Wind Rider (Return of the Dragons 2)

You humans have short lives.

And you remember back my family’s lineage for twenty-five generations?

I remember when the city you stand in now was being built, stone by stone. And that was but twenty generations ago.

But that must make you enormously powerful.

Caroline smiled. It is not just the Book of Id that the so called Dark Lord seeks. He seeks your sword too, and had it not been hidden from him with a trick by your blade master, he would have had me too, and destroyed or imprisoned me, as he knew I would never serve him.

Giancarlo said you had refused him.

Luckily for us both your uncle was young and inexperienced then, not nearly as evil, and not a hundredth as powerful as he would become but a few years later. He did not realize what a powerful thing he held when Giancarlo gave me into his hands and I refused to show myself to him. I knew even then he would have stopped at nothing until I served him. And I knew from just a touch of his hand how evil he was, how he was the split from the blood line that had been foretold for centuries; that his nephew would be the one would set things aright, and who would reunite the other two bloodlines. Your mother was both Kriek and Mer, and I do not think even your father realized this; she had been orphaned in a shipwreck, and raised by coastal peoples, done well in school, and worked then at the court, where she met your father.

And my father? Why didn’t you serve him?

Your father was special. The moment he held me in his hand I knew he would never willingly kill. He had a respect for life, of friends or enemies, that was too great to overcome. He knew it too, and refused me, choosing to swing a cane instead. It was hard, for I would have served him well, and been proud to. His uncle was just the opposite; he had no respect for life, human or animal. Those two brothers were opposites in almost every way. So I refused one brother, and the other brother refused me, and Giancarlo kept me hidden and safe while the one forgot me and the other did not even realize my existence.

And my grandfather?

He died before he could see which of his sons would inherit the sword, or how it would be forgotten. He was a man of peace, too, but he at least wore the sword in his peacekeeping duties. Your grandfather did manage to give instructions though, to a young apprentice of his blademaster, who would soon take over his master’s role.

Giancarlo.

Yes, and that is why you bear me now, and why I am not a prisoner of the dark lord or one of his minions, unlike some of my kin.

He has swords like mine?

A few lesser blades, with lesser kin, but yes, he does. They are imprisoned and unhappy. And he has many goblins, imps and other evil faery folk who do his bidding, many of their own choice. But know too that Woltan and Jona also have blades, as do others of this city, and there are others among the merpeople and the Kriek. And there are many spirits and fair folk here in faerie who will go to battle, if that is what is necessary to protect the world. When the time comes, I will help you to see them and seek their help, and help you to lead them.

Thank you.

Are all your questions now answered? If so, you should go to seek out Woltan. I think he is waiting for you, and you have much to do.

No.

You wish to speak of your mother and your uncle, do you?

I just want to know what happened.

I can give you tiny bits and pieces. I can only help you make sense of what you saw yourself. I was kept in a weapons room while all that you saw went on, and you were but a boy. I have as many questions as you do, perhaps. I wonder if your uncle left because your mother spurned him, for example. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with that.

Do you think he became evil because she rejected him?

He was surely evil before, or I would have accepted him. When he put me in his palm I saw the evil in his present and his future. I saw a little bit of the same type of thing that Marga would see reading your palm. As far as what went on between your mother and you

r uncle, I think you must try to forget about that for now. The truth is sometimes elusive anyway. Try to prepare yourself for this battle. Strengthen your body, your blade skills and your magic. Only with a strong mind and body can you hope to help this city survive, and defeat the wizards who have enslaved your parents’ minds and bodies.

I know… I just wish I could talk to them.

Carolina smiled at me one last time. Go now to Woltan; he is waiting for you, and I think he has something to show you as well.

And then she was gone.

II

Woltan was waiting for me, and although there was no smile on his lips, he reached out to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. “I am glad to see you walking, my friend. What happened was hard for all of us. Do not blame yourself; if there is any blame, we share it all equally.”

“Carolina said you had something to show me.”