The Dragon Master

by Cantus

Two - Travelling and Origin

Gravil’s landing had been heavy, with several tree branches smacking him on the way down. The forest floor wasn’t much better, although at least soil was softer than wood. Aches and pains shot through his body in ways he'd never thought possible. Slowly, painfully, he stood up and took stock of the situation. To his distress, the Prince was nowhere to be seen. A terrifying thought occurred to him. He was old and hardened, easily able to live a fall like this; but the Prince was still a whelp. It was entirely possible that he hadn’t…

No, he thought. The Prince had survived. He had to have survived. Anything else was unthinkable.

Another thought occured to him - if the Prince had survived the fall, he would now be alone.

Alone, in the forest. A child, at the mercy of nature...

Gravil gritted his teeth and started to run despite his aching muscles. The Prince would be protected.

Spike had been lucky. He had avoided most of the tree branches, and had landed on a pile of decomposing leaves – slimy, but soft. He groaned at the pain, but he wasn’t hurt very badly. He stood up, rubbing his sore head.

“Uh…where am I?” Suddenly he realised.

“I’m away from that creep!”

Then the second realisation hit him. He gulped.

“And…alone…in the forest…”

He hadn’t exactly been glad of Gravil’s company, but at least he had provided some feeling of safety. The place felt more menacing, the gloom more oppressive, as if a bear or wolf were hiding in every shadow. Spike gulped as he realised that they probably were.

“W-well, what do I do now?” he said aloud, trying to calm himself.

His efforts were severely undermined by a rustle in the undergrowth nearby.

A snarling noise came from nearby, and any attempt at logical reasoning that Spike had been attempting flew straight out the window, as he panicked and ran away from the source of the noise. He had no idea where he was going, only that it was away from that terrifying noise. The sound of something emerging from the undergrowth, followed by a howl from behind him, convinced him that he’d made the right decision.

Right he was, as an enormous, red-furred beast erupted from the undergrowth behind him, roaring as it caught sight of its prey. Spike screamed, and ran until his muscles burned like fire, but his legs simply weren’t long enough. It grew closer, and closer, and then it reared, ready to pounce…

Upon hearing the Prince’s scream, Gravil had run as quickly as possible in its direction. When he saw him being chased, all thoughts but one left his mind – Protect. He dashed straight toward it, heedless of his own life. The creature was too focussed on the hunt to notice the newly-appeared Gravil.

Just as it made ready to pounce on Spike, he saw his chance. His much-abused muscles screamed with pain as he launched himself at the creature, but his will had sustained him for centuries and was more than capable quash such small things as pain.

He slammed into the creature's stomach. Its skin was tough, but its underbelly was significantly softer. He dug his claws into it as deeply as he could. The beast shrieked in pain, and fell flat on its face, its pounce interrupted. Spike felt a shudder as it hit the earth mere feet from him.

Spike wasted no time, not slowing his pace for a moment. Gravil, focussing on the task at hand, dragged his arm downwards, his claws leaving a gash in the beast’s soft underside.

Another roar, as the creature reared up, trying to pry the source of its pain off of its chest. Its slavering maw dropped down, and its teeth hovered mere inches from his face. Mustering all his resolve, Gravil dragged his other arm down, tearing yet another gash and eliciting another roar of pain. One massive paw swiped at him, knocking him clean off of the beast’s chest.

It brought its other paw down, claws drawn for the killing blow. Acting instinctively, he rolled to one side. Unfortunately, he was not quite quick enough, and the claws scraped his back. He winced as blood was drawn, his scales punctured easily by the massive claws. Still, he had managed to get clear of the beast, and rose to his feet. Instinctively, he rose to face his opponent, panting heavily. For the first time he really noticed the thing’s features. The red fur was distinctive enough, but what really caught the eye were the heads – one bear-like, one dog-like (he recognised this as the one that had come close to him earlier), and one snake – like.

“A Chimera.” Damned things were affronts against Olni.

The Chimera was also panting, no doubt suffering from its own wounds. Drawing upon his inner strength, he roared, as intimidatingly as he could manage under the circumstances. To his surprise, the beast winced and actually turned away from him. It stood still, thinking for a moment, before retreating back into the undergrowth. Evidently it had decided to search for an easier meal.

