[Hlaeth] Ch 12 - A Proper Invitation

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            “Master Aelryinth,” the eldest dragon, golden Wurdtrue, spoke up, watching in disapproval as the elven High Mages tried to gather their thoughts and focus after the devastating spiritual self-assessment Truth had forced upon them. “In the name of all the dragons of these islands, I invite you to the Royal Court of the Aldari. The dragons of the kingdom will personally guarantee your freedom and your safety while you are there.”

            The High Mages’ shoulders literally slumped in defeat, and Commander Tellusian looked extremely impressed at that promise. Clearly a promise that bound all the dragons of the islands was not something easily made, and yet the dragon had made it on my behalf, without hesitation!

            I did turn to look back and up at him. “You probably realize that my relations with dragons in the past have not been friendly, Elder,” I said to him, defaulting now back to Tongues instead of exquisite Elven.

            “We are not those dragons, Master Aelryinth. You are the glaus nûrg mönt! They made you, they Named you, and they have paid the price for doing so. We are no threat to you, and by the Staff you wield, you are no threat to us.”

            Well, it was true. I wasn’t going to attack a Good creature unless I had no other choice.

            I hmmphed as I glanced back at the defeated High Mages, clearly not worth my time anymore, even the Eldritch Elder. “I accept, on condition that Captain Fyanyl come with us. Her report should be at least as important for context as my own.”

            The golden dragon merely turned his head, and the thickly scaled bronze dragon promptly turned, leapt into the sky, and headed away to retrieve the sylvan elfin officer.

            “If the Magos is permitting, we too would like to experience the Staff of the glaus nûrg mönt,” the larger of the two silver-scaled dragons, a female, spoke up softly.

            I released Mortus Dius promptly, with no hesitation. He zipped up before her, floating in midair defiantly, an ominous and powerful Sublime hum rising about him that made all the magic tingle… and shake and shiver inside the discreet yet powerful touch of Eldritch over there.

            The silvery-scaled dragon, her scales fine and shimmery-smooth, almost like quicksilver until you looked closer, lifted up a rather delicate claw to grasp the Staff.

            Her instant inhalation as sapphire eyes bloomed wide was proof that she was experiencing the mnecromonics of my Staff.

            It was the third time Commander Tellusian had seen this, and he stepped closer to me. “Master Aelryinth,” he said carefully, more respect in his voice now than before, “I confess to feeling unease on seeing what your Staff does to those who touch it, and how readily you let it go. There… could be many subtle spells interwoven into what it is forcing others to experience, could there not?” he aired his worries.

            There was a tinkling chime as shimmery golden Holy flames lit up on the ruby Orb topping Mortus Dius, making the gray elven warrior-mage flinch and look away in shame.

            “Yes,” I confirmed his suspicions. “Cognitive and mnemonic traps, psyche-scripting, memory rewrites, and Aural corruption are quite the rage among the creatures that play with the mind, Commander Tellusian. I can also confirm that if you aren’t a Good soul, reliving the deaths of those that I have slain is likely to be a terrifying experience, as you realize how much you share with them.

            “If you are an Evil soul, you will either let go, or you will die, as did those before you who felt my power.”

            Wurdtrue rumbled deep in his chest, and the silver dragoness tilted her head back and roared to the skies, silver dragonfire blazing upwards as she witnessed the annihilation of multitudes of Evil… and grand and ancient Evils, too, far greater than anything she had ever fought!

            “As for why I let others experience it, it is because of the fact I am Heavenbound. To challenge my Staff is to challenge the worthiness of the Pact I have Sworn to Heaven. If you want to see the measure of the man I am and the soul I have, so be it. I will comply and let you see!”

            My Voice had no problem carrying over the long and drawn-out roar of the silver dragon and the blazing silver fire that was outshining the sun.

            “A dragon lives every moment of their lives aware of their position in the hierarchy of power of the world. They are physically powerful, mentally adept, they inherit great knowledge without effort, and if they bestir themselves, can master other skills and powers as well.

            “What they are seeing when they experience my Staff is what it feels like to not be sufficient to the Evil that is out there. It is the Truth of their actual place in existence, the Hope that such Evil can be beaten, and the Valor to stand up and take the fight as it comes, even if it cannot be beaten forever.”

            The elven officer shuddered, looking up at the noble golden dragon who served as his mount. The Aura about Wurdtrue had changed after his experience with the Staff, at once humbler, prouder, wiser, and more tempered than before.

            The silver dragon’s breath of fire dimmed and fell away, and her head fell almost to the ground as she let go of Mortus Dius. She was visibly twitching as she stalked away, like a cat caught at a misdeed and bowing under the pressure.

            And yet, there was no hesitation in her movements, nor reluctance. As if she was carrying a great weight, and it was only making her stronger…

            The male silver dragon only watched her go a moment before stepping up before Mortus Dius, taking a quiet breath, and also taking up my Staff.

