Pledged in Blood - Chapter Thirty Two (Patreon)

*****

Chapter Thirty Two

Fort

*****

By the time the day was nearing its end, and the weary sun drooped towards the horizon, we had reached the shores of the grand lake. Though my clan had always referred to it as a lake, the moniker belied it’s great size and volume. Fed by three great rivers, it was more akin to an inland sea than a traditional lake. It’s northern and western reaches were shallower, and surrounded with fertile wetlands. The further south the lake went, the wider and deeper it became. Numerous arms fed by smaller rivers stretched out across the land, like great blue roots ever seeking nourishment. 

The lake was so large that a dragon could not fly across it in a single day, whether north to south, or east to west. Fly far enough out over the water, and you could no longer see any shoreline in any direction. I did not know its true dimensions, and though I had seen maps, the lake always seemed under-represented. In person, it seemed even bigger than the valley itself, a sprawling expanse of water large enough to drown a nation. 

In my youth, I learned of the immense, salt-smelling oceans that existed beyond the edges of the land. While our lake was not quite that big, flying over it until there was nothing but water in all directions was a similarly eerie experience, I was certain. And our lake was not saltwater, not the way the oceans were said to be. Though in the shallower, marshier stretches, away from the influx of fresh river water, some of it did grow brackish enough for hints of salt to accumulate along the shore.

The size of the lake meant that every section of shore, and every bit of land around it, was different. To the north, between the rivers that fed it, sprawling wetlands and grassy marshes met flooded pine forests. Along much of its eastern shore, towering mountains edged the lake. There was little in the way of shoreline there, just pitted limestone cliffs plunging into water that was clear, cold, and unfathomably deep. A few smaller, snaking arms of the lake spread west, where wild swamps covered the land, with dark waters fed by warm springs, and strange gray moss hanging from the tangled boughs of odd trees. More warm springs kept the southern most portions of the lake from ever freezing over. To southeast, the shores were lined with pebbly beaches. Islands also dotted the waters, more numerous and of larger size in some waters than others. Some islands were rocky, others forested, others windswept and sparse.

Though it was dragons who once laid claim to the lake and its surroundings, it provided home and sustenance for many other people of the valley. In truth, there had not been enough dragons to enforce our territorial claims this far from the valley’s heart in generations, anyway. Nowadays this land belonged as much to the other inhabitants as it did to the dragons.

A few small urd’thin villages dotted the flooded pine forests, with walkways elevated above the water, serving as waypoints for their wandering nomads and merchant groups. A gnoll clan, separate from the warrior tribes of the northeastern part of the valley, also called that area home. Va’chaak clans called the swampier lands home, though they also set up fishing camps in various spots along the shoreline and its rivers. Some various tribes and peoples also crafted boats for fishing, trade, and travel, and as such had populated some of the lakes larger islands. 

There were likely even isolated swamp dragons still living within the waters, and the game-filled marshes that surrounded parts of it. Swamp dragons were a separate breed, smaller and more standoffish than we were. Or perhaps they were just more standoffish. They earned their name due to the fact that their bodies were designed for surviving in wet areas. Not that they spent their entire lives in water. They could fly, just as we did, and likely lived and sheltered in similar areas. But swamp dragons had webbed paws, and both male and female had long, spiny webbing on either side of their tail. They were excellent swimmers, or so I had heard. I liked to think that meant they could not fly as well as I could, but in truth I had only limited experiences with their kind. 

The swamp dragons had never wished to be part of our clan, and thus, had remained outside our sphere of influence even when we were at our height. To the best of my knowledge, they lived more often alone or in family units, wishing to be free to make alliances with, or enemies of, whoever they saw fit. They used to make trouble for the humans we had trade alliances with, in the days the clan was strong. But those days were long gone, and I had no idea how many swamp dragons yet lived in and around the great lake. If they were anything like the rest of us, most of those who yet survived had probably fled for safer lands. Those who remained, likely did so in the warmer waters of the southern portions of the lake.

