-It was early morning in Sainsbury, and Swordfish was awake.
It had been two days since the day of the court where General Henrik Solberg declared Swordfish and his friends innocent. Since then, they had been living with the other dragon refugees on Lothian Street in Sainsbury.
Swordfish was amazed at this world of the past. Swordfish had met dragons from the Aniwing, Rockwing, and Grasswing tribes. Each tribe also had abilities like the other tribes had.
The Rockwings were a large and bulky tribe. They came in dark browns and grey colors. They were somewhat similar to Mudwings, but lacked strength in flying and swimming. The Rockwing Swordfish had met, Gravel, had explained to him that Rockwings thrived on land better than any other tribe, but were not good on sky and sea. They had thick scales and were normally large. They fought with their bulk, and they could even break through weaker rocks.
Grasswings, on the other talon, were very different. Grasswings almost looked like Rainwings, but could not change scales and were a pale green, pale yellow, or pale brown color. They also could not shoot venom. The Grasswings were very fast on land, and could easily scale trees like a Rainwing. They could also exhale poisonous gas instead of fire, but it took time until they could use it again.
Swordfish found the Aniwings to be the most curious tribe. Apart from their strange name, their ability was also the strangest. Aniwings looked like Nightwings, but also had a hint of Icewings to their shape. They were commonly a dark purple or black, but there were some that had grey scales, like a mixture of black and white.
The Aniwing ability enabled them to have "super-sense." Their name for it was Animyre. The Aniwing would be able to see things in slow motion for a few seconds. They would have a limited time where time moved slower for them. It was because of this that so many Aniwings had taken control in the Camaelist armies.
The other thing that surprised Swordfish was all the different languages spoken among the refugees. He had learned that the language Pyrrhia spoke was Arnish, the language spoken in Arnia, but here were dragons speaking Verlassenist from the country of Verlassen, Otkhodans from the country of Otkhod, Dieautish from the country of Dieautel, and more. Languages from nearby countries that had dragons and people run away. This had Swordfish wonder if the aristocracies had killed any non-Arnish speaker in Pyrrhia.
Swordfish had begun to wonder about what the royal families of Pyrrhia had done in the past that made Pyrrhia so drastically different from the world of 1868, the current year Swordfish was in. Obviously, he came from a world where the Camaelists win this war, and push humans to near extinction and destroy their cities and technology, but why was all the history erased as well, along with three other tribes and non-Arnish languages and cultures? Swordfish and his friends had a theory that they were hiding something. Actually, it went deeper than that.
It was mostly Swordfish, Vulture, and Rattlesnake who thought it up. Blizzard was very quiet the whole time and Vine didn't know much about Pyrrhia. The theory was that the royal families, excluding Glory, were aware of the demons, to the point where they were actually working together. Something obviously happened in the time before The Scorching, and both the demons and the aristocracies didn't want the dragons of Pyrrhia to know, so they covered it up somehow.
Yet, Rainfall managed to travel back in time using The Necklace of Eclis, whatever that was. When he returned to the present, he somehow found his way into Cassriel's fake world, and that's why Adnachiel killed him. That's what Rainfall knew. That's what was in the chest. He knew whatever happened more than five thousand years ago that they didn't want him to know.
They even went as far as to consider that the creepy Darkist grandmaster knew something about this as well, and that's why he wanted to end the reigns of the queens. The promise of Darkstalker was just a mask for his real goal.
What Swordfish still couldn't figure out, was why three entire tribes needed to be wiped out for this. His best guess was that back in the years right after The Scorching, their queens didn't follow the others.
Swordfish explained everything he could to the rest of his friends. From the meeting with Glory, to his encounter with his family, and going further into detail about the Darkists. Swordfish purposefully left things out of his story, like about how he has to marry Typhoon, his father giving him the earring, which Swordfish had safely hidden away in his satchel, and certain things Savanna had said. Swordfish mostly left out the last one for Rattlesnake's sake, who was already saddened enough by the story of her old friend's betrayal.
Rattlesnake still didn't really talk to Swordfish, which made Swordfish really sad, but he had way too much on his mind to really care about romance. He missed her though. She was his friend.
Swordfish felt odd, withholding so much information, but he remembered what Abyss' note had said when he and Vine arrived in the weird grass-eating world. "Only trust those you are absolutely sure you can." And with how strange Blizzard had been acting, Swordfish was unsure.
On a completely other note, Swordfish and the others had complied with the Old Monarchy's requests. They told Commander Seilbrenner everything Old Monarchy wanted to know. About dragon culture, combat, weakness, politics, everything. When they were done, Vulture noted that they still existed, so they may not have done enough to save these humans from destruction.
