Prelude to ARC II

Zelktor Castle, Capitol of Piran

One Month Later

An icy chill filled the castle. Despite Zelktor’s location being over three thousand meters in the air it was usually warm. Thus, the freezing temperature spoke more about the temperament of those who occupied the castle than its true location.

What most might not have known was that fire dragons have a connection to the deep molten core of the earth. This connection to the core energy of the world was why the first dragon tamer chose to build the capital of Piran, as it sat on the top of an active volcano. The power of the fire dragon would be more than enough to keep the great flames at bay and use the flames for heat.

So despite its height, Castle Zelktor was normally considered to be quite warm. Except for today as an icy wind permeated the entry room. Part of the icy temperature was due in no small part to the Princess who had taken her time in getting back to the capitol. A meeting that was to take three months and start a war ended two months early. Worse the Piran forces lost a dragon, its rider, and most importantly they lost face.

Queen Zelkie, Ezma’s mother, stared at Ezma and her retinue who had all returned with their tails tucked between their legs.

Everyone was kneeling, except for Tyleon Ulkin who had his face planted firmly against the ground. His face caused Zelkie’s blood to boil at the very sight, the mark of betrayal burning brightly for all to see. Everyone who was dragon bonded had a particularly violent revulsion when looking at him. He had to ride back in a cage, one that the other dragons carried at the end of a long metal chain. During their flight back the cage had rattled and crashed against multiple trees and rocks. By the end Tyleon had to cling to the bars as the wooden flooring of the cage had long broken away. Leaving a clear path to his freedom, at the end of a deadly fall.

Tyleon nearly froze to death in the subsequent ascent over the border mountains that separated Sidhertha from Piran. Now with the violent glares from both the queen and his former peers he wished he had let go.

“Explain to me again, how you saw all signs pointing to the future you wanted, and you still missed?” Zelkie demanded. Her voice echoing around the cavernous room.

Gulping Ezma stepped forward and dropped to one knee. Something she had never done since she was twelve, but this time the gesture of subservience seemed to be warranted.

“I told you of the blind spot, the golden dome that stops all wars for the next five years?” Ezma began.

Hearing this Zelkie nodded, a faint note of recognition filling her gaze.

Realizing that her mother at least knew this part, Ezma sighed as she continued.

“Well I found that blind spot. It was a man unlike any other I have seen. Jhamet called him a dragon killer upon seeing him through my senses.” Ezma began.

“You knew he was a dragon slayer and you still sent your dragon against such a man?” The queen asked, cutting in and sending her rebuke directly to Tyleon who could only cower with his head firmly planted against the ground.

Tyleon for his part cowered in fear for not wanting to reveal his mark of shame to all who were gathered. The one time he dared to look about dragons who were not even part of the assembly began growling out in anger at him. Fortunately for him Ezma was squarely in the queen’s crosshairs, at least for the current time being.

“Regrettably I did not have a chance to tell Tyleon. We were cut off by the Belkins’ Oracle who apparently had known the warrior, as they both shared the mask of a dragon kill.”

Hearing this the queen turned her attention back to her daughter.

“Yes, what was this I heard about you being out maneuvered by an Oracle?” Zelkie asked.

Hearing this Ezma could only close her eyes and grimace. This was not a topic she wanted to have, especially not in front of everyone else. Though Ezma had an excuse built up for this as she had thought about this very fact a lot on her way back.

“Yes, I believe that their having spent prior time together allowed her to anticipate the boy’s reactions.”

“You call him a boy, even after he easily disabled your best guard before slaying his dragon. Then that same boy all but challenged every dragon left, only for them all to turn away. Then that same boy went and performed a divine punishment on an oath breaker? This is the same boy you are talking about? The same boy that you cannot predict the future of?”

Hearing the sharp rebuke of the misspoken word Ezma winced. Her mother was right, a lot of their problems arose from underestimating this youth. He was young, but he had done things that others could only speculate about. How had he become such a monster? Was he always so, unstoppable? Wait that word, unstoppable, that was the word the Oracle from the south used to describe the boy, Lykan. These thoughts quickly raced through her mind, not wanting to earn more rebuke she answered quickly and succinctly.

