Memoirs of a Dragon

Betrayal and Remorse

Soon the Council had finished eating and their conversation returned to a low roar. Apatina rose and reentered the center circle, she patiently waited for the Council’s attention; as soon as everyone’s attention was on her, she said with great enthusiasm, “Now that the feast is concluded, with the Council’s permission, I will ask Topaziah to step forward and tell her story.”

As Topaziah stepped into the center circle, Apatina bowed, to her and returned to her place among the Emerald Dragons. When Topaziah reached the center of the circle, a platform rose silently up under her, so that she could be seen by all. Topaziah’s heart raced; trying to calm her nerves, she took a slow deep breath and just as slowly let it out.

“I would first like to thank all of you for allowing me to come here today, and to have the opportunity to introduce myself. I hope that I continue to have many more chances to meet all of you, and get to know each of you better,”

She bowed to the Council again before telling her story. As she looked toward the empty section where the Snow Ikean, and the Snow cap Dragons used to sit, she said in a calm, but intent voice, “For 2,000 years I lived in peace among the Snow Ikean, in their palaces of ice, in that place high atop a mountain where the snow never melts. I was content, believing that I was the only Dragon ever to have existed. I was told all my life, that my egg was found in a snow drift, shining turquoise blue, and that my egg was seen as a gift from the gods, given to the Snow Ikean to shelter and to protect. Content with this lie as the truth, I never questioned the Ikean, or my existence as the only Dragon. That was of course, until I literally dug up the truth… Each year the Snow Ikean dig new extension caves to their ice castles to make room for their ever growing colony.

“Last year, as I was helping the Ikean dig one of these extensions, I found, frozen solid in the snow, a mother Dragon crouched over her nest, with an Ikean War Sword lodged deep in her chest. The egg within her nest, without the warmth of its mother’s fire, froze instantly and cracked.

“It may sound strange, but I could not recognize the form for what it was, It is a trick of the light on the ice, I told myself, I must be dreaming, I was too horrified to believe my eyes! A mother dragon had been killed by one of the creatures I had called family! I tried to get away; I tried to deny what I had seen. I dug in a new direction only to unearth another frozen Dragon corpse, then another and another, two hatchlings killed in their sleep… I tore my way out of the cave, out through the main hall, and out through the main gate.

“Once out of the confines of the cave, I soared through the sky, roaring at the moon. For hours I circled the sky, crying out to the moon; silently, the Ikean gathered below and watched me, not knowing what I might do.

“Finally, out of fatigue and grief, I swooped low over the Ikean city and landed on a cliff overlooking the valley below. There on my icy perch, I cried myself to sleep. When I awoke the next morning, I found Coramandela, the Ikean who raised me, perched on the cliff next to me. Tears glistened on the Ikean Queen’s cheek as she began to tell me the truth.

“‘Your story begins long ago, long before your egg first entered this world,’ Coramandela began. ‘Mylinor one of my mother’s, the former queen’s, best warriors, fell in love with a girl from the mortal village. He tried to ignore his feelings for her but the attraction was too great. Mylinor would fly down to the mortal village daily and sing to her. Her name was Liana, and she was one of the few of the villagers who was unafraid of our magic and would listen for hours on end to our songs and stories. When Liana was a child, her mother scolded her for making wings out of the good bed sheets and branches off their fruit trees.

“‘When the young Ikean warrior showed her so much attention, Liana quickly fell in love. To stay close to her family, Mylinor and Liana lived in the mortal village for a year, but the villagers, too afraid of Mylinor’s power, were cruel to them. Though he was helpful and friendly towards them, the villagers never accepted Mylinor as one of them. One night there was a mighty fire that consumed over half of the village; the villagers ran with water and tried to douse the flames to no avail.

“‘Mylinor, frightened for the Villagers, added his magic silently to their efforts. One of the frightened mortals, not understanding what Mylinor was doing, accused him of starting the fire; he shouted at Mylinor to leave, that he wasn’t welcome there. Mylinor ignored the mortal, he just continued his magic, pushing the fire away from the untouched buildings. This went unnoticed to the villagers, who stopped fighting the flames and turned their anger on Mylinor. They threw rocks, tools and pieces of their burning village at him. Mylinor’s magic shielded him from their fury as he continued to wage war on the flames. He had managed to put the fire almost out when a scream caught his ear.

“‘ ‘Mylinor help, oh please help!’ The villagers turned their fury on Liana, throwing their stones and words of hate at her.

