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rallis-fatalis · 10 months

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The Price of Freedom - Chapter 5

Pikkupstix and Astrath stood alone in a field far from Taverley, far from any easily demolishable building. By the summoning master’s side was his familiar, a large winged antlered rabbit which Astrath learned was called a wolpertinger. In Astrath’s claws was a test to see if they were ready for the next tier of beast summoning, the pouch of a giant minotaur.

“Are you ready?” Pikkupstix asked.

Astrath nodded and opened the pouch. The light that poured forth was far larger than any before, the shape taking form towering over the dragon. A minotaur plated in bronze, wielding a huge axe of the same metal, burst from the light and roared at Astrath, weapon drawn. The dragon roared back, wings flared to look as big as possible.

The minotaur heaved the axe in the air, aimed directly at the dragon. But Astrath did not budge. Instead they roared louder, flames now wisping from their mouth. The minotaur slammed the axe down, just a hair away from the dragon, carving a deep gash into the earth. Again, Astrath showed no fear, glaring at the beast before them. With all their strength, Astrath grabbed the axe, heaved it from the dirt, and tossed the weapon away. Pikkupstix couldn’t hide their look of shock; that dragon was strong!

Astrath took a few steps closer to the minotaur until their noses were almost touching, two furious pairs of eyes locked onto each other. A snorting match of wills later, and the summoned beast conceded, bending a knee to the dragon. Astrath gave the minotaur a grunt of approval.

“You may dismiss it now,” said Pikkupstix.

With a thought, the minotaur vanished, returning to whatever plane it hailed from.

“Well! I must say that was definitely the most unique way I’ve seen someone tame a minotaur. And it usually takes the apprentices a few tries to get them to stop cowering in their shoes. I’m very impressed. Congratulations, Astrath, you are ready to move on.”

The dragon could barely hold back their desire to jump for joy. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they reached the ability to summon titans or other such great beasts and have a tool in their arsenal the Krawleys would never have a chance to stand up against.

“We’ll have you train with your bronze minotaur for a while before moving on to the iron subspecies. Let you get a handle on how their kind acts and moves and all that. That will be all for today; I’ll prepare the ingredients for more pouches for you on the morrow.”

“Thank you, Pikkupstix,” Astrath bowed. And with that, the two went their separate ways to continue the day.

Astrath was beyond excited to share the news of their progress with Silenthe. The druid congratulated them and sat them down for some tea.

“You learn faster than any apprentice I’ve ever seen!” the druid complimented. “Though, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you so keen on learning this skill so quickly? Many apprentices like to take their time and bond with each familiar they summon, knowing they will be lifelong partners should they summon the creature again.”

Astrath couldn’t possibly tell him they were planning to use this power for revenge. “I suppose I just want to see as many different creatures as I possibly can,” they lied. “Each beast is so unique and fascinating and I want to see them all.”

“I can appreciate that,” Silenthe chuckled. “They are indeed unique. It’s like being able to summon a magical zoo at your fingertips!”

The screech of a chair sliding across wood interrupted their conversation. Astrath slammed the teacup down with such force it chipped the plate beneath it. Smoke rose from their nostrils and a look of anger burned in their purple eyes. Silenthe froze in shock, nervously clutching their own cup.

Astrath shakily calmed themself with a huff and dismissed themselves with a strained ‘excuse me,’ storming out of the house without a moment for debate and leaving the druid to wonder in silence just what they had said to enrage their guest.

Their anger took them to the entrance to Taverley Dungeon. Once the red cleared from their vision, Astrath found it amusing they had instinctively gone back to their own kind. No matter what, a fellow dragon would understand them far better than a human ever could. They descended into the dungeon and entered the blue dragons’ domain.

The community of blue dragons were surprised to see the black dragon again, but the surprise wasn’t an unpleasant one. Astrath had no plans or conversation to strike, so they just sat around, enjoying being in the presence of other dragons, and assisting with anything they could. They even played with some of the youngsters, understanding why Rojaw hadn’t wanted to leave last time.

Some time must have passed as soon some of the dragons were leaving the den to hunt for food. They offered Astrath to join them, to which the dragon agreed, never having seen their own kind hunt before. Three dragons led Astrath deeper into the caves, down a path the black dragon hadn’t explored yet. Astrath could hear all kinds of new sounds, from the grunts of giants to the skittering of scorpions and more.

