He pulled on the leather ties with what little strength he had left as a dark form moved to his side. The form carefully removed a metal rod from a fire exposing the angry orange end. Gersius began to breathe faster as the man turned, and the orange light glinted off his armor. It was the armor of Astikar, the god of mercy, but there was no mercy in the eyes of his torturer.
“You can put an end to this any time you want to,” a familiar voice said. It reminded him that there was another person in the room. An old man with piercing eyes lounged in a comfy chair as he watched the proceedings. “Just tell us her name.”
Gersius felt his heart begin to race as that red metal approached. His voice was hoarse as he struggled to verbalize his reply. His eyes closed tight as his mouth set in a painful clench as a woman's voice suddenly echoed in the chamber.
“Her name is Lilly!”
Gersius looked up but could see little in the darkroom beyond the fire that danced with wild glee. The two figures that occupied the space with him reacted to the voice, looking into gloom as if startled by the sudden intrusion.
“Who was that?” the man holding the metal asked as the older man rose from his seat.
All at once, Gersius saw the change. Two red flames burned in the darkness as a third form emerged from the shadows, and he saw her.
“Sarah?” he mumbled as the tall red-haired beauty emerged into the dim light.
The two men moved separately, the older one falling away as the torturer rushed forward, the metal rod leading the way. He lunged at her and pressed the glowing head to her shoulder to drive her off. Gersius flinched at the angry hiss, but the woman only smiled and reached up, grabbing the metal with a bare hand.
“The flame can't hurt me,” she hissed and, with a powerful swipe, toppled the attacker. To Gersius's amazement, the man faded to black mist and vanished into the darkness. Sarah seemed to smile and approached nearer, paying the old man just enough attention to assure him she would find him one day and pay him back.
Gersius felt relief as a gentle hand wiped his brow, and Sarah's blazing eyes stared down into his.
“Why do you come back to this place so often?” she asked. “Why have you created a place of pain in the dream to relive this crime?”
In that moment, Gersius finally realized he was dreaming, and as he nodded, Sarah reached up to take his head between both hands. Suddenly the darkness was gone, and tall mountains rose all around him. Sarah released her gentle grip and stepped back to allow him to take in his surroundings. He realized in a moment that this was Lilly's valley, and they were alone.
“I am dreaming?” he asked even though he knew the truth.
Sarah nodded her head and turned away as her arms folded over her chest.
“Yes, and reliving a moment that pains me to see. That you suffered so terribly for Lilly makes me wonder if you will ever love me the same. That the order I cherish was the one who made you suffer stabs at my very core.”
“Sarah, you cannot compare yourself to Lilly,” he urged and took a step closer. He could feel her over the bind, a mixture of emotions that were very new to her. Of course, she didn't understand. How could she? It took Lilly weeks to come to terms with the idea of love, let alone feel comfortable sharing it.
He took a moment to run his fingers through his hair and steady himself. He was still haunted by the dream from a moment ago, but quickly he gained his composure.
“Sarah, you have to know had you been the one they were after, I would have suffered the same. I love you, and I would never betray your name.”
Sarah let out a deep sigh as her head dipped.
“I know, and I know I am being foolish. I suppose of all your wives; I am the only one who didn't have to prove herself first.”
Gersius smiled and came up behind her to put his hands on her shoulders. “You mean you didn’t fight me to a standstill before the whole camp?”
“Well, maybe I proved it a little,” she said as a gentle smile curled her lips.
“You never had anything to prove,” he said as he leaned into her back. “I felt something for you the moment I laid eyes on you. If anything, I had to prove myself to you.”
Sarah felt warmer over the bind, a kind of softening of her being. A hand came up to rest over one of his as she took a slow breath.
“I’m sorry, I struggle with being the last of your wives when my pride is so focused on being first.”
“You are first,” Gersius assured her. “You are my right hand and the one both Lilly and Thayle bow to. I hear them address you as mother in the dragon way. They see you as the most important of the wives.”
“Lilly does. I am not sure Thayle does. She fights me sometimes.”
He smiled at the truth of it but decided to change the subject. “Thank you for pulling me out of that place.”
Sarah nodded as she patted his hand. “I will never let you dwell in that place again,” she replied. “I will interfere every time you insist on returning to it.”
He was grateful to hear that and dropped an arm to wrap it around her waist. Gently he cradled her to his chest as he looked about the desolate beauty of the valley.
“Why is it so empty? Didn’t Thayle plant trees in the south and alone the stream?” he asked.