The human nations we once held trade alliances with were long gone as well. They must have had vast empires back then, or at least quite bold. Nesh’s people still referred to these lands as a wild frontier, and it must have been even wilder back then. They’d built settlements and forts along their roads, and upon the islands of the lake, intending to protect the ore and other valuable resources they mined from our mountains. Perhaps in the end the expense of maintaining viable trade and cargo routes across such vast and difficult terrain, with so many unfriendly creatures, simply proved too great. Nowadays, those old empires were as faded and forgotten as our own clan.

Such was always the way of empires, or so Melakar used to tell me. When he used to lecture me on history, he would speak of the way human empires seemed to rise and fall every few generations. Now and then, the stronger empires lasted a century or two. I paid little attention at the time, but now I found myself wondering about the age of the empire to which Nesh belonged. Was their empress presiding of their rise, or their collapse? 

According to Melakar’s maps, Nesh’s people had sought to lay claim to much of the area along and beyond the southwest flank of the lake. along with its surroundings. Other humans had in turn conquered other areas around it. The gryphons had pointed to a city-state along the lake’s southern shoreline, for example. Later, Nesh explained to me that meant it was essentially, a small but powerful nation, likely in control of a multitude of new trade routes and resource rich areas. In the future, such a place might make an important ally for a future empire of my own.

This time of year, large swaths of the lake were sometimes encased in ice. I had rarely visited the lake in winter before, and did not know what to expect. I’d heard stories of it from Melakar, though, as he used to consider it part of his patrol territory. In general amount of ice that covered the waters varied greatly from winter to winter, and from area to area. In milder winters, the water just beyond the shorelines froze, but the movement of the rivers kept some areas open, or with only spotty, unstable icing. The vaster, wide open stretches of water where the winds built great waves were usually the last to freeze. Some areas might well not have frozen at all.

The winters here were far warmer than those deep in the mountains. Even the lower areas of the valley generally got more consistent snow and freezing temperatures than the lake did. But it had been a cold winter so far, all across the land. And though the snow cover appeared thinner here than the bluffs we slept in the night before, a coating of white nevertheless smothered the shoreline, and the ice that extended out into the lake. 

“Is that all ice?” Sparrow drifted closer to me as we flew. “I can’t even tell where it ends and the far shore begins!” 

Ahead of us, the lake revealed itself with its featureless expanse. The forests and frozen wetlands and gentle hills gave way to an infinite, flat whiteness, broken only by lines of wind-sculpted snowdrifts, like tiny alabaster hills. I nodded once in response to Sparrow’s question, and adjusted my course to fly parallel to the snaking shoreline. I beat my wings harder, rising higher so that I could survey more of the lake from above. 

By the, the sun was just coming to rest against the horizon. It’s golden fire gave everything a strange, yellow-gold glow, daylight’s final burst of vibrant life. The further it sank, the more that glow would fade into a creeping purple gloam smothering snow and sky alike. Eventually, it would all succumb to darkness. I hoped to have our shelter found before that. 

I scanned the horizon as far as I could, looking for anything that broke up the evenness of the ice. In the far distant, fading sunlight glittered where the ice had not yet claimed the water. Or perhaps there was a warm spring there that kept it from freezing. Further west I finally spotted what I was looking for. A series of tall, stony-gray shapes, some rectangular, others jagged, stood out against otherwise flat terrain. Though snow had surely coated them recently as well, the day’s sun had warmed the stone enough to melt it away. 

“There!” I pointed to it until I was certain Blue Jay and Sparrow had both set eyes upon our destination. “That fortress out there, on an island. That’s where we’ll sleep tonight!” 

Sparrow gave a keening cry, a sound I hoped was a gryphon noise of approval. “Lead on, then!” 

