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Chapter 5: Green sky Black sea

Home. Rankor and Kiru stepped out of the dusty tunnel and into the system of Quez-or Liel. Rankor stopped on the cold rocky ground as they entered the cavern and stared into the darkness. He shivered a little from the cold as the cool air hit him. Kiru walked forward another several steps and stopped. She stood in place and ground her claws in the loose gravel below her. She slowly fanned her wings and raised her snout upwards, eyes closed. She took in deep drafts of the cold damp air into her lungs, held it in for a second, and let it out. Nothing else in life, to her, smelled or felt so comforting. For Kiru this was the place of her birth. The unending dark of the Quez-or Liel passageways and the small rivers that cut through the jagged landscape. It all sang stories and arias to her. She brought her snout down and opened her glowing green eyes. They shone brighter now that she needed their low light vision. Her makings also began to glow with a greater intensity. Her blood coursing faster and faster through the veins, oxygen adding to the glow. At that moment a cold gale blew by them. Yes. She was home.

From the tunnel entrance they flew a short trip of roughly ten minutes. With the gem light ceased for night there was no reason to delay any longer from their destination. For Kiru the trip was quick and an absolute joy, for Rankor not so much. His eyes, unlike Kirus, were not evolved for the black expanses of the cavern. They could detect nothing but a black nothingness everywhere he looked. His first and last remedy to the problem acted as he tried using his green flames to light his way but to no avail. The light of his flame could not penetrate the black but for a few feet. Even that small amount was useless. Twice his heart stopped as he raced at full speed past a stalactite. while following Kiru through this dark world. Her gave up his flame and concentrated on following her glowing scales. She was his only true light, her markings guiding him through the void on the way to her home. The good news, Rankor knew, was that this dark wouldn’t last. It was very late evening and the light of the gems were already gone. In the light of day he could take solace that his eyes would be of use again.

Their flight ended when Kiru spread her wings wide and pushed her body back in a braking maneuver, bringing her to an almost complete stop. Following her lead Rankor flapped to the ground, careful to avoid the jagged rocks of the cavern floor. Kiru landed softly on solid ground and looked around the dark landscape. Suddenly she turned her head as a large splash was heard off to her right. Gazing through the dark she saw what the commotion was and laughed as Rankor climbed out of a small stream. Being cold, wet, and tired he didn’t feel like commenting. As much as he liked Kiru he was not a fan of the darkness Quez-or Liel, he much preferred being able to see where he was going.

“Come on we’re nearly there!” said Kiru in a high excited voice as she started galloping on foot through the dark. Knowing he’d be utterly lost if he lost track of her Rankor followed in pursuit. Running through the dark was almost as difficult as flying. Dodging obstacles and tripping over the dark stones that lay in their path. In his mind, thinking of the many hazards on the ground, Rankor preferred flying to this. After a minute at a quick run they were in very familiar territory. Instead of the jagged ground where they had initially landed, the ground now had become smooth rolling stone. It very nature was pleasant and calming to walk across. Around them smooth columns of stone rose from the floor to the celling. Many columns twisted into marvelous shapes and beyond them was a hollow in the rock wall. The hollow was formed millennia ago, same as the columns, from the moving waters of a river that had once flooded the area. The waters had long since receded but not before they had shaped the landscape forever. Rankor shook his head as he looked at the hollows and the columns that were visible from Kirus glow. His father loved this place to study the formations and the erosion of the caverns. If there was a rock or crystal involved his dad would be there picking away at it and marveling at how it came to be. Rankor sighed, how could he tell his dad he didn’t care about this stuff? Also what irked him was how his dad could stare at a rock for hours. It wasn’t natural, and as far as he though it couldn’t possibly be healthy.

“Hello?” Kirus voice broke his concentration as they stopped at the entrance to the hollow. Looking in Rankor saw nothing. He rolled his eyes, of course he saw nothing. He perked his head however as a rustling sounded from within and a dim green light started to bathe the walls. The glow increased until a very old dragon walked out of a side chamber and trotted to the entrance. Rankor forgot about the dark when he recognized the familiar shape.

“Ah my dear”, the form began in a soft loving voice filled with age and time. “You’re finally…” He never finished the sentence as Kiru ran up to him and wrapped her forelegs and wings around him. The embrace proved a little too much for the old dragon and he fell to the ground still holding her in his fore arms.

