Bryan Davis - Eye of the Oracle

The king quickened his pace and caught up. “The others?”

“I will explain soon enough.” A strange glow from deeper in the cave illumined the path, dimly at first, but ever more brightly as he proceeded. They passed together under a high archway and into an interior chamber. In the very center, a shimmering, inverted funnel of pure light pointed toward the cave’s ceiling, its circular base resting a few inches from the rocky floor.

Within the swirl, a dazzling array of flashing glitters flew like buzzing bees from one side to the other, bouncing and dancing until they struck the huge, heaving body at the center.

The king drew closer. “Master Merlin, am I beholding a holy sight or an accursed demon? I don’t know whether to bare my head and feet in reverence or pluck out my eyes in shame.”

Merlin placed a strong hand on the king’s shoulder. “Perhaps you should save your artful speech for your diplomatic meetings. It isn’t necessary in the company of dragons.” He waved his hand at the cone. “This light is neither accursed nor holy; it’s a natural process called regeneracy. This is how a dragon prefers to sleep. You see, a dragon’s scales and eyes breathe the light as you and I breathe the air. He absorbs energy and expels the light he doesn’t need. If a dragon were subjected to darkness for a long period of time, he would be overcome by weakness. Without at least a candle to feed his body, he would eventually die.”

Merlin set his bag down, approached the glowing dragon, and stretched out his hands over the cone. “At night he rests on a bed of silver and gold, and the power of the day flows into his bed. The energy grows into a shroud of luminescence around his body, and he reabsorbs the light as it passes over his scales.” He pointed at the base of the dragon’s bed and moved his finger around as if stirring. “Intermixed in the precious metal pieces are polished gems. They reflect the light, making it rebound within the shroud, so that more of the light strikes his body.”

The king took a step closer. “You say that he is asleep?”

Clefspeare snorted and stretched out his leg. The king placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but Merlin jumped back and grasped Arthur’s forearm. “You have nothing to fear, but if you think or act aggressively, he is likely to sense danger.”

Arthur returned the grasp but kept watching the dragon. “When will he awaken?”

“That’s unpredictable. I don’t understand the process completely, but the light eventually fades, and the dragon awakes.”

“Is he vulnerable to attack while he sleeps?”

“Not likely. Many have come upon dragons in their lairs, but a dragon can sense danger and always awakens. Since I am his friend, and you have come as his new, albeit suspicious ally, Clefspeare senses none. But I must awaken him now.”

Merlin unfastened a string from around his neck and used it to pull a strangely shaped object from beneath his vest, a pendant stone dangling at the end of the string, small enough for his fingers to fully envelop.

“This is a candlestone, a kind of anti-prism,” he explained. “You see, a normal prism bends light and splits the colors. This stone does the opposite. It arrests fractured light and straightens it out. The light passes into it as excited energy and is dispelled as a simple beam. If I place it at the base of Clefspeare’s shroud, it will interrupt the circuit and disperse his shield. It also interrupts a dragon’s photo-respiration, and therefore his energy flow. It can actually absorb light, and with it the life force of his body.”

“Then could it be used as a weapon against dragons?”

“Most definitely. I wear it around my neck for defense against the evil, fallen dragons. One of my ancestors found it in Shinar after the destruction of Nimrod’s tower, and it was passed down to me through the centuries. I believe I am the only one alive who knows how to use it, but after today it will matter no more.”

Merlin placed the stone on the ground and slid it into the base of the shroud. Instantly the dancing light radiated toward the candlestone, and a brilliant, steady beam poured forth from its opposite side. The shroud vanished, and the candlestone glowed with an eerie, flat light.

After a few seconds, the sleeping dragon stirred. With a great stretch and a mighty yawn, Clefspeare rose to his haunches, his enormous tail acting as a balance. Smoke and sparks belched from his open mouth. The king drew back and once again gripped the hilt of his sword.

Clefspeare spied his two visitors. His deep gravelly voice erupted. “Master Merlin! I have been expecting you, though I did not expect to see the Sovereign.” Clefspeare gave him a clumsy bow and nearly fell on his face, but with a flap of his wings, he righted himself. “Master Merlin, would you be so kind as to remove that accursed stone from my sight before I become violently ill?”

Merlin picked up the candlestone and covered it with both hands. “Are you sure the stone made you lose your balance, or are you still overcome by sleep?”

“I assure you that my eyes are clear. I recognized the king, did I not? Now please put that wicked jewel under a pile of rocks. Covering it with your hands does little to blunt its evil effects.”

Merlin walked to the cave’s edge, guided by a dim, flickering light. He found a flat rock and placed the candlestone underneath.

With a great snuff from his nostrils, Clefspeare blew a stream of flame at an iron stand on the wall, igniting a rag-topped torch. “Aaah! Now we have better light.” He looked back at Arthur and this time merely bowed his head. “Your Majesty, welcome to my humble abode.”

King Arthur bowed in return, much more gracefully than did the dragon, but his voice carried a slight tremble. “After fighting alongside you in the heat of battle, I am honored to visit the home of the greatest of the dragon warriors.”

Clefspeare nodded again. “Your words are overstated, yet still treasured.”

“How long has it been since the battle?” the king asked. “Three years?”

“Three years and six months, to be precise. Forty-two months of fleeing Devin and his band of slayers.”

Arthur drooped his head. “Yes, it took quite some time for Merlin to convince me of the truth. My apologies seem shallow in the wake of so many dead dragons.”

“Heartfelt apologies are always deep, and perhaps yours are not too late.” Clefspeare turned to Merlin. “Am I to understand that your presence signals the coming transformation?”

“Yes, Clefspeare.”

“How many are assembling?”

Merlin shook his head. “I’m not sure. The slayers have been busy, so very few of you remain, I’m afraid. Hartanna is gathering the dragons who still honor the memory of Makaidos.”

Clefspeare let out a long, spark-filled sigh. “The corrupted ones have been our downfall, Merlin, as you prophesied. A fallen dragon is the most detestable beast on Earth.”

“And who can know,” Merlin added, “whether corruption hides in the hearts of the remnant? Hartanna is wise, but she cannot always detect the seeds of darkness that spread evil shadows within. She has examined them to the best of her ability, but even a dragon’s senses can be fooled.”

“True enough.” Clefspeare blinked at Arthur. “And the king? What is his role?”

“We will need his help after we are finished. I can trust no other.”

“But will the other dragons trust the one who commissioned the slayers to eliminate our race?” Clefspeare turned on his eyebeams and aimed them at the king. “We know of his deeds, and we have seen his valor in battle, but how can we know his heart?”

King Arthur strode boldly forward and stood directly in front of Clefspeare. “How else can a man’s heart be known, or even a dragon’s, if not by his deeds? To me, you look very much like the dragon that murdered my brother and sister right outside the very walls of Camelot, the beast which Sir Devin slew only last week. Against my earlier judgments, I was persuaded by the wise prophet to come to your lair in order to help the race that stole the lives of my beloved siblings. He has recounted your many deeds, deeds that have been explained away by your enemies as mere selfish desire for treasure. I learned why you accept the gifts of the wealthy after you do your mighty works. I also know of the appearance of these treasures in the homes of the poor, benefiting widows and orphans who now have good food on their tables and warm clothes on their backs. Your deeds have set you and your friends apart from the evil dragons, Clefspeare, and I have come to grant Merlin’s request and aid you in your time of need.”