Ready? Good, let's go run another chapter.
After talking with Gladesong, who had been posted directly outside his door, Ajax went to hunt up his breakfast.
Breakfast, turned out to be six eggs and three potatoes. After gathering a bucket full of berries, Ajax returned to his cottage to whip up breakfast. Gladesong wasn't anywhere to be seen, but Featherwind was still posted by his door.
"Good morning." Ajax said, skipping the greeting.
Featherwind responded in kind, also forgoing the traditional greeting. "What do you have there, Dragon Rider Ajax?" he asked, the elf's green eyes peering down at the items Ajax had procured. "Breakfast." Ajax stated bluntly. "Six eggs, three potatoes, and a variety of berries." He ducked inside the cottage, finding Gladesong there with Amaranth and the lizard hybrid.
After a cursory glance to see that all was well, Ajax chose to ignore the…girl, for the time being, and focus on breakfast instead. Noting a distinct lack of a stove or any similar device, Ajax pulled a lightweight camping stove out of his backpack.
"So much you can do with food." he said to himself. "If you only have heat!"
While he had been chopping, Gladesong came to what Ajax assumed was the kitchen, and asked what he was doing.
"I'm whipping up my breakfast." he said proudly.
"But, you are a Dragon Rider, you could just ask, and food would be brought to you." Gladesong said, seeming confused.
Ajax paused in his chopping to think about it, knife suspended three inches from the cutting board. "Yes I could." he said at last, turning to look at the tall elf. "But what would be the fun in that?" He continued chopping until he was satisfied.
"You like cooking?" Gladesong asked, incredulous, her eyes narrowing. Ajax ignored the look and said, "Yeah, when I'm not under pressure. If I'm under pressure to get something just right, or by a certain time, odds are, I'll forget some key ingredient and it won't come out right. I get up in the morning so I can make my own breakfast because I can." Ajax shrugged as he mounded the potatoes all together. "I find it highly relaxing, and I'll be damned if I'll let someone take that away from me just because I'm a Dragon Rider."
"Well, you've certainly convinced me." Gladesong said, placing her hand on her chest over her heart in a sign of peace. "But why you would cook your food in the bathroom is beyond me." She walked off after dropping that bombshell, leaving Ajax to think about it for several moments. "She has a point." he said to himself.
After gathering the chopped potatoes and berries into a bowl, Ajax found a larger bowl, and beat the eggs in it before dumping the potatoes and berries into the eggs and mixing well. Ajax then took a large nonstick pan out of his pack, and took it outside along with the camp stove.
Featherwind watched with narrowed eyes as Ajax waved a match near the burned affixed to the top of the fuel canister, causing a slight flare of flame before it settled into a smooth burn.
"You should be more careful with fire." he said, looking suspiciously at the stove. "I have seen it used to destroy much. Including my people."
"Trust me, I've been working with this little jobie for four years now, using it nearly every day, except when there was no occasion to. I know what I'm doing." Ajax responded though not unkindly, moving the food around on the pan.
The elf didn't seem convinced, but let the matter drop. As soon as he was done, he shut off the stove, and brought the steaming pan of food back into the cottage, where he set it down on top of a cork hot-pad so he could serve up. He split the food into two equal portions, and brought the food to the bedroom, where he found Gladesong trying all manner of communication forms to sooth the frightened girl who'd finally woken.
Ajax sighed, then in the language of truth said "I am a friend, and I have brought you some food."
The girl looked at Ajax warily, then walked over to him, where he had knelt down to her level. She took the plate of food cautiously, then backed up a few steps before climbing up on the bed.
Gladesong was about to scold her for being on a Dragon Rider's bed, but Ajax said, "Let her be. She's been through a lot, and I don't particularly care for the idea of everything I touch becoming sacred or whatever just because I'm a Dragon Rider."
Amaranth agreed, moving her head up and down three or four times. A moment later, she snaked her head over to Ajax's arm, and licked him with the tip of her tongue, luring him closer.
Ajax sat down on the bed, and Amaranth wasted no time in taking half of her Rider's breakfast.
