Embers at Galdrilene (31 page)

Vaddoc looked up from his plate, his amber eyes catching the light from the orbs. “What do you mean in the opposite way?”

Sadness crept into Emallya’s eyes. “The feelings and emotions of Separation are as intense as Hatching, but it is an unbinding, a tearing away of souls, minds and hearts. Where Hatching is the most joyous thing you will experience, Separation is by far the most devastating. Very few humans live through it and a dragon never does.”

Kellinar thought of his Shryden. Even now as he sat among his companions he felt pulled to see and touch the draclet. He didn’t think he could stand to be too far from the young dragon. Since physically touching the draclet wasn’t possible at the moment, he reached out with his mind and immediately felt Shryden.

“I am here and I can feel your worry. Do not fear. Nothing will separate us.”

He sensed the young dragon had been on his way to swim and wash away the blood of his meal, but paused to comfort his rider. Kellinar smiled inwardly.
“Go take your swim. I will be with you in a short while. Make sure to get all of the blood off.”

“Of course I will get all of the blood off. Mernoth will accept nothing less.”

Kellinar returned his attention to the conversation. Emallya was answering a question about Separation that someone had asked.

“No,” she said. “Separation is not caused from merely being away from your dragon for periods of time. It is caused only by the death of one of the pair.”

“Will we be required to spend long intervals away from our dragons?” asked Serena, an anxious tone in her voice. Kellinar understood her anxiety. A knot formed in his stomach at the thought of being parted from Shryden.

“I sense no danger, yet you are upset again. Shall I come to you?”
the draclet’s voice sounded in his head.

“No, I’m fine. I’m sorry I interrupted your swim.”

Bardeck spoke up then, “Perhaps we should leave the rest of this conversation for another time. You Hatchlings are hiding your emotions well, but Mernoth informs me that our conversation has upset all of you enough that your draclets are ready to leave their swim and come to your rescue.”

Vaddoc cleared his throat his eyes on the table. “I apologize for my lack of control. Since Namir hatched it is harder to control my emotions. I will work to correct that.”

Emallya smiled. “No, it is I who should apologize. I should have left the subject of Separation for another time. It is hardly something you need to worry about right now. Your emotions are difficult to control because your dragons are young and have not yet learned to control theirs. Your bond means you will share everything with your dragon and their emotions are more powerful than ours.

“You are also still experiencing the emotions of the Hatching and will tend to have a harder time controlling those as well. Hatching emotions will begin to fade with time and as your dragons mature they will be more in control, which will help you with your own emotions. If I had paid more attention I would have felt your anxiety with the subject sooner and we would have talked of more useful things.”

Maleena looked across the table at the older woman and said with a touch of wonder in her voice, “Even with the lack of control, the feelings of the others are easier to bear. I should be overwhelmed by their emotions, yet even though I can feel them, it’s as if they are behind a curtain. I can access them if I want to, but they aren’t flooding me.”

Emallya nodded. “Your dragon shields you from some of the unwanted intrusion of others’ emotions. It is one of the many benefits you gain from your bond. Your bondmate lessens the stress of outside emotions as well although you have to be closer to him in order for that bond to help. Your dragon bond will help shield you even from a distance, but physical contact can still be difficult except with your bondmate. That is why silvers always bondmate, it is easier on the rider.” She looked at her bondmate with a smile. “Bardeck is like a shield for me.

“The deeper the emotions or the more twisted the emotions, the more difficult physical contact is. However, being in close proximity to your bondmate helps keep the effects from overwhelming you. When the emotions are very deep or evil, only physical contact with your shield will keep them from affecting you. It will also be easier to bear physical contact with those whose minds are peaceful and whose emotions are pleasant.”

Maleena glanced at Mckale. “Are all silvers female?”

“No, and if the silver and therefore the rider is male, then the female half of the bond will act as his shield,” Emallya said.

“How were you able to go so far from here without Bardeck?” Serena asked.

“I have had over six hundred years to learn to handle it. With Rylin gone, it is more difficult than it once was and you will notice that rarely did I ever touch a person.”

Bardeck poured a cup of coffee and took a sip of the hot liquid. “There are benefits for any human bonded to a dragon. You will find that you are stronger and faster than other people with reflexes the unbonded cannot match. You will take much longer to tire, your ability to see in the dark will increase, and your life span will increase dramatically.”

“The benefits to us are great,” Mckale said. “What do the dragons get from it?”

S
ervants arrived to remove the plates and dishes, leaving fresh pitchers of coffee and tea on the table. Bardeck took a moment to pour another cup of coffee. Kellinar let his mind drift to Shryden. Finished with bathing, the young blue lay on the grass with his hatchmates, letting the sun and breeze to dry his soft scales.

After a long drink, Bardeck settled back in his chair with a sigh. “We serve as their anchors. Dragons come from another plane. Dragons and our histories tell us they sought other planes because their own was dying. Their arrival on our plane caused this mountain to erupt and created the caldera. This is where the magic that connects all worlds and planes comes through. It’s where they had to come through, too.