“Great grandpa Nieru!” Said Kiru with joy as she hugged him. The old dragon chuckled as he lay on his back and stroked her head with one of his paws as she lay on his chest. Rankor leaned on the entrance to the hollow and watched them with a smile.

“Yes little one great grandpa is still here” he said with another laugh, “but at the moment he can’t seem to move.” Taking the hint, Kiru let go of him and stood to the side as her great grandfather tiredly rolled over and stood up. He then shook his scales from the sand and dust he had collected from the hollows floor. Having soon finished he turned to Kiru and spread out a wing. “Let’s take a look at you,” he continued as he slowly passed his wing across her head and back. With his eyes no longer working her great grandfather had learned to identify from touch. It was a method her father also used. His wing kept feeling until at last it fell off at her tail. “My, you’ve grown!” he said in a loving and joking tone.

“Grandpa it’s only been a few days!” said Kiru with a laugh. Rankor turned his attention from watching them and looked deeper into the hollow. More rustling was heard from within and soon two more shapes came out of the darkness. Kiru turned to them when she heard the footsteps behind her. “Mom! Dad!” She ran to them next and unlike great grandpa they were ready for her and caught her between them. Both wrapping her in their wings and nuzzling her with their snouts. Her mother’s markings started to glow with a brighter intensity as she held her. Her mother was a pure descendant of Quez-or Liel and carried the pitch-black scales and glowing markings of her kind. Her great grandfather was the same. All pure inhabitants of Quez-or Liel shared the black main body scales. Yet there were many differences that made distinguishing others easy. They all had different horn shapes and various glowing marking designs. The greatest difference was that their underbelly scale colors varied greatly. Her mother had a dark purple shade for hers and her great grandfather a blood red. Kiru while being of Quez-or Liel lacked the black scales the rest of her race did. The reason for this was her father who was born in tu Tzun. Through the magic of genetics she had been born with the colorful upper body scales of tu Tzun and the heart and blood of Quez-or Liel. Not a single thing she regretted being born with. Her parents held her for a while longer until her father, at last, broke the silence and embrace.

“Did you enjoy the fossil chambers?” he asked with a warm voice as he, like her great grandfather, passed his wing over her. Her father had lost his sight during the last war many years before she had been born. He had suffered from multiple wounds in claw to claw combat during battle. In the end her mother had saved him by infusing his veins with her glowing blood. It had saved his life, but he never saw again. After Kiru had been born he had wept for days out of joy of having her and from the fact that he would never truly see her. Over time though he had learned to make the best out of it.

“The chambers were fun” said Kiru to her father as his wing passed over her left side. “Rankor and I found some more big fossils deeper down the chamber tunnels.” Her father nodded with a smile and started to ask something before he was cut off by Kirus mother.

“How is Rankor by the way? Haven’t see him for a long time.” She said. As she spoke she stepped back and sat on the floor of the hollow, relaxing her wings and letting them rest before she continued. “Haven’t chased him off have you?” By the entrance Rankor could only grin as he retorted,

“She can try to chase me off, not saying it would work, but she can try.” He said as he, at last, joined them in the hollow proper.

“Ah there you are young fellow!” Said Nieru as he turned to the sound of Rankors voice and lifted the wing again. Rankor bowed his head and let him glide it over him. As Nieru lay his wing over him Kirus mother and father walked over to him.

“Hello uncle Daiigar, aunty Geylou, grandpa Nieru.” Said Rankor to each of them in turn as he bowed his head to them in respect. They weren’t his biologic family, but they were such a large part of his childhood and life that they had earned the titles. Truth be told they enjoyed it as well, it brought them closer and it felt natural to him after so long.

“How are you doing son?” Asked Daiigar with a tone reserved for family. “And how’s that crazy dad of yours!” he added with a chuckle.

“Crazy?” Said Geylou as she faced him. “Ever since I met him he was giddy, now he only looks at rocks.” She shook her head with a grin. “He’ll never change but I never expected him to either.” She looked over to Rankor again. “How’s your mother?” she asked. Nieru was finished with scanning Rankor and he was once again free to move around. He shuffled his wings a bit and addressed her.

