It was late into the night when the festivities finally died down, and they were able to return to the garden estate of Ulustrah. Lilly landed in a field a mile away and took her human form before they walked back to the estate in silence. Once they were inside that silence finally broke.
“We need to talk about what you did,” Thayle said as they reached the top of the stairs to their private rooms.
“They needed to know the truth,” Gersius said.
“Not that,” Thayle sighed with a shake of her head.
“You mean how he used my voice?” Lilly asked as she walked passed them both and sat on the edge of the bed.
Yes,” Thayle said, looking Gersius in the eyes. “How did you do that?”
“I do not know,” he said. “I was angry, and I felt something.”
Thayle studied him a moment. “Can you do it now?”
He shrugged and looked at Lilly.
“I have no idea how you did it,” Lilly said.
“Somehow you are drawing on her power,” Thayle suggested.
“Lilly is a dragon, not a divine,” he said firmly.
“Gersius, what do we know about dragons or the role they play with the divines?” Thayle asked.
He shook his head again, but Thyale put a hand on his chest.
“I want you to reach out to her like you do to Balisha. See if you can feel the link.”
He ran his hand through his hair and tried to understand what was happening. It was a moment of anger that made him reach in for his strength. Somehow that allowed him to speak like Lilly does, echoing with two voices. He closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts, and tried to reach out to Lilly with his mind.
“I can feel that!” Lilly said.
“You can feel him?” Thayle said with shock.
“I feel something,” Gersius said. “But I have no idea what to do with it.”
“Try to shape a blessing,” Thayle suggested.
“How?” Gersius asked. “We pray to shape blessings with tones or chants. How do I simply draw on one?”
Thayle glanced at Lilly, who only shrugged unable to answer the question.
Gersius held out his hand and tried to feel the power of a hammer of Astikar forming. For a long moment, he focused on this thought, but nothing happened.
With a sigh, he put his hand down and opened his eyes.
“I do not think we can pull on Lilly’s power at will.”
“You have already done it twice. There must be more to it,” Thayle said. “You keep doing it when you're under duress.”
“I have no idea how I did it,” he replied. “To be honest, this connection is starting to frighten me.”
“Why would it frighten you?” Thayle asked with concern in her voice.
He walked across the room and knelt before Lilly. She smiled at him as he took her hand and began to run his thumb over it.
“I feel like I am stealing from her somehow,” he said. “That what I am doing is harming her.”
Thayle looked at Lilly, and the blue-haired woman sighed.
“I don't think you're harming me. I don't know what you're doing exactly, but it doesn't seem to cause me any discomfort.”
Thayle stepped behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“It’s late, why don’t you pray to Balisha about it and go to bed. Maybe she will have some insight into what’s happening?”
Gersius nodded and stood up. He went to sit on the rug and meditate when soft hands came to his shoulders again. Lilly leaned into him and whispered in his ear, and he smiled.
He sat on the floor, and she sat in his lap. Together they reached out for the goddess, and together they asked the question. While Lilly felt the power of the connection, she received no reply, Gersius however, saw much more.
There were three lights in a black sky. One light was small, one was large, and one was a great brilliance. Around the great brilliance was a golden ring on which were written words in a language he didn't understand. From the two brighter lights came a golden stream of power flowing to the smallest light. That light took the shape of a man. A crown appeared on his head, and a sword appeared in his hand. Behind him appeared the image of a translucent dragon. Then a fourth and fifth light appeared. Again one was small, and one was a great brilliance. The second great brilliance also had a golden ring around it and a second golden stream of power flowed from it to the new small light. This light took the form of a woman who also wore a crown and carried a sword.
Gersius struggled to understand the meaning as the image changed. The large light suddenly sent a stream of golden power to the female light. Golden power then reached out from both the male and female to each other. They formed a strange triangle of power. Then the lines all shifted and split into two so that the power flowing between them became loops.
He was awestruck at the image as the flows of power between the three lesser lights turned red, and then the image shook. There was a strange tearing noise, and a feminine voice echoed as if from far away.
“It is forbidden!”
