The Oath

(Brother a little later)

Time passed and the knowledge of the majority continued to grow, however every so often more new minds would appear and we would wait for them to gain true consciousness before trying to educate them.

With each new mind we would gain a new kind of perspective of looking at things and thus with each new mind we would end up with more knowledge then less, because as we realized, through teaching we were also learning.

Unlike the original 5 and myself some of the unhatched were unable to instinctively figure out how to make a mana egg.

But through experimentation and instruction from those that were able to, soon there was not a single one of us that had to hatch because of default and necessary.

It was also in this time of growth that we really begin to think of the outside world not just as a source of information and entertainment but an actual place that we could go to if we wished to.

Though we unanimously decided to stay in egg and keep each other company as well as teach any new ones, we also started to daydream and talk about what it would be like to be the participants in the events that we watched rather than just the observers.

We grew increasingly excited when we saw that a mind mage was going to try and communicate with us. But not too long before this we received a notice.

Will you accept the protection of being taken underneath the wings of the one called Huge Light (Sister)?[accept][refuse]

Of course we had all without exception chosen yes, but when we later learned it was this choice that had blocked the mind mage (later mages) from directly communicating with us we were all at the very least a little bit disappointed.

However we soon perked up once again when Sister demonstrated her power more directly in a presentation were they used their magic to directly affect the outside world pranking a race that Sister called humans. Our former disappointment was forgotten but the talk and the excitement about the outside world greatly increased.  

Sister ever our guiding light and voice of caution soon tamped down some of our enthusiasm. Not long after they suddenly requested that I and Peeper ‘come’ to speak with them. With unspoken agreement we both moved towards the mental plane and were soon enveloped in their power.

When I asked why they wanted to speak to us they replied.

“I am concerned…with how you little ones see the outside world”

‘Smirking’ at their little jab at the ones who use their more common nickname of Huge Light I asked.

“What is there to be concerned about? It is obvious that the outside is a very interesting and entertaining place is it not? You even show this to us yourself.”

Her voice seemed to sigh then she replied

“While it is true that the outside can indeed be most amusing there is far more to it then that…I am afraid that I may have been limiting what you saw a bit too much”

“What more is there? Through Peeper here we can see what we wish even without your help.” I pointed out

“That is not completely true…” they sounded almost guilty…concerned I made a mental gesture urging them to continue.

“I have been running an interference on what you have been able to see and…access Peeper especially…in other words I have been blocking some things from your eyes…er view.”

I was a bit shocked…I had thought that I especially was able to tell when they were doing something but I had not sensed any form of “interference” as they called it.

“Why?” I asked simply

“The outside world has many things that are painful, and many things that are even worse than painful…I wanted to protect you from feeling the misery seeing those things can cause”

I quickly began to think…if there are things in the outside that cause  misery, how would Sister know about them? The answer was obvious. Sister must have saw and experienced the misery for themself.

Using  what my dim recollections told me pain and misery felt like and then  imagining Sister feeling such things. I immediately felt a great rejection and dislike of the idea. So I could understand why Sister  didn’t want us to also feel what they felt.

But…there must be a reason they were telling us this now…or otherwise they would have just let us continue without knowing about the misery.

“Why tell us now?” I voiced my conclusion

“You all were so excited to see the mind mage attempt to reach us…and so when they were unable to because of my protection you all had a great disappointment. I realized then that you had no way to realize that there was a positive of missing out the excitement of that glimpse of the outside…and that advantage was safety.

You all have been so sheltered by my protection that you don’t yet realize what danger is…while I don’t want to be the one to tell you about danger I don’t want you to encounter it because of the knowledge I have shared with you.”

She fished her speech by giving us a few pictures that we had not been shown before…frightening pictures that made me realize the few instinctive times I had sensed danger were actually only the tip of the pyramid of what I could feel.

Composing myself, I comforted Peeper who had been so startled by the images that they attempted to hide from them by squeezing their mental self as close to mine as possible.

“How would having knowledge put us in danger?” I asked a bit hesitant to know

“Knowledge is power. I have already explained a bit of what war is…though I left out the misery parts…right now our kind…our family is at war with other dragons. To simplify things…I will just say that during war one can become desperate for power because enough power can usually make one safe.

If the outside world knows of your…no our power then they will want to use it, to help them in the war. You all are too innocent and unready to help them in the war in the manner they will most likely force you to.

I feel that even I am not yet ready to help in such a thing as war. If the mind mage knew of our power they would have most likely started us all down the path of entering the war and war is one of the most dangerous things.” They said this in a much more neural yet firmer tone then before.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Then what can we do?” I asked “You stopped the mind mage now but what about later when there will probably be more mages? And more importantly what about when we all hatch as we are currently beginning to dream of doing?” I asked

I was a bit concerned because if it was as Sister indicated and power put one into danger Sister would be the one with the most to fear.

