Anarchy 5
Even the light crystal began to waver with weariness as the night stretched long. Still, SoYa hunched over his desk, poring over the open tome while jotting translation notes on an ink-spotted parchment. With so much happening between the Manor and the resistance, he often found little time to work on his research during the day. So, once he was certain that AsaHi was deep in slumber, he would creep back into his study to glean what information he could from the crumpled pages.
The language was similar enough to his own for him to decipher. That within itself left many questions in his mind. If he, and presumably all of the Runnians, once spoke a different language, why did they forget it? And how did they learn to speak something completely different, though bordering on the same?
SoYa combed his fingers through his hair with a long perplexed sigh.
He worked at translating this book for many turns, but was still confused by so many elements he found within. There were at least two important places named time and again: a city called Nefol and a sky island called Ceiswyr.
He turned to jot a random thought down on the parchment: Uncertain if Ceiswyr is a literal sky island… or if this term is translating poorly.
Other parts were heart wrenching. Names that repeated commonly — some he knew, like AsaHi. Others, he didn’t recognize. Apparently, he had a younger brother named TsuYa. His father was called ZenToYa, and was the once leader of Nefol.
What happened to TsuYa and my father? Why don’t I remember my family when I remembered some sort of past connection with AsaHi?
Zemi was another name that appeared frequently. From what SoYa could decipher, Zemi was like a guardian to his people. He was referred to as the Dreigiau, which translated roughly to “Dragon.” But he seemed to take the form of a person, too, according to certain translations.
SoYa knew that this was the dragon he saw in his dreams. The more time he spent at the Zemitree, the more infrequent his dreams became. Still, the Ingway seemed confident that the spirit of the Dreigiau lingered in their forest, and that it guided SoYa to the lands on the other side of the river.
The ultimate fate of Nefol and Ceiswyr continued to confuse him. SoYa understood there were battles – something about a ghostly clan and a darkness that placed marks on people. And one word that didn’t seem to translate no matter how he tried – Arweinydd.
The man let out a long yawn, palming his eye and rubbing. His sleep-distorted vision played blurry trails of light from the crystals that made the script on the old book appear to ripple and shift.
I’ve been at this too long. I should call it a night or I’m going to pay for it in the morning.
SoYa often worked his own schedule, but that didn’t mean he had time to sleep in or rest. He hadn’t realized that running a resistance would sweep him up into the complications of leading a double life. As exciting as it sounded in the beginning, he often found it a lonely road to walk.
If I told AsaHi about all of this, it would put her in danger.
His tired eyes focused back on the open page of the book.
If she’d believe me at all.
Vision blurred again, the ink lines running together in a stream of darkness that twisted and shifted over the page. SoYa squinted, working to get his senses under control. This only served to distort it all the more. The lines transformed, elongating into a sweeping flow that rose from the pale open page.
SoYa’s breath caught in his chest as it gracefully took form, drawing the ink from the well on his desk and the open research journal. A slender head and long arched neck crested with a mane. Two mighty wings spread as claws broke free from the page. The tiny dragon reared back, struggling against the darkness that fought to hold it to the page.
Just like in my old dreams.
The white dragon of his dreams was also held captive in the shadows, though that one had not struggled against its captivity the way this one did.
Has something changed?
As if hearing SoYa’s thoughts, the dragon turned towards him, expression almost pleading.
Are you the Zemi spirit?
Engrossed in the impossibility of it all, the man reached towards the tiny illusion, uncertain of how to help. The creature could safely fit in the palm of his hand, and ink was easily washed away. So he reached forward, closed his fingers around the dragon, and pulled.
SoYa gave a shout as the creature broke free. The darkness followed, bursting from the page and fountaining up with a sickly gush, as if he had just pulled the stopper from an endless bottle of blackness. It bled over the book, across the desk and puddled over the floor, spreading faster than he could imagine, forming a thick, inky crust over everything it touched.
He stumbled back, not knowing what it was, but sensing enough to know he didn’t want it touching him. Frantically, he threw a glance over his shoulder, in the direction of the door, shouting, “AsaHi!”
Nothing but a pale whiteness filled his vision.
The dragon!
No longer palm-sized, it filled the far end of his office to over flowing, the walls bulging outwards as they struggled to contain the creature’s expanding bulk. The flash of white fangs closed around him, lifting SoYa from his feet as the frothing darkness bubbled hungrily where he stood only a moment before. The sudden upward motion left his stomach clutching his insides woozily.
This is a dream! Just a dream! It can’t be real!
Somehow he ended up on the dragon’s back, fingers weaving desperately into the thick white mane. The creature below him seemed huge now, wings extending and bursting up through the ceiling, the walls popping like a bubble. All the air rushed out of his lungs as they shot skyward, his yell lost to the millions of stars pulsing around them.
They were flying.
For what felt like eternity, SoYa lay plastered against the beast’s broad back, shivering and holding on for dear life. He didn’t know where they were going, but saw no signs of anything in the vast expanse of sky. The clouds swept along underneath them, casting a prismic glow from below. Somewhere, there was a sun. Or a moon. Maybe both – it was hard to tell as everything twisted and contorted around them.
~Don’t be afraid, SoYa,~ the dragon’s voice echoed through his mind.
It spoke in a different language, and SoYa recognized it as the language from the old journals. Somehow, the words transformed into something he could easily understand as they reached his mind.
