Pledged in Blood - Chapter Forty Three (Patreon)

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Chapter Forty Three 

Beliefs

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Long before we set eyes upon the market, the great din emanating from it made its presence clear. The cacophony of voices and sounds rolled down the surrounding streets like a noisy tide, bouncing between walls and buildings. I’d thought all the voices and cheers of the crowd earlier were intense, but this would have smothered them. The closer we drew to the market, the more intense it became, until the wall of sound was like a physical thing, an oppressive, thick miasma we were forced to push our way through. 

I flattened my ears back against the unpleasant volume, and stole a look at my companions. Both gryphons carried on as usual, eyes darting around and ears swiveling, attuned for any unusual sights amidst the onlookers, or suspicious sounds mixed in amongst the chaos. Ayrah waved to people, pausing here and there to share a word with those she knew. Nesh had joined Nemos, their conversation drowned out to my ears. Even Lir did not seem bothered by the ocean of voices, despite the size of urd’thin ears and the acuity of their hearing. 

It must have been me, then. Such loud, chaotic gatherings must have been normal for their society. How they could adjust to such a thing, I did not know. It left my ears buzzing, and made me feel as if my skull was rattling. I flattened back my ears to drown out as much of it as I could, but did not wish to appear rattled. It was not as though the sound was frightening, simply obnoxious. 

It helped that the worst of my previous anxiety had fled me, thanks to a combination of food, drink, and to time spent walking amongst their crowds. Even now, many of Tivos’ people surrounded us, lining up along the streets, or behind wooden barricades at intersections. Nemos’ soldiers were doing their best to secure our route before we walked it. While they were not completely closing off the streets, they were working to keep the way clear for the three large creatures passing by. 

Along the way, I saw a few other strange and impressive sights. The largest streets were lined with more of their gas-lit lamps, though these were not lit during the day as those at the transit plaza were. Nesh explained the pipes that fed them gas were laid beneath the bricks that lined the streets, with great tanks housed in stone buildings placed at evenly spaced intervals. He also said that there even more impressive advances in lightning being made in the world’s great cities, though for now I did not ask him to elaborate. I was still a little overwhelmed as it was. 

Down another street, we several odd conveyances sitting idle. They looked akin to carriages, but with smoke and steam pouring from great boilers and copper pipes. Nesh called them street locomotives, and claimed the operated on a similar principal to their great trains. Drivers sat behind wheels, and an assortment of levers, apparently to help control the thing. According to Ayrah, the city had a fair number of them, along with other such mechanical marvels, but they’d ordered them to stay clear from any area where I was to be.

I’d seen another such contraption outside the city, when we first flew in. I asked Nesh about it, and he explained that different models of the machines were built for different purposes. Some were larger and heavier, but also stronger, designed for pulling cartloads of crops or wagons filled with livestock into town. Others were smaller, but a speedier, meant to carry people down the city streets. Nesh also said that their capital city had larger versions still intended to convey large groups of people around. 

Shortly after spotting the automated vehicles in the distance, we finally reached the market. To me, it seemed incredibly chaotic. It took place in a great, cobbled plaza, surrounded by vast, ancient trees of pine, juniper, oak, and others I was not familiar with. More massive trees dotted the plaza itself. The old oaks were winter-barren, their sprawling canopies like great wooden skeletons stretched above the market stalls. The pines meanwhile remained a vibrant emerald green, while the juniper boughs were a more blue-green, and studded with tiny blue berries. 

A large, arched gateway in an old limestone wall served as the marketplace’s formal entryway. Faded lettering in an old human tongue was inscribed in the stone above the entryway, describing something about the town’s founding. Layers of pale green moss slathered the wall in patchy blotches, somehow surviving winter’s chill. The wall looked to roughly encircle the plaza. Adjoining streets emptied into the courtyard through the wall’s many gaps. Buildings incorporated other parts of the historical barrier into their own construction.

Beyond the gates, the market looked to be a haphazard collection of people vending products and goods from stands, stalls, carts, wagons, tables, and even rugs and blankets spread upon the ground. From the outside, looking in, it was hard to get any sense of order at all. I imagined that once, the place had been organized into lanes and rows, but chaos had long since taken over. Pathways now snaked back and forth, intersected one another, or dead-ended at walls of wagons and stalls. One entire section looked dedicated to cages filled with birds and other small animals. Another area held fenced off pens for larger livestock. Based on how crowded the place was, I could only imagine that its vendors and customers both savored such chaos. 

Very few of the lanes looked large enough for a gryphon to wander, let alone a dragon. It was easy to see why Ayrah said I’d only be able to walk around the outside of the place. It was just as well. If I tried to pick my way down such narrow walkways, I’d inevitably break something. Ayrah was already stuck paying for our collective hunger, I did not wish her to have to pay for my clumsiness as well. 