“Yes.”

A long pause filled the room. Ezma could swear the room grew two degrees colder from the icy stare her mother was giving her. Though these weren’t the eyes of a mother to her daughter. These were the eyes of a Queen who had trusted an important mission to someone important to them, and that person failed them.

“The boy, Lykan, is a relative unknown. From what we were able to gather he wasn’t even considered to have Power. Thus, his role as a Protectorate. He had only been assigned to Telka, a high wood elf, due to his ability to speak the language of the old people. Telka was tested as having exceptional Power to be above the human maximum.” Ezma said, knowing that some information would be better than no information at this point.

“Don’t you find that odd? That a boy could be so young, so skilled with a sword, killed dragons, and still be able to hide his power in plain sight of a magical academy?” The queen asked.

Hearing these questions Ezma closed her eyes and nodded. She had missed the obvious questions, the points that were right out in front of her.

“Well I did some digging of my own. Especially after you sent the first message to me.”

Zelkie was of course talking about the message crystal that was used to express pure thoughts in magical bursts. Two people would have to have the two halves of a linked crystal then send magic through the first one with a thought. That same thought would then be transferred to its counterpart hundreds or thousands of kilometers away thanks to sympathetic magic. Letting those first few words sink in, she continued.

“While you were on damage control. Great job on that by the way, letting them keep the dragon body for parts.”

The sharp words caused Ezma to flinch. Dragon bones and scales were vital components. Most of Piran’s forces had weapons made from the bones of fallen dragons. It was an honor for the fallen dragon to still serve their former bonded even after death in such ways. So the fact that an entire dragon carcass had been left in the hands of the enemy was a slap in the face. Though it was the easiest way to avoid any real political backlash. The school got to keep the dragon and an international incident was effectively ignored by all involved.

“Never the less, I managed to track down leads on my own. I too was curious about such a boy. A boy who could speak perfect Piran, and Belkinese. Along with acting as a mere protector and interpreter for a fabled dark skinned high wood elf. Do you know where they came from? Where the group was found at least?”

Thinking quickly Ezma nodded. “They are called the homestead seven, for seven people were all collected from the same cabin at the edge of the border between Sidhertha and the great forest.”

Hearing this Zelkie only shook her head. Seeing the look of admonishment a sinking pit fell in her stomach.

“There were twelve in all. Ten of which took a partial kill of taking down a psychic dragon matriarch. This was the bond your dragon spoke about.”

“Ten?” Ezma muttered to herself. Unfortunately the open room echoed her words directly to the queen’s ears.

“Yes ten. It seemed that there was a recording of the aftermath. A flock of dragons was intercepted by the Sidherthan aerial unit. Their attack blimps were able to fend off three of the pups, but the mother broke off. Later reports spoke of a group of people killing the downed mother. Then quickly running back to catch up to a man walking in front of a wagon filled to the brim with weapons and stolen treasures.”

“Thieves?” An adviser asked, saving Ezma from the constant barrage of what she had missed.

“That was one thought. But the blimp in question followed the group. In all three people stayed with the wagon and continued to march along, seeming not to care about the downed dragon. There was a husband and wife who avoided the downed dragon, and one boy acting as a shepherd for the caravan. When the blimp followed, it was noted that the wagon moved at an exceptionally fast pace, covering a distance with a pace that even the blimp failed to fully keep up with. The blimp then watched as they saw a burst of golden light break free of the boy who had led the wagon the entire way.”

“That’s right. Jhamet did say that he had enacted two of the three old world laws.” Ezma said.

Hearing that Zelkie paused.

“Again you knew he was powerful enough to enact an old world law and still challenged him?” Zelkie asked, this time her words were directed solely to Tyleon.

Tyleon perhaps feeling the weight of everyone’s gaze upon him spoke.

“I knew something was off about the boy, but I thought that by forcing him to use a different weapon than the one he wielded he would be off-balance.”

