Erwan’s final plummet filled him with an odd sense of calm. Worries disappeared over the side of Mount Sapientia, his body relaxed, and his mind prepared for eternity.
One would expect panic would set in as both mind and body fought against death, but not in Erwan’s case. Shock from losing his family overwhelmed him, and he gave wholly over to its grip. His heart slowed as the wind raced by, and the rest of him slowly shut down. He did not even notice when strong claws gripped him midfall.
His trance broke with a jolt, his body abruptly jerked upward, restoring the beat of his heart to normal. Erwan came suddenly alert and aware as dragon wings carried him across the sky.
He blinked his eyes, taking in the view. They had never seen the world with such beauty, a splendor that only flying revealed. He saw the world in that moment as a dragon would, small and none of his concern. Behind him Mount Sapientia grew distant while up ahead Aventicum emerged from an emerald horizon.
“Where are you taking me?” he asked the dragon without taking his eyes off the city.
“We travel to the place you requested, for the reason you boldly called upon dragonkind to aid you. We will travel to the capital city and face this tyrant you wish to depose.”
Erwan recognized this voice. He had heard it speak to him upon the mountain. “So, you have judged me?” he asked the Ancient One.
“Yes, I have judged you rash and stupid, full of anger and foolish vengeance. But I also judge you bold, so much so I cannot refuse your request. To challenge this Dominus Titus is one matter, but I sense in you another fate.”
“What fate is that, which caused you to pluck me before joining my family in death?”
Ignoring the question, the dragon asked one of his own. “Who is Adelia to you, for whom you called out before leaping to certain death?”
“She is my wife, killed by Dominus Titus along with our children. Tell me,” Erwan urged, “why did you change your mind?”
“If Goro is truly risen as you so strongly believe, a great plague will visit this world.”
“Who is Goro?” Erwan asked, closing his eyes to better feel the wind caressing his face.
“Goro is the embodiment of an evil so ancient, so vile, it is nearly unspeakable. He is the Lord of Blood, he who created the vampure and rules over darkness. Until now, he has been asleep for thousands of years while his brood has walked among the societies of humankind. He is the reason dragonkind hide away, keeping our distance from humans.”
“But now you will challenge him?”
“I am old and tired, too weak to challenge Goro after wasting so many of my years on this earth running from his evils. I’ve watched his legions tear apart my kin and devour the sanguis within their blood for too long. We were once a mighty race, strong in numbers and long-lived, but those legions withered us down to almost nothing. I am ready to die, not today, but soon, but would first like to ensure the survival of my kind.”
“And killing Titus will help you do that?”
“No, killing Titus will bring me knowledge of Goro’s whereabouts, a mystery that has plagued my millennium. I have a plan, but it requires sacrifice.”
“What must you give up?”
The dragon laughed, a rumbling roar that shook their flight. “I must give up my form. My power is great, but I am useless as an Elderkin. I seek a form much stronger than this.”
“I don’t understand,” Erwan admitted. “What is more powerful than a dragon?”
“Numbers, human. Numbers are stronger. The legions of Goro have hunted and destroyed us because they are many. Worse, they hide among those who are more plentiful still.”
Erwan’s eyes grew wide with understanding. “You are more easily hunted in your dragon form, and so you need to blend in with humans.”
“So, you are intelligent as well as bold,” the Ancient One remarked. “Yes. I have been waiting for a worthy host to carry my form, one who would not struggle against a bond. You are ready to die, so your loss might as well be my gain.”
They slowly circled, beginning their descent far enough from the city they would not be seen. A clearing beside a glassy lake seemed to be the dragon’s target for landing.
Erwan considered the dragon’s offer, wondering if it was too late to back out of this fate. “Will I still exist after you take this form?” he asked.
“You will remain long enough to exact your revenge upon Dominus Titus, then I will exchange my soul for yours.”
“Will I become the dragon, then?”
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“No. You will cease to exist at all.”
Erwan said nothing, focused on the promise that he would rejoin Adelia and the children in death. That single thought filled him with sadness, allowing him to finally set aside vengeance for sorrow. Instead of anger he felt loss, a terrible emptiness that begged silence. The dragon had offered him that respite, and he would gladly accept. It was a fair trade, one he already committed to when leaping off the mountainside.
I’m already dead, he thought, just before the dragon dropped him into the lake.
Erwan hit the water with a terrific splash. The coldness of it broke his thoughts and changed them immediately from melancholy to anger. He kicked hard to the surface, his lungs screaming for air. As he gasped and flailed, desperate to swim to shore, he caught sight of the Ancient One and paused mid stroke.
This dragon was different than the others he had seen on Mount Sapientia.
