Page 55 of Fallen: Darkness Ascending, Vol.1

A troubled silence fell between them, Oros with no speculation to offer and the Flame considering his next question.

“You mention a demon. You recognize their existence?”

“In the last day ,” Oros huffed, quelling the panic in his heart.

“She encountered one just yesterday?”

“ I did.” The Wilder scraped back his dark hair behind his ears. “But it was through her, protecting her baby. I know it.”

“Tell me about this, Oros. It’s important.”

His stomach sinking, the wilderness Elf described the arrival of the royal caravan, the negotiation with the Queen’s Son that led to the conflict with the Seer’s sinister servant, and which ultimately brought Oros here.

A fight that he realized, in talking this out, could cause the Davrin Queen to declare treason against his tribe.

“What are we going to do?” he asked, eyes stinging.

The Flame did not speak at first, and the mood had changed. Oros sensed the ancient one shift from a patient ear to one disturbed by an encroaching threat.

“I must speak with Uradri,” said the Dragon. “Will you convince her to come here?”

“What? Uh… I-I don’t know. When?”

“Tonight would be good.”

“ Tonight? How? She loathes Dragons. She said an ‘older and brutal’ version of you sacrificed her cousin for the sake of your race.”

The giant eye blinked then looked toward the ocean. “Hm. It was for the sake of all races, but… I see her point.”

Oros started in his seat. “Wait… you did? You choose a female Elf to sacrifice?!”

“Not my decision alone, though I was part of it. That is a long story. But her anger over it is how she became what she is now and, in turn, how her brother became what he is.”

“Her…brother?”

“He’s been watching over your tribes, I am sure. Indrath has been part of the Desert much longer than Uradri, he’s just more subtle in how he reveals himself.”

She has an immortal brother… The chill reached the Wilder’s core. “Could that be who she’s running from?”

The Dragon’s pupil thinned as he considered. “Hm. That’s quite possible. The two are part of a pattern. He is much more active when she has risen, and he remains so for some time in her wake after she leaves. In fact, I haven’t seen him withdraw entirely since the last time she was here.”

“Three hundred years ago?” Oros guessed. “An ageless Zauyrian with a firebird symbol they call the Godblood?”

“Oh, dear.” The Dragon exhaled. “It is strange I did not feel her rise this time. Add to this an extremely short time between her cycles…”

“She was pregnant,” Oros reminded him. “And she was running.”

He sensed a nod of agreement from the Flame. “I see. Yes. Her rising elsewhere but then escaping him would explain both those anomalies.” The sharp pupil focused on him. “Could you bring her here to talk?”

“If she will. What if she attacks you?”

“She will not attack me in this realm. She knows better.”

“Do I need to wake up to even try to convince her?”

“Not really.”

Rocks shifted and ground against each other as the Desert Flame lifted a massive arm from out of the earth. Hard, glimmering scales caught moonlight as talons hovered above him, large enough to impale like a bite of meat on a fork.

Oros panicked, scrambling back. “What are you doing?!”

“Better to hold still, little one.”

The sharp point punctured his shoulder, causing his breath to seize and his legs to collapse. Still conscious, Oros gazed at the sky. Above him, a shooting star soared through the darkness, burning brighter in its approach.

It’s landing in the valley!

He rolled to gain his feet, intending to run outside the valley and use the mountain as a shield. The Flame’s talons locked him down in an instant cage, holding him in place.

“Hey!”

“Wait. Breathe.”

The Wilder waited, somehow taking a lungful despite being poked in the chest. He watched the star land outside the valley, crashing upon the slope he’d been about to cross when the Flame had stopped him.

“Oros!” cried the ball of light as she took her angelic form. “Mazdek, you foul beast! Release him at once!”

“As you wish.” The Dragon lifted his talons, withdrawing them back into the earth and rock. “Thank you for coming. I can assure you of your safety while you remain in this perimeter. Indrath will not sense you if you don’t fly beyond my arena.”

The nude, winged creature stiffened in shock then looked around as if to realize where she’d come to. “No… No, I must leave.”

“Grant me moments of your time, Sovereign.”

She whipped a finger at him. “Only if you come to me in the waking world!”

“I cannot right now, and this is of crucial importance. Thus, I’m breaking the rules to keep you safe here while we talk.”

“Breaking the rules? You? Hah! You’d sooner go back on your Word!”

“No, I would not. And I haven’t much time to hold an arena inside my own lair.”

“Oh? Your ‘brothers’ will notice what you’re up to?”

