Eyes of the Dragon

Epilogue

The monks of Greenspire gave Tian and his friends a hero's welcome. After his arrival the monks held a ceremony where they restored the Eyes of the Dragon to their rightful resting place in the temple sanctuary. Then they had invited Kayla and Chase to stay as their most honored guest.

Although temple monks are not known for extravagance, they treated their guests as royalty during the week of their stay. During that time Tian spent much of his time being passed between the three grandmasters for discussion. They spoke about his journey, first about the facts and events of the quest, but then more about the consequences. The younger monks spent much of their time between training listening to Chase's stories. For her part, Kayla wandered the temple thoughtfully, meditating on things as much as Tian, in her own way.

The three met in the evenings for meals, and chatted about the experiences they had shared. Chase had grown increasingly uncomfortable sitting alone with Tian and Kayla. Both were polite to one another, but a dangerous question lurked beneath the surface of their conversations, and the minstrel wanted no part of it.

Therefore it was after a week of celebration and relaxation that Chase announced that he would be leaving the following day. The monks were disappointed, but it was the casual disappointment that can only come from seeing a guest depart just before he had become a burden. Kayla revealed that she would be leaving the same time as well, and neither she nor Tian looked at one another during the remainder of the meal.

That night Chase sought out Tian. The young monk had been spending almost all of his time deep in conversation with the three masters, but he was lucky enough to find him during one of his rare waking moments alone. Tian sat in the center of the sanctuary meditating before the statues of the three temple gods. After the events of their journey, Chase felt a little more friendly towards the deities and gave a respectful bow to the statues as he entered.

"Hello, Chase," Tian said without rising or looking behind himself, "what brings you here?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow, and I had hoped we might talk a bit before then."

"Of course," Tian rose smoothly to his feet, "I am sorry to see you go."

"It's been great here, really relaxing and all that, but I need a little more excitement in my life. Reflection is lost on me."

Tian's lips raised in the barest hint of a smile, but did not follow through on the expression.

"I wanted to talk about you," Chase continued, "you seem...different."

Tian's face maintained its serene expression, but there was another faint hint of emotion beneath. Taking a deep breath, the young monk finally spoke, "Zan-rei's essence affected me more profoundly than I originally suspected. I have been working with the masters to understand the changes."

"Ah, I figured it was something like that. If you don't mind I'll probably leave that part out of the story, people prefer simple happy endings."

This time Tian did manage an actual grin, but it faded soon afterward, "I have heard your evolution of the story, after a few more tellings I doubt that I will recognize it as my own."

"Stories grow the same way people do, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse."

Tian nodded. Then the two regarded each other in silence for a long moment. It stretched on to the point of discomfort before Chase spoke, "About you and Kayla..."

"No need. She understands my commitment to the temple, and now with my changes I need to be even more dedicated. I could hardly abandon my place here when I know that I will be the next leader of this temple."