If you would like to buy a dragon to add to my clan's lore go HERE or HERE or HERE.
If you decide to join Flight Rising: say that jashykins referred you.
FUTHARK
I could have easily flown the last few miles to Helvar's camp. The Vigilant Sparrow had gained the respect of some Dryads and it was them I didn't want to anger. It didn't matter that Seitou had garnered peace with the Beastclans as I was still a dragon.
And all the Beastclans were still well in their rights to fear me because of my birth.
Three Aspen Gall Dryad guards greeted me when I approached Helvar's camp. Though their form of greeting was a threat and show of force. They moved with the grace of a tree's branches bending but not breaking in the wind.
They were aggressive merely because my kind was known to be a terror for them. It was safer to fight when a potential threat came to the entrance of your cave.
"Stop, dragon." One Aspen Gall Dryad hissed.
Even through the venom in her voice I could hear a beauty that had no comparison. But if I told her my true thoughts I would be met with violence or derision.
"Helvar requested a scholar from Raven Hallow." I began. "I am he."
"And why did you come, dragon?" The same Aspen Gall Dryad from before asked and I was reminded of a fierce fire tearing through a forest.
"Seitou still wishes to not break the treaty with the Beastclans. If he did not send aid when Helvar had need of it, the treaty might have become nothing more than mere ink on parchment."
"Your words mean nothing to us." One of the other Aspen Gall Dryads said with a voice that lacked beauty but made up for it with cruelty.
"You are right." I tilted my head to indicate the scroll on my side.
The Aspen Gall Dryad with the alluring voice must have been the leader as it was she who took the scroll from my side. Her touch was quick, cold, and calculated as we had just met. We were on opposite sides of a war that had started long before either of us were ever born. It was unlikely we would be anything like friends.
"The dragon speaks the truth." The Aspen Gall Dryad said and returned the scroll to my side. "Beware if you cause any harm in this camp, dragon, as I will not hesitate to kill you. If that starts a war with one dragon clan, at least you will no longer be a problem on the continent."
I nodded and watched as the three guards parted for me. They all looked at me as if I were a rotting corpse whose scent had seemed to infect the very ground I lay on. But there was no offense to be taken as the vast history between our kinds didn't pave an easy way towards forgiveness.
As I made my way through Helvar's camp, I couldn't help but admire the Beastclans' admiration of the arts. Not only was it protected against the daily struggles of the Tsunami Flats, it created a sense of relaxation. Parts that could function and be protected in the open were.
The various Dryads could be seen resting or chatting with their friends. A lesser dragon would have thought this would make it easy to attack them. While not a Warrior, I could still tell how ready and willing to fight at a moment's notice they were.
Finally my claws placed me in front of Helvar's tent. It was a subdued structure with perches so that he could more easily watch over his camp. I could see the leader on one such perch.
"Dragon." Helvar said and I looked up at the Vigilant Sparrow on one of the perches. "It is good to see that Seitou kept to his word. What are you called?"
"Futhark." I replied with a small bow. "And you must be Helvar."
Helvar's plumage looked well taken care of. His black feathers hid any dirt much better than his white ones. In any case some dirt was understandable and it was good that he wasn't too clean. If his feathers were spotless that meant he spent more time on appearances than work.
"Do you know why I called for you?" Helvar asked.
"I wasn't told much." I admitted. "What Seitou told me was that you had discovered a strange language. I was also told you had been unable to completely translate it. I have traveled the length and breadth of Sornieth for the sole purpose of discovering ancient and dead languages."
Helvar opened his wings and glided down to the ground. The marks where his armor would normally sit could be clearly seen. He must feel more relaxed with a dragon being around than he would ever admit. Or was he now trying to hide signs of his nervousness?
If so, he was doing a good job of it.
Helvar walked awkwardly on the ground like any bird would as he went inside the tent. Like a dragon, his place was in the skies and the ground would forever feel more like a prison than a home. Even though I spent countless nights pouring over forgotten tomes, the truest peace I ever felt was in the skies.
In the back of Helvar's tent were attempted translations and the strange language. Even though I could see errors at a quick glance, I had to commend the effort to make them. It was never an easy thing to figure out mysteries that had been long forgotten by Sornieth and the Deities themselves.
After looking at the flawed translations I realized where I recognized the language from. Long before the Deities, dragons, or the Beastclans there had been strange two legged creatures. The names and terms they had for themselves were buried under a language that most didn't know existed. It had taken many blessings for me to find out small facts like the existence of the two legged creatures. So a people unaware of them wouldn't know where to properly start when translating their language.
"How did you come in contact with this language, Helvar?" I asked.
"A few of the Dryads were playing in the water one day when they discovered a strange object beneath the waves." Helvar replied. "They then brought the object to me. Within the week we had discovered two other strange objects with the same writing. I can tell by the look in your eyes that the language is familiar to you, Futhark."
"The language may be the most ancient. From my studies, it predates anything we know on Sornieth. It is older than the Beastclans and Deities. Many of my nights have been spent trying to translate this obscure tongue."
"What race could be that ancient? And why haven't more heard of them?"
"All I know is that they walked on two legs without the assistance of a tail."
Helvar crossed his wings and looked at me. He seemed worried and I understood why. I was both a dragon and someone who had admitted that translating such an obscure tongue would prove near impossible.
"Then how can you hope to translate it?"
"This isn't the first time I have come into contact with this particular language." I replied. "It could be that the strange two legged creatures had multiple languages with various dialects. But, for now, all I can confirm is there being one language for them. This one."
I lightly put a claw on the translation and traced the letters. There were so many mysterious buried underneath each letter and yet it was unlikely anyone would ever get the full history of that race.
"I spend my days and nights studying languages." I said once I returned my claw to the ground. "Not the languages most know, but those that hide away in the shadows. Those languages that time forgot are the ones that interest me. Seitou invited me into his clan due to the nature of my studies."
Helvar looked at me in a way that seemed to indicate that he wasn't fully convinced. But he also wasn't chasing me away which was a good sign.
"You make some mighty claims, Futhark." Helvar said. "But I highly doubt that Seitou would be so swayed by lies. Which means you have some talents that could help. You may stay here and provide such assistance as you are able to."
The Vigilant Sparrow had been kind to me but I knew how dragons were viewed by the Beastclans. I also knew that this mission from Seitou himself must end with Helvar and Raven Hallow on good terms. If I stepped even one claw out of line, the hard won treaty with the Beastclans would be destroyed.
"I assume I will be sleeping outside of your camp, Helvar." I said with a polite bow.
"And risk your life for my pride, Futhark?" Helvar scoffed. "No, I have prepared a tent for you inside my camp. I can take you there now."
I looked at the translation and felt the same calling that had haunted me my entire life. There was such beauty in words and letters that no one had seen in eons. To be able to shine a light on the mysteries of the past was too great of an urge for me to resist.
"I am tired from my journey, Helvar, but I wish to study this translation a little while longer." I told the Vigilant Sparrow.
"I will wait until you leave my tent, then." Helvar said before flying away.
No comments:
Post a Comment