Session 31 | Chapter 7
Just inside the doors is a small gathering area with a partition separating us from the space beyond. The building is completely silent–the minor city noises from outside don’t even make their way into the space. After so many new sounds and the almost constant humming of machines for the last half hour, the silence is welcomed but eerie in the same breath. I peer around the divider and see a solitary person sitting in the middle of the floor in the room beyond.
He’s facing away from our group, and instead is facing multiple, large and imposing dragon statues. My eyes instinctually land on the statue in the middle of the grouping–a serpent dragon whose body is curling and twisting before ending at his head and face, which is depicted in a vicious snarl.
Lendys.
At least in his true draconic form. Not the lesser, drake form that he’s restricted to currently. The stone statue isn’t the largest, but even in the sculpted form, he’s imposing. His gaze is menacing and bores into me from across the dojo.
My attention flicks to the other statues briefly, though the everpresent feeling of Lendys’ stoney stare is unnerving. On one side of him is a statue of Bahamut, his form the largest of the pieces. His stance is firm, chest puffed and head high, exuding the power that the Platinum Dragon commands. The last time I saw this form was in Elterel…apparently the one and only time in our travels Bahamut actually presented himself to be until last night.
Opposite Bahamut, on Lendys’ other side, is a dragon of almost equal size to Bahamut, but the long face and gentle curl of her horns is comforting–Tamara, the dragon goddess of healing and mercy. She’s wingless and despite her solid, inanimate form, a warmth radiates from her expression, easing some of the tension in my shoulders.
The fourth statue accompanying Lendys is the fierce and imposing form of Garyx, one of Lendys’ brethren. The dragon god of destruction sends a chill down my spine. Something about him unnerves me in a way that the other three statues don’t despite each being menacing in their own right.
I slit my eyes and hold his stare for a moment longer before my eyes drift to the man sitting in the middle of the floor. His breath is easy and rhythmic, indicating the familiar state of meditation. With each inhale and subsequent exhale, the tattoos that cover his body pulse with a rainbow glow, starting at the center of his back in a piercing white, fading through each color before the deepest violet fades into black at his furthest extremities.
He’s unbothered by our presence–either he was expecting us or he doesn’t sense our presence. Somehow I doubt the answer is the second option. As I eye the tattoos decorating his back and arms, admiring the way the waves curling on his shoulders transition into clouds of smoke pluming out of a volcano centered on his spine, Layna leans over to me and whispers, “Told you.”
Blinking my eyes, I dart my gaze to her and whisper back, “I didn’t say anything.”
She responds simply by giggling and covering her mouth with the back of her hand. I roll my eyes and state plainly, “He’s got rainbow tattoos.”
On my other side, Raesh hums lightly before declaring at a normal volume, “I see what you mean.”
“What I mean by what?” I ask, keeping my tone hushed so as not to disturb the monk before us until he’s ready to leave his meditation.
Raesh shrugs and looks up at me. “You said someone said he was fuckable.”
“Layna,” I clarify.
He nods, “That’s what I’m saying. I see what she means when she says that.”
Layna quietly mutters, “Yeah…”
“I said he’s supposed to train me…” I groan, genuinely surprised at how much sex talk there’s been amongst the group today of all days.
Taking a step forward, Layna clears her throat and speaks at a normal volume, “Hello Markus. Sorry to interrupt. We’ve got guests.”
My eyes widen in horror and I reach out to pull her back. “You don’t interrupt someone when they’re meditating!” I attempt to whisper, but my voice pitches, turning into something more akin to a shout.
From the corner of my eye, I see the pulsing energy flowing through Markus comes to a halt before returning to his spine. He turns his head slightly and raises an eyebrow. In a thick drawl, he asks, “Layna? Is that you?”
“Been a while,” she replies.
He gets to his feet and turns to face our small group. His face is kind, but based on the stories Layna has shared with me and Bahamut’s recommendation of him to train me, I know better than to assume there isn’t more to this man. His eyebrows lift ever so slightly when he sees Layna isn’t alone. “Oh well I didn’t know I was going to have guests today.”
“Sorry, I should’ve sent word ahead,” Layna comments casually. She gestures to Raesh and I as she introduces us.
“Good day to both of you,” Markus politely says, dipping his head slightly to each of us.
