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Of all of Dominia, the Nalathni Dragon is one of the most
magical and rare creatures. Rarely seen in the forests of
Keldonia, they actually had a very complex society; one which
never shows itself, however.
Gelra reflected on this briefly as he flew to the meeting
tree with his lifemate. The four foot long Dragon looked at his
mate for a minute. Relara was truly beautiful, with her green
and red spotted pattern over her wings. Gelra was very lucky.
They came to the meeting tree, perching on one of the larger
branches. Any mortal who looked at the tree would think that it
had suddenly gone beige and grown huge, upright leaves. Either
that or there was a rare bird convention going on.
A Dragon on the center branch cleared her throat. She was
slightly smaller than the average Nalathni, but still formidable
all the same.
"We have come here to discuss the recent disappearances of
our kind from this area," she said. There was a murmur of
agreement.
"We believe that somebody has found a spell capable of
summoning our kind," the Dragon continued. "If this is the case,
it could mean disaster here, especially with Pashalik Mon's
Goblins attacking this area."
"Are the Warlords fighting against these raiders," a
speckled Dragon to the right asked.
"In some respects," came the reply. "The Goblins are not a
great threat to the Warlords."
"I don't understand," Relara said. "Magic does not summon
creatures from these plains, but images of them. How can they be
summoning us?"
"We do not know," said the head Dragon. "We will send a
couple of our kindred to discover the spell that is summoning us,
and destroy it."
"How do we know that this is a spell and not some rogue
hunter that is kidnapping our people?" asked Gelra, cuddling
Relara with his wings.
"We have a witness who saw Hulna disappear in a cloud of
magic."
"Oh dear," Relara commented.
"Who will go to find and destroy this summon spell?" asked
the head Dragon.
Gelra looked at Relara for a moment. She nodded.
"We will go," Gelra announced.
"You are very brave," the head Dragon stated. "Remember,
though, that we are not made for battle like our Shivan cousins.
You must go to the Mageschool in Benalia, and discover this
spell. It may be a good idea to find a magician to protect you
while you are there."
The two Dragons nodded, and took flight.
* * *
It was a week after the Dragon's conference when Delric
awoke to the sound of faint breathing. The magician looked
around his chambers for an intruder, eyes setting upon the two
shapes blocking his open window.
On closer examination, they seemed to be two foot tall
featherless birds, one asleep and nuzzled to the other, who was
watching him wearily.
"We need help," one of the birds said, surprising Delric.
The other bird woke up, and turned its head to face him.
"Who are you?" Delric finally managed to ask.
"I am Relara, and this is my lifemate Gelra," the bird said.
"We are what you would call Nalathni Dragons."
Delric stood up and stretched. "I thought Dragons were
supposed to be larger," he stated.
"Are there not small mammals and large mammals?" Relara
responded.
"We are smaller cousins of the big ones," Gelra said. "But
that is beside the point."
"So what can a fifth level magician do for you?" Delric
asked as he stroked his chin, feeling the rough stubble of a
growing beard.
"Somebody created a spell that summons our kind from our
homelands," Relara said. "We need to find the person who had
done this and destroy the spell."
"That's not possible," Delric said. "All of the summons are
from the elemental planes. They copy creatures, not kidnap
them."
"Our people have been disappearing," Gelra protested. "We
cannot afford to lose our kin to a magician who wants to fight."
Delric examined the dragons carefully. They didn't seem to
be lying, or mean any harm at all. They didn't seem capable to
inflicting any either.
"I'll see what I can do," Delric said, pulling on his tunic.
* * *
As Delric walked down the hall, he could tell that the
Dragons were following him. There would be a faint flapping
behind him as they would fly from perch to perch, sometimes
settling on the hafts of torches.
As he turned a corner, Delric noticed a familiar figure. He
rushed up to overtake the man.
"Velnon!" Delric called, startling the magician. Velnan
turned and looked behind him.
"Well met, Delric. Who are your guests?" Velnan asked,
bemused.
"Dragons," Delric replied. "Do you know of anybody who has
been making illegal spells. Specifically summoning spells."
"Somebody has been summoning us from our homeland," Relara
added.
Velnan stroked his chin. "Ignar recently got kicked out of
here for making overpowerful lightning bolts. He's the only
person I can think of."
"Where can we find him?" Gelra asked.
Delric glared at the Dragon. "Will you please let me ask
the questions?" he said.
Gelra started to speak, but Relara put a hand on the base of
his wing.
"You might want to look for him in the ruins of Icatia,"
Velnan said. "He always wanted to search the place for
artifacts, but nobody ever let him."