I banked towards the distant island, and beat my wings swift and steady. In a few breaths, the shoreline was already far behind me. As I flew, I slowly descended, gazing down at the terrain beneath us. Now that I was closer to the ice, it was easier to see places where it was riven by fractures and cracks, or where large chunks of ice had piled against one another, driven by the wind. I knew some creatures cut holes through the ice to catch fish. Old vassals used to talk about cutting immense hunks of ice to take home and use to put in rooms and boxes, to keep food and things cold. I, for one, was glad I did not have to land on the lake. If a dragon went through the ice I doubt we’d ever make it back to the surface. 

With determination pushing us onward at a swifter pace, the island ahead of us soon loomed larger and larger. It had been many years since I’d last been here, but the island looked familiar. It was shaped roughly like a triangle, with a single tall, forested hill at the center, and an octagonal watchtower of stone built into the rocky shorelines at each of its three corners. One of the towers had long since toppled over onto the lake, and now remained as a broken line of battered and algae shattered stone. This time of year, immense mounds of jagged, crushed ice were piled up against the rugged shoreline, pushed ever-inward by the wind sweeping across the lake. Atop the hill was a larger fort, with crumbling outer walls surrounding a former settlement and a mostly intact inner keep.

“Look at that!” Nesh pointed to the fort as we drew near it. “It must be ancient! Might be from the Chivril empire, perhaps? It’s held up so well. Gods, can you imagine the expense? They’d have had to pay to have all that stone shipped out there by boats…so they’d have needed a serious dockyard…hell, two of them! One on the island, and one on the far shore. And they’d need to pay and feed and house the workers…”

Nesh went on, but I was focused on finding us a safe landing spot while there was still light enough to allow me to do so. I would be happy to listen to his jubilant rantings later. I’d even wander the island with him, if he wished it. Though given the encroaching darkness, he may have to wait until morning. 

If my memory served me, there was a plaza paved with red granite flagstones near the main keep. I swept over the icy stones encircling the island, and the jagged ice stacked up between them, then flew up the hillside towards the island’s center. We passed a thick stone-block wall with several shattered and long collapsed sections. I could not help but wonder if this place had actually seen battle. Perhaps it had fallen to some other empire competing for the same resources and trade routes, or looking to claim the lake for themselves. The histories of humans, even allied humans, were rarely passed on among dragons. 

Old houses whipped by beneath us. A few were made of reddish brick, and remained mostly intact, though their chimneys were now blocked by disused birds nest, and winter-barren tree boughs pushed through ruined windows. Other houses build of wood had fallen apart over the years, or imploded where the weakest sections rotted away, leaving piles of lichen-crusted wood and roofing materials visible where the day’s sunlight had melted the snow. 

I back-winged and dropped to the ground just in front of the old fortress at the center of the settlement. Where the plaza spent the day in sunlight, the snow was all melted, leaving just cold flagstones. Crusty piles of snow lingered in the shadier areas, sloped up against the walls around the courtyard. The keep loomed above us, a squarish structure built of immense limestone blocks and topped with its own smaller set of towers. Evenly spaced battlements lined the towers, as well as walkways between them. Colorful, stained glass windows lingered above the yawning entrance where wooden front doors once stood. 

“You may as well get down, Nesh.” I settled onto my belly against the chilly ground. “I don’t want you to bang your head against the entryway. Make it quick, though! This stone is cold enough to freeze the scales off my ass!”

Nesh laughed as he hurried to disembark. “Is that actually something that can happen?” He quickly undid the straps from around himself, then patted my side. “Alright, you can stand up.”

“I sure as hell hope not.” I shook myself and pushed back up to my paws.

As I did so, Blue Jay and Sparrow both swept in to land on either side of me. They wandered the forgotten plaza while Nesh undid the safety straps from around my body. He tugged his flight harness free, and packed it away in one of my cargo bags. For the moment I kept the rest of my cargo gear on. Once we found a place inside to spend the night, I’d take everything off, and help the gryphons do the same. 

“This is nice!” Sparrow gave a happy chirp as she returned to my side. “It’s surprisingly well intact.” 