When his eyes lift back to mine, a wave of fear crashes over me. My chest tightens and like the sensation was a summoning specifically for him, the Priest slips along the periphery of my mind. Bahamut sent you here, Huntress. Are you strong enough to endure this transformation? Actually follow Bahamut? You’ve been a sham and a puppet your entire life. What makes you think you can be anything more than that now?
To drown out the screams building behind his words, I blurt out, “Bahamut sent me to you.” There–the words have been spoken into the world. There’s no backing away, no running from this now.
“Oh, okay,” Markus hums, “That makes sense.”
“It does?” I lift an eyebrow.
He nods and quickly states, “Ah, yes, I’ll explain in a moment.” He looks at Layna and Raesh pointedly, then asks, “What can I do for the rest of you?”
“Oh I was just leading them here,” Layna clarifies. “Seeing the place and everything.”
Markus hesitantly nods, then looks to Raesh. Before Raesh can make an offhand statement about why he’s here, I cut in, gesturing to both Layna and Raesh, “Emotional support Elf and Gnome.”
He looks at me knowingly, holding my gaze, seeming to peel back the layers of my statement, the slight tilt of my eyes indicating fear, the way my shoulders hang a little downcast. When he’s done and I feel as close to naked as I could be at this moment, he plainly states, “It’s nice to have people to rely on.”
His words hit me square in the chest and what was left of my mask of confidence evaporates. The rest left you. They know you’re a lost caus– Outwardly, I mutter a confirmation, forcing the Priest’s rant to a halt and focusing on the world around me.
Markus’s gaze flits to Lendys, still in his draconic form, seated patiently at my side. “Is…That’s Lendys right?” he asks, addressing the question to me.
I furrow my brow and point from the drake to his statuesque counterpart, stating, “Um, yeah…”
“Oh well, I just liked the statue. Got it pretty cheap actually,” Markus comments, his tone unnervingly relaxed. When he stops rambling, he asks, “You don’t mind if I mess with him, correct?”
My pulse spikes, the ashen taste of fear coating the back of my tongue. “Please don’t kill him,” is all that I manage to vocalize through the onslaught of emotions waging war in my mind.
A hint of a reassuring smile lifts at the edge of Markus’ lips as he states, “I don’t plan on it. I was just told to do something.”
“Were you the one that put him in the trance to direct us here?” Layna inquires, voicing the question that my mouth is too dry to form myself.
Markus frowns, shaking his head. “No, no, that was Bahamut.”
At this, my eyebrows shoot up and I exclaim, “Oh?”
“What?” the monk asks, confused at my surprise.
“Bahamut told you to do something?” My mind shifts through my conversation with Bahamut last night, landing on the statement that the gods can’t see this area of the Feywild. Suspicion threatens to seep into the edges of my focus, inky and black. It spills from the shadows behind the draconic statues, oozing closer and closer to where we stand.
No, I shake my head, No, Bahamut directed me here. The Bahamut, not Lendys impersonating him to help guide me. Not another god tricking me. Lendys was there. Despite some of his comments feeling contrary to what I would expect, he was insistent that finding Markus would help me on my journey.
Clear my head. Trust.
I suck in a breath, and as I exhale, the pressing suspicion fades back into regular, everyday shadows.
Markus shrugs and comments, “He’s communed with me multiple times over the years. I don’t fancy his favor but…”
His voice trails off and my voice involuntarily infills the end of his statement, “To each their own.” The statement that is so commonly heard by believers. It’s used to brush other beliefs and practices to the side, justify something that you aren’t in favor of, something that you deep down don’t agree with.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Huntress, is this the teachings of Bahamut speaking your fears into being or that of the Dark One?
The Priest’s words shake me as they, for the first time, have me questioning the way I fiercely defend Bahamut to all those who don’t follow his teachings. Raesh even said something similar to Markus to me that day at the castle.
“That purpose does not define me.” The gnome, my ally–my friend–said this to me less than a week ago. And the memory of his words shakes me even more with the echo of the Priest’s question in the forefront of my mind.
Abruptly, I’m pulled from my reverie as Markus reaches down and picks Lendys up by the scruff of his neck. He walks away from us carrying the drake and every possible fear floods my system: he’s going to harm Lendys, he’s going to kill him, he’s going to take him from me. Markus stops a few paces away when he reaches a small pond off to the side of the training floor. He sets him down and then smacks him across the face.