Spike had dived into the undergrowth near the side of the road, his instincts telling him it was probably the safest place. He had remained hidden, huddling himself under the leaves and shrubs, hoping that the terrible noises would stop and that he’d wake up in bed, back at the Library. These thoughts kept circling in his head, making him think of nothing else. His trance was only broken when he heard the sound of footsteps, coming slowly and inexorably towards him. He curled into a ball. “Maybe if I’m really, really quiet, it won’t notice me” he thought to himself.

His heart thumped, so loud he felt sure it would betray his location. Eventually, a voice came: “My Lord, the danger is passed.” Spike felt simultaneously relieved and distressed. Gravil was far from the top of Spike's list of favourite people right now, but he was still higher up than the Chimera. Even so, he remained still, hoping Gravil’s notice would pass by him also. Unfortunately for him, he had already used most of his luck.

“Sir, it is imperative that make haste, before another such beast finds us”. At his words, Spike’s blood ran cold. Another monster? Suddenly going with Gravil seemed much more agreeable.

“All right, all right!” he yelled, getting up and running back onto the path. The old dragonoid seemed genuinely relieved.

“Ah. Good. My Lord, you really must be careful. These woods are filled to the brim with beasts that have forgotten their true master.” They began walking again.

“Well, if you hadn’t jumped on Rainbow Dash, I’d be in no danger at all!” To Spike’s irritation, Gravil merely chuckled, seemingly too relieved to bother being annoyed.

“Is that what you call him?” quipped Gravil.

Spike, glad for a chance to talk about something other than his predicament, launched off into a rant.

“Yeah, that’s her name! And she’s a girl!”

Gravil seemed even more amused.

“Really? I find the difference difficult to distinguish when equines are concerned. How in Olni's name do you tell? They don't even have spines!”.

Spike continued as if he hadn’t heard those lines. “She’s, like, the best flyer in all Equestria! And when she gets back here, she’ll totally kick your butt!”

Gravil surpressed the urge to point out that the pegasus had failed to defeat him even with the advantage of surprise. After all, the Prince was obviously still enchanted - there was no way he'd see reason.

There were a few seconds of silence whilst Gravil decided on a better response. “The best flyer in the land, hmm?” Spike’s enthusiasm only seemed to grow, now that Gravil was actually responding to his bragging.

“Yeah! She won the Best Young Flyers Competition, and she pulled off the legendary Sonic Rainboom! It was awesome! Well, I didn’t actually see it, but Pinkie told me it was awesome…”

Gravil continued to listen with an air of amusement. “I don’t suppose you have ever heard the saga of Greywing?”

The younger dragon stopped talking, curious to hear. “No. Who’s Greywing?”

“Was, My Lord, was. Greywing was of Olni’s lineage, like you and me.”

Spike just looked confused. “Olni? Is that some kind of food?”

Gravil cringed, but his voice remained calm. “Ah, I see we have much to study. But fear not. Know only that Olni is sacred.”

Spike still looked confused. “Sa-sa…”

“Hallowed?”

“Ha-ha…”

Gravil sighed. “Important?”

Spike nodded. “Ah. I think I get it.”

Gravil nodded back. “Good. Now, as I was saying…”

Applejack stared incredulously at Rainbow. “Rainbow, that was…” She didn’t know exactly what to say. “…dangerous!” she finally blurted out.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know about you guys, but I couldn’t just sit there knowing my friend was in danger!”

Applejack took a sterner tone. “So instead ya charged off into enemy territory by yerself! And look what ya got for it!” she said.

Rainbow winced. “Yeah, I can feel it myself, thanks.” She stared uncomfortably at the bandages covering her right-rear leg. It was stiff and sore, but she could still walk. Rainbow rallied her thoughts. “Besides, now we know where they are, and where they’re going!”

The earth pony still looked skeptical. “They never said where they were goin', did they? An' besides, ya said they fell off ya, right? How do we know that…”

The Pegasus interrupted her, worry clear on her face. “I know they made it! They have to make it!”

Applejack realised she had touched a nerve. “Uh, alright, Rainbow, just keep it down! At this rate you’re gonna wake Twi-”

There was a groan from the bed. “Uhhn. Too late.”

“See whatcha did now?”

