Chapter 75 Kailin #2
Saphir leaned forward and steepled his fingers.
"Your talent is extraordinary, Kailin. It will likely happen more frequently now that it's manifested so powerfully—and that's before you've even bonded with a dragon of your own.
And as to the questions of foresight, it seems that you are unaware of an important fact.
" Saphir leveled his eyes at me, excitement and mischief lighting them up.
"When the Fury Wing arrived at Podana, there were no signs of worm breaches.
The first one breached the surface only after the entire wing was hovering above the city in defensive formation. "
I was struck speechless, and the expression on my face must have been comical.
"So, you see, my dear," Saphir sounded almost elated, much as a proud father addressing a prodigal daughter would, "you got a full Wing, in the middle of the night, fully armed and ready for a fight, a hundred and forty-eight dragons and riders to be precise, before the enemy even showed up.
You saved countless lives of civilians, ground troops, dragons, and riders.
They are alive this morning thanks to you. "
I reeled from the weight of the revelation.
Then a disturbing thought occurred to me. "Maybe I shouldn't bond with a dragon at all. What if the connection I established with all the dragons gets disrupted? And how am I doing this anyway? Are there records of anyone ever doing anything like this?"
Saphir sighed and leaned back. "No, my dear Kailin. Not even Elu could do that."
He'd said that before, and I still thought it was blasphemous, especially when coming from the spiritual leader of Elucia. "How can you say that about the God creator of Aurorys?"
He raised an eyebrow as if to signal that I was out of line or just not very smart.
"Because it's true, my dear Kailin. Elu could communicate with Evanida, the queen of the dragons, and she, in turn, could communicate with her subjects on his behalf.
It was the same as it is for Nyxath and me.
You can somehow do what only the queen of the dragons should be able to do, and Nyxath is not all that happy to share the spotlight with a little human.
" He smiled. "Her words, not mine. But don't worry about her.
She will get used to the idea. My Nyxath is not a power hog. "
I had a hard time listening to him after what he'd said about Elu's supposedly limited power.
"But that's—" I stopped, not wanting to imply that I doubted the veracity of his words, which was an egregious insult to an Elucian. "How can you say that Elu, the almighty, couldn't do what Nyxath does? What I can?"
"Who said Elu was almighty?" Saphir's tone was mild, but his eyes were sharp. "Elu was not the creator of the universe. He was a creation, just like we all are. Powerful, immortal, wise, but he was a real person—flesh and blood like you and me."
My head was spinning. "Are you saying that our entire religion is a lie?"
"Absolutely not," Saphir said quickly. "Elu was very real, and the Precepts of Truth were written by Elu." A smile lifted the corners of his eyes. "Ever wondered why our sacred scriptures are kept hidden? Why only a portion of Elu's teachings is known?"
"Where is the rest?"
He sighed. "Most of it was lost, destroyed during the First and Second Extinction Wars."
"So, how do you know all these things about Elu?"
"I didn't say that all records were lost. Some remained, and if I had time to search, I would have probably discovered more.
But since I am the only remaining shaman on Aurorys, my many duties do not leave me with much spare time for extracurricular endeavors.
Now that I have you, though, I might be able to resume my search. "
Once again, he looked so smug that I knew he was still hiding much more than he was revealing.
Still, I could no longer deny the fact that I was a shaman, so trying to wiggle out of the responsibility would be futile, but I could delay it. "I'm not ready for any shamanic duties. It will be many years before I am."
"I know, child. You don't need to look so panicked."
A laugh bubbled up in my chest or rather, a hysterical cackle.
"All night long, I broadcasted a livestream of a massive Shedun attack.
Now, I'm being told by Elucia's spiritual leader that Elu was not a god but a real person, flesh and blood like you and me, and that I will soon have to become a shaman because you need to search for Elu's lost writings.
Do you really expect me to remain calm and collected? "
Moki started chittering what sounded like an admonishment, and the way he was waving his little fist at Saphir reinforced that impression. Once he was done, he leaped into my lap, curled up into a ball, and gave me a look that demanded petting.
I wasn't sure whether he had done it because he needed soothing or had thought that I needed it, but as I stroked his soft fur and the warmth from his small body seeped through to mine, the storm of thoughts and emotions raging in my mind subsided.
"My dear Kailin," Saphir said. "This is just the beginning. There is so much more. But you already seem overwhelmed, so maybe I should wait and reveal my many secrets in smaller increments."
Once again, Moki sent me a visual of what looked like his family dancing in a meadow on what must have been another world. By now, I knew that this was his best attempt at soothing my frayed nerves.
"That's where he's from," Saphir said. "His home world. He misses it and thinks that you can help him get back there." He shifted his gaze to his pet. "You can't leave me, you little traitor. Not after all the years we've been together. What would I do without you?"
Moki released a sigh that sounded almost human, stretched in my lap, gave me an apologetic look, and then leaped over the desk straight onto Saphir's shoulder.
Smiling, the shaman patted his head. "I love you, too." He shifted his gaze to me. "Moki says that he just wants to visit home. He will never leave me."
I had no choice but to concede that Saphir Fatewever was not right in the head.
Despite the convincing imagery Moki had shown me, he couldn't be from a different world, even though he was one of a kind and no one had ever seen an animal like him. Aliens had never visited Aurorys, and Aurorysans had never left our planet because we did not possess the technology to do so.
"You are wrong about that," Saphir said, reading my thoughts again.
My eyes widened. "We have the technology to leave the planet, and it's kept a secret from the population?"
Old Ednis was a conspiracy theorist, and he'd talked about all the things our government and military were hiding from us. I'd never taken him seriously, but now I regretted not listening to what he'd had to say.
The shaman chuckled. "We don't have the technology, but we have the magic to create portals or gateways to other worlds or rather, we used to have it before it was lost. And before you call me crazy again, I present Moki as evidence. I brought him here through such a portal."
I gaped, not sure how to respond to his crazy story that, for some reason, was making sense to me.
"Dragons could once open portals to other worlds," Saphir continued.
"They hunted all over the galaxy and returned to their home world to mate and lay eggs.
But since all the dragons of today were born orphaned, there was no one to teach them how to do that.
I've been waiting for hundreds of years for you and your four friends to arrive, so you can help me open them once more.
Many dragon eggs and shamans are hiding on other worlds, lost to us because we can't reopen the portals that were closed to protect them from the Shedun. "
I sank back in my chair, trying to absorb his revelation. "What do you mean, you were waiting for me and my friends? How did you know that we were coming?"
"You are the five foretold by Elu in a prophecy written by his own hand—five out of the seven."
I tilted my head. "Who are the other two?"
"I believe your special connection to Commander Ravel and his dragon indicates that he is one of them, probably the tracker, and the other is still destined to arrive."
I felt like Saphir was dropping the missing pieces of a puzzle into place. With each new piece, the picture was becoming clearer, but still too obscure to sort out.
"What is the prophecy about?"
"Five would come as one, bound by threads of destiny," Saphir said, his voice taking on a rhythmic cadence as if reciting sacred text, "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.
" He smoothed a hand over his beard. "I wonder how we will find the seventh member if we don't know what he or she can do. "
I was the one who connected, Morek was the one who moved faster than thought, and Shovia was probably the one with an impenetrable mind. But who was the one who sensed and the one who detected? One had to be Alar and the other Codric, but who was who?
I swallowed. "What are the seven supposed to do?"
Saphir smiled. "Save the world, of course. What else?"
THE BONDS OF WINGS AND FURY SERIES
CONTINUES IN:
HERO OF ELUCIA
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