“It’s stone.” Blue Jay warbled at her as he rejoined us. “Of course it’s intact.” 

Sparrow shot him a glare, ruffling the feathers around her neck. “Most of the old human ruins I’ve seen are little more than crumbling walls and toppled towers.” 

“That’s because most of their ruins have been pillaged.” Blue Jay shook himself, tossing his head. “That’s why they’re ruins.”

“I’m going to ignore you.” Sparrow turned her head towards Nesh, offering him an open beak, ear-perked smile. “What era is this, do you know?” 

“I’m not totally sure.” Nesh pivoted on his heel, taking the everything in. “I’d say at least a few hundred years ago, maybe older than that. I think it might be Chivosian, in origin. There were a few competing kingdoms and empires in this part of the world who build things like this a few hundred years ago. But Chivos had one of the most powerful kingdoms of the time, and one of the furthest reaching trade empires. They just…” He waggled his fingers. “Overextended themselves, as far as I know. Too many fingers in too many pies, as it were. Stretched their military, and their budget, far too thin trying to protect far too much territory. Eventually they collapsed, and everyone with a sniff of power started trying to take control of what was left, and while they were busy devouring themselves, another kingdom swept in and picked up the pieces.” Nesh crouched down, running his fingers over one of the flagstones. “Though…it could actually be that kingdom, or one of their rivals, who built this place. Mennenar, perhaps. They did use a lot of red granite…” 

“You two are welcome to stay here and listen to the Professor’s history lecture as long as you like.” Blue Jay strode towards the great arched entryway. “But I’m going inside in the hopes that if it’s a little warmer in there, I might someday find my balls again.” 

I snorted amusement. “If you think they’re cold now, try sitting down on that stone.” I stretched a wing across Nesh’s back, urging him forward. “But don’t worry, Blue Jay, I’m sure my Concubine can help you locate them.” 

Blue Jay glanced over his wings to smirk at Nesh, beak slightly parted and ears splayed. “Only if he’s offering.”

Nesh reddened but otherwise took it in stride, waggling his fingers at the gryphon. “Cold as my hands are after that flight, I’m not sure you’d appreciate that as much as you think.”

Chuckling, I walked forward with Nesh still under my wing. “And I’d damn near swallow my tongue if ever actually made such an offer. Now come along. You can wander the place all you like later, though I’d recommend waiting till morning.” 

“Yes, that’d be lovely.” Nesh straightened up, rubbing my wing. “I could make some nice, hot tea, and roam about, taking everything in with the sunrise.” 

I nodded, that did not sound unpleasant. “I had not realized you were so enthralled with your people’s history.” 

Nesh chuckled and scratched at his head fur. “I suppose it’s a minor interest of mine. It’s just that we don’t really see old castles and things like this very often, anymore. I saw them more in my youth, in the country. Truthfully, a lot of the older palaces and castles and things in and around our capital were looted, burned down, or otherwise destroyed in the last major wars before Diandrios even became Diandrios. So a lot of our older castles, grand palaces and things are only a century or two old, but this is closer to four or five! And what few older relics we do have, at least in terms of great structures, well it’s all been been renovated, or rebuilt entirely. There’s still ancient cathedrals, but military fortifications like this have usually been altered so support modern weaponry, and anti-air cannons, or further reinforced to protect powder stocks, or simply torn down because it wasn’t large enough to fit, say, a sky-crawler hanger, or a locomotive depot, or whatever else the case may be. And it’s hard to fit, say, gas lines through stone walls built to withstand catapults and siege engines.” He paused to gaze up at the entryway. Intricate knotwork and ivy vines were carved into the stone in elegant, swooping lines. “Ooh, now that’s a nice touch. Yes, I think this was definitely Chivosian. They had a real knack for adding artistic flourishes to otherwise stark military installations.” 