"He's pretty close, then."
"Yes."
Delric turned around and began to walk back to his chambers.
"One thing," Velnan called behind him. Delric turned.
"Bring your most powerful spells," Velnan cautioned. "Ignar
is powerful."
Delric smiled. "I will," he said. Gelra looked worriedly
at Relara. The two Dragons began to follow Delric.
* * *
Delric didn't know what to think of the Dragons as they flew
beside him, at shoulder level. The Benalian border was almost
lost in the distance, as the warriors of caste Hulivan took their
posts on the wall.
The packing for the trip had been rushed, with the Nalathni
Dragons urging him on. It seemed that at times the Dragons were
unwilling to wait, and at other times unwilling to hurry. They
were almost like Elves, Delric contemplated, looking back at the
wall, which had begun to disappear over the horizon.
"Where is Icatia?" Gelra asked.
"More like, where was Icatia," Delric replied. "Icatia fell
to the Orcish armies almost a thousand years ago. The Orcs were
so thorough that only a couple of ruins survive. One is Trokair,
which was ransacked a long time ago. The other is Idona, which
is where we are going." The magician looked at the countryside.
The border was no longer in view. "We should camp here tonight,"
Delric said. "We'll be in Idona by tomorrow afternoon." The
magician stopped walking. The two Dragons began to circle.
"We are going to hunt for food," Relara declared. "We will
not be long." The two Dragons began to fly into the distance.
As Delric made the campfire he further contemplated the
Dragons. There were the Elder Dragons, which were known in
legends. These Nalathni Dragons were vaguely known as well,
almost as rare to hear about one as to hear about an Elder
Dragon. The Nalathnis were surprisingly small as well. The Fire
Drake was supposed to be eight feet long, while the Shivan Dragon
was supposed to be thirty to fifty feet long. These Dragons were
only four feet long. As the campfire began to burn Delric began
to wonder if the rumors of Dragons being immortal were true as
well.
* * *
The party woke at the crack of dawn. Delric looked in
surprise at the two Nalathni Dragons. They had seemed so much
like birds that he had expected them to sleep like birds.
Instead they had curled up on the ground together.
"Good morning," Delric said, trying to be cheerful. From
the look on the Dragon's faces he was either being unconvincing
or overly successful.
One of the Dragons stretched, and huddled over to the fire,
trying to warm itself up. "I'll sleep on the cold side tomorrow,
Relara," the other Dragon said. Delric looked in fascination as
Relara rubbed tiny hands over the fire, her wings around her like
a cloak.
"We intrigue you, don't we?" said Gelra. The tiny Dragon
went to join his mate, cuddling her with his wings.
"Very little is known about you," Delric replied. "There
are so many myths and legends it is hard to sort out the truth."
"Most of the myths are wrong," Relara said outright. "We do
not vanish into thin air and we do not have magic."
Delric flinched, surprised by the Dragon's curtness.
"We are, however, immortal," Gelra added. "We were both
born over three thousand years ago. You must understand, when a
race is immortal there is not much need for reproduction.
Therefore we do not have young ones often. This also means our
numbers are very small. We cannot spare one person to a magician
with a summon spell."
Delric stood up and put out the fire. "This is amazing," he
said, shaking his head. "I would love to learn much more about
you." Delric looked at the horizon. "But we must get going."
* * *
The ruins of Idona looked a great deal like the ruins of
Trokair to Delric. They just looked like ruins to the two
Dragons. The afternoon was casting long shadows from the ruins.
They entered the ruins cautiously. The Dragons flew from
perch to perch in the ruins, keeping a careful watch as Delric
began to cast. He gathered his mana and cast some circles of
protection. He cast two more spells, warding both of the Dragons
from black. Relara looked at herself in interest as a brief
sparkling came over her, disappearing as the spell took hold.
"There is nobody here," Gelra announced, flapping over to
rest beside his mate, who was perched on what used to be an arch.
"Not in this area, anyway."
There was a shimmering behind Delric and a form walked out
into the open. Delric turned suddenly.
"Are you Ignar?" Delric asked.
"At your service," the magician said, bowing pleasantly.
Relara looked at Gelra for a minute. The two Dragons flew
to a perch just behind Delric.
Delric looked behind him, finding where the Dragons were.
He turned back to face Ignar. Surely this pleasant man couldn't
be the evil that they were trying to face. "Have you created
summoning spells that bring creatures from this plane?" Delric
asked. The two Dragons looked at Ignar intently.
