Dawn's Edge I: The Queen's Seeker

VALYION - INURE

A thousand golden tongues licked at his eyes till they became dry and sore, and Valyion could not stand to look at the flames a moment longer. He had stared at the godsfire since dawn had broken in purple and pumpkin orange shafts of light over the Qoruhn Forest.

'What did you see, my boy?' asked a familiar voice. It belonged to his advisor Xorath Zaquen, a plump, bald man with a long rose-red beard that ran down to his chest.

'The Starfall Cataclysm...' Valyion murmured. He cast himself from the hearth of the godsfire, furious that he had not watched the flames a while longer. 'There is great power in the godsfire,' Xorath had always told him. 'I relived that day in Varathimir when the sky turned to burning rain above me and thick black smog clasped my throat like iron gauntlets. And... little Neina... I'm sorry.'

The elder stroked his lengthy beard thoughtfully as he shuffled to the ruined Shadow Chair of the Black Keep. A dust storm raged outside the castle walls and crimson lightning clapped the sky that was as dark as shadow. 'Ill have been your visions of late.' He turned, his face was thick with thought. 'I fear you are abusing your power as a seer and choosing to dwell on days that have passed as opposed to those that are yet to come.'

'You would have me control the flames?' Valyion put the first glimmer of spite in his tone. 'As if I have power over them?'

'What is power, if not control?' the large man hooted at the question. 'If you do not have power over the elements,' Xorath waved at the ruined obsidian chair that stood between them; his fat arm wobbled with his motion, 'how will you come to rule the people of this world? How will you have power over them?'

'No king can command fire, earth, air or sea.' His anger flared. Valyion had come to fear fire after the eruption of Mount Vornor had forced his family to flee the burning city of Varathimir fifteen years ago. King Aedon Valarys had launched an attack on the city when he learnt that the last survivor of House Vorithane, Valyion's father Dimaes, was still alive in Esdeir, and threatened the Purple Dragon's claim to the Ebony Throne. Such an attack on the ancient land of the Dragon Gods only made the Serpents Under the Mountain angry... and they laid the city to waste with fire and smoke. Yet he somewhat respected fire, the way it brought both life and death to the world at once. How it could carve continents and destroy kingdoms in the same breath.

'Your forefather's legacy, the Freehold of Varathimir, was established by their power over dragons – the Kings of Fire, many Esdeiri called them,' Xorath reminded him. The monk brushed soot and dust off of his black robes that were emblazoned with a ruby phoenix.

Valyion cocked his head sideways. 'And yet the dragons are dead, as well as their masters. So you see, Xorath, there are none that truly rule over fire.' He trotted down the steps of the great hall, his hand pressed firmly on the hilt of his sword.

'What you say is true, Lord Valyion.' The old man's words echoed throughout the hall. 'Dragons commanded fire and yet the dragons are dead.' Valyion turned to see the priest waddle carefully down the black stone steps, considering each and every pace. 'In order to rule as your grandfathers did, you must have power over that which they ruled with: fire and fear. Become the dragon.'

Valyion sneered, 'You're a wise, old man. But answer me this.' He leaned in towards Xorath, studying the man's many wrinkles and burnt-copper eyes. 'What dragon is afraid of fire?'

*

They broke their fast over black bread and quails drowned in butter. The winds of the dust storm whistled through the cracks and imperfections that riddled the bricks of the dining hall. Valyion glanced around the room with distaste; the builders of the Black Keep had been the finest in Shadestone and now their work had been reduced to a blasted ruin. It was a castle built for the ambitious Lord Josling who once sought to overthrow the ruling house of the Varathimese Freehold. But the vanguard that was sent by King Honaeri Vorithane to kill Josling was led by dragons, and so the Black Keep could not withstand the attack. Xorath had taught him that - the Dragon Priest often tried to educate Valyion on the history of Esdeir. 'I imagine my ancestors never broke their fast in conditions like this,' he said.