For a little while, I simply stood beyond the gateway, observing. The whole place swarmed with life. People were everywhere. They walked every lane, manned every booth and vending space, wriggled past one another where there was not enough space. Some were dressed in dull clothes, with long dark coats common. Others had brighter attire, women in colorful, layered dresses or warm cloaks or shawls dyed in bright hues. 

The market had the largest number of non-humans I’d yet seen in the city. Though I’d seen urd’thin here and there amidst the crowds, the market bore dozens upon dozens of them. Many of them were selling their own goods, or running food stalls. I saw some selling cloth and elaborate beadwork, others vending exotic spices. One larger urd’thin booth was selling an immense variety of both clockwork toys and actual clocks. Judging by the crowd, they must have done excellent work. Others were cooking and selling foods to both their own kin, and to humans with a taste for urd’thin cooking. 

There were a good number of gnolls and va’chaak, as well. This was the first time I’d seen such people openly trading with a large human settlement. It was nice to know the three species were capable of getting along. A group of va’chaak was located not far from the gate. The va’chaak resembled upright lizards, with small, spiny frills, and fine scales that came in a variety of hues. They all had long, agile tails, and stood roughly the same height as humans. These va’chaak wore vibrantly colored winter-robes to protect themselves from the chill. Winter-robes were essentially blankets designed to be worn; the va’chaak version of a coat. They were vending from a large wagon painted in cheery shades of blue and gold, like sunlight encroaching on the sky. They were selling mats woven from the feathers of large birds, perhaps even gryphons. Some of them even had beautiful murals delicately painted across the all the interwoven feathers. 

Near them, a half dozen gnolls had a booth. Gnolls were usually taller than humans, with broad, canine-like heads and muzzles, and stout bodies that reminded me of bears who learned to walk upright. The had large, slightly rounded ears, and a ruff of longer, bristler fur down the backs of their necks. Most had fur of beige-gold or light brown, though somewhere darker. Most also had spots, and muzzles that could be darker, or paler, than the rest of their fur. 

The gnolls running the booth were dressed in clothes made from a mixture of animal hides and furs. They’d adorned their fur with amulets and other decorations made from bones and teeth of prey. A variety of intricated carved bones, skulls, antlers, and etched leatherworks were displayed upon their booth. They were also selling things like knives, spears, bows and arrows. I got the feeling they were likely craftsmen from a nearby tribe who ventured to the city on a regular basis to sell and trade. 

Throughout the market there were plenty more non-humans as well. Some of them were dressed more akin to the humans who lived here. I saw a few urd’thin in long gray coats with vests of gold and silver, elegantly tailored to their small forms. One even had a smaller version of the tall hats some of the humans wore perched between his oversized ears. There was a female gnoll in a gorgeous purple and silver dress, seemingly not bothered in the least by the cold. A couple of va’chaak in thick coats and trousers browsed some of the stalls, tails adorned in glittering beads. 

I was pleased to see so many other peoples here. Between their presence and the town’s seeming acceptance of Melakar, it boded well for my own future alliances and friendships in this part of the world. Yet I could not help but wonder about all the other species. How many of them actually lived in the city, and how many came from the surrounding lands? I hadn’t seen many non-humans on my tour so far, just some scattered urd’thin. I wondered if they had their own sections of the city to call home? Were they welcome everywhere, or were they pushed to the margins? At least here, in the market place, there did not seem to be any real conflicts between them. The rest of my concerns would have to wait. 

Ayrah led us around the outskirts of the market so I could get a better look at it. Plenty of people stopped what they were doing to stare at us, or come to greet Ayrah. Others warily approached the gryphons and me. The bravest among them even came to greet us, to question me, or even if they could touch me. Word of my arrival, and of Melakar’s falling had not spread to everyone in town, just yet, and I did not have the strength in me to explain why I was taking his place. For now, I said only that I was his mate, and left Ayrah and Nemos to explain the rest of it. Perhaps that was unfair to her, but there was only so much I could handle on my first trip to a human city. 

There were more people in the market alone than in most of the small villages I’d visited around the valley. Colorful flags and banners fluttered everywhere. They were on poles above stalls, and hung from long lines strung between the great trees. Some of the trees also had platforms and stalls built amidst their great, branching boughs, with wooden staircases wrapping around their trunks. Some enterprising urd’thin had set up a small kitchen in another tree, and rigged up a pulley system to lower down food and retrieve payment.  

It looked as if almost anything imaginable were available for purchase. From metal and woodworks, to cloth and fabric of every type. There were clothes for every possible desire. Some booths sold armors of leather and metal, others sold pistols and other firearms. Given the guards standing by, those must have been regulated somehow. Right alongside them, were stalls vending preserved meats and pickled vegetables, and next to those, an assortment of old books. Further along was a butcher chopping fresh meats, and not far from him was someone selling fish. Others offered services. One group of humans were signing up to sweep and clean chimneys and hearths, others offered to collect trash, or mend clothing and shoes, and on and on. 

