Prologue part 4: Discussing details
A day later…
The group of icewing soldiers and their captain arrive at their destination, landing on the hot sand of the kingdom without problem. A rather large and diverse camp has been set for many dragons like them some weeks ago.
All that a dragon of any tribe needs is here, an oasis with a dense crowd of palm and acacia trees around it to evade the harsh sun and produce food. There is space in these crude but sufficient blocky houses made of wood, thick leaves and terracotta.
When the soldiers approach the camp, they can see dragons of many tribes working. Sandwings and skywings, seawings and icewings, all doing different things, and that make the newly arrived icewings wonder again.
But their questions would be quickly answered as an icewing with scars on his body and a broken horn walks to the captain.
- "Salutation captain Nordclaw, I am captain Frostteeth, and the leader of the camp like we told you in the letter. May I show you and your soldier the camp?" Says the dragon in a neutral tone.
- "Salutation captain Frostteeth, I just need to discuss of details, but I and my soldiers will settle here for a time like I said to you all." Answers Nordclaw with a little grin.
- "So all the details of that operation has been approved I suppose. Order your soldier to stay here if that's not done yet and come with me." Frostteeth marches away to the biggest building of the camp as the captain starts to organize his dragons.
The superior turns his head to face his soldiers, all are a bit curious of the camp and the dragons who live in it.
"Soldiers, we stay here in that camp with the dragons that accept us as long as I don't order you to leave. No one must go away from that place without my orders or if it is a necessity. And do not forget to behave correctly as I said many times before, I will not tolerate petty disputes, arguments nor a scene between you or with the locals. Understood?"
All of his icewings answer yes, but he doesn't have to fear that they might go away. Even an undisciplined individual would not take the risk to leave a place of relative comfort to walk without goal under the harsh Sun. And he knew that none of them had a goal related to that place and the desert around it.
As for their behaviour, the captain had taught his soldiers better than to run into conflict by accident. Despite his tone and loud voice when giving orders, he knows his soldiers are good dragons despite their difficulties and struggles.
Walking to where Frostteeth is, Nordclaw recognizes some of the dragons there, even if he only knew them by name. Frostteeth turns his head and starts his presentation.
- "Nordclaw, here are Hiverna of Coldmoon, Drystorm and Sulfurbreath of the Mirror of Sol, and Abysswatcher of the Eternal Sea."
The icewing dragoness turns her head, surprised, the two sandwings and the seawings are too occupied to be concerned by the new guest despite being pointed at by the icewing with scars.
- "So you are Nordclaw? I have heard a lot about you but never saw you until now. So are you ready for what is to come? Or maybe you're not that interested, in that case I also understand."
- "Nice to meet you Hiverna. I came here to train my dragons in unknown territory first and receives the help you handed over to me in that place."
Replies Nordclaw with confidence and authority.
- "Understandable, we need more forces just in case, and you like the place we give to you and your soldiers. However, I am not well versed in the military and managing of the entire operation, just in exploring what the ancestors have left behind centuries ago."
Says Hiverna before starting to return to her desk, but stops as she sees his front talons.
- "May I ask if these scars are normal?"
- "They heal and disappear. It was because of a duel yesterday, I orchestrated it, but one of my soldier really had the mentality to fight mercilessly for his life." Answers the captain extending his talons to better show them.
- "I… think I understand. And if it heals quickly, all the better."
Hiverna then proceed to sat down at her desk, continuing her work.
"So you had a bit of a surprise with one of your dragons? I guess that's good, I never had only one like that." Says Frostteeth trying to lighten the mood. Seeing Nordclaw turning to him with no other reaction, he regains his neutral stance.
"I am one of the dragons you seek for information and planing, I will tell you what you need to know."
Says Frostteeth before he point to a large map on a wall and taking a stick to point at locations.
- "At the center of the map are the ruins of Telunabris and at South is our camp. As you can see, our camp is the only good place in that huge territory. However, we may not be alone in that, I expect that if we are attacked, the dragons would come from the East, following that kind of line created by some trees and rocks."
- "How many do you predict will come to us?"
