Chapter Fifty-nine

Champion

It took me a while to find a comfortable position to get to sleep that night. The fire in the dome was warm, and we were a little more crowded than usual.

My thoughts drifted to what had happened in the weeks since I last left Raishan as I finally fell asleep. I began to feel like I was in an endless darkness, nothing around me. Faces started to appear in my vision, those I had traveled with but were no longer with me— Darion, Lem, Lorcan, Kestral, Elora, and Sindus. I felt a pang of guilt and sadness at the sight of Sindus.

Their faces were sad, but also warm and trusting. It looked as if they were trying to encourage me, and I smiled a little bit as I remembered the good times and adventures we'd had together.

I sensed something behind me and turned. Standing in a row were those who were now my companions— Melima, Keothi, Naidaroe, Ari'yasa, Jörgen, and Sephra. They stood as if ready, waiting to follow my lead. I glanced down, trying to think of what to say, but when I looked up again they were gone.

A powerful voice reverberated around me from the darkness, coming from everywhere, and yet nowhere. The voice was deep, yet smooth and soft. The voice of Bahamut. "Tawariell Nosgartha."

Everything inside of me tensed up. I knew he meant me no harm, but it was still a bit terrifying. I looked around to find where he was. There was nothing around me, only darkness. I glanced upward, and saw a huge pair of silver and blue eyes, staring at me from what seemed like a great distance, but also seemed so close that I didn't know why I couldn't see the face and head around them.

The Platinum Dragon continued, speaking in Draconic. "The time is hastening and the division grows wider."

He revealed the rest of himself in a radiant white light as he spoke. His face was only two arms lengths away from me at most. He was immense, even bigger than the white dragon my friends and I had fought. His platinum scales shimmered in the light.

He stood on all four feet, and his tail looped around me in a large circle, bathing me in a silvery glow. For a moment I felt trapped, with no way out. Was I going to be breakfast for this magnificent Dragon?

I calmed myself. He wanted to help. The tail was in a protective position, not an aggressive one. It directed my attention to him, instead of the darkness beyond. I'd just talked to another metallic dragon without going into a panic, I could do it again now. Every time I had a vision I learned more to help me save the Tree. Bahamut appearing to me was a good thing.

His majestic head loomed over me. I looked up again into his glowing eyes. This time when he spoke, his mouth moved. "Do you still fear me?"

I felt embarrassed, I'd just thought that he was going to devour me. I was surprised at how soft my voice was as I answered. "A little bit, but not as much as I used to."

I gave a timid smile. I was doing better, I trusted him a lot more than I had previously. My fear was more out of instinct than anything else.

"That is good." He stood on his hind legs, stretching out his chest and extending his wings. They looked like massive sheets of glittering metal, each wider than most buildings.

He took in a deep breath, and I let out a breath of awe at his magnificence. He then blew out a blueish-white flame in a circle that landed on the ground around me. It was so close I could almost touch it if I reached out. It didn't burn me, but I was totally surrounded by it. The light it gave off was so piercing it was almost painful.

He spoke again. "Fear is the root cause of suffering, and the world needs less fear and far more understanding. Only when understanding is seen and felt in the heart can true healing happen. Your own heart is healing, and in time you will understand why you are so important in this world.

"The Elves have long been in conflict, and it will take someone who is humble of heart and strong of mind to help them. Are you prepared to accept your place in the world and be the champion, my champion, that I know you are?"

I felt a peace in my heart. He was right, my heart was healing. A month ago I was still terrified of and hated all dragons, yet the words now came out quickly and easily. "Yeah, yeah I am."

He took in a deep breath, and the flames around me grew higher. He began to beat his wings and rose above me, flying right over me, three storeys up. I could feel the heat of the flames increasing on my arms and face. For a split second, the fear rose again within me. What had I done? What had I just agreed to? What was he going to do?

Now that he was in the air, I realized the true immensity of his size. From snout to tail he was as long as a nine-storey building was tall. His sheer size was daunting and yet awe-inspiring at the same time.

