When someone asked about Firaskas origins, Oasis answered him with a story. Three thousand years ago, Firaska was a tiny settlement on the edge of the nastiest part of the No Mans Land, the part where the darkest, vilest creatures lived. The first Firaskians must have been exceptionally brave people to live there. What were they fighting for, why didnt they settle on a safer spot? Freedom. That was the answer. The dangerous place they chose for their city was their ticket to independence from both South and North allowing them to stay within the territory of stable magic at the same time.
Hard times create strong people, the proverb says. True. Malconemershghan was one of them.
He left Firaska when Sereg the Grey Inquisitor took him as an apprentice but he kept the Firaskian spirit in his heart. If the Grey Inquisitor hadnt killed him and destroyed his followers, the whole North would have been as free now as the old Firaska was. Was. Because Firaska became an ordinary Southern city and lost its freedom forever.
Whos been in the North? Orion asked, looking around.
For a while, the boys were silent, then Kosta Ollardian spoke up in a quiet, quivering, wheezy voice, the kind of voice someone with a chronic illness might have.
Ive been in the North once, he said. Its crazy cold there. I was ill for the whole journey. My father says that the North is a bad place. He hated it when grandfather sent him there.
My master says theres, Jarmin took a deep breath, CEN-SOR-SHIP! he said in a loud whisper. Whats censorship, Orion? Is it an evil ghost ship?
Someone snorted, stifling his laughter, behind Orions back. Orion kept his cool.
No, Jarmin, it just means that there are some things you are not allowed to say and write in that country, he explained. I dont think their censorship is that bad, though. Ive been in the North several times and they definitely have way fewer shitty books in their bookstores. Maybe the South needs a little bit of censorship too.
Well, our dear Sainar would strongly disagree with you, Im afraid, said Lainuver with a sly smile.
The weather was warm, the company was merry, and the road was easy, but even with all things perfect, you cant walk from Magrove forest to Firaska in a single day. By the evening, the boys had to camp.
Judging by the clouds gathering in the sky, it was going to rain, so they had to find a proper shelter if they wanted to stay warm and dry that night. But where could they find one in the smooth grassland between the Lifekeepers holy place and the nearest city? There were trees, of course a thin diadem here and there but they were no help.
The boys kept walking. They were no longer joking around: the possibility of spending the night in the rain was no fun. In an hour or so, a rather promising purple-white spot got Juels attention and he ordered his unit to leave the road and head there.
The bright spot turned out to be a circle of ten slender diadem trees. Most likely, a lonely traveller had camped there once, ate a sugary diadem fruit, and planted the seeds or maybe just thrown them away. The trees that had grown out of those seeds were beautiful, a very welcome sight in the middle of endless green, only their crowns werent thick enough to offer any cover from the rain. But, with nowhere else to hide, the young Lifekeepers made their camp there.
They piled their backpacks in the middle of the tree circle and spread a couple of extra blankets over them so they wouldnt get drenched in case the weather indeed decided to take a nasty turn. Jarmin, the brave six-year-old who had been keeping up with his grown-up companions the whole day without even a peep, dozed off right there by the backpack pile. The others sat on the ground, leaning against the trees, or just sprawled on the grass.
Rainy forebodings aside, the evening was beautiful. Bala wholeheartedly enjoyed it. Orion, nervously chewing on a grass blade, kept looking around, still hoping to think of some solution to their shelter problem. Juel was doing the same, only in a less obvious way. In his relaxed but watchful state, he resembled a charga, the big cat Faizuls like so much. Pai and Kosta moved closer to Oasis to ask him for more stories. Lainuver sat beyond the circle, cross-legged, his back to the group, thinking of something personal that seemed to be troubling him way more than the incoming rain. Irin had walked away and was currently shooting birds with his bow. From time to time, a painful squeak reached the diadem shelter; the hunt was going well.
Milian happened to end up being all alone. Not that he minded it, though. To him, a bookish boy, that day had been a serious overdose of human interaction. He felt emotionally drained now and just wanted to be by himself for a while. Milian decided not to walk far away; leaning against a diadem tree behind the backpack pile and putting his hood on was enough.