The scents were as overwhelming as the sights and sounds. My sense of smell was already overloaded between all the humans, and all the smoke. This placed added to that all the scents of the other species, of animals both alive and butchered, of blood and sweat, perfume and incense, of more things than I could possibly count. There were so many scents so completely intertwined I wasn’t sure if I wanted to investigate them, or sneeze repeatedly. 

After walking around the place, I settled on my belly beneath a few pine trees, and near a set of wooden benches. I just wanted to watch it all, for a little while. Ayrah asked if I minded waiting, and when I did not, she slipped into the market with Nemos to order a few deliveries. A few bodyguards went with her, while her other soldiers remained behind to keep watch over me and keep the crowds at bay. The gryphons took up spots on opposite sides of me, a little ways off, watching over the crowds and surrounding areas.

“What do you think?” Nesh approached me, sipping something steaming from a wooden cup. I 

“Honestly?” I gazed over his head, trying to take in all the market’s chaotic grandeur. “It’s overwhelming.” I turned my attention down to him, and his drink. “What have you got there? Tea?” 

“Mmm.” Nesh took another sip, then pointed to the vendors in the tree. “Urd’thin black tea, actually. Lir recommended it! Quite strong. Quite good, too! So thank you, Lir!” 

“You’re welcome.” Lir shifted on my back, leaning towards him. “Actually, think you can go back and get me one?” 

“Certainly.” Nesh flashed me a smile. “I’d offer you one too, but I don’t think their pully system would support a dragon-sized cup of tea.” 

“That’s alright.” I licked my muzzle, chuckling. As Nesh wandered off, I glanced back at Lir. “Have your people lived in this city a long time? There don’t seem to be as many of you as there are humans.” 

For some reason, that made Lir laugh. “No shit,” she said, shaking her head. “And…some urd’thin have been here a while. A few generations, anyway, but there’s more of us now than there used to be. Still not that many. We ain’t exactly popular in a lotta Diandrios’ cities. I hear it’s better in Shevar, but…” She shrugged. “It is what it is. Still more accepted here than when my grandparents were pups.”

“I imagine rising a position of power beneath the mayor helps that.” 

Lir adjusted her coat, tucking her pistol away for a little while. “It doesn’t hurt. Ayrah’s done a lot to help with that, actually. Helped pass some city laws to make sure we get treated fair. Hell, we’re probably better off here than where your boy-toy’s from.” 

I blinked at her as Nesh returned. “My what?” When Lir only smiled, I turned towards Nesh. “Nesh, what does ‘boy-toy’ mean in your language?” 

Nesh reddened, then glared at her Lir as he passed up a mug of steaming tea. “Not far from concubine, actually. Which, I should like to remind you, is not what I am to her.” 

“Ah.” I smiled at my favorite human. “Well, that remains to be seen, doesn’t it?” Then I flattened my spines back. “So your city does not treat Lir’s people as well?”

“That’s a rather complicated question.” Nesh scowled, blowing on his tea. “It’s a bit like asking of we treat humans well. Some of them, yes, others, not as well as we should, some outright poorly. I, of course, would like to see everyone treated with respect and kindness, but-”

“Other than dragons and their demonic friends, right?” I snorted, flicking my tail tip. 

Nesh glared at me. “Ella, do you want a serious answer or do you just want an excuse to make sarcastic remarks about my society?”

I shrugged my wings around Lir. “Can’t I have both?” 

Nesh sighed, shoulders sagging. He sipped his tea and glanced up at Lir. “You knew Melakar, right?” Nesh waggled his cup at me. “Was he this bad?” 

“Not usually.” Lir took a drink, then licked her alabaster and ash colored muzzle. “He just liked to ramble on and on, whether or not you were actually listening.” She patted my back. “What I think your sex-doctor was trying to say is-”

“I am not a sex doctor!” Nesh glared up at the smaller female, narrowing his eyes. “Not that I don’t have all the necessary experience.”

Lir grinned at him, her large ears perked. “Good to know. Jokes aside, Nesh’s people don’t always treat urd’thin well. Or gnolls. Or anyone else, including other humans. But…what else is new, right? Urd’thin clans used to fight, gnolls war with each other, you dragons used to fight with gryphons. The way I look at it…we’re…” She glanced between Nesh and me a few times. “And by that I mean, everyone. We’re all better off trying to…to live together, and get along, and respect each other now, in the present, than we are worrying about how we’ve been treated in the past. Granted…maybe that’s too easy for me to say, given where I live now.” She sipped her tea, her tail brushing my scales as she flicked it back and forth. “But I grew up like most other urd’thin in human cities, in poverty. Turned to thievery just to eat. Met Ayrah. Urd’thin in general are doing better here in Tivos than the other big cities of Diandrios. Most of ‘em in the capital live in the slums, right?” 

Nesh scowled over his tea. “Quite a few, yes. There’s a growing number who don’t, thankfully, but…still, a lot.”

