The Guardian's Warning
#17 of The Knights of Juno
Hey, so you remember the storyline that I started with way back when this was Yiffstar? Sure you do. Well, after quite a long time without inspiration for where to go, I am very proud to present, with many many thanks to my very good friend Talon (https://talon-21.sofurry.com/ check him out, he has cool stuff :) ), who helped me brainstorm, here we go again...
I hope you enjoy it. As usual, comments are appreciated and requested.
Continued from 'Winter's New Life...'
The huge white and silver dragon circled the high plateau, his otherworldly gaze scanning the orange sandstone carefully. To any other creature, the large flat top of the mountain might have seemed like any of the other mesas in the area. But his ancient sight caught what others would always miss. Scrapes along the rock, too large, too perfectly curved to have been from the long slow decay of water and wind, a hint of magic, like a whisper of wind in the leaves, a faint remnant of ancient spell casting. Stilling the great sweep of his wings, the dragonlord began to glide, sinking towards a clear place among the stones, where his sight had caught the barest hint of what he was looking for. Sweeping out his large paws, the titanic dragon landed on the mesa, feeling the gratifying tremors within the stone as the earth absorbed his massive weight, folding his great wings, listening to the silence. The denizens of the mesa were silent in his presence, even the clear, warm air of autumn still around him.
Narrowing his eyes, Argil glanced around, seeking the one who had summoned him to this place, every sense alive. The summoner had made a life out of being a shadow, a silent and deadly sentinel, ever watchful, ever ready. But there, near the edge of the mesa, the air almost seemed to shimmer in his gaze, a faint outline in a familiar draconian shape. Smiling slightly, the great dragon spoke in the hissing, growling tongue of the dragons, the low sound carrying only just far enough.
"All these years, and still, you cannot hide from me, old friend." He said. Even as the words died, the shimmer became a ripple, as if the air were a curtain drawing back, revealing a dark scaled dragon, as silent and still as a statue. What shade his scales were was impossible to define clearly. As black as jet they seemed, yet the reflected sun shone as red as garnet from their polished surface. His eyes glowed orange and red, glittering like chunks of fire opal in the darkness of his face. Then, the dark dragon's fierce visage was smoothed as he smiled in return.
"And still, after all these years, you keep yourself as busy as possible." The Guardian replied, "I would have thought with all the knights and soldiers in the mountain, you wouldn't have to have a paw in everything."
"Yes, well..." The dragonlord replied, settling his bulk onto the ground. "New problems always seem to crop up when least looked for."
"Like your new half-breed, for instance?" The Guardian asked, an edge in his voice. The sentence was spoken bluntly, almost coldly, a habit developed over years of silence.
"How did you learn of that?" Argil questioned, almost growling in return, the black dragon's manner stirring his ancient, primal instincts. His tail swishing testily, the other dragon replied, his gaze narrowing almost imperceptibly.
"It is my duty to know of what happens in the mountain." He stated, "What sort of protector would I be, if I allowed such a detail to slip my grasp?" Taking a moment to draw a breath, Argil calmed the instincts that demanded he teach the other dragon proper respect. The Guardian had been one of Argil's close friends when he was a human, centuries ago, and one of the first to be awakened. But, after the battle in which Daelin Darkblade had fallen, not long after the dragon mountain was raised, the Guardian and his mate had chosen a different path from him and the Knights, leaving the mountain, eschewing technology and the bond of the knighthood. They, and eventually their children as well, had chosen instead to watch over the mountain from afar, keeping it the safe haven it was meant to be. He had abandoned the name he had bore as a human, and even the one he had chosen as a dragon, taking the title of his oath and duty instead.
"Why have you summoned me here, Guardian?" The Dragonlord asked, trying not to let his brittle irritation shine through into his tone.
"I do not agree with your decisions on the matter." The Guardian stated, his blunt tone loosing a frustrated snarl from his superior. "You and your rider have acted as if laws made of words can conquer a thing more ancient even than us."
"I do not need a challenge from you!! Not now!!" The dragonlord roared, baring his teeth, his great wings flaring large, rising back to his paws. At the posture of the dragon leader, the smaller dragon rose from where he had crouched, snapping his jaws, the passionate instincts of their race kindling bright within him.
