Dragon's New Dawn, Chapter Three

[Wolvy† 0]

Scene 3: The palace apartment of Markuvial

 

Drake Markuvial spoke cleanly into his helmet microphone: “Ground crew, MK2 requests landing clearance. “

 

“Clearance request confirmed, please hold present altitude but correct course to heading double-ought five to enable current ground traffic to clear.”

 

Drake piloted his twin-seat turbine flier expertly through the skies above the city of Markuvial. The sun was low on the horizon and it cast a golden reflection off the surface of the great western sea. He was waiting for the runway to clear before making an approach. As he waited, he casually put the flier into a tight banking right turn, and then straightened out to pursue the new heading. Shortly thereafter, the ground crew radioed to report a clear runway and approved landing clearance for MK2. As the last few rays of Anwar’s sun waned upon the horizon, Drake’s small attack flier touched down in the palace city of Markuvial for the first time in two months.

 

Drake taxied his craft into the palace hanger where the baron’s mechanics would clean and prep the vehicle for the next flight. Abandoning the aircraft to the mechanics, He picked up the keys to his speedster then wound his way through the crowded streets towards the palace complex.

 

The palace complex lay on top of a hill near the western edge of the city overlooking the sea. It was surrounded by a host of administrative buildings and military posts to form a defensive wall around the complex. As he entered the outer complex, Drake threaded his way past the security forces that he himself once led. He was now in charge of something eminently larger and more ambitious. His very nature thrilled at the chance to explore and conquer a new world. He, like his father, and like all Markuvial ancestors before him, yearned to push the limits of the family boundaries ever outward.

 

Upon entering the inner palace apartments, a familiar silhouette appeared in the great hall. Drake smiled as the white-haired man in the velvet jacket scurried across the hall to greet him with an embrace.

 

“Drake! It is so good to see you home safe!”

 

“Hello father, how did your day go?, replied Drake.

 

“Hmmf! Not as good as yours, I’d imagine!”

 

Drake gently turned and began a slow walk down the hall. “Oh, you heard about my trip did you?”

 

“Who hasn’t!?” replied the Baron, joining to walk abreast of his son. “You walk into one of the biggest industrial plants in the world, fire the owner for crying out loud, and single-handedly take it over?”

 

Drake rolled his eyes. “Yeah. That about sums it up.” He cocked his head in a playful way, and continued. “However, I cut him a real deal on his very own custom made starship! He’ll have the only one like it in the fleet. I’m actually thinking of having it gilded with gold and blinking lights so that we can see it coming and get out of the way!!”

 

The Baron rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “Haven’t you ever heard of just leaning on a man? His aunt is my cousin’s wife, for crying out loud! She’s been wailing and moaning for the last five days!”

 

Drake frowned. “Father, The little slug sat in his office all day doing who-knows-what while his factory turned out slag. Then when he got caught, he tried to cook the books and hide the witnesses. He even had the gall to lie straight to my face!”

 

Markuvial’s smile faded into a look of concern. He then placed his hand upon Drake’s shoulder as they walked across the great hall. “Yes, well. Maybe next time you could show a little more restraint? You’ve scared many of your suppliers and they are all complaining to me about it!”

 

Markuvial and Drake paused to look out over the river where the golden streetlamps of the city glinted on the water. Markuvial put on a more thoughtful look. “I must say though that I howled with laughter on the star cruiser trade. Nice touch. You really going to build it out of his scrapped alloys?”

 

Drake just grinned and didn’t answer. Markuvial lightly touched Drake’s elbow and turned to address his son:

 

“Drake, will you do us the honor of staying for dinner tonight?”

 

Drake demurred, a look of avoidance plainly written on his face. “Uhh, well I don’t know, I was kind of expecting an important package to arrive tonight…”

 

“Say no more!” “ Say, would that package have anything to do with a certain female art curator I saw in the palace today??”

 

“What? You saw her? That means it’s arrived already!” Drake was distressed. He was hoping to see Trishyanna tonight where they could open the package together, alone. She had a genuine unique appreciation for his collection of artifacts, among other things.

 

“Hah, arrived it has! I hope you don’t mind, but I had the box delivered to my study and it’s still unopened, much as I was tempted to crack it for just a little peek!”

 

“Really? No, not at all!” lied Drake. “In fact, I think your study is the perfect place for the unveiling of this one! Wait until you see it!”

 

Markuvial’s smiled widened at the thought of unmasking the treasure. Drake smiled in return. Perhaps Trish had some other engagement. Its surprising though. She’s not stood me up before.