“She’s doing well, still a healer and still looking for different uses for plants, medical or otherwise.” He thought for a second then continued. “You know they both still ask how you two are doing, they miss the old days with you two.” He turned to face Geylou. “Also, you should know aunty, my dad still thinks you want to kill him.” Everyone turned to stare at Geylou as she laughed loudly and wiped her eyes with a paw.

She took a deep breath as she gathered herself up and continued. “I only flashed my fangs at him once to get him moving, he was rather… sluggish in his youth.” She snorted with humor, “actually he was never very impressive even when he did move.” Now Rankor laughed.

“Yeah well” started Rankor, “he found the perfect past time, rocks and crystals don’t exactly fly very fast you know.” Geylou grinned and nodded. Oh yes they all knew he had found the prefect past time. Inside Rankor was screaming ‘rocks dad! Really?!’ In truth, he didn’t mind that much. But the last time he was gone for a few days and returned a corner of his room in his home was piled high with quartz. “Oh no,” he moaned too low for any of the others to hear. His room was most likely already full of stuff again. Shiny, spikey, dusty, dirty stuff. He grunted, he’d worry about it when he got home. “Well he is happy at least,” said Rankor at last, lost for words in the jumble of his mind.

“Hard to imagine actually” continued Daiigar. “Your mother and I actually found him asleep once in his geology class at Elial Point. He was rather horrible at it.” He shook his head. “Wonder what made him change.” As they continued talking Nieru cleared his throat and raised a front paw. The others quieted and looked to him.

“My children” he started, addressing all of them. “It is rather late now and I suggest we discus things over breakfast tomorrow.” The others nodded. He, as always, was right. The light of the gems was gone before Kiru and Rankor had stepped into Quez-or Liel. Outside it was only getting later and colder.

“Fine but only if you make me some of your eel” said Kiru with a smile as she nudged his shoulder. Nieru laughed.

“But my dear that’s something more for lunch or dinner, but I promise I’ll see what I can do.” He reached a paw over as he attempted to rub her cheek and felt her horn by mistake as he reached to high. As he felt it he passed over the ring Saline had given her. “What’s this?” He asked as he felt it again.

“Oh!” Said Kiru with excitement as she wiggled her horn out of her great grandfathers’ paw and sat on her haunches. She then removed the ring with her paws. “It’s a glass ring from the Sylon Roe that my new friend Saline gave me.” She took her great grandfathers paw in hers and placed the ring in it. He took it and felt it with his paws and tapped it with a claw resulting in some rather loud clicks. He then snaked his tongue out and licked it once and sniffed it.

“Interesting”, he began. “It has no warmth but its structure flows as if it was organic and yet it has no taste or scent as if it doesn’t exist.” He rubbed it a few more times and then held out his paw in Kirus general direction. She took it from him and placed it back onto her left horn. Before any more questions could be asked Geylou stepped in.

“Okay before we’re here until the dawn let’s get some rest hmm?” As if an answer Rankor yawned and shook his head from drowsiness that was beginning to hit him in waves.

“Sound’s good to me.” He said as he stretched his rear legs. Standing in this confined area was taking a toll on him.

“Alright then” said Geylou “Off to sleep with you two.” She nudged Kiru on the flank towards the rear of the hollow where several small rooms were dug out of the rock. Water erosion can’t do everything after all.

“Night mom, night dad, night grandpa!” She called to them as she went into her room. They called out the same after her then they too went back to their own rooms. All but Rankor. He stood in the central hollow looking between the room Kiru had gone in and the room that was off to the left. The one on the left was heated from and underground hot spring and was rather cozy. The one Kiru was in was rather cool but together they could stay warm. Or rather, him. The caverns of Quez-or Liel were not much colder than tu Tzun. But during the night the warmth of day is sucked out of the body and rock. Kiru, while being of Quez-or decent, still felt some of the cold. But to her benefit her body compensated with a lowered heart beat as she slept. She was bred for this climate, he wasn’t. He would shiver into the night were it not for the convenience of the hot spring or another body heat. His thought process was interrupted and his heart stopped as he heard a chuckle. Turning around he saw Nieru standing in the archway of his chamber.

