Flash Fiction #538 -- The Long Way Home/37

 

The noise came again from outside the window.  Rory saw something flash in the distance, down by the docks.

"Tell me what I need to know to solve this trouble."

"Pyrida is going to try to reclaim his status from you.  Don't count on Eket stepping in, even if it was his idea.  Eket, Aien, and all the other gods have expected us to deal with our own problems and even the ones they create."

"What can I do about Pyrida?"

"I am not sure, but we'll need to develop something.  Yes, we.  Eket and Aien dropped us into this together."

Rory couldn't argue with that point.

"What can Pyrida do?"

"He still has powers he has hoarded for centuries.  On the other hand, you have been using your powers at every turn of our adventures.  I have more powers than you and understand them better, but I didn't spend centuries in a temple, never using my gifts.  Rory, we will have to use our brains more than our powers.  Stop panicking."

"Zorian, my friend, my thoughts are ... confused.  Scrambled.  I don't have enough sense left to panic.  However, one thought creeps to the top of the others.  How long have the Gods been involved?

"From the first day of creation."

"Zorian," he sighed.

Zorian looked away from the window and nodded, his face mostly in the shadows, though the explosions lighted it now and then.

"I know they were involved when that storm drove you to me.  I suspect they might even have had something to do with the king's death, but I can't be certain.  That may have simply been the sort of accident that puts events in motion that neither humans nor gods control.  That would explain the general chaos."

"Why us?  No, why me?"

"You didn't realize Pyrida had stepped outside of Eket's control.  He did so of his own free will and with clear knowledge of his choice."

"Are you certain?  Maybe he was tricked?"

"You are now in his position.  You have all the knowledge of what your god is and does, even if it is slightly scrambled.  Under any circumstances, could the New Order of Man come to you and talk you out of working with Eket?"

"No, but --" Rory stopped and then gave his companion a nod.  "No.  Not in my new position.  If I have to lock myself up in the temple --"

"Oh, no.  Don't make Pyrida's mistake.  Eket is a god of knowledge.  Pyrida purposely made himself blind to the world that changed, century by century, while he looked elsewhere.  Who controls the New Order of Man?"

"For the last few days, I thought it Pyrida.  Before he showed up, I hadn't even considered it."

"I suspect no one has considered it, which is unnatural.  I need help finding the answer.  Someone is hiding very well, and he's probably close by."

"Living among us."

Zorian nodded.

"Do you have anyone in mind?"

"Everyone but you and me -- and I'm not entirely certain about me."

It would be easy to doubt everyone, but Rory applied some logic to the situation.  "Whomever it is, the person has an understanding of armies and strategy.  I would think hands-on work, in fact."

"General Unanik?"

"It is possible.  The only trouble is that he's so often in the public eye.  This is a long-term and extensive project.  And it went underground lately."

"True.  I thought they'd had a falling out.  There were rumors of it.  New command?"

"Ah."  Zorian looked interested in the news.  "That might explain a lot of odd things.  A new commander might want to do something daring, which finally drew the Gods' attention."

"So daring, in fact, that they've drawn every power they can into this gathering to oppose them.  Why?"

"Dragons."

Odd as it seemed, Rory had forgotten their other companion.  He looked at the bed in time to see the creature rollover.  He couldn't hear them through the shield.

"They're the ones who brought the dragons?" Rory asked.

"I can't think of anyone else.  That would explain why they took in Pyrida -- or took him out of the temple by force."

"He is willingly helping them," Rory replied.  "I would have sensed otherwise.  What is going on out there?"

"The other dragons are fighting to get free.  Greenal started the process, which is why he's so tired, but we need to go and finish it -- and send them home before the Dragon Nation arrives and destroys everything."

"Which even the enemy cannot want," Rory added as he stood.

"No?  What if they were prepared for such trouble and knew that they would survive, and by controlling supplies, they could control the populace?"  Zorian stood as well.  "It has happened before."

"Not many people think about that part of the history of the war with Atria.  It was so long ago that I've only seen a few references to the battles and little about how we won or recovered.  I heard there is a manuscript at the temple that goes into more detail.  I saw it in the index, but the location --"

They were in the hall, and both stopped on the same thought.

"I imagine he had time to read every book several times over," Zorian said as he started forward again.  "And perhaps they don't need someone high up in the forces, Rory.  Maybe all they need is someone who has studied such things for centuries and, with a little magic besides, could move things as he wanted."

Zorian nodded as they started down the stairs, both deep in thought until Andora and Jamison happened upon them at the door.

Though, more likely, they'd been watching for the two.

"Do we have a plan?" Andora dared to ask as they stepped out into the loud night.

"Try for Pyrida," Rory said.  "Free the dragons and avoid a war with them."

