Unrest 3
Though the Zemidragon appeared to be asleep, SoYa knew that the Arweinydd didn’t require rest like his people. Earthians. That’s what Zemi called them, though SoYa wasn’t sure what the term meant or where it came from. In fact, he was still fairly unsure of what Arweinydd were and where they came from, too.
SoYa visited the dragon as often as his dreams would allow, but there wasn’t always a lot of time to learn the information he wanted to know. Tonight, though, was somewhat different.
AsaHi was spending a few days visiting Fu in the Manor guest lodge, which meant SoYa was left to himself. In the dark and silent house, SoYa had fixed his favorite herbal tea and prepared himself for a long-term dreamwalk. It had been a long time since he put effort into working to extend his dreamwalking episode, but with Zemi’s connection in the mind-world, and his own willingness to accept that connection, he was confident that he could extend his time within the dream.
It took little effort to appear where he wanted, on the strange floating islands where the dragon seemed to sleep-but-not. SoYa now recognized that the islands were recreated from a memory that he didn’t remember, something that represented the islands called Ceiswyr, where he spent some time in a previous life.
Well, technically, it’s all part of the same lifetime. But it might as well be a different life for me.
The white dragon’s eyes flickered open as he approached. They were deep and teal and slowly growing more vibrant the more time that SoYa spent talking with the creature. This proved that what Zemi told him was true – he appeared to gain strength and form from the belief of those who were once his people.
Though it’s really weird to think that I… was a part of people lead by an Arweinydd.
“Hello, SoYa,” the great head lifted slowly, a gritty but kindly voice issuing from the dragon’s mouth.
The mind mage paused with a bit of surprise. It was the first time he had actually heard Zemi’s voice outside of the words spoken within his head. Perhaps that meant that he was becoming formed enough to speak in a physical way now.
“How are you, Zemi?” SoYa replied. He was never actually sure how someone should greet a dragon, much less an Arweinydd, so he always opted for the Earthian way.
Zemi didn’t seem to mind.
“It’s pretty dull,” the dragon answered candidly. “But you seem to be more clear tonight.”
“Yeah, I set up an extended dream session for myself. AsaHi is at the Manor, so I decided it was a good time to see how long I could spend in the dreamwalk,” SoYa informed him.
Instead of praising him for ingenuity, Zemi’s thoughts went to something unexpected, “AsaHi… how is she?”
The mind mage blinked, then said slowly, “She is well. Why? Did you know AsaHi? Like from before?”
The dragon seemed puzzled at the question, mulling over how to answer. “You haven’t read about that yet in your journal? Did you record nothing personal at all?”
SoYa couldn’t help the curiosity that furrowed his brow, “Mostly, it seems like there was a lot going on. Too much, with all the battle and planning and preparation. I don’t see a lot of personal documentation there, at least, not what I’ve translated.”
“Ah,” Zemi let out a long breath. It almost sounded like relief. “Well, it was a long time ago. AsaHi was the one who opened the way for myself and the Others to travel from the Arweinydd realms into your physical world.”
“Really?” the word squeaked out more stunned than he meant for it to. “But AsaHi doesn’t know anything about magic. We’ve all been tested, back when the Manor first was founded.”
“Not everything runs on magic, SoYa,” the dragon chuckled to himself. “There are some powers that remain hidden until Awakened. And other powers that are just as potent that aren’t anything like magic as your people define it.”
SoYa took in a deep breath, “But AsaHi? Are you sure?”
“Oh yes,” Zemi gave a large, mysterious grin. “I’m very sure.”
“And she let the Arweinydd come into our world?”
“Not on purpose, of course,” he explained. “She didn’t realize what she was doing. And some took advantage of that… namely, Zeromus.”
“The evil Arweinydd,” SoYa supplied for confirmation.
“Yes. In the end,” Zemi sighed deeply, then shook out his shaggy white mane.
“Was he the one who destroyed the islands and Nefol?” he asked, wishing he had a scrap of parchment to jot down the information. This was definitely the most concise question and answer session he ever had within his dreams.
“Yes and no,” came the cryptic response. “He was behind the attack, but he created a Dark Sygnus to carry out his will. It was the Sygnus who turned on us, driven by the maddening Chaos, and destroyed our home… our people… your memories and legacies. It’s the Dark Sygnus who still hunts for you. And me. And Zeromus.”
SoYa swallowed. He tried to ponder his way through the warning, searching for an intelligent question to ask. He failed.
“Are you sure? We’ve been here for turns with no sign of a threat. The worst we have is the Manor itself, which was darkness of our own making.”
“No. It’s not,” Zemi gave a grim look. “It’s influenced by Zeromus. It’s founded and fueled on his hatred and Chaos.”