“‘ ‘You brought that creature here, now see what his magic has done. Our homes are destroyed because of you!’ cried the villagers as they hurled more stones at poor Liana.

“‘Mylinor turned from the fire, and used his magic to shield the woman that he loved. The force of the shield was so great that it threw the enraged villagers back several feet, then he spoke to the gathered mob, in a voice stern but clear, ‘I have not started this fire but have used my magic to contain its flames. I understand why you fear my power, but I have given you no reason to fear me. Your homes and shops have been destroyed, but your people are alive. Life is a precious treasure and should not be squandered away in hate and fear. The young woman in front of you, you have watched her grow, why now do you turn your hate on her? I can not comprehend it.’ Mylinor softened his tone and fixed his gaze on Liana as he spoke to her. ‘Liana, my love, if you choose to stay here in this village you have come to know as home, I will stay and ignore the stares and the hurtful words. Among my kin, the Snow Ikean, we would have peace and acceptance; it is not in the nature of the Ikean to feel hate, jealousy or fear. I leave the decision up to you.’ His words touched Liana and tears ran down her face as she ran towards him. Together they flew here and settled down.

“‘In the years that followed, Mylinor and Liana had three children, Fioliona, Sophia and Myaior. The two daughters, Fioliona & Sophia, were beautiful, tall with the perfect wings of their father, the golden hair of their mother and voices as lovely as a summer’s breeze down in the valley; but Myaior was different. He was nearly a head shorter than the Ikean boys his age, and though he had wings, they were three sizes too small and too weak to lift him more than a few feet off the ground. Different from the Ikean, Myaior grew hair about his face like the men in the mortal valley, though not as thick. My mother, the Queen, allowed him in the army at his father’s side, only because he could out fight even the strongest of the Ikeans, with both swords and bow. Unknown to us, his mortal half was sick with jealousy; he couldn’t stand the fact that he couldn’t fly. He hated his father for choosing a mortal as his other half, and as his mother grew old and weak and eventually died, as mortals do, he saw himself as impure and inadequate.

“‘With feelings of his inadequacy growing stronger every day, Myaior became insanely jealous of anything that could fly, from the Ikean and Dragons to birds and insects. One day while patrolling our eastern boundaries, he came upon your egg nested alone by an enchanted dragon fire. When he saw the egg unprotected in its nest, the temptation was too great. He stole the egg intending to hatch the egg and to raise the dragon inside it to be his strength and his wings. He kept the egg hidden in his room on a cushion by the central fire, confident in the fact that no one would learn about it, until it was too late.

“‘I was only 1000 years old when Topaziah, Queen of the Snow Cap Dragons, came to my mother. She told my mother that the friendship and trust of our two colonies had been broken, and that an Ikean had stolen her egg. The Dragon Queen gave my mother one week to find the egg and return it, or to hand over the Ikean responsible, or there would be war between their two colonies.’ With tears of sadness glistening on her cheeks, Coramandela looked down and continued. ‘After Queen Topaziah left the palace, my mother explained to me that to the Dragons, an egg is the greatest treasure that they can possess.

“‘My mother was aware that the Dragon Queen would come back seeking vengeance if her egg was not found. She called upon anyone who had information about your egg to come forward, but no one seemed to know anything about it.

“‘By the third day, my mother gathered her swiftest and keenest-eyed scouts to search the mountain for the missing egg.’ Coramandella took a slow deep breath before she continued.

“‘It wasn’t until the fourth day, when my mother the queen asked again of her subjects, for any information about the egg, did Myaior remember about his footprints! With the weight of the egg he had been unable to fly, and of course the Dragon Queen would have seen them leading toward the city. A normal Ikean would have been able to fly with no problem, even with the added burden of the egg. Certain that it was only a matter of time before he was caught, Myaior concocted a plan.

“‘The Queen had taken pity on Myaior as a young warrior with flawed wings, giving him more responsibility as her personal messenger with her army. Now to cover up his malice, Myaior took advantage of his important position. He sneaked into the Queen’s chambers and stole a royal battle seal. He forged a letter to the Queen’s Captain, telling him that the Ikean were under threat from the Snow Cap Dragons! The orders were to gather his warriors and to kill all the Dragons regardless of age or rank, during the new moon when the Dragons would be at their weakest and they would all be sleeping.’

“As Coramandela told me the story, her voice was thick with emotion, and she had to stop to regain her composure before she could continue. ‘The Captain was appalled by his Queen’s orders, and he was going to confront the Queen about them, to beg his queen to reconsider the order to kill their brethren, but the Captain was stopped by Myaior. Myaior told the Captain the Queen had her reasons, and a new moon attack was the only way to defeat the Dragons, because they were both more numerous and stronger than all the Ikean warriors put together.