“Something troubling you young one?” He asked with a slight chuckle that suggested he knew what Rankor was thinking about. Rankor flushed but wasn’t afraid if he did, being blind Nieru couldn’t see his discomfort, that helped a bit.

“Huh oh I’m just stretching,” he said as he stretched out his wings and front legs. Realizing he was putting on a show for a blind dragon he quickly gathered himself up and walked into the empty left chamber without another word. Nieru continued to chuckle silently.

“My son, one day I hope you will figure it out.” He spoke quietly and stood a few moments more before he retired into his chamber and let sleep overtake him. While everyone slept Rankor curled up against the warm wall, his head sunken to the floor.

‘She didn’t even ask me’ he thought. Then as if an echo was in his mind he though back to himself ‘why should she?' 'It’s not like she has a reason to seeing as how you never asked.' His mind was silent after that and he whimpered with closed eyes until he too found rest. A shallow and heartbroken rest.

~

The dawn came in Quez-or Liel in a different manner than in tu Tzun. Instead of the great gems glowing with a bright light of day, the gems of Quez-or Liel glowed gently with a dark green light. The gems themselves gave off little heat and at the peak of day you could even touch their warm surfaces. The same could not be said about tu Tzun gems which got so hot you couldn’t go anywhere near them in fear of being burned. It was not the gem light or heat that work Rankor. Deep in the hollow neither could penetrate the solid stone. What roused him was the sound of something dragging and paws on sand. Rankor tiredly opened his eyes and rubbed them with a paw. He sighed as he wished he could have more sleep, but seeing as he was up there was little point in hoping. After he was finished with clearing the sleep from his eyes he rose and stretched before walking out of his chamber. The others were still asleep as he walked into the central hollow. He could hear their slow breathing coming from their respected chambers. He turned his head as he heard a voice.

“Over here young one” came a whisper from Rankors right. He swiveled his head back and forth as he followed the voice. Walking into the main chamber he found Nieru standing at the opening of the hollow. “Sleep well young one?” He asked as his lifeless eyes looked across the water worn scene before him in the dim light of a new day.

“Yes, thank you” said Rankor with a wide mouthed yawn. “Better than I have for quite a few days.” While not entirely true he did feel rejuvenated which struck him as a bit odd. He had twisted and turned in his sleep, his mind a maelstrom of thought and emotion. When he did however find a peaceful rest it was solid and uninterrupted. He canceled his thought line and turned to Nieru. “What are you doing out here so early grandpa?” Nieru took a slow breath and stretched his old frail wings. The markings that snaked across the back of his neck and sides were a dull green. Their dim light lacking the glow and vigor of a youth long gone. His eyes, milky and green, gazed out to an unending horizon. Rankor felt sorry for the old dragon but said nothing. He wasn’t sure if Nieru would take his words kindly or with offense should he offer them. So instead he simply watched and was rather startled when Nieru jumped into the air and hovered on his thin membrane wings.

“Want to go fishing?” he asked with a surprising bit of energy and excitement. Rankors tilted his head to the side and dropped his jaw.

“Fish?” Of all the things he could think of doing upon waking up, fishing was not in the top three. “W-why?” He turned his head around and gestured into the depths of the hollow. A gesture he realized was pointless with who he was talking to. So he put it into words. “Why go fishing when you have a whole room full of food already?” He said as he pointed at the storage room on the far wall of the hollow. “Seems wasteful.” Nieru nodded.

“Perhaps, but little Kiru did say she wanted some eel didn’t she? Alas I’m all out.” At that Rankor made up his mind to accompany him.

“Fine,” he called up to Nieru. He grunted as he opened his wings and stepped outside. “By the ancients, I hate fishing,” he grumbled as he leapt aloft. Once in the air Nieru turned around and started flying across the barren landscape. Rankor shook his head, unbelieving, as he flew. He had seen the old dragon fly many times in his youth when he had come for a visit but it still made no sense to him. “Uhh grandpa no offense but how do you know where you’re going if you can’t see?” In the front Nieru called back.
“You walk around in the dark long enough you will eventually memorize a path between obstacles. In the air it is a little more difficult but,” and here he emphasized his words, “I can listen.” Rankor tilted his head.