SoYa could feel all the color draining from his face. He knew that the establishment wasn’t something good, that it was becoming more and more twisted with greed, vanity and ambition. But it was difficult to imagine that these things came from some outside source, much less something of the old world’s Chaos.
“The Manor? Chaos? How?” his sentences were growing more choppy as time went on, a sign of his internal distress manifesting within his dream connections.
“Do you think that I am the only Arweinydd who has a connection to your people?” the dragon asked.
“I don’t know,” SoYa shook his head.
“That was rhetorical, SoYa,” Zemi gave him a look of pity. “Have I blown your mind too much already? Maybe I should stop.”
“No!” he responded sharply. Then schooled himself again. “I mean… no. Please… this is the most that I’ve learned about who we were. Where we came from.”
“But why do you seek it?” the dragon asked, seeming genuinely curious now. “You have a new home. You have a family. You have AsaHi and a child. You have a new city and establishments. You don’t need the old ways anymore. You don’t need…”
He trailed off, leaving the sentence hanging. But SoYa could sense where it was going.
“We don’t need you?” he finished.
Zemi’s ears drooped. It was the saddest looking dragon SoYa ever saw.
“If what you’re telling me is true, if this Zeromus has come to our world somehow and is working through the Manor, then we do need you,” the mind mage tried to reason. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have any idea it was happening at all. How can we protect our people against a threat we don’t even recognize?”
“You will find a way. Earthians survived a very long time before Arweinydd like me interfered.”
“Find a way to do what? Fight an Arweinydd? By ourselves?” SoYa waved his hands around. “You’re just going to leave us on our own? Do you… not want to help?”
“That’s not the reason,” Zemi told him, voice too earnest for SoYa to not believe. “It’s just better if I don’t.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked patiently leaning forward. Cautiously, he placed a palm on the dragon’s neck. He didn’t know if it was soothing, annoying or insulting.
The creature didn’t seem to mind. He didn’t answer, either.
“Zemi,” SoYa coaxed again, voice gentle. “Why do you think it’s better that you leave us alone?”
“Because,” the dragon responded with broken hesitation. “I’ve seen what happens when I… and others of my kind… become involved.”
“What happens?”
Zemi’s nostrils flared a bit, almost causing SoYa to jerk back in fright. He still didn’t know how safe he was with the vast beast. But instead of devouring him in one bite, the dragon struggled to answer.
“Everything… falls apart,” it was the sound of a creature on the verge of weeping. “I wanted to protect… and teach… and guide. I tried to help your people build safe cities and develop ways to sustain life. I created guardian dragons to watch over the land. I led the Trine and fought to protect everything we built with everything I had. In the end, I left your people a shattered shadow of who you were before I interfered. If I had never existed, you would still be living your lives in your homelands rather than here, facing the dangers of a Chaos-crazed Arweinydd and his Dark Sygnus creation.”
It was one of those things that came out in a long splurt of words. SoYa could tell that Zemi had meditated on his failures for as long as their people existed on Runne. Maybe even longer. All these things weighed on the dragon’s heart and manifested in the darkness that held Zemi down within the dreamscapes.
“So you decided…” SoYa mulled out loud.
“That once I found a safe place for you to live, I would withdraw and leave you to your peace,” Zemi murmured.
“Only, it can’t be peace if Zeromus is here and the Dark Sygnus is still lurking somewhere,” the mind mage pointed out.
“Yes, that’s the problem,” the dragon’s ears drooped even more.
“Zemi,” SoYa reached up and grasped the dragon’s frazzled muzzle between both of his hands. Gently pulling down, he brought the dragon’s head to ground level. “I understand why you feel this way, but I don’t think you’re helping anyone by shutting yourself away from the Earthians.”
The deep eyes blinked slowly. SoYa could see his face reflected from their teal depths as Zemi rumbled, “You wouldn’t say that if you remembered everything.”
“There’s nothing for sure,” he replied. “That hasn’t happened yet. But I want you to give me a chance.”
The dragon arched an eyebrow ridge. Sometimes his person-like expressions were quite amazing.
SoYa pressed on, “No matter what happened in the past, I want to be your friend right now. And right now, I need your guidance again. I can’t help my people if I don’t have the information I need to do it.”
Zemi watched him with an unreadable look.
“You don’t have to get involved directly. But I can’t do this by myself,” he fought to keep the desperation out of his voice. “Will you help me find the answers, if nothing else?”
“I know you don’t remember, SoYa, but you haven’t changed a bit,” came the unexpected answer. The Arweinydd arched his great neck, gently nuzzling against the mind mage’s shoulder with what could only be a form of affection. “I will help you, though I am afraid of hurting people again.”
SoYa let out a long breath, then stroked the dragon’s nose. “Leave this to me, Zemi. I’ll make sure it happens right this time. And maybe we can make things better for you again, too.”
The dragon said nothing more. He just remained, head propped against SoYa until the dreamscape faded into daylight.