He spoke again as he flew above me, "Meditate and seek my guidance each day, and I will grant you my power and understanding. Now receive my boon and a blessing."

A giant torrent of fire, flame, and light emanated from his breath as soon as he finished speaking. Radiant white fire spewed from his mouth, completely engulfing me. I had to close my eyes to avoid being blinded by the intense light.

In my mind, I began to see shapes, symbols, words, and movements. I began to understand the origins of the Draconic language at its very roots, and how it tied to the arcane magics in the world.

The flood of knowledge threatened to overwhelm me. When I felt that my mind could hold no more I was taken again by darkness, but I was calm and at peace. I fell into the deepest and most comfortable sleep I'd ever felt in my life.

. . .

I woke up in the morning feeling more invigorated than I had in a long time. I somehow felt different, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what that difference was. A medallion as long as my thumb pulled down on my neck as I sat up. It had a dragon etched into the center of it, with runes and blue gems set around the edges. I asked my friends. "Did anyone do anything with this last night?"

"Yeah, we saw things last night," Ari'yasa said.

"Are you alright? You were stirring," Naidaroe said. "You looked really peaceful, but it was almost like you were in a trance."

"I kinda was..." I said. It was hard to gather my thoughts, each of my visions were so different.

Ari'yasa looked concerned. "Well, we weren't sure what happened, but you started glowing from within, and then it slowly faded away and this amulet was left in its place."

"That probably would have been when I had a vision last night." It felt weird to be talking about it. This one felt different, because of the boon I received.

"A vision? Of what?" Ari'yasa asked.

"Of the Platinum Dragon, again." Right as I said it, Melima stubbed her toe and started swearing in Draconic.

"Don't you be talking that way!" I said.

"You understood me?" Melima asked.

"We've spoken in Draconic before!" I replied in Draconic.

"Oh, yeah. What's that around your neck? It looks fancy. You had another dream?"

"I did."

"Tell us all about it!" Melima seemed even more excited about it than I was.

"So, Bahamut appeared to me again. I think full size this time, and it was kind of terrifying, but exciting at the same time. And he told me that things are happening faster, we need to figure out what is going on, but that I will figure out what it is he needs me to do. And he granted me his boon, I just need to meditate for a little bit each day to be able to use his power."

I picked up the medallion. "I think that's what this is, is a holy symbol."

"What does that mean?" Melima asked.

"Like your spellcasting focus, the same thing."

"You can cast spells now?"

"Yeah." I smiled. I wasn't going to feel so helpless in battles that needed magic anymore.

"What kind of spells are you going to do? That's awesome!"

"I feel like I have a lot more magic I can do right now. In my vision, I started understanding the Draconic origin of magic. It's still making my head spin a little bit."

"Oh, we've got to sit down and chat! When you feel less dizzy," Melima said.

I smiled. Of course she would be interested in that. "I feel like I can do more healing. I feel like that's something I could do even without meditating, is healing spells. I feel like I could call on divine power against our enemies, or other protection spells. I need to meditate, but I feel like that's what I could do."

"Like a paladin?"

"A little bit, yeah. I saw Darion cast a lot of these types of spells. But it seems to me that Bahamut has accepted me as one of his clerics."

"Well, that's cool. Is that always something you wanted to do?"

"Nope. It was only about when we got back to Emildan most recently that I started to think that maybe that was where I needed to go."

"Cool, congratulations," Melima said. I was still in a bit of shock. I gathered some food for breakfast, then excused myself to meditate. It felt good to be meditating again. I hadn't really been doing it since it no longer provided the rest I needed.

I thought back on my vision. I couldn't even consider it a dream, it was too lifelike, it felt too real. Bahamut accepted me, even though I still feared him a bit. Things were moving faster, the division was growing.

And again, I was important in the world. I was a champion, and I accepted it. Why had I been shown my friends? They needed me to lead them. But why my old friends? Sindus was with those no longer with me. Maybe he was at peace, he wasn't meant to follow me anymore. We could figure out if we could bring him back later.

For now, we had bigger problems to solve, or even more would die.