I held my coat tight against the morning chill in the air as I stepped out of Dragon’s nest and looked out at the city below. From the floating island, I could see the entirety of the rolling hills stretching into the horizon. The gentle rays of sunlight barely peeked over the edge of a distant mountain and reflected off the water of a lazy river that twisted through the hills.
At the entrance to the city, nearly a hundred men had arrived. All of them were armed with a weapon of their choice and a variety of mismatched armor. They were the first of many tribes that would respond to Svend's call to arms over the coming weeks as we prepared for war. I could not help but wonder how many would be able to return home afterwards.
I watched from overhead as the recruits were led to an area at the edge of the city where tents had already been set up. There they would be divided into different squads depending on their level of experience, equipment, and status.
I was surprised to learn that Svend had taken such an off-hand approach to leading his domain, adapting each tribe into a feudal state rather than the strict militaristic dictatorship the Seventh Division was known for. He had changed a lot since the time I knew him. The once shining paragon general in golden armor was completely unrecognizable compared to the big bear that was currently lumbering around the city with booming laughter as he greeted the first of the recruits.
I lost myself, reminiscing about the past when I noticed another figure sitting on the edge of the floating island. Donte had his feet hanging over the edge as he stared down to the distant ground. He did not appear to have seen me yet and feeling a mischievous streak, I snuck up behind him as quiet as mouse. When I was right behind the boy, I grabbed his shoulders and screamed as loud as I could.
Donte shouted a stream of curses that would have made a sailor blush as he nearly jumped over the edge of the island in surprise. Luckily, I was holding his shoulders and managed to pull his back before he tumbled over the side.
“By the realms, Wren! You nearly scared me to death!” Donte shouted as he turned on me.
I stuck my tongue out in reply as I skipped out of Donte’s reach. “It is your fault for not paying more attention to your surroundings.”
“You better watch your back, I am going to get you for this,” Donte growled.
“You can try,” I replied with a small laugh, “What are you so lost in thought about anyway? Normally, you are training at this time of the morning or challenging someone to a sparring match.”
Donte paused as he turned to look back at the ground down below again. His voice was quiet and somber. “I tried to go look at the military camp this morning. I could not even make it a quarter of the way there before I reached the limit of how far I could separate from Dragon’s Nest. No matter how much I wanted to walk forward… I couldn’t take a single step.”
“Why did you not just have the island float overhead like before?”
“It draws too much attention,” Donte mumbled, “The island makes people nervous.”
“Then let them be nervous,” I replied with a dismissive wave of my hand, “Even if the core is damaged, you are in control of a Preateritum remnant, something only the most pewerful forces across the realms can control. You should be proud of that.”
“What is there to be proud of? I did not earn it. All I did was touch something I should not have,” Donte said as he looked out at the distant military camp, “Do… Do you think I will ever be able to go anywhere without this thing following me?”
“I don’t know,” I responded softly, “My teacher said something about a voice that only you can hear.”
Donte nodded. “Voice is… probably the only way to explain it. It is more like thoughts are directly placed in my head, but what it says is… complicated and jumbled, as if it is said in the wrong language.”
“He also said that the memory of previous owners should be accessible from the core. Have you tried that yet?”
“Not yet,” Donte replied as he looked down at his hands, “Honestly, I am somewhat scared to learn the truth. What if I really can’t ever leave again?”
“There is only one way to find out.”
Donte took a deep breath as he turned back towards the mansion. His eyes lingered on the door. “Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
I placed my hand on Donte’s shoulder and smiled at him. Donte hesitated for a second but with a small push from me, he squared his shoulders in a show of false bravado that was undermined by the shaking of his legs.
Inside Dragon’s Nest, the building itself seemed to be reacting to Donte’s unease. The walls that normally pulsed with soft blue light, were now beating faster as if synchronized with Donte’s own heartbeat. The ceiling that normally looked like tranquil clouds drifting overhead was now dark and foreboding. Through the door at the back of the building, the small remaining fragment of the shattered core was shining with brilliant light.
“Do you know what to do?” I asked.
“I think so,” Donte said. He took a few deep breaths before reaching out to touch the small crystal fragment and closed his eyes. A glowing blue third eye opened on his forehead and I heard Donte’s breathing fall still. Silence filled the room, broken only by the soft beating of the glowing core.
After a few minutes of this, the room began to dim. The blue pulsing light faded, only to be replaced by a dark purple. A plume of mist poured out of the core and swirl around the room. Eventually, this mist gathered together until it formed the rough outline of a person. The exact details of the face were impossible to see, but straight away I could tell the figure was short. It was nearly as tiny as me.
Donte opened his eyes as he looked at the figure made of mist. “Was this the founder of Dragon’s Nest? Why is she so short?”
The figure did not seem to take note of Donte or me as it moved towards the pedestal at the center of the room and went through the actions of placing something on it.
