“I’m glad you are able to sit back and navigate the lives of others, Hroombramantu. We both know that you’ve always been good at that,” Jaax said acrimoniously. “You may come off as unassuming and wise, but you never have been able to keep your opinions to yourself, have you?”
Hroombra looked slightly taken aback by Jaax’s words, and the younger dragon felt a small pang of guilt. But he was irritated by Jahrra’s behavior and the last thing he needed right now was the same old lecture he’d been getting since his first lesson with the old dragon so long ago. His usual biting replies had been falling short on Hroombra for years now, and Jaax finally found it necessary to speak his mind.
“I didn’t leave Jahrra with you to let her get away with whatever she wished. Your job was to keep her safe and teach her what she needed to know to survive in a world where she’ll have far more enemies than friends. In the past seventeen years, every time I returned to check on your progress with her, she’d grown worse. And each time I suggested that you be a little firmer with her, but obviously you haven’t been listening. You know what dangers await her, yet you’ve done a terrible job in preparing her.”
Jaax felt his anger being displaced onto Hroombra, exactly what the old dragon had warned him against a few minutes ago. He didn’t care, however. He’d grown more and more frustrated with his old Korli friend, and in Jaax’s anger-distorted opinion, Hroombra deserved everything he got.
“Jaax, I have taught her everything I know, and I hope someday she’ll prove that to you. I wished to tell her more of the truth, something that would have left her better prepared, but you insisted that I not, and I understood and respected your reasons though I disagreed with them. And you should know from personal experience that one cannot bottle up a spirit, especially that of Jahrra’s. Do not blame her disdain for you on me.”
Jaax bared his teeth in fury. “She has disdain for me because she has no discipline! She should have learned to respect her elders long ago, and that includes respecting you, or did you not notice the way she speaks to you as well? I’m finished with this conversation, Hroombra.”
Hroombra started to say something in reply to Jaax’s harsh comment, but the young dragon turned and faced him with blazing eyes, and in a cruel whisper added, “You are not my father Hroombra, and you never will be. You’ll never replace her parents either, so stop trying.”
Jaax stood steadfast and tall, refusing to let Hroombra see the shame that was brewing in his heart. His words had been formed by passion alone; he hadn’t at all thought them through. Hroombra had angered him, hitting a raw nerve, and Jaax had wished to return the ill favor.
Before the guilt could overcome him, Jaax continued, “I should have left her in Crie.” Then he added stoically, “The elves there would have done a much more adequate job in training her. I now wonder if age has played a part in your inability to deal with a simple child.”
Hroombra lifted his head and gazed directly into Jaax’s eyes. In a calm and eerie voice he replied, “I never wanted to be your father Jaax. I of all dragons know I could never be that. I never wanted to be Jahrra’s father either, she had a good father and I wouldn’t want to displace those memories. As for Jahrra being undisciplined, you are very wrong. She has worked very hard to become the person she is, and forgive me for saying this, but you were never there to see her grow and mature. She has a spirit and a mind that no one can tame, and my only wish is that some day you will be able to appreciate and understand that.”
Hroombra continued to gaze at Jaax with those all-knowing eyes. The old dragon was good at hiding emotion, but the pain of what he had just experienced couldn’t be masked. Jaax turned to leave, weary of arguing and wishing for nothing but to be alone, to allow his flaming anger to burn out.
“One more thing Jaax, please,” Hroombra sounded frighteningly desperate, forcing the Tanaan dragon to turn despite his irritation. “Know that I forgive you, both you and Jahrra for what was said this day, and know that I love you both very much.”
Jaax furrowed his great scaly brow, perplexed by Hroombra’s fraught tone. The great Korli dragon looked very old at that moment, like any animal does when he knows that his time in this world is drawing to an end. Jaax hesitated for just a moment, just long enough for Hroombra to remove the sadness from his eyes. At first he felt sympathy, even fear for his one-time mentor, but then he remembered how angry he was and shook off his small moment of exposure.
The young Tanaan dragon sighed deeply and fought against the headache that was growing beneath his skull. He would have to find Jahrra eventually and try to smooth things over with her, but for now, while his fury was still fresh, he needed to confront someone else, someone he was not looking forward to visiting. Jaax stepped out of the Castle Guard Ruin and headed east, following the Danu Creek towards the forest while Hroombra retired to the common room to wait.
Jaax decided to walk through the Wreing Florenn instead of flying over it. He figured that if he walked, perhaps he could have the element of surprise. Ha, he thought bitterly, nothing surprises that woman. He walked cautiously between the great trees, feeling like a thief sneaking through a grand fortress. All was quiet except for the sound of the treetops moving occasionally with the wind. Jaax walked on until he found himself looking down into the tiny hollow that was the Belloughs of the Black Swamp.
The dragon blinked up through the treetops into the dimmed light of the black and gray morning. It had rained last night, but he knew that those swollen clouds hadn’t finished their job quite yet. He let out a sigh that held a mixture of guilt and frustration. Perhaps he had been too hard on Hroombra. After all, Jaax had to admit to himself, he had spoken in anger. He would have to go back and apologize later, but first, he would deal with the Mystic.
As quietly as he could, the dragon crept down the small slope and onto the flat ground in front of the moss-shrouded cave. He sniffed the air and immediately detected an aroma of oak smoke, sauteed mushrooms, some kind of wild incense and the tang of sweet tea. Nothing too surprising. He folded his wings and sat down regally, allowing his changeable scales to blend somewhat with the grim colors of his surroundings. He took a calming breath, released a stream of scorched air, and waited for Denaeh to sense his presence. It didn’t take her very long. Within five minutes, the haggard woman came limping over the top of the hill that rose above her cave.
“Who goes?”
It was the crackled, raspy voice of a very old woman, the guise she always wore when strangers came into her part of the woods. But Denaeh knew who had come to visit her, even before she’d seen him. She had been expecting him ever since Jahrra had last visited.
“You know exactly who it is, now come down from there. We need to talk.”
The stern voice of the dragon Jaax sounded strange to her, like an old song playing once again that she hadn’t heard for a very long time.
“Raejaaxorix! Could it really be you?” she said in a sweet, grandmotherly way.
“That’s enough, Denaeh. You’ve been expecting me for some time now, so don’t try and play coy with me,” Jaax replied shortly. “Furthermore, you have some questions to answer. What are you doing in Oescienne, and what is your business with the young girl Jahrra?”