Sarah nodded again and explained how the dream didn't always reflect reality. In most cases, it showed areas as they were hundreds if not thousands of years ago. She even pointed out it was possible to visit cities that were long lost and see them in their glory.
“You have explained this before,” he replied. “But it doesn’t make sense that some changes do appear, and others do not.”
“It is emotion,” Sarah replied. “Strong emotion in the waking world can cause changes in the dream. A man walking down a road who learns his wife has just died might suffer so strong an emotion that a mile of the road appears in the dream. A single house where somebody suffered great pain or loss might rest on a hill surrounded by trees. The forest might be from a thousand years ago, but the house only a hundred, the dream can be very fickle.”
“That is why you asked me why I created that space. My pain and emotion in the dream has brought that room into being here, hasn’t it?”
Sarah nodded and looked up as of studying the sky. “Some places fade with time, provided the one who created them lets go. Others are so firmly rooted they will last another hundred thousand years.” She paused to take another long breath. “Your cities are often here because of the shared emotions of the people who dwelt in them. When the war came, and the dragons fell on those cities, the shared pain of tens of thousands wove those places into the dream.”
“Can we see one of them?” Gersius asked.
Sarah turned in his arms and looked deep into his eyes as she shook her head. “You could, but to go would be a great risk. Just as those places are frozen in time here, so are echos of the people who dwelt in them. We dragons call them wraiths, and we avoid them at all costs.”
He nodded his understanding and turned to look about the valley. His eyes went to a distant cave at the far end beside a small waterfall. He knew the dream wouldn't reflect it, but in reality, there was a dragon egg in that cave, and one day he would have a child.
“Not for many months,” Sarah urged as she read his mind. “But I think about it often myself.”
“You think about what often?” he asked, not sure if she meant the egg or something more.
Sarah paced away, her hands coming together as she struggled to articulate her thoughts.
“I think about you and I having an egg of our own.” She stopped a few steps away, her head moving as if speaking, but no words came out. “I always believed I would never want another child, yet when Lilly laid that egg, I felt you over the bind. You were so full of joy and happiness to know you had a child. As I grow to understand these feelings you humans share, I have come to realize I want to make you feel that happiness too.”
He was struck silent by her admission that she was considering having a child. Unsure what to say, he let her continue as she explained the conflict inside. She was worried that any child they had might be subject to the curse. She also wasn't sure what to expect from a human and dragon child. Would it be a dragon in nature or more human?
“Balisha said we would be pleasantly surprised,” Gersius replied as he drew closer. “As her high priest, I can assure you she will give you the blessing if you ask for it.”
“I know,” Sarah said with a hint of fear in her voice. “But did she say anything about the curse?”
“No, and I have prayed about it several times with Lilly. She always sends a vision of a distant star.”
“That could mean anything,” Sarah groaned.
“I am aware of how vague the meaning is, but it is your right as a woman to have a child if you want one. Balisha is encouraging it, so I must assume the path is safe.”
“You make sound logic, but I have killed a child lost to the madness of the curse. As much as I now yearn to give you one, I need to be sure. If I had to face that pain again, I would willingly go to my grave.”
He understood her worry and wrapped her into another hug. For what seemed like an hour, they stood in that echo of the valley, silently sharing across the bind. When the time came, Sarah brought them out, and he woke to the darkness of the early morning. Lilly and Thayle were curled into each other, but Sarah was in his arms, her heat keeping him warm.
“Jessivel has found one of them?” Sarah asked, breaking the silence.
“He has found the grand smith of Gorrin,” Gersius replied. “The man responsible for making Dellains sword and armor. He is implicated in a dozen letters as having armed our enemies to ensure I would not take my place.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Then he will hang, as he should,” Sarah said without a hint of mercy in her voice.
Gersius was of the same mind, but there were matters that needed to be addressed first. Jessivel and Alayse were assigned to hunting down an extensive list of enemies. Once found, these enemies were brought back to the city for questioning. It was his hope that this man knew about the seal of Astikar and where it might have been taken. Jessivel would ask the questions, and Alayse would be on hand to ensure any answers were truthful. Gersius would then judge the man and send him to the divines, where they would judge him again. It was a cycle of death and pain that never seemed to end.
“I feel the mercy in your heart wishing there was some other way,” Sarah whispered.
“I have spent many long years practicing mercy,” Gersius said as he rubbed at Sarah’s back. “But Astikar is also a god of justice, and these men and women chose of their own free will to stand against me. What they did is beyond my ability to forgive. I would not be showing justice to those they harmed by being merciful now.”