 

Drake and Markuvial walked as quickly to the study as possible without looking juvenile. Drake entered the study after his father and watched as Markuvial himself grabbed the synthetic overwrap and tried to wrestle it off the long sealex box. Drake just smiled and watched with delight to see the boyish enthusiasm of his father. This is just as much fun, thought Drake.

 

“ Well, you finally convinced Mhendel to part with his prize, eh?” said Markuvial as he continued yanking and pulling on the protective overwrap.

 

“It took more than convincing. Mhendel is significantly richer now and I’m significantly poorer!”

 

Markuvial made a sour face and waved his hands as if to ward off the words. “Pfffssh! Nonsense. You have what is now arguably the world’s most valuable collection of ancient art and history. I’d hardly call that poor.”

 

“That’s not what Sharna would have said.”

 

Markuvial paused for a moment and looked up at Drake with softened eyes. “She would have been proud of you, just like I am. “

 

Drake went silent, and walked over to help his father work on opening the sealex box. The box itself was rectangular, about six or seven feet long, and about a foot square on the ends. It was covered in a waterproof white overwrap that made entry difficult. However, they soon opened the ends of the box to reveal a rolled up fabric tapestry that was carefully wound upon a wooden spindle.

 

Drake and his father carefully freed it from the box, and slowly began to unroll the ancient cloth across the polished granite floor, taking care to touch only the spindle and not the ancient fabric of the tapestry itself.

 

“The Mhendel tapestry.” announced Drake.

 

Markuvial drank in the details of the ancient artwork and let out a long, low whistle. “You know, I’ve never seen it before. Not even a miniature image of it. Look at the detail and color!”

 

Drake nodded in agreement. “No one alive today except Trishyanna has ever seen it. In fact, I would bet six or seven generations of Mhendels never even saw it. Mhendel himself had to shatter a door of a sealed chamber room to get at it for me. So, until I bought it, I am sure that not even he knew what it looked like. I still don’t know why he even offered it to me, as it has historically been treated as their family crown jewel.”

 

Drake and Markuvial both studied the tapestry. It was large and long: Twice as long as it was high. Six by twelve. The central part of the image showed a large golden dragon standing upon its hindquarters, talons raised and teeth bared. It spread its wings protectively as if to shield a group of people who were standing behind its back. In front of the dragon was what appeared to be two trees whose branches rose up and intertwined together. An unadorned grey blank spot lay between the trunks of the trees.

 

“Exquisite.” Said Markuvial. “What are we looking at here?”

 

Drake studied the tapestry for a while. The Mhendel family preserved it well: It was an heirloom that they took great pride in. He would have to be just as vigilant in its care.

 

“It’s clearly one of the earliest ones I’ve seen, based on the design and layout. Look here: The dragon stands out at you because the crafters wove him out of thread spun with a high concentration of actual gold. Look at the eyes. There appears to be hate in there. Hate for his enemies, but love for his followers. See how the dragon stands possessively, trying to shield his people? Shield them from what, I wonder? He appears to be facing that blank spot in the tapestry. I’ve never seen anything like it before, actually. Then there are these faces of the people themselves… Probably faces of the Mhendel family that commissioned the tapestry. The faces show looks of fear and hope: They look to the dragon for safety, it seems. There’s something odd about the clothing designs though.“

 

Drake got on his hands and knees to get closer, though he was careful not to touch the ancient fabric. He noticed that each of the characters wore a sash with small words woven into the design. Unfortunately time had aged the tapestry enough that these tiny details were distorted beyond recognition. Maybe with years of study he could decipher them. However, there were plenty more mysteries woven into the cloth, all along the border.

 

“What are these four scenes that are found in the corners of the border?” asked Markuvial

 

“Fantasy and myth, mostly. Look here. This top-left scene is a graphic I have seen woven onto other tapestries: It shows a dragon staring into a large free-standing mirror where he sees a different dragon staring back at him. It’s the legend of the mirror-land, fabled origin of the dragons. Except this one’s slightly different: There appears to be a man in the mirror with the other dragon! That’s odd.”

 

“Any idea why this one is different?” asked Markuvial

 

“No idea. These tapestries were generally commissioned by the family head who could control all aspects of the details, so I suppose the character might represent a family head’s fantasy to actually visit mirror-land?”

 

“What about these other three scenes?” asked Markuvial, who was slowly circling the woven fabric while stroking his chin.