"Nor do you need to act like you are so instinctually superior!!" The Guardian roared in reply, his anger finally eliciting a truly rare display. His black scales suddenly blazed as if they were cracking, brilliant fire showing through them as if he were made of magma, his dark wings suddenly lighting as if they had been kindled with flame. "You may have abandoned what was human in you Argil, but I never forgot!!" A moment later, the fiery black dragon was shrinking, contorting, the anger fueled magic channeled into the transformation. And then, in an instant, the form of an old friend remained where the dragon had stood, just as he was when they were teenagers, as if he had been frozen in time. "I never forget what we were back then, when you first met Scarlon. Do you even remember how it felt, what we were?"
And for the first time in centuries, the moments came back to the huge dragonlord, a fleeting echo of a time long past, before ever he knew that dragons truly existed. The time when school and prepping for college had been the most important things to him, when the mundane, trivial concerns of adolescence had been vital. At once, the angry instincts of a challenged dragon went cold within him, and he closed his eyes, lowering his head and forcing his wings to fold once again, forcing himself back under control.
"A few drops of dragon blood was all that made us different from any other human." The Guardian continued, his human form seeming suddenly to age, perhaps not in body, but in spirit, as if a great weariness were taking hold. "And yet even then, you chose to follow instincts that led you to love a dragoness. What would you not have done to keep her safe if one of us had threatened her?"
"I was young!!" Argil stated defensively. "Younger than they are, and without the benefit of our teachings, or the knowledge of the dangers."
"And now we are old." The Guardian said, reverting to his natural form once more, the flames gone, his body black. And in those moments, though the scales were as sleek and new as a hatchling's, nothing could hide the battle scars that traced his hide from his clan's endless vigil. "We are scarred and we are weary. I swore to protect our race, safeguard our home. I have given my body to the effort, the lives of my broods. When Blackwell returned, we sold our lives in the fruitless battle gladly. When the Light of Truth and all its allies threatened the mountain and all within it, we shed our blood to keep them at bay. Now let me protect my old friend, let me speak to save him from a terrible mistake."
In that moment, in the eyes of his old friend, the dragonlord recognized the strange look within them. It was not pride, not boasting or duty. It was merely pain, the pain of one who had watched so many of his blood perish, of a father who had sent his sons and daughters into peril so many times that every wound they suffered was as a blow dealt to him. Both of them knew that pain well, and at last Argil felt the raw emotions, the constant stress of command and war finally fade, the powerful dragon settling back into place.
"Speak." He commanded softly, and not unkindly, and the Guardian settled onto his haunches once more.
"As much as I understand the need for examples," The guardian began, "From the moment you became a dragon, you set a modern precedent that contravened the ancient law. And while I know you will lift it in name, the two instincts war within us all. I agree that they should be punished for having broken the laws, but pinning them to the ground? Preventing them from fighting in our defense?" the guardian shook his dark head, "No, that should not be so. It is true, they have a child to care for now, but when he is older, when he has had a chance to grow and learn, they need a chance for redemption." As the other dragon spoke, Argil caught a strange gleam in his eyes, and when the dark dragon looked away, he spoke in turn.
"What is it, old friend?" He inquired, his interest peaked.
"We have failed." The guardian said quietly, "Since that awful day when our home was violated, there has never been a moment when our watch has slept, and yet it has not been enough. Somehow, there is an enemy in our midst. I can feel the presence, like an itch under my scales that I cannot reach. Somehow, one of them has penetrated the mountain, and even now, they are there. My entire clan is so weary, our watch has slipped. We need a good, long rest. A chance to heal, to gather our strength anew, without constant battle and watchfulness to wear us down."
"What do you propose?" Argil asked and the smaller dragon continued.
"Let these new warriors find the traitor, let them take up the watch for a time." The guardian said. "In so doing, they will have made up for what they have done. And me and mine will finally have the respite we need, whether we recognize it or not. Do this for us old friend. Before whatever they are planning comes to fruition."
"I will do what you ask." Argil finally replied, "But it will not be easy to get the Knights to accept it. They are...unpredictable, in their passions."
"Well, my old friend..." The black dragon said, a hint of humor tracing his words as he vanished once more, "They are, after all, only human..."