Chapter 22 Kailin
KAILIN
"Destiny is not a gift bestowed but a burden accepted."
—Ancient Elucian proverb
The descent into the underground chambers felt different this time, perhaps because it was bringing us closer to our prophesied destiny.
I'd been dreading this moment because sharing it would make it real in a way it hadn't been before, and because the burden of the prophecy would settle on my friends' shoulders as heavily as it sat on mine.
It wasn't easy being designated as the saviors of the world. None of us had been born a hero, none of us had imagined a destiny so great.
Apart from Alar, that is.
It seemed to me that he'd always known he would be the savior of Eluria. That was why he was here, trying to find a way to save his own people by aligning with mine.
Saphir led with his glowing staff, Moki perched on his shoulder and was uncharacteristically quiet. Ahead of me, Codric kept up his running commentary about the symbols.
"See this one?" He pointed. "It always appears in clusters of three."
"Enough about the symbols," Shovia said. "We get it. Very interesting. Very mysterious. Have fun with them, but don't bore us to death by going on and on about them."
Codric snorted. "And to think that you fancied yourself a member of the spy corps. A spy should have excellent pattern recognition skills."
Shovia froze and turned to him. "How do you know so much about what makes a good spy? Were you trained as one?"
The implication hung in the air. Elurians. Foreigners.
Next to me, Alar tensed, and behind me, Ravel groaned in frustration.
"Can we please keep moving?" the commander said.
"I'm a fan of mysteries and puzzles," Codric took Shovia's hand and continued the descent. "The more complicated they are, the more I enjoy solving them."
"Is that why you enjoy me?" Shovia teased. "I'm enigmatic and mysterious?"
He laughed. "You are none of those things, but you have a great ass."
That earned him a punch to the arm, which was probably black and blue by now.
Hadn't he learned his lesson?
The fact that Shovia occasionally talked like that about herself and others didn't give him the right to do the same. At least not in Shovia's book.
When we reached the chamber with the locked door, Saphir pulled out his key and inserted it into the lock.
The door swung open surprisingly smoothly, indicating that the chamber had been visited often. I wondered what treasures the shaman kept in there that necessitated frequent visits. In my imagination, I saw ancient scrolls, perhaps even books, artifacts, and maybe depictions of Elu.
After all, this was the god's temple.
The interior turned out to be intact, clean, and devoid of any treasures, old or new.
Stone benches lined the walls, and a round table dominated the center with nine stone stools surrounding it.
The ceiling was flat, maybe twelve feet high, and every surface was covered in carved symbols and detailed drawings of dragons in flight.
Had it been a classroom? Or maybe a meeting room for shamans? Why the massive door, though? Maybe this place had held secret meetings.
"You can put your glow staffs in the wall brackets," Saphir said.
The light from glowstones was too dim to fully illuminate the chamber, even though the space wasn't big. They cast wavering lights across the walls, making the dragon carvings seem to move.
"Please, sit." Saphir waved a hand in the direction of the table.
We soon discovered that the stone stools were attached to the floor and therefore immovable.
I chose one at random, and Alar immediately claimed the one beside me.
Codric and Shovia sat across from us, with Morek between Shovia and me on one side, and Ravel between Alar and Codric on the other. That still left three stools.
Saphir closed the door, and a click echoed. I wondered if we were locked in.
The shaman returned to the table, but instead of choosing one of the remaining stools, he circled the table while we all watched and waited, and the silence stretched.
"Are we waiting for something?" Ravel asked.
Saphir smiled. "Patience, Commander." He sat with a sigh that seemed to carry centuries. Moki climbed down and curled up on the table in front of him.
More silence.
I felt Morek shift restlessly. Codric had stopped examining the walls and focused entirely on Saphir.
Alar took my hand, in his warm one, and when he realized how cold it was, he reached for my other hand and sandwiched them between his. He knew what was coming and was trying to give me comfort the only way he knew how. But I wasn't the one who needed it.
I'd already made my peace with my role in saving the world, and Alar hadn't had a problem with it from the moment he'd learned about it. The guy had been born to be a savior. The others, though, wouldn't accept it with the same stoicism.