"Hey! That was my breakfast!" Ajax said, glaring at the green dragon.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Amaranth replied, grinning as she licked her lips. "I could give it back if you want." Her head began moving weirdly, as if she was about to disgorge the food she had just taken.
"No, you've touched it, just keep it." Ajax said, sighing.
Gladesong looked concerned about Amaranth's motions, and Ajax explained. "She was entertaining the idea of giving back the portion that she took."
Gladesong laughed then, a sweet, musical laugh, and the young girl hummed in response though she didn't look up.
After breakfast, Ajax walked outside, bearing Amaranth on his shoulders.
"So, what should we call the hybrid that showed up?" Ajax asked.
"Well, that's an interesting question." Amaranth replied. "We could call her cream-scales, or tortured one, or lizard child or…well there's a lot of things we could call her."
Ajax pulled out a small handheld computer, and began a search for 'lizard' in all languages. Finally, he came up with a name he thought would be suitable. "Savra." he said. "Greek word meaning 'lizard', but in this language, it seems pretty enough to be used for a girl's name, and I think it would fit. What do you think?"
"Hmm. An interesting idea. I like it." Amaranth hummed appreciatively as Ajax scratched at the corner of her jaw.
He had been walking to the Stargate so he could give Atlantis his report, and get an update from their end. Just as he was about to reach for the DHD button, he heard a loud whistling noise, and looked up, startled. An odd, streaky silver tunnel seemed to have attached itself to the Stargate, and it appeared to be the source of the high pitched whistling. Right after it started up, the tunnel seemed to destabilize, shifting, and distorting like an image on a tv might while someone plays with the satellite dish.
Eventually, though, it stabilized, and with a sudden whoosh and a snap, an imposing figure strode out of the tunnel.
He was tall, and well built, as well as rather handsome, and wearing a grey cloak. At his hip was a flint-grey, hand-and-a-half sword, with a large diamond in it's hilt. Perching on his shoulder was a small, long-bodied dragon. The dragon was a lustrous, silvery grey, it's feet were like those of a falcon, or similar bird of prey, while it's fore-claws were more like hands, albeit, with razor-sharp talons for nails. Instead of spikes, a line of dark grey fur stretched from just behind it's long, smooth, curved horns, all the way down to it's feather like tail-tip, which was the same color as it's fur.
Ajax watched them in shock but once he registered what he'd seen it was too late, they'd gone. With the tunnel no longer there, Ajax went back to the DHD, and pushed the button. The 'gate dialed, and stabilized into a wormhole to Atlantis.
"Atlantis, this is Ajax, do you read me?" he said, talking into his radio.
"Yes, we read you." came Dr. Wier's disembodied voice. "What's going on over there?"
"Well, in the time since my last check-in, I had a run-in with a group of about forty slavers, after that we got to Ellemera, there was a huge party, but I don't remember much of it, and just now, some guy just stepped out of a weird, streaky tunnel that seemed to attach itself to the gate."
"That's what I was asking about." Dr. Wier said, her voice sounding serious over the line. "We had a streaky, whistling tunnel appear over our 'gate just before you dialed. It flickered like it was unstable, and we lost power in the Control Room while it was happening."
"Oh, I bet Angel was really pleased about that." Ajax responded dryly.
The stranger who had stepped out of the tunnel reappeared suddenly and looked at the radio in Ajax's hand. "My I use that for a moment?" he asked.
"Sure." Ajax said, hiding how startled he was that the man had reappeared without his knowledge, and handed over the small device.
"My name is Aragon the Grey." the stranger said into the radio. "I am the one who created that tunnel, and I am sorry for any interference I may have caused. Is your Stargate located somewhere else on this world by any chance?"
Dr. Wier's voice came back at once. "Is Ajax unharmed?"
"I did not harm him, I just borrowed his vox for a moment."
"Yes, our 'gate is located on this world, about two clicks off the coast. What is a vox?" Dr. Wier asked.
"The device I'm using to talk to you is a vox." Aragon said, sounding slightly confused.
"Oh, you mean the radio." Dr. Wier said, understanding.