No, of course not. My office just flooded with liquid shadow before a giant white dragon exploded out of the room and flew away with me to Light knows where. Being afraid would be silly.
The dragon chuckled, confirming that it could hear and understand SoYa’s thoughts. Not that SoYa actually meant for the creature to hear that.
~This is your dream. Command it.~
SoYa frowned, “If I could command it, I wouldn’t be having this dream.”
~You didn’t want to talk to me?~ the dragon shook out his mane, wings extending into a long glide.
“I don’t even know you,” he answered.
~Of course you do. You called me here. You’ve just forgotten.~
SoYa swallowed, inching forward along the creature’s neck, “Are you… the Zemi?”
The dragon paused a moment, mulling over how to respond. When he did, it was with sadness. ~Yes. I am what’s left of Zemi Dreigiau.~
Excitement rushed through the mind mage’s body. That meant that his translations were accurate and he was on the right track. As long as…
“This is real, right?” SoYa sucked on his bottom lip for a moment. “I mean, this isn’t just some dream that I created because I wanted you to exist.”
~You want me to exist?~ the dragon sounded surprised.
“Of course,” he answered. “You’re the key to figuring out where we came from and learning about our past.”
A glowing flicker pulsed across the creature’s white hide, spreading sparkles through the sky. SoYa blinked watching the slow transformation. The light within the dragon grew brighter, the dragon itself seemed more solid. More real.
“Wha… what just happened?” SoYa stammered.
The dragon’s teal eyes flicked back to observe him. Even they seemed to glow with a little more life.
~It’s been a long time since anyone has wanted me.~
SoYa didn’t know how to respond to that. It was so quietly forlorn that anything he could think to say seemed like a pale apology for a feeling so deep and desolate. The dragon – Zemi, he corrected himself – appeared to understand, slowly following his previous statement with an explanation.
~My strength and power comes from my connection with the world and the people.~
“Is that why you vanished?” he asked.
~No, I…~ Zemi paused. Then he changed what he was about to say. ~It’s part of it.~
He decided not to push the issue. Though this was a strange creature that took the shape of a white dragon, SoYa could already sense that it had feelings that were very similar to his own.
“Why can’t we remember you and all these other things… things I’ve been translating from my own journal?” SoYa decided to ask. “It’s like it’s all from another lifetime that was ripped from us. What caused it?”
~A powerful darkness,~ the dragon answered slowly. ~An enemy from the past that still seeks to destroy your people completely. He stole your memories and is driven to destroy your future.~
No words came to him. The sound of warning was heavy in Zemi’s voice, leaving prickles over SoYa’s skin.
~Right now, he doesn’t know where you are. But he’s searching. This can all change very easily, especially if Zeromus continues what he’s doing with the Manor.~
Another name that echoed back into the depths of SoYa’s memories. A word that he felt he should know, though it slipped out of his hearing the moment the dragon uttered it.
“So the Manor is…”
~Being influenced by what was once an Arweinydd of our time.~
SoYa swallowed. “I translated passages about the Arweinydd. They were… are… very powerful beings. If one is controlling the Manor, how am I supposed to stop that?”
~I’m working on an answer for that.~
“What?” He grit his teeth. “Then what am I supposed to do now that I know about this?”
~Keep an open mind.~
Zemi banked, stretching his wings full span for a moment, then his lithe body arched and began to plummet. They descended slowly, at first, but then began picking up great speed. The mind mage clutched on to the dragon’s mane, knuckles turning white as he struggled to hold on. He choked on the shout that threatened to burst from his lips, fighting to stay strong in the eyes of the Dreigiau.
~Don’t give up.~
They plunged into the cloud bank, which was far thicker than it seemed from above. Falling as fast as they were, the clouds still misted his vision for a long time.
~Seek me in your dreams.~
They burst through the cloud’s belly, a brilliant light blinding SoYa’s vision. He didn’t dare release his grip on the dragon’s mane to shield his eyes, and was forced to turn his head away. The world spun around him in a disorienting twist that ended in a sharp jolt. Then, his head jerked up, eyes blinking away the sunlight that broke through the shade of his office window.
I’m… home?
His hands ached from where his fists balled tightly. Sometime during the night, he had fallen asleep in his chair, face half buried in the open pages of his translation journal. His neck ached fiercely from sleeping in a hunched position, a pain he knew would follow him through the day. One hand rubbing at the base of his skull, he peered around the room.
Everything was as he left it last night. Nothing more than a dream. A dream so fanciful that he didn’t know if it meant anything, or was merely a conglomeration of stress playing on his imagination.
Before he could ponder that more, he heard AsaHi’s voice from the doorway, “What are you doing down here, SoYa?”
Though groggy, he still had enough wits to shut the old tome before turning to her. “I… uh… couldn’t sleep. So I came down to do some reading last night. I guess that did the trick.”
She frowned at him, and wiped a spot of ink from his cheek, “It seems so.”
SoYa couldn’t tell if she bought his excuse, and started fishing for evidence.
AsaHi spoke first, however, “I’ve made some breakfast. Why don’t you get cleaned up and come get something to eat?”
“Sure, that sounds good. Thanks,” he got to his feet slowly, even though his stomach was still queasy. As he walked out of the study, he waited for that one magical moment that was supposed to happen – the one where he would turn around to see a clue that would hint that his dream had some basis in reality. But it didn’t happen.
There was nothing more than a bunch of books on his office desk.
Shaking his head, SoYa followed AsaHi to the kitchen and his waiting breakfast.