The Dragonriders

Chapter 6

A Bowsingers Work

Shirley

Back at the castle I look at the carving again. Even after a week the eyes haven't healed, though not a drop of blood has come out of them either. Occasionally I do feel slightly light headed which I suspect is a side effect from the poison, but apart from that I have not had any serious problems. Now when I touch the staff the eyes have a soft glow, which seems to me like an indication it will now work for me. I'm to afraid to really use the staff but it is nice to know I can use it. I softly stroke the snake head as I look from the balcony. I will definitely NOT make another journey like that any time soon but for some reason I do kinda want to go back to the village. I liked it there. Maybe I can convince the council to station Rashter and me there once we are both trained, so I can spend more time with the villagers there.

Soon I hear someone walk in and stand behind me. The leader speaks softly. 'The mage told me about what you have done. How you found the staff of a hero and brought peace with the Gorgons.'

I turn to him. 'They call themselves the Lamia, you know. They got a hard outside, like the dragons, but a golden heart...'

He looks down upon me. Then his expression softens. 'Yes. However, you did what diplomats couldn't do and that is to bring the Lamia out of isolation. It is disturbing, but a deed I respect. Ever since she died, they refused to talk with anyone.'

I shake my head. 'I didn't go there to bring peace as I didn't know they had isolated themselves. I just found the staff and note and thought to myself: if it had been my staff, would I like some random stranger to bring it home? Well, if it was with my former master I would. I just had to convince her to go.'

He looks out to the city. 'You know, this was actually all in her early days. Back when your master was also my apprentice. She chose one of her own students as her Rider which also kinda... backfired to her. They did their soul bind in secret, in the night. When Kai'chira died she went into a shock and didn't show herself to anyone for almost ten months. When she returned... she had changed. No one got her love as much since then... until you came around. She treats you as she treated Kai'chira.'

I nod. 'However she told me she is already soul bound to someone in the council so she isn't available.'

He looks at me through slitted eyes. 'I doubt it is everything she said to you, but in a way it is correct. She did bind herself to someone else but she isn't truly soul bound. She cannot take the pain and because of that she locked herself behind walls. No one can truly get close to her any more.'

I look out over the city. 'That used to be true, but I don't think it is any more. She was there, you know. Kai'chira. She was a green glow. She spoke... with me. But not just me, also with her father and with my master.'

The leader looks at me. 'So she became immortal. I should have expected no less from the mages star pupil. She was powerful...'

I cling to the staff. 'She told us she would be reborn soon. She would finish her business in her village and then return here. For what I do not know.'

The leader nods. 'She believed death wasn't the end and when your master was asleep she did her research into life and death. I think she knows something we do not. My hope is she can bring back the old heroes and start a new generation of heroes.'

I shake my head. 'A hero is not made. A hero becomes a hero because the person believes he or she fights for what's right and is willing to go further than others to achieve it. However the line between hero and villain is slim as my former master showed.'

The leader sighs. 'That would make you a hero to. You believed you had to honor the memory and wishes of Kai'chira. In the process you reshaped the map of this world.'