"You probably are wondering why I brought you all here," Saphir said.
He waved around the chamber. "There's nothing truly remarkable about this room except the privacy it provides thanks to its intact door.
The knowledge of smelting the metal it was made from is lost, which is a shame.
It has stood for thousands of years without crumbling or corroding.
All I had to do was manufacture a key for it. "
His smile was probably meant to be reassuring, but it wasn't working.
I could feel Ravel's impatience. Or maybe I was sensing it through my connection to Onyx, who in turn had a connection to his rider. Then again, I didn't usually sense Ravel's moods unless I was close to Onyx, so perhaps the connection was more direct than I wanted to believe it was.
The one who connects—the words echoed in my head. Perhaps in time, I would feel the connection to all six members of our savior team.
"I see that you are impatient." Saphir put his hands on the table. "So, without further preamble, I'll get straight to the point. The six of you have been prophesied."
Stunned silence from four of us.
Alar's hands tightened around mine.
"Prophesied by whom?" Ravel asked.
Saphir cast him an incredulous look. "By Elu, of course."
"I thought all of Elu's original writings were lost," Ravel retorted.
"Not all. I found a book of prophecies written in the common language—likely transcribed by a shaman before the First Extinction War. It was preserved in a sealed metal container that was made from the same alloy as this door."
"Did you find it in this chamber?" Morek asked.
Saphir shook his head. "The labyrinth under the temple is vast, and many parts haven't been explored yet because of collapsed walls and ceilings.
I found it in another chamber several levels beneath this one.
It was maintained at constant temperature by geothermal heat, and the seal prevented any moisture from entering.
The prophecy about the seven was on the first page. "
"There are only six of us," Ravel said.
"The seventh is still missing." Saphir leaned forward. "My first indication that the prophecy was manifesting was the unprecedented event of an entire quintet qualifying for the dragon bond. Once I got to know each of you better, the designations became clearer."
"What designations?" Shovia asked.
"Oh." Saphir smoothed his hand over his beard.
"I thought that I'd already recited the prophecy for you.
" He closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the ceiling.
"Five would come as one, bound by threads of destiny, to join the one who was here first and wait for the seventh who would come in last. The one who tracks, the one who connects, the one who senses, the one who detects, the one with an impenetrable mind, the one who moves faster than thought, and the one whose destiny is shrouded from my sight. "
Shovia sucked in a breath. Codric leaned forward. Morek went very still.
I'd heard the words before and had told them to Alar, but hearing Saphir speak them aloud to the group made them solidify in my mind.
"Which one am I?" Shovia asked.
Saphir smiled at her. "The one with an impenetrable mind, of course. During the pilgrimage, you were the least affected by hallucinations. Your mental defenses are naturally strong."
Shovia pursed her lips. "I like that."
"Kailin is the one who connects. She's already demonstrated this, speaking to dragons and broadcasting her prophetic dream to all of them simultaneously."
As all eyes turned to me, I felt like shrinking to make myself smaller, but I fought the impulse.
"Morek is the one who moves faster than thought," Alar said.
"We've seen his reaction speed." He turned to Morek, who seemed to have grown a few inches taller from the praise.
"Your reflexes, the speed at which you process what's happening, and your physical reactions all operate at an accelerated pace. "
Morek nodded. "I've always been fast, but I didn't think there was anything unnatural about it. I just thought that it was the result of training hard."
"It plays a big part." Shovia clapped him on the back. "But you are special, nonetheless. Who would have thought?"
Morek winced. "Thanks, I think."
She slapped his back again. "That should cure you of your debilitating shyness around pretty girls."
Shaman Saphir Fatewever cleared his throat. "I believe that Commander Ravel is the one who tracks, Alar the one who senses, and Codric the one who detects."
Alar frowned. "I sometimes get a feeling when things are about to happen, small premonitions that sometimes prove correct. But it's nothing unique. Not like Kailin's power. Maybe she's the one who senses?"
"Kailin is the center of the prophecy," Saphir said. "She must be the one who connects. I suspect that all of your powers will grow with time, especially after you bond with dragons."