“Progress is progress, I suppose.” Lir drummed her fingers against my back. “Same for the others. Humans used to go to war with the gnolls. Still do in some places, but…at least they’re starting to see better treatment here, too. I hear it’s a bit different in Shevar.” 

Nesh huffed, rolling his eyes. “Knowing Shevar, they probably conscript them.” 

“Yes, and no.” Lir finished her tea, and tossed her mug back down to Nesh. “A lot of ‘em get treated a lot better. Get into their academies, and stuff. But as a result, a lot of them are willing to join up with their military in return.” She retrieved her pistol, resting it across her arm. “Or so I hear.” 

“Urd’thin and gnolls in the academies?” Nesh finished off his own tea, then returned them to the stall’s basket. “I must admit, I’ve yet to see that happen in Diandrios.” 

“That’s not all either.” Lir tapped her head just beneath a horn. “I also hear that Shevar’s secretly hired a bunch of brilliant urd’thin scientists and engineers from some foreign empire, and that’s who’s really behind some of their big advances.”

Nesh scrunched his face, rubbing his chin. “The rumor I heard was that they actually had help from across the ocean. Suppose those aren’t mutually exclusive ideas.” A smile cracked his face, and soon turned into laugh. “Oh, wouldn’t it be funny if a whole army of urd’thin in tiny little airships flew all the way across the ocean!” 

Lir glared at him. “Why would that be funny?” 

“Oh…That came out more offensive than I intended.” Nesh scratched the back of his head. “I meant funny in the adorable way.” 

“Yeah, that’s way better.” Lir growled, shifting her weight upon my back. “Your boy-toy really ain’t spent a lotta time talkin’ to urd’thin, has he?”

“You’re probably the first.” I chuckled, glancing down at Nesh, who had reddened once more under Lir’s scrutiny. 

Ayrah and Nemos soon returned from their journey deeper into the marketplace. Her body guards followed, one out in front, another on each side and the last behind her. As she approached me, the gryphons rose to their paws and moved closer as well. Sensing it was time to move on, I pushed myself up, stretching out my forelegs in the process. 

“Have you not made purchases?” Neither Ayrah nor Nemos carried anything they were not carrying before. 

“I bought a few things,” Ayrah said, reaching up to pat my neck. “But I’ve arranged to have them all delivered. What would you like to see next, Ella?”

“Honestly?” I licked my muzzle, glancing down at Nesh. “Somewhere we can retire for the night. I think I have had my fill of being surrounded and gawked at by more people than I can count.”

“I think Ella’s a bit overwhelmed.” Nesh set a hand upon my foreleg. “If she’s up for it, you can always show her more tomorrow.” 

“Quite understandable.” Ayrah gestured towards the guards. “It’s going to start getting dark before too long, anyway. Nemos, let’s lead her to Wing’s Rest, shall we?” 

“Right.” Nemos hurried off to give his soldiers the new orders. 

I lowered my head to gaze at her. “Wing’s Rest? Is that the place you said Melakar used to sleep?” 

Ayrah smiled, though something sad and wistful drifted behind her eyes, belying her expression. “It is. He even named it himself. Took the name from some old story, he said. It’s the place we built for him to stay while he was here.”

“I see.” I swallowed, flattening back my ears. “That does sound like a name he’d come up with, yes.”

Ayrah gently stroked my scales. “It was also intended to potentially house other visiting dragons someday. You, namely, and anyone else he could bring.” She waved at the gryphons with her free hand. “Or any other large, winged visitors.”

“Damn.” I shot Blue Jay a playful glare. “I was hoping to make him sleep out on the streets.” 

Sparrow snapped her beak at Blue Jay. “Their streets couldn’t hold his ego.” 

Ayrah only laughed, turning away to guide us towards another street. “They’re your friends. If you want to make them sleep on the street, I suppose that’s up to you.” 

I tossed my head as I followed her. “Sparrow can sleep inside with me.”

Sparrow warbled and brushed her tail feathers across my hind leg. “Good to know. Though someone’s going to have to be up in time to wake Kraas before he blocks morning traffic.”

“I suppose we could be convinced to let him sleep inside, with us.” I turned my head to glare at Blue Jay for a few long moments. “But he’s going to have to earn his keep.” 

“Certainly.” Blue Jay flashed me a devious gryphon smile, his ears playfully splayed and beak partly open. “What did you lovely females have in mind?” 

“Pillow duty.” I snorted, flicking my tail in his direction. “As long as you behave yourself.” 

The male gryphon gazed between us a few time, offering a throaty purr. “And if I misbehave?” 

Sparrow made a low chirrup, an irritable sound. “Gods, you’re obnoxious sometimes.” 

“If he’s bad?” I glanced at Sparrow, grinning. “Stress ball duty.” 

She tilted her head, her ears perked. “What’s that?” 

I mimed reaching out to grab Blue Jay between his hind legs, then clenched my paw into a fist. 

Sparrow warbled happy birdsong laughter, then flashed Krass the same sort of devious smirk he’d shown us. “Oooh, I like that idea.” 