“You still call him a boy!” Zelkie yelled as she stood from her throne. Then she looked at everyone in the room. “Let it be known, that the word boy will never be spoken in reference to Lykan Vita. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, whose sole objective is to devour the shepherd.”

Hearing her mother reference, the old children’s story. The very one that Lykan had quoted back to her in perfect Piranese sent a shiver down her spine. She had even called him a wolf mockingly. Yet after everything she saw all the signs, and she still fell into the trap. Her own hubris led her to believe the future she saw was the one she wanted. She hadn’t actually seen the future, not when it came to Lykan. As Lykan was a clear blind spot to her, but she could hear the future around events. She had mistaken the roar of her dragons as a sign that battle with the Sidherthan Capital had happened. Instead she got her dragons roaring back in anger at what Tyleon had done. Then how they all agreed with the act of judgment that Lykan had performed.

Seeing that everyone nodded or at least paused, Zelkie continued with her stern rebuke. She needed to do this, these people were not going to learn unless they were shown their errors. So she continued.

“Now Ezma.” Zelkie said, turning her attention back to Ezma a clear sign that she was done talking to Tyleon about his mistake.

“Are you not curious as to how I was able to obtain knowledge that the boy cast not one but two old world laws?”

Hearing the obvious trap Ezma nodded and weakly answered, “yes.”

“They recorded it. Every bit. A second ship went to that homestead, during that time he was able to prove that the husband and wife were the original owners who had been captured by slavers. During that time, the Oracle Dathney and her personal bodyguard were taken back to the capital where they were then escorted to the Belkins. After which time she was reunited with her betrothed, the second crown prince."

Once again her mother’s ability to gather information was beyond impressive.

“These were public documents. The government was proud that they had found the missing bride to the crown prince that had been captured in the Belkins territory by an Azani bandit camp.” Zelkie paused as she let that much sink in, before she continued.

“I would have been fine if that was all you had found. For that would have been enough for me to dig deeper.”

“Deeper?”

“Yes, weren’t you curious about the Azani bandits? Where are they now? What happened to them? How did Telka, and Kolana two very powerful elves come to join the Sidherthan Academy?”

Hearing these words Ezma’s stomach turned. She had been so focused on avoiding political backlash for her people, that looking into separate matters was just beyond her. “Yes.” Was all she could mutter defeatedly.

Hearing this Zelkie just shook her head. “The Azani bandit camp had traveled through a number of cities, selling off a few other dark skinned high wood elves. That was our first clue of their movements. Best we can say is that they ran into some trouble and then decided to hide out at edge of the great forest, after cutting through a random homestead at the edge of Sidhertha. The plan was likely to grab enough food and resources to let them hide out in the woods before returning. The homestead seven, as they were called, all came from this camp. They were people who had all been captured as slaves and then freed by Lykan Vita. During this time Lykan Vita was credited with slaying a camp of no less than twenty warriors and one Azani shaman. In one report he even managed to redirect the lightning of the bandit leader into some of his men who had all gathered to watch the execution of Mr. Vita.”

Zelkie paused, then asked “does that information sound familiar to you?”

“It does, but I don’t know from where?” Ezma answered truthfully. Her mind was reeling from all the details that were suddenly falling into place like a giant puzzle map.

“That was exactly what happened to the Azani strike squad who tried to attack the Academy. The very one you spoke out about, due to a golden bubble blocking everything.” Zelkie said.

Gah.

Ezma was frustrated with herself. She had seen everything, but still couldn’t put the pieces together as quickly as her mother was giving it to her.

“So we now have solved a few of the questions.” Zelkie said, then pausing to look at Ezma she asked. “Can you repeat what we have discovered and what we still need to find out?”

Hearing this Ezma shuttered, as she knew she would miss a few key details. Still she needed to try to regain some of her credibility with her mother and her people. “We know now that Lykan Vita is an exceptionally powerful spearman and swordsman who is capable of enacting the old world laws, and their punishments. We also know that he can and has killed multiple dragons and multiple dragon types.”

Glaring at her obvious attempt to stall, Zelkie forced her to focus on what she wanted to hear. “What about his Power.”

