Teach Him A Lesson

(part 2 of my new serial inspired by the Smogust Story Hoard Writing Challenge)

If you’re new to The Môrdreigiau Chronicles, welcome! You might find the Glossary helpful for some of these words. Colons indicate the sea dragon’s thought communications.

Previously, Queen Heledd of the Chosen Court has gone missing whilst on a picnic with a group of friends. The prophet Llallogan goes to the Sage, the prophet of the former Chosen Court, for advice, while Geraint (the Sword) organises the search parties.

Read Part 1 / All Parts of “They Were Shining“

The Sage didn’t know. :The Chosen Court bond will tell you if she’s in danger. It doesn’t sound like she is.:

Llallogan frowned at Difyr’s lack of concern. :If we didn’t have the bond, we’d think she would be in trouble, for none of the girls have returned from the picnic.:

Difyr sighed. :For someone who doesn’t like her, you seem very concerned.:

Llallogan fixed her with a sharp look. :She’s the monarch, Sage.:

:Seek the Lady, young prophet. She no longer speaks to me.:

Llallogan left Difyr’s chambers and headed for the palace’s hot springs cavern, located nearby. He settled on the sunken circular benches in the centre of the cavern, super-heated water rising like steam from the floor.

His head spun, for he’d not allowed time to acclimatise to the sharp shift in temperature. He unfastened his jade green robe, uncomfortably hot, letting the sides fall away. The boiling water scalded his golden skin.

:Lady, Lady,: he prayed. :I know this is not how it works but my monarch is missing. Is she or the caer in danger?:

Nothing.

As usual.

Llallogan sagged. What had he expected? He’d been plagued with dreams he couldn’t remember, not even nonsensical fragments, not a single prophecy among them. He’d done everything Difyr told him to do and nothing … What was the point of being the prophet? Had the Sage made a mistake in naming him as her successor?

He let the heat sink into his limbs and slipped into slumber.

He dreamed.

He stood outside the giant kelp forest far outside the caer. For generations, prophets had warned the dreigiau môr away from this location, for monsters lurked within.

The massive fronds were dark green upon dark green, impenetrable even with the light glowing from his bioluminescence. A light flashed.

Llallogan rapidly blinked, clearing his vision. A pale blue light winked deep, deep within the mass of kelp. For all he knew, this forest spanned the ocean floor for days.

Another light winked into existence, closer to the forest’s edge, and then a third.

The seventh light hung like a massive globe from one of the fronds on the forest’s edge and sank to the ground. The opaque sphere dissolved, revealing a small cherubic boy with blond curls.

:Why are you not in draig môr form?: Llallogan asked him.

:Because I am not a dragon, but a godling,: the child replied crisply into the draig môr’s mind. :I have what you seek.:

Being in his sea dragon form, Llallogan sank to the floor, his shortened snout a handspan from the toddler. :What do you know?:

:Enough.: The godling’s eyes flared to a pale ice blue, the same colour as the lights within. :Follow me, you’ll see.: He struggled to his feet and staggered into the kelp forest on unsteady feet.

:This is a dream,: Llallgon thought to himself. :I can safely follow.:

The prophet swam behind the boy, deeper and deeper into the kelp forest. His jade scales brushed the seaweed strands, becoming coated with a dark slime. The kelp bowed over them, concealing any hint of the sea above.

The toddler followed the hovering pale blue lights through the kelp forest.

:Do your parents know where you are?: Llallogan hazarded into the oppressive silence.

:They don’t care.: The godling waved a chubby hand. :Gods sire progeny all the time. They left me to suffer.:

Lllallogan examined the child. He didn’t look malnourished or mistreated. He kept such thoughts to himself though.

More and more pale blue lights winked into being. It took a moment for Llallogan to realise that he saw not individual lights but a tower, rising out of the kelp forest floor.

Craning his neck upwards, he saw slender serpentine figures swimming in curlicues around what he assumed was the tower’s tip, for a blinding pale blue light obscured the structure from view.

He felt a tug on the Chosen Court bond, spotted the crimson scaled Heledd amongst the dreigiau môr dancers. Along the bond she radiated the same euphoria he had felt before, tempered by an inexpressible yearning. What did she wish for?

Llallogan drifted upwards, drawn by Heledd’s grace, her beauty …

He shook his head. No. He did not feel that way about his monarch. Ew.

He’d already started ascending towards here. He looked down. The toddler god had gone. From the base of the tower, he saw black inky slime spread out across the bony white sand. The stain crept upwards along the white stonework. Somehow, Llallogan knew that no good would come if the tower became overwhelmed with that nasty stuff. Already it burned on his own scales.

The whole kelp forest had become infected. He’d become infected….

He woke with a gasp and amidst the hot spring’s white mist he saw swirls of black.

The dream. He remembered every part of it. He thanked the Lady and left the springs, tying his robe and calling out to Geraint.

This is a response to the Smogust Story Hoard writing challenge by Bradley Ramsey and The Circus Dragon for the month of August. And yes, as it often happens with these month long challenges (often being precisely once before), it’s a serial.

Gold stars if you figured out the connection to Obsidian and Flame. Also, this is the same giant kelp forest that Llyr visited centuries later as a young lad searching for Maeve.

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All Parts of “They Were Shining“