The voice of a young girl began to echo with no distinguishable source. “Is this little seed really supposed to grow into an entire building?” The figure paused as if listening to an answer before continuing. “Stop blabbering technical details. I won’t understand it. I just want to know if this thing can help me find a way back.”
There was another pause as the figure waited for someone else to stop talking. “Don’t be so pessimistic. Worst case scenario, we become great explorers, hopping randomly through the realms.”
Donte moved closer to the figure as she spoke. His voice was low so as not to miss anything she said. “This is incredible! Is this a memory of when Dragons Nest was first created? How do I learn about my problem though?”
I shrugged. “Is there a way to skip ahead?”
“I will try.” Donte closed his eyes and the mist began to disperse before reforming elsewhere. This time the small girl was curled up in the corner of the room with her head down in her knees.
Her voice was much softer this time as it echoed through the room. “Five years and still nothing. I wonder if I will ever find my way home.”
Donte frowned and once again the figure faded before reappearing elsewhere.
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“We can’t abandon them here,” the girl said with an annoyed sigh, “I will remold the building so that it can house the children. Hopefully, we can find a proper home for them somewhere in the next couple realms…” “You are joking, right? You want us to teach them…” “I guess you are right. They need our help, but I shudder thinking what they will become under our tutorage…” “Dragon’s among men.”
Once again, the image shifted the figure reappeared. This time she was running her hand across the pedestal while looking down. “A hundred years? Has it really been that long? I can barely even remember what they looked like anymore… but I can’t give up. Time is the one thing I do have.”
Finally, the figure shifted once more as Donte skipped ahead again. This time, the figure seemed to be unstable disappearing and reappearing randomly throughout the room while screaming at someone we could not see. “No! I will not let you stop me, not when I am finally so close! No…” The sound of something shattering echoed through the room followed by a scream of rage from the girl. The image froze and the room fell silent.
“That must have been when the core was broken,” I said as I compared the scene to the mural on the wall.”
“A hundred years…” Donte whispered, “What was she looking for so desperately that she could not go home for a hundred years?”
“The better question is what did she find that made her friends turn against her.”
“I still do not see how this is supposed to help me. Do I have to watch every one-sided conversation for one hundred years to hear something useful?” Donte said as he reached out to touch the figure, still frozen in her final moments of rage, “She still looks so small.”
When Donte’s fingers came into contact with the image, the figure moved. Despite not having any eyes or facial features, I could somehow instinctively tell she was staring directly at Donte.
“That is twice now! How dare you call me short you uppity little brat! I will have you know I am a perfectly reasonable height for someone my age. Call me short again and I will test how much control I still have over this hunk of rock to make your life a living hell.”
“Wha!” Donte screamed as he stumbled back and fell onto his butt.
The figure of the girl had her hands on her hips as she stared down at Donte. This was definitely no longer a recording.
“How are you a worthy inheritor of Dragon’s nest. This is just pathetic.” The girl said with a click of her tongue.
“What… Who are you?” Donte asked as he picked himself off the ground, his face red from embarrassment.
“Who do you think I am, half-wit. I am the great and mighty founder of Dragon’s Nest or at least the memory of her. Using her name is taboo, so you can just call me… Mare”
“But, how are you talking to me like this?”
“I have always been trying to talk to you, half-wit. You just never stopped to listen,” Mare said before she turned to point at me, “Seriously, how do you put up with this buffoon?”
“It is easier than you might think,” I replied with a shrug as I examined the moving image curiously.
“Wren, at least try to defend me,” Donte complained.
“Why?”
Mare let out a childish giggle that echoed through the room with no discernable source. “It is too bad you did not become the inheritor, shorty. I like you much more.” The ghostly figure made of mist gave an exaggerated shrug before floating across the room. “You want to know why you cannot leave Dragon’s Nest, right, half-wit? The answer is obvious. Fix my core and I will let you leave.”
Donte looked like he wanted to punch the intangible figure but the mention of his problem stayed his hand. “How do I do that?”
“Energy,” Mare replied simply, “Any kind will do, heat, light, or whatever. We just need a lot of it. Feeding the energy from your innate talent into the core will be a good start if you do not have any resources to spare. The real me managed to save a small seed of the core. It is up to you to make it grow.”
“How long will that take?”
“Figure it out yourself, half-wit.”
“Will you stop calling me half-wit!” Donte growled angrily.
“Make me. Prove yourself as more than just another inheritor and a true master of Dragon’s Nest. Then, you can command me to do anything you want. Until that day though, you just have to put up with it, half-wit.”
Donte took a few deep breaths as he calmed down. “And how do I do that?”
“Why would I tell you, half-wit? I like my freedom. However, if you actually succeed in fixing my core, I might give you a hint.”
“Can you tell me anything useful?”
“I can,” Mare said. I could almost see the smirk on the face of the mist figure as she leaned close to Donte. “But I won’t.”
“I think I liked it better when I couldn’t hear you,” Donte mumbled.
“To bad, you just connected me with the rest of the building when you woke my memories. Now, I am here to stay.”