In all his life, having heard so many legends from both his grandfather and the storyteller in Cardac, Erwan had never imagined so many different types of dragons. Those legends had only ever mentioned two, the aerouant, and those others, the smaller, bipedal types he faced on the mountain.
No, the Ancient One was of an entirely different form than he had expected.
This beast rested his large, lumbering body atop four sets of stout legs. He seemed to be the size of four Dregals, massive and strong, with smoke billowing from his nostrils. For what seemed Erwan’s benefit, the beast stood to full height and fanned huge wings that blocked the sun and shaded the entire beach. Every scale on this monstrous being was dark, a pitch black that seemed to swallow the light of the setting sun. Only his eyes shone with color, flaming yellow with swirling shades of orange and red fire.
The human pulled his dripping body from the lake, forgetting his anger and staring up with awe. This ancient beast need not hide in shadows, atop the highest mountain away from dangers, nor should it cower in a forest, hiding its form from mankind. His magnificence should be adored, worshiped by those who walk on land.
Erwan knelt.
“Who are you, human?” the Ancient One demanded.
“I am Erwan.”
“I do not mean how are you called, I ask who you are. Are you a nobleman among your people? A warrior of great renown? Are you important in your society?”
“Quite the opposite, my lord. I am a farmer, tied to the land owned by the Roman Dominus Titus.”
“Ah,” the beast rumbled. “I know of these Romans. So they still plague this earth with their quest for dominance…” He trailed off into thoughtful silence while Erwan waited.
“What is your name, my lord?” the human finally asked. “How should I address you?”
“My name…” the Ancient One seemed confused by the term but quickly recovered. “I am called many things. You already know me as the Ancient One.”
“Why is that, my lord? Are you the eldest?”
“Eldest indeed,” the beast replied. “I am the first to reach this form, and the last remaining of it as well.”
“So, you have many forms to choose from as dragonkind?”
“More than you humans can comprehend. We are an evolving species, changing forms as our situation dictates, but this was the final, most complete, but not for long.”
“Why haven’t others evolved as well?” Erwan asked. It was a simple question, and he meant no harm by it, but its asking brought forth great pain and suffering within the dragon.
The Ancient One let out what could only be interpreted as a sigh. His eyes dulled, swirling dimmer with his sadness, as he explained, “This is the elder form I wear, and once my kind were many. But we evolve slowly, the process that takes eons to achieve, and most of my Elderkin have been killed or hunted by humans and vampure with great vigor. Now, they hunt our young, like the wyvern you met upon Mount Sapientia.”
“That is what they were?” Erwan asked with awe. “Those who walked on two legs? They are called wyvern?”
“Yes, and Dregal you recognized as an aerouant.”
“What is the difference between the species,” Erwan begged.
“Not species!” the Ancient One growled with irritation. “All dragonkind are the same, only our forms are different. Our young choose their next form when they enter the chrysalis. They first emerge as either aerouant or wyvern depending on their own spiritual calling. They emerge from that chrysalis reborn and reshaped until ready to enter their next. The process repeats until reaching final form.”
Erwan listened carefully, barely able to contain his excitement at learning so many dragon secrets in one sitting. A thought brought a frown. “Both aerouant and wyvern are also hunted nearly to extinction, aren’t they?” he asked. “That’s why Dregal would not bond with me.”
“Yes and no. Dregal refused the vinculum because he had already bonded one and does not desire another. After that human died, his choice was to protect our young. Bonding another human would serve his new mission no purpose.”
“Why did you choose me?” Erwan asked timidly.
“As I explained before, my final task must be to destroy Goro. That is what has kept me alive past my desire to remain on this earth. I wish to kill him, then propagate again before transcending to the spiritual plane. You and I share a desire both for vengeance, and equally welcome death to end our pain. That is why I chose you, Erwan the Bold, to be my vinculum.”
“But you are not an aerouant. How can you bond a vinculum?”
“I was one in my previous form, before I became of the Elderkin. I still have the power and will share it with you after I have fulfilled my promise and aided your cause.”
Erwan yawned. He wanted to continue, to share this conversation deep into the night, but he desperately needed sleep. “I’ve been awake a full day and night,” he told the Ancient One. “I must rest before we challenge Dominus Titus.”
“Do so, human, while I scout the kingdom for his whereabouts.”
“He should be arriving to Aventicum soon,” Erwan assumed. “He travels by carriage, a red and golden one, and left Cardac less than two days ago.”
The dragon nodded his massive head, then spread his wings wide. “Stay in the forest,” he advised the human, “and I will find you before nightfall.”
“Wait,” Erwan urged. “How should I call you, Ancient One? What is the name of the one I will bond?”
“In your language my name is pronounced Argant.” With that, Argant the Ancient rose into the air and left the human to rest.