The Blade of Dawn

Chapter 19

The old man leans forward and begins to draw shapes in the dirt floor.

"Do you know how Kronos rose to power?" He asks. His fingers move and the likeness of a dragon begins to take shape on the cave floor.

"By force." I shudder as I remember the events I saw in Rhea's mind.

"That is only part of the story." The man says. "Kronos was born on Eel Island, which is now the Capitol of Kronos's empire. When Kronos was very young, his mother discovered that he could control the will of animals. At twelve years old, Kronos took over the mind and will of a dragon. Dragons are one of the most advanced, intelligent, and free-spirited animals in all of the Cora Islands. At first the people of Eel celebrated his abilities and the King of Eel made Kronos an honorary member of the army."

The man draws a king and his army in the dirt. A dragon soars overhead.

"Kronos began spending all of his time with his dragon and became increasingly reclusive. One the eve of Kronos's fourteenth birthday, Kronos's dragon went on a rampage. It breathed fire over a major port in Eel. It destroyed many ships and killed dozens of people."

He wipes away the image of the army and draws a port city in flames.

"The merchant council was enraged. They petitioned the king to have the dragon hunted, captured, and killed. They argued that Kronos was dangerous and should be locked up. The King gave in to the merchant councils demands. Kronos was arrested. Kronos's dragon tried to come to his rescue but it was shot out of the sky with burning arrows filled with poison. Kronos watched the beast writhe and die. Some say that Kronos's connection with humanity snapped that day."

"Kronos was locked in the castle dungeon for seven days. On the eighth day, dozens of dragons converged on the city and attacked. Creatures rose up from the sea and crushed every ship in sight. Domesticated animals attacked their owners. When the chaos subsided, Kronos was gone. No one heard from him for years, until one day, he reappeared and took over all of the islands in Cora with the help of his animals."

The man stops drawing and looks up at me. His gaze is unnerving.

"Why are you telling me all of this?" I ask.

The man pulls up his sleeve.

"To defeat Kronos, you need to know what you are up against." He says. "The dragons yearn to be free."

Inked on his skin is the image of a dragon.

That night, I sleep fitfully.

When morning comes, I wake to the sound of a panicked young girl calling for Nova. I crawl out of the nook I had been sleeping in and see that the voice belongs to a thin, nine year old girl.

"I rode here as fast as I could," the girl says breathlessly when she finds Nova. "The Dark Soldiers are everywhere. They set fire to the camp. The entire camp has been destroyed. The soldiers said they know the breaker of magic is on our island."

"Why are they attacking our people?" Nova asks the question, but she knows the answer.

The girl is covered in sweat and ash. Anger burns behind her eyes. She just lost her home and everything she owns because of me.

"They know you are hiding the breaker of magic." The girl looks past Nova and locks her gaze on me. "They said they would come back and begin to kill our people one by one until we surrender her to them."