Lies and Truth

Note: If you haven’t read ‘Night and Day Difference’ yet, please go do that first. :)

-Morning Glory-

“They did what?”

Morning Glory’s father, King Sol, roared loud enough to make the Light dragon palace’s crystal walls tremble. The various courtiers and servants that had lingered in the Great Room to eavesdrop scurried out.

Morning Glory knew Sol had heard her the first time, but she repeated herself anyway. “I said, the Peacekeepers wouldn’t agree to even one condition for our tribe to join their ranks.”

It was true, in quite a literal sense. The condition just hadn’t been what her father planned it to be.

She flicked her tail. “There were also certain dragons who refused to show me the respect I deserve. When I complained about it, King Inferno refused to punish them.”

Sol’s eyes blazed luminous gold, a sign of his royal rage. “The insolence! Does he think that his movement will continue to survive after insulting you in such a manner? If they act in such a way, there will be consequences. Oh, yes, there will be consequences.”

Morning Glory had seen her father worked up in such a rage in the past, although the source of his consternation was not usually such a twisted version of the truth. She was, to be honest, rather pleased with how she had told the story. No one would contradict it, either. Her escort had received a large bribe and several threats to insure they kept their snouts shut.

“What sort of consequences do you think would be fitting?” Morning Glory asked her father as he sat silently upon the gold-embellished crystal dias.

He came out of his secluded thoughts and replied with a snarling voice. “A battle is the proper answer to such disrespect. You are dismissed.”

Morning Glory sauntered out of the palace’s Great Room and silently made her way to her bedroom.

That place was one of the most opulent rooms in the palace. A mirror adorned every wall of the octagonal room, and rich carpets woven from sun-tree bark and Light dragon magic overspread the floor. A sleeping dias filled the center of the room, with blankets and pillows made of the same material as the carpets.

The room was in a tower with translucent crystal walls. Every morning, the rays of the sun hit them just right, filling the room with a glory of sparkling light.

It wasn’t the morning at the moment. It was the evening, Morning Glory’s least favorite time, when the sun retreated from the sky like some scared thing, filling the world with endless darkness broken only by the cold, pathetic light of the moon and stars. It was the time when, after one last show of color in the sky and golden light filled the air, a colorless pall choked Dranix.

Morning Glory inspected herself in one of her mirrors and then settled down on the dias. She curled up lightly and rested her chin on the soft pillows, her tail draping over the edge of her sleeping space.

As she rested, a satisfied sleep overtook her.

-Datura-

Blood. Blood blood blood. Blood of every color awash in battle. Seas of blood. Oceans of blood.

Datura started violently out of her slumber.

Had it been one of her prophetic dreams, or was it an ordinary nightmare? She shuddered as she recalled it. In it, Light dragons were slaughtering dragons of every color, and were dying in droves in return.

She closed her eyes, cringing as an image from her dream walloped her before fading into darkness. She probed out with her thoughts to check the time of day.

It was in the evening, the velvet curtains of the night just beginning to close on the world. With that knowledge, Datura stood up and stretched thoroughly, her form similar to a cat’s.

She sat down in front of her sleeping dias, a smooth stone pedestal plated with highly reflective silver . She had no desire to see the scene from her nightmare again, but she had to ensure that it wasn’t actually from the future.

“Let the future come alive, be joined to the present and to my mind.” she chanted in a low voice. “Show the future now to me, not things as they are but as they will be.”

Datura barely felt the light tug on her power as a small portion of it left her. The silver dias changed color and showed the image of a moonlit sky for a moment before swirling into a moving picture—the image of a deadly battle taking place. A huge wing of Light dragons fought the Peacekeepers within the Fire dragon territory. The ground was entirely discolored with dragon blood. It was a battle worse than any Datura had ever seen.

She took a sharp breath and dug her claws into the floor, creating a nasty scraping sound against the stone. “From the future now I’ll flee, for there’s something else I’d like to see. Show me the present, not the past. Show me the reason this battle will come to pass.”

The battle scene swirled back into a night sky, and then swirled into its final picture, an image of a sleeping Morning Glory draped elegantly on a sleeping dias plumped high with pillows and blankets.

Datura hissed at the picture of the smug creature as it faded away into reflective silver.

Was Morning Glory’s irrational hatred of Datura the reason for the bloody fight? She couldn’t even comprehend why she herself was the target of such negative emotions. True, Datura had always disliked the white dragon’s haughty airs and constant preening, but she had been careful to keep that dislike under a veil of diplomacy. The only time she had ever shown her true feelings about the princess was when that dragon had gotten Datura kicked out of her only chance to participate in the Dawn and Dusk games, right before the final event.

