Free A Dragon Born by Jordan Baker

had surmised from the books the god had already searched. He had compared the records his mage priests had made of the confiscated books with the ledgers at the library and though they matched, he had spent much time in the library and knew that books were missing. All of them pertained to the third age, the time when the gods still walked in the world, an age that had ended when the gods departed the world for a heavenly realm that some called Etherium, a place to which the priesthood had opened a portal, allowing their god to return. Dakar knew of the existence of such a place from his own studies as a young mage, and he remembered mention of it in numerous books in the library at Blue Island, books that he knew would have copies in the Academy library, but he could no longer find any of them. Someone had quietly removed every reference to the third age and the heavenly realm of the gods, and he wanted to know why.
    Dakar made his way to the temple square where the enormous structure the priesthood had built towered over the aging temples of the old gods and he stopped outside the temple of the god, Kroma. It had occurred to him, when the god had first appeared, fusing with the body and mind of Cerric, that all this time the priesthood had been working to glorify a god they believed to be the one and true deity, which was what the book had told them, or at least how they had interpreted its messages.
    In their earnest belief that this was the truth, the priesthood of mages had actively discouraged worship of the old gods, suggesting for years to the people they encountered in their travels that the old gods had abandoned the world, then, after that idea had taken hold, promoting the idea that the old gods might have never existed at all. Dakar himself had come to believe the truth of this, feeling the power of his connection to the Book of One, the link to the god he had worshiped and who now walked in the world, but the god had revealed himself to be one of the old gods, which created a conflict for the mage. If the one god was really the old god, Kroma, then what of the other gods? Did they too exist?
    *****
     
    "You've got some nerve, sailing straight into the pirate's lair," Lanos yelled as the crew of the Al-Andor threw lines to the many pirates that had gathered along the harbor docks of Meer Island when the ship had appeared.
    The pirates tied off the ropes and the crew of the ship hauled at capstans, pulling the lines tight and slowly moving the ship closer to the dock. Sten leaned on the rail of the ship and wondered how much trouble he and his crew might be in, for the man who stood on the raise portion of the docks, along with the pirate men and women who accompanied him, looked to be well armed and none too pleased to see an Aghlar ship coming to port off at their dock.
    "You're Lanos-Meer?" Sten asked.
    "Aye, that's me," Lanos replied. "And what fool might you be?"
    "The name's Sten, first mate of the Al-Andor."
    "First mate? And where's your captain? Why does he not speak for the ship?"
    "He's back at Aghlar, we sailed without him."
    "A mutiny then?" Lanos was intrigued. Aghlar ship would be a welcome addition to the Meer pirate armada.
    "Nay," Sten told him. "Captain Carlis is still our captain. We're just on an errand for the Lady."
    "And which lady would that be?" Lanos asked.
    "You can ask her yourself," Sten said, then he hollered to a few of his crew to extend the gangplank, then he turned to Ehlena. "Are you sure about this? They're pirates, these people of Meer Island, and they've been our enemies for many years."
    "I will be fine, Sten," she said. "The Lady is with me."
    Sten took a deep breath shrugged, for even though his thoughts told him that it was pure folly for the young girl to walk down the plank into the crowd of pirates, for some reason he knew she would not be harmed. Still, there was some wisdom in having some protection.
    "Let me come with you," he said. "Take an escort, just in