“That, and it hurts. I must ask you about the demon you met with the Seer of V’Gedra.”

Uradri’s mouth dropped open as she looked at Oros in betrayal.

Then she sneered, looking back at Mazdek.

“Why haven’t you done anything about that, Sargt?

Hm? You’re turning a blind eye to the Abyss slithering into the very seat of power at V’Gedra!

And not just that! What in holy blazes is that filthy Infernal dagger doing in the Queen’s hand! ”

“Slow down, please, there is so much you don’t know.”

“She threatened her Consort with it! Just blithely waved that cursed thing around like it wouldn’t do far more than a nick if she made a mistake!”

“ Uradri! ”

The Dragon’s voice penetrated, drowning out thought and emotion as Oros stood nearby. The Sovereign quieted, her feathers somewhat less ruffled as the peace of the night returned. Mazdek’s next words shook just a little.

“You’ve arrived at the very end of events set in motion when you met the Zauyrian at Io’sulta. There is no stopping this path without making it worse for your children.”

Uradri’s wings struck forward like she would box his ears. “ Horse shit!! Change is always possible!”

“We agree on this, Sovereign, we always have. I said there is no stopping it. Change will come. The Abyss hasn’t won yet but has burrowed much deeper into the foundation of the Davrin than we can reverse without shattering them.”

“No! I don’t accept that!”

“You must! You must accept this, Uradri. Not you nor I can force the currents of life and death to follow our will any more than we could force the ocean to part for us and reverse its tides. Doing so would destroy our entire world, turning us from guardians to enslavers, and forever becoming part of the war between other domineering powers.”

The pale woman recoiled when the Dragon mentioned enslavement. He seized the moment as Oros listened in awe to views far above his small place in the world.

“The only way out of the darkness is through it,” said the Flame. “Be the light others can see to find their own way but understand you cannot banish the shadows before your children encounter them. They must face them and come through the other side.”

“Useless suffering! Now that I know, I can change it!”

“ You cannot . Those shadows are already here. They must be fought by those with the most to lose. That is not you.”

The winged woman shook with emotion, resisting his plea. She gazed around his valley, noting the recent damage to the stone spire.

“You have much to lose, but I don’t see you fighting,” she sniped, hand clenching in anger.

That clearly stung. Oros watched as a thread of ruby red crossed the metallic gold of the Dragon’s eye, spreading out like a bolt of lightning before withdrawing.

Uradri gasped as if it was something she’d never seen. “What’s wrong with you? ”

“I recover from my last fight with the Abyss.” Mazdek looked at the Wilder. “Oros was a welcome arrival. He reminds me I must heal before I can truly help the Desert again.”

Her mood warmed somewhat, as if Oros seeking the Dragon had been a compliment to her.

“If you truly want to help,” she began, “would you assist Oros in getting my daughter to the Tilabil?”

Mazdek exhaled as if realizing he must take five hard steps downward from a climb or get stuck in a crevice. “This is between you and Indrath. If you will, release Oros from his duty. He did not offer to bear this burden for you.”

“How dare you?” Her chin quivered. “You think I wanted it? Indrath summoned me somehow! He trapped me in his mountain! I… I cannot believe what he has become! What he did to me!”

If the Dragon’s talons had still been out, he may have tapped them in careful thought. “I suggest you seek the counsel of Io’sulta. Take your daughter and go now. Before it’s too late.”

“Too late? Too late how?”

“Whatever happens, you have already accelerated it by confronting the Handmaiden. Please. Return to the sacred spring. You will find more help there than here.”

“Why? Did Indrath get to you, too? Is that why you haven’t offered me one of your famous Bargains?”

Even Oros could tell the pause was as pregnant as the Sovereign was yesterday.

“ He did! ” she roared, fury flooding her face. “Indrath made a Bargain with you! He told you to talk to me, didn’t he?”

The Dragon took an admirably calm breath. “No. Oros and his honesty brought you here. I give my Word, Uradri. All negotiation I have had with the Ice Lord—from the day the Davrin Elves arrived upon my shores up until tonight—has never involved you or your agents directly.”

Oros believed him. Uradri did not wish to.

“Directly,” she repeated with snide disbelief .

The Dragon’s eye wrinkled from the bottom like he offered a dry smile. “The aftermath is something I must deal with in your absence.”

“Deal with? Undo my choices, you mean.”

He rumbled a tired chuckle. “Sometimes, I wish that were so. But no. None of us can undo your creations. We’ve tried. We can only nudge them on a path to undo themselves, given enough time, and mitigate the damage until then.”