 

Drake looked at the three remaining scenes. The top-right scene showed a mountaintop city perched above a dense forest or jungle. Tiny figures flew about in the air around the city: Birds, or perhaps dragons again? In the distance of the scene was what appeared to be a cone-shaped mountain rising above the forest. Perhaps this was an ancient fantasy rendering of the Mhendel fortress, just expanded to make it seem city-like.

 

“This scene appears to be a fantasy of the Mhendel fortress, just expanded into a city.” Explained Drake. “The ancient Mhendels were obviously enamored with dragons: They have even woven them to be flying about the fortress as if they were as common as birds!”

 

The next one, on the lower right illustrated a large man who stood among several others. He held aloft in his hands some kind of ebony colored box . The object was very nearly a cube with six equal sides. All of the people’s faces were turned towards the cube. Drake puzzled. This appears to be some sort of artifact I have not seen before. I almost want to jump into that scene to ask them what it is.

 

“I don’t know what this scene represents.” Said Drake. “It appears to be some sort of sacred object that these men look at. I’ve not seen or read of any object like this before. I’ll have to ask baron Mhendel about it.”

 

Markuvial stood behind his kneeling son and stared down at the tapestry. “It’s a curious scene indeed: I feel like reaching down there with those men and touching the cube myself.”

 

Drake looked up at his father with surprise. “That’s exactly what I was just thinking!.”

 

Markuvial stared for a moment longer, stroking his chin. His eyes finally broke from the scene and darted to the lower left corner.

 

The scene in the corner was different than any of the others in that there were no recognizable shapes or symbols. It was a scene surrounded by leaves. The bottom of the tiny scene was filled with dark brown fibers, mottled with flecks of gold and silver. The middle was arranged in a horizontal band of green hues, mottled in what appeared to be tan. The top of the scene was weaved in colorful threads of orange and reds that streamed out of a white circle to encircle a single black dot.

 

“What do you make of that last little scene, Drake?”

 

Drake looked at the scene with confusion. It looked out of place for the tapestry style. “ Another mystery. I can only guess that it was some sort of flag, family crest, or coat of arms?”

 

As Drake and Markuvial pondered the mysteries of the tapestry, a servant gently knocked on the study door to inform them that the evening meal was now ready. The mystery would have to wait until tomorrow. Drake carefully wound the tapestry back onto its spindle and pushed it back into the box before retiring to the dining room.

 

#

 

Regret, Frustration, Anger! I look around to see my people dying. We cannot go back for they have closed the gate and locked it. The danger had been unleashed upon our home and that was the only way to stop it. And yet this is a beautiful land. Those of us left outside the gate have fallen in love with it. Like Ryyarh to flame, we stayed despite the inevitable doom to our own bodies. I must save our people. I want to reach out to crush and tear, flame and burn! Avoid me o death or I will reward you with many victims for your terrible maw… I will clothe our people in human blood and it will be my most challenging and final gift.

 

Drake awoke trembling in sweat. He frantically reached over and touched the lamp switch. He rubbed his hand through his dampened hair and stared around his empty bedroom. Everything appeared to be the same and in order. Glass cases lined his walls containing samples of art, talismans, and ancient texts. Nothing appeared to have moved, yet Drake could swear he had felt someone just enter his room.

 

Drake carefully pulled his ion pulse pistol from the night stand and armed it. With practiced silence, he got out of bed and scanned the room. However, there was nothing. Drake moved to the hallway and turned on the light. He moved down the artifact lined passage with the pistol at ready, alert for any sign of noise or movement.

 

A low snatch of conversation floated out from his den and it made Drake freeze in his tracks. Listening intently, Drake continued to search the air for the source of the sound.

 

“(something unintelligble)…nothing.” It said.

 

“Try again…..(more unintelligble voice)…are you sure?”

 

“(more unintelligble speech)we’re close I think.”

 

Drake silently moved to the entrance of the den with his pistol ready. The sounds were still muffled and barely above his threshold of hearing. He reached around the door frame, turned on the light, and cased the room with his gun. He stepped into the room but the noises had ceased. There in the middle of the room lay the Mhendel tapestry, still encased in its broken sealex box. Drake stood there silently staring at it and listened with all his energy. However, no perceptable sound could be found.

 

He looked around the room once more, then disarmed his pistol. Bravo, Mhendel and your superstition. You got to me with your scary ghost story. Well, good night ghost. Go away now, because I don’t believe in you.

 

#

 

A knock on the door awakened Drake from his sleep. Drake opened his eyes and noted that it was full sunlight. Boom, boom! Someone was now pounding on the door. Drake grabbed yesterday’s clothes and carelessly tossed them on. He jogged to the door and opened it.