- "A hundred at most, but they won't be organized. Some will be isolated individual and small group, but the queen should not pose to much of a threat to us, Scorpion won't throw a lot at us if she wants to, there is not really much she know she can gains from our camp and research."
- "Good, but what is the worst you can predict?" Says Nordclaw unimpressed.
Frostteeth remains silent for a moment before telling his answer in a darker tone, one he is still familiar with.
- "Hundreds of soldiers attacking us with no mercy. It isn't likely, but if one or many queens really want to make us gone, they can go as far as sending armed forces in the sand kingdom. Our camp contains important dragons of many organizations after all."
- "And what is the course of actions if that becomes reality?" A bit of doubt can be seen on the captain's face.
- "We retreat North-west and travel until we reach the ice kingdom. There, if our enemies are still following us, we will run and try to shove them close enough to the great ice cliff."
Answers Frostteeth without fear, like he is always ready for that.
- "Do we have enough resources for that? Can we really all travel to the frontier?"
Nordclaw grows more serious, as if he wasn't before.
- "Yes, we have stockpiled the necessary goods for all of us, including your dragons."
- "I see… Thanks for answering my questions. Me and my icewings will help when you need us, you have my words."
- "Thank you captain Nordclaw, I shall tell you of when will be in need."
And so, the captain leaves the crude building.
Preparing for a new speech, the captain walks slowly to face his many dragons. After a moment of calm and being watched by all of them, he begins to speak with the loud voice everyone is familiar with.
"Nothing has really changed, we will stay here for at least the three next days. However, these dragons may need us in the future, so if one makes a request, bring him to me so I discuss with them what to do next. Now that I said all that, you can do what you want within reason for the next two hours, enjoy your break."
And with that, the crowd of icewings dissipates as much as they can in the camp, but Nordclaw is not done with everyone, coming closer to Coldspine.
The young adult was standing behind an acacia tree, looking at the temple's ruins still far from here.
When he hears his superior coming, he lowers his head and turns to face him, not saying a word.
"Coldspine, come with me."
The young one follows his captain walking into the main building again. At their approach, Frostteeth turns his head for a second but doesn't do anything else, occupied with his large scrolls all over the biggest table, and discussing with an important sandwing, Drystorm.
A sandwing and a seawing, Sulfurbreath and Abysswatcher, are still talking to each other with a bit of passion, not reacting to the two dragons' arrival.
It is Hiverna who comes to them, putting down her feather on the wooden surface. Her face bears a slight smile as she looks over Coldspine.
- "So you are Coldspine, Reflection really wanted you here doesn't he."
- "We discussed about it months before, about me coming nearby Telunabris."
The captain is moderately surprised by the answer and tells of his doubt.
- "How involved will you be in this operation? Reflection did tell me about a lot of things, including exploring the temple's ruin, but he can't decide of everything"
- "Well… I will go to the temple with Hiverna and others, but I think she will explain that to you better than me."
- "Yes, I will explain the details to you." Replies the ice dragoness.
"Coldspine, me and others will go inside the temple wearing copper mesh and having the many tools necessary, while you and all the dragons staying at the camp watch for anything suspicious around."
"We will proceed that exploration step by step, returning to the camp between each of them. First the ruin's close exterior, second we enter it and walk trough the large and accessible rooms, third we explore deeper, and final, we try to go into the most important parts. As for our schedules, you both already know them."
Nordclaw has been listening to this carefully, on the other side, Coldspine didn't care that much, they already told him about all that.
- "You have more knowledge about these ruins than I thought, but are you and your team careful enough? Are you prepared to change your plan if needed?"
Hiverna let no doubt be shown on her, she has been preparing that the most and she won't let any obstacle block her path.
- "Even with all the knowledge we have, we do not forget to be careful and on our guard. We will abandon the exploration as soon as one of our team is threaten, we will return to the camp and change our plan if anything is too dangerous."
- "Then I have no complaint about you and that exploration anymore."
Nordclaw looks around him for a moment before continuing the conversion with more openness and calm.
- "So why does Coldspine of all dragons get to be this involved? I am not doubting you, I just find the decision unexpected."
