Hello, Everyone!
Last time, during our heroes’ conversation with Edmund Bright and Francesca Findabair, the Boy Emperor suddenly announced that he wanted to show them ‘the truth’. He proceeded to turn into a freaking Silver dragon, announced himself as 'Ederacius the Bright', and he and Lady Findabair explained that, for hundreds of years, Eastern Erathos had been ruled by Ederacius'father, Zerakiel, who pretended to be human.
Mary couldn’t take her eyes off of Ederacius. He was such a magnificent sight! The silver body, breathing slowly, the giant wings, seemingly patined by the sea water. She could see his dragon eyes better now, grey with a circle of gold around the pupils.
“Is that a Dragon Artefact?” Aurum said.
He was pointing at Edmund’s amulet, now glittering on the dragon’s neck.
Lady Findabair nodded.
“Nurvureem has something like that,” Aurum said. “A sword. It grows and shrinks whenever she changes form.”
“That’s interesting,” the Mage said. “I’d like to have it brought back to Ederacius if you’re able. It’s going to be a great asset to our young dragon. Speaking of amulets,” she added. “I can’t miss the fact that you aren’t wearing yours, Sir Aurum.”
Aurum looked at his chest, as if he was just noticing it now. Under his shirt, there was the slight glint of Granny Grettel’s ruby, but there was no sign of the purple Fey amulet that he’d cherished so much.
Mary frowned. When had he stopped wearing it?
“Oh!” Aurum said with an innocent grin. “I seem to have misplaced it somewhere.”
“I see,” the Mage said. "Anyway. Let’s get back to the subject at hand. You are about to face a few challenges. Perhaps you’re not quite a match for Trax’rion right now, but you can certainly do something about the Cult of Tiamat. You should find more information about their kind.”
“Is there a library that I can visit in the city?” Mary said hopefully.
“Of course there is,” Francesca Findabair said. “While you are there, you should also look up crystals, like the one that your previous companion used to free Trax'rion. There are sure to be more Artefacts able to contain powerful magic, or perhaps other remnants of the Neteril Empire. You may be able to use them against the dragon. And,” she eyed them sternly, “be careful with that Tesaya woman. The Unravelling is no joke.”
Mary thought about Tesaya. Her sneering eyes, her lopsided grin, her voice, suddenly changed with the appearance of her Master…
“She was beginning to change,” she said out loud. “Scales started growing on half of her head… and she sprouted draconic wings. We’ve seen another person looking like that before. Only, he was half Black dragon, and Tesaya was half Blue, like Trax’rion.”
“It’s a common thing among the disciples of the Cult of Tiamat. They call these people ‘Draconites’. They consider their condition sort of a gift from their dragon Lords and Ladies. It’s achieved by some of the dragon’s flesh being transplanted into their bodies – a dangerous and very painful procedure, sometimes lethal. Those who survive it think of themselves as Chosen ones.”
Mary shuddered. When had Tesaya done that procedure? Was it while they were in Ekoba? Or was it even before that? What if she had had scales underneath her clothes the whole time? She had never undressed in front of them, not even in front of Mary – and they had shared a bedroom for weeks!
“If there’s nothing else, let’s call it a day,” Francesca Findabair said. “Have tonight to rest and leave in the morrow. In the meantime, I’ll make sure to start fortifying the city and contacting the other Nations.”
“AND BE SURE TO VISIT AGAIN SOON,” Ederacius added. He nodded to the group and shrunk back to Edmund’s delicate form.
Aurum went to wake up Reina, caressing her (more gently than Mary would have liked). The woman fluttered her eyelashes, murmuring something pretentious, and let him raise her to her feet.
They bid their farewell to the Emperor and the Mage, and went out into the corridor. Agatha turned to Mary with an exaggerated grin.
“Woo-hoo!” she exclaimed. “A raid of the local library! Mary’s favourite spare time!”
“Oh!” Aurum said and turned to Reina. “You can show her your collection, too!”
The woman smiled sourly.
“I don’t think she’ll find my books interesting,” she said, contempt seething in her every word. “They’re mostly fiction, they’d be too simple for her.”
Somehow, in spite of the words themselves, this felt like an insult. Mary gawked at Reina, unable to think of a good answer. It was like a forceful wake up, the way she was returned to this silly squabble after having met a wondrous creature like Ederacius.
They flew on their gryphons, leaving the white castle behind and passing back through the protective bubble over the city.
When they were just above the highest towers, something caught Mary’s attention. There was a dot… five dots… many dots..., emerging from the stormy sea and climbing to the rock stack the city was built upon.
When the gryphons got closer, she saw them. Hundreds, thousands of people were scaling the stone. Their movements were rigid and unnatural, their armour pitch black, with solid helmets that hid their faces. There were all kinds of shells and corals growing on their bodies.
The black people reached the city wall and, without making a sound, started crawling on top of each other to scale to the top.
“Behold! They’re here!” Reina said and reached her fingers to her forehead in an almost religious gesture.
“What’s going on?!” Mary said. “Is that a threat? Is Zerakas tol under attack?”
“No, don’t be ridiculous!” the woman said. “Those are the Devoted. They’ve come to protect us once again.”
The Devoted made it on top of the wall and into the city. While the gryphons were finishing their flight, the armoured soldiers were already getting to the street corners, silently starting to patrol the city.
So, our visit to the White Palace has reached its end. How did you like it? Do you think Francesca Fincabair would really help, or is she just pretending because of her dragon friend?
Also, what do you think the Devoted are? They’re such an unsettling presence…
Before we proceed to the next chapter of our story, we'll have two Interludes - the newest update of the map of Eastern Erathos, and another one of our DM In-Betweens!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.