 

Trishyanna looked him over and her eyes grew wide. “Dragonsfire Drake, What happened to you? You look like crap.”

 

“Nothing, I just overslept a little.” muttered Drake.

 

Trishyanna snorted. “Well that’s a first. I half-expected that you would be calling me at the crack of dawn wanting to know the details of the tapestry inspection!”

 

Drake’s eyes perked up a little. “What kind of details?”

 

Trishyanna let herself slip past Drake, then smiled and dropped her coat onto floor as she headed towards the kitchenette. “How about I make you some breakfast and good hot cup of Khraa while you get cleaned up? It’ll be worth the wait, Drake.”

 

Drake picked up her coat and plopped it onto the coat rack next to the door. “Sure, I can do that. I need to know something though.”

 

Trishyanna spun around with amusement sparkling in her eyes to look at Drake in his disheveled clothing.

 

“Who works for who here? You or me?” he asked.

 

Trishyanna looked up at the ceiling and laughed. “I’d have to say yes!” She paused to laugh at the bemused look on Drake’s face. “Okay, okay, it’s ‘Yes boss.’ I’ll behave. Now will you please clean up while I get you something to eat? There are some unusual details on your latest treasure that I am just bursting to tell you!”

#

 

Drake walked into the dining room where the smell of eggs, fresh fruit, toasted bread, and roasted Khraa made his stomache rumble. Trishyanna was sitting at the table, sipping a cup and reading one of her notebooks while his food sat steaming on on the opposite side. He sat down and wordlessly began eating his unexpectedly delicious breakfast. Trishyanna looked up from her notebook and smiled.

 

“There. You look a whole lot better. How’s the breakfast?”

 

Drake nodded in approval as he continued chewing.

 

“I see you have it laying on the floor in the middle of your den.”

 

Drake swallowed and replied: “Yes. I haven’t figured out where to put it yet.”

 

“Might I suggest in a very, very secure building with a really good alarm system?” said Trishyana.

 

Drake cocked his head in surprise. “What could be more secure than the palace apartments?”

 

Trishyanna frowned. “Good point. However, what you have laying on that floor is pretty unique. It’ll be very sought after if these details leak out. Even more than when Mhendel begins telling people how much you paid for it.”

 

Drake grew impatient. “Trish, I don’t really care if he tells the world. We have developed the palatial security for generations until it is arguably the most secure place on the planet. No one can get in here without invitation.” Well then, who or what did I hear last night? Drake continued.

 

“Why do you think I’d need more security for this particular artifact than any of the others?”

 

Trishyanna stopped smiling for a few seconds, seemingly cowed by Drake’s impatient rebuke.

 

“It’s a lot older than you think.” She said. ”Plus it’s construction is unique.”

 

Drake paused. “How old do you think it is? 1200, 1400 years?”

 

She regained her impish smile as she replied: “Try TWENTY-two hundred years!”

 

Drake pushed himself away from the table. “Come on. Is this a joke?”

 

“No, I’m serious! We accomplished two different dating techniques twice on both the tapestry and the spindle itself. The tapestry keeps coming up at 2190 to 2217 years old, and the spindle is about a hundred years younger. Both radio-carbon and spectral shift techniques agree with a 91% confidence ratio.”

 

Drake felt his heart pounding as the realization hit him: His new artifact not only dated back to the original founders, but may have been created by the founders themselves!

 

A broad smile creeped across his face “That’s amazing! Why, this could have been commissioned by mysterious Mhendel himself!”

 

Trishyanna beamed. “There’s more, Drake. A lot more!”

 

Drake fixed his gaze onto Trishyanna expectantly. “Like what?”

 

“The composition of the tapestry is super complex. It’s not a simple spun flax/wool/metal composite like all of the other, later tapestries. “ Trishyanna continued. “It’s a combination of flax, gold, silver, conventional pigments, and a unique substance that replaces the wool as the binding agent. It appears to be shredded animal fibers similar to a horse hoof, but it’s not horse. Whatever it is, it’s tough. Really tough. We haven’t identified it yet, but it’s got a trace chemical composition like you wouldn’t believe. Get this: Hafnium Diboride. There’s a high concentration of it throughout the whole tapestry.”

 

Drake looked at the big grin that was pasted all over Trishyanna’s face.

 

“So, what do you think it is?” asked Drake.

 

Trishyanna’s voice quavered with barely contained excitement.

