I began to play for the longhouse as I walked to a more central location so I could be seen and heard better.
In ancient times when language had yet to be born people lived in growing tribes. Three dragons had been born into the world, Boneshaker, collector of bones, Crafter, collector of new things, and Weaver, collector of tales. Back in ancient times it is said that there was only one great land that existed. There were no islands and continents for the world hadn’t been shattered.
Each of these dragons lived separate from the others. Crafter and Weaver lived amongst collections of people. They chose to protect mankind from the dangers of the world and help them grow into greater and greater civilizations. Boneshaker, the most powerful of the three, lived more as a force of nature, claiming the bones of fallen men and the creatures it chose to hunt.
The gods were just as young as the dragons. They gave the Call one fateful day. It was the first time any of the dragons had felt it and so unable to resist they followed. Weaver said goodbye to his people with a promise that one day he would return. Crafter strapped dozens of things to herself and asked her people to continue to make new things for she would return. Boneshaker decorated herself with necklaces and bracelets of bone.
Each took to the great skies beating their titanic wings to soar ever higher amongst the clouds. Each made their way to the center of the lands and there before them was the greatest mountain ever known to the world. It towered into the clouds with a cap ever coated in snow. The dragons felt compelled to fly to the peak as close to the gods as they could be.
They could not fly so high so each landed halfway up the mountain and amongst the treeless stone began to climb the steep grounds. It took days for each of them to climb to the top and be upon its peak. They found one another and heard the words of the gods amongst the wind and thin air.
“Children of the gods. The world has a great need for you and it will take most of your power. This is but the first of these great tasks we ask you to endure.” The words were in a thousand voices that echoed hollowly in each of the dragon’s minds.
Boneshaker recovered first and spoke to the wind, “What is this task!” She had to scream to be heard over the wind.
“The elements have come to life. They have no souls, no hearts to sway, they’ve come to claim this world and wipe out all life. The beings are made of stone, water, and wind. You will have to learn to wield your magic and unwind their essence.”
The voices faded on the wind upon the mountain top and the dragons looked to one another.
Weaver spoke, “The lands are too vast for us to stick together. We will have to split up. I have used magic before to heal the people I protect. It is like a wellspring of energy deep inside you. You have to shape it with your intent and push it out from yourself. I found using it to be natural.”
Boneshaker scoffed, “Wasted energy trying to protect the humans. Death will come for them all sooner or later.”
Crafter, her voice soft in the thin air, interrupted the argument as it began, “It matters not right now. The gods have Called us and we will answer or face their wrath and lose this world.” She swiveled between her two compatriots. “Do any of us know how we are to find one of these beings?”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Before anyone could answer the ground erupted from below and four legged golems made of ice and stone struck at the dragons. They flapped their wings uselessly in the thin air trying to go to the skies. Boneshaker recovered first and as she was three times the size of her fellow dragons she spun and struck so mightily with her tail that the very earth cracked.
Razor sharp blades of ice sprung from the hands of the elementals as they attacked. Gripping onto the tail of Boneshaker and the strain of the ice against the scales echoed across the mountains. With a mighty roar she ripped the elemental from the icy ground and flung it skyward. As it was flying she unleashed her mighty breath of decay and as it washed over the elemental the dragons were shocked. Nothing happened, it did not wilt, it did not turn to its skeleton. It was unfazed. The other elementals went to swarm the mighty Boneshaker but the Crafter lunged forward and pinned two to the ground and pressed them down.
Crafter felt it then. A spark within the elementals like the spark of her own magic. She sent a pulse like a breath blowing out a candle and the elementals stilled. The ice and stone they were made of crumbled. She called to her fellow dragons, “They have magic. Snuff it out and they die!”
Boneshaker had more elementals on her as they erupted from the ground. Panic echoed in her soul but Weaver came to her side. Ripping and tearing them he blew out their magical core and rendered them into rubble. Dagger-like claws tore through Weavers scales. His blood spilled upon the ground with a roar of pain he lashed out at the enemies that surrounded him. He pounced upon the offenders and pushed with all his might. Shattering the foe against the bare earth below it. The battle lasted this way for hours until the ground was littered with shattered elementals and the fresh blood shed from the dragons.
The call had just begun and they didn’t know how long it would last. Recovering and exhausted they looked at one another. This was the beginning and they had learned a valuable lesson. Let these things collect into a cohesive force and it would be the end of the world.
“I will head to where the sun rises and on my way defeat all I discover. I know the scent of the magic that makes them now,” Crafter spoke.
Weaver nodded, “I will go to where the sun sets and fight all I come across. Boneshaker, can you keep the center of the world safe for us? Most of the humans make this their home.”
Boneshaker trembled with fury at the situation they were in, rebelling against the pull of the gods that put her in danger but she nodded nonetheless. “I shall.”
So begins each of their journeys.
The children surrounded me in rapt attention. Some of their eyes drooped from the siren song of Gradi the mistress of sleep. The parents in the long house smiled at me as they were able to enjoy watching their children.
“Tomorrow night I will tell you of one of the dragons' journeys through the first calamity. How about we go through and ask who I should spin the tale of.” I kept my voice gentle and kind. “Who wants to hear of Crafter, the dragon of ingenuity and her clever quest through the lands?”
A little girl with auburn curly hair and hazel eyes raised her hand timidly before looming around. Her eyes dropped as she wouldn’t hear the story.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell all of you each dragon’s quest. So don’t fret little one.” I set my lute aside and let my fingers rest. “Who wants to hear about Weaver and how he rallied tribes together to help save the world?”
Two young boys raised their arms and shook their hands in the air excitedly. They were identical except for a single mole on one of their faces.
Four other children had yet to raise their hands and I knew who they wanted to listen to but I had to ask. “Who wants to hear about Boneshaker and her mighty battle against a horde from the sea?” The rest of the hands raised high. “And so it shall be. Tomorrow you hear of Boneshaker. The first dragon, and her first quest.”