"Like this?" Ignar asked, waving an amulet. A Shivan Dragon
appeared behind him, shaking it's head back and forth. "I do
believe that I have. The creatures are able to move much faster
when they are summoned from this plane."
"We must ask you to destroy these spells," Relara stated.
"You have endangered our race and very likely many more."
"Oh dear," said Ignar. "I can't do that. Especially not
for a couple of weak dragons like yourselves."
Delric stepped forward. "I will stop you," he said, holding
up an amulet.
"Not when you are dead," Ignar stated, motioning to the
Shivan Dragon. The Shivan took wing. Ignar began to cast, only
to have his spell broken off by Delric's counterspell. The
amulet Ignar held fell to the ground, expired.
"Now I am angry," Ignar stated, malice in his eyes.
"We'll take care of the Shivan," said Gelra. "You take care
of Ignar." The two Nalathni Dragons took flight.
Down below the Dragons, a magical battle raged on. Ignar
showed some strain on his face as he tried to control the Shivan
and his spells at the same time. The Shivan glided to an attack
posture. The Dragon stopped cold upon seeing the two Nalathni
Dragons in front of him.
"We cannot let you attack," Relara said, flapping her wings
to stay in place.
The Shivan hovered in place, unwilling to harm its' own
kind. Ignar sensed the battle of wills, and gave an overpowering
command to the Shivan.
The Shivan could not stop itself as Ignar took over its'
body, forcing the flame out of its' mouth towards the two
Nalathni Dragons. Gelra pushed Relara out of the flames' way,
being crushed by an incinerating heat wave. Gelra fell towards
the ground, smoking, with Relara following. Ignar smiled in
exultation.
Delric continued to cast spells, summoning creatures from
the elemental planes, forming his energies, only to have them
destroyed by constant flames and drains of life from Ignar.
Ignar gave another command to the Shivan.
The Shivan began a dive towards the Nalathni Dragons, flame
beginning to form in its' mouth. At the sight of the Nalathnis
on the ground it stopped dead in its tracks. Relara was bent
over the charred body of her lifemate, weeping. The Shivan
hovered in the air, just above Relara, who was reduced to sobs,
unable to act to defend herself. At that point the control that
Ignar had over the Shivan broke. Never before on Domina had
Dragonkind killed Dragonkind.
The Shivan Dragon began to fly towards Ignar, gathering all
of the flame that it could muster into its' mouth. Ignar didn't
see the Dragon until it was too late.
The Shivan let its' flame go, incinerating Ignar. The
magician didn't have a chance to even scream before he was ashes.
The Shivan landed on the ground near Delric, who put his hand up
in warding.
Tears ran down the Dragon's face. The Dragon gave a roar of
rage. "I have killed my own kind," the Shivan said, voice
surprisingly soft. "What has he done to me?"
Delric stepped forward. "Where are the Nalathnis?" he asked
in alarm. The Dragon waved its' hand. Delric broke into a run.
He found Relara weeping over the charred body of her loved
one. Kneeling, what he saw nearly made him cry. The body was
damaged beyond repair. No magic in the world could help her
lifemate.
"I'm sorry," Delric said, his voice cracking. A thump
behind him made him realize the Shivan was behind him.
"There was a doom on all of us," the Dragon said. "I have
his spell bag here, the spells in it are yours by right."
Delric took the bag from the Shivan Dragon. He looked at it
for a minute, and then shook the contents out onto the ground.
"Will you please destroy these?" the magician asked.
The Shivan nodded. A minute later a white-hot fire
destroyed the spells.
* * *
Relara left for her home in mourning, flying out of the area
of the ruins where the party had made their campsite. As
Relara's form became smaller and smaller on the horizon, the
Shivan Dragon turned to Delric.
"All of our kind is feared by mortals," the Shivan stated.
"They hunt us out of fear, out of the fear that ignorance
provides. The result is that when in need, few mortals will help
our kind."
Delric looked out at the setting sun. Relara was just a
speck sillouhetted on the sunset. "I did what was right," Delric
said. And it killed Gelra, he added silently.
"Remember this," the Shivan said softly. "We immortals have
long memories. Relara will always remember her lifemate, and the
love they shared. And she will always remember that you helped
our kind, as will the rest of the Nalathnis." Delric turned to
look at the Dragon.
"As will I remember," the Shivan continued. "As will all of
Dragonkind. I name you Dragonfriend, Delric of Benalia. Should
you ever be in need, all you need do is call upon us."
"How?" asked Delric.
"The way you would call on any of your friends," the Dragon
replied. "We will be listening."
With that the Shivan took flight, leaving Delric alone with
his thoughts.
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