It was a quaint little house, situated away from the hustle and bustle of the market, close enough to said market to make the sometimes daily treks for fresh vegetables and weightier fish easy, and still convenient enough in its placing to make Romus's trip to the docks and Remus's to the school for class and shore for fishing far from strenuous. In fact, it could almost be cliché by the standards of Sulanet, and was definitely a ‘cute' little thing were you to ask someone in the human capital of Veshano. The walls, like all the others, one bore paint, but years of salt water, storms, and hot sun that was rather odd for the latitude, had cleaned the thing whiter than bleach could hope to do. There was no white picket fence or lawn ornaments, in fact there was no lawn, but from the small porch there hung a cheap wooden wind chime, upon which were carved elven luck charms. Yet for all of its simplicity, the house was far from such. It was the home of a woman and her two sons: one a sailor and the other an adventurous youth. Here it was that Remus arrived, not long after his class was dismissed, but long enough for him to have had an encounter in the market that had all but faded from his mind and had, without his knowledge even at the point where he knew he would die in the bitter cold refuge he had sought, changed the very course of his life. Here it was that a man, older than Remus, but younger than the woman working so hard in the kitchen, sat upon the steps to the door, twirling a piece of driftwood between his fingers. Here it was that Romus Prame, older brother to Remus and son to Alani, awaited his little sibling with news of the seas and more stories than they could use in one sitting. "Romus!" the currently red-haired youth that was Remus shouted as his eyes caught sight of his brother. Without showing the slightest bit of restraint he ran to the man and threw himself into the strong arms and work calloused hands of the male that had been not only brother to him, but almost father. "Hey there kiddo," the sailor teased, lifting him clear off the ground and spinning around with his brother secure in his arms. Just before either could get truly dizzy, Romus halted and returned his sibling to his feet on the solid ground. "What's this? Have ya grown since I last saw ya? Looks like ya might finally be able t' take me. Wanna give it a go?" The youth chuckled as his brother ruffled his hair a bit. Remus knew very well that had he not the bit of magic he took joy in, he'd look like a miniature of the sailor before him. Romus had sandy brown hair and hazel eyes, much like those of their mother. Years of a ship life (Romus had become a ship's boy at the age of 13) had hardened his brother's body, making it mostly muscle now. While Remus did have to look up to his brother, it was not as drastic as the Unican's height had been, for Romus was six foot even. And boy did he ever have the looks to charm the ladies when he was ashore. Like their father had apparently been, Romus was a sailor threw and threw. It was quite amazing to think that the man was only twenty, giving him a good eleven years on Remus. "Naw, you know that mom wouldn't want us fighting before dinner and getting all messy," Remus said, willing his hair and eyes back to their ‘natural' color so he could look more like his brother/father-figure/hero. "Okay then, hows about we just sit down and I tell ya another story? Then, after we clean the dishes, we can wrestle a little and then go swim and clean up and all." Really, Romus didn't even need to look at his brother to know that a grin touched the child's face. It was the same plan as always, but it was still enjoyable to Remus. The kid was lucky if he saw his older brother twice a year, and even then it was only for about a weeks time. Every moment the two spent together was spent as though they had all of the time in the world though, the way all time should be spent when you didn't have much of it. One could even say that this outlook is what caused Remus to be in such a sorry state as he was now, causing him to reminisce on this time of his childhood when he was so close to death. "Come on and sit down. This is a really good one I tell ya," Romus said, returning to his seat upon the stairs and gesturing for his brother to join him. "Like the story of the Unicans and their prince?" Remus asked, "Or of the Tapestry of Typav? Or how about like the..." "Kid, who is tellin' this story, you or me?" the older male asked, chuckling at his brother's excitement. "You are Romus, but you're taking FOREVER with it!" With this said Romus leaned back to take his time with the telling of the story. "I heard this one in Malmol..." Again he was cut off by the youth at his side, "You were in Malmol? Did you see lots of Dwarves? Are they nice? Do they carry around a lot of weapons? Do they..." "At this rate ya not gonna hear the story before mom calls us for dinner." Obediently the boy grew very silent and very still. "So, like I was saying, I heard this one in Malmol one night at a bar. See, the dwarves take lots of pride in their history and knowing it, and even more in a very well told yarn. So this big, burly dwarf gets up in front of everyone and says, ‘Listen up, ‘m gonna tell ya all tha story of Fort Vesire and the dragons!'