For a few seconds Darin stood frozen, as his eyes swept across the massive and well lit chamber. The lower half of the room had been carved out of the stone, like a massive bowl, but with a small central platform and a ramp leading to it. The lowest parts of the chamber were flooded, by design it seemed, as several dragons lounged in the shallows. “Are you coming, or do you intend to gawk?” Blood Claw asked, while glancing over her shoulder. She was already a good bit ahead, so he jumped forward and spread his wings. He crossed the distance in but a moment, and began to walk behind her again.
“Sorry, I was caught off guard by the scale of the room.” He admitted. He continued to look as they walked, but was careful not to fall behind. As they traveled down the ramp, his eyes traveled up the walls. Niches, perches and ledges continued all the way up until the angle made them difficult to use. Dear gods, it’s an amphitheater. One with a dome on top, carved out of solid stone. The scale of the room impressed him, given that it was hundreds of feet to the small dais in the center. “How many elders are here?” Darin asked, having to raise his voice over the noise of the room.
“I’d guess that less than a thousand made it back in time.” She stated, giving a casual glance around the room. As she spoke, he noticed a few latecomers fly in from another entrance and hurry to find a ledge. As they reached the platform, Darin noticed another oddity behind it. One section contained no seating, but a single massive pool of water. So deep and dark was the pool, that he could not see the bottom. No dragons dared to enter that section, be it out fear or respect. Water from the pool poured out in a constant overflow, replenishing the waters in the bowl below.
“Why does no one go near that water?” He asked aloud. Blood Claw laughed and shook her head.
“For one so bright, you can still be quite dense. It is a matter of respect. Look higher, my bright yet oh so foolish charge.” Blood Claw instructed. Darin looked up from the waters, only to feel like a proper fool. Set into the wall, well behind the opening as a single mosaic spanning well over a hundred feet across. The image was a simple one and needed little interpretation. Dragons of many colors and shapes, cowered at the feet of one giant dragoness who wore an angry expression. She held her wings high, spread out as a shield above her children. Across the top of the image lay a thick ring of stars, many of which rained from the sky.
“The night the stars fell, and the Mother, as she sheltered us all.” He said, in a quiet and respectful voice. It wasn’t quite accurate, but it conveyed the heart of events. Blood Claw nodded and looked around them. The noise had already started to die down.
“I believe, we are about to begin. Once we’ve started, do not leave the center of the platform until things have concluded. Answer the questions that are asked, if you can. Be honorable.” She paused and raised an eye ridge at him. “And do not be ashamed of yourself. Not for your strengths, nor for your weaknesses. Not everyone will like what you have to say, but be respectful. And always remember, you are a child of the Mother.” She warned.
“Thank you, I will do my best.” He replied, keeping his head up and his voice level. She nodded to him, then looked out into the crowd. She nodded her head to someone else then straightened up and closed her eyes.
“So it begins.” She stated, then stepped beside him on the platform. She murmured something he couldn’t understand. In response, several crystals set into the floor began to glow. A hush fell over the assembled dragons, and Blood Claw addressed the crowd. “Honorable elders, children of the Mother, wise ones of the clans. We gather here today, not for a discipline, but for a Trial of Lore.” Her words caused a murmur amongst the crowd. At first Darin wondered what had amplified her voice so well. Once the hecklers began, he instead wondered if the requirements for being an Elder were too low.
“But the disciplining sessions are a lot more fun.”
“That’s fine, but where is the rest of the whelp?”
“We were summoned back for this?”
“If the midget is the first act. Will we have elven jugglers for the next?”
“Oh, oh. Fire-breathers would be a great act too!” A blue from the water declared.
“What’s so good about seeing a squishy breathing fire?” His neighbor inquired.
“When they fail, of course. That’s always the best part.” The blue replied.
“Silence!” Blood Claw roared, surprising the elders. Once her echo had ended, she took a deep breath and spoke into the silence. “If all of you are quite finished-”
“Almost.” Dark Flame interrupted her, looking smug. Bastard. If looks could kill, she and half the room would have just sent him to his bind point. With a huff, he looked away admitting his defeat.
“Under normal circumstances, we would not bother the council with a mere Trial of Lore. But we have we have been given something unique, and the Mother does not teach us to be wasteful or ignorant.” She stated, pausing only to take a breath.
“You could have fed him better at least.” Mumbled a blue in the nearby waters. After the look that Blood Claw gave him, he ducked beneath the waters and swam to another location.
“The whelp before you is not malformed or defective.” She began, causing another murmur in the crowd. She ignored them and pressed on, slightly louder. “He was born from an ancient egg, one long asleep in the Hall of Dreamers. His ancestral memories were very strong, and he carries some knowledge of long ago. I would advise the honorable elders, to not waste this chance. Rather than to quiz him over things that happened in recent years, ask him of the past he knows. Use this chance to fill holes in our own history.” She implored. Darin steadied himself for the questions as the room grew loud with murmured conversations.
