Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (12 page)

“Why does the queen hate the Elves? I need to know
why she is going to hate me or why she already does,” Legon
said.

“I will tell you, but you need to save your
interruptions to the end. I will have to give you some history and
you will have to accept that what I tell you is true, and that I
will not answer all of your questions. Does that work for you?”

“Yes,” said Legon. Arkin turned to look at Sasha.
“Yes,” she said.

“There was a time when Elves were like humans. They
died just like us and lived just like us. There was no magic. They
were led by two Dragons—two brothers, one whose scales where white
as pearl and glittered with brilliance, and the other whose scales
were black as coal and pulled the light from the sky. One was good
and the other evil. I don’t know too much more about how they
parted or what all happened, but the Elves say that when they did
they used magic so strong that they can’t take physical form
anymore. I don’t understand it, so don’t ask.” Arkin sipped his tea
and continued.

“Up to this point only the two dragons could use
magic, and after they disappeared, magic was available to all. The
Elves split into the three races: the Elves, the Iumenta, and
Humans. I don’t know how this happened, but the Elves claim it did.
The Elves were loyal to one of the brothers and the Iumenta to the
other, and it was at this point that Dragons began to appear in the
land. You see, if a magic user gets strong enough he will ascend
and become a dragon.”

Legon always knew that Dragons were strong in magic,
but now he began to appreciate just how strong. He couldn’t imagine
the power it would take to turn a person into what he’d seen in his
dreams. He knew now that what he’d seen in his dream was one of the
brothers. He didn’t know how he knew this but he did, and the
knowledge was frightening. Arkin was going on. Legon focused,
trying to catch everything. He could think later.

“To put it simply, the Elves and Iumenta are blood
enemies. The Iumenta went to the wastelands to make their home.
They rebelled against anything that connected them to the Elves.
There came a time, however, when they realized that humanity could
be of use to them. Not only could humans be used for labor, but
they could be a tool for destroying the Elves.”

Sasha interrupted. “How can humans destroy the Elves?
Humans are weak compared to Iumenta and Elves.”

“Humans can do the dirty work,” Legon answered. “They
can fight and die, and that will save an Iumenta’s life.” The
thought was disgusting to him, that one race would use another to
kill its enemy. At the same time, the logical side of his mind
said, “
It’s an effective plan if you view the fighting force as
animals
.”

“And humans breed faster than Elves and Iumenta so
their stock will never run dry,” Arkin added. “Humanity is the
perfect resource. It is easy to control with magic and dragons; it
will work hard, breed hard, and kill your enemy. There is some
extra pleasure in turning humans against Elves, as the Elves have
always been advocates for our race.”

Something Arkin said didn’t seem to stick.

“Arkin, how are we easy to control with Dragons and
magic?” After Legon spoke he could see that Arkin was impressed by
his perception.

“That is a good question for another time, but
suffice it to say that Dragons influence the people in whatever
area they are in, so the minds of those around can be turned to
what the dragon desires. This is how the Iumenta took control. It
was a slow process, taking over a hundred years. They won us by
planning and stealth. They didn’t make a military move against the
Elves and free lands until they had the noose around our necks. Is
there more you want to know?”

“Yes, what does Legon’s tattoo mean?” asked Sasha
politely. She was impressed how Arkin managed to give them a huge
amount of information and not answer their question.

“Ah yes, the tattoo. I almost forgot. It’s a crest,
as I’m sure your parents told you. Every Elf child is given one at
birth. It is put on by magic and does not cause the pain that our
tattoos do when they are applied. Furthermore, it can be altered.
That tattoo is unique to you and only you. The dot in the center
represents your marital status. When an Elf gets married that dot
is hollowed out and an exact replica of their partners tattoo is
placed within. The only other thing that I have heard is that when
an Elf comes of age the tattoo will change color, and that color
will stay the same for the rest of their life. Now have I answered
your questions?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes, thank you Arkin. We’d better go now,” said
Legon. When he spoke Sasha noticed him scratch above his left ear.
This was a sign they made for each other to say “It’s time to
leave”.

They had many such signs. They came up with them when
they were little as a way of getting around their parents when they
did something wrong. It came in handy later in life. Sasha could
remember several situations that Legon told her to leave before a
fight would break out, or times when she had warned him of
impending danger. She didn’t need the warning twice because like
Legon, she could tell that Arkin was not only holding back
information, but he may not have been the person they had always
thought him to be. She wasn’t sure if he was a threat, but she
wasn’t going to take the chance now.

They got up and gave their goodbyes to Arkin, who
walked with them to the door. As they left he touched Sasha’s arm.
“I know what is going on in your head, but I’m not an enemy, and
I’m not with the Iumenta. Think about it and you will see.” She
nodded and walked out the door.

The sun felt good as they walked out of the shop and
headed toward the town’s central market to get produce for dinner
that night. They seemed to move with semi-awareness of the people
around them, and didn’t notice when people waved at them or greeted
them in any way. There was so much to think about and all of it was
way too big for both of them. Dinner was also a haze. None of the
family seemed to want to talk. Legon originally planned on talking
to Sasha that night about what they’d heard, but both agreed that
they needed a good night’s sleep before thinking about
anything.

Sasha lay awake in bed long after Edis and Laura had
fallen asleep. Her mind moved with the slow rhythm of her father’s
snores from the room next to hers. She was still thinking about
what Arkin had said about one side of Legon dying and the other
living. It sounded so… so
brutal,
she thought. She shuddered
at the thought of part of herself dying. Or maybe it felt good? She
wasn’t sure. The concept boggled her mind. She heard a sound to her
right, coming from Legon’s room. He was having another dream, and
no wonder after the day’s news. The sound made the hair on the back
of her neck stand up. There was something scary about it. She heard
the whimpering and wondered which brother was coming for him
tonight. She didn’t know how she knew it was the two dragons, but
somehow she did, and this was even more frightening to her.