Aragon turned towards Ajax. "You call this a radio?"
"Walkie-talkie, technically, but yeah, we refer to them as radios." Ajax explained
"Oh." Then Aragon noticed the headphones that Ajax was wearing. "You listen to music?"
"Yeah. I've got artists like Hammerfall, Sabaton, Dragonforce, Nightwish, that sort of thing."
"You listen to Dragonforce?" Aragon asked.
"Yeah. There a problem with that?" Ajax responded. The stanger, Aragon, shook his head.
"Mind sharing?"
Ajax merely grinned, and pulled up his most recent setlist. After stabbing the play button with near murderous intensity, a soft piano began the introduction of a song. After several measures, the singer took a breath, and began:
"Full the moon, the midnight sky
Through the dark they ride
Warriors of forever will sacrifice the night
One for all and all for one
The future time has come
Faces filled with torment
Your heart beats like a drum
Never you will look back again
You'll fight on 'til the end
Together we will live on forevermore…
In this land we have defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we are defenseless in a land where dragons rule
In this land we have defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we are defenseless in a land where dragons rule
Dragons rule!
Flash of steel in the mid-day sun
The battle has begun
Blood spills all around us but still we carry on
No mercy we will show them now
The white flag shall be raised
We'll fight for our freedom
Ride towards this evil place
We all stand until the end
allegiance to this game
In this land we've defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we're defenseless in a land where dragons rule
In this land we've defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we're defenseless in a land where dragons rule
Sun set in the western sky
The battle's almost done
The victory will be glorious
Our enemies are gone
We all stand until the end
allegiance to this game
In this land we've defended from all things dark and cruel
lNow we're defenseless in a land where dragons rule
In this land we've defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we're defenseless in a land where dragons rule
[Solo]
In this land we've defended from all things dark and cruel
Now we're defenseless in a land where dragons rule!"
"An apt song to choose." Aragon said. "You see, Thelduin? Not everyone considers it crap!"
"Hmm." the dragon said, her eyes flickering over Ajax and Amaranth. "I consider it crap, and that's all that matters."
"Not to bother you or anything," Ajax said. "But I was just on my way to Rhonon's forge. I wouldn't mind having company."
"Sure, I will accompany you." Aragon said.
After a few minutes of walking, Ajax turned his head aside, and took a deep breath, then continued walking.
"What was that about?" Aragon asked.
"What are Chaos Marines?" Ajax asked in reply.
Aragon's eyes bugged out a little bit, before he replied. "Chaos Marines are Space Marines that have elected to join a galactic force known collectively as Chaos. They are twisted versions of themselves, bearing corrupted weapons, and they live only for their foul Chaos masters, the Chaos gods."
"And how close to actual deity-ship are these Chaos gods? I ask because there is…was a race of parasites in the Milky Way Galaxy called the Goa'uld. They set themselves up as gods, but were just aliens with powerful technologies that anyone with naquada in their blood from having a Goa'uld or Tok'ra in their head could use."
"And the difference between a Goa'uld and a Tok'ra is…what exactly?" Aragon asked.
"The Tok'ra were a resistance movement that opposed the Goa'uld System Lords. The main difference besides that is that a Tok'ra symbiot almost never takes a host without permission. Another thing is the fact that the Tok'ra do not use a Sarcophagus, which is a healing chamber that allows for near immortality with the price of loosing the good in the person using it." Ajax explained.
Aragon blinked for a moment. "Okay." he said.
"Who or what is Horus?" Ajax asked quietly.
"How do you know these names?" Aragon asked accusingly. "Are you in league with them? Because if so…" his hand gripped his sword and pulled it out a few inches.
"Keep your hat on." Ajax said. "Or maybe I should say sword in your sheath. I don't know much about these names, but I smell traces of them in the wind. It's an ability I have, and I'll gladly explain it to you if you will promise me an unbreakable promise that you'll tell no one what I'm about to tell you."
Aragon considered the request, trying to think through any ulterior motives the kid might have. Cussing softly, he did what the impudent kid had asked of him.