..." Before Romus could get any further with the story, Remus's hand flew to his neck, gripping the shirt he wore in his hand, and with it the dragon claw he wore. The older male paused and tilted his head a bit to regard his brother's antics. "Ya okay kid?" After a moment of hesitation as to whether or not to show his brother the item, Remus shook his head and bit and returned his hand to his lap to join the other. With a smile he signaled for his brother to resume the tale. "Well then, so the dwarf goes on to say a lot of stuff, so I'm gonna tell you it, but you gotta pay attention... Good. So, I'm gonna tell it like he did, so if ya interrupt me I'll lose my place and ya won't get to hear it." "With silence as his answer, Romus started the tale. With the words of the old dwarf legend his voice took a new tone, and great care with the way he said the words. "They say that before there were humans in Veshano, before the Unicans hid themselves because of the war, before even the elves cared about what happened beyond their forests, the mountains were there. In that time, when only dwarf and elf sought for peace, when man only wanted to take over, the dwarves were very prosperous. Their tunnels an deep, their cities things of beauty, and most of all, they took pride in the knowledge that their weapons and wealth were unrivaled. Yet even they were fearful of what they knew controlled the skies above them, what truly reigned as strongly upon the mountains as they did below it. It was the time of the dragons. "There was one place in particular that these dragons reigned, and it was the tallest of all peaks upon Carodos, Mount Vesire. They were things of terrible beauty. It is said they breathed fire hot enough to melt the finest steel and cower the bravest dwarves. The things were very mighty, as large as whales in some cases. Their colors were as numerous as the metals of the mountain and gems of the mine. Their flesh was said to turn away any blow, and their claws to cut through metal and stone alike as if it was but better. "The dwarves, quite wisely, were fearful of the dragons and the powers they possessed, because they were the oldest of the races, older even than the elves themselves. So, in an attempt to make a peace with the mighty creatures, the dwarf king offered his finest builders to make for them a place in the mountains, to turn their peak upon Vesire into a fort the likes of which was never seen before or after. It was a great place, providing the dragons with all they would need. Also the dwarves raised cattle upon the lower heights of the mountains, not for themselves, but so that the dragons might have their pick of fresh meat. And things continued like this for some time, and all was fine. "Then came the humans. One in particular. He was a youth by the name of Toremas, and he sought to control the dragons. In secret he snuck up the mountain and while there found the lord of the dragons. For some reason that none can explain to this day, the dragons made a deal with him. The deal was that if he could survive the hatching of the clutch and befriend a dragon, they would not kill him for coming to their land. And so it came to be that the dragon-riders came, and suddenly all of the wars we had known faded away. "But there was a greater risk than humans and warfare abroad in the world. Such dark times as were not known since the youth of dragon kind resurfaced... But what those dark times are we do not know. No record survives of that time truly explaining it, not even the Great Tapestry. And, since that dark time, the dragon kind is said to have faded away from their fort atop Mount Vesire. We can only assume that peace has truly come at last, and there is no longer a need for them or their might, and that they have gone somewhere where they are more needed than they are here. Though it is said that their calls still echo in the fort atop Mount Vesire..." Romus brought the story to a close and turned to smile at his brother. "Silly stuff ain't it?" The boy had been mesmerized by the tale, and only now shook his head to clear the haze from his mind. Once more his hand rose to touch where the claw rested against his chest, hidden by the fabric of his shirt. He could not help but want to ask his brother if dragons still existed, but the call of their mother summoning them to dinner prevented that. "Come on kiddo, time ta eat," Romus said with a chuckle, raising and hauling Remus to his feet by grabbing his arm. And so the boy was left with his thoughts, something that was never good in an adventurous lad like this one. Part 4 Back to Main Page