The blue dragons stopped at a bend in the cavern tunnels, rocky croppings large enough to obscure even a beast as large as an adult dragon, and waited to spot their prey. Astrath watched silently and closely. Up ahead were a group of very small humans plated in black and red armor; dwarves, the dragons told Astrath. The three blue dragons leapt from their hiding spot and made swift work of the group, taking five corpses for lunch.

Next, they went even farther, into a den of giants. Though this battle was more difficult than crushing a few dwarves underfoot, the giants stood no chance against their raw dragonfire without protection. They dragged home two for the adults to feast upon. Astrath was in awe over how easily the dragons could hunt and kill without so much as taking a scratch from monsters as big as giants. How on Gielinor did the Krawleys manage to capture so many?!

Astrath joined the dragons for lunch, though they didn’t eat anything. Dwarf and giant were not things they wished to introduce to their palate. As the dragons stripped the dwarves of their mangled armor and tossed it aside, Astrath gave the bent metal a look over for anything of interest. Emblazoned on one of the chestplates was a bright red symbol like the horns of a demon.

‘I’ve seen this before,’ Astrath thought. “Sorry to disturb you while you eat,” they addressed the dragons, “but do you know what this is?” They pointed to the red symbol.

The dragons grumbled noncommittally. It was just some colors to them, nothing of significance. That answer was not satisfying enough for Astrath.

“Can I take this with me?” they asked. The dragons snorted. They didn’t care; armor wasn’t edible or useful. Astrath thanked them anyway. They slammed their swords into the plate until only a small piece with the red symbol remained, far easier to carry than an entire platebody. Hopefully someone in Taverley could provide answers.

__________________________________________________________________________

They hadn’t realized just how long they were in the dungeon with the dragons until they emerged aboveground. The sun had set quite a distance, casting everything in an orange glow. Astrath had stormed off for nearly four hours; hopefully they hadn’t worried their host.

As Astrath opened the door to Silenthe’s house, Rojaw squealed and leapt at the dragon. Astrath growled with a smile and caught the fire drakeling. The drake rubbed his face against the dragon with a cheery chirp.

Astrath could hear Silenthe hurry downstairs at the noise. The dragon came in and shut the door behind them, ready for a reprimanding for having run off and breaking his host’s things. They let go of Rojaw and hung their head in shame as the druid hurried into the room.

“Astrath! Welcome back! I was getting a tad worried; no one knew where you had gone.”

“I apologize for running off and breaking your tea saucer. I was acting childish. I will accept any punishment you see fit to give.”

“P-Punishment?” Silenthe stuttered. “For what? Goodness Astrath, I’m not going to punish you for something I said. I wanted to apologize for saying something that could set you off in such a way, though I’m still unsure what I said, to be honest. But I’m sorry, it was never my intention to make you feel so uncomfortable you felt the need to flee my residence.”

The dragon looked at him oddly. “Even still, I broke something of yours. Surely there is a punishment for my actions.”

“Oh nonsense,” the druid waved. “It was an accident. Like I haven’t broken a dish or two. Though of course I would appreciate some more care around my tea set next time.”

Astrath slowly blinked at the man. They wouldn’t be hurt or scolded or starved? If Astrath had done the same thing to Sirius, or gods forbid Franz, they would have been beaten and left without food for days to teach them a lesson.

“Is everything alright, Astrath?”

The dragon shook the thoughts from their head. “It’s… nothing. I will make up for my actions, however. Please, do not hesitate to let me know what I can do.”

“Well if you really want to do something…” Silenthe thought for a moment. “How about you simply tell me what I said wrong? That way I won’t say it again.”

Silenthe motioned for the dragon to take a seat at the table where the druid was already pouring glasses of water. Astrath couldn’t help but find the request odd, phrased as if the man had done something wrong and not themself, but complied. If this was what Silenthe wanted as repayment…

“Your mention of this skill I’m learning being like a… zoo.” Astrath hissed the word. “It set something off. I didn’t want to think for a moment what I am dedicating my time to could be interpreted as something similar to a prison for humanity to gawk at the inmates.”

“A prison?” Silenthe questioned. “I’m sorry, I don’t–.”

