The Beginning (44 page)

Jaax wasn’t prepared for Jahrra’s enraged response.

“Who are you to run my life! You’re a stranger to me!” she fired. “That’s all you’ve ever tried to do, and now Master Hroombra is gone! He’s gone! I bet you’re grateful! Now you can make me do anything, can’t you? No old dragon to stand in your way!”

Jahrra collapsed fully against the ground, sobbing loudly, letting years of bottled up sorrow, hurt and anger come out all at once. Phrym moved nervously around, blowing and nickering in distress, worrying about the way his friend was acting.

Jaax understood Jahrra’s anguish more than she realized. He did the only thing he could do for the suffering girl, he stood over her, head bowed, joining in with her pain. Jahrra hated the fact that Jaax was attempting to comfort her, but she was too weary and too weak to run away from him this time.

“Come Jahrra,” he said in a surprisingly compassionate voice once she’d calmed down a little, “there is something you must see, there is something you must understand. Hroombra wanted you to see this, to know this, and we mustn’t waste anymore time, for dark is soon approaching. Come, and we’ll send Hroombra off to the stars when we return.”

Jaax slowly coaxed Jahrra away from Hroombra’s still body. She was upset now, but Denaeh and Hroombra had been right all along. She needed to know the truth of who she was, and the sooner she knew the better.
Best to get all of today’s shocks out of the way at once
, Jaax thought morosely. He hated leaving Hroombra’s lifeless form lying there, but he had to grant his old friend his last dying wish, and he had to do it before sundown.

Jaax took a breath and turned to Jahrra, who had finally stood up. She was covered in dirt and grime from lying on the ground, and her eyes were red and puffy.

“Perhaps you should ride?” he offered kindly.

Jahrra, numb with shock and slightly dazed from her sudden burst of anger, obeyed without a fight. She still hadn’t fully accepted what had happened, and secretly, she felt the need for a distraction. She reluctantly pulled away from Hroombra’s cold body and dragged herself over to Phrym, using Jaax’s forearm to pull herself into the saddle. Jaax slowly led them through the woods and to the north to where the walls of the Castle Ruin lay waiting, waiting to tell its story.

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Chapter Twenty
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The Words on the Wall

The soil was damp and soft underfoot as dragon, girl and semequin made their way across the rain-swept landscape. They slowly ambled northward, keeping their tumultuous thoughts to themselves. Hroombra’s death had been completely unexpected and the truth of it left Jaax cold and empty. He was overwhelmed with sorrow for the loss of his old friend and mentor, but that wasn’t all that troubled his mind. It was now completely up to him to help Jahrra fulfill her destiny.
Hroombra was supposed to be here until the end
, the dragon thought grimly.
How am I going to do this on my own, without his guidance?

Jaax dropped his head and kept following the winding, overgrown path to the castle. The sun had once again become shrouded with heavy clouds, their cobalt and ash hue painting the world around them in cool colors. Soon the dark walls of the eroded fortress came into view, and Jaax’s heart began to quicken. Suddenly he realized what exactly he would be telling Jahrra in only a few minute’s time.
How will she take the truth? What will she do when she learns she isn’t Nesnan like she believed, but human, the only human in Ethoes?
he wondered.
Hroombra would have done a much better job of telling her than I.
Jaax stepped up to the withered façade of the building and then encouraged a very grave Jahrra to tie Phrym up outside.

The young woman obeyed quietly, her mind too bogged down with emotion to argue.
Why would anyone want to hurt Master Hroombra?
she thought sadly, vacantly following the murmur of Jaax’s voice like someone under hypnosis.

“Jaax,” she said suddenly, her voice sounding lumpy and harsh, “who were those men, those men that . . .”

She couldn’t finish her sentence, and fresh tears sprung to her eyes once again. Jaax answered her unfinished question calmly and patiently.

“They were mercenaries of the Tyrant, or the hired thugs of one of his lords. He has been searching for Hroombra for many years, and he’s been looking for you too, Jahrra.”

Jaax was no longer careful with his words. He didn’t need to be. Jahrra was about to know everything very soon.

Jahrra shot a surprised and watery glance at Jaax.

After a shaky sigh he said, “Don’t worry. I’ve frightened them off for now.”

Jahrra continued to give him a confused gaze, forgetting her anger towards him for the moment. Suddenly, Eydeth’s words from a few days ago came rushing back to her:
Do you want to know who that man was? I’ll tell you, he was a mercenary for the Crimson King.

She shivered and turned her eyes away from Jaax, afraid he would see the truth. Had this all been her fault then? Should she have told them earlier about the man from the Fall Festival? Jahrra tried to choke back a sob, but it was no use.