The front entry lead into a large, darkened main hall. I steeled myself for any remnants of Melakar’s scent that might still haunt the place. My eyes swiftly adjusted to the gloom. Sunset poured into the room in golden cascade through gaping entryway, and in vibrant, rainbow hued beams through the stained glass windows. On either side of us, a half dozen fluted, red granite pillars stretched towards the ceiling, where they gave way to vaunted arches. Rusted iron sconces where torches once sat, and lamps once hung from still clung to the pillars. Bits of faded murals painted on stone walls lingered. Rotting benches and tables littered the floor in moldering piles. Claw marks and gouges marred the stone floor, evidence of dragons who had visited in years past. 

Blue Jay lowered his head to sniff at the claw marks. “Some of these don’t seem as old as I expected. This one doesn’t smell like your old mate. Is this a bit like your cave? A place young dragons used to sneak away to, to mate with other young dragons their parents don’t like?”

I snorted at him. “Nonsense, this is far too far from the valley for that.” I flared up my frills, smiling. “This was a place adult dragons went to mate, while other adult dragons watch their young for them.” Then I followed his example, sniffing at a few sets of claw gouges and scuff marks. I picked up hints of Melakar’s familiar smell, but there had been other dragons here in years past, as well. Hints of human scents lingered in the air, as well. “Melakar may have taken vassals here for…” I glanced over at Nesh, lowering my voice to a playful whisper. “Concubine activities.”

Nesh quickly turned away from me. “Whatever your people use it for, it’s huge!” Nesh stared back the way we’d come. “The front doors alone are immense. You didn’t have any trouble at all getting through there, Ella. I don’t know why they’d build them so big on a fort, though. It’s more like you’d see on a grand cathedral. And really, so are these pillars.” He turned around, tapping a finger to his chin, where scruffy fur was emerging lately. “Perhaps it had a dual purpose? But even so, I don’t know why they’d make doors that big. Seems counterintuitive to something you’d trying to protect, though I suppose they’d have ways to brace and reinforce them.”

“Perhaps dragons helped them construct it.” I stretched a wing tip, tracing the outline of the front doorway with it. “The whole place is like that. Not just the entry, but all the main corridors, and the doors to the larger rooms. As far as I know, this built when we were trading with human empires. Perhaps this is where they met with us to conduct trade talks, and they needed to make sure we fit inside.” I folded my wing back against my body. “When our clan was at its peak, there was a time when we had trade alliances with a human kingdom, after all.”

Nesh rubbed his hands together. “That’s a fascinating idea. And…I suppose, if the trade alliances were strong enough, it makes sense. Or if your people helped build the place in return for…whatever it was humans were giving dragons, at the time.” 

“Gold, probably. And gems, and other treasures.” I rumbled happily at the thought. For a moment, homesickness squeezed my belly. I missed my own bed, and my portraits, and my armor. And I missed my hoard. “And whatever else we might have valued back then. Practical things we hadn’t made for ourselves. Lamps, perhaps. Or an exchange of knowledge. We did have smiths, for a time, perhaps your people helped us learn more about forging metal.” 

“Why do you dragons like gold and treasure so much, anyway?” Sparrow swished her feathered tail behind herself. “Humans I understand, they use it to buy things, but you just…well, you don’t do anything with it.” 

“We just do.” I shrugged my wings, padding past the gryphons towards the adjoining corridor. I followed old memories and trails of scent towards the rooms we once stayed in, when Melakar and I visited. “There’s old legends that say some god or another first made us to protect sacred treasures, and once that god was no more, the instinct remained. I think that’s bollocks and nonsense.” I snorted, tossing my head. “There are birds that hoard things that sparkle and shine as well, but no one questions why they do it. They simply do. They like it.” I put a paw to my chest. “We like gold, and gems.” I glanced back at Sparrow, smiling. “And other things. Melakar liked books, as you saw. I myself preferred weapons and armor.” 

“You hoard weaponry and armor?” Blue Jerk perked his ears, his crown feathers raised. “I should very much like to see that!” 