No one argued.

Flash Fiction # 537 -- The Long Way Home/36

 

Rory didn't ask about currents and old ones, as much as he wanted to drag answers out of his two strange companions. He would probably get better answers from Zorian and Greenal, anyway.

Rory glanced back at the two and found them quite attentive. Beyond them, though, everyone else had gone still and silent -- too much so. He thought his two companions, the two gods, and himself, were caught in a bubble in a sort of metaphysical amber. He wanted to go throw himself against the invisible wall --
"Be calm, Roridon," Eket said. The words made him calm, a touch of command there. He wanted to fight it, but only because he was too used to being the one with the power. This was Eket.  Obey.

As long as Eket did nothing --

The God looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and Aien turned as well. Being under their direct scrutiny was not comfortable.

"I mean no disrespect," Rory offered to things he had not said aloud. "This has been a trying time, and to find Temple Master Pyrida working against us --"

 "Working against you?" Aien said with a frown.

"He has joined the New Order of Man --"

Eket and Aien focused on him -- and just as fast, they turned away and stared at the far wall. Rory had time to glance at Zorian and the dragon which towered over him.

They both shrugged.

"This is not right," Aien said, drawing back his attention. "We chose Pyrida for his strong faith and steady morals. Someone we could trust while we explored being human --"

"Hold on. How long has he been Temple Master?"

"We have no sense of human time," Eket said.

"But I do," Zorian replied and drew all their attention. "I can tell you that he has been Temple Master for 681 years and had not left the temple before seven years ago."

"Over 670 years in the same place? It is a wonder he didn't go mad long before he did. I think I might have been a catalyst to start him on his new path. That was when I arrived."

"This is a long time?" Eket asked.

"A very long time for humans, which he had been at the start."  Zorian apparently gave up on his reluctance to join in and moved up by Rory. Greenal stood at their backs, and Rory tried to take that as a good sign.

Eket and Aien were talking to each other and not in a language Rory understood. Though he was drawn to the musical lilt, he could not even guess its roots.

Maybe it had no antecedents. Perhaps this was the first language -- the words spoken by the Gods long before mankind arrived.

Eket finally nodded and looked at Rory and gave a decisive nod. "You are now my High Priest."

"But --" Rory started.

Something changed in him at Eket's wave. He was bound to the God but no less bound to his Queen. There was going to be a conflict before too long.

But Eket knew his protest had only been about the sudden change in status. He was, though, briefly aware of Pyrida's shock that something had been stripped from him.

Authority.

With it came knowledge, and more of it than he could handle in one overwhelming rush. There were other things, but so much that Rory accepted without judgment. It changed him, those few moments when he let everything flow into him.

And then it stopped.

"I will leave this to you and your fellow High Priest," Eket said. He took hold of Aiden's hand and pressed it to his lips. "We have matters to settle between us."

They faded away. The stillness and silence remained for three or four heartbeats,  and then sound and movement filled the world like a flood. Rory thought he would drown in it. He went down, but then someone lifted him. It was not Zorian who tried to speak to him.

Greenal.

Why not?

He awoke again in a dark room with the dragon on the bed beside him, curled up like a cat, but taking most of the space. Zorian sat by an open window where a night breeze flowed.

Rory moved slightly. Greenal lifted his head, blinking luminous eyes.

"Go back to sleep," Rory said as he stood up.

Greenal yawned, showing sharp teeth that Rory would rather not have seen. Then the dragon's head dropped back to the mattress with a noticeable thump.

Zorian showed him the indoor privy at the end of the hall and escorted him back. He pulled another chair to the window and created a sound shield so they wouldn't wake Greenal.

Or maybe it was others that worried him. Rory had the feeling that there were mistrustful people everywhere around them, although that did not make them outright enemies.

He didn't complain about Zorian's precautions, though. His companion at least had a clue about what was going on.

"Questions?" Zorian asked as he poured wine for both of them. Then he added water to the cups, for which Rory was grateful. This was not the time to court drunkenness.   "Rory? Questions?"

"So many questions they would only cloud the issue. Tell me things."

"As you figured out by now, I am Aien's High Priest -- the one she chose when Eket took on Pyrida. Yes, that old -- but I didn't lock myself away in a temple. She is a nature goddess, so wandering the world worked."

"And Eket is a god of knowledge, right? I don't have to readjust all my beliefs?"

"Not all of them."  

Zorian looked out the window and frowned at a distant sound. Rory wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't like it.

"Let us deal with that material later," Zorian said as he looked back. "The problems of today are far too important to ignore. If we survive, we'll talk about other times."

Rory hoped that wasn't supposed to be reassuring...

