the trio of Humans, she said, “Master Jo’el, how exactly am I a child of Fra’anior? The Nameless Man used the same terminology. I presume he referred to the relationship I have with Amaryllion. Now, I’m uncertain. When I face Ra’aba, am I to expect aid from the Black Dragon himself?”
Suddenly, Lia remembered what lay in her pouch.
While she extracted the scrap of scroll, Flicker darted over to land between her and Master Jo’el. Grandion shifted his muzzle closer to Ja’al, who had a pained expression on his face as though he expected any second to be fire-seared and served up on mohili sweetbread for a draconic snack.
She smiled at the young monk. “Don’t be afraid. Grandion’s an adorable Dragon, and not a very big one at that.”
With great dignity, the Tourmaline Dragon extended one of his freshly sharpened talons and held it to Lia’s neck. “Care to repeat that statement, Human girl?”
Widening her eyes in mock terror, Lia babbled, “Grandion’s a stupendously awesome Tourmaline Dragon who daily cleans his fangs with the bones of his enemies. He strikes mortal terror into the hearts of–”
“Much better,” growled the Dragon.
Master Jo’el said, “Before you unveil whatever’s making your hand tremble, Lia, would you tell us what has transpired?”
Grandion said to Hualiama, Do you trust these two Humans?
I’d trust them with my life, she replied. You must decide for yourself before I speak.
The Dragon’s baleful gaze lit upon her two monkish companions. At length he said, We dived off the Island of sanity a ways back, Hualiama. Why not trust these two, too?
In the quietness of the dawn, Lia related recent events to Ja’al and Master Jo’el, sparing no detail she could remember. Flicker and Grandion chipped in with contributions of their own. Fascinating. Hualiama was intrigued by Grandion’s reading of Ianthine–the diametric opposite of hers. No wonder he thought the Maroon Dragoness had lied about Ra’aba. Could it be that Ianthine’s fabled mind-power had fooled him, but not a Human? Or, Hualiama squirmed, might she not turn that thought-Island upside down? No, the dream of her mother had confirmed her parentage. There was only one way to be certain. Pin Ra’aba down and have Grandion force him to tell the truth.
She might more easily wrestle a Dragon.
Quietly, Master Jo’el said, “I thank you, Dragon and dragonet, for the wise guidance you have provided to Hualiama. Now, what else?”
“A fragment of the prophecy from Ra’aba’s own desk,” she said. “It’s a bit burned, so it starts in the middle of a passage.” Lia read:
… o child of the Dragon,
A life birthed in fire,
Star Dragons sing starsong over her cradle,
The Cloudlands rise up to bow,
And the Islands roar at her name.
“And then there’s a chunk missing, and we have this.”
… third Great Race will emerge from the shadows,
And take their place at destiny’s helm.
A time of rebirth, struggle and …
“A few more lines burned away.”
… a multitude of stars plummet …
Turmoil and rage abound, and the Dragons …
… torment and destruction …
Lia sighed. “That’s all we managed to salvage.”
The image of Star Dragons singing over a cradle was beautiful. The rest made her want to run and hide in the deepest, darkest cave she could find.
Flicker said, “I must take full responsibility. I didn’t spy out a magical trap in Ra’aba’s quarters.”
Master Jo’el pressed his fingertips together. “Grandion, what do you make of this phrase, ‘child of the Dragon?’”
“It’s figurative language,” he rumbled. “Perhaps it signifies a spiritual relationship, or the fact that Hualiama serves the Great Dragon through her deeds. We Dragons would refer to familial relationships using similar language–child of Qualior, for example, or Qualior, egg-father of Huazzior. But ‘child of the Dragon’ or ‘child of Fra’anior’ is a sign of great approbation, exclusively used for references to the mighty Dragon heroes of old. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but I don’t believe you merit such a title, Hualiama. That is why I would deduce a spiritual relationship. Which title did the Nameless Man accord you–generically, the Dragon, or did he specify Fra’anior?”
“Both, if my memory serves me well.”
Flicker put in, “The prophecy clearly refers to a female child. And Ra’aba’s fear of apocalypse seems to be borne out in the final stanzas. The stars which have rejoiced now plummet from the heavens, we can assume, and turmoil and rage abound.”
“It must all be figurative,” Lia protested. “Plucking stars from the heavens just isn’t my style.”