A Dawn of Dragonfire - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,39
would not die. Mother would tell me that it still lives underground, locked behind a Crimson Archway. When I'd misbehave, she'd tell me that the Starlit Demon ate bad children."
"But that's not true, is it?" Mori asked, eyes pleading. "It eats phoenixes. It has to. The book says so. Right, Lyana?"
Lyana sighed. She had never believed in Starlit Demons, or Moondisks, or old stories of legendary magic. But then again, until today she had not believed in phoenixes either. If stories of an old demon gave Mori hope, well, they were real enough. She stroked the girl's chestnut hair, again and again, until her shivering stopped.
"That's right, my princess," she said and kissed Mori's head. "If we can find the Starlit Demon, he'll help us. He'll eat all the phoenixes."
Mori nodded, closed her eyes, and mumbled, "Eat all the phoenixes…"
I wish I could turn back time, Lyana thought, a lump in her throat. I wish I could have kept you here in Nova Vita, my princess, you and Orin my love. I wish I could have saved Orin's life, saved your innocence, saved everyone who died tonight. I will keep fighting for you, Mori, and for the memory of your brother, and for our home.
Suddenly Mori rose to her feet, freeing herself from Lyana's arms. She bounded across the chamber, scurried up a ladder to a shelf, and pulled out another book. This too was an ancient tome, its leather old and cracked, its pages dusty. Holding it to her breast with both arms—the book was a good foot long—she walked back to Lyana and placed the codex down with a shower of dust. Its cover read: Artifacts of Wizardry and Power.
"I used to love this book as a child," Mori said. "It has pictures of magical rings, and amulets, and bracelets, and all sorts of jewels with special powers. When I was little, I liked to pretend that I owned these jewels, that I had magic that could stop Bayrin from tugging my braids, turn my hair red like yours, or save me from the spiders that crawled in my room." She opened the book and began leafing through it. "But the book has pages about other artifacts too, not just jewelery." She gasped and slapped a page. "Here! The Moondisk."
Lyana leaned down and examined the book. The page showed an illustration of a green disk, chipped and dented; it seemed made of bronze. Golden symbols were worked into the bronze: a crescent moon, a full moon, and a cluster of three stars.
Mori tapped the page. "See? The Moondisk that can extinguish phoenix fire!"
Lyana read from the book: "In the Days of Mist, the Children of the Moon sailed upon ships to the Crescent Isle, built rings of stones among the pines, and danced in the moonlight. A Moondisk they forged of bronze inlaid with gold, and upon it the moon turns, and the Three Sisters glow, and its light can extinguish all sunfire, so that the Sun God may never burn them."
Mori nodded emphatically. "See, Lyana? See?" Her eyes lit up. "We can defeat them! We can kill the phoenixes! I'll find the Moondisk so we can put out their fire. You can find the Starlit Demon, who will eat them." She clutched Lyana's shoulders, panting, eyes desperate. "We can do this, Lyana. I know it. I believe."
Lyana sighed. Magical disks of moonlight? Ancient demons of stars? Were these but myths, fairytales for children? Lyana was a warrior. She believed in the heat of her dragonfire, the sharpness of her claws, the steel of her blade. She knew nothing of ancient magic and enchanted beasts.
"Come, Mori," she said. "Let's take these books to my mother. She knows much of old lore and can interpret these words better than we can."
The young princess shivered. "Do we have to? Adia is near the tunnel entrance, where the phoenixes are, and…" She gulped, nodded, and knuckled her eyes. "But we must, yes. I'm not afraid. Not with you by my side. Let's go."
Each holding a book, the two young women left the library. They walked through the tunnels. As the wounded moaned and prayed, and as the shadows swirled, Lyana's throat constricted.
They had until sunrise, Solina had said. We can surrender and live under their yoke, let them torture us, rule over us with fire and steel… She clutched the book tight to her chest. Or we can go chasing a dream from old books.