‘Yes we have been controlled Quab but now we’re free.’ repliedMiranda. ‘Aquitain freed me and my people on Moonmist who have beencontrolled for decades. He created bracelets that would block theMentarin from possessing them. You can do that here on Mudrun. Mypeople on Moonmist are trying to fight back. They are much worseoff than you are here. We have to free our people from theseMentarin and any others who would control our lives.’
‘Bravo! Well said Your Highness.’ said Granddad.
‘She’s right you know.’ added Featherdown.
‘We’re free and we’re starting to know our enemy. We arelearning his tricks. We can devise ways to block him. Knowing yourenemy is the first step to defeating him. I have spent most of mylife helping people to overthrow tyrants who wanted to controlthem. They wanted their lives and thoughts to be their own. Afterbeing controlled by Slivver I now know how they felt.’
‘Me too.’ added the King. ‘It’s bloody unnatural.’
‘How do we fight Gods?’ asked Chantalot a littledespondent.
A moment laterin teleported an aged looking Newman dressed in a simple druid gownbut exuding palpable power.
‘Am I late?’ he inquired.
‘Who are you and how did you get in here?’ asked the Kinggruffly.
Helix’s imagesuddenly appeared beside the man.
‘Let me introduce Lord Granite, Protector of Crystalhaven andMoonmist. He is an elemental dragon of great antiquity. I might addthat Crystalhaven is the true name of Mudrun.’
‘Thank you Lord Helix.’ replied Granite.
Everyone jumpedto their feet speechless and bowed. Elemental dragons werelegendary and believed to have disappeared hundreds of yearsago.
He walked overto Granddad and shook his hand.
‘Aquitain has a high opinion of you sir.’ and he looked atMiranda and said ‘ and you are his chosen, my dear.’
Both Mirandaand Granddad were in shock and unable to talk. They justnodded.’
He walkedaround to her and gave her a hug.
‘I gather you’re all trying to work out what’s happening?’ hesaid.
‘Yes.’ said Featherdown. ‘Your err … Excellency?’
‘Just call me Granite!’ he said. ‘I don’t go for fancy titles.It’s what you do that counts not what you call yourself.’ And hesat beside Miranda. Everybody quickly sat down in their chairs andQuab moved to the chair on Granite’s left side.
There wasabsolute quiet as everyone breathlessly waited to hear what Granitehad to say. He gazed at each person except Miranda for a fewseconds and they felt he knew everything about them.
‘I was the Collector and Guardian of Crystalhaven which I’mtold is now called Mudrun. I was a little foolish in my trust ofone of the immortals and became trapped on Moonmist. Aquitain setme free. I have spent my time since then trying to catch up on whathas happened during my absence. I am not happy with the currentsituation. As a collector I was bound to only record what happenedon Crystalhaven and forbidden to influence the events that happenhere. As the guardian I was charged with protecting it from outsideinfluence. I failed on both accounts.’
‘It would seem that Borse and my son Aquiveritas have beeninvolved in what has transpired here. My son was imprisoned as apunishment for his recklessness and it seems he has still managedto get into trouble while there. I see you have found him.’ and hepointed to Alpha.
While everyoneelse was thinking about what they might ask Granite, Miranda spokeup.
‘Aquitain is on Astaria right now. A large number of Mentarinand mercenaries are also there. Aquitain is working on how to getrid of them. Perhaps you could help. He sent me away to hideTigerlilly. I’m very worried about him.’
‘Who is Tigerlilly?’ he asked.
‘Our daughter.’ she replied.
Granite seemedrather thoughtful and said
‘Well this is unexpected. Tell me about her.’
Miranda toldthem the story of how her spirit was captured at the Queen’s Ballby the Mentarin and placed in the Felynx body and how Aquitainfound her in the land of dreams and they made Tigerlilly as aconstruct to help find her spirit but she turned out to be a realchild.
Granite askedher several questions and then was quiet for a minute or two.
‘It seems the situation may be more involved that I thought.Where is Tigerlilly now?’ asked Granite.
Miranda wasabout to tell him but changed her mind
‘I’m sorry. Aquitain told me not to tell him or anyoneelse.’
Everyonepresent was shocked at Miranda’s refusal to tell Granite.
Granite lookedat her for several seconds and said.
‘So be it. I now begin to understand what Aquitain sees inyou. Good for you! As you can imagine I’m quite busy catching up onthe situation at the moment. I might borrow my son if I may.’ Andhe and Alpha disappeared.
‘Well! Where do we go from here?’ asked Granddad but he got noresponse from the others they were all too busy with a myriad ofthoughts.
‘Aquiveritas is a rather short name for a dragon.’ saidChantalot suddenly. ‘They usually have longer names.’
‘That’s correct said Granddad. His full name isAquiveritasgranitoberylax.’ he replied. ‘We called him AG forshort.’
‘Hm … I know a little about dragon names.’ said Heteronymous.‘Aquiveritas is the name he gave himself and the other part is hisparent’s names. His parents would have been a dragon with its namecontaining the word Granite and the other with the name containingBeryl. This suggests they were rock based elementaldragons.
‘Beryl! That was the name of Lithgala before she was elevatedto minor power. I wonder if it is Aquiveritas’s mother?’ statedMiranda. ‘Aquitain asked about Lithgala he said that Alin Amber wasa Warden of Lithgala.’
‘By the powers, Alin Amber was the one spreading the storyabout the Time of Troubles and predicting the arrival of Aquitain.’replied Featherdown. ‘That suggests that she is involved in a plotthrough her son.’
‘I have heard enough in this meeting to make several newlegendary songs but I suppose I will have to keep them all secret.’quipped Chantalot.
‘Yes you will! Let’s get back to working out what we should bedoing.’ said the King pointedly.
‘If we can work out which gods might be involved maybe we canwork out what they’re up to.’
‘Well it sounds like Borse, Lithgala and the Lady to startwith.’ suggested Chantalot. ‘and possibly some Yith god and acouple from Panmagica.’
‘I think the Lady must have been forced into whatever’shappening by the other Gods.’