A new great brilliance appeared. This one was red and flared like fire. It brought with it a smaller brilliance, but smaller was only in comparison to itself. This light was larger than the three combined, and it was placed beside them. The loops of red light contorted and twisted, reaching out to encompass this new light and its power was added to the rest.
“I paid the price, you will honor your promise,” a masculine voice said.
There was a great flash of light, and his connection with the goddess was forcefully severed.
He jerked back and took a gasping breath. Lilly jumped out of his lap and turned to look at him with confusion.
“Why do you feel panicked?” she asked.
“I was given an answer, but I do not know what any of it means,” he said.
He turned to see Thayle sitting on the edge of the bed, watching them.
“I felt your emotions the whole time you were praying. You felt very strange to me,” she said.
Gersius recounted all that he’d seen but the women had no clue what it meant. Lilly was particularly disappointed that she’d seen nothing.
“I need to get some sleep,” he finally said, and they all agreed to go to bed and let the new revelations wait until morning.
----------------------------------------
“They are not to be disturbed!” a woman’s voice barked from someplace down below.
Gersius sat up in bed, disturbing the two women who were curled into him.
“What is it, my love?” Lilly asked, now stretching from her slumber.
“Something is going on downstairs,” Gersius said. “I can hear shouting.”
Thayle opened her eyes and listened.
“I do not care. It can wait until they come down!” the woman's voice barked out.
“Somebody is arguing,” Thayle agreed, turning to put her feet on the floor. “My robe is right here. I will go see what it is.”
Gersius went to protest, but Lilly put an arm over him and pulled him back down in a warm embrace.
Thayle was gone for many long minutes before she dashed up the stairs. “You two need to get dressed,” she told them as she hurriedly began to pick through her own clothes.
“Is something wrong?” Gersius said alarmed.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Thayle smiled, “You need to see it for yourself.”
Gersius and Lilly got out of bed and quickly dressed. Gersius wore his gray pressed shirt, and black pants and Lilly put on her blue dress with her necklace and the silver crown Ayawa had given her. Thayle quickly brushed her hair and then put on her green robe with golden vines and leaves.
She led them down the stairs keeping the mystery.
“I am terribly sorry, Arch Priestess. I did not mean to wake you,” the tall woman in the green and silver of Ulustrahs colors said on the ground floor.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Were up, go and get yourself something to eat,” Thayle said in a friendly tone.
“What was the argument about?” Gersius asked.
“A noble from the town by the name of Lemas wanted you to come to the gates outside,” Thayle replied. “The priestesses told him to go away, but then things changed.”
“Changed how?” Gersius asked, but Thayle only smiled and led him on.
As they reached the front door, Kilgian was there pacing like a caged animal.
“How am I to keep security like this?” he asked. “I would need fifty more men!”
“What is the problem?” Gersius said, not understanding.
Kilgian reached over and opened the door. Across the yard, the priests of Astikar were now inside the gate. They stood with shields raised and spears at the ready. Outside the gate, a press of people waited gathered in a vast crowd that threatened to spill over the walls. Voices called out when they saw Gersius and Thayle.
“There they are!” “There are the dragon knights!”
People saw them and shouted, “For the dragon!” They watched amazed as coins flew over the walls to land in the front yard.
“I like these people,” Lilly said as she saw the coins gathering in the yard.
“I do not have enough men to protect you here,” Kilgian said from the doorway behind them.
“What do they want?” Lilly asked.
Thayle turned to look at her. “They want you Lilly, you and Gersius. They want you to teach them about Balisha.”
“Teach us!” a voice called out from the crowd and was taken up by many more calls.
“Where is the dragon?” other voices called out.
Lilly looked to Gersius uncertain of what she should do.
“Lilly, it might be time to let them know. It might be time to tell them you are the dragon,” he said.
“I am scared,” she said, thinking about revealing her secret.
“Thayle and I will be by your side,” he said soothingly. “We are surrounded by good soldiers, and the whole of the city supports us. Now is the time,” he told her.
She looked over at Thayle, who nodded her head.