Rainbow was incredulous. “Me? You’re the one who woke her up!”

“Now just you lis-”

Twilight nipped their argument in the bud. “If you two would stop arguing, then maybe I could get some sleep!” The Pegasus and earth pony stared at the floor, slightly embarrassed.

“Uh, sorry Twilight. Ah just sorta lost it when I thought about how much danger Rainbow put herself in”.

Twilight acted quickly to defuse the argument. “I'm grateful for your concern, Applejack. Thank you. But we need to stand together on this. If we argue with each other, we won't make very much progress.”

Applejack nodded in agreement.

The unicorn then turned to Rainbow. “Thank you for trying so hard, Rainbow, but we’re in over our heads right now. We know who our enemy is, and we have a vague idea where he is, but that’s all. We don’t know why he’s doing this, or what he’s really capable of. If we go in blind, all we’ll do is get ourselves hurt.”

Rainbow also nodded, albeit somewhat begrudgingly. Rainbow was the first to speak again. “So, what do you think we should do?”

Twilight adopted a serious expression. Rest had helped to clear her mind, “I've decided to tell the Princess about this. This seems like a serious enough matter for her to have an opinion on, and I’m sure she knows more about this than we do.”

Applejack nodded. “Seems like a good idea. Only, there’s one little hitch ah can see…”

Twilight’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Yes, I spotted it too. We don’t have Spike anymore, so we can’t send letters directly to the Princess. We could always just send it there by courier…”

Rainbow piped up. “But that’ll take too long! Even on the wing it’s the best part of a day from here to Canterlot, and that’s ignoring the return journey! Who knows how far that creep could take Spike in that length of time?”

Twilight shook her head. “Yeah. Unfortunately, I don’t think we really have any other options. And before you say anything, Rainbow, no. You’ve done more than enough already, and you’re injured”. Rainbow felt frustration boil inside her, but couldn’t really refute any of her friend’s points.

At last she said “Fine. But when we catch up to that creep, I get first dibs!”

************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Spike listened intently to every word that fell from Gravil’s mouth. “Is that really what happened?”

Gravil nodded, eminently pleased to have an appreciative audience for his tales. “Indeed. Greywing was so mighty, his wings so grand, that when he soared upwards he blotted out the sun itself. And all the ground-dwelling creatures came to fear and hide from the shadow of wings, for it meant only that death had come to take them.” Spike was awestruck. Whatever he might think of Gravil he couldn't deny that he was a powerful speaker, the image painted by the dragonoid’s words still vivid in his mind.

“So… then what? What happened to him?”

Gravil’s expression became pained, and he clutched his chest. “Ah…my apologies, Sire, but I am not quite healthy enough right now. The Chimera was most…vicious”. Spike only now saw the wounds on Gravil’s back, the deep red of coagulated blood easily visible through the gashes in the black robe.

“Ooh, man. That looks…painful.”

Gravil nodded. “Yes, but we need not-” He coughed loudly at this point. He cleared his throat. “-worry. We have arrived.”

Spike did not answer him. He was too fixated on the sight that lay before him. Two massive doors, each some twenty feet high, were embedded into the mountain face in front of them. They were impressive enough by themselves, but it was the symbols that really grabbed his eye. Engraved onto the doors was an image. It was a circle, divided into four quarters. Each quarter contained a symbol – one a shield, one a wave, one a wing, and one a crown. The lines separating the four symbols were festooned with carven lizards and hissing serpents. In the centre of the whole thing, a smaller circle had been drawn, inside which was a single flame.

“Whu-what is this place?”

Gravil did not turn to answer him, absorbed in memory as he gazed at the symbols adorning the door.

Eventually he said “Home.”

He placed one hand to the massive door, and spoke a single word. “San”. With a massive groaning noise, the doors began to open, the ancient mechanisms within wearied from the passage of time. When they had finally stopped, Gravil turned to his young charge and said. “The way is open. Shall we go in?” Spike still didn’t like where this was going, but he was overawed by the spectacle of the thing. In spite of himself, he really wanted to see what was inside.

A roar echoed from the treetops in the distance. Besides, he thought to himself, it was almost certainly safer than staying outside with the Forest’s wild beasts.

“Y-yeah. I guess so.”

