Bread is not good for dragons, Kanin reminded them from where he lay in his dragon bowl. Gets stuck in fangs. Not good eating. Leave it for the herds to feast on so that they are fat and delicious.
Khollo laughed. “We’ll leave some of it for those cows you’ve grown so fond of, never fear Kanin.”
When they had finished lunch, Khollo and Ezraan wandered out to the ledge overlooking the jungle, followed closely by Kanin. The ledge was warm to the touch, having been in the sunlight for some time now.
“So, what are we doing for training this afternoon?” Khollo asked, rolling his shoulders and grimacing. His muscles were stiffening up after the grueling morning practice session.
Ezraan shrugged. “I thought I might share some of the stories and history I came across in my research,” he said at last. “If you would like, of course.”
“That’s more than all right with me,” Khollo said, sitting down on the ledge and leaning back against Kanin. He sighed contentedly. “Much better.”
Ezraan smiled and sat as well, facing Khollo. Kanin shifted slightly so that he was watching the older man with one enormous eye.
“I’ve learned a lot in my research,” Ezraan began. “I have read of heroes, legends, villains, and wars. But to understand any of it, you have to go back to the beginning, when the Keepers were formed. To an age much different from our own, where war was a constant and all the world embattled.”
Ezraan paused. “This story begins even before your namesakes, the founders of the Order. But they play a major role as you will see.”
Khollo shifted against Kanin’s body, trying to find a position where the dragon’s scales were not digging into his back. “Let’s hear it,” he said encouragingly.
Ezraan gathered his thoughts, then started again. “Very well. It began hundreds and thousands of years ago, in the land of Awor, which is now part of the Mizzran Heights. Awor was an independent kingdom at the time, one of a great many. But that all changed one fateful day, when war spread across the world.”
Chapter 33
“In those times, the same as now, the right to rule was derived from one’s ancestry. Fathers passed thrones to their sons, or maybe their brothers in situations where the son was not ready or the king had no heir of his own. In Awor, the current king was married to the sister of the heir to the throne in a neighboring kingdom called Junome. The king of Junome was a man by the name of Huthin, a cruel man by all accounts. He was the first to establish a trade in slaves, and it was the foundation of his kingdom.
“One winter’s night, the king of Awor became ill, terribly so. His ailment was not one the royal healers could cure, much to their dismay. They suspected poison but could not discern what type or create an antidote. Within a fortnight, the king of Awor was dead.
“This unnamed king had a single son, but he was not the son of the queen of Awor. An illegitimate child, seventeen years of age. Hearing of his father’s death, he immediately claimed what he believed to be his birthright.”
“But Huthin saw the situation differently. He saw an opportunity to take over Awor, which was an exceptionally wealthy kingdom, and consolidate it with his own holdings. After all, one of his daughters was the widow of the now dead king. Huthin declared that the queen should have Awor for herself, and that Awor and Junome should become one kingdom. He also declared the king of Awor’s son a usurper and put a price on his head.”
Ezraan paused in his story, a sorrowful expression on his face. “The two kingdoms became embroiled in a bloody war. Most of the Aworans had no desire to become Junomans, for they knew of the slave trade and had heard horrible tales of poverty, starvation, and brutality even from those citizens who were not slaves. They joined Deneb, the king’s illegitimate child, to defend their homes and remain independent. But some were taken in by the chance to join a larger empire. They formed a smaller army of saboteurs and assassins, fighting a private war in the shadows.
“Meanwhile, the queen was spirited off to Junome, for her own protection, and Huthin’s armies marched on Awor. Deneb knew his own forces were too weak and too disorganized to resist, so he reached out to the emperor of the Mizzran Empire, which is now the Mizzran Heights. The emperor had long harbored a grudge against Huthin’s line. Their ancestors had drawn the boundaries between the two kingdoms, and the Mizzran Emperor had been tricked by Huthin’s ancestor into giving Junome the best lands in the region, a mistake that the Mizzranese were still suffering from. The Mizzran Emperor, Ruvene, marshaled his forces immediately and marched against the Junomans.
“In less than two months, nine more kingdoms entered the war. Some were dragged in by old alliances. Others saw an opportunity to defeat an old rival who was already weakened by the war.
“Then, a year into the war, a teenaged son of a minor lord of the Sietian Kingdom – which was near the Najni Mountain range – found an abandoned dragon’s nest while patrolling the foothills around the mountains. In those days, dragons were not common, but they were known to live in the northern wastes. They were also known to be fond of precious metals and jewels. This Sietian boy, Khollo, looked into the nest and saw five large, round stones. They gleamed like jewels, but light did not filter through them the same way. Thinking he had discovered great treasures, Khollo packed up the stones and brought them home.
“A week later, one of the