She wondered if he would remember it. She thought
about going and waking him up, but she stopped. “
Maybe his
dreams can help us figure this out,”
she thought. It felt cruel
to leave him, but at the same time something tugged at her mind,
telling her to lay down and that all was well tonight. As this
thought came to her she began to feel better about the situation
and had a hard time concentrating on the problems at hand. She was
having a hard time thinking at all. It wasn’t like an episode, but
she felt herself losing control of her mind. “
Is magic being
used on me?”
she thought. The feeling of emptiness tugged
harder at this thought. “
Well if it is, I don’t think it’s…
it’s…
.” She didn’t finish the thought before she fell asleep.
It was a deep sleep, a peaceful one, probably the most peaceful
she’d had in a long time, and certainly the most peaceful she would
have in the near future.

The Plan

“
When I asked the master about life’s
movements, he told me that he likened life unto a river. When I
asked what he meant he said, ‘Picture yourself as a drop of water.
Now see yourself on top of a great hill. Where would you like to
go? What land would you like to bring life to with your moisture
or, conversely, what land would you flood? Now step off the edge of
the mountain and flow down; the rapids and twisting of the river is
your life. Plan for the destination and the direction; after that,
hang on tight.’”

-Conversations in the Garden

Sasha knelt down to pick a mushroom that was growing
at the base of a tree. As she pulled it out bits of moss came with
it. The moss was all over the tree’s roots, which gave it the
appearance of having a green rug wrapped around its base. It was
still relatively early in the day. The morning dew still glistened
on the plants and the air was sweet and clean. Her mother had sent
to her to the woods to find certain rare mushrooms that she used
for healing various ailments. Sasha placed the mushroom in a little
basket that was on her shoulder and stood up. As she stood she
noticed a little bean-sized black beetle crawling up the tree
trunk. She smiled, not at the memory of having one of these
creatures in her soup, but at the thought of getting back at Legon.
More important, this was her last memory of a life that was
innocent and seemly free of magic, Elves, and Dragons.

Of course, it had never really been free of these
things. They had always been there and she just hadn’t known about
it. She wondered what else had affected her world that she was now
blissfully unaware of. It had been three days since they had talked
to Arkin; three days of going into each other’s bedroom after their
parents fell asleep to talk about what they thought was going on.
Three days of Legon’s nightmares. He didn’t wake from them anymore,
and he didn’t remember details in the morning. She noticed that if
she came in while it was happening and spoke to him as he slept he
would calm down a bit. She felt a pit in her stomach as she thought
of the years that Legon had been doing the same thing for her, the
times he had needed to restrain her and spend hours comforting her.
She stepped over a fallen tree and looked on the ground for more
mushrooms. She found one and walked to it.

Her mother sent her mainly because she was so good at
finding things in the forest. They just seemed to leap out to her.
I
wonder why I’m so good at this,
she thought. I
guess
it’s like the games I used to play at Arkin’s when I was a little
girl
. Arkin had spent many days watching Sasha when her mother
was busy with a patient. He had played all kinds of interesting
games with her, some with memory and others with finding things.
She marveled at how the games she’d played as a child now helped
her as an adult. The teacher was also interesting, especially
lately.

Legon and Sasha had decided that Arkin was not
working for the empire and that he probably wasn’t a major threat.
They came to this conclusion after Legon made the observation that
Arkin had taught him, Barnin, and Kovos everything they knew about
fighting. It wouldn’t make sense to train your enemy how to fight.
He had also taught Legon everything he knew about hunting, from
tracking to stalking. In truth it scared her to see that many of
the skills that seemed so unique and important were taught by one
person.

She continued to walk, looking for places that the
mushrooms would be. They had also decided that just because Arkin
wasn’t an imminent threat didn’t mean that he wasn’t a threat. The
fact was, they didn’t know how Arkin knew as much as he claimed and
why he had taught them so much. Their training, because they now
saw it for what it was, was different for both of them. There were
similarities, but no two lessons were the same. He’d used memory
games with both, so they both could remember everything with
crystal clarity, and he had taught Legon how to fight and fight
well.

Legon and Kovos went over to Arkin’s a lot as
youngsters to learn how to fight with swords. Arkin would let them
fight with wooden staves from the shop and gave them pointers.
Kovos came out on top with the blade, although Legon was also
extremely good. Arkin also taught them hand to hand combat. They
always assumed that he did this because of how often Kovos and
Legon got into fights with people about Sasha, but the training was
too good for brawlers. Nobody in town could hold a candle to either
man. There was so much more going on that she couldn’t wrap her
head around.

She diverted her attention to some birds pulling
worms out of the ground. She felt for the worm. It was how she
felt, like she was being pulled out of her world and thrown into a
much larger and more dangerous one. She could only hope that,
unlike the worm, she wouldn’t be eaten.

* * * * *

Legon was tired. He hadn’t gotten much sleep, and
from what Sasha had told him, the sleep that he was getting was
haunted by nightmares. They didn’t wake him up anymore, and he
didn’t remember much of them in the morning, but he knew that they
were still there but somehow a bit better.

He hefted a pork shoulder onto the counter, reached
for a knife, and began to cut the meat. He should be thinking about
what was going on with him and his Elven side, but right now he
didn’t give a heap of dung about it. The only thing on his mind
this morning was Sasha. He was going to come of age in one month,
and that meant he was going to have to leave regardless of whether
he became an Elf or not. He decided to go with the original plan of
moving to another town and starting a life there, and if he became
an Elf he would cross that bridge then. He would avoid large cities
and probably move to a new territory to ensure that no one knew
anything about his past.