6-7-12

I woke from the dream slowly, the images lingering and sending my mind back to nostalgic memories. I still missed him. Rolling over, I sat up, absently checking my surroundings for threats and the locations of each of my travelling companions. Merrick was still sleeping, though it looked like he was beginning to stir. Kaylor, Eecee and, of course, Mathias were busy with various task, eating, cooking and packing up our little temporary camp. Sensing no danger, I sighed and let my mind wander to the last few moons.

How had I ended up here? It wasn’t that I was unhappy about it, finding kin and beginning to make small changes that would benefit the Myath were amazing experiences for me. But I was used to a life on the edge, always in control because a lackadaisical attitude got people killed. Always wary because nowhere was safe and all people did stupid things when they felt threatened. Now, life decided to pick me up and carry me along on a headlong rush into change. Rapid change. I’d held on as best I could…

Despite everything that had happened, it’s seems life isn’t done with me yet. Change is difficult for everyone, and to be honest I don’t really like it, but it’s necessary. Healthy even. Without change, rot sets in, we stagnate and get too comfortable with what we know, to the point that we ignore it isn’t the best way to do things. Change is supposed to be uncomfortable, like growing pains, so we can become a better version of ourselves. That’s probably why we fight so hard against it, no one likes to be uncomfortable. And that brings me back to why I’m here.

I think back to my discussion with Kine:

“You want me to leave, Kine?”

“No, but at the same time yes.” Kine responded, clearly at war with himself. “I’ve only just found you and the last thing I want is to be separated from you. But I want to keep you safe while at the same time, do my job as King. Sierra you are my kin, an official Icanthie Royal and a Myath. In a small beautiful package you encompass everything the races both strive for and reject. You represent our greatest hope and deepest prejudice, especially for the Icanthie. Thanks to the trial, you are well known in the Capital now and they’re going to focus all their emotions on you. But if you were off, away from the turmoil that is coming, helping to save not just the Icanthie but also our Planet, perhaps that will be safer for you and best for a people who are facing the truth of their failures…”

He paused to gauge my reaction before continuing. “I don’t want to hide you, I’m not doing this to sweep you under the rug. I want to keep you safe as I guide my people through this change, a very difficult change. Its hard to face the fact that we have all been wrong to, at best, ignore the plight of the Myath and, at worst, cause it…”

Kine fell quiet as we both contemplated that. He had a difficult job ahead.

“I understand that Kine but what I don’t understand is why you think I’m safer out there than here with you and your guards. I’m not afraid, I face a lot worse out there, but if going to be in danger wherever I am, I want to spend time with those I’ve missed out on. I could have had you, Mathias and all the others for rotations. Instead, I’ve had you for just a few moons. I don’t want to be alone anymore.”

Kine had enfolded me in a hug before I’d even finished speaking and I soaked in the warmth and love. You don’t realised what was missing until you finally have it and I had found I missed having kin. Even more so since my parents died.

Kine spoke in a low voice. “I want you here, believe me. Do you know how scared I am that I’ll never see you again? That you’ll either disappear off into the wilderness to lead and champion the Myath or that some bigoted, bloodthirsty villain will find you and kill you? I don’t want you to go. But.” Kine relaxed his hug so he could look at me. “I believe that all the races need you right now, not just me. I think that they need to be shaken up and brought out of their own stagnation, to see the world and realise, like I did, that we cannot continue in isolation. Things are happening that affect all of us and we need to change to meet it or we will not survive, not as we are. I could send an Icanthie ambassador, but they would fail, as all have in the past since the Division. I think you can succeed. I believe you can. For that, for a better world, I’ll ask you to go, even when I want you to stay.”

Coming out of my memories, I smiled softly, wiping away a few happy tears as I watched the familiar routine of the camp. As hard as it was to leave Kine and the unfamiliar but welcome safety of my Capital kin, I know he’s right. I’m proud of his vision and courage to tackle the issues of not just his court but the world too. We both want the same thing, a better world for everyone. Still, I missed him and neither of us had an easy road ahead.

Coming out of my thoughts, I turned my attention to our other travelling companions. The Drake delegation that was recently sent to speak with my cousin, busied themselves with their own camping tasks. As I watched, it was clear they weren’t as practiced or familiar with it as our group but that was understandable. It was rare for any but the Myath to need to camp out in the wilds. The extensive damage to the grav-line made our travel slow going, at least for the past two rotations. Until then, we’d made good progress on our journey to the Drake Kingdom, the grav-line seemingly working perfectly well into mountain range on the Drake/Icanthie border.