I gasp, stepping towards them, ready to stop whatever Markus has planned. A soft touch on my arm stops me though, feeling like a shock, and I glance to see Layna’s hand resting there. “He’s a good guy, Maire. He’s not going to hurt him.”
Are you going to take her word after what you just saw?
Fear and adrenaline manifest as tears, burning at the edges of my eyes and blurring my vision. I choke down the knot forming in my throat and turn back to Lendys. Following the slap, Lendys blinks, coming out of the trance and looking up at the monk before him. Even in his draconic form, the surprise in his expression is evident as he utters a single syllable, “Oh.”
Markus tilts his head to the side and smiles pityingly at the drake. He reaches down with both hands and places his thumbs beneath Lendys’ eyes. Vibrations build in the room, the smell of wood and ozone flooding my senses and singeing the inside of my nostrils. Energy hums throughout the space, filling the room with a rhythmic oscillation that crashes over us before culminating in a beacon of light emanating from Markus’ tattoos. The energy courses through his body, ending at his hands with a sound similar to a gunshot. The boom echoes through the room as Lendys falls limply into the pool of water.
Screaming fills my ears.
Who is screaming?
A tingling sensation crawls up my arms, ending in an eerily cool prick at the base of my neck. The screaming continues, and momentarily, I think I’m actually screaming out loud at this sight. My mouth hangs open, shocked and gasping at the sight before me, unsure if in mere moments I will be taking my last breath.
Is there supposed to be a delay?
Markus gets up from the kneeling position he was in by the pool and turns to look at the three of us once more. “Alright, so that’s now done,” he says, too casually for the scene that just played out. He gestures to me as he states, “And apparently, I’m supposed to help her. So–”
Blessedly, Layna interjects before Markus continues on, “You might want to explain what just happened to her before she freaks out.”
It seems as though it’s only at this that Markus realizes the shock and pain in my expression. He looks at me, expression softening ever so slightly, but his tone remains remarkably neutral, “Oh, I was supposed to send him into Nirvana if that makes sense?”
“Okay?” I ask, his words reaching me, but the entirety of their meaning glancing off of my mind.
His mouth forms a thin line as he explains, “Just think of it as I made him go talk to his daddy.”
“He did that last night,” I mutter, confused as to why this had to happen in this particular way.
Markus shakes his head, “No like actually go talk to him.”
I nod slowly, understanding dawning on me. This is big–bigger than a meditation. With the changes from last night when we spoke to Bahamut and now, I can’t help but wonder what the conversation is happening between my god and his son.
“I know I’m supposed to help you,” Markus repeats, turning to Layna, “But I guess you’re just here to greet me? We can have some tea, that’s fine.” He looks pointedly at Raesh as he asks, “What about you, kind sir?”
“I’m just here to watch and observe,” Raesh replies, smiling and glancing around the room. “Like she said, I’m mostly here for moral support, but I like to learn new things too.”
“Now I understand that, and I would agree with you,” Markus starts politely, but his tone becomes more serious, “But unfortunately, I’m going to have to tell you to go away.”
Raesh sighs and Markus quickly adds, “Now if you come back here another day–”
“Why though?” Raesh asks skeptically.
The monk sways his head slightly as he formulates his response. “Seems as if I’m supposed to have a one on one session with this one,” he informs, pointing at me. “While I can have a cup of tea with Layna as colleagues–if you’re trying to sit in on her training, I cannot allow that.”
My gaze darts back and forth from Markus to Raesh. With Lendys off in Nirvana, it was comforting knowing that both Raesh and Layna would be here to support me through this transition and new training–Raesh especially so due to his connection to Bahamut.
Raesh breathes deep and furrows his brow, accepting that he isn’t going to be able to stay with us. He looks up at me and says, “Well uh–you have the sending stone. Let me know–”
“We also have the telepathic connection–” I blurt, not wanting to split our group even more.
“Right, but that’s only for an hour,” Raesh reasons.
“And we’ll be right across–” I stumble from statement to statement, anxiety causing my hands to shake.
He shrugs and nonchalantly states, “I mean I probably won’t go–”
“You’re going to wander?” I gasp, the fear ballooning at the idea of the gnome traveling these streets by himself.