“Listen to what?” He asked as he slowed his breathing and listened to his surroundings. Water dripping, wind, wing beats… “What are you listening for?” he asked at last as he couldn’t detect anything special. Nieru laughed.

“The sea my son! the sea!”

‘Oh’ Thought Rankor, the sea. He sighed as childhood memories flooded back, some good some not so good. Yes, this was going to be interesting. They flew on for several minutes across the plains with the dim gems on the ceiling lighting their way. Looking up Rankor admired the green gems, their light was soft and peaceful. The gems themselves covered the ceiling very sparsely and in uneven clusters. They weren’t even that large now that Rankor thought about it as he compared them mentally to their counterparts in tu Tzun. On average a Quez-or gem is about as wide as a dragon could spread their front arms and as long as a full-grown male from snout to tail. In tu Tzun the average was almost twice that. While small their light, although green and dim, was surprisingly effective for lighting the cavern. When his eyes eventually adjusted to the low light he could see clearly. Now had no problem dodging the great stalactites that hung down from the ceiling. His cheery mood was dashed as soon as it had arrived as he rose over a rocky mound and looked down. Below him he beheld the black sea Cistern. Directly over it a was colossal gem larger than anything else in the system. The very gem which named this cavern. The great gem of Quez-or Liel.

On swift wings he and Nieru glided down the light slope of rock to the edge of the sea. There black waves lapped the sandy shore and a reflection of Quez-or Liel could be seen farther out to sea. Nieru landed early in fear of landing in the water instead of on solid ground. Rankor, on the other hand, flew out a short way across the sea. He looked up at Quez-or Liel and pumped his wings with a surge of energy and ascended. Breathing hard from the quick strain he flew around the colossal gem. By Quez-or standards it was a monster. Nearly five times his body length long and three times as wide it was a sight to behold. Around the main gem were outcroppings of smaller gems that had formed around the great one. The radius of surrounding smaller gems was enormous. Together with the large gem at their center they covered a large portion of the sky over the sea. He flew in close and brushed his wing against the gem. Warm, smooth, clear dark green, pure. He smiled as he gazed into the clear crystal matrix getting lost within its majesty. Shaking his head from the pleasant escape from reality he glanced down below at the small waves that rolled over the black liquid surface. From Rankors current height the waters dark nature made it appear more like rock than water. His father had explained the phenomenon to him long ago. The water was colored red from rich mineral content. In the green light of the Quez-or Liel gems the sea appeared black as the two colors canceled the other out. While fascinating, it made the idea and practice of fishing, which Nieru wished to undertake, rather complicated. In the dark black waters, you might as well be blind. Suddenly a loud thrashing sound came from far below. Rankor, angling his wings, made a wide arc in the air and shot in the direction of the sound.


“Splashing in the surf after your eel?” He said with amusement under his breath as he glided on his wings back to the shore. In the distance below only the glowing markings of a figure could be seen above the swell of water. In the green light Rankor could make out Nieru. As well as a large, long creature he held in his jaws which thrashed like mad trying to free itself from his grip. “Grandpa!” shouted Rankor as he dropped out of the sky like a stone and into the surf, quickly making his way to the old dragon. He paddled through the cold waters at great speed creating a froth in the water behind him as he went. Looking up he saw Nierus form right in front of him. He stopped swimming and stood up on the shallow sand bellow on his back legs. He straightened out and readied his front claws in a strike form and swung. And immediately stopped.

“Done scaring away the fish young one,” said Nieru with a smile, his mouth full of dead eel. The creature was huge, easily as long as Nieru and thick as Rankors neck. Its head hung on its dead body with glazed over eyes and a mouth full of black needle like teeth.

“But, but...” Stuttered Rankor as he continued to look at the gigantic dead eel hanging from Nierus jaws. “I saw it fighting you and lunging at you.” Nieru crocked his head to the side.