“You haven’t quite earned that much of my trust,” I said, pausing at the hallway. “But perhaps someday. Now come along, there’s a room back here where Melakar and I used to…” I trailed off, flashing Nesh a smile. “Sleep.” 

Nesh ignored me. “I’ve seen some of her armor collection. It’s actually very impressive. Even got her to model an old dragon helmet for me! Looked quite magnificent on her, truth be told.” 

“I think I wore that helmet out here for Melakar, once.” I licked my muzzle at the moment, shivering. That was a very pleasant few nights one warm summer.

Nesh only patted the side of my tail. “You keep talking like that, and I think Blue Jay’s going to want you to wear it for him, next.” 

I stopped long enough to make a sure of looking back and examining Blue Jay over my wings. “Now there’s an honor I’m not sure he could prove himself worthy of.” 

“I can prove anything you’d like me too, dragon, if you but you give me a chance.” Blue Jay titled his head, black crown feathers still raised around his indigo and ebony face.

“Perhaps if I get desperate.” I turned my attention towards the antechamber the hallway connected to. Another arched ceiling rose above it, adorned with ivy leaves carved into the stone. Two more rooms adjoined it, each with a door still mostly intact. “These rooms here are our destinations, where Melakar and I used to stay, if I remember correctly. We used both at different times, so let’s look in the one on the right, first.”

“These doors are big enough for dragons, as well.” Nesh put both hands against the wood and iron door, and tried to push it. It creaked and shifted but did not move very far. “And damn heavy to boot.” 

“Probably rusted shut.” Sparrow slipped forward, leaning back onto her haunches to put her forepaws on the door. She pushed, and the door slowly swung open, hinges squealing a grating protest. “It is fascinating they built things this big, though. I hadn’t realized humans had ever had any kind of a formal alliance with dragons. I thought gryphons were the first to take such a step.” 

I swished my tail, thumping it against a stone wall. “Not sure how formal it was.” I swished my tail and it thumped up against a stone wall. “I only know that in peaceful times, when our clan was strong, we would allow humans access to our mountains, with permissions to mine them, in return for agreements of mutual protection, or for treasures and tributes from foreign lands.”

“Probably just during the time of a specific ruler, of a specific nation then.” Nesh walked into the next room when the door was open far enough. “Someone who decided that working with your species was more beneficial than fighting you. The sort of thing we hope to accomplish again, only on a grander scale, hmm?” Nesh glanced back at me, smiling. “To which I should point out, that access to the grand resources buried in your lands would be a huge stepping stone.” 

“I’ll keep it in mind.” I snorted, following Nesh inside along with the gryphons. “I think these rooms might have either been grand bedrooms for the local rulers, or guest quarters for whatever dragons may have been here to negotiate or help build the place. There’s places upstairs and staircases I cannot fit, but I can fit almost anywhere on this floor.” 

Nesh came to a stop, gazing around the darkened room. “I suppose if they did have dragons here often, they’d have wanted to house them.” Nesh gave a little sigh. “It’s a shame that fear and hatred of dragons soon returned to replace the idea of allying with them not long after Chivos collapsed.” 

“It would have helped if your religions hadn’t decreed to your people that all dragons are evil monsters.” I glanced over at Blue Jay. “Not sure how your people escaped that particular unsavory designation.” 

“We weren’t known for conquering local villages, or burning and pillaging them.” Sparrow chirped at me, then softened her tone. “Not that I think you did such things, but your ancestors-”

“Oh, so did yours!” I hissed and tossed my head, then gestured with a wing at Blue Jay. “Or at least his.” 

Blue Jay squawked, ruffling himself. “Don’t drag me into this.”

“Your ancestors raided everyone.” I stared at him, my red-edged frills flared up. “Including humans!” 

