This old fae is odd.
But who am I to resist? If I am to do this, I need the monks and their help.
“During the Trial of Wisdom, I faced a dragon. As you may recall, I was the only Ezkai who didn’t murder the dragon they faced.” He nods. “Going into the trial, I had no intention of slaying a dragon. I had no clue how I’d survive, but I refused to do it. At one point during the fight, I…there was something odd that passed between me and the dragon. It was as if I could almost feel the pain I caused the dragon. I begged the creature to not force my hand, and it listened in the end. That was the only reason I survived.”
Elder Arcon regards me with curiosity shining in his gaze for a long while. The silence stretches, and while it’s not a tense silence, soon I start to fidget under the weight of his stare.
Finally, he hums, nods to himself, and whirls on his heel. As he moves deeper into the maze of bookshelves, over his shoulder he says, “We keep records of all the Ezkai in history who have bonded a dragon. Some have left fairly in-depth diaries, while others’ journeys are not recorded very thoroughly.”
I hustle after him. After a couple of minutes, he rounds the corner and his steps halt. I almost walk right into him.
He turns to the shelf that’s almost empty. Only a couple dozen journals are stacked there, neatly labeled with dates and names I don’t recognize.
Except for one.
Ezkai General Kitajo Hiromasa.
It hits me then. These are the records of all the Ezkai in history who have bonded a dragon.
“That’s all?” My head whips towards Elder Arcon.
He smiles and nods. “Not many walk the path. Even less reach the end of it.”
Oh, dear spirits of the gods.
“Why’s that?”
Elder Arcon’s voice is gentle, as if he’s telling me a fairy tale before sleep. “Some fail and give up. Others die trying to reach something that’s not theirs.”
Without a word, I reach for Kitajo’s journal. Our interactions were few and far between. He died too soon, before I could get to know him personally and learn about his relationship to my dad. But still, to this day, I feel connected to the late Ezkai General whose place I took.
I open the journal to find pages full of his thoughts. Every entry is labeled with the date and time. Some even have locations.
Reading through the first couple of pages feels illegal. As if I’m intruding on someone’s privacy. My heart races. I’m terrified of finding Vera’s name, but also curious.
Instead of reading in order, I flip the pages until my eye catches one entry that’s stamped with the location of this monastery:
Killygano Monastery
“Xirog,the Taker of Life. I spotted her last three days ago, by the waterfall. It was the first time I was able to sneak up close enough to get a good look at her gleaming scales and the gory scars she wears. I wonder, who dared to inflict such nasty wounds that left forever marks on a creature as beautiful and powerful? It couldn’t be other dragons. The slashes remind me of ones a fae-made blade leaves. No wonder she keeps to herself. Since I started tracking her, she hasn’t spent too much time with her brood.
She keeps to herself.
On the bank next to the waterfall, she was devouring a poor mountain lion with her sharp teeth. I waited until there was nothing but the bones left before I stepped out of my cover.
Feeling brave and confident, I walked out and immediately regretted it.
She snarled at me, the hot air hitting me right in the face even through the distance between us, through the cooling spray of the waterfall.
When she whipped her tail at me and swooped me off my feet, I was too startled to react fast enough. Thankfully, once I was on my ass, she just flew away.
And I was back to zero.
In that moment, though, a terrifying thought dawned on me. I was prepared to battle, to fight, to beg, and to prove myself to her in any way. But it never occurred to me that nothing I do will be enough for her to claim me as hers.
That thought has been haunting me ever since.”
I snapthe journal shut and look up at Elder Arcon, who has been patiently standing next to me, waiting. “Dragons can reject us?”