“What did you expect young one? For it to die without a fight?” Nieru turned around in the water and walked up the shore of the beach and dropped the eel into the sand. Without turning to Rankor he spoke again. “Life young one is a struggle. You must respect and more importantly expect the counterpart of what you face to give its best before the end.” Nieru then sat on the sands and raised his snout breathing in the damp sea winds. Rankor looked to him for a while. He seemed tired and worn out from the fight with the eel from a short while ago and sat unspeaking for a while. As he waited for Nieru to say or do something he settled down a few paces away and let his front paws rest in the light surf of the sea. He looked across the black water and could see several glowing shapes move in the distance. He watched as other local dragons went about fishing themselves or simply enjoyed a dip in the cool waters. He gazed across the waves for a while longer then turned back to Nieru who was now laying in the sands sound asleep. Rankor sighed as he walked over and gently rocked the ancient dragons head.

“Grandpa?” He asked with respect. In all the time he had known him Nieru had been slowly waning away. He was very old and had lived to see three generations of his line come into the world. A snort sounded from Nierus snout as he opened his blind eyes.

“I’m sorry young one, I’m not as young as I once was and…” Suddenly he thrush his head forward as he was wracked with a coughing fit. On impulse he put a paw across his mouth. Rankor looking extremely worried moved closer to him. He had no knowledge of medicine or any basic methods to help the old one so he stood by helpless as he watched him cough. When he at last was finished Rankor shuddered and his eyes widened. Nierus paw was covered in glowing blood.

“Grandpa…” He said quietly. Rankor had never grown attached to his own grandfather on his father’s side. He had never been there for him during his childhood or later life. The grandfather on his mother’s side had died when his mother was still a hatchling. As far as he was concerned Nieru was his grandfather. He had told Rankor stories to help him get to sleep when he was young, he had raised his spirits when he felt down, he had been there for support. While his father and mother loved him very much and he them, there were certain things he couldn’t ask them. But in Nieru he had found someone who listened and understood. At the sight of Nierus blood, which had started to lose its glow when it hit the dry air, he felt fear. More than fear was an immense sense of worry the likes he had never felt in his life before. He laid his left paw on Nierus shoulder and then drew his head back as the old dragon turned to face him with his pale eyes. Nieru held his gaze in Rankors general direction. His face was stern yet also understanding. He held the gaze for several seconds until he turned his head to the sound of the waves on the sands. He breathed silently for a while and coughed a bit more and spat a glob of bloody mucus into the waves. In a low voice filled with the soul and longing of a world long gone he spoke a poem.

“Fate is a story only time will tell

Waves in an ocean that rise and swell

Death is a path we all must take

Our story remembered for the futures sake

Generations come and gone

Born anew with the coming of dawn.”

Unable to move or do anything Rankor stood his ground, frozen. His breathing had become shallow and quick. Nieru stretched out a wing and draped it over Rankors back and pulled him to his side with a strength that did not show his age. When Rankor was by his side Nieru lay his head on top of his.

“My son I have lived a long life in the darkness of this world. I have been lucky to have every waking day be filled with the love of my granddaughter Geylou and Daiigar. What’s more I have the love of my great granddaughter Kiru and you. I have also cursed my life for ages when my son and his mate were taken from me by deaths embrace.” Rankor now out of his shock turned to Nieru with glassy eyes. “I have lived longer than I have any right to and I wait for my long rest but you need not worry my son.”

“But…” Rankor started as he looked down at the bloody paw but couldn’t continue as Nieru raised it to silence him.

“I won’t be here forever but I promise you I’m not leaving in the next few days.” Nieru said with a chuckle. “I may be old and falling apart on the inside but I’m not going to the halls of the ancients yet.” He put his paw under Rankors chin and raised it up. “Chin up my boy and be strong, besides we still have some fishing to do.” He said the last part with added enthusiasm. Rankor knew in his heart that the old one was putting on a show for him to reassure him, and he wasn’t about to disappoint him. He shook his head and slipped out from under Nierus wings as he walked back to the sea. Beside him Nieru walked to the water and washed away the blood. “Do not tell Kiru.” Was the last thing Nieru said before plunging again beneath the waves. Rankor stood there on the beach lost in thought. His mind swam with thoughts of a future not yet written. He clenched his eyes shut and took slow breaths until at last he was calm. He opened his eyes and beheld the scene before him. A green sky above and a black sea below. Life was what he made of it, and he was going to enjoy it. Shaking the last wisps of the old thoughts from his mind he grinned and ran to the sea and plunged into the depths.

‘I can out fish you any day old one’ he thought happily as he swam down into the dark abyss after Nieru.