“Yes!” Blue Jay snapped his beak. “We did! Human villages, farmsteads, urd’thin traders, other gryphon clans, dragon lairs…Hell, my parents raided! That’s why they call us a raiding clan. But you know who else raids and pillages human villages?” The gryphon gave a frustrated snarl, glancing towards Nesh. “Other humans. Yes, dragon, the average human in the country, and quite a few in the big cities, think you’re all dangerous monsters. Plenty more think you’re some kind of evil demon created by some dark and twisted god. Hell, Sparrow half-believed that. But don’t act like you’re the only thing they believe that about.” He stretched his wings, brushing his flight feathers across Nesh. “You should hear the things they say about other humans. Nesh’s people think Shevar is full of blasphemous barbarians! Lendekos is full of godless heathens! The Pricarians are all demon-spawn, and on, and on. And so you can imagine what the people there all think of Nesh’s empire. Half of them think Diandrious is a dangerously oppressive theocracy, even though their primary churches haven’t had that kind of influence in a century or more.” He pulled his wing back, clicking his beak. “Yes, dragon, you’re evil to plenty of humans, but apparently so is half the world.” 

I glanced over at Nesh. “So you all just hate each other, is that it?”

“Not sure I’d go quite that far, but…” Nesh quite loudly cleared his throat, then padded over to me. “Not sure Say, how about I get us some light? It’s awfully dark in here. Should I light a lantern, or take out one of those light stones I packed?” 

“May as well make it both, Nesh.” As he dug through my cargo packs, I draped a wing across his back. I hadn’t meant that to turn into a personal accusation, and so I curled my neck around to gaze at him, softening my voice. “We’ve all done terrible things to each other, Nesh, all our species. The dragons, the gryphons, humans, everyone else. I didn’t mean you, personally. We…we can all be better, including dragons…including me.” 

Nesh turned and rubbed my nose, smile. “Damn right we can. The only thing that matters about the past now, Ella, is how we overcome it. If you and I can become friends, anyone can.” 

“True enough.” I gave his palm a gentle lick of gratitude, then lifted my head to let him finish getting out the light sources.

Behind me, Sparrow hissed at Blue Jay. “Wait a minute, did you just call me Sparrow?” 

“Did I?” Blue Jay twisted his head around, idly preening his left wing. “Must be contagious.” 

“I’ll tolerate that from her.” Sparrow jabbed a claw at me. “But only because I doubt I could ever get her to use my real name. But I’ll not have it from you. I shan’t tolerate being compared to a tiny little bird from anyone else!” 

“And yet…” Blue Jay cocked his head, a loose feather falling from his beak. “You do rather resemble-”

Sparrow snatched his beak in her paw to shut him up. “Finish that sentence, and I’ll knock your stones into the next room.” 

Blue Jay swallowed, flattening back his ears. When she eased her grip from his beak, e lowered his head in apology. “Sorry, Avalek.” 

“Better.” She turned towards Nesh, her voice softening. “Do you need help with those lights?” 

Nesh pulled out a cloth wrapped bundle from one of the cargo packs. He unwrapped it, and gentle blue light spilled across the room from a roughly spherical light stone. He carried it to the gryphon and offered it to her. “Set this in one corner, or wherever you think it’ll do the most good, and I’ll get a lantern started.” 

While the two of them worked to illuminate the space, Blue Jay slunk past me, close enough to whisper into my ear. “She does look like a sparrow.” 

I rumbled laughter, but when Sparrow glanced my way, I only shrugged my wings. She hobbled past me on three legs, the light stone clutched in her other forepaw. The light cascaded around the room in wobbling shades of spectral blue. When the light reached the tall stone walls enclosing the room, I sucked in a breath. They were not as I remembered them. 

What was once bare stone was now covered in strange carvings. Circles and lines cut into the stone took up an entire wall. They were all arranged into larger circles themselves, spiraling outward. The lines connected them, radiating out from each circle like the spokes of a wheel, each connecting to another circle, that connected to another, and so on. A different wall had similar images, but here the circles were carved to show depth, like spheres. Their connecting lines were more random, crossing the entire wall before touching other circles, or intersecting one another at uneven intervels. Some spheres were larger than others. Where some of them had lines connecting them to many more, others had only a single attached line, or stood alone. 