But past the mountains, the havoc riven by the floods and debris fall was evident, though unexpected so far from the coast. The grav-line just suddenly stopped working. We were lucky we spotted it from far off and were able to slow our velocity and hop off. The momentum alone in sudden gravity would have most likely killed us. Still, despite setbacks, we’d made good progress. And it had given Grythfordin-tianShkii Jadiss time to stretch his wings after two rotations of riding the grav-line. He was still young for a dragon and so small enough to ride the grav-line. Larger dragons can fly fast enough to keep pace with anyone travelling on the grav-line for a time but smaller dragons are slower which meant, while the grav-line was still intact, Grythfordin-tianShkii had to ride with us or be left behind which left him little time to stretch his wings. With the grav-line broken, he was faster than us now and often flew ahead, walking through the landscape is both difficult and too slow for a dragon.

I had watched the Drake delegation closely since we’d left, hoping I could gather enough information that would help me know how I’d approach this. I’ve had experience with the members of the races before but they were usually of a certain type, either rabidly against the Myath or a supporter, by various degrees. I had little experience with an average member of any of the races so my information was purely theoretical. Now I could know for myself what the reality was. How would the average individual react to me? Would they even know I was a Myath?

The Drake were a very formal race, often insisting on full titles even when familiarity had grown among the group. They still called my cousin King Kine of the Icanthie. Try saying that ten times fast. So far, the Drake delegation had been cordial, formally cordial but still cordial apart from brief glimpses of distaste from Thespenia’s advisor, Calessi-tianArden A’Dess Sylvia. From what I’d observed as we travelled together, Thespenia was an effective leader. Despite having a lower title than her advisor, Calessi, she clearly had more power. I suspected that Thespenia had multiple titles, most of high rank while Calessi had only the one. The strain of the disaster that had hit their people and the multiple rapid journey showed in Drake delegation yet they still maintained their composure. If I guessed correctly, they all had favourable thoughts on the Icanthie, probably why they were chosen for this delegation, apart from one. Calessi-tianArden did not like the Icanthie and she certainly didn’t like me. But apart from her clear distaste, the Drakes gave away very little. It was expected but frustrating for me. I felt like I was going in unprepared but there wasn’t much I could do. I’d have to rely on my previous knowledge and think on my feet.

We’d had enough time to wake up and get ready for the rotation ahead. At some instinctual signal, we packed up camp quickly, as had become our routine, and set off, deciding to have our morn meal on the go. We had plenty of travel rations, which were light and easy to carry as well as pretty tasty. They were always popular with the Myath, the few times we could get them and lasted a good long while. We were relatively close to The Mountain, the Drake capital city, and decided to push on to try and reach it by dark though I thought that was slightly ambitious. We couldn’t know what we’d encounter that might delay or divert us but I got the impression that the Drake delegation wanted to get home as soon as possible. The weight of the recent news hung heavy on each of them, clearly visible if you caught them at the right moment, and the arduous, unfamiliar journey was taking its toll too.

The morn wore on and we were making good progress, though the fast pace meant we needed our regular breaks. Not long after our second rest break, something zinged up my spine and I froze, listening, scenting. Waiting. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Mathias had done the same and our guards quickly followed our lead. What had triggered the response? I searched my surroundings, parsing out the different inputs until I could narrow down the source. There! From the east. The Drake hadn’t noticed yet but something was approaching us and it was making a disturbance. We’d been lucky so far in that we had only encountered the smaller wild beasts of the region that were easily deaf eaten or driven off, but perhaps our luck had changed.

Indecision plagued me. Technically, I was the lead of the Icanthie delegation but I wasn’t sure what to do. My people had all frozen, alert to the danger and waiting for either instruction or cause to act but we couldn’t just wait here. The Drake delegation had continued in, unaware, and would soon pull ahead of us if we did nothing. The Drakes needed to be made aware of the potential danger without alerting the incoming danger, but their formal nature meant that contacting them telepathically, uninvited, could create problems and mar their opinion of us. I represented Kine here and we couldn’t afford to sour the Drake/Icanthie relationship, the consequences would be far-reaching. At the same time, it any of the delegation were injured or killed and I could have prevented it… It’s six and two threes really.

I had to make a decision, fast. Mind racing, I tried to make a judgement. They were too far ahead to catch their attention or catch up to them without making undue noise. Even if we could get to them, touch was not a casual thing among the Drakes, they may attack if they are startled from behind. That left one option. The delegation, Thespenia especially, seemed to look on us rather well. She may be more forgiving depending on the outcome. I needed to prevent any death if possible but as long as that Calessi-tianArden wasn’t left in charge, I think I could cope with the repercussions. It probably took mere seconds to come to that conclusion but it still felt far too long. Decision made, I took a bracing breath and acted.

“Thespenia-tianNaj. My apologies for the unsolicited communication but something is approaching us from the East. Please be wary and have your guard ready to defend you.”

There, decision made. I had kept half an eye on her to gauge her reaction and saw her stiffen, whether from the breach of etiquette or from the dangerous situation I wasn’t sure. Still, for good or ill, I’d done it and we had a chance. Let’s just hope I had made the right choice.