Flash Fiction #536 -- The Long Way Home/35

 

(I got tired of the other picture.)

Zorian frantically went back to work. Rory held the dragon's head, but he was aware of another power coming their way. Then yet another, and this one not from far away.

The two powers somehow reached them at the same time. They collided over the castle with an explosion that shook everything and likely destroyed lesser buildings. And then it did it again, as though the two powers demanded the other give way.

"What is going on!" Rory demanded.

"You just fulfilled an ill-made prophecy, my friend."  Zorian gave one more grunt and pulled the spike out. The stars swarmed it and carried it off -- he hoped to somewhere it could not hurt others.

The dragon fell unconscious. Zorian simply fell and sat with his back to the dragon's side. He pulled the book from under his tunic and then shoved it back.

"I don't need the book to tell the story. Aien and Eket were lovers, having learned that game from humans. They were, for a while, the brightest stars in the heavens. All the gods envied them, and it was that envy that unintentionally worked against them.

They had a falling out, a change so drastic that the world shuddered at the loss. The clouds wept for years. But the other gods, sorry for their part in this, decreed that Aien and Eket would be together again -- at a time when a human called upon them both for aid."

"And I did."

The building trembled. A crack appeared in the wall to the right.

"You did."  Zorian struggled to his feet. "And here is the problem. Those other Gods never said they would come together in amity, and they are still angry."

Rory knew he should have felt something other than annoyance. He briefly tried one or two others, but anger, fear, and remorse seemed to take too much energy and attention to maintain. Annoyance came naturally after all else that had happened. He didn't want to turn that emotion on the two gods, but the only other two immediate candidates were either Zorian or Greenal. He considered it, but he liked Zorian too well and turning annoyance on a dragon that had already given them so much trouble -- well, no.

So the Gods it was.

Another explosion shook the building --

"Stop it!" he yelled, standing and shaking a fist at the ceiling.  
Zorian made an inarticulate sound and tried to grab him. He moved away.

"Stop acting like ill-mannered children! You are not helping the situation. We have dragons, for the love of the gods! If you are going to show up, at least don't make this worse!"

Everyone except for Zorian and Greenal had become a blur. Zorian appeared to be praying. His friend's panic worried Rory, but he already sensed that he couldn't back out. The two gods had listened to him.

He hadn't expected them to hear him.

He especially didn't expect them to show up.

Something bright, casting him in two shadows, stood behind Rory. Zorian and Greenal struggled to their feet, and Rory, with a touch of wise reluctance, turned.

Except for the glows around the two, they did look human. Far too much human, in fact. Rory had counseled -- or at least tried to -- couples who came to the Temple of Eket for help with their marriages.

Okay, why not?

"Before we begin, I want you both to find a neutral emotional base. Anger will help with nothing, no matter how justified you might think it to be."

Zorian moaned. "I can't believe he's doing this."

"This man is wise," Greenal added.

Rory wasn't confident how well any dragon would understand human wisdom, but it was a better reply than from Zorian.

Aien and Eket stared at him.  At least he had their attention, and the building had stopped shaking.

"There. That's better," Rory said. They did not look neutral, but he appreciated that the world had become calm again. Rory did his best to keep a non-accusing tone and spent no extra time looking at one or the other. All the training returned, and if he survived, he would thank Brother Narkin.  "Now, can you tell me what the base of your problems --"

"That's not what you want to say to us," Eket said as he stared at Rory.

Never lie.

"I want to tell you both to stop acting like children," he admitted. Zorian did start praying, and he thought a few others did as well. "I want you two to look around and realize that something is wrong here, and we need your help."

Aien was the one who looked startled first as she glanced around the area. Eket took a moment longer, and Rory suspected that was while he considered if this bothersome human was worth keeping alive.

"He is right, Eket," Aien said.  Her voice sent a slight tremble through everything. Eket seemed confused by her answer -- or maybe it was only her attitude. Rory felt a little of it, himself. Aien had gone from rage to what might be concern in the blink of an eye. "I have been sitting here in the midst of it but never truly looked."

"And what has it to do with us?" Eket demanded. His voice cut through the air and knocked Rory down. He considered staying there, but it would not help.

"It has everything to do with us," Aien replied, her tones softer and more concerned. "It is a manifestation of our own reactions to life around us. We drew ourselves closer to humans by taking their form, and our human-related feelings drifted through their world."

"I still don't see --"

"Eket," Aien began. She had been about to say something somewhat rude. Rory saw it in her face. Instead, she stopped and took a breath before she spoke. "I have been anxious of late. I've felt currents moving that belong to old powers. Tell me that you have missed that sign."
"I have felt it."

