Dreigiau Book 1: The Gift of Flame

Chapter 1

The Dreigiau's Host Gate didn't look anything like the stories made it sound. In fact, the cave seemed quite ordinary — much like AsaHi was. Plain, magicless stone carved away the mouth of the cave, just the same as it would any other hollow. Still, despite the mundane first impression, the girl crept warily into the dampness, half expecting something to pounce from the shadows at any moment.

Even if Zemi Dreigiau doesn't exist anymore, that doesn't mean that something else doesn't live down here.

As she moved forward, she carefully pulled a small glass jar from the pouch at her side. The cork still firm on top, only a thin layer of water ringed the bottom, sustaining the blushing little flower within.

Flowers were rare in the cold northlands, but this flower, the Cred, was considered special among the Dragon Apprentices. It only bloomed in the hilly highlands once a year, fed from the clear waters of the winter's melting snow. Stories said that it was the Dreigiau's sign to his people that even after the coldest seasons, a new spring would come again.

Stories also told how the Cred was once favored by the Patron Dragon, and used as a part of the Apprentices' First Speaking ritual. A student who wanted to meet Zemi Dreigiau would seek out the flower and bring it to the Host Gate as a way of requesting council with the Arweinydd. Others claimed that the Cred was a gift theDreigiau gave whom he wished to speak to.

She picked only one flower from the blooming field and preserved it exactly the way the Apprentice Tome instructed. The stories said that if she picked more than one, the Dreigiau would know her covetous nature and every Cred flower would melt upon her touch.

It's all nonsense, of course.

AsaHi believed the flower existed even before she saw the blossoming mountainside. After all, SoYa told her it was real, and he didn't lie about things like this. It was Zemi Dreigiau that she didn't believe in.

If there really is such a thing as a Patron Guide, then why hasn't he appeared to anyone since the rule of ZenToYa?

After spending months pouring over legends and stories, and secretly copying pages from SoYa's Apprentice Tome, AsaHi was on a personal quest to prove that the so-called Lord Dragon no longer existed. The Dreigiaumay have been a guiding spirit to the original founders of their city, but that was a long time ago.

After the death of the High Guide, ZenToYa, few outside of the Council was granted entry to the Host Gate. This alone sparked her suspicions. The more AsaHi investigated, the more she was certain that Zemi Dreigiauno longer guided the leadership of Nefol. He was now nothing more than an extended fabrication the Council used to ensure their position and power above the city.

Even SoYa has been blinded by their manipulations. I don't understand why he doesn't see through it. Even he hasn't spoken to the Patron Guide in many turns.

Her footsteps echoed coldly as she walked further into the depths of darkness. Much to her surprise, the little Cred blossom began to shimmer with an inner glow. With each step, the darkness grew thicker and the bloom grew more luminous.

I have to prove that this whole Dragon thing doesn't exist.

Part of her cringed — what she was doing went against everything that the Founders taught. Proving theDreigiau no longer existed would destroy the foundation that the Nefolian people believed in. The other part chided that if people were putting their trust in a lie, someone needed to put a stop to it all. Still, her stomach began to churn.

This is the only way to show that this is all the Council's plea for power.

That's when AsaHi stumbled upon a clever idea — using the Council's own rite of passage to call them out. By performing the ritual Apprentices used to summon the Dreigiau, she could prove that it didn't work. Dispelling the fallacies, she could release the people of the myths they held from a time when the School was new and the leaders were pure.