“The bandersooks still ravaging the farms should be all you need to sentence them.” Sarah's words cut to the core of his being as he knew it was true. Weeks had gone by, and every effort was being made to hunt down the roving packs, but the empire was vast, and the beasts elusive. Farms were still attacked and people killed despite all his efforts.
“Before you ask, of course, I will fly out again and hunt for more,” Sarah said and turned in his arms. She looked into his eyes and smiled softly. “We will kill them all eventually, and the suffering will end, but don't ever forget what they did.”
“I will not,” Gersius replied as he wondered how many of those farms now appeared in the dream.
The morning came, and with it, the day's chores. He spent the early hours of the morning training a mass of people Lilly selected as acolytes for Balisha. He led them in meditation and, during his connection to the goddess, relayed Sarah's fears. As always, he stared at a distant star low on the horizon, the same vision given every time he asked these questions.
Lilly took over for him to lead them in prayers and song. She sat in the yard in her dragon form while several of their priests attended her. A small mound of gold was gathered from donations for her to lay on, something Sarah was becoming insistent she do. Lilly had gone too long without feeding properly, and burning her hoard to ash had overtaxed her. Whenever possible, Lilly was to lay on the mound and feed to regain her strength. She was to wear jewelry of all kinds in her human form, including necklaces, bracelets, golden belts, earrings, and even chains around her ankles. She often glittered from the gold and gemstones Sarah adorned her in.
Lilly showed an almost motherly care of her young followers and treated them all like they were special. She also showed a deep respect for Balisha, as if the two were of one heart. She spoke about the goddess as if she were standing in the room with them, sharing in the conversation. Gersius appreciated Lilly's innocent love of Balisha and the gentle way she expressed it. To Lilly, Balisha was the oldest dragon in the world and, as such, a great mother to all the rest. She pressed that concept on her followers as often as she could, trying to convince them that Balisha loved humans as much as dragons.
The temple was coming along and now featured something unique for their followers to look on. The sidewall had been turned into a shrine with two honor guards always in full armor. On that wall hung a sword, broad in the middle and curved at each end. It was the fabled fanged blade of Balisha, the sword that slew the red dragon that once defiled the temple. It was the size of any regular sword now but had the magical property of glowing in size when wielded by a dragon. Written on the wall in ornate runes of the dragon language were the words. “I am Balisha's wrath.” It was a stark reminder that even gentle Balisha could be moved to great violence when needed.
Lilly frequently took the sword down to demonstrate the way the sword grew to match her size. She explained to all who would listen how it had been placed in preparation for Lilly to find it. However, she did not mention the role her mother played in its placement. This was a worry to Gersius as Lilly seemed to have pushed her mother's role out of her mind. The few times he tried to approach the topic made Lilly angry, and she withdrew. Even Sarah couldn't get her to speak on the subject.
He spent the afternoon in meetings with Lengwin, who was arranging a proper dedication to become the new Father Abbot. The proceedings were delayed by the fact that only a council of bishops could elect a new father. However, many of the existing bishops were under arrest for willingly abandoning their duties to support the old abbot's madness. They did nothing as the false father recruited a private army and embarked on a campaign of terror. They stood by as the whole of the empire was put in danger to stop one man. The most grievous crime of all was the fact that they had allowed the seal of Astikar to be taken away.
“All the bishops have been questioned,” Lengwin said. “Several knew the seal was being moved, but not one of them knows where it went. They trusted the Father Abbot to ensure its safekeeping.”
Gersius let out a tired sigh as he drummed his fingers on the table. Nearby, Sarah paced with an irritated step, her feet thumping on the floor of the hall.
“What will you do with them?” Gersius asked, not sure he wanted to know the answer.
“Cast them out and call on Astikar to judge them,” Lengwin replied in a regretful tone. “I can’t believe I am saying such things of the holiest men of the order.”
“They abandoned the title of holy long ago,” Sarah snapped as she came to a halt behind Gersius. “They are every bit as guilty as the raven guard.”
Lengwin nodded as his tired eyes met Gersius’s. “I will have to wait until new bishops can be appointed and a proper council held before I can claim the title of Father Abbot.”
“The orders recovery will be crippled without a proper command structure,” Sarah urged. “I am aware of the rules, but perhaps an exception needs to be made.”
Gersius drummed his fingers again as he tried to think of a viable solution. The rot in the order didn't stop at the bishops. Many of the lower ranks also conspired to help the old Father Abbot. Men were hiding behind the excuse that the Father couldn't be questioned, and as such, they had to obey. Hundreds of positions were now being emptied as men were punished. It might take the better part of a year to find enough men to fill the vacated positions and a year more to appoint Lengwin as the new Father Abbot.
