Chapter 8 - Old Journals

Antrandis glanced up momentarily, his eyes sharp in the light of the copper’s rooms. The storms captured within them still roiling, tendrils of black ink threading the clouds and sparks of lightning arcing in the darkness as he kept Silvast’s union stabilised, slowly gating the flood of power to keep her conscious. Silvast lay half propped up on the bed, pillows under her with Sian close at her side. The sharp sapphire glare from her scars had calmed to a cool glow as she had rested. Hearing their low voices, he had not been keeping track of their conversation while he had been flicking through the documents, sheafs of paper and bound books that Sian had organised earlier. A warm smile came to him as he looked back to the papers in his hands, his eyes passing over the device that lay exposed, with its oiled leather wrap peeled back.

He could feel Sian’s eyes on him, the sudden flicker of their movement as she glanced at him in concern while talking with Silvast. The band of silver that now adorned her finger, visible and on display. He frowned slightly, laying out a number of maps marked with runes and locations, annotations scrawled in the Ebony’s hand of calculations and thoughts. Turning a map around he found Escorath, marked and annotated. His eyes widened slightly as he deciphered the dragon’s written words.

“…she could be watching us right in this moment? Writing in her book, speaking to us from the past?” Silvast whispered in mild disbelief.

He frowned further, quickly leafing through a number of pages, “She answered a number of Sian’s questions before.” he answered absently.

“Unbelievable… Then that page that Eira gave to you… Back then.” she suggested.

He nodded, opening another book and setting it on the bed before checking it against the map.

“She had copied it from her mother’s journal.” Sian responded for him, eyes widening slightly with the thoughts she could feel on the surface, “Sil?”

“To be able to… Gods, then?”

“Sil?!” Sian said more urgently.

Silvast frowned and met her eyes before looking at Antrandis as he quickly referenced another map, his expression growing more intense.

“Antrandis?” Silvast asked softly.

“Your father made eight. And at least one is charged, maybe even three. He was using the cores from the abandoned sanctums to fuel the devices.”

Sian’s eyes widened, “The Sanctum of Imaldren?”

He nodded, tapping the map, “Sil?”

“It was... undamaged, but completely depleted.” Silvast said quietly.

“He has written that the core was recovered and suitable for ‘transfer’, that one complete ‘charge’ has been obtained.”

“Eight?” Silvast whispered, “One is charged? Maybe more?”

“Escorath?” Sian asked, “What of Escorath?”

He looked at her, “The core, it was already missing. This journal, it is not in your father’s hand, maybe Neci’s. It was gone. Stolen. She stated that she was tracking it.”

Antrandis glanced back to the map of Imaldren, “All eight sanctums are marked and detailed by Neci. It is her hand.” he said as he scanned another map, “Scarosant is mentioned also, that it was sealed and unable to be used.”

He looked at the golden device sitting in its box, “This one was for Escorath. Your father left instructions for her on how to ‘charge’ it from the core. He was to go to…” he quickly shifted through the maps again, “The Sanctum of Rensleth, your mother made for Dagnetheln.”

Sian looked at him, “She never made it. The core was still glowing, maintaining the sanctum when we found it.”

“But he did, the core at the ruins of Rensleth was in the same state as Imaldren’s. He just never made it…Back.” Silvast said as she thought, “Where were they meant to meet?”

Antrandis flicked through Neci’s journal, “At Gealsmah, Shattered Peak.” he said as he kept on reading, “She waited there for a time…”

He continued to read, quickly tracking down the pages with a finger, “When they did not return, she left for your father’s workshop.” he said, quickly looked up, “Everything stored here was from there. All of this she brought to safeguard in case he had been captured and his workshop found.”

Antrandis put the journal down, “Neci must have went to investigate the missing core. That was when she…”

Sian nodded, “The Jade. She came back after what he did to her then returned to Gealsmah to hibernate in the chance that mother or father…”

Silvast looked at them both, “Neci-Tana the Copper dragon is hibernating under Shattered Peak?!”

Sian glanced at her with an amused expression on her face.

“Yes, she is injured still, and must remain that way until it is time to awaken the other thirteen. After she broke her bond with the Jade, he cut the seal into her as punishment, the reason for all the blood we saw earlier.”

Silvast stared at Antrandis as he spoke, “You have met her?”

“I have, as a child. To this day, I sustain her life as she sleeps.” he said frankly, “A blood rune, nothing more.”

Silvast looked at him, “A blood rune? You performed a blood rune on a dragon?”

“As a child.” Sian added.