            “Dragons pay more attention to everything going on than most do,” I went on calmly, hands clasped behind me as I waited for the next dragon to complete his review. “Thus, not only are they feeling the characters, Auras, and Sins of those I have killed, how they died, they are feeling my thoughts and emotions at the same time.

            “So, they are feeling my exultations, my regrets, my remorse, my resolve, my anger and wrath, my sadness and sorrows, my hopes and longings and joys… and my discipline and my control as I did what needed to be done at the time it was being done, rather than second-guessing my interpretations and motivations after the fact.

            “My Pact with Heaven is secure and solid, and what is the regard of mortals or dragons before that measure?”

            Another dragon’s flame reached flaring silver for the heavens, and I stood back to watch as Commander Tellusian ruminated on that, and doubtless considered holding my Staff on his own…

---------

            The High Mages had all departed by Teleportation. The dragons had guaranteed my safety, and implicitly, my conduct. The High Mages’ distrust and suspicions meant little in the face of such a thing, and they had already learned everything they could via magic.

            That they would report ahead of me and put their own biases on everything was, in the end, to be expected, but not a matter that would concern me.

            Their own dragons were vouching for me, which had considerable weight.

            Feature had no problem keeping up with the other dragons as we took wing over the forest, heading for the capital. The griffon and pegasi-riders would remain behind for a time to secure the area and deal with any surprises, not that there should be many. Other sylvan forces would arrive soon enough and relieve them of the need to remain shortly, in the end, and were much more suited for duty in the wilderness.

            Wurdtrue’s voice carried easily over the wind of our passage, not that our speed generated more than a comfortable breeze. “Master Aelryinth, I have notified my elders of the promise I made, and of your Staff. Several of them will doubtless be waiting at our arrival point to measure you themselves,” he alerted me.

            “They are as welcome to take up Mortus Dius as were you all.”

            Commander Tellusian had a new white blaze in his golden hair, and a somber look in his blue eyes as he scanned the horizon repeatedly, mentally filling in the hordes he had seen in Mortus Dius.

            Undead and Fiends to the horizon and more…

            He was a Sixteen, in many ways a match for the golden dragon he was riding upon. Yet he knew that he was not equal to the deeds I’d undertaken and succeeded at, he could not have done the same… and as this most recent orcish invasion that I’d thwarted clearly displayed, those forces and numbers and the Evil they represented were still out there, and didn’t give a damn for the desires for peace and isolation that his people had.

            He was not up to the true task of defending them!

            “Master Aelryinth,” he finally asked, his own Voice carrying clearly to me. “I would seek your counsel.”

            That was a huge admission.

            “Advice is cheap and free,” I replied easily. “What questions do you have, Commander?”

            “I would know how one comes to be able to fight the things that you have, as long as you have.”

            Well, he was a warrior. He wanted to be able to fight. Stood to reason.

            “Let me blunt and say that the reason I can fight such hordes is because I had no choice but to fight such hordes,” I answered him evenly. “You evolve and grow to overcome the enemies who are before you, or you die,” I told him simply. “That is the hard and brutal truth. If you wish to be able to cut down armies, than you must go out and cut down armies. It is a horrible thing to have to do, only made slightly easier when the hordes come to you in spirits of conquest and slaughter, and it is the right thing to do to kill them all.

            “Such deaths weigh heavier on the hearts of mortals like you or I, than they do on the like of dragons. You will need tremendous reinforcement of your heart and mind to be able to mentally endure the sheer cost of being capable of such slaughter, especially to not be corrupted by all the killing that is necessary until the killing becomes the goal, instead of the need.”

            I let that circulate for a moment, before continuing, “On a technical level, what you need is endless power at all the threat ranges you are to fight in. As a swordsman, you are aware of this subconsciously, if not formally. The reason you cling to your sword in the face of the superior power of your magic is because you know that in the end the magic will run out, and you must have something you can fall back on when it does, or rely on so that you do not spend your magic left and right.

            “But a strong arm falters and tires, as well. Thus, you need to be able to stave off exhaustion indefinitely, too, as well as restore your health and vigor when in personal combat.

            “Your magic has to be hoarded against the need to employ it, which means you must have something you can employ repeatedly and endlessly without using it up.

            “This, then, is how you kill armies. You must be inexhaustible, your arm, mind, and heart ever willing to stand up and defy them. You never run out of arrows. When you are injured, you heal up and keep going. You always have the magic to assail them with somehow, somewhen.

            “And in your downtime, you practice and improve and acquire the means and methods to be unstoppable in your uptime, while also being of benefit in your downtime.

            “If you are a warrior, then you prepare for war, be it the war that is here or the war that is coming. If you rest on your laurels, content in what you’ve accomplished before, an intelligent enemy, a wise enemy, or a truly savage enemy can take that complacency and tear you apart with it.

            “I am of the impression that these islands have not known true war for a long period of time.”

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