"I'm older than the five and already bonded," Ravel said. "I'm not going to develop new abilities. I'm an excellent tracker, but I don't think I'm exceptional. Why do you think I'm the prophesied tracker?"
"By default," Saphir admitted. "One had to be already here, someone established in the Dragon Force, and you were the best fit. You have a special connection to Kailin from when you saved her village five years ago."
Beside me, Alar went rigid, and his hands tightened around mine almost painfully. We'd talked about my connection to Ravel, but hearing Saphir acknowledge it as significant must have irked him.
"The connection might be through Onyx," I said quickly, pulling one of my hands free of Alar's grasp and leaving just one. "He was the first dragon I spoke to."
"Perhaps." Saphir's smile was enigmatic. "Or perhaps it was the first manifestation of your connecting ability, reaching out to someone crucial to your destiny."
"This is insane," Shovia breathed. "What are the seven even supposed to do?"
Saphir frowned. "I didn't tell you, yet? Save the world, of course."
"Save it from what?" Morek asked.
"From annihilation, from extinction." Saphir's levity vanished.
"How?" Shovia asked. "What can we do that the mighty Dragon Force cannot?"
"Ah." Saphir lifted a finger. "That's an excellent question. What indeed?"
We all waited with bated breath for him to continue, including me, who had heard the story before.
"Shaman?" Shovia prompted.
He turned to her as if surprised to find her there. "The Dragon Force needs more dragons and more riders. That's how we will save Elucia from falling to the Sitorian Union again, and in turn save the Elurian Federation as well."
Even Ravel looked confused. "How are we supposed to do that?"
"Find the lost dragon eggs and the shamans who fled through the portals during the Second Extinction War. Hopefully, they have been fruitful and produced many kin, all of whom carry Elu's blood and could become riders."
"What are you talking about?" Ravel regarded Saphir the same way I had when he had first told me about the portals. "The shamans are dead, and the location of the eggs is lost."
Saphir shook his head. "How did you think the dragons survived on Aurorys before the humans bred livestock for them to eat?
They hunted on other planets and returned to Aurorys to mate and lay eggs.
Dragons have the ability to open portals to other worlds.
The problem is that the knowledge has been lost because the Shedun killed all the dragons, and when I returned with the hatchlings, there was no one to teach them how to open portals. "
Commander Ravel looked at Saphir with worry in his dark eyes. "That's the most outrageous story I've ever heard."
He'd chosen the least offensive way to say what the others probably thought, that Saphir had lost his mind.
"If that's true," Shovia said. "Then where are the other shamans with the eggs they fled with? Why didn't they return as you did?"
"Good question." Saphir nodded approvingly.
"The portals can be opened only from Aurorys, and to return, they need to remain open.
We closed all the other portals to prevent the Shedun from crossing over to the other worlds and killing the shamans and the eggs they were trying to save.
Mine was the last one, and my dragonia died protecting my escape.
" He extended his hand to Moki. "My companion comes from the world that sheltered me and the eggs I took with me.
I know that all of you have wondered what he is and how he came to be. "
"Is your portal still open?" Morek asked.
Saphir shrugged. "It must be since no dragon has closed it, but the location is lost to me. I tried to find the spot again, but I couldn't."
I wondered if he was telling us the truth. How could he have failed to mark the location? Even Elucians were allowed to lie to save lives, so perhaps Saphir believed that revealing the location might endanger Moki's people.
"Does anyone else know about the portals?" Shovia asked. "The generals? The council?"
"Very few. Nyxath, of course, knows, and I told a handful of senior commanders whom I trust. But the fewer who know, the safer you all are.
The Shedun aren't the only threat. Power attracts those who fear it or wish to control it.
Dragon eggs are the most valuable asset of Elucia, and there are many who'd like to put their hands on them.
" He looked pointedly at Alar. "The Elurians would love to have a dragon force of their own. "
Tension thrummed through Alar. "Please don't accuse the Elurian Federation of nefarious intent. We've always supported Elucia."
"That's true," Saphir said. "Because we are the buffer between you and the Sitorians. But that's perfectly understandable. Each nation needs to look after its own interests and protect its own citizens. Cooperation between our nations exists because it is beneficial to both."