“‘The Captain hesitantly set the fictitious orders in motion, because what Ikean would ever have a reason to lie. That night, under the dark new moon sky, the Ikean warriors swooped down upon the unsuspecting sleeping Dragons. They killed all of them, from the smallest hatchling, to the mightiest of the Dragon warriors. ’

“Coramandela sighed as she continued with downcast eyes; she explained to me that wrought in Dragon-fire and infused with gold, Ikean- steel is unbreakable and is one of the few things strong enough to pierce a Dragon’s skin, and to kill a Dragon is harder still. She told me that they had to pierce the heart. As the heart is pierced, all the Dragon’s sorrow claws at your soul leaving it marred for all eternity.

“‘Myaior watched his comrades set to work piercing dragon hearts and smiled to himself as he felt certain that he would get away with it all and not-one of his Ikean comrades would suspect him. His plan became more refined as he thought of what he would say after all the Snowcap Dragons were out of the way, he would return with the other warriors eyes downcast and looking forlorn, he would pretend to mourn the loss of the Dragons, and then in a few days he would pretend to find the egg on a morning patrol… the plan was perfectly laid out in Myaior’s mind.

“‘The Ikean warriors had a pain in the pit of their being and looked away as they administered their fatal blows. Myaior walked silently through to the center of the throng; placing a trembling palm on the side of the sleeping queen he whispered ‘I’m sorry it has come to this, but I really had no choice, I could not let the others know what I have done and I could not allow a war to brake out, so you see, all of this is necessary.’ At that same instant somewhere in the night a Dragon roared out in pain; the warrior had missed its heart!

“‘The queen Topaziah awoke with a start and stared at Myaior then looked down at the drawn sword in his hand. ‘Myaior? What is going on? Should I wake the others? Why are you in arms? Are we under attack?’

“‘Myaior whispered, ‘I’m sorry,’ again and swiftly plunged the sword into her chest. Instantly Myaior was filled with the Dragon’s sorrow, and he ran. He ran as fast as he could away from the m******e through the silent Ikean city to his quarters and closed the heavy wooden door. Breathing heavily, wanting to get away from the horrible thing he had done, wanting it all to be a part of some horrible nightmare that he could wake up from, he closed his eyes and pressed his head against the cool door. He could feel the weight of all the Dragon queens’ sorrow pressing heavily on his heart. Upon opening his eyes he saw a drop of shimmering scarlet dragon blood glide down the length of the sword still clenched in his trembling fist, and land on the floor where it pooled together with the drops that had been silently dripping as he tried to deny what he had done… seeing the ruby puddle at his feet, Myaior dropped his sword, threw down his shield and cast his helmet to the ground as he stumbled a little farther into the room. Everything went out of focus as the harsh reality of what he had just done came crashing down around Myaior. He was dizzy and it became hard for him to breath. A heart beat drummed in his ears, much slower than his own, which was threatening to jump from his chest. Suddenly, the room stopped spinning and your egg resting by the fire came into sharp focus, and the drumming in his ears became more distant. He crumpled to his knees and with eyes wet with tears Myaior began to pray. He prayed for forgiveness from the Dragons whose death he had caused; he prayed for forgiveness from you still inside the egg, you who would never know your mother or family; he prayed for a quick and merciful death from his king and queen which he deserved; and most of all for the sorrow of all the Dragons to fall upon his shoulders and not upon his father, who had suffered the loss of Liana, his other half, a sorrow far beyond most Ikean understanding. Neither did he want the sorrow to land forever on his fellow warriors who were only doing what they were told to do, only doing what they believed their fair and virtuous queen had carefully planned. Myaior stayed like this, praying to be discovered and to be punished for his actions.

“‘As the last Snow Cap Dragon took its final breath, the heavy hearted Ikean warriors headed home to tell their queen that not one Dragon was left alive. The city was silent. The streets were too quiet; after any battle the homecoming of the warriors, no matter the hour, was a great celebration with a feast and prayer for those souls who left this world behind. The hush of the city was in shocking contrast to the internal screams of the warriors’ souls. Though the warriors couldn’t have eaten even if there was a feast, the warmth and love of their families would have lifted the icy pain they all felt.