“What the hell is all this?” Sparrow tilted her head back, gazing up. 

Nesh finished lighting his lantern, and flickering orange light cast added shadows to the odd designs. “Good question. Navigational aides, maybe? A star map maybe, or something else astronomy related?” 

The sight tickled something vaguely familiar in me, some old memory I couldn’t fully grasp. Trying to clutch at it was like trying to claim a drop of dew for my own, no sooner had it touched it than it was evaporating within my paw pads. Still, it reminded me books, I think, in some other dragon’s cave. Melakar had them now, most likely, but where had we first found them? 

“I’ve seen this.” I turned my head, scanning first one wall, then the other. “In old dragon books, I think.” 

“This one does look a bit like stars.” Blue Jay pointed his beak at a few different spheres. “The larger ones are the brighter stars, the smaller ones, the dimmer. Someone could have based it off a nighttime navigational chart, perhaps. Not sure what the lines represent, though.” 

Nesh held his lantern higher, standing below the wall with all the circles. “I think I’ve seen something akin to this as well, in books on astronomy, or during lectures about the solar system, when I was in academy. About how our world is actually moving through the stars, around the sun. A bit like that, actually…” He traced a finger in the air, outlining one of the circles. “But I’ve not seen such a model quite like this…let alone with all those…whatever they are. It’s like they’re connecting it to other stars.” 

“Stars.” I stomped a forepaw as recognition clicked in my head. “That’s where I’ve seen it. Old tomes once owned by the Singers of the Stars. They had images like this in them! Supposedly, they even had a secret cavern, with this sort of thing carved in it, though I’ve never seen it.” I gazed around the room, then snorted and shook my head. “Whatever it is, none of this was here years ago.” 

“So…” Nesh slowly turned towards me. “You think some dragon shaman came here, and…and carved all this?” 

I clenched my jaw, my belly twisting. For some reason, that idea, though certainly possible, sat unpleasantly heavy within my stomach. “I don’t know. Maybe. I wouldn’t think there would be any true Singer of the Stars around without me knowing them, but…” My gaze sank to the floor, and gave a slow, heavy sigh. “Melakar might have found one, brought them here. He believed in that…” 

I clamped my jaw shut. I was about to call it nonsense, but Melakar had put great faith in the old legends. To insult them now seemed as if it would insult his memory, as well. I slunk forward to sniff at some of the carvings, hoping for lingering traces of scents that might hold a clue. I mostly just smelt stone, and must. There were hints of Melakar’s scent, but there were traces of other scents, too. It was impossible to tell if he just examined them, or even if… 

“Hell, maybe he carved them. If he wished me to be Queen, someday, perhaps he imagined himself becoming my Singer of the Stars. That seems…more feasible than him finding another dragon who knew the old faith, and bringing them here without telling me. But…anything is possible.”

Nesh set his lantern down, and returned to me. He beckoned for me to lower my head, and when I did so, he wrapped his arms around the top of my neck, hugging me to his chest. “I hope coming here doesn’t turn out to be too hard on you, Ella. But it if does, I’m here for you.”

“Thank you, Nesh.” I pressed a forepaw to his back to return his hug. “I already knew there are likely to be places here where his scent lingers, and where old memories will haunt me, but…” I nuzzled at his chest, and he stroked my scales. “There’s nothing here that will be any worse than living in his old home.” I slowly lifted my head, gazing at the odd designs. “I just…didn’t expect to find this.”

Nesh chuckled, patting me once more before turning around. “I don’t think anyone expected to find…” He waved at the walls. “Whatever the hell this is.” 

“No,” I said, shaking my head. I gazed around the rest of the room. It was otherwise mostly barren, just some moldering old furniture, torn shreds of cloth, and other remnants. “Come. We may as well see what’s in the other room.”