“Why would they be looking for me and Master Hroombra, what did he ever do to deserve this?” she cried.

“Jahrra, whatever you think, you must never think that any of this was your fault.” Jaax locked his eyes with hers, making sure she understood. “Both Hroombra and I took on this responsibility long before you even existed. Any battle against the Crimson King is going to have severe losses. It’s just unfortunate that you’ll ever have to be part of any of them.”

A flash of alarm sparked across Jahrra’s face, changing her expression.

“What on Ethoes are you talking about?” she rasped.

“Come on, I have much to tell you, but first you must hear the story from the walls.”

Jahrra stared at him, more perplexed than ever. Jaax turned and led her through the entrance hall and toward the ancient dining room where she had once stood many years before with Hroombra. The memory brought back the recent pain she was trying very hard to defeat. It was just after her parents’ deaths that her mentor had brought her here, and now she was back, once again after losing someone else that she loved. She would rather not have gone into that ancient dining room, but she didn’t want to be left alone right now, even if it meant being in the company of Jaax. She followed him, and once they were both within the remains of the great hall, he began reading the Krueltish words, translating them into the common language, as if reciting a somber tragedy. Jahrra forced herself to look at the words as he read them, comprehending each and every one of them the way she could not have those many years ago:

Feel the wind blowing on your face,

Taste the water clear,

Steal the day and all this space,

Waste not any time but here.

Yonder does the time now go,

Care not whether it stays,

Wander long, to and fro,

Where it ends it stays.

Mountains tall across the land,

Valleys low and cutting,

Fountains trickling in the sand,

Galleys proud and strutting.

Home to where the heart lays beating,

Far, far over the western hills,

Roam where the land and sea are meeting,

Star and moon thy burden fills.

Here you will find her, child of lore,

Eyes of sea, hair of gold,

Near the Oak that Nature bore,

Lies she, with fortune yet untold.

Jaax stopped reading and took a step back. Jahrra stared at the wall, her eyes streaming. She wondered why he didn’t continue; the words seemed to go on forever. She also didn’t know what to think of what he’d just read. For so long she had wanted to know what those words had said, for so long, but now it seemed so unimportant. So much had happened today and her mind wasn’t ready to decipher such obscure riddles.

Jahrra stood silent for a long time. Finally, Jaax spoke aloud, making her jump a little.

“That is the Great Prophecy of the Oracles, the very words that an unknown scribe took down long ago when the Crimson King’s reign was young. It is the prophecy that foretells of a savior of Ethoes, someone to overthrow the Tyrant’s terrible evil. You have heard of this prophecy before?”

It was half a statement, half a question. Jahrra nodded her head numbly.

“Denaeh once told us about it. Every year, around Sobledthe, she would tell us tales of old, and one year she told us this tale. She never told us those exact words, but she spoke of a human child. A girl.” Jahrra gazed up at Jaax, a hint of desperation in her eyes. “Why do you tell me this now, what does this have to do with what has happened? What does it have to do with me?”

Jaax looked down at her and took a deep, uneasy breath. Perhaps if circumstances were different, if she didn’t have this recent pain to distract her, Jahrra would have puzzled it out by now. But it was no wonder she couldn’t think straight.
He
could hardly think straight.

Jaax swallowed. “I’ll tell you this then: the prophecy tells of a human child that will be found, a child whose destiny it will be to defeat the Tyrant King and his immortal accomplice, the god Ciarrohn. Many believe that when the Crimson King and Ciarrohn are defeated, the curses they dealt out will be lifted, including the curse on the Tanaan and this castle we now stand within.”

Jaax shifted his weight uncomfortably before continuing on.

“You see, human beings became extinct when the Tanaan dragons were created; it was their punishment for resisting the Crimson King and Ciarrohn. Hroombra, I am sure, has told you this before. The Tanaan dragons descend from the original humans who suffered this curse.

“The Tanaan were among many races who hoped for their world to return to peace, but they had no idea they would be waiting for so long. Some of the Tanaan moved on and accepted their place among the dragons, just as the other races of Ethoes accepted that the Crimson King was now their ruler. But some of them still wait to this day for the prophecy to be fulfilled.”

Jaax took another deep breath, and continued as calmly as his voice allowed him, “Hroombra and I searched many years for this child, waiting and listening for any word of such a girl. We knew that the human race no longer existed, but we also knew that if a human girl was found, then she would be the one we’d been looking for, the one to change the world.”

Jaax paused and let Jahrra absorb all that she was hearing. Jahrra blinked up at him as a chill wind swept past them both. She had no idea that Hroombra and Jaax had been looking for the child of the prophecy.