"Good." Ajax said, satisfied. "I was in the moonpool at the time of the black sun. During the shift, I became immortal, gained the ability to smell things that most others can't smell, and the ability to do magic far beyond that of any elf. I don't technically have to eat or sleep anymore, but I do it anyway."
Aragon filed the information away for use at a later date. "Horus led the Horus Heresy." he said.
"Great, just what I need, more religious wars. I thought I left all that shit in the Middle East on Earth." Ajax complained crossly. Aragon just shook his head at the younger Rider's theatrics.
"Cut the crap." he ordered. "I'm not here to put up with your theatrics, though I honestly didn't expect the Chaos Marines to be here so soon. My sources had them coming here in another six months."
"Well, looks like I'll have to upend the whole can." Ajax said. "I had been doing some R&D for a new tool of sorts, but…with a threat like this, so soon…I'll have to build now, work out kinks later, if I survive that long, which I will." Ajax said the last part with the smugness that comes with being completely immortal.
Aragon just shook his head. "That's why it's considered crap, Soul-friend. Because almost everyone who listens to it is nowhere close to the mainstream of society, no matter what society they happen to be in." Thelduin said. Aragon looked at her, eyebrows cocked. "Nowhere close to mainstream?"
"With the exception of yourself of course." Thelduin purred smoothly.
Aragon left the matter, knowing that their views on music would never match on that count. 21st century Justin Bieber on the other hand…they both agreed that his music stank to high heaven, and nothing could be done about it.
The four arrived at Rhonon's forge, and Rhonon stepped out, having noted their approach to her forge.
"Let me guess." she croaked. "You," she pointed at Ajax. "are looking for a weapon, and you, Aragon, have either managed to dent the sword I gave you so long ago, lost it, or just want to visit me for a reason unrelated to your sword. Am I right?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for a pair of long knives with a one-foot hilt each, and an interlocking pommel on each." Ajax said, looking Rhonon straight in the eye. "I was told you could help?"
"Aye, I can help." she started walking back to her forge. "But should I?" she rounded on Ajax suddenly. "Tell me that. Why should I loose yet another reaper of lives?" Her eyes drilled into Ajax's and even he quailed before their intensity.
"Because I'm like Eragon." he replied, after several long moments. "With exception to the fact that I can't do something I would know to be wrong. It's related to the magic event I'm sure you noted during the solar eclipse?"
"I don't know what that means, unless you are referring to the darkness that covered the sun at midday some time ago."
"That's the one." Ajax confirmed.
"Then you are one with the gift -and the curse- of water?" Rhonon asked, deadly quiet.
"Yes." Ajax returned, equally quiet.
She was quiet for a moment, thoughtful. "Very well. I will do ask you have asked. Aragon the Grey," she called, raising her voice once more. "Why have you come here?"
"To visit the one elf in all of Ellesmera that I know cares nothing for ceremony." Aragon said.
"I see." Her eyes flicked to Aragon's scabbard. "Your sword, may I see it?"
"Sure." Aragon replied, drawing his sword. He handed it to the smith with something approaching reverence.
She took the sword, and slashed with it a few times, spun it, and then looked down the length of the blade on both edges. "You have kept it well." she said, looking pleased. She handed it back to Aragon, who slid Illumeo back into it's sheath.
"Now, Ajax, let's see about those knives you wanted."
"I will go back now. To the girl." Amaranth announced. Ajax nodded and tossed her into the air so that the little green dragon spread her wings and disappeared down the trail, elves bowing at her as she passed.
As Ajax followed the elven smith into the atrium of her forge, a cool shadow spiraled overhead, landing nearby. It was Thelduin, but far larger than Ajax had seen before. "Props." Ajax said, before ducking over to a workbench.
Ajax's elven cottage:
Savra and Amaranth were curled up together on Ajax's bed, the young hybrid wrapping her arms around Amaranth possessively, as if to assure herself that Amaranth would always be there for her.
Gladesong still wasn't thrilled about the idea of some newcomer staying in a Rider's dwelling, on aforementioned Rider's bed, but as both Rider and dragon had permitted it, she saw no reason to attempt to change the situation.