 

“Want to know why I didn’t come over yesterday evening? It’s because I had some research to do. I wanted to make sure my theory is correct. You didn’t sleep well last night? Well, I didn’t sleep at all! I just came over from the research laboratory after pulling an all-nighter, and what I’ve got will blow you away: The substance in your tapestry Drake, has never been seen outside of a weapons laboratory!”

 

Drake dropped his fork into his eggs and stared at Trishyanna.

 

“You mean you couldn’t get a match? To anything? What’s is closest cousin?”

 

“It’s totally unique to itself. I’ve sampled the fibers, and from what I can tell they are stronger than spider silk, and darned near flame proof. Yet, it’s an animal product. It’s got DNA and a cell structure indicative of an animal.”

 

“Totally unique?” said Drake, not quite convinced.

 

Trishyanna’s grin got even wider.

 

“You know what I’m thinking, don’t you?”

 

Drake felt it sneaking up on him, for Trishyanna’s grin was contagious. He looked into her sky blue eyes, and felt his grin grow wide enough to cause his cheeks to hurt.

 

“Do you think mysterious Mhendel wove some actual dragon into his rug??”

 

Trishyanna tossed her head triumphantly causing her red hair to swish in triumph. “It sure as hell looks like it!”

 

Drake stood up, all fatigue from last night forgotten. “Trish honey, if you are right about this, then we’ve just made the biggest discovery of the century!”

 

Drake ran over to the other side of the table to sweep Trishyanna off her feet and seal their triumph with a passionate kiss.

 

She was always endlessly surprising Drake, first as a historical researcher. As Drake kissed her willing lips, a familiar thought popped into his head, one he thought about more and more: I wonder if you would stay by my side as I rule on the new planet? Should I even ask? He figured that she would make a good match. Her interests were similar, mannerisms were fun, and she had the keenest intellect he had ever seen in anyone. She was from a ruling class baron family, too. She had made her fortune on her own through her dealings in historical research and had risen to importance as Drake personal assistant. In fact, her commission on his last purchase alone probably made her one of the wealthiest historical researchers in the world. But, are you falling in love with me enough to give it up and come with me to a new world where we’ll have to start over?

 

Trishyanna interrupted as if reading Drake’s thoughts:

 

“Mmmm… So tell me something, boss.” She continued: “Will you be taking all this wonderful art with you when you rocket away to conquer your new planet?”

 

“Probably just the most important pieces.”

 

“Oh I see!” Trish smiled as she pulled herself tighter into Drake’s arms to bore into his eyes with her gaze. “And…do you consider me one of the most important pieces?”

 

Drake looked deep into her eyes. Are you serious?

 

“Hmm… You might be.” Drake answered.

 

“However, I doubt that there will be much of a market for art when we arrive. We’d have to start with virtually nothing, you know. My, uh, collection will be under a lot of physical strain for a long time until we are settled.”

 

Trishyanna’s face softened and she stroked Drake’s hair back from his face. She suddenly got serious and peered into Drake’s eyes.

 

“Yeah, I know that. But you know, I’d follow you anywhere. Even if it meant living in a stone hut and washing our clothes by banging rocks together. You and me: we’re an awesome team and I don’t want to give that up when the time comes. I don’t ever want to give it up. Ever.”

 

Drake thought about it some more: He had never seen Trishyanna give up on anything before. She would make a good match, and in time, their love would grow even stronger. .

 

“Bang rocks together, Trish?” smiled Drake.

 

She laughed. “You bet! Afterwards we could debate on which rock was pre-cambrian and which one was paleolithic!

 

He always laughed at her jokes, even when they were lame. Well it was his choice to marry. Probably would have to make a choice soon, anyway. He’d need to inform the Baron, and they could be married in just a few months.

 

“Well then, my dear Trishyanna. Will you indeed stay by my side in all good times and bad, no matter what? We might have some tough times ahead of us. Nothing’s certain on this trip, except adventure!”

 

“Forever and forever, no matter what the cost. Only I want to be your full partner now, and not just your employee!”

 

“It’s a promise!” beamed Drake.

 

Trishyanna leaned into Drake and they tumbled backwards and onto the floor next to the tapestry. Drake fell onto her, feeling her softness and warmth in the embrace. Oh Trishyanna, You’ll make a wonderful lover, and unparalelled partner. I cant wait to spend our lives together! Fear not, for there will be plenty for you to explore and learn on the new planet!

 

They lay there in each others arms, unaware that the quiet whispers of the tapestry had begun yet again in their presence.

#