“But they were unable to survive here long. The adults faded and died. Eggs died unhatched. They needed an anchor to hold their spirits to this plane.”

He paused and rubbed a hand along his jaw. “Kumauni, a Spirit mage, saw a vision. It demanded she make her way to the ruined slopes of a once mighty volcano. She discovered a female dragon and her clutch of eggs in the ash field where the city of Galdrilene now stands. The fading female stood guard over a nest of dead eggs. Kumauni wept with grief for the female when she saw only one egg remained alive. She approached the live egg. The female sensed she meant no harm. Out of curiosity, she laid her hand on the egg.

“She was pulled into a Hatching. Kumauni found herself bonded with the young dragon. She felt the connection she provided for the draclet. The connection that would anchor its spirit to hers and allow it to live on this plane. She became the first anchor.”

Kellinar caught glimpses of images that fit with the story. Shryden listened with him and the draclet delved into the deeper recesses of his imprint memories to find the images. Kellinar saw the nest of blackened eggs, the female, her scales pale and washed out, nearly blending with the ash. He saw the one egg broken open and the silver draclet standing among the fragments. The grief in the female dragon’s eyes when she looked at the rest of the eggs brought a lump to Kellinar’s throat.

Bardeck stared into space with moist eyes as if he too saw the images. Emallya laid a hand on his arm, her face filled with compassion. He lifted her hand and kissed the palm. Then cleared his throat and continued.

“Kumauni spoke with the female dragon for some time and a bargain was struck. Kumauni would bring together other magic users here and the female would bring more females to lay their clutches. Both knew they needed to hurry. Time grew short for the dragons. Their plane was nearly gone.

“Several weeks later, the remaining females came to this plane and laid their clutches on the slopes of this mountain. They fired the eggs. They struggled to hold on, to guard their eggs, even as they faded and their bodies became weak. Kumauni came as promised with the mages. Several mages tried to bond with the females in order to save them. But the bond only forms upon hatching. As the female dragons died, the draclets hatched and bonded with the mages. Galdrilene was born.”

Emallya picked up the thread of the story, slowly turning her cup in her hands as she spoke. “At first candidates were brought to the mountain to see if they could hatch an egg. After a few generations, the eggs began to sing to the riders they were meant to have and sometimes would sit for years before they connected with a human and began to sing.”

Bardeck nodded. “That is the benefit to the dragons. That is how humans and dragons became so intertwined. All humans benefited from the bond. With the enhanced magic of the pairings, Red dragons and their riders controlled forest fires. Yellows and their riders saved many with their healing that would have otherwise perished. Blues calmed winds that would have destroyed homes and cities. They slowed rains that would have flooded and brought rain where it was needed. Silvers handled disputes and sometimes saw the outcomes of events. Golds shielded people from harm, made sure cities were well lit and stopped armies from attacking until the silvers could mediate between the nations. Greens made fertile land where there was none, calmed the land when it shook and sculpted stone into structures. For over a thousand years, humans depended on dragons as much as dragons depended on them.”

They sat in silence for a while. Kellinar’s mind reeled. How did everything about magic and dragons become so twisted? Why did the rest of the world want magic destroyed?

Maleena tucked her hair behind her ears and looked at Emallya. “What happened to the scroll after we arrived?”

Kellinar turned to Emallya. “And Loki? Where is he?”

“The scroll is safe,” Emallya answered. “I delivered it to Anevay before I came down to the baths. I told you of her when we camped near the lake. She is one who can read it and she is a keeper of such records.” She looked at Kellinar over her cup. “Loki is safe as well and in capable hands. Marda has taken quite a liking to him. She made sure he has everything he needs. Do not worry about him.”

Kellinar nodded. He doubted if they really had hands capable enough to handle Loki, but he would let them figure that out for themselves. He smiled slightly, feeling somewhat sorry for whoever they had put in charge of the boy.

The memory of Mernoth watching over the draclets in the morning sun filled his mind. “Why are some of Mernoth’s scales discolored?”

Bardeck rubbed a hand over his face. His eyes held a distant look as if he saw through them to another time and place. “Mernoth and I were both injured severely in the last battle of the War of Fire. The only reason we survived is because Mernoth jumped into a Slide at the last moment. We were both unconscious for a couple of days. Even after, it was a while before we could get back here.” His eyes cleared and he took a quick drink before continuing. “Blood left on the scales of a mature dragon too long damages the coating that protects the scale from penetration by arrows and the like. Shadow fire and Shadow magic caused damage. The discoloration is that damage.”

Serena frowned. “Why wasn’t he healed?”

Bardeck smiled. “The mages tried to heal us once we made it back. I even tried healing him. Injuries made by the flames of black dragons and by the twisted magic of their riders don’t heal quite right. Even normal wounds won’t heal right if left too long.”