I pushed my feelings aside, knowing that the plan I was starting to develop was nowhere near complete, and focused on the next question of importance.
“Will I have to stay with the trainees and new people to the east?” I already had my guess as to why those people were planted there and I even asked Karisha what would happen in case of an attack.
The camp was posed strategically to protect the strongest of them all, the warriors, who were closed in from three sides. Should an attack happen, it would probably come from either the north or the east, thus hitting the hunters, who I assumed knew how to fend for themselves or the trainee camp, who would be sacrificed, permitting the warriors to either choose to fight for their position or escape through southern routes. They also kept very close to the sea, so I assumed they had naval escape routes already in place.
“You will stay with me,” Dahr pulled me away from the dark thoughts and squeezed my hand slowly to capture my attention.
We walked like that, hand in hand, his presence giving me a stronger stance than I probably ever had, through the camp. Dahr greeted people by name and nodded from time to time in agreement to one thing or another, also taking the opportunity to pass on a small camp inspection.
I expected everyone to be terrified of him, or to run back into their tents for some reason, but children seemed to love coming up to him and touching his large arms, while the women smiled and greeted him with joy, men dipping their chins in reverence.
“What is your role in this camp?” I heard myself asking, the deep need to understand the status quo of this place overpowering my excitement to shorten the walk that would take us back to the sea.
“I am Grannicus,” Dahr offered the explanation as though it was obvious.
“And what does that mean, exactly?”
He tilted his head to look at me and I took advantage to display a questioning gaze, hoping that it would push him to give me more information.
“How much do you know about faerie traditions?” he asked carefully, lowering his voice just slightly, as one who prepared to tell a story.
“I know about the fae and the four gods. And I know that your existence was announced on national TV over eighty years ago, when the war started. Personally, if you ask me, I think whoever brought back the gods made a huge mistake,” I pressed my lips together to stop more unrequested opinions from flowing out. It was true, however.
Since the four gods, Belgarath, Catalina, Zaleen and Marynnah returned, the world stopped from being entirely reserved for humans. The four faerie lands came into existence, or better yet, they allowed us to know about their existence. And although some of them were peaceful and wanted nothing but to collaborate with humans and help each other out, like the Earth Kingdom and the Wind Kingdom, the other two used their abilities to claim power.
Fortunately, I had been born in one of the countries that were protected by the Earth Kingdom, so we did not feel the entire blow of the faerie wrath, but I knew there were other territories that were completely abandoned by humans who needed to seek refuge elsewhere. But it seemed that the peace in our lands would be coming to an end pretty soon.
Dahr chuckled at my description. “Whatever you are thinking, imagine it at a lesser scale. If my race could be described as anything, we would be the scourge of the Fire Kingdom. No one wants drakes to be part of their territories, so we have to live isolated lives away from our realm. But we are strong, innate fighters, which is why we serve the purpose of gaining territory.”
“So they send you into battle?”
“They breed us for battle,” Dahr explained. “It is our only purpose. When war comes to an end, our entire species will disappear,” he confessed with no amount of hurt in his tone.
My pulse sped up and I almost wanted to stop him and give him a hug. Give everyone a hug. To have this kind of information and to have to live with it… to know that your only purpose is war… It absolutely broke my heart. For him, for Karisha and Markos, for every single person in this camp.
“And what does Grannicus mean?” I tried to keep the pace of the conversation and shoved my feelings away, trying my best to treat this as academic research.
“It means that I am a descendant of Grannus. He was a general in the Fire Kingdom and conquered the underground territories we are inhabiting today. It is believed that he was a descendant of Belgarath himself,” Dahr explained with a dash of pride towards his ancestor.
“So you… you are descendant from Belgarath,” I immediately pieced the puzzle.
“It’s not so easy to explain. Power surges every seventh generation, and I am the twenty-first generation from Grannus. Who is a descendant from Belgarath,” Dahr explained.
“Wow…” I didn’t know what other reaction to pose, as it made perfect sense. Why he had inexplicable powers, why people looked at him like he was a god walking amongst men. Because he was. “It’s no wonder they love you.”
“They love the security the camp offers. And every time I have a win, I make sure to claim more souls for the camp. Drakes live underground, with no light or nature. We’re stuck in a hole, fed poorly and forced to train all day. It’s better for them to live their lives out in the sunshine than push them to fight underground. At least they can try to build a life here,” he saidas if what he was doing for these people was nothing out of the ordinary.
Before I had a chance to react, I realised that I had been so engrossed in our conversation that I hadn’t even realised we had reached the beach. And that Dahr hadn’t let go of my hand once.
“I’ll be here when you get tired,” Dahr smiled at me, silently inviting me to jump into the waves that were tumultuously waiting for me to dance with.
“Aren’t you going to join?” He hadn’t just brought me here to watch me swim, had he?
Dahr immediately shook his head. “Drakes don’t swim. It’s against our nature.”
“But…” I paused, because going in by myself wasn’t as fun as it would be with him there.
“You will be perfectly safe,” Dahr offered, and, against his words, the warrior started walking towards the shore. “Best I can do is walk in, up to my hips.”
