aldrus’ footsteps and kept close behind. When they at last arrived at Embrys home, Tyrrick opened his eyes and beheld a fully stone structure built into a sturdy hillside. Sands and ashes decorated the hard tiling leading up to the door, yet otherwise fell short of the house.
And the two men before him were aglow with previously concealed light. Aldrus was a blazing flame, the wick of a candle gone up, mired in thoughts and questions, yet brilliant and true. Next to a fully empowered rider, the village head was a duller cone of yellowed light run through with dark smudges of concealment.
Embrys opened the door and stepped inside, and the two riders joined him in the cooler interior. Embrys sat at the head of the table, and Aldrus took a chair on the opposite end, Tyrrick sat to his right. ”Very well, Lord Aldrus, what matter brings the Order of Corina Dracaena to our suffering village?” Embrys kept his staff in hand, the better to lean into as he leaned forward to match gazes.
Aldrus inclined his head. “Harkon Village is the last known location of one of our own, Lady Serena. She rode the back of her sleek amethyst dragon, Beliax-rin, and carried two crates of supplies that have, apparently, been exhausted given the illness your lizards are suffering from. We would ask what transpired during her time here.”
Embrys sighed. “I am greatly disheartened to say that we had to execute a handful of those swayed toward the enemy by their hunger. She questioned them at once and performed the deed with that deadly blade at her hip, and we returned them to the sands under her watchful gaze. Beyond that, Lord Aldrus, she did not relay more than a warning to stay true to the Order’s ways ere she parted to the north-west, perhaps toward another village faring worse than us.”
He’s lying somewhere, Tyrrick thought. Those dark splotches had deepened and spread in the older man’s aura. Tyrrick leaned forward and laid his right hand across the table, his left falling to the hilt of his Coronacrux.
Aldrus glanced at his apprentice and back. “Are you certain that is all, Embrys Harkon?”
“If you would like to see the records of the slain men, that would only take a little longer. But yes, she did not stay more than a week here, to be sure that to the very last child, none were tempted toward darkness. If you will forgive me, I may have shared my distaste for questioning children so thoroughly. The tykes have since forgotten, mostly, if the enamored looks I observed on their faces toward your partners was right.”
“She always was the most devoted. Zealous, even. Yet having found traitors here, I would also ask your forgiveness that I do not doubt she had her intentions in the right place. The oldest champions of our cause smote evil in the slightest.”
Embrys shook his head. “Then I am grateful for the modern Order.”
Aldrus nodded to Tyrrick, who lifted that hand from the table and extended his own aura forward, feeling for the uncertainties in the man like he would reach toward Corina Dei’s presence at the forge. It felt like trying to grip loose sand in his fist, trickling away the more he held to it. Yet his fingers clenched tightly to the grains in the man’s aura, securing what he could, and with the grit slowly caught, he reached deeper still, and claimed more of the darkness hovering about the man. Throughout this, Embrys huffed and leveled a disagreeable stare at Tyrrick, having recognized what was happening.
“You mean well, I am sure,” Embrys uttered, and the color in his aura proved that to be a lie. “Yet I cannot help but find my patience thin, Lord Aldrus.”
“And we are certain that you meant well with your answers, yet something can be a lie by omission, if unintentional. We mean no harm to the village.” Aldrus added, “I believe that Lady Serena did find and purify three of the villagers, yet her departure is where I find myself wondering.”
Embrys shook his head. “I grow tired, Lord Aldrus. My people are worn and haggard from this war. We are under constant threat, and little enough respite. Yes,” he sighed, and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. “There is more. You would have questioned everyone and unearthed the truth soon enough, though I fear what will follow. There was a battle here. Your lady arrived as we were in discussion with Lord Kendrell of the Draconians for assistance. After her defeat, they brokered an agreement in exchange for following him into the infernal lands.”
“He’s not lying,” Tyrrick said, disturbed. “Why would you possibly work with the enemy?” Turning to his master rider, Tyrrick uttered, “Why would Serena go with him?”
“She would for the sake of the people she has sworn to defend, as we all have.” Aldrus stood up. “Kand, finish purifying those here and then return to Mount Dracaena to relay word to the Grand Lord.”
“What about you?” he asked.
The heat in Aldrus’ gaze was smouldering. ”Kaikha and I fly to rescue Serena, or fall trying.”
Tyrrick sat up straighter. “You can’t go alone! It took several Deimen to rescue Lord Odhran, and no retrieval in recorded history has succeeded with fewer than four riders!”
“They won’t expect one. And even if we are faced, Corvos-dei lives on in my swordsmanship.”
Embrys interjected, “And this is why the war persists. Neither of you have asked what it was she brokered an agreement over, nor why Lord Kendrell would have listened and abided by mere words.” The two of them turned to face him again. “Our village is starving. Lord Kendrell promised sustenance. He wasn’t here to kill us, or corrupt us, but to examine our lives. He seemed more interested in why we continue to stay loyal to the Order when we are left to eke out our barest survival in your name, and it was she who struck first and initiated combat. I did not think she would listen when he offered a truce, and she did not until she had been disarmed.”
“That makes no sense,” Tyrrick said. “All they want is destruction! Reducing the world to ashes--” Embrys shook his head again and spoke over him, “When all one sees is black and white, nothing done by the other side will be done out of good will. My people ate for a time when we were starving, thanks to Lord Kendrell, before your Lady Serena brought her supplies. I cannot say as to if that was enough, having been sent to watch over the village as they spoke, but when she left on the back of her dragon, sword taken yet otherwise unharmed and unbound, it was alongside Lord Kendrell and a promise that we would be fed better. Then this forsaken illness swept through our village, and no further help has come.”
Aldrus began to pace. “He still speaks the truth?” he asked. Tyrrick nodded. “I don’t understand. This has to be some ploy, some kind of manipulation. Yet if Serena went with him, then she lives. And if she has turned in order to survive, we can and will redeem her.”
“Do what you will, Lord Aldrus. I have nothing left to say, and this process has taxed what little strength I had gathered. If it pleases you, take your leave, with or without your apprentice.”
Aldrus shook his head. “Dagan-dei always regretted that the villages along the border could not be brought closer toward safety. We have spared what we could as aid was sought, and this is a reminder that we should have taken more measures to ensure all were provided for. That will be remedied shortly, and once your people are no longer suffering, we would hope that further communication with the Draconians be turned aside.”
Aldrus stopped pacing and looked to his apprentice.
“Kand, even if we were to return together and seek out assistance in flying upon the heart of the enemy again, the present Grand Lord would not likely provide his permission. You are right that one alone is not enough. Two perhaps won’t suffice either. Yet my thoughts are bent only upon rescuing my sister, and I know you well enough that you would only give chase after us if we left you behind.”
So you would, Agmentha said at last. I do not understand the reasoning that has taken place here either, yet if your master is to ride alone into the night, you would follow. So let us go together and better the odds.
Tyrrick gradually released his hold over the enlightening and leaned back into his chair. “Of course I would,” he agreed. “We both will fly with you.”