Datura closed her eyes and thought. Was there any way to prevent this battle? And when would it happen?

She would have to tell Inferno first, and then she would spend the night hunting and pondering.

Datura got up and left her room, walking with long, quick strides. Inferno’s chambers were fairly close by. When she reached a huge door, she knocked on it with the side of her front left foot. Scales against the bronze created a quiet booming sound.

After a few minutes with no response, she knocked again. This time Inferno answered the door after a few seconds. He looked tiredly down at Datura.

“What is it?” he asked. “Did you have a vision?”

“Yes.” Datura put all of the emphasis that she could into the word. “It had to do with the Light dragons.”

Nervous energy suddenly straightened the Fire dragon king’s posture and brightened his eyes. He stepped aside, gesturing for her to come in.

She did so, cringing at the drastic influx of light that hit her eyes. She blinked several times and tried to avoid looking at the massive fireplaces that filled each corner of the rectangular room. She sat across from Inferno as he closed the door to his chamber and then focused on her.

Without prompting, she told him everything she saw and thought, completely and thoroughly, as well as the story of the Dawn and Dusk games. He sat silently through it all, though a growing distress became apparent through his entire body. When Datura finished, he was silent for a moment before speaking.

“Do you have any thoughts on how to prevent this fight?”

“Well, as a Peacekeeper, my first suggestion would be to try to get that alliance somehow, before they attack us. I don’t know how to do that, though.”

“What’s the time frame for this battle?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s soon.” Datura replied. “I think I’m going to go hunting. I need to think about this for a while.”

Inferno dipped his head. “Please do. I am quite interested to hear your thoughts about it when you come back.”

Datura nodded and left. She ran to the Great room and jumped through the entrance, out of the Fire dragon palace. She spread her ebon wings to their fullest extent and glided out of the Fire dragon territory, relieved when she left the smoky border and was able to see the moon. Its cool light filled her soul with soft energy.

She soared above Truce forest, her flight quieter than an owl’s wings. It was a beautiful night; not a single cloud obscured the great glittering dome above her head.

Datura spotted the movement of prey between the branches of a clump of crystalfruit trees and folded her wings into a dive, startling the unfortunate creature and killing it within a heartbeat. It was a night-roaming elk. She dragged it to the trunk of a crystalfruit tree and set it down carefully underneath a medium-sized crystalfruit the color of a harvest moon. Then she reached up and grabbed the crystalfruit, puncturing it with her claws.

Golden juice rained down on her catch from the newly burst fruit. Crystalfruits were similar to soft-shelled coconut, full of liquid on the inside. That juice had a certain magic to it, too.

Her ritual complete, Datura began to eat, letting the magic of the crystalfruit work its way into her. As she pondered about what to do to about the Light dragons, she felt her mind sharpen and clarify, setting the events of the last twenty-four hours in order.

The crystalfruit enchantment would only last for about five minutes. She needed to think fast.

What did she know about Morning Glory? She quickly set her thoughts on a few key points.

1.     She was haughty and had a delicate sense of pride.

2.     She took her station as princess for granted.

3.     She had a grudge on Datura.

4.     She got Datura disqualified from the Dawn and Dusk games shortly before the final event, the test of wits.

5.     She was angry enough at the Peacekeepers to lead a battle against them.

But why did she hate Datura? What had passed between them? Datura had no clue, and she wasn’t sure how she could find out without talking to Morning Glory herself.

Wait.

She could talk to Morning Glory herself.

It was a bad idea, she knew, but she had a strong and likely irrational feeling that if she could only discover why Morning Glory hated her, then she perhaps she could come up with a way to change her heart and prevent the battle.

Datura jumped past the treetops and back into the endless night sky, leaving the half-eaten carcass behind. If she waited even one more moment, she knew she would convince herself that her partially-baked plan was hopeless.

She took the shortest possible path to the Light dragon territory. As she soared through the air, she allowed herself to dissolve into shadow, intangible and nearly invisible in the night sky. She did not glide this time. She flew as fast as her inky wings would carry her, determined to reach the territory by dawn.

As the orange rays of morning began to prickle unpleasantly at her form, she crossed the territory border and made her way to the opulent Light dragon palace.