There was a moment when he lifted his eyes to the cloudy sky grumbling above the thin purple-white crowns and a stray thought entered his mind: these slender diadem trees could make a fine roof if someone would tie them together. And if this someone would also cover that roof with several blankets, just like they did with the backpack pile
Milian Raven liked the idea at once. He stood up, tried to bend one of the trees. Yes, the trunk was flexible enough! Now he just needed to get help. That meant addressing one of the leaders. Milian chose Orion at once.
Orion? Orion! Raven tugged at his sleeve.
Whats up? Orion yawned.
A brief explanation later, to everyones surprise, Milian and Orion grabbed two coils of rope from the backpack pile and started bending the trees. The rest of the team watched them with distrust at first but then they got it: they were going to sleep under a roof after all! Everyone joined the building process, even Juel. Little Jarmin, woken up by the commotion, found himself inside a beautiful living tent of branches and flowers.
Their spirits high again, the boys got back to lively talking, mostly about what to make for dinner. Juel left that matter to Bala who seemed to know a thing or two about cooking and actually making food taste nice.
A true Lifekeeper is always observant, even in little things. Especially in little things. And Juel was a true Lifekeeper. He noticed that Milian had brought his idea to Orion and not him. That would not do. It was time to start setting things right.
Good job, man! Juel patted Milian on the shoulder, hoping that the praise sounded as sincere as he wanted. Just one thing: in the future, if you have something important to say, come to me first. Keeping the leader uninformed can be dangerous to the whole team.
Okay, Milian shrugged. Whatever you say
Jarmin! Juel turned to the little boy. I want to apologise for that joke I made yesterday. It was stupid. Please, forgive me.
He said no more, leaving his companions to their thoughts. While the whole gradient of moods and opinions was shifting and rearranging behind his back, Juel grabbed his backpack from the pile, unrolled his sleeping bag, and started preparing for the night. He knew he was doing the right thing now, both for the missions and his own sake. Juel had hated Sainars decision to send him on this very questionable journey with a bunch of children. Now, he had finally made peace with that.
Those guys are not all that bad, he told himself. Theyre all my brothers of the Order. Theyre all warriors, even the youngest ones. Maybe even little Jarmin is worth something, well see; he is a powerful ambasiath too, after all As to me, my master has always said that I must learn to keep my pride in check. All right, I will. Trust can be powerful, so lets make them trust their leader.
The wayfarer soup the young Lifekeepers had for dinner tasted like a proper homemade meal with Balas spices and Irins birds thrown in. The rain did finally start and quenched the campfire but, luckily, the diadem tent turned out to be a good enough shelter that kept both water and wind away.
Soon, night swallowed the world outside the tent; rain swallowed the sounds that could warn you about a danger. From time to time, a cold water droplet or a wet purple-white petal fell from the tents roof on the boys sleeping below. Sleeping. Jarmin no longer felt safe among them when there was no one to look out for danger. He felt alone and painfully vulnerable now. The No Mans Land with all the nightmarish creatures Oasis had been talking about that day was close. Even worse: Kosta had mentioned that some of them moroks can wander outside the unstable lands and attack travellers even beyond Firaska. What if one or a whole pack of them! was prowling about the grasslands or maybe even lurking outside the tent right now?
Jarmin sat and wrapped his blanket around himself, shivering. He was so scared already that Orions unexpected whisper had almost made him jump.
Cant sleep, Jarmin? asked Orion and added, looking around, Well, youre not alone. Looks like were all awake.
One after the other, the boys raised their shaggy heads and exchanged looks in the dark.
Ive never been so close to the No Mans Land, whispered Kosta. His voice sounded even worse now when the air was cold and damp. I know that its a rare thing that some dark creature sneaks beyond Firaskian patrols but its not impossible.
Orion said Jarmin with a pitiful sniff. What are moroks like?
Oh no, no scary stories in the nighttime! answered Orion with a nervous laugh. That would be bad for the teams morale.
Okay But maybe you can tell me a fun story then?
The pure hope in little Jarmins voice was too touching for him to refuse.
Well, I know some stories. Theyre not as cool as Oasiss are, of course said Orion.
He even yawned as a part of play-acting and it worked: the listeners interest spiced up now, everyone moved closer; Pai promptly cast a light spell to scare all the night fears away and create a proper storytelling atmosphere. The spell Fiat-lux, as Pai named it resembled a classic Liht only remotely. It was much more flammable; every droplet that fell onto it from the leaky roof went up in vapour with a sharp hiss as it would on a hot frying pan. Also, Fiat-lux was a rather unstable light source, it flickered like a candle in the wind. That only suited the story-time, though.