Blue Jay gulped, his ears flat, and tightened up his back legs. “I’ll be good.” 

“I thought so.” I nipped at Blue Jay’s crown feathers, then gave him a gentle shove. “Now get back to position and protect your queen.” 

“You’re hardly my queen,” Blue Jay said, ruffling up his feathers. “But I’ll protect you anyway, since we have a truce and all.” 

Nesh spoke up as he walked along at my side. “If all your talk about getting court-martialed comes true, you two might end up part of Ella’s empire, after all.” 

“Yes, when your own people cruelly cast you out?” I bowed to them, mantling my wings across the street. “I shall offer you safety, solace, and shelter.” 

“Why do you think I’m being so nice to you lately?” Sparrow smiled at me in such a way as to make it impossible to tell if she was jesting or being serious. 

Along the way to our destination, Ayrah pointed out a very large structure still under construction. Already, it had several long, tall stone buildings, lined on one side with glass windows set into elegant archways. One of the buildings also had vaunted skylights with copper arches. Others had great openings in their roofs, and were surrounded by layers of scaffolding. Elevated wooden platforms with long staircases were being built in several areas. I noticed several immense water thanks, as well as several buildings that looked similar to those housing gas storage tanks near the locomotive depot. Come to think of it, much of this place resembled the depot, albeit on a much, grander scale. Further away was more construction, hidden from view by great walls painted with warning signs in several languages.

“What’s all that?” I paused long enough to gesture towards it when Ayrah glanced my way. 

“That’s our sky-crawler station!” Pride shimmered in Ayrah’s voice. “Or at least it will be when it’s finished. I wanted us to be a passenger and trade hub, but to get expediated funding secured, I had to agree to let the military build their own airship base out there, too.”

I gazed out at the complex for a little while. Even as evening approached, humans still crawled across all the scaffolding, nailing wood, mortaring stone, directing construction. All the work caused a very different sort of clamor from the one back at the market. Strange machinery like long-necked beasts swung heavy stone blocks into place, or lowered sizable panes of glass. Steam hissed from some of them. Wheeled contraptions belching smoke hauled heavy cargo around the site. A few burly gnolls and va’chaak labored amongst the humans in precarious places, or moving difficult loads. 

“Too bad there aren’t any sky-crawlers here yet.” Ayrah folded her arms, watching the construction. “You’ll just have to come back again soon to see those.” 

I tore my gaze away from the construction. Seeing how humans and other bipeds built their buildings was strangely enthralling. It gave me a little more insight into just how far they’d come, as well. I could only imagine how much time Melakar must have spent watching such things here, and in the other cities he’d visited. Part of me wished one of their airships was already present. I’d have liked to have seen one just as I enjoyed seeing their great locomotive, crossing the countryside. Another part of me was terrified of all it represented. After all, what need did they have of alliances with dragons? They could already fly, they could already blast flame from the skies. I grit my teeth, and continued on. Somehow, I had to prove to them we were worth more than their machines. I could only hope I was not too late. 

Ayrah and Nemos led us onward through their city. I let my thoughts drift a while, paying less attention to our surroundings. It helped that the crowds were sparser here, and I had the sense that we were moving into less populated areas. It made sense that Ayrah had not housed Melakar in the city’s center. For both his security and her people’s, she was better off sheltering him further out. That was fine with me. It meant less people to bother us during the night, and less work for her guards to have to do in keep people away from wherever it was we were going to sleep. 

As we walked, I thought about the gryphons. Did they worry about their own place in all this? They’d be allied with the humans for several generations now, at least. Yet even when they first forged that alliance, it seemed the gryphons already knew the humans were outpacing them. If they hoped to stave that off with cooperation, it did not seem to have worked. Or had it? Perhaps by inserting themselves into human society, they were advancing just as quickly. It was clear the human military was making things for them, their harnesses, cannons they could carry and place, fire teams to operate them under gryphon orders, and so on. Were the gyphons inventing things as well? Were they asking to have firearms made they could operate? It only seemed reasonable to use the best of both worlds, yet I had not seen evidence they had done so. 

I wondered, if I was able to bring Melakar’s dreams to fruition, would my empire be able to create such things? For a few moments, I entertained myself with the idea of dragons carrying immense rifles, or strapping cannons to their backs, to fire upon the airships and ground forces of enemy nations. For every airship they could build, we could arm a dozen dragons with cannons. The thought made me smile. 

“Ella, look at this!”  

Nesh drew my attention a series of large, impressive structures looming nearby. Three great towers stood like the points of a triangle, with stone corridors connecting them to an immense, circular central building constructed of limestone. Another tower capped the main building, surrounded by a ring of elegant spirals. Life sized human figures were carved all around the outside walls. A grand, stained glass window spanned the upper circumference of the building, above the statues. At the front of the place, great doors towered above any potential visitors, large enough to admit even a dragon. Gold and silver adornments marked them with stylized depictions of what looked like historical events. 

