Chapter 517: The Sundering
In the wreckage of a ruined merchant house, Ananta sat crossed-legged across from Stryg who listened warily to her tale.
“After my mother’s death,” said Ananta, “My people did not send any more messages into the Null, my aunt forbade it. But the Vesir gate was to remain open, as per my mother’s last wishes. My people did not call for these new visitors, no, they found us on their own. They burst from the Null gate in a colorful display of fire. They shot into the sky and scattered across the land, like meteors crashing into the earth.”
“Some of our best warriors were sent out to investigate. After a week, they discovered a crash. But what they found was not what anyone expected. It was an egg. And from it hatched the first of the chromatic species in our world, a dragon.”
“Dragons aren’t from our world…?” Stryg whispered.
“Correct,” Ananta nodded. “Though the dragon was a newborn hatchling, she could already speak and she wielded various strange powers; she even had the ability to shape-shift into a humanoid form that mimicked the warriors. When they asked her about her origins, she did not know anything, save the name of her father, or rather, her creator; Drakith.”
“And so dragons began to hatch all across the world from the eggs that had burst through the Vesir Gate. My aunt did not trust these dragons, but they were innocent, they had committed no crime, and so they were given refuge in our queendom. Among these dragons, there were a few who were more powerful and wiser than the rest. The other hatchlings referred to them as their lords.”
“Unlike the rest of their kind, these dragon lords had ingrained memories of their origins. They told us that their creator Drakith was a primordial being like our World Soul, but unlike her, Drakith wasn’t bound to a world, just like Unildyr. The dragon lords told us that Drakith would send his creations, these eggs, hurtling through the darkness of the Null searching for worlds to connect with.”
“The royal council were intrigued by the dragons and Drakith, and they were eager to learn more. One day, a young boy came to our palace. The moment he arrived the dragons rushed to his side and bowed.” Ananta smiled to herself, “His name was Vismarya and he was unique. Like my mother he was an actual child of a primordial. His father, Drakith, had sent him here to lead the dragons and build a bridge of peace between this world’s primordial and Drakith himself.”
“Of course, it is not easy to commune with the World Soul. The only one known to be able to was my mother, Love. Still, Vismarya was not one to give up. He vowed to remain and help the people of this realm until the World Soul would give him an audience.”