“As a child…” Silvast echoed with a whisper, “You are keeping her alive?”

Antrandis nodded, perusing more of the maps, “The injuries she has, they were done in a way so that when she died the Jade would wake. She refused to let me heal them, so I did what I could… She lives, the Jade sleeps and we have time to find the truth.” he met her eyes, “Finally, after searching fruitlessly for answers we have happened across a trove of facts and mysteries.”

“We have found an act, a link. But we still do not have reason or motive for it.” he chuckled to himself, “Before, we had a forest but could not see the trees, now we have found the tree, but yet, still not see the roots.”

A sudden disgruntle grunt came from the doorway to the other room where most of the boxes were stored, “Aye, you need to stop prattling on, or are you forgetting I’m just in the other room sorting through these crates?”

“Are you saying I should not trust you, Thain?” Antrandis called out.

“Hoy, ‘trust’? Trust has nothing to do with it! No, I’m saying to pull your damned finger out. I want to know where Silvast’s Da’s workshop is. The treasures there would be… I mean, aye, I would just like to lay me eyes on it. Just a look is all.” Rhuthain corrected himself, “You know, appreciation for one’s craft.”

“An, is there anything there about where the demon an his pet wolf went last night?” Rhuthain asked, grunting slightly as he shifted something back into place, “Since, you know, her royal highness of this place stuck a foot an a half forged spike clean into the stone like it were cheese to mark the spot, an all that violent scratching in that other room. With accusations an everything everywhere.”

He came to the door and leaned against the jam, “Aye, I’m wondering if she went there to have a look an the green bastard got back at her for it. Maybe not the first time, but on the third or fourth, cause he wasn’t smart enough to just hop over here. Probably thought this place was dead without the core. Didn’t know she set up something he never thought of.”

Antrandis chuckled to himself, “I felt it, the same as the under-mountain byways and abandoned cities hidden in the mountains of the Tail. Dwarven prayer-craft.”

Rhuthain gave a curt nod to the curious looks from both Sian and Silvast, “She employed an elemental or even a number of them to imbue the whole structure with their strength. This whole place is humming with it.”

He gave Silvast a sly look, “Though Sil, when you blew your clothes off yesterday…”

“You have to bring that up?” she protested.

“Aye, I did. You did the right thing. I went back an checked. That blast, would have set off a reaction. All that would have been left of Escorath would have been a crater, more than ten times bigger than the complex itself. Would have been turned inside out, she didn’t want to trap the bastard, she had enough power coiled up in here to make a rain of scales an shiny dragon bits that would stretch half across the continent. She was not messing around.”

He grimaced while stretching a hand, “She was a special kind of angry, the violent kind. If everything you are saying is true, for the Jade to make a mess of her like that, he would of needed help. Cause there is no way I could see an equal counter that type of vehemence and rage.”

Rhuthain walked over, standing behind Antrandis and looking over his shoulder, “Find anything?”

“Yes…” Antrandis said quietly, his eyes still tracking down the page, “That is where she tracked the missing core to. But she does not mention anything after that. There are no words from that point on.”

“Aye, an she set this place up after she found out whatever it was. An I bet that green bastard took out your Da, Sil. Maybe his accomplice took care of your Ma. Some almighty connivance was being cooked up in this shit-hole of a land an that green bastard is the centre of it.”

Silvast looked from one to the other, “Rhy and Kit are scouting out the area, to see if they can find it. I told them to be back either before sunrise or midnight today, if not then I will search them out.”

Antrandis stared at the map, the markers indicating structures around the identified resting place of the core, “No, I will send one of Valkyries to chase them up. Jesse is already preparing. She will be fast and unseen. You are in no condition to fly, Sil. Not for at least another day or so.”

He quickly started packing up the papers, layering the maps and sheafs before stacking them in the larger box until the device was all that remained.

“Sil, you need to rest. We already spoke of what is happening and sleep will help you quicker than what I can manage at the moment.”

She looked at him, “Antrandis?” she whispered defiantly.

“Aye, I’m out of here, I’ll go see what the winged ones are up to.” Rhuthain said quickly with raised eyebrows as he walked past, “Don’t want to get accidentally dragged into this one.”

Silvast glared at the dwarf as he passed, her eyes following until he left the room.

“Why do I need to sleep?” she asked Sian in confusion.

Sian patted her leg, “Sil, the only reason you can even keep your eyes open is because Antrandis is supporting you. Your mind needs to rest. You…?” she glanced at Antrandis as he knelt on the bed, looking into Silvast’s eyes, she smiled and squeezed Silvast’s hand, giving him space.