“Shall we?” Darin asked. She nodded once, stepped of the platform intoned the starting sequence.
“Thus begins the Trial of Lore. Honored elders, please ask your questions one at a time.” She requested, as the circle that Darin stood in began to glow. It was similar to the first trial, so he knew it would record his words and his honesty.
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“Do you remember your parents? Were they like you?” A silver dragon asked, starting the questions.
“I am an egg from Shadow and Ember. They were like me, but they evolved differently in the time, likely years, that they were together.” Darin stated.
“They evolved differently, while living together? Are you sure they weren’t from different tribes?” A graceful brown elder asked.
“They evolved based upon the gifts they gave each other, while courting. Shadow was given purified iron, and he took on metallic aspects. Ember was given a beautiful piece of Flame Amber and took on aspects of magical fire.” He explained, causing many of those gathered to whisper to their neighbors.
“Yes, yes. But were they from different tribes?” They asked again, sounding annoyed.
“Different tribes?” Darin asked, puzzled. “There were no tribes, all dragons lived together in the caves. We all tended the same forests, hunted the same prey and protected the same lands.” He explained. At once the room was in an uproar, with every elder trying to speak at once. He’d expected a strong reaction, but it made it impossible to reply to anyone. Only those few elders willing to shout could even be heard above the din.
“The little half-thing lies, sacrifice it to the Mother!”
“It can’t be true, there have always been tribes.”
“Tell me more!”
“It can’t be lies, look at the runes! By the Mother…”
“Just bite him in half, and be done with it.”
The bickering and the insults continued to thunder through the room. Darin did his best to remain calm and respectful, but as the minutes ticked by his anger began to grow. These are the Elders. The so called wise and noble of our race? As the insults continued to pile on, Darin reached his breaking point.
“Shut The Hell Up!”. He roared, with the magic of the dais amplifying his voice into a wave of pressure. Beneath him, the last few symbols in the circle were colored to show his rage. When the echos of his outburst faded, every eye in the room was fixed on him and not a whisper could be heard. While some appreciated a return to order, the majority of the elders did not enjoy being put in their place, not by a mere nameless whelp. To say it was a hostile crowd, would be an understatement.
“Shall we continue?” Blood Claw asked, breaking the silence.
“Could you please take a moment and prove to us, that the runes are working properly?” Tome asked, causing several others to agree.
“And how would you have me do that, honored Elder?” Darin asked, doing his best to project respect.
“You would need to state a simple and obvious lie. One that all of us can recognize for it’s falseness. If the runes react properly, then we will know they are working correctly.” Tome explained. Darin nodded and then had to think a moment. What single thing could he say, to convey an obvious lie that everyone would recognize. That’s it!
“Then as you request. Ahem. Dark Flame, has a wonderful and caring personality.” He stated, lying through his beak. The black scaled elder gave him an angry glare, but many in the room laughed at his choice of lies. Looking to the circle, Darin could see red in his recording for the first time. “Does that satisfy your concerns, elder Tome?” He asked.
“That does indeed, young whelp. And I am sorry to cause another uproar, but I am most curious. What subspecies were you born into?” Tome asked. Darin sighed and took a breath. He glanced at Blood Claw who seemed to be cringing. After a moment, she gave him a nod.
“Honored elders, I am sorry if I do not live up to your dreams and ideals. I would rather hide such knowledge, but I fear that would be unacceptable.” He paused, hopeful of a reprieve. But no such mercy was granted. Under their stares, he held his head high and spoke. “Honored elders. I, am a Primal Dragon.”
For a few seconds, not a sound was heard in the room. Every eye was focused on the color of the markings. It was as if they were unwilling to believe what their eyes and ears just told them.
“By the Mother, he speaks true.” Someone stated. In a single moment, almost a thousand elder dragons realized some of their deepest dreams had been met…or crushed. In the seconds that followed there were cheers of joy, cries of pain, screamed insults, shouted threats, angry gouts of flame and wails of sorrow.
In short, all hell broke loose…
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Author’s note: Good place to call it a night. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It takes a bit to sit down and write after a full day at work, but I have to admit I like the results. Thank you all for the reviews, feedback and assistance. I’ve been doing my own edits and PR so, I do miss a bit here and there. On another note, I have a small favor to ask. Could one or two people let me know if the Early chapters are showing up with different or weird fonts? I got a comment earlier but I can’t easily check. You see I’m writing everything in scrivener, then copy/pasting into the post box once it’s ready. But I had to switch browsers at times, for one reason or another. One of the browsers (IE: Internet Exploder) flooded the text with extra {font} and {size} tags, when I posted.
If the old chapters are harder to read, I can re-upload them from my source files, via chrome. I just have to know about it. So if one or two people would let me know and reply here, that’d be great. Thank you, and good night!