Coldspine answers with no hesitation.
- "Hiding you this fact would be vain, Reflection and I are close, and he is quite insistent on bringing me into the history of magic and Coldmoon. He is not reluctant to arrange my life so I have more opportunity."
- "And you approve?"
- "Yes. I did not ask him to do all that, but it is not like I regret it."
Nordclaw ponders for a moment, then says before leaving the tent:
"I see, but I will still keep you under my watch when I can, so you won't be doing anything rash."
With the captain out of the building, Hiverna now faces the young adult directly, with a curious grin on her face.
"You will be with me and others when exploring the ruins. It would be wise to know each other a bit. Come here."
Hiverna goes to a table with free chairs and sat down, bending her four talons and curling her tail to take less space. Coldspine follows her and does same, now the two dragons have made one step closer to each other. The dragoness begins the conversation.
- "What do you know about me? And no need to pressure yourself."
- "You want my most honest answer… I only ever heard of you from the words of Reflection. I never saw you even once, I never heard of you from other dragon's mouth. But what he said of you was only good."
Hiverna waits for Coldspine to continue, but the stoic icewing doesn't. Her smile falls a bit.
- "What do you expect of me?"
The younger one thinks for a moment before answering.
- "I do not know. Maybe that you are as wilful and knowledgeable as Reflection said."
- "That's a good start. But I understand that you can't answer every question, I'll speak about you, and you will correct me if I'm wrong."
Coldspine slowly nods and Hiverna prepares her words.
- "Reflection told me of you, he told us about you, but for the many times he did, he always stated who you were first. A soldier with strength of mind and body, but a relatively young soldier nonetheless. Now, what I saw of you still confirms that. Is there anything I should know about you?"
Coldspine thinks about it for a time and hesitate, but finds nothing to say. Seeing that, Hiverna goes to take two bowl filled with water and put them at the center of the table. She takes one of them and drinks a bit.
"You should get a bit of water, this heat is always tiring, even if we are protected by walls. And don't worry, we aren't lacking of it, so don't hesitate to take care of your body."
Hiverna watches Coldspine drinking, being attentive to the his gesture. She spots him relaxing and being more at ease as he takes the time to satisfy his needs.
- "As a soldier in constant training, do you have any difficulties? Can you fully support that life or is there some days you are troubled? How do you feel about it?"
- "There is always some difficulties, it is how we are trained to be good soldiers. I can fully support that weight day after day, I just do like any other, I focus on the training, on the fight. With a mind like that, all worries vanish. As for how I feel, it is acceptable, it could be better, but I do not have a different path before me."
- "I see… I saw captain Nordclaw with wounded talons, he said it was from a duel, do you know who did that to him?"
- "Yes, it was me. He wanted a duel, I gave him that."
Hiverna reacts a bit shocked, but continues the conversation calmly like before.
- "Is that the result of your focused mind?"
- "Yes."
- "That's… not a good thing to always have. Reflection told me of your will and personality, but…"
- "Don't be worried for me, I can take care of myself, and you thinking too much about me will divert your attention from more important matters."
- "You're right, I should not. But once we've explored these ruins, I'll need to talk with him."
- "If you wish to…"
The dragoness looks away for a moment, thinking about all that has been said and what to do. She then leaves the table to speak to a sandwinglike dragon, Drystorm. The dragon is bit smaller than average, with larger wings, longer horns and scales closer to orange in colour than any sandwing.
As she approaches him, the hybrid turns his head from Sulfurbreath to the coming icewing.
- "Drystorm, can you help me with a guest, it's Coldspine, the icewing soldier that we talked about recently."
The hybrid looks again at his partner and at his work on the table for moment. Sulfurbreath tells him he can take a break and follow the icewing dragoness.
- "I can, a little talk won't be bad for us, and I suppose being more familiar with one we will explore with is something we better do."
The two dragons come back to Coldspine's table and he seems rather curious.
- "This is Drystorm of the Mirror of Sol. He is one the dragons that will be in the exploration team."
- "Salutation young icewing. I've heard about you in the last month, and I hope we can work together on our goal."
