Chapter 58 - Daughter of Dragons

Groyven sat quietly in the tent that was large enough for six to sleep in. Watching as the cleric of Toth tended to Tiffaniel dutifully. The cleric carefully checking her pulse, and watching over her using the blessings of his guiding deity.

“Master Groyven?” came the quiet voice to his ears.

Groyven looked up, meeting the elven man’s eyes.

“Sorry, I, I just…”

“Do not worry yourself, Master Groyven. You should get some sleep. Your sister is doing well, considering the horrors you have both faced.” the man said with care.

Groyven looked at him, his eyes dark, a deep frown tugging at his brows, “But she will never be the same. Winter, said that…”

The cleric held a hand up, gesturing to calm, “Winter, the Handmaiden to the goddess Lumos. She healed your sister and despite all the blood there is not a single scratch on her.” the man said, his eyes quiet.

“But how can she, she will change, her body. If I would have been quicker, maybe… I...” Groyven looked away and back to his sister.

“Do not blame yourself, Master Groyven. I do not know all the details, but I do know that you both survived something truly terrible.” he looked to Sian as she re-entered the tent, carrying several flasks of water and cloths, he bowed his head, “Lady Darkfall.” he turned and looked to Groyven again, “The one who stopped the cursed bite, we may not trust her, but she did do what others couldn’t. Do not blame yourself.” he patted Groyven on the shoulder, “Try to get some sleep.”

Groyven watched as the cleric left the tent, securing the flap behind him. A frown creasing further into his face. He looked at Sian as she prepared the water and cloths.

She glanced at him quickly, “Groyven, do you still bathe with your sister?”

He nodded, walking over to her.

Sian smiled, “Then you can help me. We have to clean all this blood off her.”

“But her robes?” asked Groyven.

“Even if we were to wash the blood out of them, they are not even fit to repair. One of the men is already sewing some makeshift clothes for the both of you from spare blankets. They will do for now.” she said, leading him over to his sister.

He knelt opposite Sian as she started to clean the dried blood off Tiffaniel’s face. Taking the bloodied cloths and rinsing them out before handing them back.

“Sian, what will happen to Tiff?” he asked watching her face.

Sian looked up momentarily, “She may get hairier during the full moon,” she slowly started unbuttoning the badly torn robes, “Or she might change into wolf.”

Sian grimaced, slowly peeled back the fabric, soaking it to release it from Tiffaniel’s skin.

Groyven handed her another cloth, “Xiana, the one who drew the curse out of her…” Sian met his eyes as he frowned, “Winter tied her to the wagon. She saved Tiff. Why?”

Sian nodded and sighed, “Xiana, how can I best describe her? She is not an ally, and most times she is alongside an enemy, it is complicated. It is safer to have her restrained until we know the real reason for her being in our mountains.”

She looked at Groyven again as he handed her a wrung out cloth, “Xiana is certain that Tiffaniel will stay in control of her thoughts if she does change into a wolf. Your sister has luck on her side.”

Groyven went quiet, assisting Sian as she continued to dab at the blood covering Tiffaniel.

“Where were you before you arrived in the forest, Groyven?” Sian asked, breaking the silence.

He looked at her, “We were on board an elven ship. We were under attack.”

She nodded, continuing to cleanse Tiffaniel, “Do you know where?”

“We were heading back to the Enclave, it is a city on the Talkenerren coast.”

Sian glanced at him, “I do not know of such a place, maybe we can try to find it on the maps back in Meliandra.”

“It is not here.” he said quickly, “We did not come from here, it is different here.”

“Different, how so?” she asked as she peeled back a torn sleeve.

Groyven watched Sian, the glimmer in her eyes as she carefully cleansed Tiffaniel, her exotic features set and familiar as she listened while keeping to task, “Sian, are you a Fyrelf?”

She suddenly looked up, a smile in her eyes, “No, but I am a strange one. My kind died out between the fall of the world and the coming of the new gods. I am of the Eladar Wilderelves, the precursors to the Wilderelves that live here now. Though, the Fyrelves of this time do share some strong traits with the Eladar.”

Groyven looked at her, a shocked expression on his face, “But, how?”

She smiled again, warmly, “It is a long story. I promise to tell you another time. You and your sister seem to be a mixture of wilder and maybe a quarter of fyre and a dash of deepenelf somewhere.” she glanced up again, “You said here is different?”

Groyven nodded, “The moon is different, and there is that red star in the sky.”

Sian nodded, “That star is called the Forge of Souls.”

“The Forge of? And I saw the silver dragon god! The gods abandoned our world, there is the remainders of sci and tech and the leaders of the Enclave are trying to bring it back. They, they…” he looked up to see Sian watching him, her bright emerald eyes on his, he calmed.

“I saw the silver dragon god, it crashed into the mountains. I saw it yesterday morning. There are no gods in our world.” he said quietly.

Sian nodded, her eyes on his before looking back to Tiffaniel, “If she is feeling well enough, I am sure she would like to talk to you in the morning.”

He looked at her in amazement, “She? The dragon god? We are going to see the dragon god in the morning?”

She glanced up, “In a fashion.” blowing a loose strand of hair out of her face.

“If we are going to see her, I want to apologise. I think we caused her to crash when Tiff tried to use the device. We were so afraid, it was all we could think of doing.” he said.

