Dragon Aster Trilogy

15: ICE AND FIRE



When Sybl couldn’t get any response from Cirrus, she decided to take a break and catch her breath to ponder just what she was doing. The snow and ice burst upwards as the Aur storm turned the frozen Eternal Waters into a minefield behind her. She stepped back on the Torian beach when shards of sharp ice and snow came flying at her. The True had already run off in fear of the dragon’s continent that they were now on, and would wait out the storm for their chance to return to the Suzerain.

“You ran here all by yourself?”

Sybl jumped as another explosion of ice hit in time with Loki’s scolding. “I…uh... I beat the storm, so it’s alright.” But something was undoubtedly different when she looked at the dragoon Awl. He was furious and his orange eyes glowed with it.

“I’m going to kill Cirrus. How could he let you cross that by yourself?” he said, referring to the storm behind her.

“Loki—”

“No, enough is enough. Sybl…” Loki took a step closer, before he stopped and regained his composure with a long exhale. “I want to show you something.”

Sybl didn’t want to fight with him, and didn’t sense any wayward intent, so she let him touch and pull her into his somn.



She opened her eyes to a massive waterfall what felt like a short time later, and saw that they were under the rocks of a tunnel. “Where did you kidnap me to this time?”

“This is the Bedlam Waterway. I thought you should see this place. Normally, we burn the dead so the Ancients can move on and whatnot, but we buried Serena here.”

Sybl followed Loki inside. They came to a cave with a hole in the ceiling that allowed the weak light of the Soph Aur through. She looked at the sandy ground then where a tombstone was erected in the center of the cave. It had no words on it. “Why did no one put her name on it?”

“Honestly, we didn’t know what last name to inscribe. It’s customary for Earth women to take their husband’s last name on marriage, right?” Loki asked.

“Yes. Well, assuming she came from the same side of Earth as me.”

“Well we don’t have last names, and there was a rather angry debate whether to write her first name in Torian or in English.”

Sybl knelt down before the tombstone. “Why not just write it in pluma Thread?”

“Hmm…” Loki unsheathed one of his daggers. He cut a few strands of his light green hair, then held them with his fingers as he used his aeri to fuse it to the stone. Then he stepped back and looked at the strange glyph it had created.

Sybl touched it, and immediately she was brought to a moment where Loki had looked at Serena for a while. Long enough to get her to smile.

“She never got used to the markings on my eyes.” Loki sighed. “I think she would just try and stare them off of me sometimes.”

She looked at the green, star-like markings around his eyes and found it interesting that he didn’t use his illusion weave to hide them.

“I thought about it, but then I remembered how much you liked them. So I kept my stars for you.”

Sybl smiled, as the memory was perfect. “Thank you, Loki.”

“Mhm. Now let’s get going to Toria. I have a whole castle to show you and the world isn’t giving me much time to work with.”

Sybl got to her feet and followed him, giving one last look back at her mother’s grave. Its glyph glowed a light green, which lifted the spirits in her a bit more.

“What’s wrong?”

Sybl snapped back to attention, and looked to where Loki waited with the waterfall behind him. “I’m just worried. I don’t know if I can stop Damek.”

“Well it’s obvious what he’s doing by picking off everyone you care about to make you think that.”

“Maybe I should head back to the Suzerain Continent,” Sybl said. “I’ve asked so much from you as it is, and I have no right to.”

“Princess, stop. Just because you are with Cirrus, doesn’t change anything but my determination. That and we’re on the same side.” Loki shifted his feet to look outside. “I’ll tell you what, we’ll go to Toria for now and let its aeri refresh you a bit. Then you can make up your mind to where you want to go.”

Sybl watched the waterfall for a while as she thought on it. She could feel the Mei on her arm pulsing with Cirrus’ distance from her pulling on it. Toria needed him. No one else needed her minus what she was here for, and that was to stop Damek and prevent the destruction of Aster.

Loki held out his hand, and when she took it he somned with her. He sprung off the ledge and into the white mists, flying out of the waterway. Then the dragon turned his light green wings in the air towards Toria.