“Is that where you’ve been all these years?” Jahrra asked wearily, shivering in the cold. “Away looking for this girl?”

The young dragon smiled gently despite his recent sorrow, and this time his smile contained none of its usual smugness.

“No, Jahrra,” he said quietly, patiently, carefully. “You see, I found that girl long ago, a little over seventeen years ago, in fact.”

He paused and watched her reaction, allowing her to place the pieces of the puzzle together on her own. He watched as the realization slowly filled her the way a newly lit candle wick spreads light throughout a room. Suddenly, Jahrra’s storm-blue eyes flashed with the knowledge of the truth.

“The peoples of Ethoes are waiting for a new hope,” Jaax said gently. “You, Jahrra, are their new hope.”

Jahrra felt a strange, cool sensation prickle throughout her entire body. Her head was spinning and her heart was pounding. Too much had happened this day and her brain couldn’t grasp this unbelievable revelation.
He makes it sound like I
. . . Jahrra shook her head, refusing to even consider the possibility, refusing to acknowledge what Jaax was indeed telling her. Finally she found the strength to talk.

“What?” her voice was harsh with disbelief.

“Jahrra, you’re the human girl I’ve spent so much of my life looking for. You are the child of whom the prophecy foretold.”

He curled his lip grimly, looking weary and just as overwhelmed as Jahrra felt.

“No, no, I couldn’t be! I’m not human!” Jahrra said, her voice growing shrill. “I’m Nesnan, a simple Nesnan orphan from Oescienne!”

Jahrra was backing away from Jaax now, her eyes darting around as if she were looking for a place to run.

“Yes, Jahrra, ‘Far, far over the western hills, Roam where the land and sea are meeting’, I found you in Crie, in the Saem Hills, the western hills in the northern-most part of Oescienne.”

“I still don’t believe you!” Jahrra shouted, growing angry as the panic rose up inside of her.

“‘Eyes of sea, hair of gold, Near the Oak that Nature bore’. Jahrra, you were found by a tribe of elves under the Sacred Oak of Ethoes. You were barely a newborn when I came for you, and the elves told me you had blue eyes when they found you. You were only a week old, and only humans,
pure-blooded humans
, have blue eyes when they are born. Hroombra and I only kept the truth from you for your own safety. You had to believe that you were Nesnan, it was the only way to keep you safe from the Tyrant’s knowledge!”

Jaax had stepped forward, following Jahrra as she kept falling back.

“No, no! It can’t be true! I’m not the girl from the stories, I can’t save Ethoes!”

Jahrra suddenly became nauseous. She stumbled to the closest bush and fell clumsily to her hands and knees, becoming sick behind it.

Jaax stayed back and let her get over her fit of panic. He felt guilty for telling her like this, so soon after Hroombra’s death. Jaax would have rather waited, but if he had, it would only have been harder for her to understand what would be coming in the next few months. They had a harsh future ahead of them, and the sooner she realized why the better. Finally, after several minutes, Jahrra stood up, still wobbly from her fit of shock.

“Jahrra, believe me, you
are
the child of the prophecy. I knew it the moment I saw you, and Hroombra knew it as well. Even the Mystic Denaeh knows the truth, and now the Crimson King will know you are on this earth and he’ll hunt you until you are destroyed.”

The dragon’s eyes shone fierce, and all that Jahrra could do was look up and stare back, her own eyes becoming glazed over. Her head was spinning, and she felt that she just might faint. Jaax sighed and shook his head.
I can’t expect her to understand all of this right away. I just hope she can learn to trust me.

“Come,” he said gruffly, “let us go back and send Hroombra off to his afterlife, as the dragons of old once did.” He paused, trying hard not to choke on the sudden remorse that rose in his throat. “You’ll need time to let this all soak in. I know it’s hard, and I know it’s unexpected, but you had to know Jahrra, even if it seems cruel to tell you so suddenly after what has happened.”

The distraught girl nodded feebly and they walked slowly back to Phrym, who looked somewhat distressed at Jahrra’s appearance.

Jahrra felt displaced from her body, like her spirit had left and found a safe place to hide. She couldn’t be human, she just couldn’t be. This was just another one of Jaax’s lies. And Master Hroombra couldn’t be dead.

When they finally arrived back in front of the Castle Guard Ruin, it was very near sunset, and the new storm clouds were beginning to spread over the land. Jahrra and Jaax numbly gathered up wood to pile around the lifeless form of the great dragon that had once cared for them both. Jahrra shed silent tears the entire time, feeling like her heart would give up its struggle and stop beating at any moment. When they finally finished, Jahrra stood back as Jaax let out a great burst of jade and sapphire flame that lit the entire funeral pyre.