Each tower was tipped by a great golden spire, but otherwise their details were quite different. One tower was glossy and black, as if it was built from polished obsidian. It’s golden spire was held aloft upon four arches, like great claws. Another tower was adorned with lines of shiny, faceted crystals, glittering in the fire of the late afternoon sun. Another, larger crystal sat atop its own spire. The third steeple was gilded in gold, and where the crystals of its sibling glittered, it glowed like sunlight itself. 

The whole place surrounded by a spacious garden, and separated from the roads and houses by a wall painted with serene murals. Trees littered the grounds, with benches sheltered beneath their boughs. Statues stood alongside pathways, with plaques beneath them. Fountains occupied a small plaza amidst the trees, a tranquil pool of water another. Golden fish disturbed the surface of the water, leaving ripples in their wake. 

I took a few steps down the pathway leading into the garden, gazing around. “What is this place, Nesh?” 

“It’s a cathedral!” Nesh followed me, waving at the main buildings. “At least, I think it is. It’s certainly a lot more…extravagant than some of them.” 

Ayrah laughed when she overheard him. “It’s old, but it’s also been recently renovated.” She walked up along the other side of me, glancing up, her face solemn. “Thanks in part to Melakar, actually. Let’s just say…not everyone was happy to have a dragon visiting us so often. He thought to smooth things over by paying for the remodeling they were hoping to do.” 

“Oh?” I cocked my head, unable to stop myself from grinning at the idea of Melakar paying off some dragon-hating zealots just to get them to shut up. “So he bribed them to stop them badmouthing our species?” 

That made Ayrah laugh even harder. “Not exactly how anyone involved would have put it, but yes. But…it also helped to get some of their officials to actually…sit and talk with him, which…” Ayrah folded her arms. “I wouldn’t say it changed their minds, at least not completely. But it certainly helped alleviate some of their concerns, and allowed them to see things from another point of view.”

I chuckled and padded a little further down the pathway. “Leave it to Melakar. Between his diplomatic nature and his belief in the old spiritual ways, he would have been the best dragon to actually have that kind of conversation with your people.” 

“Actually…” Nesh gently patted my foreleg. “Even if he was still around, that might not be true, anymore. Not after your dream, anyway.”

I snorted. “Somehow, I do not think they would be very receptive to hearing about that.” 

“Hearing about what?” Ayrah walked around the front of me to join Nesh. 

“Oh, did I neglect to tell you?” I stretched out a wing and made a show of studying the crimson ripples edging the black membranes. “I met your god. Well…” I pulled my wing back. “One of them.”

Ayrah lifted her eye-ridges, her voice flat. “Did you?”

“It’s a long story.” I walked a little deeper into the place, close enough to see some of the statues. A smaller side door opened in the cathedral’s main building, and a few robed officials walked out. They stood just before the building, warily watching us. “I shouldn’t get too close, I do not wish to alarm them.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Ayrah gave them a wave, and then moved to stand between us, as if to keep me from wandering too far into their sacred lands. “Though I can probably arrange a visit, if you’d really like to see the place.” 

I shrugged my wings. “I’ll consider it. I somehow doubt much of what I’d see or be told would align with what I’ve witnessed myself, though.” I curled a foreleg around Nesh, tugging him up against my chest plates. “So, this is the sort of place your people go to worship their gods?” I gazed up at the sprawling buildings and monolith towers. “It is an impressive looking structure. I am guessing the three towers each symbolize one of your gods?” 

“That’s right!” Nesh patted my paw, then pointed to each of the spires in turn. “The black steeple is for the Father, the golden spire the Mother, and the crystalline one is for the Child. The idea being darkness, light, and-”

“Stars,” I said, staring at all the glittering reflections. “It’s the stars.” 

“Well…” Nesh leaned against me. “Yes, they are sort of meant to look like stars. It’s meant to represent the Child, and how he sort of…created the world from nothing, from the stars. More so, the fact that the reflections constantly change based on time of day, weather, and so on, represents the way his imagination is constantly coming up with something new, like all the strange and wondrous things he added to our world.” 

“Clever.” I gave Nesh a moment to move away, then turned around, back the way I’d come. “We should go, before I make them any more uncomfortable.” 

As I walked back towards the main street, I gazed at the murals spanning the nearby walls. One in particular caught my attention. It depicted a human child standing on a golden dune, throwing sand into the sky. Happiness radiated from his joyful, smiling face. Small gouges in the dune marked where he’d scooped the sand, and the handfuls he’d tossed upwards drifted above him in lingering cloud. Towards the top of the wall, the sand was shown transmuting into stars, points of shining light that glowed even in the brilliant blue sky. 

I paused look enough to inspect the mural’s impressive details. “Looks awfully close to right. Other than his species.” As I made my way back onto the road, I glanced at Ayrah, my frills perked. “He’s an urd’thin, you know.” 

“An urd’thin.” Ayrah’s voice was flat as she rejoined me. “God is an urd’thin?”