“‘Mylinor, once inside the city, noticing that his son was missing from his side, went in search of Myaior. With his soul heavy with the weight of the burden of carrying ten dragons’ worth of sorrow, his thoughts were quick to come to the belief that when that Dragon screamed out his only son was killed. Panic filled Mylinor as he scanned the passing army, and not seeing his son, he headed back to search among the Dragons for his missing son, when he stopped himself and decided to search the city first. He searched from the prayer cathedral at the topmost peek of the city, to the cellars where the food was stored, his panic steadily growing with each empty room. Upon entering his son’s chambers and seeing him crying on the floor, Mylinor was filled with relief. Wishing to reassure his son, thinking that Myaior must have been overcome with the Dragons’ sorrow, he approached Myaior placing a hand on his shoulder said, ‘Dragon sorrow is a terrible burden to bear, but our queen must have deemed their deaths necessary or she wouldn’t have sent us forth.’

“‘Myaior could take the guilt no longer; standing on wobbly legs he said ‘Our righteous queen knows nothing of what went on tonight.’

“‘Confused, Mylinor looked his son in the eyes and asked, ‘What do you mean?!? The queen is the one who sent us, her seal was on the order, I saw you hand it to the captain, and I watched as the captain opened it.’

“‘Myaior reached into his pocket and pulled out the queen’s stolen seal and handed it to his father and told his father all that he had done. Shocked, Mylinor looked unbelieving from his son to the previously unseen egg resting by the fire.

“‘Anger and fear surged for the first time through Mylinor, ‘How could you?!?’ he shouted, ‘You are my son! A warrior of the Queen’s army! How could you let foolish pride and jealousy get in the way of your better judgment and cause the death of our brethren!?! You disgrace us all!’ The rage that had seized Mylinor, gave way and fear set-in, fear for the life of his son. ‘You must leave from here, my son, run away and take the egg with you,’ Myaior shook his head but Mylinor continued, ‘The queen will not let you go unpunished for your actions! I have watched my heart’s true love pass into the light beyond this world; I will not see my only son killed for the sins of his mortal half.’

“‘‘Father, I love you and my sisters and it is because of you that I will accept the consequences of my actions. What do you think will happen if I leave? The King and Queen will pass the judgment of my crime onto you, the one who produced me, me, a monster, capable of the annihilation of another immortal. What about my sisters? They will be banished from the only life they know, just for sharing my blood! I will not be responsible for ruining any more lives…’

“As I listened to Coramandela shed tears while retelling the sequence of tragic events, I was not sure I wanted to hear anymore, but I was unable to find my voice to stop her.

“Coramandela continued, silencing her sobs, and hanging her head in shame, ‘Meanwhile, the Queen’s warriors walked through the silent city to the royal chambers where the royal guards barred the entrance. Shock showed on the royal guard’s faces to see the queen’s army in full armor, their shields and swords stained with blood. The captain stepped forward and said in a voice quieter than his normal strong commanding voice ‘We are here to see the Queen.’

“‘One of the frantic and speechless guards, disappeared down the hall. He retuned with a frazzled looking Queen at his heel. As the queen entered the room, there was a clatter as the army took a knee before her, ‘Why do you come before me at this early hour, what has happened?’ Shocked at their queen’s confused and angry tone, and still torn by the Dragon sorrows, none of the warriors spoke. ‘Answer me! Captain what is going on here? Why is my full army before me? Is that…is that blood on your swords? What has been going on this night?’

“‘My Queen?’ asked the captain confused, tears welling up in his eyes and then overflowing, as he was unable to contain the Dragon sorrow any longer he continued, ‘We have killed the Dragons, and none are left alive.’

“‘What?!’ roared the Queen! Furious, my mother the Queen, turned to her captain and demanded to know why such a m******e had taken place. Dumbfounded, the Captain replied that they were following her orders, he sobbed and he handed her the order stamped with the royal seal. The Queen’s heart sank at the thought of one of her Snow Ikean forging such an atrocity in her name, the queen stepped forward and ripped the document from her captain’s hands. After examining them the queen screamed and fell to her knees her handmaidens rushing to tend their mistress. ‘Who...who handed you this message!?!’ she demanded, her enraged voice trembling on the edge of hysteria.

“Coramandela was on her knees on the ice next to me, her tears glistened wetly on her cheek ‘The captain crumpled to the floor distraught in the realization that the deaths of all those souls was a pointless tragedy, admonishing himself for not talking to the queen first. Before the captain could answer the Queen, Myaior walked in, the egg cradled in his arms and his father at his side. Dragon blood was still on Myaior’s hands, his blood stained sword was refastened to his side and the tracks of his tears streaked his face. By this time, King Drastle had come to see what was causing the distress.