Flash Fiction #535 -- The Long Way Home/34

 

Rory took one step forward. He could hear the wind growing now that Zorian turned his attention to it. There hadn't even been time to find something relevant.  

A book fell off a shelf and hit his foot.

"Ow!"

"I didn't do that," Zorian said. He looked at the book with more dread than hope.

"I didn't feel any magic," Rory replied and nudged the book with his foot.

"No human magic."

Rory looked back at him with a nod, then leaned over and swooped the book up.

"Old," he said. Thunder shook the shelves. "The title is worn off the cover."

"Huh."

People yelled as the wind grew louder. Rory sighed and flipped the book open. The title startled him.

"Yes? Zorian said with a touch of impatience.

"The Book of Aien and Eket."

"Of course, it is," Zorian mumbled and held out his hand. "Just give it to me. I can find what we need faster. I know this story."

Something in his look told Rory not to argue. He gave over the book. Zorian began scanning as they walked back toward the work tables. The others had gathered up all the papers before the wind and rain hit and were fighting with the shutters now.

Rory crossed to them and used a little magic to snap them shut and even put a seal over the leaks.

"Glad to see you are useful, Roridan," Ragkin said snidely.

Now Rory remembered why he'd gotten so tired of life at court. Even Zorian shook his head in disbelief.  

A guard came to herd them back down to the lower level where the queens waited and not sitting in state this time. The people hurrying in and out were not courtiers, either.

This trouble came from more than the strange storm.

"Ships crashing into the dock and things climbing off of them," Andora explained with a frantic glance at the door where more women came in, this time dragging a hissing creature wrapped in chains.

"That's not going to hold --" Zorian began and started that way.

Rory moved with him, and so did Andora, though she also shouted orders, and people listened to her. Rory still needed to learn her rank.

Now wasn't the time to ask.

The creature started to shed circles of chains as if they were no more than pieces of yarn. Some became dangerous weapons, knocking people down.

"What in all the hells --" Andora shouted over the creature's howling.

"That is a very annoyed young dragon," Zorian said as he walked toward the howling beast.

Rory wasn't sure why he went with his friend, except that Zorian had stood with him all through this madness. Andora did as well, though maybe that was more duty rather than insanity. He needed to figure out where he should draw the line. Wasn't he going to the dragon to help protect his own queen?

They were close enough that the tip of a chain caught Rory across the ankle, and he would have gone down except for Andora, who caught hold of him.

By then, though, Zorian had rushed ahead, dragged the last chain off the creature, tossed it aside, and grappled the beast barehanded.

Rory didn't see what exactly happened, but he knew it had nothing to do with magic. This was pure strength and ability. The dragon swiped a long-clawed hand at Zorian, but he caught the wrist. Then the dragon flipped over and landed on his back.

"Ugh -- ooff," the dragon snarled as Zorian landed on his stomach.

"What the hell are you doing, Greenal?" Zorian demanded.

Knew the dragon? Rory lowered his hand where magic had just begun to gather. Andora was slower to drop her sword. The dragon, though, had stopped fighting. It blinked huge green eyes, the same color as his scales, and focused on the man standing atop him.

"My -- my Lord Zorian," the creature whispered. "I -- make it stop! I hurt. My head. Take it away!"

"Rory, can you help?"

The dragon had started to twist and turn, his eyes gone wild, and his long jaws began to snap. The arms and legs had been held to the floor by Zorian's powers, but he was having trouble with the head. Rory understood and darted around so that he stood where he could grab the top of the head and use magic to seal the mouth.  

Zorian nodded approval, knelt on the stomach, and put both his hands on the sides of the dragon's head. The creature howled and tossed once and then went still.

Rory had never felt such magic as Zorian used just then. Powerful stuff, and it didn't seem to come from him, but instead used the man as a conduit. A sprinkling of wild rushing stars spread from Zorian's fingers and spread out over the dragon's head -- and then drew back until they formed a circle just above the eyes.

The dragon moaned as something needle-like began to pull up out of his head. It pulsed black and purple, more than a foot long and almost an inch in diameter. Something evil -- Rory could sense that from the moment it first appeared.

"Don't touch the spike," Zorian warned, breathless and shaking.

"I won't," he replied and held tighter to the head. The dragon had begun making soft sounds of pain but didn't react violently.

Everyone else had gone silent. They had even backed away without being told. In the silence, Rory could hear more trouble outside. He suspected this wasn't the only dragon, and there may have been more ships and other things --

They needed to focus on this problem first. The spike continued to lift upward but also began to emit a dark power.

"Aien help us," Zorian whispered.

"Aien and Eket help us," Rory added.

"Oh hell." Zorian frantically worked again. "I should have warned you about that!"

Something powerful was heading their way...