‘I understand that I’m important or I would already be dead,’ he said.
‘Then you understand very little.’ Ara’s long neck snaked out, his old head, eye ridges blistered, dim blue eyes losing their lustre, coming to rest directly in front of Septern’s. ‘We already have the means to travel to your dimension, which you presented to us. There will be other humans we can talk to.’
‘Then burn me and find out how wrong you are,’ said Septern, getting back on his feet.
Ara cocked his head.
‘No!’ shouted Sha-Kaan. ‘Great Kaan, don’t.’ Ara-Kaan paused, one eye swivelling to fix on Sha-Kaan.
‘Hear him,’ said the young dragon. ‘He has mastered controlled dimensional linking. He deserves some respect.’
‘He is human,’ said Ara dismissively.
‘And here, where he shouldn’t be,’ said Dun, speaking for the first time. ‘Hear him.’ Ara relaxed his neck.
‘Speak, human,’ he said.
‘Thank you,’ said Septern tersely. ‘Please allow me to introduce myself. I am Septern, nominally a mage of the College city of Dordover in Balaia. However, I do not feel allegiance to any one College, having been blessed with an understanding of multiple disciplines.’
‘Excellent,’ said Los-Kaan, his tail absently sweeping water over his back as he sat half in, half out of the River Tere. ‘And so does this mean that more than one of these multiple disciplines has an understanding of dimensional magics, as you would call them?’
Septern looked hard at Los-Kaan, presumably weighing up the meaning behind the question. He shrugged.
‘Yes, in theory, all four Colleges have the knowledge to develop dimensional magics. It is a subject that crosses the ethical boundaries quite freely. However, it is the individual mage who has the responsibility to forward research and precious few work in this field. Dimensional theory is new and so is mistrusted.’
‘But not by you,’ said Ara gruffly.
‘Of course not,’ said Septern, smiling. ‘I originated it.’
‘Really,’ said Ara. He stretched his huge jaws, displaying his rank of yellowed fangs. ‘Tell me why we are so wrong about your gateways.’
‘Because when I went through the rip to witness your attempted genocide, I made some adjustments to the rip magic. Now, the starting point of your travel is crucial and since the rips to the Avian dimension and Balaia are linked, you have to start in Balaia to travel back there. So the rips are useless to you, aren’t they?’ Septern’s smile became patronising, an expression Sha-Kaan had seen among the Vestare.
‘By the Skies, if I wasn’t sure you were speaking the truth, I would burn the flesh from your crumbling bones,’ spat Ara.
‘That’s your answer to everything, is it? Set light to the offender and hope they learn their lesson? It’s no wonder you’re fighting your Skar and destroying your own lands.’
‘Meaning?’ demanded Dun-Kaan. The Ancient’s tongue flicked out of his age-paled face, moistening the lids of his eyes.
‘Ever tried employing this?’ Septern pointed to his mouth. ‘You sound bright enough; why don’t you talk?’
‘Ah,’ said Los-Kaan. ‘There speaks one who knows nothing of our history. The time for talking has long since passed. Conquest is the only way to secure peace now.’
‘Gods falling, you sound like a Wesman,’ said Septern.
‘A who?’ asked Los-Kaan.
Septern shook his head. ‘The race in Balaia who are threatening my lands and people. But never mind that. What is it you want?’ His tone was suddenly impatient. ‘And why do you sound like you’ve met humans like me before?’
‘Not quite like you,’ said Sha-Kaan. There was the nodding of heads and feelings of humour arose in his mind.
‘Why don’t you answer the human’s questions, Sha?’ said Dun-Kaan. ‘It will be a good test of your knowledge.’
‘Yes, Dun-Kaan, it will be my honour.’ Sha-Kaan swept his head low, extending his neck before snapping it back to the formal stretched ‘s’ shape, head angled down to look directly at Septern more than a dozen feet below him.
‘We flatter ourselves that we are complex beings trapped in ungainly bodies that only fulfil their potential in flight. There are many among us who crave the freedom of hands that could carve and build, and a size and flexibility that allows travel everywhere,’ began Sha-Kaan.
‘But the trade-off with size is the loss of power,’ said Septern.
‘And we would no longer be dragons,’ agreed Sha-Kaan. ‘So the craving is limited to those moments when we watch the Vestare at work on the structures we would love to build ourselves.
‘But there is much more to us than size, strength and language. We feel the press of dimensions, we can travel them without the aid of magic such as yours and we need the energies they provide us to survive and develop.’
‘So you don’t need me.’
‘Ah but we do.’ Sha-Kaan moved closer, relaxing his torso and leaning forward, his shadow covering Septern. ‘Because to leave our dimension without the knowledge of where we will finish is a risk none but the foolish and desperate would take.’
‘But you’ve seen other humans,’ said Septern. ‘So you must have been to Balaia.’
‘We receive visions. All dragons do. I have seen the sights of countless dimensions, including yours, when the alignment has been right and they have passed through the sphere of my psyche. But for all we see, we cannot travel to these places to establish links unless we are shown the way or manage to arrive with luck after a blind flight.’ Sha-Kaan settled on to his stomach, folding his front legs in front of his chest, scales glittering gold as they caught the reflection off the river. Septern moved back to accommodate him. ‘We want you to show us the way to your dimension.’
Septern scoffed. ‘I’m sure you do,’ he said. ‘But if you don’t mind, I think I’ll pass on the sort of help you offered the Avians. I like my land and at least some of the people in it.’
‘Stubborn human,’ hissed Ara-Kaan.
‘I beg your pardon?’ snapped Septern. ‘Give me one good reason why I should invite you and your fire to my dimension.’
Sha-Kaan closed his eyes and drew breath slowly, amazed that this human was being allowed to speak with such disrespect to the Ancients. Though the fact was that from his perspective, he had some valid points.
‘Because another Brood will eventually find the path to your dimension, and your destruction and not protection may be their desire,’ he said evenly.
‘Why?’
‘A Brood can only melde with one dimension,’ said Dun-Kaan as if to a slow child. ‘Any Brood finding a second, unprotected dimension, and believe me we all look, will destroy its critical fabrics to stop it falling into enemy hands. If your dimension and the Brood Kaan melde, we can protect you by shielding your location from all other Broods.’
‘And you just expect me to believe that you don’t already have a . . . um . . . melde-dimension of your own?’ Septern raised his eyebrows.
‘We don’t quite follow.’
‘How do I know you aren’t waiting for my help just to destroy Balaia?’
Dragons couldn’t smile like humans but the space in and among the quartet filled with the feelings that would lead humans to both smile and laugh. Indeed, Septern was caught up in the emotional outflow and couldn’t suppress a physical reaction.
‘What? What is it?’
‘Let me assure you, Septern of Balaia,’ said Ara-Kaan, ‘that had you been a representative of an enemy melde-dimension, your mind would have been closed to us, marking you as such; and your charred ashes would be blowing thinly around the dust of Keol while we plundered your dimension through the gateways you built.’
‘I can see why you would find that funny,’ said Septern, stone-faced. ‘All right; assume I accept what you say. How do you protect us and, more importantly, what do you expect in return?’