Coldspine appears more surprised than anything now that the hybrid of sand and sky shows itself directly to him. After a moment of hesitation, he speaks to him.
- "Can I ask some questions about you?"
- "Of course." Answers Drystorm a bit excited to help inform a new dragon about him and others subjects if possible.
- "Can you tell me what is for you the Mirror of Sol? Reflection told me about your organization, but I want some confirmations."
The dragon takes a good breath before speaking words he is very familiar with.
- "Then I will tell. The Mirror of Sol is an a group of dragons with common resources that share the same belief and goal, like the Coldmoon, or the Guardian of Earth, or any others for that matter. He must have told you about them, but I'll say it again, all have some ambitious and greater aim that in the end forces them to turn to the greatest force that we know of: Animus Magic, and to make alliances to obtain what we lack. Do you understand all of that and the consequences of it?"
- "A year ago, I would not think too much about it, but now that I have been pushed to focus on that, I think I have a good grasp of it all."
- "Good, I can now answer you. Our organization is made up of sandwings and skywings believing in the union of the Sun and the Earth, don't take it literally, it's all metaphorical, the backbone of our mythology more than anything."
The hybrid takes a break and looks annoyed as he says his next sentence.
"It is true that we are wealthy, and that breeds jealousy in others' heart. But putting that aside, we have been seeking animus magic more than ever, as we realize our goal is intimately linked to it."
"I'll tell you directly, even from the little of what we know of this golden age of magic, we now know were our mythology and ultimate goal come from."
As Drystorm finishes his speech, Hiverna is the one that continues it.
- "The unification of the Sun and the Earth bringing prosperity is a metaphor for a nexus of essences. A vessel good enough to contain the power of the aspects of the world. It is made possible by magic, but even without an animus wishing for it, bringing the pieces back together might suffice."
Coldspine takes his bowl and drinks the water, then takes his time, relaxing himself before replying to both dragons with a slight grin.
- "You have really made some progress to make that kind of speech, but I am not surprised, Reflection told about the subject of magic and its age, and he made sure I did not forget the possibilities and importance of the nexus."
The hybrid replies to him with a pleased expression.
- "Good to see your friend's words about magic and us did not let you unchanged, because we'll get what it all really looks like when we'll be deep in Telunabris."
- "We have done our research and came at a conclusion. What these temple's ruins hold is a broken nexus, it would explain the cursed aura around it, and be in accordance to what the ancient texts say of that place." Says the dragoness in a serious tone.
Coldspine thinks for a moment, reflecting on the importance of the coming events.
- "So what do we do again? Explore the temple like you said, wearing copper mesh and having all that is necessary."
Drystorm answers almost immediately with authority and confidence. Hiverna letting him explain to the young adult.
- "Exactly, no need to change plan yet, and don't worry too much about the temple's curse. While it is not wise to underestimate it, I have been with my team two times already, I know what to do and how to guide you."
Coldspine grabs his bowl and drinks all the water in it before replying.
- "Then I do not really have anything left to say. I will leave you to your work, it is not like I have anything to do in the building. See you in three hours then."
The young soldier gets up and starts to walk to the exit but Hiverna stops his him with her words.
- "You can leave, but do not close the door so quickly, you can stay here or return if you want."
- "I will remember that."
And with that, Coldspine goes out the building.
Now, Hiverna turns her head to Drystorm once again to speak.
- "He is harder to open, but I'm glad he took interest in us. I can only imagine what Reflection must feel with such a friend."
- "You think? He is shy, but he is attentive and has motivation. I don't see what's off with him more than any other dragon."
- "Before you came, I saw him with and without his captain, and talked to him alone a bit more. He has this kind of indifference and confidence for some of his actions and somewhat violent events."
- "Well, he is a soldier after all, and icewing are known to be very strict and merciless."
- "Yes, I know that, but I have the feeling he could become wild if pressured the right way, I just hope the bar is not set too low for him."
- "If you say so…"
And with that, the two dragons return to their work or others activities, keeping themselves occupied until it is time to go to the ruins.