Silvast stared back at him as he drew closer, feeling his closeness as more than physical proximity for the first time, “It is… Like I can feel you in my mind.” her eyes narrowed as she thought, “A wall in the distance? Or is it the shore, or a beach…?”

Antrandis leaned in closer, his lips almost touching hers, “It is the shore.” he said softly, his eyes on hers.

“The ocean?” she said in a small voice as her eyelids grew heavy.

“In a sense.” he whispered, “Your body needs to sleep, Sil.”

She frowned with half-lidded eyes, “But I don’t want to. There is…” she said with small voice, “There is a dark sky and – and water?”

He gave a small nod, “Yes, it can be whatever you want it to be. However you want to see it. But you need time.”

“Antra – Deklante?” she whispered, her eyes fluttering to a close, the silver glow diminishing, “Those words I said to you then, they have always held true. I just could not forgive myself. I see now, I should…Have.”

He gently kissed her, resting his forehead against hers, “No Sil, it happened exactly as it was meant to, running its path. We have both learned something more valuable about ourselves and each other.”

She frowned, her body relaxing, “But why this way?” she whispered.

He stroked her hair, her platinum strands sliding through his fingers, “It was not the right time. Now it is. Sleep.” he whispered softly, kissing her forehead as her breathing settled and her eyes flickered under their lids.

Sian watched him, a soft glance as he settled Silvast down and drew the sheets up to cover her, “She is so vulnerable, fragile even, when she is alone with you, with us. Has she always been this way?”

Antrandis met her eyes, “Yes.”

“Why was it not the right time before?” she asked quietly.

He smiled, a loving, gentle look in his eye, “You were not with us.”

Sian stared at him, her voice caught as his words shot through her.

“Something is at work here, something beyond any of our ken. Everything is falling into place, precisely when it has to, not a moment before or too late.” Antrandis whispered, “I can feel it watching, its intent observation just out of reach.”

“Aisling?”

He shook his head, “No, but it is familiar, intimately familiar, just watching, contently observing. It has been more noticeable since your restoration.”

Sian smiled, “Coming from you, I find that concerning, my love.”

“I do not feel ill intent, but something just out of my sight is setting a path for us to walk on.” he said, matching her soft smile, “It is not destiny, fate or whatever word others wish to use, it is the will of something just out of reach. It does not want to be seen, not yet.”

He glanced at Silvast, her breathing now even and deep, “But it is writing our story, penning our actions and thoughts with its words.” he said, frowning slightly as his attention shifted.

Sian’s eyebrows rose slightly as she watched his expression and the shift in his thoughts, “My love?”

He looked up, his frown deepening, “Hendosphyre has been spotted. Stay here with Silvast, I will be back soon.”

Sian nodded, watching him as he strode from the room, her eyes following him as she felt the disturbance in his thoughts.

Jesse stared up from the bottom of Escorath, the calls from the others echoing down to her.

“Hoy, Jesse… You hearing this?” Rhuthain’s voice came down to her from the floor above.

“I’m hearing it, dwarf lord.” she called back, shifting further back behind the pillars and waiting, “Least it saves me going out to find them.”

A sudden whipping of wind being displaced shot over the top of the iris, a loud booming sound as the air hit the opening at speed. Jesse grimaced, shielding her eyes as sand fell in a gentle rain.

“What are they up to coming in so fast?” she muttered to herself.

“Jesse, anything?” said Antrandis as he came up beside her.

She shook her head, her eyes still on the darkened opening above, “No, but that speed the gryphon came in over the walls was reckless.”

“Hoy, Antrandis! What does the demon think he is up to? Can barely hear out me left ear.”

“Then cover your ears, Thain! Stop grumbling!” Jesse yelled back.

Another faint whistle grew in the darkness, shrieking louder and echoing in the chamber as its volume grew.

Jesse’s eyes widened, “Do you see it? He’s going to land in here, at speed.”

“I see it.” Antrandis said, gripping the valkyrie’s arm and leading her back under the walkways.

A sudden crack of wings snapped through the pit. Air buffeting and blasting the upper tiers and walkways as Hendosphyre dropped his legs and body low, his wings working furiously to slow his descent into the pit. Sand showered down around him, scattering as his wingtips grazed the edges, sending shadows flickering erratically. He landed heavily, his legs absorbing the impact and his wings outstretched before shrieking loudly. Tucking his wings he shrieked again, his eyes finding Antrandis in the low light.

Antrandis stepped out, quickly approaching the gryphon, “Hendosphyre, where are the twins?”