Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [75]
“Aelon is all powerful!” Raegar repeated angrily. He looked to Xydis for confirmation, and when Xydis did not respond, Raegar faltered. “Isn’t he?”
Xydis remained silent.
He knows the truth, thought Treia. He doesn’t want to admit it. The truth is that these wandering gods such as Aelon and the Gods of Raj are trying to take over this world because they lack the power to create worlds of their own.
Xydis took out his frustration on Raegar. “You should have told me this bone was of such immense value!”
“I did not know, Priest-General,” Raegar said.
“He could not have known, Worshipful Sir,” said Treia, coming to her lover’s defense. “Not many of the Vindrasi know the truth about the Vektan dragons. One person knows the secret to the ritual used to summon the dragons into being. That person is the Kai Priestess. She keeps her secret until she passes it on to her successor when she is on her deathbed. At that time, she tells the new Kai Priestess the ritual.”
Xydis regarded her intently. “Where is this Kai Priestess now?”
“She is dead, Worshipful Sir. She died before she could tell anyone the secret of the ritual.”
Xydis eyed her shrewdly. “Then how do you know so much about the Vektan dragons?”
“Draya talked to the Goddess Vindrash,” said Treia. “They had a very close relationship. She took all her problems to the goddess, talked to her incessantly. And I was there with her, a novice, for servant.”
Treia did not conceal the bitterness in her voice. Even after all these years, she remembered the bone-numbing cold, the mind-numbing boredom.
“I was forced to wait on the Kai Priestess, forced to listen to her discussions. I had to kneel beside her on the floor, shivering, my knees bruised and aching. I heard everything she said. She talked often of the Vektan Five; of the great dragon, Ilyria; of the power of creation. She wanted to know if there was some way to use this power to ease the suffering of our people.”
“And you heard all this,” said Xydis. “Even though it was supposed to be secret.”
“I was just a child,” Treia said, shrugging. “Draya probably thought I wouldn’t understand. But I did understand. I often imagined, as I knelt there on the hard floor, that I was the Kai Priestess and I had control of one of the Vektan dragons. The first thing I would have done was order it to kill Draya.”
Raegar coughed and frowned. Treia thought she had perhaps gone too far and she cast a nervous glance at the Priest-General. He was gazing intently at the spiritbone and seemed not to have heard.
“You say there are five of these dragons and each had its own spiritbone,” Xydis said abruptly. “We have one. Where are the other four?”
“I know where to find two of them,” said Treia. “You have one. The ogres have another.”
“Ogres!” Xydis exclaimed, aghast.
“Blessed Aelon!” Raegar said in a low tone. “I had forgotten about that. This is a calamity.”
Xydis stared intently at Treia. “You are saying, Priestess, that the ogres have one of the Vektan bones?”
“Yes,” she said. “They stole the bone . . . It is a long story. . . .”
“The ogres worship our foes, the Gods of Raj. And now the ogres have one of these powerful dragons in their possession.” Xydis glanced at Raegar. “You are thinking what I am thinking.”
“Now we know the reason why the ogre army is sailing to invade Sinaria,” Raegar said grimly.
Treia was appalled. “Ogres? Coming to Sinaria?”
“We have been wondering why the ogres would think they are powerful enough to attack Sinaria,” Xydis explained. “Now we know. They have a Vektan dragon.”
“They are coming here?” Treia asked. “How do you know?”
“We have spies in the ogre kingdom,” Xydis said. “They reported to the Watchers that the ogre fleet set sail over a fortnight ago. There was great celebration. Their shamans spoke openly of attacking Sinaria, made sacrifices to their gods.”
Xydis held his hand over the spiritbone, as he might have held his hand over a fire to warm himself.
“Would the two Vektan dragons fight