Absolute Understanding, Part II
It’s both awe inspiring and terrifying watching him work. Nelaro Court is in flames. He’s methodical in his destruction. Could it be that he grows stronger with each pass? Or is it that the flames burn hotter? Perhaps that’s what he wants them to think. Believing all is lost. There is no hope of salvation for them. Nelaro Court, in all its majesty, has fallen to a single dragon.
No! Wait! Something struck him! He falls through the air, spiraling down. Another bolt of some kind hit him, and another. Could they have killed him? After thousands of years, is the great Dragon of Fear dead?
I’m saddened by this possibility. My whole life tracking him down, and it’s all over. What is my life without him? There’s nothing left for me.
No! He lives! A blood chilling roar, and V is back in the air. He destroyed their weapons. They don’t stand a chance against him now.
It is truly a thrill to watch him work. I may be one of the only people to recount this historic event. How lucky am I to bear witness to one of V’s greatest triumphs!
People are trying to flee the court now. I almost regret not being closer, but I must maintain a safe distance. I find that I’m a little jealous of those who were in Nelaro Court to bear witness first hand to his awesome might, while I stayed at a distance.
But he won’t allow too many survivors. When they run, he widens his circle of destruction. He only allows some to escape, to tell of the horror. To tell of the day V destroyed Nelaro Court.
Aonva rubbed her eyes and checked the time. Curfew ended soon. She’d been up all night reading and rereading the book. Veran knew everything about Valignatiejir. Although “obsessed” didn’t begin to describe him. He worshiped the dragon.
Her own notebook was a mess of copied information and jotted down questions. Rubbing her eyes again and yawning, she turned to the last page of her notes. The book had mentioned several familiar names, but there was one name she hadn’t heard before: Lapurela. It was the name of a tribe Valignatiejir had destroyed about seven years ago. Next to it she’d written “Roshil?” and circled it.
It had to be. If it was, then Veran had been there. He’d sat in the safety of the woods and watched Roshil’s tribe, her family, burn. Further backing up this theory were the last few paragraphs.
He’s as thorough now as he was with Nelaro Court, more so. It is truly magnificent to behold. He swoops down out of the night, burning tents to ashes.
That mage. Was she in Nelaro? No, she couldn’t have been, or she’d be dead already. What did V call her? Prenowla. I can see tattoos all over her. They look arcane, like carvings on a mage’s staff. She must think she’s so clever, but she’s no match for him.
She tries spell after spell, creating walls of force, firing bolts of magic, but she doesn’t stand a chance. There’s a man with her. She tells him and two children to run. The girl slips out of her father’s grasp and clings to her mother. It’s almost sad to see these ill-fated people.
V attacks the family, and Prenowla becomes enraged. She unleashes a volley of spells on V, sending his own fire back on him, uprooting trees, and grinding rocks against him. He falters in the air, then crashes to the ground.
Just like at Nelaro, he gets back up. No one can stop him. No one. Not this woman. V kills her as her husband and son hide, but the girl has escaped again. He laughs as the girl runs to her mother.
He’s taking the girl. Why is he taking her? Some sort of trophy, perhaps? This is new.
Aonva had already read the passage five times over, but it still infuriated her. That was Roshil, Oshal, and Daylarl. Her friends. More of a family to her than her parents, and Veran was happy that their lives had been ruined. He was a horrible person.
She rubbed her eyes again, then closed them for a moment. She’d learned a lot about Valignatiejir that night. And more about Roshil’s old life. Aonva wished she could’ve met Roshil’s mother. The woman was amazing. She’d read about Prenowla before. Hundreds of discoveries were linked to her. It was going to be hard not to talk to Roshil about it.
Her identification orb went off. Aonva picked her head up from her desk. She tried silencing the orb, but it went off a minute later. She sighed, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, then stood up.
After trying to stretch out and work the stiffness out of her joints, Aonva got ready for the day. The lack of sleep was evident, but she forced herself through her routine. Even as she got ready, thoughts of the book danced in her head.
She still didn’t have an answer to the question “Why Roshil?” What had Valignatiejir hoped to gain by cursing her? Was it just a matter of branding his “property”? Or was there something more?
Umkanokseh had said Roshil had a piece of dragons’ magic in her, that it was changing her. Veran mentioned on occasion when Valignatiejir cursed humans, but didn’t know much about it either. In that regard, he wasn’t much help.
Aonva dragged herself out of her room. She ran through everything she needed, convinced that in her sleep deprived state, she’d forgotten something. Unable to think of anything else, she left her room.
“Good morning!”
Roshil’s mood in the morning varied from day to day. It was easy to tell when her heart wasn’t in it, but today, she seemed genuine. Of course. She was always happy to see Aonva.
“Morning,” Aonva said, fighting the urge to yawn.
“Did you sleep okay?” Roshil’s cheer turned to concern, enforced by a furled brow.
“I was… I’m fine.” Aonva remembered Lady Emgard’s instructions. She’d already mentioned the assignment to Roshil, which she wasn’t sure if she should’ve done in the first place, but she didn’t want to say anything more about it. She hoped Roshil wouldn’t ask too many questions. She figured the others were safe. Sirshi wouldn’t care, Oshal would pick up that she didn’t want to talk about it, and Kurgm would leave it if she said as much.
Roshil looked like she wanted to ask, but she decided against it. Even then, a frown occupied her face. They walked to the great hall in silence.
Aonva found herself wanting to comfort her friend. To tell her how sorry she was about what had happened to her all that time ago. But she kept her mouth shut. She couldn’t say a word about the book. Even the name of that dragon upset Roshil. Even part of it had sent her into a fit two years ago.
So Aonva said nothing. For her friend’s sake, she said nothing.