All right! Time for some explanations to the questions from the last chapter!
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Alakyl padded along the path to the castle, walking in the long shadows cast by the setting sun. Despite Marach's insistence that Niira should be with her father right now, she had gone off and wandered through Bale again. All of the situation confused Alakyl. She had never really known her family, as she had been kicked out by her community at a very young age. Ever since Niira's mother, then a mere child herself, had come to the island and pointed out the Chaos Dragoon who lived in the midsts.
I never asked for this. I guess Niira didn't either. That's why we have to stick together.
It had only gotten worse once she had been taken in by Serpent Mother. She had only been a pup then, and she was suddenly thrust into her secret double life as the one thing that could assure Serpent Mother's victory over her opponents.
It had been secret, until the enemy had found out anyway. And then war loomed closer every day. Soon. Very soon.
She shook her head from those thoughts. Not yet though. Let's have fun until then.
Alakyl had wandered around the barracks earlier that day, after Niira's moody wanderings had bored her. She eventually took to following Niira's father Lavitz around, making sure to give her customary growl to Coen when he arrived. But then she had grown bored of being around the knights and walked back into the city.
She had become bored again and decided to find Lavitz. Maybe make something exciting happen. Like Marach said. Get Lavitz, find Niira, let them talk. Exciting!
But where is Niira? Maybe back at her grandmother's house.
Lavitz actually found her first. He walked out of the front gate of Indels Schloss just as Alakyl passed it. "Oh, you're back?"
"Wuff!" She barked happily.
The knight sighed; he appeared exhausted. "Wish I felt as good right now." He still acted as if talking to a 'dumb' animal was something completely against his nature, even if that animal was his daughter's sister-friend.
"Talk to Niira?"
He only stared at her.
Frustrated, Alakyl crouched, then did a small jump, half-flipping so that she was facing back to the city. "Talk to Niira?"
"Someone wants to talk to me?" He was getting better at guessing what she said.
The wolf sighed. "Close enough."
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Now that the boarders had left, Niira finally had her old room back. Things still sat where they always had, at least as far as she could remember. Even her bed was still there, with the trunk that sat next to the headboard.
But at last she had a place to leave at least some of her possessions that she had brought with her, however few they were. One she took great care to hide in an easily-accessible spot was the small rod she carried on her back, under her shirt. She carried it there so that she could reach it quickly, but still appear harmless. She drew it now, looking at it as it gleamed dully in the candlelight. Then she slid it under her pillow.
It was a weapon designed by the hyaeniforms, the secretive mountain folk who still used technology from the Before Times--technology that had, eventually, been stolen and copied by the Winglies. She had received it as a gift from one of the guardsmen that worked under her uncle. A gift such as that spoke of trust, and a respect for someone's skill in battle. She was sure to never give the guardsman a reason to regret giving it to her.
Anyone who dared to attack her would only see a girl with a metal rod as long as her forearm in her hand. But with a flick of the wrist, that rod would extend into a long staff, and a single blade would snap into position at the end. In a moment, she could switch from a simple girl to an armed and dangerous warrior.
It was one thing she would not give up for anything. Well...almost anything. But the look of surprise on an aggressor's face when the newly-appeared bladed weapon came slicing up through their face never ceased to amuse Niira.
She sighed heavily, disgusted at that line of thought. I must really be insane. Enjoying hurting people? Meh.
The city beyond her window was growing dark, but she didn't feel tired. Stepping quietly so as not to disturb her Adie downstairs, she slipped out of her room, down the hall to the library.
The library was obviously still in use, although some of the higher shelves had a faded, dusty look to them. The room had to potential to be quite comfortable, if anyone had a mind to properly maintain it. Niira ran her hand down a row of books, letting her fingers bounce across the large bumps of the book spines. There were probably some very old and valuable tomes in here, but nobody had probably bothered to check in generations.
I'm surprised Albert hasn't done something about that, with the way he loves books. Then again, I suppose he's too busy ruling and all. Man, if Reezy was here, we'd never get him to leave...there just aren't enough books for him in the Northlands...
A single window was thee only source of outside light for the library. But with the direction the room faced, and the sun nearly down, very little light made its way in. Niira stood on her toes to reach the window and pulled it open. When she had been young, she would simply take a running jump at the windowsill, hanging on while she swung her back end up, then off across the rooftops she would go. Now, though, she didn't feel like expending the energy. I'd probably end up pulling the sill out of the wall anyway. Groping around in the nearby shadows, she found the familiar ladder. Quietly pulling it over, she positioned it beneath the window and climbed up. In the twilight, the city was still and quiet, although faint conversations could be heard from within the neighbor's houses.
Niira carefully stepped across the tiled roof; although she still trusted her balance, it had been years since she had walked on tiles and she didn't want to take any chances. When she was close--but not too close--to the edge, she sat down, drawing her knees to her chest. This 'treasure'... Across the rooftops, on a hill in the distance, stood Indels Schloss, barely visible in the nearly-gone sunlight. You gave me this treasure, father. I wanted to be just like you. She rested her chin on her knees, looking up at the stars that were beginning to appear in the dark sky.
She could hear muffled footsteps from somewhere in the house. Thinking it was her grandmother, she turned her attention back to the view. But soon she realized that the steps were too heavy to be from an elderly woman. She shivered, suddenly feeling chilled. I don't want to face him yet...again...
In a few minutes, the footsteps came from the library. Shortly after, Niira was not the only person on the roof. Her father walked across the shingles and sat next to her, silent. Niira felt strangely unnerved by his presence. Right then she wanted nothing more than to hide somewhere and curl up in a ball.
