Page 26 of Galadon
One time, when I was sixteen, I allowed five Takaran dragons to try it after they breached my barriers to see if the same happened to them. I was pleased to discover that it did. After they crawled to the edge of the field, I finished them off. That had been amusing, but I spent two days rebuilding my wards. I wasn’t as proficient at constructing them back then.
About a half mile away, I noted two neighboring toriq’s dragons hovering at the edge of their territory, watching me. The Takaran border patrol occasionally stopped to look at the field—only able to catch a sliver from their vantage point—but they never touched my wards, so I didn’t worry about it. The regular guards were quite used to the oddity.
A red dragon, my mother, flew toward me from the east.
I landed and shifted, waiting a dozen paces from the verdant field and watching as she got closer and landed. She shifted a moment later. I was reasonably fast for having higher-than-average pure dragon blood, but she was swifter. Ujala transformed in four minutes.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as she walked up to me.
She stared at the field, strands of straight dark hair lifting with the breeze. “It’s grown so much since I first brought you here, hasn’t it?”
I frowned. “You knew about this place?”
“Of course,” she said, gesturing toward the flowers and then the rock circle. “It’s the reason I brought you to this land—to protect it from those who would use it for ill purposes. In return, I knew it would nourish and strengthen you more than anywhere else in Kederrawien.”
I stiffened, outrage filling me. “You brought me here as a child to defend this land by myself for some strange objects? You left me for that?”
Her expression softened. “I was assured that only you could accomplish such a task, and when you needed help, you’d have it. Somehow, you could not be corrupted by this place like most others, and the artifact in the ground was seeping too much magic by that time to hide itself much longer.”
I had a thousand questions and considered which to ask first. “How long has it been here?”
“I can’t say the precise timing, but I believe someone came and buried the artifact almost fifty years before I brought you. Many powerful spells were woven into protecting it.”
As much as I wanted to be angry at her, I needed more details first.
“The magic for both isn’t native to Earth…or Kederrawien,” I said, frowning. We didn’t return until almost seven years ago and this place came from the other dimension,which meant Kederrawien was where the artifact was originally buried.
“No.” My mother shook her head. “Whatever artifact is under those flowers came from some faraway world.”
“And the circle?” I asked, gesturing in that direction. It had similar magic, but not quite the same.
She shrugged. “I only know that it has been around for far longer and likely originated on Earth before transferring with us to Kederrawien. It may have even been in Europe before, based on some stories I found, but I haven’t been able to confirm it.”
“What is the circle for?”
Ujala’s brows furrowed. “I was never told, but I studied it during my last visit here. After I returned to the Craegud, I went through every tome in the library I could find on the matter.”
I’d had no idea she’d ever visited this part of the land during her previous stay. My mother had often left to hunt for food, but I couldn’t come with her since I was too young to fly then. She must have investigated the artifact and circle while away. It wasn’t until a few years after I arrived that I found them, and I was reasonably certain Amari never knew about the place. She never mentioned it, anyway. My strong urge to protect the land came as soon as I discovered the area, and it hadn’t left me since.
“And what did you find?” I prompted when Ujala didn’t continue.
“I think, and I could be wrong, but…” She drew in a deep breath. “Based on the design and the symbols on the stones, it may be a fairy ring, but I got that idea from a tome copied froma human book. The stories were probably just made up from someone who’d seen this.”
“There’s a chance they could have some truth in them,” I said, mulling over the theory. I had a vague recollection of my mother telling me fairytales as a child—of the dragon variety—and I’d heard other sorts referenced a few times in recent years on Earth, but I still didn’t know much about them.
She nodded slowly. “If it’s true, though, a fairy ring is used for long-distance travel like a portal, except these are more powerful. I think it could be used to cross dimensions.”
“You mean we could have used it to escape Kederrawien?” I asked, stunned.
Ujala laughed and shook her head. “No, son. You must feel the magic is different and doesn’t match ours, so it’s probably useless to us. You were sent here to protect the buried artifact. It just happens to be near the ring since that’s likely how they brought it to this land, and they didn’t want to take it far.”
“Yet you admit the ring is different as well.”
“Hmm, yes, but not quite the same way,” she said, glancing toward the flower field. The blooms were facing us as if waiting for us to come closer.
Evil damn plants.
I’d often wondered about the difference between the artifact and the circle. The artifact emitted powers similar to a cousin as opposed to a full sibling, but I’d never had anyone who could discuss the matter with me. I instinctively kept any guests I’d had over the years far from this area. Until now, I’d never thought deeply about the reason. Had I been unknowingly manipulated for all these centuries?
