Year 6994 st (settled time)
Brust Keep, City of Brust – Capital of Brust Valley
The hour is late, with only a minimum of the keeps servants and personal staff remaining awake or on the premises. The Lord of Brust Keep, Jgeorg Brust and his Lady, Terara Brust sit comfortably on a small couch in the library. Both reading books that have perked their interests. Jgeorg is reading a history book that tries to chronologically categorize 8,000 years of appearances by the Free’er. Lady Terara is devouring a book on treaties between various trade unions and governments both big and small.
The library isn’t all that large when compared to those found at a Study. No more than twelve occupants would be comfortable in the cozy room. The room is well lit with electric table lamps conveniently located anywhere a person can sit. The shelves have room for a few thousand titles. Older titles are read then donated to the local one-room study’s. If passed over they are given away to the public or are given to merchants that will take them to the next region on their trade route. Knowledge is appreciated here.
Both readers are still dressed from their day’s activities. Jgeorg in his red pants and tabard with a golden winged snake on his chest. The winged snake has been the Brust family symbol since they settled this valley. Jgeorg’s three times great-grandfather, Jaxsun Brust claims to have witnessed the creature upon entering the valley, no one else saw it that day or ever since. Its unique silhouette has propagated to every branch of their family across South Cenoka. Terara is wearing a traditional modest green dress, the sleeves covering both shoulders, a white cape across her bodice reinforces the image of modesty she wishes to project. Both have abandoned their daily footwear in favor of matching worn out grey fuzzy slippers.
Jgeorg finds himself at a good stopping point, having finished the controversial period around 6,020 ST when the Free’er sanctioned dueling using proxies, giving rise to what some people refer to as legalizing serial killers. Jgeorg sets his book on the side table and shuts off his reading lamp.
The click and sudden drop in lighting lets his wife know he’s ready to turn in for the night. She makes no indication that she noticed.
Jgeorg waits patient and silent, using the time to admire her beauty.
Upon finishing the page, she was on, she closes her book and sets it aside and shuts off her lamp.
Looking to her husband, Terara says softly “Ready for bed so early?”
“I’d enjoy staying up with you either here or in our bed chamber, but I have an early start tomorrow.”
“Holding court for the petitioners already? It seems like you just fulfilled that duty.”
“You know my schedule better than I do, of course it’s time again. It’s important that I remain accessible to the citizens of the valley that shares my family name.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Terara decides to change the subject, “My book on treaties is turning out to be quite the page turner, how is yours?”
“It’s history, so it’s interesting, but not much information that we both don’t already know. Though there is one passage in the opening chapter that shook my spirit and almost made me stop reading.”
Playfully Terara responds, “Oh, do share. What could possibly be written about the Free’er that a scholar like you, didn’t already know, let alone, shake your spirit.”
“It wasn’t a direct sighting, but a reference to his relationship with the Dragon.”
“Dear, everybody knows the Dragon is his creature.”
“Yes, but this reference was from a pre-cataclysm source.”
“What? There’s nothing that survived the cataclysm. It’s been more than 6,000 years since it ended, and we don’t even know how long it lasted.”
“According to scholars there was a book, that a sect of our ancestors valued enough they would go to any lengths to preserve. Even with their best efforts nothing but scraps of pages survived the cataclysm.”
Terara looking shook herself, “Why have I not heard of this before now?”
“According to this books author, the Dragon Priesthood has been collecting every copy, full or partial no matter how trivial and destroying them.”
Crossing her arms to show her annoyance, “And just what did this scrap contain?”
Jgeorg knows his wife will be as unhappy with his answer as he is but continues, “The author only had access to a single torn and damaged piece of a page. It didn’t say much.” Jgeorg reopens the book and flips to the beginning where there is a single quotation in large print.
Terara leans over and reads the proffered snippet.
“…the Dragon, the beast,
all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the
“That’s it? I was shaken until I read that passage. Now I am only feeling disappointment.”
“I too was unmoved by the passage alone. Then I read on to discover there’s more to this scrap then what was written.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“That book and much of its content has been passed down in some families as an oral tradition. They dare not write anything down for fear the dragon priests will destroy them like they do the books.”
“Ok, now you have my interest again. Please go on.”
“According to these sources, there is actually more than one Free’er. They are a race of giants that come and go from this world at will. The author attempts to identify how many there are, and which ones make each appearance.”
“Oh, that does sound wonderfully entertaining. Certainly not very scholarly though.”
“Yes, much of this is conjecture, but it does get your mind thinking. The only thing the author seems sure about is that there are at least two of them. He calls them the Free’er and the messenger, because one of them always identifies himself as the Free’er while the other seems to drop in and reveal some secret before leaving. Those secrets often create turmoil and war. It is his opinion that the messenger is trying to trigger the return and undo the work of the Free’er and return us to enslavement.”
“Oh dear, I don’t like the sound of this giant messenger at all. What does that have to do with the Dragon?”
“If there are two beings appearing as the Free’er, which one is the Dragon beholden to help. That scrap mentions going out to all the rulers of the world. Does that not sound like something a messenger would do?”
“Ok, now I’m shaken again. No more talk, take me to bed and help me forget this conversation for a while.”
They stand in unison and proceed to shuffle their slipper clad feet to their sleeping chamber, an hour later both are contently sleeping.