Page 28 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
Of course I knew. That was exactlywhyI'd hidden them. My parents were faithful, and they had raised me in their faith. Even if I didn't follow all their beliefs, I knew what they entailed. For one, that all dragons with abilities such as mine had been chosen by the gods and needed to put their powers into public service.
"These powers are of no use," I tried to explain to my mother.
"No, don't say that! Don't you know what this means? You're going to be a spiritual leader, Lowen! I'm so proud of you!"
A spiritual leader, yeah. Because that was exactly what I'd always wanted to be. "I'm a drummer, Mom."
She looked at me as if my band was still just a hobby. As if Zed, Finn and I hadn't just been touring the mainland. "You know I've always supported you in everything you do, but there's more important things than banging wood sticks on metal. Surely you must see that." The last part she said in her 'haven't I taught you better' voice that all mothers possessed.
"I'm sorry, Mom, but living at the shrine..." I shook my head. "That's not me."
"But it could be! You only have to give it a try. I know you've been blessed with these powers for a reason."
I smiled grimly at her. "You really think they want someone who was born in sin?" After all, the only reason I had these powers was because of who my biological mother was—someone who was never supposed to procreate in the first place.
"I'm sure they do." My mother gave me a warm smile, but I could tell it was forced. I could pick up on her emotions after all. Life at the shrine wasn't what she had wanted for me either, no matter what she said. She was making herself say these things to stay true to her faith. "Actually," she continued, "the reason I brought this up at all is that your biological mother would like to speak to you." Her fear spiked as she said this. After a moment, I recognized why. She wasn't scared of what life at the shrine might hold for me so much as she was scared of losing her son to hisoriginalfamily.
How silly.
I reached out to take her hand. "You know you'll always be my mom, right?"
"You could read what I was thinking?" Her eyes searched my face.
"You're scared."
"I’m concerned," she corrected me. "But I have faith, and you know what that means."
"That everything will be all right because the Gods are watching over us." She'd told me this often enough.
My mother squeezed my hand. "Will you go to the shrine and talk to the high priestess? Please? Just talk to her."
How could I say no when my mother was pleading with me like that? "I'll talk to her. But I'm not promising any more than that."
I had to admit, I was a little bit curious too. What sort of person was the high priestess? Had I inherited anything but my powers from her? A short conversation probably wouldn’t let me find out all that I needed to know, but it would be a start.
I only hoped that I wasn't making the wrong decision.
12
Lowen
The shrinewhere the high priestess resided was located on the foot of the volcano—on the northern most side, facing away from the town as if to make a statement. I flew there only a few hours after that conversation with my mother—might as well get it over with. I landed in front of the building, studying it for a moment. The blue flames burning on the altars, kept alive all year, the polished gold statue of the sun goddess next to the entrance… How often had my mother brought me here to worship as a child? Even now that I was an adult, I accompanied her every now and then. I didn't believe the way she did, but I had always respected my mother's faith.
Now that I knew the high priestess had given birth to me, though... the whole place looked kind of different. Thevibewas different. This had always been a place of worship, of faith, of tradition to me. Now the way the blue flames of the torches leading up to the entrance danced in the wind seemed almost like mockery. Even the smell of smoke that always hung about this shrine seemed sharper than usual. More biting.
Why did the Gods who were supposed to be kind to us make the high priestess give up her child?
Before I could reach an answer, the door to the shrine opened. I recognized the person who stepped out by the flowing red robes she wore—and by the pure silver aura that enveloped her. The high priestess.
She raised an elegant eyebrow at me now. "I knew you would come."
"Only because my mother asked me to," Lowen said. "The woman who raised me. Not you."
The high priestess' face showed no expression. "I understand. We should adjourn to my chambers to talk." For only a second, her eyes wandered around the complex. "This is not a conversation to have in public."
"Okay. Whatever you want." Lowen eyed the shrine in front of him. He couldn't help that feeling of suspicion that nagged at the back of his mind. Whatever he was going to hear in there, it wasn't going to be good.
"Come, then." The high priestess turned and walked inside. I followed a few steps behind. I'd had no idea how big this building really was, how deep it went into the mountain. I couldn't hide my fascination as we walked, my mouth hanging slightly open no matter what I did.
