directly towards them, “What’s that,” said the young gray knight.
“I don’t know,” said Sorus, “but everyone is heading onto that cleared platform up on the hill over there,” pointing towards where the vast majority of people in town gathered.
The reptile men saw the movement of the crowd and immediately started off in that direction. “I’ve never been one to follow the crowd,” said Vipsanius with a shrug, “but in this case it might be the best strategy.”
“Agreed,” said Jon and the four set out after the reptile men towards the top of the hill. By the time they arrived the green trail of smoke was close enough to see clearly, and it appeared to be a massive green dragon with noxious fumes emanating from every pore in its body. Each time it beat its giant wings the smoke dispersed in little puffs, leaving behind green clouds. At least one person rode the beast and the crowd around them buzzed with excitement.
The top of the hill was cleared, and armed soldiers, wearing blue plate armor with the crests of black cats on their shields waited in a semicircle around a flat piece of stone that was a good hundred feet long and half again as wide. Around it a line of bright red stones seemed to mark a point the crowd did not cross. Right at the top of the hill stood a man in brilliant gold armor with a gold helm capped with the immense feathers of some strange tropical bird. As the dragon approached, the sound of the crowd suddenly died out, and the creature moved in with surprising agility to land without a sound on the platform.
The gas that came directly from the pores of the dragon coalesced in a thick noxious cloud, apparently heavier than air, and began to filter down little vents in the red stones and thus did not accumulate. The spectators all stayed well behind this demarcation zone and the thick gas looked intensely toxic.
Out of the green gas a regal man, with a brown hair, a simple crown of ivy, and heavy leather riding gear, emerged as an attractive woman with long blonde hair and a simple white dress emblazoned with the symbol of three towers connected by walkways on each sleeve, held his arm. In the man’s other hand he held a long staff carved to look like a crocodile with each scale made from crystal, the teeth of white ivory, and eyes of red rubies.
“That’s the symbol of Doria!” whispered Sorus as he looked at the towers on the woman’s dress.
“That’s Sakatha!” said Jon as he looked regal man whose white, reptilian eyes were now apparent.
“That’s the Staff of Sakatha!” said Odellius his eyes fixed on the staff.
All of the reptile priests suddenly leapt forward, and dropped to a knee, while the most spectacularly dressed of the group tried to address the great king Sakatha, but the creature and his escort simply walked passed.
The man in the golden armor walked over to the two, took the young woman’s free arm under his own, and whispered something to her that made her laugh. The reptile king glanced in that direction and sneered ever so slightly but said nothing. The three began to walk down the narrow path along the hillside to the cheers of the crowd.
The reptile priests looked at one another and babbled in they’re sibilant tongue for a moment, but then set out after their lord as they gesticulated wildly and tried to get his attention.
“We should go after them,” said Odellius. “That’s the staff and they’ll get it first if we don’t keep up.”
“No,” said the First Rider and examined the dragon, whose head now rested on its paws, and the breath from its nostrils cleared the otherwise impenetrable haze of green gas that surrounded it. “We are somehow in the dream of Chusarausea the Great, the Great Green Dragon, the Toxic One. He is the secret to what will happen.”
“What’s already happened,” said Jon. “If this is all a dream of a thousand years ago.”
“Far more than a thousand,” said a new voice, deep, sensuous, and strangely feminine.
All eyes turned to the dragon who gazed back at them with green eyes like impossibly large emeralds.
“Chusarausea?” said the First Rider and stepped as far forward as he dared towards the green fumes that still surrounding the beast.
The green dragon nodded its head languidly and closed its eyes for a long moment, “I am,” it said and opened its eyes once again. “And you are apparitions of a sort. I am now lying in a cave, shackled by little creatures, although my mind is now free from their magical influence. All this happened long ago… from my perspective.”
“This really happened in the past?” said the First Rider as he looked carefully at the languid green eyes of the creature. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t understand,” said Jon squinting and frowing, “but don’t let that stop you.”
The green dragon looked at them, placed its head on its long paws, and exhaled deeply which cleared the thick green smoke away from it for the moment. “Come closer,” it said with that somehow feminine voice that sounded both sultry and horrible at the same time. “I have something of great importance to tell you before you return from whence you came.”
The four men walked forward into the narrow lane of clear air provided by the steady stream of breath from the creature. They arrived in front of it, the four of them together not much bigger than the massive creature’s head. “What do you have to say to us?” said Vipsanius, who moved to the front while Sorus and the other two stood a pace behind and eyed the gas that circulated all around them.
“The Staff of Sakatha,” said the dragon as its mouth opened slightly to reveal row up on row of sharp teeth.
“What about it?” said Vipsanius as he moved to within a few inches of the huge maw that could easily swallow him whole.
“My master, Sakatha, needs it to rise again from the dead and renew his plans of empire,” said the dragon and breathed deeply as a strange smile appeared on his face.
“I would think you would want that.” said Vipsanius.
“Before I go on, I must ask you apparitions a question. If I help you obtain the staff, what do you plan to do with it?”
Jon stepped forward, “I will not lie to you great Chusarausea. I want the staff to keep it away from the reptile men to prevent the resurrection of your master.
“And you others,” said the dragon as its eyes turned to gaze upon them with such intensity that they all looked away for a moment.
The First Rider, his eyes turned down, managed to answer first, “I will turn it over to Jon Gray, so he can take it back to his father, and hold it in Tanelorn so that no one might use it.”
Jon looked at the First Rider with wide gray eyes and said, “Really?”
Vipsanius turned and looked at Jon with an even gaze, “Yes, I don’t completely agree with your father and someday, someone will take the thing from him and use it, but I agree with his plan in principal.”
“Besides,” said Odellius from behind, “what could we do with the stupid thing anyway?”
Sorus thought about a humorous reply but a look at the massive dragon stopped the words before they emerged from his mouth.
“Is this exactly the time for humor?” said the First Rider as he looked at Odellius with a shake of his head.
“I tend to joke when the situation gets tense,” said Odellius with a shrug and a look at the dragon. “I’d call this pretty tense.”
“So,” said the dragon interrupting with its powerful voice. “You would keep the staff away from the children of the dragons and thus prevent Sakatha from rising again.”
The four looked at each other for a long moment, and then up at the terrible green eyes that seemed to bore completely through their bodies and into their innermost thoughts. The concept of lying to this ancient creature seemed completely hopeless and they all came to the same conclusion almost instantly.
“Yes,” said Jon Gray. “My father does not want the ancient relics of the Old Empire influencing the people of today… of my time.”
The dragon smiled again, “Go on,” it said and blew gently once again to clear the toxic smoke away from them. “Tell me more of your father.”
Jon looked at the First Rider who nodded his head, “You might as well.”
“My father thinks that creatures like you are posing as gods in my time, and that they, and their symbols of power, have unduly influenced the world. He wants to forego them, to let people decide for themselves what is best for their own lives,” said Jon and stood up to his almost full seven feet in height and glared for a brief moment directly into the powerful eyes of the great dragon. “Creatures like you, whose time is done, should not be allowed