“First of all there is no need to have any worries so long as we are unhatched…I have enough power to protect us from the mind mages and almost anything else so long as you all continue to be in eggs and close to me.”

“That’s a relief” I acknowledged “But second of all?” I continued

“…Second of all…I am…admittedly uncertain as what will happen when you hatch and no longer meet all the requirements for full protection. I don’t even know if I can protect you even half as much…as now…but I have been making tentative plans. “

“What kind of plan?” I ask intrigued

“A simple and usually effective sort of plan. All of you must think long and hard as to when you decide to hatch, and you must make a lot of preparations in order to be ready for as many things as possible.” they said

“That makes sense” I indicated acceptance “I was also thinking that we needed to do something more before we started to more seriously think of hatching, but that isn’t the only part of the plan is it?” I smirked

“You know me so well, indeed it is not the whole of the plan” they said with amusement coloring their voice. “The other part of the plan is something all of you might find a bit more difficult…” their voice faded sentence unfinished

“What is it?” for the first time since the conversation started Peeper spoke up “What is it and why is difficult?”

“It is difficult because it is hard to do” Sister said

I winced slightly, I am not sure in what way it changed but something about Sister’s voice definitely changed in the way their voice sounded when they spoke Peeper versus the way they spoke to me.

Whatever the difference was it made my ailment of jealousy act up a bit. However Sister immediately seemed to notice this and gave me a winking sort of feeling that acted as effective medicine.

“All of you must try your hardest to look ignorant. In other words you must give away the fact that you have knowledge as little as possible and preferably not at all.

If no one knows that you have power then there will be no one that will force you to use it before you are ready. Our parents will most likely be able to give us protection in this case and we siblings will then be able to in turn share that protection with the others.”

After thinking about it for a moment I realized the wisdom of such a plan.

“I think I could manage to do that.” I said

“You only think such a thing because you have not yet faced any true trials…but it doesn’t matter…in order to make this a bit easier I thought of an oath.” She said a bit sadly

“What is an oath?” asked Peeper

“It is a thing most similar to a promise, where you say you will do something and then you do it…but it is a bit more binding then that.”

I could feel Sister look at me most seriously

“My Brother would you be willing to hear and take the oath?” they asked

“What must I do?” I inquired

But apparently I didn’t have to do much…after Sister explained the basics of the oath, what it meant and how to ‘take’ it, I felt that I was ready to do so, as I had nothing to disagree because I had already acknowledge the soundness of this plan and after the explanation of the oath I felt that it was also something I could support.

To our surprise right after I indicated my willingness to take the oath so did Peeper. Hearing that Sister ran through the ramifications of the oath as well as the mechanics once more and as soon as Peeper and I affirmed that we understood Sister gave to us the oath.

“Knowledge is a precious treasure and we shall not share this treasure unless we direly must or exceptionally know that we safely can.

In order to truly protect this treasure and we the bearers of this treasure you shall promise to hide its light and support and guard each other in this duty. As well as any individual trials and tasks you and any other bearers of this burden honorably commit to doing if there is a need to do so.

Do you swear this upon your heart, upon the treasure, and by the authority of the kingdom we are given to by blood right?”

“We swear by our heart, by the light of the treasure, and also by the authority of our blood right kingdom to hold by this Oath as so long as it is honorable and necessary." I and my other sister said in unison.

You have taken an Oath.

Because you have sworn by your blood righted kingdom if you break this Oath such consequences as loss of honor and a curse may result.

As a witness and Oath giver Sister’s (Huge Light's)  honor and fate is also tied to yours

You have unlocked a new stat

+Honor

After this Sister encouraged both us other siblings to give the oath to as many people as possible, but they also cautioned us to be extremely careful on who we told the reason as to why to.

“Who do you recommend we tell?” I asked

“Any one you feel is particularly trustworthy as well as mentally strong…More specifically I would say  Hide…you said that even you can’t get past his defenses right? It is probable that even in the outside not many others will be able to do so either…also” they added the bit on the end very hesitantly

“Also what?” I encouraged

“This somewhat is embarrassing and shameful to say…but I think when you explain the oath to the others it might be a good idea to discuss how knowledge about myself in particular is dangerous…”

“So you are saying you yourself is a big part of our treasure”

I laughed though in my heart I believed that actuality the true treasure in its entirety was probably the one called ‘Huge Light’.

Sister, probably because of the embarrassment they mentioned, was silent.