“Oh.” Ezma paused as she remembered the words Tyleon said about why his own magically infused body seemed to stop on him. “He can manipulate energy that is in motion. He can manipulate lighting that is cast by others. He can also manipulate the energy flowing through one’s body for strengthening purposes.”

“Passable. Now what do we still need to know?”

Pausing Ezma was at a loss. She looked up to her mother with a confused expression.

“But we found everything about this?”

“About this, yes. But why was he in the great forest? How does he speak High Wood Elven perfectly? Where did he get a spirit blade, a blade of legend? One that only the most powerful of High Wood Elven warriors were able to wield before the fall.” Zelkie asked.

That had been left out of her reports back. She had figured most of the story was too crazy to be considered believable, as such she left out the part about the boy… er warrior, who also managed to use a legendary sword to take down a dragon. Then a thought hit her, which she instantly blurted out.

“He is human.” Ezma offered.

“Oh course he is!” Zelkie screamed, stomping her feet. “That much was clear the moment he was kicked out of his home village of Abberty in the Tython empire to the far east. The one that sits just above the fiery plateau. The same plateau where the fire dragon Smet and her young were killed in a volcanic eruption the day after the boy was exiled.” Zelkie said.

Hearing that Ezma froze as Jhamet, her bonded dragon, had shared such information with her. That the boy, no that Lykan, had killed a fire dragon and her brood a few years ago. At least according to the boy’s aura that reeked of the slaying of dragons.

Zelkie, shaking her head went ahead and gave the last piece of news she had discovered. “I have found out why you say the Sidherthan kingdom will be protected by the golden dome for only five years.”

“What, why?” Ezma asked out of reflex.

“That is the length of Lykan Vita’s contract. He is doing a basic one for one contract, and is expected to be at the academy for the next two years. After which time he will then pay back his time by serving Sidhertha. Given his class and the fact that he skillfully avoided getting tested, it is clear he intends to leave the kingdom of Sidhertha after that time.”

Hearing the words, Ezma’s mind went wide as she remembered Lykan did have an unusual class. What was his class again? She thought to herself.

“He was a Wanderer. An old class from before the fall.” Jhamet, her bonded dragon spoke up finally saving her.

Oh, right. Thanks. She thought to herself before quickly diverting her mind away from why Jhamet only now offered help. The truth was, Jhamet had tried to help in the past but the two voices always confused her and caused her to get yelled at more by her mother.

“If you are going to cheat by asking your dragon all the answers. At least do it well.” Her mother would say. After that, Jhamet generally kept his comments short. Even though they were separated by many walls, their mental bond was permanent.

“So, there is only one task that I see fit for you.” Zelkie began.

Hearing this Ezma’s eyes widened. She was going to be given another task after failing her first one so handedly. Seeing that she had her daughter’s full attention she began. “Yes. I have another task for you. The task is simple.”

Zelkie paused letting Ezma and everyone else who was gathered hear the words that would come next. “Your task, is to convince this golden dome as you call him, to come here once his current contract is up.”

“Do you want me to seduce him?” Ezma asked indignantly.

“If you must. Though I would expect more from you. I also think you already know this is not the way to turn such an asset to our side. The task is simple. You have five years to complete this one task.”

Piran, like dragons, had a matriarchal society. Thus the strongest dragons would bond with the strongest females. In both cases the strongest available to perform a bond with were female humans bonding with female dragons. This was partly why Tyleon’s dragon had been so easily bested, it was a male dragon. While still powerful, it was nowhere near as powerful as a female dragon, or a female dragon who had a clutch of eggs under them. That was another thing, the more clutches of eggs a dragon had, the more powerful they had to become in order to fend off predators and poachers alike.

Zelkie looked like she would go on, but at that moment a messenger came running into the chamber. As he entered all eyes turned to him.

“Your eminence. There has been a development at the border to the lands of supernatural beasts.” The messenger managed to get out before nearly collapsing for air.

Hearing this, Zelkie gave a dismissive wave to everyone else. “You know what is at stake here. Now move.”

With that, the meeting was adjourned as everyone from Ezma’s group left while the Queen dealt with the next issue plaguing the country.