Astrath held up their hand to speak. “You know from before that I was in a rather unfortunate circumstance before coming here. The same is also true of Rojaw. We both come from a place where we were held prisoner as animals in a zoo. The rich paid large sums of money to visit my former masters’ menagerie, to see dragons and giants and demons and species so rare only a few of their kind were left in the world. I was an attraction in this zoo, one of the most notable, and my life was a living hell because of my skills and what I am. To me, to all of us creatures, a zoo is a life sentence in a prison from which we have no hope of escape.”

Silenthe was speechless, his face pale. “Great Guthix… I’m… I’m so sorry. I never meant my comment as something like that.”

“I know, and I apologize for letting my anger get the better of me.”

“No. You do not need to apologize. You have gone through much, far more than most people ever will in a lifetime. Thank you for telling me. I feel like I’m starting to understand you a bit better,” he smiled.

Astrath had to admit, it felt good venting like this and having someone also feel like it was wrong, to have their feelings justified, especially by a human. Every day that passed made the dragon wonder more if the rest of the world was closer to Taverley’s views than the Krawley manor’s. They hoped so.

“Then in the spirit of understanding things better,” Astrath trailed. They pulled out the small piece of platemail with the red horn symbol on it. “Do you know what this icon means?”

Silenthe frowned and glared at the symbol. “I do. Where did you find this?”

“I visited the dragons of Taverley Dungeon again. Some of the food they hunted had this on them.”

Silenthe grumbled. “Makes sense… That symbol is the icon of a god. Do you know much about the gods?”

“Not particularly,” Astrath admitted. “That was something deemed not necessary for me to know.”

“Hmm. Well across Gielinor there are followers to many different gods. Western gods, eastern gods, desert gods, major and minor gods, and so on. Here in Taverley, we worship the god of balance and nature, Guthix. To the south of here in Falador, and on most of the mainland, you’ll find people worship the god of order, Saradomin. But this,” he tapped the symbol, “is the symbol for the god of chaos and destruction, Zamorak.

That name burned itself into Astrath’s memory. They would not forget that name. “The people who kept me captive, I had heard them say the name Saradomin a few times. It was mostly in the company of others and even then very rarely was it spoken. What symbol does that god hold?”

“A four-pointed star. It looks like this.” Silenthe drew the star on a nearby napkin. “You’ll find the star colored white, gold, or blue.”

Astrath traced a finger over the star, thinking. “What are these people like, the ones who follow Saradomin and Zamorak?”

“Well, that’s a very general question,” Silenthe said and leaned back in his chair. “You can’t generalize an entire group of people, as there will always be extremists on both ends of the spectrum. But as a rule I suppose Saradominists are very devout and always strive to uphold the peace and protect the light, while Zamorakians are very chaotic and violent, always looking for power no matter the cost. They’re not as mindlessly destructive as Bandosians, mind you, but their cunning is what makes them more fearsome.”

“Hah, so I can consider these Zamorakians to be evil,” Astrath concluded.

“I wouldn’t generalize it so–.”

“The people who held me prisoner followed this symbol and its god.”

Silenthe stopped what he was saying, instead replying with a quiet ‘oh.’

“They would tell others who asked they followed Saradomin,” Astrath said. “When I dared to ask who that was, I was told not to say the name. Years ago, when I was tasked with cleaning the dining room, I nearly broke a candle sconce. But nearly breaking it opened something in the fireplace, something I only managed a glimpse of before Sirius hid it again. It was that symbol, the icon of Zamorak, gilded and bloodstained. I will never forget it, one of the only secrets I ever held against my captors.”

“It is good you escaped them then,” Sirius asserted. “The horrors they inflict on others…” The druid trailed off, leaving Astrath with the feeling he knew more than he let on.

“Anyway, I’m glad I could inform you. If you would ever like to learn more about this subject, I have a few books about the gods.”

Astrath perked up and immediately deflated. “I… can’t read.”

“You can’t?” Silenthe said incredulously. “But you’re so well-spoken!”

“Yes, well, my former masters only saw the need to teach me proper speech, not reading or writing.”

“Let us change that then!” Silenthe cheered. “My closest friend is a teacher in Varrock and I was the one who helped him study for all of his tests and edited his papers. I would be more than happy to teach you, and I can pass along word to perhaps enroll you in his classes some day.”

Astrath’s eyes sparkled. “I would truly appreciate that. Thank you.”

“Of course,” the druid smiled. “We’ll start tomorrow. Perhaps as a nice change of pace after your summoning practice?”

“I look forward to it,” the dragon smiled in kind.

#rs3 #runescape #my writes #oc tag

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