The inside was even more impressive than the outside. Two sets of reptilian claws scraped across the stone floor. Though cracked in places, the tiles covering it were still very visible. Each was one of five colours – red, green, blue, black, or white, and they were laid over the ground in a regular pattern. Spike looked upwards, and saw the roof, what seemed like a mile above. It was so far up, and the place so dimly lit, that it was almost impossible to make out the massive serpent carved onto it, its massive form touching all four corners.

Spike was still looking up when Gravil stopped. The younger dragon bumped into the elder, and fell backwards. “Uh…What-”

Spike didn’t finish his sentence. Another set of stone doors faced them, with the same decorations as the first set.

“So, are we goin’ through there?”

Gravil nodded, then winced in pain. “Y-yes. What we-” He coughed again, noticeably more harshly than last time.

In spite of everything, Spike felt himself feeling a little worried about his kidnapper. “Um...are you…okay?”

Gravil stood up straight again and caught his breath. “Y-yes, My Lord, we just need to get through here first”. He raised his arms again, and spoke aloud in a pained voice. “Rek Sun San!” The door-frames glowed red, and the doors parted, much more quickly than the ones on the outside. “Through…here, Sir.” Gravil’s voice sounded weak and faded. He stumbled into the darkness beyond the doors. Spike found himself following him. Without warning, the doors slammed shut behind them, a mighty clang ringing out from the impact of stone on stone.

“Whoa! What the-?!” Spike’s sentence was interrupted by Gravil.

“Shhh. Look.”

As Spike looked on, something began to happen. A single glowing shape appeared in front of them. “Whoa….” It was in the shape of a serpent, biting its own tail – a circle. Quickly, more runes lit up around the room, until the whole place was lit by their red light. Gravil raised his arms to the ceiling yet again, and yelled something incomprehensible. Light spilled from the runes on the wall, flowing into the dragonoid. As Spike looked on, the wounds on his back closed, knitting themselves together. His scales glimmered as the light poured into them. Spike could swear that he heard voices, whispering in a tongue he didn’t understand. Though he couldn’t know their words, he still felt their tone. It was hushed, desperate and proud all at the same time, unlike anything he’d ever heard. When the light finally dimmed and the voices faded to whispers, Gravil stood up again, the runes still glowing dimly on the walls. Gravil turned to Spike. His scales were no longer grey with green flecks, but pure, deep jade. His posture was more upright, and he seemed altogether more youthful.

“Now, My Lord. Shall we attend to business?”

“How-How’d you-” Spike stuttered as the newly-invigorated dragonoid grinned.

“This, My Lord, is Anbel, or Stonehold as some call it”.

“Yeah, but-” Gravil kept speaking, apparently not hearing Spike’s response.

“This place is the Hall of The Dragon Kings, your true home. Within its walls is the last of the Dragons’ power concentrated”.

“Yeah, but-” Gravil continued, still oblivious.

“My Lord, these halls have waited centuries to feel the tread of a True King again. Might I suggest that we-”

Spike finally snapped. “WAIT!” he yelled, startling Gravil.

“Yes, My Lord? Is there something you wish to know?”

“You were really hurt a minute ago, and now you’re just fine! What were those lights? Why have I never heard of this place?” Gravil looked relieved, seeing that his Lord was curious and not angry.

“Ah, that will require a bit more time to explain fully. Shall we?”

The two began walking towards one of the three doors that were set in the walls of the Rune-Chamber. They stopped in front of the leftmost door. “Through here, My Lord”. Gravil turned to the doors and raised his voice. “Rek Sun San!” The doors swung open silently. Spike chose that particular moment to bring up something else that had been nagging at him.

“What’s that mean, anyway?”

Gravil turned to him. “It is Old Draconic, a tongue of which I am the sole surviving practitioner”.

“Yeah, but what do those words mean? You used them before, didn’t you?”

Gravil turned his head away from Spike. “They mean “The King Approaches””.

Spike felt he had to get something else off of his chest after hearing that. “And about that, what’s up with all this “My Lord” stuff? You mind tellin’ me what’s goin’ on?” Gravil blinked, as if only now realising something very obvious.

“Ah. Yes. We didn’t have the time to speak properly on the road, but in here, we are safe. Allow me to explain this. You need to hear everything from the beginning.”