The last thing Swordfish had done was warn his friends about the new Skywing teacher, Falcon. "If we ever get back home, you mean." Blizzard said. "Yeah." Swordfish said sadly. "I don't even know if he's a Darkist or not, but we don't know anything about him. He could be a Darkist, or worse." Swordfish said as he recalled how Abyss had been able to transform into a dragon and back, with glowing light and high-pitched noise. If he could do that, who's to say other demons couldn't?
Swordfish sat up in the early morning as his friends slept around him underneath the tarp. Swordfish took Rainfall's drawing scroll out of the satchel and browsed through the drawings again. The happy Rainwing dragonets, smiling. One of them was definitely a young Rainfall. Swordfish wondered who had drawn the picture, as it looked different from the others, and whoever drew had to be able to look at Rainfall while drawing it.
Swordfish scrolled past the map of Possibility and stopped on the picture of the Icewing dragonet, smiling. She looked about five. Her eyes had a kindness to them that reminded Swordfish of Blizzard, but their faces were different. Maybe Blizzard and this dragonet are related. Swordfish thought, holding the drawing up to Blizzard's face while she slept.
Swordfish continued the scroll even though it was blank after that point. He scratched at the paper lightly with his claw, making a light noise in the early morning silence. He thought about how much easier books probably were, until he reached a new drawing he had never seen before.
It was a skyline. One from this world. The past. Pyrrhia didn't have smokestacks and buildings like this did. It even had a caption written beneath it. "Hollaway, Arnia. 1867."
Swordfish kept going, the pictures making his moth gape. The first one was drawn poorly, and the lines were shaky, like the artist had been scared. It was a crude drawing of humans bowing down in a circle towards a woman in strange white coverings, like a gown, wearing a crown. There was poorly drawn fire in the background. There were strange, talon-like hands coming down from the sky, doing what looked like casting a light over the woman. What was scariest about the drawing was the badly drawn dragons, bearing down on the people bowing. Their eyes were soulless. The caption simply said "Hecate."
The next picture was equally scary, just in a different way. The drawing featured three objects. First was a dagger with strange, runic symbols carved into its handle. The blade had a hollow part down the middle. It was labeled beneath as "The Dagger of Luna." The second object was Savanna's necklace. Same exact pendant on the chain. It was labeled "The Necklace of Eclis."
The last object was what made Swordfish nearly yell out loud with surprise. Swordfish clutched the scroll tightly and looked around him, to make sure nobody was watching, and then reached into his satchel once more to retrieve the earring his father gave him. The one his father had the night Swordfish's mother disappeared.
Swordfish looked at "The Earring of Sola." Same design. Two golden dragons twisting around each other. But there were strange runes on The Earring of Sola that weren't on Urchin's earring.
Suddenly, Swordfish got a strange idea. He got up, and carefully stepped over Vine, as not to wake her. He got as close as he could to Rattlesnake's head and compared her earring with the one on the scroll.
Perfect match.
Swordfish sat back down, his mind racing with possibilities. He tried to remember the prayer General Solberg had said before the trial. Luna, Eclis, Sola. They were hailed in a human religion.
Swordfish continued the scroll until he reached the next image. Three humans, which Swordfish immediately recognized as Marie LaToin, Michael Bridger, and Anthony Conwell. Of course, Anthony looked cleaner, had shorter hair, and no moustache, as Swordfish had learned it was called.
"What are you looking at?" Whispered a familiar voice. Swordfish looked up to see Anthony, looking more like he did in the picture Rainfall drew. "Uhhhhhh… nothing. What are you doing?" Swordfish whispered, quickly hiding Rainfall's scroll. "That was Marie." Anthony whispered. "I can recognize her anywhere. How'd you get Rainfall's scroll for sketches?"
Swordfish sighed and showed Anthony the scroll. "I took it from his room when we investigated it after his death." Swordfish said guiltily. "It seemed too important to just leave there where hooded dragons and scavenger monsters could get it." Anthony nodded. "Fair enough." He gestured to the street. "Care for a walk. I think I owe you another explanation."
Swordfish began walking with Anthony down Lothian Street, the city of Sainsbury slowly coming to life around them. "So… why are you up so early?" Swordfish asked Anthony. "Anxious." Anthony replied. "I'm finally going to confess my love to Marie." Swordfish turned to look at Anthony. "Really?" He asked. "Yeah. My expedition made me realize I very well may die soon. I think she ought to know how I feel before I bite the dust."
Swordfish thought about himself and Rattlesnake. It's true. I may die before I ever get to tell her.
"Anyway, we're not here for that." Anthony said, and he stopped walking. They were in front of a church. The sun was beginning to rise behind it, giving its steeple a glow.
