Page 43 of Dragons' Future

Half hour later, the eggs were set up in a blanketed nest by the fire and everyone else was settled with wash cloths and buckets of water in a circle around the living room. The pup enthusiastically suckled heated goat’s milk, which Agatha poured into a makeshift contraption of a wooden cup and cheesecloth. And Kit… Kit seemed uncharacteristically quiet.

Cyril watched her worriedly.

“You said you would tell us everything?” Kit asked Agatha.

“And so I shall.” Agatha seated herself on a rocking chair and bid Kit to settle on a pillow on the floor, so she could brush her hair. Cyril almost objected but Kit rolled her eyes at him and he kept his thoughts to himself. Agatha cleared her throat. “A long time ago, Priestess Illiana, a seer devoted to the Goddess Orion, was captured and enslaved by a dragon dame named Roshana. In captivity, Illiana fell in love with Emric, another slave. They cared for each other deeply, and eventually Illiana shared her seer secrets with her lover.”

Cyril exchanged a long look with his Kit. What did Emric have to do with this?

“Unfortunately, Illiana and Emric’s happiness was short-lived. Roshana became jealous. In her rage, she killed the babes Illiana bore for Emric. Determined to escape Roshana’s clutches, Emric convinced Illiana to use her ancestral magic in hopes that Orion might send Illiana a vision with knowledge.”

Cyril tilted his head. The story had the same key players Emric’s had, but the two tales were diverging further with every word.

“Did it work?” Cyril asked, careful not to let on that he’d heard a version of this already. Keeping his hands occupied, he focused on scrubbing under his nails. He’d washed his face and hands already, but kept on the shirt he’d borrowed from Darren. There was too much damage beneath the cloth. More than he wished Kit to see.

Agatha clicked her tongue. “Hush, and listen. Yes, it did. Seer magic is not usually summoned at will, but Illiana was eventually granted a vision. It told her where to find an ancient text about rune magic—a powerful weapon that could let humans rival the power of the dragons. Illiana wanted to use the magic to escape Roshana’s hold. But Emric became obsessed with the book's power. He wanted revenge against the dragons. Even when Illiana became pregnant again, Emric refused to leave, fixated on his plan for vengeance.

“Realizing Emric’s heart had darkened and he valued power over their family, Illiana escaped by herself. She gave birth to her daughter alone, and as the child came into the world, she received another prophetic vision. In it, she saw the darkness Emric’s path would bring to dragonkind, but also a glimmer of hope. A dragon dame who held the power to save the dragons, and a mortal woman with blond hair and air magic who’d herald the dame’s arrival.”

“From distant lands, a mortal strays, with locks of white and air that plays,” Leesandra offered up the prophecy they all knew. “Thus rises one that’s strong and true, who’ll conjure life her soul imbued.”

Agatha nodded. “That's the one. For generations, the firstborn women in Illiana’s line vowed to stay vigilant for the prophecy’s fulfillment. I made the same vow, though I doubted its significance, having never experienced any visions myself.”

Kit twisted about. “Wait, you are Illiana’s descendant?”

“I am,” Agatha confirmed. “Though for the first two decades of my life, that fact was little more than ancient family history. A vow made in deference to tradition, not in true belief. But my life changed when my village was attacked.”

“Dragons?” Kit guessed.

“Humans. There is plenty of evil to go around. Jonas and I were captured, then sentenced to death when we tried to flee. Before our execution though, we were rescued by a stranger. Lilith, a dragon shifter who’d been hiding with her hatchling in this cabin here.” Agatha spread her arms to encapsulate the dwelling.

Kit looked around too, her eyes distant. Sad. Agatha resumed brushing Kit’s hair, and Kit’s shoulders eased slightly.

“When I saw Lilith’s hatchling, the first vision of my life took me,” Agatha continued. “I felt the prophecy unfolding, and knew Lilith was involved. I told Lilith, but she laughed off my revelation. After a few weeks, Lilith could not risk staying at the cabin any longer. The Order of Orion was hunting her, and rescuing us had made her vulnerable. She took her daughter and left, leaving the cabin in the care of Jonas and me.

“Years passed. We remained here. What I’d seen in my prophecy allowed me to do nothing else. Plus, where could we go? Then, one day, Lilith returned to us. Her hatchling was now a beautiful young girl. Lilith said that she’d changed her mind and now believed in the vision I shared. She never explained why, and I didn’t press. Not when there was a bigger matter weighing on Lilith’s soul. She was certain that she could no longer keep her child safe, you see.”

Kit bit her lip, a sheen glistening in her eyes. Cyril reached for her but Kit shook her head and stayed by Agatha. Stubborn female, always thinking she needed to prove how strong she was. Didn’t she know that Cyril needed no proof of anything from her?

“Lilith loved you more than all life, Kitterny,” Agatha said, a tear trailing down her cheek. “More than all the stars. And she believed in your destiny. But she needed to hide you. She was so desperate. Desperate enough to bind your memories and dragon powers until you were strong enough and had a worthy pack at your side.”

Agatha braided Kitterny’s hair and pinned it up in a crown. The gesture was so easy and maternal that Cyril’s stomach clenched at the thought of the years Kit had gone without such care. His thumb brushed over the sigil Ettienne had given him. His father’s last act. He’d always thought of Ettienne as a king more than a father, an iron fisted ruler who placed Massa’eve first and saw his sons as tools to that end. But now, now it all felt different. The vial of antidote Ettienne had given Cyril, the words he’d said, the things he’d always noticed. None of it made Ettienne into a model parent, but he had been a parent nonetheless. One who Cyril wished he’d known better.

“When Lilith left for the last time, I felt certain I’d see her daughter again, and that she was the key to the prophecy. So, Jonas and I stayed here in the cabin, awaiting your return, Kitterny. And now here you are.”

“Wait,” Leesandra said, speaking up for the first time since Agatha’s story began. She was holding the now sleeping hatchling and spoke quietly as to not wake the pup. “You said before that you expected Kit and her sister both. So was Lilith pregnant when she was here last?”

“If she was, she was too early to show. I don’t know how or when this little one was conceived. Seer magic isn’t a book, child. It’s feelings and images, pieces of truths that could be or should be—not will be. I foresaw Kit and her sister returning here. How that came to pass I do not know.”

“So Lilith wove some sort of location marker into the memory spell?” Broker said. “And when Kit shifted, her dragon knew to return?”

“Maybe,” Cyril nodded. He didn’t know of such magic himself, but all his schooling focused on powers to use in battle. “Or maybe Kit’s dragon had imprinted on the cabin as a place of safety.” Did young dragons imprint? Another thing Cyril had no idea about.

“What about my father?” Kit asked. “Did Lilith… did my mother ever tell you?”

Agatha shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, child. She did not.”

Kit’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “I don’t remember you. From the last time I was in the cabin. I don’t remember you.”

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