“Of course he is.” Lir leaned over my side to make a face at Ayrah. “I tried to tell you.” 

“Well, one of the gods is, anyway.” I brushed my tail against Sparrow as I rejoined her on the street. “The one I met, anyway.” 

“You’re really going to have to tell me this story.” Ayrah moved back into the lead, alongside Nemos. 

I grunted, flattening back my spines. Part of me already regretted bringing it up. “I suppose I should. But not now, not out in public.” If Melakar was still out there, in one form or another, Ayrah deserved to know, even if she didn’t believe it. In my memory, she was about as spiritual as I was, but perhap’s Melakar’s beliefs had proven contagious in their time together. “Later, or before I return home, at the least.” 

“Very well.” Ayrah pointed down the street. “We’re nearly home anyway. You can’t see it from here, but you will soon. I’ve sent some people ahead to tidy the place up. It should be ready by the time we get there.” 

I wasn’t sure if Ayrah just meant they’d be clearing out the cobwebs and mouse nests from disuse, or if she recalled a preferred a far tidier sleeping area than Melakar did. Either way, it was appreciated. “Thank you.” 

“So…” Lir leaned forward to gently stroke the scales on the back of my neck. “Which one did you meet?” 

“I didn’t exactly catch his name, Lir.” I padded after Ayrah, with the gryphons on either side of me. 

Lir chittered, shifting her weight. “Yeah, but you said it was a male urd’thin, so was it the Father or the Pup?” 

“The Pup.” I glanced at Nesh. “Which, according to him, is good, as apparently the Father has a different purpose.” 

“Our people don’t exactly believe the same thing as his.” Lir gazed down at Nesh too, who simply lifted his hands up as if to show he planned no argument. “The Father…the one we believe in, anyway, we call him Etchka. It means Father, in the old tongue, but we call him that because he’s the first god our people ever had. The first like him. There were other gods before him, and they’ll be other gods after him, but he was the first for us.” She bumped her thumb into her chest. “For Urd’thin.” 

As I considered her words, I watched the city. It had changed around as us we passed through it. Most of the buildings here were smaller, only a single story, and built of wood. They had all had colorfully painted shutters, and slanted roofs. Gutters and pipes led to barrels that collected rainwater. A few people humans stared at us from behind windows, but no one came outside here. 

“So, this Etcha…” I glanced back at Lir when she did not continue on her own. “You call him your people’s Father, because he created your race?” 

“Depends who you ask.” She scratched the base of a horn with her free hand. “Religion’s kinda funny like that.” 

“Tell me about it.” Nesh folded his arms, chuckling. “I don’t know a lot about your people’s beliefs, Lir, and I promise not to argue them. But I can tell you our people are the exact same way about our beliefs. You can get people who believe in ninety percent of the same things…but they’ll fight to the death over what color hair they think The Mother has.”

Lir giggled, nodding, her large, gray-tipped ears perked. “Yeah, same kinda thing.” This time, she addressed both Nesh and myself. “I can only speak for what my mother believed in. But if you ask her, her people believed that Etcha didn’t specifically create the urd’thin, but he saw how they were treated, and so when he began his work of spreading life, he used our people to do it. To give us a better home.” She trailed off, scrunching her muzzle. “I kinda skipped a step. Remember how I said there were other gods, first? So, we sort of believe that…life, and gods, and the existence, all sort of…cycles around. Something else, some previous god, created worlds, and some of those worlds had urd’thin. Some worlds died, or some worlds were created barren, with rocks and dirt, but no life at all.” 

Nesh drummed his fingers against his arm. “That’s not that far from some of our beliefs. If I may?” He waited till Lir nodded, then explained. “In our version, these earlier gods would be our Mother, and Father. They created the basics, but it was up to the Child to sort of…fill in the blanks. In this case, life.”

Lir listened intently, her ears swiveled towards him. “A bit different, but not completely. So, Etchka came into being…I probably shouldn’t be using his name so casually. Some of the real faithful wouldn’t even dare say it, though…” Lir flattened her ears. “I ain’t especially faithful, nor are a lotta urd’thin. And this is just one of our people’s beliefs. My mom believed in a lotta this stuff, and…talking with Melakar, kinda got me thinking harder about it, again.” Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “Anyway, it was Etcha’ job to spread life to dead worlds. And so he went around to these…planets, that were barren, and he built life there. Started with the urd’thin. We’re real hardy, ya’see. Built our tribes in the desert, and then used them to spread life all around the world.” She paused, considering her words, then licked her nose. “Long story short, Etchka gets lonely, after a while, and decides to live as one of them. One of his people. Almost like a mortal. Has a child, and in the process, passes on his ability to create new life. When the pup’s mortality runs out, he takes his place as a god with his father, and now the pup’s the one breathing life into everything, building out of the sand, as it were. At heart, he’s always a pup, no matter how much childlike wisdom he’s accrued. So, that’s sort of the one we worship.” She chuckled, spinning her pistol around her fingers. “Well, a few of us. Suppose if you met him, I may have to start believin’ a little harder.” 