The room they walked into was more lowly-roofed than the others, but the ceiling was still a good eight feet from the floor. Every one of those feet was utilised, stone shelves crammed into every crevice and corner. “This, My Lord, is the Tomb of Tales, our Royal Library. Here are recorded the deeds of Dragonkind, and here they are protected from any who might wish to do them harm.”

Spike seemed a little confused by this. “Harm? Who’d want to destroy books?”

Gravil took on a very serious expression. “Many of the tomes in this place are the last of their kind. They contain knowledge that some would rather be forgotten.”

Spike was about to ask what they could contain that was so terrible, but Gravil moved away before he could say it, and he had to follow.

“Hey, wait up!” The elder dragonoid walked much more quickly than he had done before, so Spike had a harder time keeping up. At last, however, he stopped. Spike almost crashed into him, only managing to stop himself at the last moment.

“Now, My Lord, the story begins.” Gravil pointed, and Spike’s gaze followed. “Do you see that?” the elder asked. Spike didn’t know exactly what he was supposed to look for, but he felt himself naturally gravitate toward the largest figure carved on the massive stone tablet in front of them.

“That huge dragon?”

Gravil nodded. “Yes. That is Olni.” Spike had only heard the word twice before, but seeing the image on the tablet, striking at the ground with its massive talons, he felt a very strange feeling. It was tingling and ancient and powerful all at the same time.

“Olni is our Father, My Prince. The First of All Things, He That Brings Light. From Him do we draw our strength, our hope, and our sovereignty.” Spike nodded, still in awe at the majestic figure. “This scene depicts the creation of the world, where Olni burst forth. In those days there was no light, no heat, and no life upon the world, merely cold, flat, desolate earth. Olni saw this, and was displeased. He struck the ground with his mighty claws, making fire and light burst forth from the lifeless rock”. Spike nodded, utterly spellbound as Gravil's words weaved their magic once more.

The lesson had continued for hours, Spike drinking in every detail, Gravil intensely enjoying teaching another of this story that he had kept inside for so long. “Thus were the mountains and hills made... And Olni saw this and felt gladdened. Yet still he longed to see others, so that they too might enjoy the place he had created. He willed it, and sent out four lights. The first came to rest in the waters of the sea, where it gave birth to the sea serpents, our brothers.”

Spike interrupted to say “Hey, I’ve seen one of those!”

“Yes, My Lord, but may we have only one tale at a time?” Spike nodded.

“The second flew deep into the earth, creating chasms from which poured the wyrms, those loyal and hardy beings by whom the treasures of the earth could be won.” Gravil stopped abruptly. “That class, of course, includes myself.”

Spike found this interesting, but insisted that Gravil finish the story. “Ah, yes. The third came to rest in a bank of clouds, from which it wove Lakfe and Kalfe, the first Wyverns”. He pointed to a shape on the tablet to illustrate his point – that of two beasts with enormous leathery wings and long, sinewy legs, but no arms. “By their free spirits would the skies be claimed”.

Spike had to ask, even though he knew his question would be answered whether or not he did so. “And what about the fourth?”

Gravil grinned, as if this were his favourite part. “Ah, yes. The fourth light descended deep into the first well of fire that Olni had caused to burst forth, and from it emerged a creature of magnificent splendour and power. Armoured in scales of shining gold, armed with teeth and talons that shone like the stars, Galdor the Great was born.” He pointed at another figure, similar to Olni, and drawn almost as reverentially.

“G-Galdor?”

Spike felt chills down his spine looking at it. “Yes. Galdor was the first truebreed, the first…” he paused, relishing the word. “…Dragon.” Spike had no idea what to say. “Take a good look at Galdor, young Prince. He was the mightiest Dragon ever to live. He was also…”

Spike felt like he was going to burst with his need to hear the next sentence. “…Your Ancestor.”

Comments

[Cantus]

You'll find out what he's talking about fairly soon.

And no, this isn't one of those cases where the author is all mysterious for a while without actually revealing anything of significance.

After all, I'm not Chris Carter.

I'd value your contributions, but I'm also putting this up on Ponychan for a more wide critique.

I just have to remind myself that the nice people who comment are trying to help me, not hurt me.

That's never easy, but I'll manage it, somehow.