How about a cool real-life story? asked Orion. Our Sainar is not the only one who remembers his family history three millennia into the past!
Ah, yes, Aranta said youre a descendant of that pirate Lainuver tried to chime in but Orion frantically waved his hands. Ill get to that! Story first!
***
Three thousand years ago, there lived a great pirate Ziga-Ziga. Its unknown whether his ambassa or his talent was the reason, but no one could match him in his bravery and his cunning except his friend Orion the son of stars. Together, they raided ships. Together, they spent their bloody gold on deeds good and evil.
But it wasnt only the joy of piracy that the two friends had in common. Often, they stood together on the bow of Lafarg, Zigas giant trimaran, and looked at the horizon, where the charted sea ended and Ocean Fayera began. They talked of unknown lands and dreamed of visiting them one day, but for a long while, the dreams just remained dreams.
But one day, following the calling of his heart, Ziga left Orion in charge of his fleet and sailed to the uncharted sea alone. He returned a different man. There were wonders in Ocean Fayera he had never known existed: islands made of pure ice and inhabited by wingless birds; giant sea monsters as big as ten Lafargs combined but as tame as little lambs; and there was a large continent no one had ever visited before. It was a land of wild, unstable magic and emerald dragons.
Unlike Kuldaganian pocket dragonlighters and nomadic yellow dragons mindless monsters with morbid curiosity and voracious appetite emerald dragons were intelligent. They had a civilization and a language of their own. They knew love and friendship. They were a lot like humans, actually, only they lived much longer: up to two thousand years.
Ziga had never learned their language but the dragons, being far smarter than he, had learned his. They didnt stop there: next, they learned to take human form.
The world of humans interested them greatly. After all, dragons, intelligent and mindless alike, are naturally very curious. But, while interesting, our world seemed too dangerous and frightening for them. Back then, not a single dragon had followed Ziga back to the charted Omnis.
Back in the known sea, Ziga returned to his old trade. He told everyone about the dragons, he sang of them, he wrote about them but no one seemed to take him seriously. His tales spawned fairytales, his ballads inspired funny verses, his writings got ridiculed and criticized for no one would believe a pirates word. Not a single human had followed Zigas call to visit the dragon continent. After a while, disappointed, Ziga began forgetting it too, falling more and more into his old ways.
But everything changed after he met a very special girl Meralli. It was a girl given to Orion by the sea itself; she had no memories of her past; she spoke in poems; she seemed alien to this world like a dragon that had taken human form and forgotten about that. Ziga fell in love with Meralli the moment he saw her. But upon finding the love of his life, he lost his best friend: he and Orion had a fight over Meralli. In the end, Ziga won the girls heart and Orion made peace with him but things could no longer be the same between the old friends.
Next time Ziga heard the call of Ocean Fayera again, he answered it. He left everything to Orion his fleet, his riches, and his blessing and sailed to the emerald continent on a little dimaran Jovibarba (thats where our surname comes from!). He took no one with him but his wife Meralli and their little daughter.
Ziga lived and died among the dragons but some of his descendants chose a different path.
A part of our family moved back to Omnis about a thousand years ago. In the beginning, there was so much dragon blood in the descendants of Ziga and Meralli that they could take dragon form at will and lived for centuries. But as they mixed with humans, their dragon traits faded over time.
Now look at me. The only dragon trait I have is curiosity. Well, maybe audacity is too.
***
The story cheered the audience up. That and the cosily warm Fiat-lux under the ceiling helped the young Lifekeepers shake off the uneasy feeling the night was giving them.
So, when dragons take human form, asked Milian, where does the excess mass go?
Ah, a scientist to the bone Pai gave him a condescending smile. Theyre natural mages, all of them. And mages have their ways of bending the laws of physics a little bit.
Natural mages And no need for stabilizers. Cool, said Milian thoughtfully. Ah, why cant we humans be like that?
We cant do a lot of things, Bala smiled. Just look at us, compared to animals: no fur, no claws; blunt teeth, poor eyes, poor sense of smell My master says that the lack of something always gets compensated with another thing: a weak person can compensate for their weakness with intelligence or cunning, for example. This is exactly what we as a species do. If we could naturally stabilize magic, we may not have developed civilization, we would have been just animals.