“Two years is an optimistic measurement,” Sarah growled as she read his thoughts.
Lengwin looked confused a moment until he understood the exchange.
“She is reading your mind again,” he said with a slight laugh.
“I struggle to have a thought to myself,” Gersius admitted and went on drumming his fingers. “I suppose it might be time to offer a bounty on information.”
“Admitting we lost the seal might cause more problems,” Sarah pointed out.
“Somebody knows where it went, or at the very least saw it leave. We have only been able to locate a few dozen of the staff we sent away. None of them knows anything about the seal, and the rest might take years to track down. A suitably high enough bounty might cause them to come to us.”
“Or go deeper into hiding,” Sarah suggested.
Gersius nodded and ceased his drumming as a thought came to mind. If the seal was moved, it had to be done under careful guard by trusted men. Who did the old father trust more than his private army, the raven guard?
“That makes sense,” Sarah agreed, proving she was listening to every thought. “We still have several hundred of them in chains.”
“What are we talking about?” Lengwin asked.
“The raven guard,” Gersius replied. “If anybody could be trusted to move such an item, it had to be them. One of the prisoners might know where they moved it to.”
“None of them are going to answer your questions,” Lengwin replied. “I have tried to question them myself about other things. They still refuse to acknowledge you are the dragon knight.”
“I can solve that problem,” Sarah remarked. “I will eat one every time they refuse to answer.”
“I do hope it doesn’t come to that,” Lengwin said and cleared his throat.
“That will be up to the raven guard,” Sarah replied with a wicked smile.
An hour later and Gersius was before several ranks of men all linked together in chains. Sarah stood behind him in her dragon form, leering from above menacingly. From the auras, he could see that many of these men were terrified, but a few burned with anger. One in particular burned brightly, and Gersius nearly jumped to see the face of the man known as Mathius.
“You!” he growled and pointed to three priests of Astikar assigned as aids in then questioning. “Bring that man out here!”
The three unshackled Mathius from the row and put individual cuffs on him before presenting him to Gersius.
“Who is this man that he has you so angered?” Sarah asked over the bind.
“His name is Mathius. He was Dellains chief captain. If anybody knows where the seal went, he will.”
When the two were finally face to face, Mathius held strong, looking into Gersius’s eyes with all the muster of a superior.
“You may as well enjoy the moment,” Gersius said without flinching. “I am going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them. If you don't, Sarah will begin eating the men behind you.” This brought a chorus of chokes and cries from the ranks of chained men. They were quickly silenced by a low, threatening growl from Sarah.
“It only proves you are a false dragon knight,” Mathius spat.
“False?” Gersius asked with a hint of amusement. “Did I not come in the armor of the dragon knight? Did I not carry Astikars sword into battle? Do I have several dragons at my side? Do I not have the three wives as predicted? Tell me, did Dellain complete any part of the prophecy?”
“He walked through the golden gate with a dragon at his side,” Mathius replied. “He was the dragon knight.”
“And yet he is dead, as is his dragon,” Gersius shouted to ensure all could hear. He began to pace, taking a leisurely step with his arms folded at his back. “I don't have to tell you that you are enemies of my empire. I also don't have to tell you that you will be held accountable for your crimes. Make all the excuses you want. I assure you it will fall on deaf ears. I am no longer a follower of Astikar, and as such, I feel no reason to show you mercy. I will, however, entertain any man who wishes to stand the test against me. If you want to call on Astikar to judge you here and now against my heart, I will accept. Not a man took his offer, showing clearly they understood their guilt.
“Now, you stand before one of the true dragon knights,” he continued. “And you realize just how wrong you were. I have a question that needs answering, and I am sure one of you knows the answer. I am going to ask your captain, but I expect any man who knows the answer to speak up. If not, Sarah will begin dispensing justice in the name of Astikar.”
He turned around and marched directly to Mathius, who held his gaze defiantly.
“Do you know what happened to the seal of Astikar?” Gersius asked clearly and directly.
Mathius didn't answer as his aura twisted in colors of worry and anger. Gersius held his gaze a moment, then repeated the question to the wider audience, giving them a chance to answer. The same silence fell on them all, and Gersius let out a tired sigh.
“Sarah,” he said and motioned to the line.
Sarah growled and reached down, snatching a man up and dragging the men chained with him over. He cried out in terror as she held him before her face, eyes burning with fire as her jaws opened.
Mathius looked up in shock and shouted a condemnation. “You would resort to such brutality?”