Sian frowned, “Dragon fear? Potent, what is even more remarkable is that you managed to retain your wits to act.” she glanced at him again, an eyebrow raised, “You arrived in her territory; she would have used the fear to hold you in place so she could investigate. I think tearing her out of the sky for raining fear down on you was a suitable reaction. When you arrived there was a big flash of golden light, even back at the city of Meliandra we could feel the disturbance. The guard that arrived with Silias told me of reports out of Scarosant.”

“Meliandra, Scarosant?” Groyven said in confusion.

Sian looked at him and smiled, holding her hand out for a cleaner cloth, “Meliandra is a mixed city of dwarves and wilderelves. Scarosant is a mountaintop fortress to the east of here.”

“And you are the,” Groyven’s eyes widened, “I am sorry, Lady Sian. I…”

She chuckled quietly, “Do not concern yourself. Yes, I am consort to Antrandis, Lord of Meliandra and Hithren of the Wilds. But to you and your sister, I am Sian or Snowshadow when I am walking as a leopard.”

Groyven frowned, “Hithren?”

Another smile broke out on Sian’s face, “So curious! The Hithren are the children of the gods. Or otherwise, the purest representative of the gods that walks the lands of the Alda, or Eldonis.”

“Lord Antrandis is the child of a god? He is the child of a dragon?”

Sian stifled a giggle, “Gods no! The sixteen dragon gods did not leave this world, all but two hibernated, disappointed with the mortals. In their absence and lacking the guidance of the gods they worshipped, the mortals laid waste to the world. A war broke out among the humans, they created terrible weapons that led to the fall of the world. After many years of a poisonous storm that scoured the sky and killed all that walked in it, the new gods heard the desperate prayers of the two dragons that walked the storm, dying to be reborn again in an endless cycle of despair. They saw the plight of this world and saved it. They calmed the sky, cleaned the earth, purified the seas and brought life back to the plains and mountains.” she gently cleaned off Tiffaniel’s arm as Groyven listened in rapt silence.

“Free of death, the people who survived underground returned to the surface. And the new gods set themselves to restoring the life, the creatures that fell to extinction with the guidance of the two dragons that sacrificed themselves time and again. Once the new gods felt the time was right, they created and released their representatives upon the world to help guide the people as leaders, sages, heroes, teachers. Each god created one, filled with the god’s intent, to forge their own path. Since then, some have fallen, others have swayed from their path. But they still serve their purpose and represent the gods. They are the Hithren.”

Groyven handed her another cloth, “Lord Antrandis, he is?”

“Antrandis Kahn’Draneth Darkfall is the child and representative of the Goddess, Lumos Darkfall, the more outspoken of the three sisters. The three sisters are identical triplets that are individually, in their own right the most powerful, and combined, beyond reproach. It is they who guided the other gods to this world.” she said.

“The dragon that Tiff and I, she is… One of the two?” Groyven asked.

“No, she is their born child.” explained Sian, “Xiana, the one who Winter tied up, she is also one of the Hithren of a lesser god.” she smiled, meeting his eyes, “Turn, face the entrance.”

Groyven nodded, turning and looking absently at the flap of the tent.

“My turn, Groyven of the Talkenerren coast. You mentioned that you tried to use the device and then the dragon god fell from the sky. What is this device you speak of?” Sian asked as she slipped Tiffaniel’s loose pants off, cleaning the blood off her upper legs. “Is it the device that sent you here?”

“Yes, Tiffaniel used it when we were on board the ship and it sent us here. It should be in Tiffaniel’s inner jacket.” he looked over to the pile of Tiffaniel’s ruined clothing and keeping his eyes averted he felt the jacket, quickly finding the lump of the device. Extracting it from the pocket he stood.

“What happened when you tried to use it again?” Sian asked with a measure of curiosity.

“Everything happened the same way as when we came here, but then it stopped. It only goes one way. We can not use it to go back.”

“Come, show it to me, I have covered Tiffaniel.” Sialin said, her eyes on him.

Groyven turned and held it out so that Sian could look at it as she cleaned his sister’s back. He watched as Sian suddenly grew serious. He turned it over so she could see the back.

Sian clicked her tongue, her eyes narrowed as she inspected it, “It is unmistakable, a dragon made this. In this world, almost all of the dragon gods were master crafters in both materials and enchantments. You said that the dragon crashed into the mountain when you tried to use it the second time?”

He nodded.

Sian looked at him, her eyes narrowed as she thought, “When you arrived, what colour was the sun, was it gold or black?”

He looked at her, “It was dark, a cloudy grey-black. When the dragon passed over it started changing to gold again.”

She nodded slowly, “It stores the life-force of a dragon, to jump to another existence or parallel world needs a lot of energy to tear a dimensional rift. That is why the silver fell from the sky as she passed over, the life was being drained out of her by the stone set in the back of it.”

Groyven looked at her in stunned silence, “Our elder sister was sent to study it, and you, with one look you can tell me what made it and how it is powered?”

Sian looked at him, her face serious as she cleaned her hands off in the basin, “I will tell you the simplest, shortest story about myself. I was first born many, many years ago. Well before the dragons forsook the mortal races. Well before the fall of the world. I was brought up by two dragons, I was taken in as a newborn and they raised me as their own, they walked the world as elves.”

She tucked a blanket around Tiffaniel and sat, gesturing Groyven to sit opposing her.

Groyven looked at her, his eyes wide in fascination, “Your parents were dragons? Dragons can change their form?” he asked.

Sian nodded, “They can, they would walk among the mortal races, doing much the same role as the Hithren do now. In this world, dragons mainly had three forms: physical, mystical and their chosen elven form. I had a number of brothers and sisters, all older. All abandoned or orphaned children that made their way to Scarosant.”

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