I awoke before sunrise. By instinct of faded memory, I found Starcrystal's empty spot in the sky. It felt sad for me to see no star greet the sunrise. Set joined me as we watched.
"Will I go with you when you join the sky?" he asked.
"That I do not know. Even as an Emperor, I might outlive you. If I do, whenever I cross the Great Dragon, we can visit."
"How? I don't understand."
"No one has told you? I thought at least one dragon would have mentioned it. The Great Dragon is another Realm. When dragons die, their souls go to it. There, they add their knowledge to the racial knowledge of all dragons. It is for all dragons, both good and evil. As long as they are true to their natures, they are allowed entrance. Dragons who reject their natures and are not behaving dragon-like are set adrift in kirlan until they have a chance to be reborn in another dragon body. They get three lives to get it right. If, by the third, they are still rejecting their dragon natures, their soul is up for grabs of any power strong enough to capture it. If uncaught, it floats off between the stars, lost and alone."
"That is so sad. I won't float off, will I?" Set nearly pleaded.
"That is so sad. I won't float off, will I?" Set nearly pleaded.
"No, my love, you will not. You are behaving as a dragon should. You hunt. You pop through kirlan. You use your breath weapons. I have not witnessed any un-dragon-like actions from you."
"Nor have we," came a chorus from behind us.
The rest has woken and listened to my tale. Echo said that bat-dragons also told of joining the Great Dragon upon their deaths. They, even, did a ritual that "escorted" the soul of their departed towards that place. Bo and Dawn did not know where they could go after death.
"You shall be with me," Lisa stated with determination, "Even if I must battle Death himself, I will keep you by my side."
Bo wrapped around Lisa and gave a bone-crushing squeeze. Lisa nearly blacked out before he let her go.
"If it were up to me," Alice told Dawn, "we would live forever, renewing at sunrise every day. My only wish is that neither of us outlives the other. It would pain me to know you were alone."
Dawn rubbed against Alice, cooing and expressing her love.
We were silent as we felt our emotions fully. While I hated to stop them, I did need to bring them back to our current situation.
"Konfotuta is a true seer, like me. He can see our fears. I have no doubt he will try to use them against us. All of us must make out fears known to others. Fear only has power when it is silent. We, the riders, dragons, and all who are to fight, must shine light upon our fears and rob Konfotuta a great weapon."
"Very well," Lisa began, "we'll use this day to illuminate our fears and steel ourselves for battle. Sarah, you clan should be a part of this as well as other aquatics."
"I agree. We will need the merfolk, neriads, and the like to aid us. If they can contain him, our lightning will have a place to strike," Sarah concurred.
We found Sarkin and Corina in the eating area and told them what we proposed. They saw the same as we for the need to take away at least one weapon from him. Corina expressed some doubt of both getting the deeper aquatics to meet with us and tell others their fears. Sarah suggested gifts of good will to get them friendly to us. They agreed. We retrieved Sean the leprechaun wood smith's gifts and instructed Corina to let them know the items were theirs regardless of their decision. She finished eating and left with the wooden crafts.
We gathered everyone we anticipated to take part in fighting Konfotuta. We told them about his threat and what we needed to do. The mass of emotions was dizzying. We let them sort out their feelings as we waited for Corina and the deeper aquatics. Very soon, the water next to the edge where we assembled was filled with merfolk, neraids, and other non-terrestrial aquatics. Aoushlunia and a male merfolk were forefront.
"Greetings, again, dear girls. This is Merroc, our chief cleric, my husband, and Sarah's great-grandfather."
Sarah waded in to give Merroc a proper hug and introduction. He commented on her resemblance to both Orraia and Rain, her grandmother and mother. Sarah returned to us as we got ready to begin.
"Friends, allies," I began, "we are assembled to rob Konfotuta of a strong weapon. He has the gift of true sight. He can see our fears, our true fears. He has already threatened to use our fears against us. Fear only has power in darkness. We must bring our fears to light, to burn away and be nothing."
The assembly murmured. I could see their emotions swirling about as they digested my words. Also, clouds of fear began forming as their minds went to their fears.
"I do not ask you to do what I, myself, am not willing to do. Attend and hear my secrets and fears."
The assembly gathered tighter to fully hear my confessions.