Amaranth had been purring, but she shifted intensity at odd intervals to keep the young girl at ease as much as possible.
Suddenly, there was an odd magical signature, one that Amaranth had never felt before. It was strong, proud even, but controlled. As she contemplated the signature, a small, long-bodied dragon whip curled through the air, coming to rest on the foot of Ajax's bed.
Savra woke, having felt the bed shift as Thelduin landed. Her eyes landed on the small, grey dragon, and she moved so that Amaranth was between her and the interloper.
A brief probe from Thelduin, so light that none save an experienced magic-user would detect, told Thelduin all she needed to know, and more. In response, she began radiating feelings of peace, safety, and contentment.
Having soothed the human-like girl, Thelduin turned to the young dragon she had come to teach.
"Hold still." she ordered, placing her paws on Amaranth's head. As she conveyed the information, a sensation began to build up in Amaranth, and when Thelduin released her, Amaranth sneezed so mightily that she wound the steel bedpost with crystallized fire. It melted the rod in a matter of seconds, and Thelduin looked impressed.
"My turn." Amaranth said. She placed her forelegs on Thelduin's head, and transferred the information required to use crystallized fire as instinctually as Thelduin grew or shrunk.
With that over, Thelduin nosed at the four year old human/lizard hybrid. Examining Savra's memories, a profound sorrow settled over Thelduin, and through Thelduin, Aragon.
Rhonon's Forge:
"Damn!" Ajax swore. He had felt what Amaranth had felt, and had the same sneezing reaction. He tried to hold it back, but it exploded out of him, a roiling wall of flame exploding out of his mouth. It didn't catch the grass on fire, but still startled the three people standing in the atrium.
Ajax staggered bleary-eyed around the atrium for a few moments, locked in the aftermath of the massive sneeze. Rhonon had a mask of indifference over her features, but Aragon had openly stared when Ajax had, for all intents and purposes, breathed fire.
"How did you do that?" he asked, standing back slightly from the younger Rider.
"I don't know." Ajax admitted. "To my knowledge, I've never breathed fire before. While we be all up here forging it up yo, we might as well make another one of those steel corner posts that were on my bed. Amaranth sneezed so hard she wrapped one in crystallized fire." As Ajax finished speaking, he noticed Aragon crying. Of all the things he ever thought he would see, this was not one of them. Knowing it was probably due to the link between him and Thelduin, and knowing Thelduin was with Savra…Ajax put the pieces together. "Her name is Savra." he said to Aragon. "The human/lizard hybrid is named Savra."
Aragon nodded. "Greek for lizard, yet pretty enough to use for the name of a person." He wiped his eyes and coughed. "Well, close, to a person."
Answers to Readers, due to the fact that I just can't keep going anymore with this chapter.
Master of the Blood Wolves: I'm hoping I kept your flagship character in character.
The crystal fire, until it debuted, was just in our idea-bouncing. The whitecoats were hiding, and it was Q that did that, not the demons…on second thought, it's probably the same difference, except for the fact that Q is (sort-of-semi-if-he-has-to-be) benevolent. I wouldn't stretch that one too far, it would snap. I honestly wasn't expecting that to go down the way it did either, but it happened, so now it's published. You like how that works?
Jamtd: Read above reply.
Feather-sensei: the escapee will not play a big part in things, disappearing into the background after five chapters or so, coming out again from time to time, but not as much as Ajax or Eragon or anybody else.
GallifreyanGhostGirl: I find it interesting that you enjoy the same music as I do…Ajax is (to a degree) an extension of me. Angel seemed to be the best choice…could you really imagine The Gasman as Atlantis' AI? I shudder to think of the prospect.
And now, Avenging Angels has closing.
Gazzy's more of a boom boom guy. He likes blowing things up with his pyro in crime. Angel was the right choice for that. The only other person who could have achieved it would have been Nudge for her technical prowess shown in the books. But Angel's the special one as far as gifts go. She seems to be tuning up to Atlantis just fine.
As always R&R
Sincerely,
Avenging Angels