"The leading religion in Arnia and most of the world follows the story of Hamza and the three moon goddesses." Anthony said, and Swordfish turned to look at him. "Three moons. Like as in the three moons over Pyrrhia?" Anthony nodded. "Exactly."
"The stories go that Hamza was a man living almost 2000 years ago in the Central Desert, an area east of here. This was a time when there were three moons. Hamza somehow got in touch with three entities of great power that showed themselves as the moons. Luna, Sola, and Eclis. Hamza devoted his life to serving these goddesses and spreading word of them, and in return, gained powers from each one."
"Luna gave Hamza the power to manipulate the building blocks of life. Sola gave him the power to heal any wound easily. And Eclis gave him the power to open gateways into the past and future."
"Hamza could have easily taken over the world with these powers, but the moon goddesses made a good choice. He stayed true to a vow of peace. He helped those who needed to be helped. He gained quite the following."
"But human nature was too cruel to let him live on for much longer. Various men and women of power sought Hamza's power for themselves, especially Emperor Ghan of the Valkskyan Empire. Ghan believed that if he killed Hamza, he would gain his power. Hamza, fearing this was true, contacted the moon goddesses again, and together, Hamza's powers were put into objects of his. The Relics of Hamza. Luna's into his dagger, Eclis' into his necklace, and Sola's into his earring. This way, no one person could easily obtain all three powers. Hamza was captured by Valskyans not long after and was executed. Eclis and Sola were disgusted with humanity's actions and left. Only Luna remained, who still had hope that one day we would come around. The very religious believe that if one person collects all three objects once more and contacts the moon goddesses again, the other two moons will return, and that person will gain a power far greater than we could imagine."
Swordfish stared at the church. "So… our moons… are alive?" "No." Anthony answered. "A moon is more of a sign that the goddess is present in your world. Maybe they're living through a person, or a dragon, or some other animal. Maybe they're just watching."
"Are there more than one of each object?" Swordfish asked. "No, there's only one of each, although people can make replicas. People make earrings like that all the time, it's a common symbol in Arnia." Anthony said. "My father gave me one of those replicas, and Rattlesnake has an earring that's really, really good. It even has the runes on it." Swordfish said. "I wouldn't be surprised." Anthony said. "Many groups have used that symbol throughout the years. Most notably religious groups and secret societies."
Swordfish thought to things Rattlesnake had told him about her past. Did the Outclaws ever use those earrings?
"The other thing about those objects is that there can't be two or more at the same time. Hamza really tried to think of everything to prevent the power from being misused. Say if you use the necklace to go back in time, grab the earring from the past, and then go back to the present, one of the earrings will destroy itself. That's why I left the necklace back in that abandoned city." Anthony said, and Swordfish remembered Anthony purposefully dropping the necklace before entering the portal.
"And that's going to lead me into the other thing I think I need to tell you. About Rainfall." Anthony said, and Swordfish turned to look at him. "Let's go somewhere more… private." Anthony said, and he led Swordfish down an alley next to the church.
. . .
"I met Rainfall last year when Marie brought him into the town of Hollaway. She and her platoon had found him collapsed on the ground outside a small rural town in Dieautel. He was weak and sick. He carried a satchel much like you do. He claimed he didn't know where he came from. He said he only knew his name was Rainfall." Swordfish looked at Anthony intensely, thinking about Vine, Frigid, Mahogany, even himself in the fake world. "We concluded that he simply hit the ground too hard and hit his head. He wasn't wearing an armband, or identification of any kind. We thought he was a Camaelist. We tried to do 'rehab' on him, but he didn't seem to have a hatred towards humans of any kind. He understood the war perfectly."
"Marie became good friends with him as he recovered, and when he was healed, she really introduced him to Michael and I. He quickly became one of our best friends. One day, when Michael discovered a Black Star soldier had been spying on us, Rainfall saved him from the Black Star soldier, who was going to shoot him. Rainfall helped Marie when she was depressed. He seemed to know about sadness, and how to cope. He would often draw in that scroll you had."
"One day, he told us the truth. He had been scared before that we were 'something else.' He had lied about not knowing anything. He said that he came from the future." Swordfish began remembering things Rainfall had told him about his past. That day when Typhoon tried to eat Sloth. "Yes. I suspect the things he told you about his mother being captured by the Nightwings was not true." Anthony said, almost like he was reading Swordfish's mind.
"In fact, I hardly know anything about his past. He said he lived in a Rainforest, but left one day. He said the Rainforest was not the place for him. He talked a bit about friends of his. He mentioned an Icewing named Frost and Skywing named Swiftwind. Wherever he came from, it was multi-tribal." Swordfish remembered the drawing in the scroll. Frost. Is that her name?