“Interesting.” I considered her words, as he turned onto another, wider road. “So your people believe he’s actually one of you, an urd’thin god, and Nesh’s people believe he presents himself as an urd’thin to test people. Perhaps somewhere in the middle, lies the truth. I might like to think there were dragon gods too, but before I met Nesh, I didn’t really believe in any of it, so I’ll take what I can get.” 

“Wait.” Lir swung her leg over my neck to side sideways on me, facing Nesh. “You believe what now?”

“Ella!” The sharpness of Nesh’s voice made me realize I’d not only bitten my own tail, but damn near taken a chunk out of it. 

“Oh.” I hung my head, then turned to nuzzle him in apology. “Sorry. I was…absorbed.” 

“It’s alright.” Nesh rubbed my muzzle, chuckling. “At least you had a good reason. And Lir’s not likely to try and punch me out for it.”

“If anyone should try and punch you, whether for your beliefs or not, they shall find themselves facing a very angry dragon.” I nuzzled him again, then lifted my head, glancing at Lir. “Forget I said that.” 

“Hell no!” Lir beamed, flashing her many sharp little urd’thin teeth. “I thought that was just a rumor, someone spread to try and make you guys look bad. You really do believe in the pup? I mean, that…that your god-child is an urd’thin pup? That’s great!” She thumped her pistol against her other palm, clicking her teeth. “You’re right, of course, it’s just…it’s so rare to get any credit for anything from humans, let alone being the oldest race, or yanno, having a god be one of us.” 

Nesh made a shushing gesture with both hands, even as he laughed. “Alright, alright, keep your voice down. Some of us believe in that sort of thing, but plenty more consider the mere suggestion blasphemous. I only told Ella because what she described seeing in her dream fit the old teachings completely. Which, I hadn’t breathed a word of to her, so…she couldn’t have known it, or seen it, unless…well…” 

As Nesh trailed off, Lir gave a low, whining croon. “You’re right. That is, ah, sorta fur-bristlin’.” She shivered, rubbing her arm. 

Ahead of us, Ayrah turned back around. “I definitely want to hear about this dream. In full.” 

I snorted at her. “Look at you, listening in.” 

“Old instincts die hard, as they say.” Ayrah gave a playful bow, her gray-tinged hair falling around her face. “Used to always be attuned for any hint to a big score, or an easy mark.” She straightened back up. “But that can wait, for a bit. In the meantime, may I present, Wing’s Rest.” 

Ayrah swept her hand towards our destination, awaiting us behind a line of guards, and a towering wrought-iron fence tipped with spikes. A great wooden sign, cut in the likeness of a slumbering dragon, rested above the gateway in the fencing. Lettering in bright crimson spelled out the phrase Wing’s Rest in the local human tongue. 

Beyond the fence was a vast, dome-shaped wooden building. Wide, copper-framed windows marked it at evenly spaced intervals. Friezes of dragons were carved into the wood all around it, giving it the appearance of one continuous scene of dragons at play, in flight, blasting flame, and lounging around on piles of coins. The immense double doors at the front of the place completed the theme. One door was engraved with images of shelves stuffed with books, and the other, with a familiar dragon settled on his haunches, browsing the shelves.

The sight of Melakar stunned me. “You put…him…” I faltered, and my words fell to silence.

“Yeah.” Ayrah’s voice was little more than a trembling whisper. She stared at Melakar’s image, just as I did. “Maybe I should have told you, but…part of me thought it might make a pleasant surprise. Maybe…maybe that was stupid.” 

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s nice…it’s just…” I took a deep breath to steady myself, willing away the sudden, hot clenching of my throat, and the tears threatening to form. “Unexpected.” 

Ayrah’s guards moved aside, and I slipped through the open gateway in the iron fence. It was large enough for me to fit, but just barely. If it were much smaller I’d have to leap over the barrier, instead. A pebble-lined pathway led from the road to the front door. The little pebbles shifted under my pads as I walked to the doors. When I reached them, I simply stared at Melakar’s carved image. Even cut into wood, it was clearly him. The fine details were just right, the angle of his horns, the slight smile on his face, the slightly off-center way his left hind paw always stuck out a little more than his right when he sat on his haunches. I could only imagine he must have posed for this, or at least for the drawing that preceded the carving. 

I lifted a paw, gently cupping his wood-carved cheek. “Hello, you handsome old bastard.” I nosed the carving, giving it the gentlest little kiss I could. Then I pulled my muzzle back, and set my paw down. I glanced at the others, who had remained behind, near the fence. I bowed my head to them, grateful for the private moment they’d allowed me. “Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome.” Ayrah followed me, with the others behind her. “Do you want to go right in, or do you want to look around the grounds a bit?” 

“Let’s just go inside.” I licked my nose, stretching my wings out as if to hide myself. “I am ready to be away from prying eyes.”