“You dare speak to me of brutality?” Gersius shouted in rage, turning to strike Mathius across the face. “There are still women who can't walk as a result of your kindness. When you broke their legs to slow us down, did you feel even a shred of remorse?”
“You forced our hand and made us resort to desperate measures,” Mathius began as men dangled in the air from chains while Sarah sized the one in her hand up for a meal.
“I felt my duty was done,” Mathius growled as he righted himself to resume staring Gersius in the eye. Above him, the selected man cried out for aid, pleading with Mathius to answer the question.
“Your duty should have been to Astikar,” Gersius corrected. “And the second you were told to commit such an abomination should have been when you abandoned the Father Abbot.”
“He is the one who absolved my crimes; I couldn't turn on him,” Mathius pleaded as Sarah raised the man to her mouth.
“Answer the question, or the man dies,” Gersius replied.
Mathius shook as his aura twisted in confusion. Gersius watched carefully when he finally said he had no idea what happened to the seal. To make his point clear, Gersius held up a hand to bring Sarah to a halt.
“He's lying,” Sarah said over the bind. “Look at how his aura flashes, Thayle said that was what happened when somebody lies. He must know where it went.”
“He knows something about it, but now we play the game of making him tell us,” Gersius replied silently. “Put that man down and let them take their line again.”
Sarah huffed and roughly deposited the man in her hands back to the grass. The chain of men linked to him fell in piles beside him, all shaking in terror.
“I know you are lying to me,” Gersius said.
“I am not,” Mathius replied.
“Shall I fetch Thayle to test your light and weigh the truth of your words?” Gersius asked as Mathius set his jaw. For a brief moment, the two faced off as Gersius waited for an answer.
“They moved it east,” Mathius replied.
“When did they move it? Where did it go?” Gersius demanded.
“They moved it months ago, the day after you left to find your dragon. The Father Abbot said it would be safer if it was away from the city.”
Mathius looked like a man about to faint as Gersius glared back, the same red fire burning in his eyes as the dragon behind him.
“Where did it go?” he demanded again.
“A place called the Daras something,” Mathius sputtered. “Daras Lunsheel.”
Gersius had no knowledge of such a place, but Sarah pressed into his mind with a quick word.
“He might mean Sola Durass Luna Sheel,” she said.
“And what is that?” Gersius asked her.
“It's dragon. It is hard to translate into your language because you lack words for some things, but roughly it means. Sun combined with moon spire. I suppose you could say the spire of the sun and the moon.”
“What does that mean?” he pressed over the bind.
“It means it went someplace important to dragons in the east. I can think of a couple of places, but more than likely, he means a shrine to both the sun and moon.”
“Like Numidel’s temple,” Gersius said with a nod before looking at Mathius. “Do you know where this place is?”
“In the mountains behind the city of Henndral,” Mathius replied. “I never saw it myself; it was taken by a special unit.”
Every word was the truth, so Gersius instructed the guards to put him back in the line while he spoke with Sarah over the bind.
“Do you know of a temple in those mountains?” he asked.
“No, but I know how to find it,” she remarked. “We go into the dream and look for it.”
“You are sure this place will appear in the dream?” he asked.
“A dragon temple will be there, and then we will know exactly where to strike,” She lowered her head in concern and looked at him with one great eye. “But why are you so upset about this revelation? You feel as if Lilly had just died before your very eyes.”
He ran a hand through his hair and reached up to stroke a tiny portion of her massive jaw. “Henndral was the city betrayed by the raven guard. The one I waited to amass my army for before marching out to save.”
“The one your sister lived in,” Sarah added. “You heard the report from Tavis and Ayawa. Your sister was seen alive and moving east rapidly. She is probably with your parents right now, safely away from the war.”
“I pray to the divines you are right, but that doesn’t change the fact that our destination is behind the Doan lines,” he pointed out.
“We fly over them and drop on this temple at night,” Sarah suggested. “With Lilly, Numidel, and Shadros, we will quickly overwhelm any defenders. I will agree to carry a host of soldiers if you want the extra men to storm the inner halls, though it is likely to be large enough for a dragon to enter.”
“Let us tell Lengwin of what we have learned. He will be grateful to hear the news,” Gersius suggested with a pat at Sarah's jaw.
“You do realize this was probably why they captured the city,” Sarah said. “It is close to the temple. They must have a very important reason for needing it.”
“I have already considered that,” he agreed and ordered the prisoners returned to their cells. Sarah took her human form, and together they left to report the news and set in motion a plan to spy out the location of this temple from the dream. With any luck, the seal would be recaptured and a great burden lifted from their shoulders.