Dragon's Legacy

Chapter 8: Hard Lessons

When the fae mentioned the obelisk, Rael expected there would be some grand quest to understand what they meant by it. Azmond understood; Wollow told a bunch of stories about fae sending someone on a long journey for love, adventure, or 'just because'. But when Rael asked the Faulk about it, they all nodded and pointed in the same direction. They paddled south for an hour, the group trying very hard not to look at the extravagant bouquet Rael had wrapped in linen to protect. When they came upon the obelisk, Rael rose an eyebrow as Azmond marveled the ancient structure. Rael and Azmond stood before it, on one of the rare patches of solid land in the swamp, wary of the reflections on the seamless structure. The rounded pillar was neither carved nor constructed, yet it was clearly artificial. The surface was gray and smooth enough to see their reflections in, yet there were lines that ran up and across the obelisk, not painted nor carved. At the top of the three-meter-high pillar, there was a melon-sized hole orbited by the lines. Azmond cocked his head, thinking there was something off about the hole. Rael prowled around the column like a restless beast and they addressed the anomaly.

"The fog is invisible through the hole."

Azmond started. They were right! He could see the blue sky through the hole. The Child of Dragons moved around the structure until he could find the most sunlight. Azmond wanted to lay down in the dewy grass and bask in the first real sunlight he'd seen in months. He got on his knees and hummed contently as the sunlight shone on his face.

"Shamans often come here to meditate." Ulric said as he sat down to whittle. "Some say they can still hear the whispers of the Dragons who left the Dragonneedle here. Helps with forming new spells."

"Why aren't there more people here, then?" Rael continued pacing around the obelisk.

"It's more convenient for shamans to meditate at the one placed within the Stone Circle. No chance of a fae or beast interfering in meditation." Ulric's hands made quick work of the driftwood, forming the general shape of a kneeling child. "Especially since the fae seem to hold the Dragons in as high regard as we do. Maybe higher."

Rael shivered despite the humid heat. They looked around, eyes shifting to find any sign of more fae.

"There's a chance that we can encounter more fae?"

"Naw, they actually respect the Dragonneedles." Kip was leaning against a willow tree on the bank. "So long 's we don't stay here for more than a couple hours." He pulled some jerky out of his pack and began chewing at it. "But 'm surprised you came out normal. I've heard from Gorm that entering the realm of the fae is nuts. Like everything that isn't real becomes real, and all the things that were real disappeared."

"It was weird." Rael nodded as they sat down by Azmond, who was nearly dozing in the light. "We couldn't breathe, but we didn't need to. We couldn't speak, but our largest thoughts were made public. We couldn't move without willing to. And when we moved, it was not in a line as we do now, but instant." Rael snapped their fingers. "And when the fae was angry or confused, or curious, you could feel it like I feel the mud beneath my feet, the wind in my hair, or the heat on my skin."

"That's not really how Grom described it." Kip shrugged. "But I guess it's different for different people."

"You could ask Oro." Ulric said, his knife chiseling intricate patterns in the horns of the child he sculpted. "He's had a run-in with a few fae."

Azmond remembered Oro! It was quite easy since the first time they met was unforgettable. Rael still needed help walking around, and the young raider offered to get a sturdy branch for Rael to use as a cane (or staff, as Rael insisted). When he found one, a deer with a bright red pelt and antlers came out of nowhere and bowled him over, breaking the branch in the process. Rael and Azmond were too stunned to follow the deer, but it had apparently disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.