Page 105 of A Kingdom Restored

“He carries a powerful magic,” Rekavidur chimed in.

“We are aware of his farsight,” the dragon said in a deep, reverberating voice. “But farsight should not allow him to access sealed memories.”

Reka shook his vast head. “His magic isn’t farsight. His magic is the ability to see things others cannot. One of the multiple ways that manifests is in farsight. The truth is that the full potential of his magic could be virtually limitless. If he develops it as it deserves.”

A dozen pairs of yellow eyes were suddenly trained on Heath, and he swallowed nervously. “Should we show you the memories, then?”

Elddreki led the way through the trees to the area with the various runes, although there wasn’t any real need. Since Reka and his father had deconstructed whatever magic had been keeping them hidden, the memories truly did emit power as conspicuous as a beacon. Heath had no doubt that everyone present—with the exception of Merletta—must sense it.

Keeping that in mind, he explained the discovery to Merletta quietly as they made their way through the trees, him leading her by the hand this time. Her eyes were wide, and she seemed tense at being surrounded by such a large group of the creatures who had, until minutes before, been intent on eliminating her entire species. But she followed him readily, clearly as eager for answers as he had been.

“Why did you not tell us of these memories from the outset?” complained a large dragon when they reached the boulder. “They are clearly present, marked without ambiguity.” The creature inclined its head toward the markings that had appeared on the rock when Elddreki and Reka did their work. “Memories recorded by Tanin.” He frowned. “It is a familiar name, although I do not believe it has been known in my lifetime. It is possible one of the elders may remember this Tanin.”

“Recorded by Tanin, sealed by Idric,” Elddreki amended. “And the only conclusion I can draw is that one of them carried powerful heart magic of concealment. These memories were most definitely concealed, and only brought into the light by the exercise of Lord Heath’s magic.”

Again, many heads swiveled in Heath’s direction, and none of the dragons looked very happy. “Why would a dragon place memories only to conceal them from their own kind?” demanded one of them.

“That I cannot answer,” Elddreki said. “But if you choose to enter the memories, you will see that they were not damaged in any way, merely concealed.”

One by one, the dragons raised their heads so they pointed upward, and Heath felt a tendril—or rather, more like a powerful shoot—of magic snake out from each one. Power saturated the space, and by the time each strand had connected with the beam of magic shooting up from the boulder, the humid air seemed to hum with power, making it even thicker and heavier than usual.

“What are they all doing?” Merletta whispered.

“They’re accessing the memories,” Heath told her in a murmur. “I have to touch the boulder to do it, but that’s not necessary for them. Come on.” Still gripping her hand, he moved toward the rock, placing his palm flat against it.

Instantly, he was once more assailed by memories not his own. The mind that had formed them was unlike his, and much of the draconic impressions were beyond his ability to decipher. He let those details go, focusing instead on the physical realities recorded.

“It’s not what I thought,” he murmured to Merletta, as months and years and decades seemed to flash before his eyes. “When I first came to Vazula, I hoped to find encouragement that it was possible for power-wielders and other humans to live in harmony. When it was abandoned, Reka and I feared that it demonstrated the opposite—that the type of conflict growing in Valoria had happened here as well, and they’d wiped each other out. But it was nothing like that.”

“What was it like?” Merletta pressed, fascinated. “What do you see?”

“I see…life,” said Heath simply. “In all its complexity. A whole culture grew, flourished, lived, and eventually passed away here. There was conflict, but that’s inevitable in any community. There was love and cooperation and fulfillment as well.”

“Were merpeople here?” Merletta asked. “Is this where we came from?”

Heath nodded. “It was just the dragons first. They’d fled…something on the mainland. The details aren’t recorded…whatever it was falls outside the scope of these memories. I don’t think they intended to stay so long—I don’t know how to explain it, but the flavor of the memory is one of movement, of a journey. They were seeking a new home, I think. But then humans arrived, a motley collection from both the North and South Lands who trickled in for various reasons. This place isn’t big enough for the dragons to sequester themselves away like they do in Valoria and Kyona. So they interacted with the humans…formed a bond, I think.”

“And the merpeople?” Merletta was clearly nervous, afraid the memory wouldn’t contain enough detail to satisfy the dragons.

“There were no merpeople then,” Heath said simply. “Only people. They formed their own kingdom—the kingdom of Vazula. There was a line of kings and everything. It was a small colony of dragons, but they respected the royals, as dragons seem to do.”

His eyes flicked to Reka, thinking of his frequent disparaging remarks about King Matlock. The younger dragon was something of an anomaly in that area, although Heath agreed with his friend that the Valorian king had brought the censure on himself.

“There was one king who had two sons, and his heart was torn because he wanted to leave his kingdom to both. The humans had been on Vazula for many generations now, and both princes loved it fiercely. One knew every inch of the island, the other every inch of the surrounding waters. The humans had begun to absorb dragon magic by this time, as happened to my grandmother and her twin. One of the princes showed such signs—the one who loved the water. The other did not.”

Heath paused, and he could feel Merletta’s impatience beside him.

“The dragons made the king an offer,” Heath went on. “They believed that if they poured their own power into channeling the magic some of the humans were absorbing, they could shape it, could actually determine in what form it would be received. They offered the king to give his magic-susceptible son the ability to transform, so that he could survive underwater and create a kingdom for himself there. The same gift would be given to all the humans who showed signs of taking on the magic, to create a second populace. There would be no other lingering effects of the magic he was absorbing, but that capacity would belong to them and their bloodlines forever.”

“Did they accept?” Merletta whispered, clearly spellbound.

Heath nodded. “The king was concerned at first about the safety of his underwater son. But the dragons offered to construct a magical barrier around the location of his choice, to keep out predators and other dangerous creatures. With that understanding, the king accepted.”

“So that’s it,” Merletta breathed. “That’s where my kind came from.”

Heath nodded again. “It’s just as we thought. Forfeited magic had nothing to do with it. The dragons didn’t relinquish their magic and die. They just used it to help give form to the magic already being carried by the humans.”

“I didn’t know that was possible,” Merletta said.

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