“‘The Queen was mortified; she listened to Myaior as he told all those gathered in the hall what he had done, leaving no detail out as he stared not at the queen, the soldiers, his father or anyone in the hall, but gazed transfixed at the egg. Tears swelled in the eyes of all those gathered as Myaior’s narrative came to a close.

“‘My father, King Drastle, normally a kind and fair Ikean, never one to show anger, showed little mercy for Myaior. It was only because of the pleads for mercy from Myaior’s father and sisters that my father didn’t sentence him to death, but he came down hard on Myaior, clipping his nonfunctional wings, stripping him of his immortal powers and banishing him to the farthest point of oblivion, leaving Myaior with no recollection of where he came from or how to return. Mylinor, his guilt and sorrow filled father, left our city to keep a silent watch over his son and hasn’t been heard from since.’

“Coramandela told me that without the warmth of my mother’s fire it took 1000 years for my egg to hatch, and up until that night the Ikean feared that my egg would never hatch. The Ikean named me after my mother and raised me as a sacred being, worshiped and protected, but Coramandela felt that the Ikean should have told me the truth earlier. She told me that the Ikean would forever be sorry and ashamed for what they had done.

“Once a year in the temple, the Snow Ikean gather in memoriam, on the anniversary of that fateful night, in a 24 hour vigil to pray for forgiveness from the Immortal souls of my ancestors. By the time the Ikean queen finished her story, she could contain her sadness no longer, and she wept bitterly; I knew she told the truth. I felt scared in the realization that I was the only one left of a once mighty race.

“While we sat in silence, my mind raced, and I asked Coramandela, if I was the last Dragon in the world…? Coramandela then looked me in the eyes and told me that while I was the last of the Snow Cap Dragons, there were still many other dragons in this world. She told me about the seven types of flying dragons, but that their homes were kept secret from other immortals.” Topaziah was abruptly interrupted by one of the Basilisks.

“Shortly after the Topaz Dragons disappeared, the Council changed the law. We used to keep our homes secret, but now every known species of immortal must plot its home on the immortal world map,” said the giant serpent in a voice that was stern and loud, as if Topaziah had in some way offended him. The scarlet serpent pointed curtly up at the blue ceiling with the tip of its tail.

From the center platform, Topaziah could see that the ceiling was a large map of the world. The different regions were labeled in gold, and each immortal’s home territory was clearly labeled. “But please continue,” said the Basilisk with a mildly irritated hiss.

Slightly nervous, after this interruption, Topaziah nevertheless continued; “Coramandela told me that long ago, all the immortals would gather at the Stone Circle, but after the Snow Ikean killed my kind, they were too ashamed of their actions and stopped going to the Council meetings.

“She told me how to get to the old Stone Circle, so I headed out into the unknown, to find where I belonged and to find others like myself.”

“Topaziah, forgive me my interruption, but we must act!” A tall red Dragon to the left of the Emerald Dragons had stood up and was vibrating with anger. “It is the obligation of this Council to seek justice for the Snow Cap Dragons! The Ikean warriors responsible must be brought before the Council. They may have been doing as they were told, but each one should have questioned their orders and confronted their Queen.” Several of the Council members nodded their agreement.

“The Snow Ikean who was responsible was half mortal, and it was that impurity that caused this tragedy leaving the Snow Ikean blameless,” said a tall Forest Ikean dressed all in green, and half of the Council agreed with her. The Stone Circle erupted in a murmur of conversation about the Snow Ikean’s guilt or innocence. Topaziah didn’t want the creatures she had known as family to be punished because of her, and as she thought of the Snow Ikean, she thought of Coramandela, the only mother she had ever known. Topaziah couldn’t breathe, she was still on the center pedestal and the angry voices rose all around her. Topaziah would never forgive herself if, by coming to the Stone Circle she had caused a rift between the Immortals. She wanted to stop the rage that swelled around her, but was unable to find her voice.

“Excuse me,” said a voice that carried over the noise of the Council. Then silence fell, “It is not the job of this Council to decide the fate of the Snow Ikean, but to decide if we welcome the Snow Cap Dragons back to our number.” It was Eannor, the Emerald Dragon elder, who had spoken, his many years of power and wisdom echoed off the walls of the dome, commanding acknowledgement and respect without fierceness of voice. “As the hour is now quite late and all of us have traveled a long way to get here, may I suggest that we adjourn until tomorrow, after we all have rested and can proceed refreshed.”