She knew which of the many glittering crystal towers belonged to Morning Glory; the princess had always bragged about having the most sun-filled chamber in the palace. Datura sped her pace still further and made her way up to the top of the translucent spire.

Still in her shadow form, she passed directly through the tower wall and into an octagonal room adorned with rich carpets and mirrors. She sat down and shimmered back into her corporeal form. Tail wrapped neatly around her legs, she watched the sleeping dragon in front of her wake up.

-Morning Glory-

The brilliant golden rays of the rising sun refracting off of Morning Glory’s chamber walls warmed her body and teased her eyelids open.

Utterly happy in the glorious sunrise, Morning Glory got up, stretched, and examined herself in a mirror before realizing she was not alone.

A black form sat placidly behind her, in front of the spiraling ramp that lead out of the tower. In the rich morning light, her form seemed to cling to darkness. The only points of her body that appeared to truly reflect light were the silver scales under her eyes, her bone-white claws, and the plethora of starry white spots that formed dim galaxies on her wings.

Morning Glory hissed in rage and spread her wings threateningly. “What are you doing in my room, Datura?” she spat. “Don’t you belong in some smelly hole in the ground?”

To her irritation, Datura did not react to the insult. Instead, she stared calmly at Morning Glory, her pale yellow eyes blinking only once. Then she asked a question.

“Why do you hate me, Morning Glory?”

Morning Glory froze. “Hate you? I don’t hate you. I despise you. You and your disgusting tribe need to be exterminated.” Datura’s question disturbed Morning Glory deeply. Didn’t Datura know that every Light dragon she passed turned away from their own princess to look at her? Didn’t she secretly glory in it, revel in her triumph? Was she pretending innocence? Or could it be… that she really didn’t know?

“I know you have strong negative feelings about me. That has always been clear to me.” Datura’s voice was too sweet, too clear. It made Morning Glory’s head ache. “I know you despise me. What I don’t know is why.”

The pounding in Morning Glory’s skull increased, the beat of a Water dragon war drum echoing in her ears. The pressure built to a climax.

And then she broke.

“I hate you because you’re so beautiful!” she roared. Datura looked taken aback. “I hate you because my shallow tribe loves you just for your looks. I hate you because when you came to the Dawn and Dusk games seven years ago, my tribe stopped loving me and now looks only at you, thinks only about you. I hate you because you represent everything that’s wrong with my life! Do you know that no matter how hard I try to help the Light dragons, whether it’s defending them in battle or helping Father create wise laws or visiting the dragons in need, they don’t care? It’s all about looks here, and you stole my crown!”

After the eruption of words left Morning Glory’s mouth, she froze, wings starting to droop. That had been a grave mistake, giving her hated enemy that knowledge.

Only, she wasn’t so sure that she hated Datura any more after all. The horror and utter astonishment that transfigured the Shadow dragon’s face gave proof beyond doubt that she had never realized the destruction and misery she left in her path.

“I’m... I’m…” Datura appeared to be at a loss for words. “I’m so sorry.” She bowed her head low and let her wings sag to the ground. “I never knew.”

Any final strands of hate that had clung to Morning Glory’s soul just moments before dissolved in that moment, filling her with a strange mixture of guilt and sadness. Her whole self drooped. She felt a prickly tear emerge from one eye before stemming the flow with an inward hiss.

“I hate it here.” she mumbled.

There was a long silence as the two dragons sat facing each other. In that moment, they mirrored each other; white facing black, gold against silver, both creatures in a dejected, careless position.

It was Datura that broke that silence. “If you hate it so much here, join the Peacekeepers. I had to leave my tribe too. I hate the ways that they have begun to warp our magic, how they have begun to use it as a device used to destroy and separate rather than to protect and unify. The Peacekeepers won’t worry about appearances. And they will always appreciate what you do for them.”

Morning Glory found the idea strangely appealing. What a novel concept it was to think that there were dragons who might appreciate her efforts to help them. After a moment of deliberation, she nodded.

“I need to go tell my father something, but would you wait for me here? I think I do want to join the Peacekeepers.”

************

Morning Glory did tell her father the truth. He was horrified that she lied to him and heartbroken when she informed him that she was going to join the Peacekeepers—and live with them too. He insisted on her staying, and she insisted on leaving. After a decently long argument, he gave up and told her that he planned on forging the alliance with the Peacekeepers in light of his new knowledge.

After that conversation, Morning Glory flew with Datura to the Fire dragon territory. And, when she arrived, the Peacekeepers welcomed her with open wings.