"Last night, the goddess Starlight brought me fantastic news. Her sister, Starcrystal, the last star of night, the Morning Star, used the last of her divine power to impregnate my mortal mother. Starcrystal and I are one entity. When I choose to leave the mortal world and the Faerie Realm, Fate has offered me Starcrystal's vacant spot in the sky."
Everyone was speechless, even my sisters who already knew this. Merroc swam up to the edge and looked at me through a small glass, almost like a monocle. He shouted back to the aquatics that he saw my divinity and verified my statement. Noise erupted. I could not understand all that was said, but most of the shouting began with "Why her?" We let them yell for a bit. When they had grown a bit quieter, I continued.
"The man I called Father had, by accident or Fate, found her last temple and petitioned for my mother to have a daughter as she had only had sons until then. He did not know where he stood or to whom he spoke. His plea was heartfelt, pure, and unselfish. For that, Starcrystal's clerics funneled her last spark to my mother. It was only by Fate that he found her."
The anger slowly died away as they understood that this was no plot or ploy of terrestrials against aquatics. They became more receptive to my words. I took a deep breath.
"Every foe we have faced terrified me. Baalocs, demons, ogres, Duergar, each one I was afraid to face. I did not want harm or death to come to anyone. I knew when we faced, harm and death were real possibilities. My trust in Fate, my sisters, our swords, our companions, and our friends was and is my strength."
Set rubbed against me. My sisters hugged me. Others told me how brave I was to share this with strangers. With my example, others began to speak. Lisa started.
"When I left, my father told me to be wary of these girls. He claimed 'odd forces' gathered around them. I have kept from fully giving myself to this union, in spite of all that has happened and I have experienced. I have been swimming with one hand on the bank. I can no longer do so. I commit myself whole-heartily to this sisterhood."
Something "popped" inside my head, like a tension suddenly being released. Before my sisters could ask, the feeling hit them as well. They looked around at us and the assembly.
"What was that?" more than one of them asked.
"The final piece," I told them as I tried to order my thoughts, "With Lisa holding back, we were not complete. Now, we are. Her destiny, as well as ours, can come into full fruition."
Lisa looked at me, "Is that why I didn't meet my future husband when we were in Crialas?"
"Yes, plus it kept Bo from his full potential," I answered.
Lisa lifted Bo off of her, "Bo? I've been holding you back?"
"Not much, but some," he replied in true verbal words.
"BO! You actually spoke aloud!" Lisa exclaimed, "You were silent because of me?"
"Sadly, yes. Your stubbornness was a barrier, but it is gone now. Likewise, with you all fully together, another can speak."
"Who?" Lisa asked.
"Me," came a female voice from near Alice.
"Envy?" several asked.
A musical laughter sounded, "Nay, good girls, not Envy, it is I, Dawn."
"DAWN!" came shouts from not only us but many of the riders and others assembled. Dawn laughed again.
"Do not be so surprised. Even though I am only part phoenix, that power plus bonding with Alice has opened up ancient abilities."
"This is amazing! Father will be frightened at first, but he may find this intriguing. This will keep people from questioning my sanity by talking to a bird," Alice told us.
These revelations opened up a great dialog. Aquatics, riders, land dragons, sea dragons, Varlan, the leprechaun quartet, plus the land folk who lived in Arvocan spent the rest of the day airing secrets, fears, hidden thoughts, and private beliefs. Food and drink were circulated as people came and went.
By nightfall, there was such good will among us that no one wanted to part. Places were found in the underwater half of Arvocan for the deep aquatics. We drug ourselves to the outpost and nearly collapsed into bed. I was so tired that I just used magic to change into my bed clothes. Set had gotten large enough that he overflowed my sleeping mat and had to use his forepaws to lay his head down and curled his tail up between his wings to stay off the floor.
We gathered everyone we anticipated to take part in fighting Konfotuta. We told them about his threat and what we needed to do. The mass of emotions was dizzying. We let them sort out their feelings as we waited for Corina and the deeper aquatics. Very soon, the water next to the edge where we assembled was filled with merfolk, neraids, and other non-terrestrial aquatics. Aoushlunia and a male merfolk were forefront.
"Greetings, again, dear girls. This is Merroc, our chief cleric, my husband, and Sarah's great-grandfather."
Sarah waded in to give Merroc a proper hug and introduction. He commented on her resemblance to both Orraia and Rain, her grandmother and mother. Sarah returned to us as we got ready to begin.