Lilly took a deep breath and turned to face the door. She walked into the yard and up to the gate, where she waited for the people to be silent.
“Please humans, move back. I want to step outside,” she told them.
The crowd pushed away from the gate, giving her scarcely ten feet of room.
“Look at her eyes!” people called out. “They burn as the dragons do.”
The voice reminded her that she’d taken her human form only hours ago, and her eyes were still glowing. She smiled and hoped it would help them understand who she was.
Lilly stepped through the gate flanked by the priests of Astikar who twitched nervously.
“My eyes burn like they do because I am the dragon. I am Lilly,” she said in a calm voice.
Whispers and mutters spread through the gathered crowd, and some jostling made her guards nervous.
“This is the first thing you need to know about dragons. We can choose to take human forms,” Lilly said.
The crowd continued to mumble, and Thayle and Gersius came to the gate.
“She is telling you the truth,” Thayle said. “This is Lilly, the dragon.”
The whispers continued.
“Where is the dragon?” somebody asked.
“I am the dragon!” Lilly shouted back.
“You lie, you are a woman!” a voice accused.
Lilly was hurt that they didn't believe her, and she struggled to think of a way to prove it. She closed her eyes and decided to do it the way that would end this charade once and for all. She turned to Thayle and Gersius. “Would one of you get me a bedsheet?” she asked.
Thayle nodded understanding what she wanted to do.
“Come back inside the wall, sweetheart. I will go arrange it,” she said and ran back into the house.
Gersius glared at the people as Lilly walked back inside with her head down.
“You people should be ashamed of yourselves,” he told them.
“Where is the dragon?” people called out again.
Thayle returned with six of the acolytes and three thick bed sheets. She arranged the girls so that two held each sheet at a corner and arranged them in a triangle around Lilly so that nothing but her head could be seen above them. She then walked inside and helped Lilly undress.
“What is the fool girl doing?” a woman called out as people stared over the outer wall.
Thayle walked back out of the barrier of blankets with Lillys dress in her arms and anger on her face.
“You wanted to see the dragon!” Thayle shouted at them. “Well, look!”
A white mist crawled inside the barrier of blankets and suddenly erupted into a ball of swirling clouds. The girls holding the blankets dropped them and fell away as a great white flash stung the eyes of every onlooker.
The ground shook as Lilly slammed a fist into the ground.
“I am insulted that I tried to share my human form with you, and you called me a liar!” She roared at the gathered people. People immediately fled, running down the road back to the city, but many stayed cowering on the other side of the wall.
Everyone in the courtyard was petrified. Even the priests of Astikar were uncertain what to do. They stood frozen as Lilly leaned out over the wall to tower above the mass of the people.
“I gave you a gift! I went out to greet you as one of you, so you would not fear me, but you rejected me!” she bellowed. “If you will not accept the kindness of the woman, then you will cower before the dragon! What do you people want from me anyway?” she demanded.
The gathered people were silent; none of them dared speak such was their fear.
“Well?” Lilly growled.
Finally, one person stood up and walked forward. He was short for a man, and from the look of his face boy might be a better word. He had dark brown hair that he wore brushed straight back. He wore simple peasants clothes of linen and wool. His shirt was once green but was faded a bit from hours of work in the sun, and his pants were an earthy tan in color with several long patches and mends. He carried a frayed straw hat in his hands that he fidgeted with the edge of as he came before her.
He knelt before her and lowered his head.
“Teach me to follow Balisha,” he said.
Lilly lowered her head and looked at him with blazing blue eyes. “You wish to know the ways of the goddess?”
“Please miss, I mean dragon, I mean...” he stammered, uncertain how to address her.
“Call me Priestess Lilly,” she told him.
“Please, priestess Lilly. I want to learn about you and Balisha.”
Thayle and Gersius both felt a warming in their hearts to hear Lilly refer to herself as priestess for the first time.
“This is a powerful moment,” Thayle whispered in his ear. “People will start to come from far and wide to be taught. He will be the first.”
“What is your name child of man?” Lilly asked.
“Culver, priestess Lilly.”