“No, no,” he replies quickly, seeing my eyes wide with worry, “I’ll stick around outside. I won’t go to the boobies just yet in case.” His eyes dart subtly to Markus, and the implication of his words calms my rising fear. But guilt immediately replaces the anxiety, as I realize I’m being selfish. Raesh is a good friend to me, he’s always been there for me, but I can’t expect him to be by my side at every turn. Not with the feelings I know he still has for me. His proposition earlier was not lost on me, and I can’t be selfish with this.
Markus scoffs, “Why would you not want to go to the Pleasure Palace?”
“Go to the boobies,” I tell him, smiling at the comical sentence said in such a somber tone.
Raesh shakes his head as he replies, “I don’t want any distractions, and half of our party went one way and then this is the other party. I don’t really want to be alone right now.”
“But you won’t be alone at the palace,” Markus quips.
“You’re right, but I also won’t be with any of my companions.”
Layna groans, “I’m not going to the palace with you, sorry.”
“Well as a frequent shopper of the palace–” Markus begins, but Raesh perks up as the monk says this.
“Oh, you’re a frequent visitor?” he asks.
Markus hums before commenting, “Actually if you tell them I sent you, they might actually give you better care than you really expect.”
Raesh raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Hell–” he draws out the single word in excitement, “Well nevermind. Let me know if you need anything!”
I nod reassuringly, “Go–we’ll find you later.”
As Raesh starts to turn and walk out of the Dojo, Markus adds, “Just don’t ask for Betsy. Just don’t.”
Raesh smirks, “Good or bad?”
“Do you like trolls?”
“Try anything once?” I quip, knowing my friend well enough to anticipate what’s going through his head right now.
He grins, shooting a finger gun at me, “Exactly–I’ll try anything once.”
Markus shakes his head, “You know what, you do what you want to.” As Raesh slips out of sight behind the partition, Markus calls after him, “Have fun. You’re welcome!”
The room gets strangely quiet after Raesh departs, leaving the three of us standing in the middle of the dojo floor. The water in the pool laps lightly against the built edges of it as the door shuts behind the gnome. Lendys’ form shifts ever so slightly with the ripple of the water, his form limply floating in the pool.
Markus turns to me, breaking the silence, “I’m going to need you to find a little bit of balance within yourself.” His bluntness startles me, mirroring the instructions Bahamut had for me last night. “So if you could, please go sit in front of the statues and think, meditate, until I’m done with Layna. You need to center yourself.”
My gaze drifts from him to the statues at the head of the room.
“Breathe in a meditative state,” he continues, before adding more firmly, “Do not fall asleep. If you do, I will hit you with a cup.”
“Okay,” I reply, working intently to keep the laughter out of my tone.
“Very strict,” Markus adds in his drawl. After I nod in reply, he turns to Layna and asks, “If you would like to join me in the room over here, we can have a cup of tea.”
The pair walk through one of the openings along the side of the training floor, disappearing down the hall, leaving me alone in this expansive space. My eyes drift to the pool once more and I bite the inside of my cheek at the sight of Lendys floating there.
“He’s okay,” I mutter quietly. “He’s talking to Bahamut. Hopefully that’s not a bad thing.”
Looking over my shoulder, my eyes instinctually land on the stoney form of the drake in the water. The likeness isn’t exactly the same as the draconic form I’ve grown accustomed to over the last week, but that’s likely due to Lendys’ depleted power and abilities. I walk over to stand in front of it, my eyes roaming over the lines, the features of the dragon before me. I can’t help but wonder if this is the true “true form” of the man I’ve come to be connected to, come to call my best friend, and come to love.
I ease into a seated position, my limbs relaxing into the familiar position and feeling of my breath guiding energy through my body.
Breathe in.
Energy fills my lungs, radiating to my belly and into my sit-bones where my body connects to the ground.
Breathe out.
The sensation exits my body, pushed by the movement of air into the floor of the room around me.
Breathe in.
I pull the same energy from the room and up through my spine.
Breathe out.
As the rhythm starts to create a hum within my body, lulling me into a meditative state, a voice in my head jolts me. Alba screams, “I CAN’T HIT WALLS! I’M HITTING WALLS. WHY AM I NOT HITTING HIS FACE?”
Fuck.