"Friends, allies," I began, "we are assembled to rob Konfotuta of a strong weapon. He has the gift of true sight. He can see our fears, our true fears. He has already threatened to use our fears against us. Fear only has power in darkness. We must bring our fears to light, to burn away and be nothing."
The assembly murmured. I could see their emotions swirling about as they digested my words. Also, clouds of fear began forming as their minds went to their fears.
"I do not ask you to do what I, myself, am not willing to do. Attend and hear my secrets and fears."
The assembly gathered tighter to fully hear my confessions.
"Last night, the goddess Starlight brought me fantastic news. Her sister, Starcrystal, the last star of night, the Morning Star, used the last of her divine power to impregnate my mortal mother. Starcrystal and I are one entity. When I choose to leave the mortal world and the Faerie Realm, Fate has offered me Starcrystal's vacant spot in the sky."
Everyone was speechless, even my sisters who already knew this. Merroc swam up to the edge and looked at me through a small glass, almost like a monocle. He shouted back to the aquatics that he saw my divinity and verified my statement. Noise erupted. I could not understand all that was said, but most of the shouting began with "Why her?" We let them yell for a bit. When they had grown a bit quieter, I continued.
"The man I called Father had, by accident or Fate, found her last temple and petitioned for my mother to have a daughter as she had only had sons until then. He did not know where he stood or to whom he spoke. His plea was heartfelt, pure, and unselfish. For that, Starcrystal's clerics funneled her last spark to my mother. It was only by Fate that he found her."
The anger slowly died away as they understood that this was no plot or ploy of terrestrials against aquatics. They became more receptive to my words. I took a deep breath.
"Every foe we have faced terrified me. Baalocs, demons, ogres, Duergar, each one I was afraid to face. I did not want harm or death to come to anyone. I knew when we faced, harm and death were real possibilities. My trust in Fate, my sisters, our swords, our companions, and our friends was and is my strength."
Set rubbed against me. My sisters hugged me. Others told me how brave I was to share this with strangers. With my example, others began to speak. Lisa started.
"When I left, my father told me to be wary of these girls. He claimed 'odd forces' gathered around them. I have kept from fully giving myself to this union, in spite of all that has happened and I have experienced. I have been swimming with one hand on the bank. I can no longer do so. I commit myself whole-heartily to this sisterhood."
Something "popped" inside my head, like a tension suddenly being released. Before my sisters could ask, the feeling hit them as well. They looked around at us and the assembly.
"What was that?" more than one of them asked.
"The final piece," I told them as I tried to order my thoughts, "With Lisa holding back, we were not complete. Now, we are. Her destiny, as well as ours, can come into full fruition."
Lisa looked at me, "Is that why I didn't meet my future husband when we were in Crialas?"
"Yes, plus it kept Bo from his full potential," I answered.
Lisa lifted Bo off of her, "Bo? I've been holding you back?"
"Not much, but some," he replied in true verbal words.
"BO! You actually spoke aloud!" Lisa exclaimed, "You were silent because of me?"
"Sadly, yes. Your stubbornness was a barrier, but it is gone now. Likewise, with you all fully together, another can speak."
"Who?" Lisa asked.
"Me," came a female voice from near Alice.
"Envy?" several asked.
A musical laughter sounded, "Nay, good girls, not Envy, it is I, Dawn."
"DAWN!" came shouts from not only us but many of the riders and others assembled. Dawn laughed again.
"Do not be so surprised. Even though I am only part phoenix, that power plus bonding with Alice has opened up ancient abilities."
"This is amazing! Father will be frightened at first, but he may find this intriguing. This will keep people from questioning my sanity by talking to a bird," Alice told us.
These revelations opened up a great dialog. Aquatics, riders, land dragons, sea dragons, Varlan, the leprechaun quartet, plus the land folk who lived in Arvocan spent the rest of the day airing secrets, fears, hidden thoughts, and private beliefs. Food and drink were circulated as people came and went.
By nightfall, there was such good will among us that no one wanted to part. Places were found in the underwater half of Arvocan for the deep aquatics. We drug ourselves to the outpost and nearly collapsed into bed. I was so tired that I just used magic to change into my bed clothes. Set had gotten large enough that he overflowed my sleeping mat and had to use his forepaws to lay his head down and curled his tail up between his wings to stay off the floor.
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