Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) (35 page)

He moved on, and sat down in front of an old piano, which no longer existed in our time. His hands, at first, slid only slightly over the keyboard and then stopped for a second. He inhaled deeply and then began to play the most beautiful song that I had ever heard. With every further note our spirits merged more, and I felt the strokes of the keys, the loose movement of his hands and the tension of the melody, which slowly unfolded. But as someone entered the room, the prince stopped and turned around. I saw an elderly man in simple clothes, and he seemed to be a servant of the house. I asked myself whether this was a time before these people turned to dragons, or whether they were truly born as such. The man looked normal to me and I felt that the prince was glad to see him.

“Greetings, Jarrah! Does my father send you?” the prince asked and played some single notes.

The man bowed politely and replied, “No, my lord. I heard the sound of your sonata and could not fail to listen. Please pardon me my behaviour.”

The prince rose and went over to one of the cabinets. Hidden behind books, of which I had never heard, lay about countless sheets of music. He took an empty one out and put it on the table. With fine hand writing, very unequal to mine, he wrote a few words in a language unknown to me.

“It is just one of many, Jarrah. Stay and tell me what you think of this,” he said and quickly wrote the notes on the sheet.

As it was completely filled, he began to play and any sound that he connected with another, sounded like a strange magic. It was as if it were a gift beyond that of a human. I would never have thought that the prince of our time, who was responsible for the destruction and death of so many people, would be able to create this kind of music. When he stopped, he wrote the name of Jarrah at the top, and gave him the sheet of music.

“I think that you like it. You should keep it. As soon as you have learned to play, you can also compose a piece for me.”

Jarrah bowed again humbly and took the sheet of music with joy.

“It will probably take some time. Your father is not happy when I practice.”

“Then he should look away! Is it our problem what he likes, and what he does not? This man ... well, and now tell me why he has sent you. I am not angry about the fact that you lied to me, but don’t take me for a fool,” the prince said and donned a fine waistcoat.

“He ordered that today you should join the flight training. He and your brethren will be flying into the territory of the Bolgia. Word is that the barbarian people in exile plan an uprising. The king of the northern dwarven district was seen in the presence of diplomats. The Alliance of Subjection could soon be over. I should also remind you that he sees your obligations for the high council as a worthless waste of time,” said Jarrah and fell down on his knees and bowed his head toward the ground.

“Well, not unusual for my father. Say nothing to him. I will leave and meet with the council just as planned. The diplomatic situation of this country is doomed anyway. I told father often enough that the dwarves are no good slaves. Their connection to the gods of old has once before put them in a position to destroy this world. We have been idle far too long. It is about time to obliterate these beings from the surface of this world.”

Of course Jarrah replied nothing, and so the prince left without saying a word himself. Jasper had explained to me that the gods at that time had already left our world and that this world was our own. The first storms had fragmented the continents and islands and must have been the connection that the prince had spoken of. I was not sure what would happen next, but I remembered the image of the sun, burning all the dragons.

The prince ran through the castle, where at that time hundreds of dragons lived. I was not sure if the father of the prince was the king of this castle, but I was sure that I would learn it soon. He reached the Ancestral Hall, which at this time was not completely filled with people, but I saw a man on the throne that the prince immediately approached.

“Lord Darius, greetings of the ancestors! I heard of the rebellions in the exile, have the generals already suggested a plan?” asked the prince and showed more interest in the situation, as he previously showed to Jarrah.

The lord looked into the face of the prince and sat up on the throne. With a smile he finally rose and embraced the young prince, and gave him a friendly pat on the back.

“Nice to see that at least one member of the council is still asking the necessary questions. Today's meeting will decide whether we will wage war against the dwarves and finally quit the alliance. The argent want to rise up, and an alliance between them and the dwarves could even be dangerous to us,” he said and sat on the throne again.

“Not all believe in the legends of the ancestor, but in my opinion they should slowly start to. I remember the stories of old and the stories that time has brought us. We cannot simply sit back and pray, we must act before this world burns once again.”

The words of the prince reminded me of mine, before I and Lucia had begun our trip, and made it even harder for me to understand how this young man could become the dark prince of our time.

“I take my leave, lord Darius. May the ancestors protect you and lead your ways.”

He left the castle, and I saw the world as it once was. Beautiful old forests surrounded the gigantic flowering and well maintained property. Nothing was as I knew it from my time and the bright blue sky was clear over the dragonhoard, which to me was only known as a wasteland. All the people who saw the prince greeted him happily, and none of them looked inhuman to me. Only when the wings on the back of the prince were revealed and he soared up into the air, I understood the difference between them and us. In less than a minute he was already so far away from the property that it seemed not larger than a tiny dot on the floor below him. In the distance I saw the bright white forest, and also the vast plains of the dwarven lands, but they were fallow and destroyed.

Even in this time all of the dwarven cities where located only underground. The dragons controlled the heavens and the earth below it. Only further below there was a place in which they promised themselves safety. This world was as beautiful and just as degenerate as our own. They kept the dwarves like slaves, and even the white dragons lived in exile without any rights. The prince flew far out to the open sea, and after a few hours of flight he landed on a small island. On it there was a temple and within it several dragons were kneeling down. They wore dark red robes and hid their faces with hoods. As the prince entered the room, one of the men approached him and handed him a robe, and as soon as he had put it on and knelt, the meeting began.

“Brothers, the times are dark, because the book told me the truth. The future will be ruled by the dwarves, and not the dragons. If we do not attack now, then this world ends. Many of our kind see this council as a waste, but we are the elite, those who will survive all of time,” said the chairman of the meeting, and I felt the tension of the prince.