"What made you finally decide to come back?" Lavitz said suddenly.
"I had to," Niira mumbled into her knees.
"Or what?"
She closed her eyes. I can't...I don't know how to explain...
Thankfully, her father didn't push the subject. But he didn't talk again either, as if he was hurt by her refusal to answer.
Trying to find something to say, Niira finally came up with, "Did my mother ever tell you why she and Marach came to Endiness?" ...Why did I say that?
"All we ever got was the botany story." Meaning the explanation that her mothere had come to Endiness to study the plants and look for ones with possible medicinal value to Northlanders. Nobody ever seemed to completely believe that, although her mother certainly did do a lot of studying while she was in Endiness. But no other explanation had ever been given.
I shouldn't be talking about this...but...it seems wrong for it to have been withheld for so long...
"Why? You know more about it, don't you?"
"They..." She stopped herself, trying to think of the best way to explain without going through a whole history of the Northlands. It would be difficult, and she was never good at these sorts of things to begin with. "The humans--Endiness, I mean--had dragon warriors at one time in the past. I heard stories about them from my..." Whoa, I almost said 'uncle' there. "...From some people in the Northlands."
"They knew about it up there?"
"The Winglies tried...well no, they did kill off some races there. So we've been in touch for a while." She glanced at her father. Her was watching her with a calm face, his features barely distinguishable in the moonlight. Taking a breath, Niira started here story again. "Anyway...the Northlands had their own dragoons at one time. They fought in one of our ancient wars, and then...four disappeared. Maybe they were killed, I can't remember. Legend says the other three put themselves into a sleep so they could be awakened to fight later or something. Serpent Mother says it's true, so I guess that's how things are." She hesitated. She always got the feeling she was rambling when she told stories like this.
"Who's Serpent Mother?" Lavitz asked, startling her. "Marach's mentioned her, but he always acted offended whenever we asked him."
"She's...um...she's a god of sorts, I suppose. A very old Northlander who watches over us. I'm honestly not sure how to describe her...she's got strange powers and she's been alive longer than any of us, like she's immortal or something, but she's always acted like anyone could kill her if they put their mind to it."
"Hmm."
"There's a second immortal. Phoenix. Serpent Mother was teaching him all the goings-on of being ageless, but something happened and he turned against her. That was a long time ago, nobody can remember exactly when that happened. Ever since then, the Northlands have been divided. Like everyone's waiting for somebody to make the first move, and then there'll be a war between the two gods and their followers."
"He was the one the dragoons fought against?"
"No. At least, I don't think so. I think he appeared some time after that war."
"What does this have to do with your mother?"
"I'm getting there. I mentioned the Three, the dragoons that are sleeping. Well that still leaves four unaccounted for. And with this war between Serpent Mother and Phoenix on the horizon, there's been a push to find those four. A few generations ago, someone in my mother's family found and was accepted by one of the dragon spirits, and it's remained in the family ever since. Guess magic just runs in the blood or something, because my mother could sense it. She was used by Serpent Mother to search for the dragoon spirits. And she did find one, on one of the islands to the east."
Again she glanced at her father. The strange look on his face told her everything she needed to know. He's heard the stories. When dragoons gather, need is great, war is near.
"And then Serpent Mother sent her to Endiness to find the remaining two."
"What were they doing in Endiness?"
"Darn if I know. All Serpent Mother told her was that they could be found down here. She even sent one of her personal guards, Marach, to help my mother." Niira found herself toying with the chain that hid beneath her pants waist, against her hip. "But mother wasn't told she wouldn't find either of them. One, the Seventh, had already found a dragoon spirit years ago, way back when the Winglies still ruled, and had since run off and disappeared. The final one wasn't even alive yet."
"So she failed in her task?"
"I never said that."
"Then what--" He fell silent as Niira pulled on the chain, drawing up a small round stone from its hidden pocket, holding it in the palm of her hand so he could see it. Its glossy black surface seemed to draw in the starlight, releasing it again as a soft glow.
"I said the last one wasn't born yet."
She could feel the stone thrumming, as if charged with energy. Odd. It startd to glow, giving off a rainbow-esque light that streamed from its core. Huh. I wonder if Alakyl's nearby...
But it wasn't Alakyl the stone was reacting to. Her father was holding a similar stone, although jade-green in color, and it too glowed in response to a kindred spirit.
Did...did my mother sense someone with the potential to be a dragoon and not even realize it? Niira could only stare at the green dragon spirit. Did Serpent Mother somehow know my mother would marry a dragoon-to-be? I know dragon spirits like to stick to families, but...
My father is a dragoon. Something about that realization mad her feel warmer inside.
Lavitz was chuckling softly. It was a friendly sound. "No wonder you gave my men such a hard time the other day."
Flustered, Niira stuffed her dragoon spirit back into its hiding place, extinguishing its light. "No, that had nothing to do with the spirit. I was just mad."
"I guess it's nice to know that you still beat people up when you're angry." Her father lowered his dragoon spirit as well, and they once again sat in darkness.
"I don't mean to."
They were silent for a while. "So, that still leaves that one who ran away, right?"
"Yes." Niira wrapped her arms around her legs. "I...suppose one of these days I'll have to go find him. Since it was my mother's job to begin with." If I can ever get Marach to cooperate.
"You never know, he could find you."
"I doubt it." Serpent Mother had told her things about the Seventh that made her skin crawl. No, the Seventh would have to be sought out. And possibly even killed to win back the dragon spirit he possessed.
It had to be done, but that didn't mean Niira looked forward to it.