"One day he told us something that blew our minds. He said that he had gotten here from the future by using the Necklace of Eclis, and that the portal was still open, and in a hidden location. Michael told General Henrik Solberg, and news of this spread throughout the military." Anthony said, and he paused for a second, looking at the sky, which was beginning to become daylight.
"One day, Rainfall said he had to go. He said he wasn't safe here anymore. Old Monarchy asked if he could take someone with him into the future, so we could maybe get an upper hand in the war. He said he would, and he would return them safely. I volunteered. I was curious about this world he spoke of. The world of Pyrrhia. He made me change clothes so I would look more like a 'scavenger,' and told me not to talk to anyone. No dragons, no scavengers."
"That's when things started to get weird. He started opening these things he called rifts. They led to different worlds. He didn't need any sort of enchanted object or Relics of Hamza to do it. He could just do it at will. He explained to me that he was being hunted by somebody called Adnachiel. He never told me how he opened the rifts, or why he was being hunted."
"Eventually, a dragon in one of the worlds named Clearsight told him to go to a certain world." "Clearsight? As in the Nightwing dragonet prophet from Darkstalker's time?" Swordfish asked. "No, this was a full grown dragon. She was married to this weird dragon from a tribe I didn't know named Sunstreak." Anthony said. "Does the continent of Pantala ring a bell to you?" Swordfish shook his head.
"We arrived in this world Clearsight told Rainfall about, and Rainfall enrolled in Jade Mountain Academy, according to Clearsight's advice. Rainfall began writing in a scroll each night we were in this new world. He never let me read it, but he gave me the code for the chest he kept it in."
"He told me to keep the code, but never to open the chest. He told me to look for somebody Clearsight foretold of. Somebody who could 'see through the lies.' Swordfish, if you can prove that you are the right dragon for the code, I will give it to you."
Anthony sighed. "The night he died, Rainfall whispered something to me. Frigid had already left, and Rainfall was about to. They were going to find Stonemover." Swordfish remembered being woken up from his dream that he couldn't remember to find Stonemover. That night… It felt like so long ago. Back before things were as bad as they were now. But in reality, Swordfish's memories of those days… were fake. These memories belonged to the Swordfish who was buried beneath the tree outside Jade Mountain.
"He whispered to me 'Anthony, I have a meeting with fate coming. Things I've done are coming back to haunt me. If I don't return, I want you to know that this world isn't safe. And if things aren't done soon, none of them will be. Go and tell that to Old Monarchy. There's a greater threat than Black Star and Camael. The hero of the story needs to be found, so they can fix it, because in comparison to all the others, this story is very broken." And then he left. He never came back. I ran away, and eventually made my way to that abandoned city. I'm very lucky that Sandwing was wearing the Necklace of Eclis, or I would have never made it back."
Swordfish's mind was reeling. First, the story of Hamza, now the story of his classmate, which was deeper than he could've imagined. Rainfall had come from another world. Rainfall wasn't of the world Swordfish knew. Rainfall could world jump. And to top it all off, there were three sentient, all-powerful beings on Pyrrhia, along with three objects, which could lead to power beyond imagination.
Unless Pyrrhia isn't the only continent.
Anthony suddenly looked up. "Oh no! I have to go talk to Marie!" He exclaimed, and then ran off, leaving Swordfish with his mind reeling in the alleyway next to the church. Swordfish began wandering back to the tarp his friends were still sleeping under. He collapsed down to the ground and fell into a restless sleep, his mind filled with nightmares.
. . .
"What do you mean you don't know what happened to them?" The King asked slowly. Cassriel didn't meet the King's gaze. "They were in the Lost City of Night one second, and then they weren't. The animus is still at the school, but the rest of the winglet disappeared." "All of them? Even Blizzard followed the rest?" The King asked. "It appears so…" Cassriel said cautiously.
Suddenly, he was pressed down to the glass floor of the void, but even that began to fade away. Cassriel felt the immeasurable pressure bearing down on him from all around. He began to almost crumple beneath the power of the King.
"I could kill you with a thought, Cassriel. Your transgressions are costly. You've managed to lose track of Vine and Swordfish once again. If they find out the full truth it could add on to our current problem, and make it even worse." The King's very thoughts echoed through Cassriel's existence. "Adnachiel… is keeping… watch of them… She always… is." Cassriel managed out. "Do you know where they are?" The King asked. "No… but I… have a guess…" Cassriel said, his memories flickering to a time long-forgotten. A time of war. When man fought dragon and dragon fought man.
"1868. Pre-scorching."