He rose and took of his hood, much to the disdain of the council members.

“Why do we not use the book? In it rests the power to control this world! We could stop it all right here before it starts,” the prince said and I felt his fear at this moment.

“Kneel down, Marko,” said the chairman, and the prince hearkened to the voice.

Only after the session had ended and only the chairman and the prince were left in the room, the two conversed.

“Why won’t we use the book? What is it that we fear so much? Is it not our privilege?” the prince asked relentlessly.

The chairman took of his hood and said: “There are only two members of the order who can read the book, and since I am one of those members, I can tell you what it would mean to use it. For me it had been a hard decision to appoint you as a member of the council, and my son was not happy with it. Many times he has told me that he thinks that you are too weak to bear such a burden. Was he right about you?”

“My father refused to teach me the language of the ancient gods, and only because I do not always do what he tells me to. The mistakes that our kind makes in these times will be our demise. Why are we not annihilating the dwarves and what about the weak white dragons? Why do we protect these beings?”

“As your grandfather I might not have as much influence on you as your father, but believe me that you will decrypt the secrets of this world in time. We are a strong type, and even if a war with the dwarves breaks out, nothing is going to happen. Do not think too much of the old legends. It is my responsibility to lead these people, and so I have to warn, and direct them. We dragons have always subjugated the weaker species, but this book is no more than a direction. Do not let yourself be subject to simple words.

We allow these beings to serve us, but now could be the time in which they no longer are in a position to serve. The generals will decide. Follow the call of your father, and perhaps he will once lead our people. Nevertheless he is one of the most powerful dragons of his generation, as are you to your own.”

Without allowing even another word the grandfather sent his grandson forth, and I felt the anger of the prince. His own influence was important for the prince, and yet he felt it was not enough. He wanted the death of these other species, and he wanted security for his own. His destination was again very far away and led him to the eastern continent. I could hardly recognize anything, because neither cities nor villages were to be seen. The only thing I could see were these tiny encampments, where few white dragons lived. They suffered under severe conditions and were monitored by the dragon kings, who roamed the heavens above. Some of them were gigantic and reminded me of the legendary images from olden tales. The prince landed at a remote location distant from the bone deserts, near mount Ignis.

I saw three dragons, resting at a small fire. The prince approached them, and as soon as he was detected, it became clear to me that this was his family.

“Finally, the prodigal son returns. How is your grandfather?” asked the oldest of the dragons, and looked at the circle in laughter.

His father had an incredible charisma, and I suddenly felt the fear in the heart of the prince. For me it was not unnatural, since I never felt comfortable in the vicinity of my father, and yet it made me sad to see that this young dragon knew nothing except suffering. So it was hardly surprising that he was not afraid to make the world suffer just the same.

“Why are you not at the assembly of the generals? They will discuss an attack plan. Instead you sit here and try to teach these mediocre beginners things, that a real dragon would never need to learn,” said the prince, and one of his brothers spat on the ground, and the other stood up and clenched his fists.

But their father lifted up his finger into the air, and both waived their feelings immediately. He rose and stood directly in front of the prince. He was larger than him and forced his son to look up at him, but the prince averted his gaze and went away.

“Running away will do you no good. If this world is burning, as you believe it, then there will be no safety. We have to blame ourselves that it has come this far. These encampments, exiles, underground prisons and covenants of submission should never have existed. Violence gives birth only to violence, so it was already written in the book of the gods,” said his father, and the prince stopped.

“These words ... are so full of weakness. You were once a contender for the title of the king. You were Fafnir, the Skyclaw. Nothing escaped your grasp and the world was in the palm of your hand. How low can one get …,” said the prince, and walked on.

“The anger in your heart makes you blind. You should use your talents to unite this world and not to tear it apart even further. Too many of us want a fast victory, an end to it all. This world is ours today, but tomorrow it could have already disappeared. The council stirs up fear in our hearts, it uses the book in order to disseminate chaos and the generals use this chaos to bring death. I show your brethren this world so that they can understand it. Maybe you should join us. You are still a young dragon; your generation has not seen what my father and I had to endure. 

Do not blindly follow our hatred, open your eyes and see for yourself. Your music shows me that you also possess a different side, one that is aware of more than just death,” said the father, but the prince went on undeterred.

“So many words, so little sense. Remember your past. You were once the chairman of the council, the supreme general, and the most powerful of all dragons. What brought the peace to your heart? What poisoned your mind with compassion and mercy? Remember my words when the world is burning, because if the argent and the dwarves arise, then there will be no other path in front of you than to fight. And do not tell Jarrah what he should do,” the prince said with a last turn, and spread out his wings.

“If you could finally teach him how to play properly, I will think about it. He simply has no talent,” returned the father with loud laughter.

This was one of the few moments in which the fear in the heart of the prince disappeared, and this fleeting moment of happiness was accompanied by a faint smile on his begrudging face.

The next moment that he showed to me, must have been the cruellest time in the life of the prince. He woke up on another day in his bed, as usual, but the noise and the cries that he heard were strange. He jumped up and ran to the window and saw huge machines that emerged from the depths. Hundreds of dwarves alighted from the vehicles, armed and willing to die for their cause. The young prince immediately ran through the halls of the castle and the first bombs began to hit their target. Walls, ceilings, all crashed down around him and huge holes revealed the fight outside on the court. Many of the dragons had already risen up into the air and burned it with their breath.

The prince ran determined to the highest tower of the castle, and saw his grandfather kneeling down, with the holy book of the gods in his hands - the Code of Souls.