Lilly lifted her head and looked around at the still cowering crowd.
“Is this why the rest of you are here? You want me to teach you?” she asked in her dual voice.
Many heads nodded, and people whispered yes and please.
Lilly turned to Look at Gersius and Thayle who both watched her intently.
“What do I do?” she asked over the bind.
“Tell them to come back in three days,” Gersius silently replied. “We need time to visit the outer towns to gather support, and to organize how we wish to run our faith.”
Lilly nodded and turned back to the gathered crowd.
“We have not yet begun to set up our church, or organize our faith,” she said to them. “If you wish to learn of Balisha you will come back in three days. Then we will consider what we plan to do.”
She heard a sniffle and looked down to see Culver with his head cast down.
“But you, child of man. You were brave enough to come to me when I was angry. You desired to know so strongly you overcame your fear. I will take you now,” she said, causing him to look up into her blazing eyes that loomed down over him.
“Thayle, is there a room in the estate we can put my acolyte in?” Lilly asked.
“Of course, Lilly,” Thayle replied, coming to the gate and opening it. “Come, child, you have been accepted.”
The man trembled as he walked to the gate tears pouring from his eyes. Thayle took his hand and led him inside, comforting him and admonishing him for his bravery.
Lilly turned to the remaining people. “The rest of you must go. I have to travel much this day and the next days to come. If you really wish to learn of Balisha, you will return in three days, and the next time I share my human form with you, you had better show me more respect!” she growled.
People slowly began to move away, but clearly, they needed more encouragement.
“You heard her,” Gersius yelled. “Go! Do not come back unless you are ready to learn!”
When they continued to drift away slowly Lilly snarled and bared her teeth. Now people did move stumbling over themselves to back away from the walls.
They stood at the wall together, watching the crowds go.
“I was not ready for this,” Lilly said. “They did not accept my human form. They only want to see the dragon.”
“One man didn't care, he wants to learn,” Gersius said.
Lilly sighed and looked down at Gersius. “Can you teach him how to open his heart properly so he can pray? I will teach him the little prayer Balisha has given us.”
“Of course I will, but we need to visit the towns today. I will spend some time with him tonight.”
Lilly nodded. “Now I have to find a way to change back where I won’t be gawked at by dozens of people.”
“You need a private space where you can change,” Gersius agreed.
“There is no place, Gersius. I am too big. I have to walk a mile or more into the woods to get any measure of pivacy.”
Thayle returned a moment later with Lilly's dress in hand.
“The boy is very emotional. I have the priestess that was guarding our room talking to him to try and soothe him,” she said as she arrived.
“Thank you, Thayle,” Lilly said solemnly.
“Is something wrong?” Thayle asked.
“Lilly wants to change back,” Gersius said, then spun his arm wide to point out the dozen pairs of eyes that watched from every direction. “There is no privacy.”
“I will gather the girls again. We can make a ring around you so you can change back,” Thayle said and ran off back into the house.
Lilly felt awkward in the ring of blankets, but she changed, and Thayle helped her dress. All around her, girls gasped and whispered as the mist revealed her naked form making her embarrassed.
“All of you back to your chores!” Thayle barked when they were no longer needed. The girls scattered, running off with the blankets back into the buildings.
Lilly finally got to enjoy some time as in her human form. She took a moment to visit with Culver and explain that she was going to be busy most of the day, but that she would be sure to speak with him when she returned. She then spent an hour walking in the gardens and talking to Gersius and Thayle. She was sad about the people rejecting her human form and wanting the dragon instead.
When the time came, she changed again, but she did so beyond the garden gate. They flew off to Avashire to gather High Priest Lengwin for the day's labor while Lilly struggled with a thought. She wondered why it mattered to a dragon that her human form wasn’t accepted? She felt a hand stroke her shoulder and looked back at Thayles smiling face.
“Give it time, sweetheart,” she heard Thayle say in her mind. “Give it time.”
With another sigh, Lilly flew to the south and let her worries go. She had Thayle and Gersius who loved both her forms, that was all that truly mattered.