A Dawn of Dragonfire - By Daniel Arenson Page 0,94

bit her lip and climbed into the nook. She leaned back against the smooth stone, pulled her knees to her chest, and smiled. She looked like a babe in a stone bassinet. Bayrin, however, remained standing. He ignored the ache in his muscles and wounds.

"Aeras," he said, "we can't rest. The Sun God attacks our home and we need your help. We seek the Moondisk—a weapon to defeat the phoenixes, great birds of fire that serve the Sun God and burn our people. Give us no food, no music, no healing—give us the Moondisk. We can't wait another hour."

The Children of the Moon looked at one another. Their eyes darkened and their glow dimmed.

Aeras sighed deeply. "The Moondisk will douse the fire of the phoenix; it has sent them fleeing from our island. But the disk has since been taken, and reclaiming it has failed us."

Bayrin felt the breath leave his lungs like air from a bellows. His shoulders stooped and his eyes stung. Ice seemed to wash his belly. Sitting in the nook, Mori gasped and her eyes dampened.

"So we failed," Bayrin said, voice choked. He felt like weeping, and it was all he could do to remain standing. "We've come all this way, and… the Moondisk is gone." He thought of his parents, his sister, and his friends, and his voice cracked.

Aeras raised his hands. "Not all hope is lost, child of stars! The Moondisk is not gone; it lies here upon this island, on the peak of this very mountain. Sit, child of starlight. Eat and drink, and we will tell you what you must know."

Warmth flickered inside Bayrin. The Moondisk, here on the mountain? What riddles was this man speaking? He wanted to throttle Aeras, to demand answers, but forced himself to sit by Mori. When more Children of the Moon brought him bowls of fruits, he ate, and when they served him jugs of water, he drank. Vaguely, he was aware that the fruit was fresh and sweet, the water pure and cool, but he could barely taste them. Famished as he was, he cared about no food, drink, or rest, only about one thing—getting the Moondisk.

"Speak, Aeras!" he demanded as two young women, pale Daughters of the Moon with silver eyes, bandaged his wounds. "I am thankful for your hospitality, truly I am, but our people are dying. They burn as we speak. We must bring them the Moondisk at once and cannot delay. How do we find it?"

Aeras stood before him, eyes dark. "It was five thousand years ago that we made the Moondisk, forging it from bronze and gold and the light of the moon. It protected us from the wrath of the Sun God for many generations, even as our people burned upon islands we could not reach. The Sun God sent many beasts and spies to steal our Moondisk, to cleave it with their axes of steel. As our numbers dwindled, we took the Moondisk to the mountaintop and raised there a champion, a great demon of wood and stone, and set him to guard our Moondisk."

Mori swallowed a bite of pear. "Is this demon still there?"

The Children of the Moon lowered their heads. Several shed tears.

"Yes," said Aeras, "he still lives upon the mountaintop, guarding the Moondisk from any who would claim it. We named him Ral Siyan, which means Beast of Wood and Stone in our tongue. He obeyed our ancestors, but many seasons of loneliness drove him mad, and he no longer serves us. He will not obey us. He will not surrender the Moondisk we set him to guard, not even when threatened with spear and arrow."

Bayrin rose to his feet, clasped his head, and sighed deeply. "Great. Just great. First phoenixes on our tails. Then lampreys the size of my sister's vanity. And now this, a beast of wood and stone that no spear or arrow can kill." He groaned.

Mori stood up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't despair, Bayrin," she whispered. "We've come this far. We'll find a way."

"There is only one way to claim the Moondisk, children of stars," said Aeras. "You must defeat Ral Siyan in battle. Our people are blessed with moonlight, and we can become the white lions, creatures of the moon; we are beings of magic, of meditation, of wisdom. But you…" His eyes shone. "You are of Requiem. You are blessed with starlight, the light of the Draco constellation. You can become dragons, creatures of wrath