Mindshard (ON HOLD)

Complications

     And now this: the dragons, possibly the most potent threat to the Pax’s well-being with their command of magical powers, also chaffing under the Pax’s restrictions and denial of rights though they too support the charter through fear.  If things didn’t proceed in a calm and orderly manner in the next few months to relieve the growing pressure, the civil war could be even more devastating than what she could imagine.

  “It’s ironic.”  Crux chuffed, following a line of thought in his own mind.  “We lend our magic, even our very name to the Pax to assist in its creation and now we find ourselves marginalized and minimized to the point where we contemplate destroying it.  What fools were we to think we’d stand shoulder to shoulder with those we once conquered.”

     Hearing the dragon begin to spiral down into melancholy, Vaughn hastened to change the subject.

  “You say you know of the Crown of Oberon, Crux.  What lore do the dragons have about the talisman?”

  “The Crown?”  Crux frowned, his attention pulled away from his darkening thoughts.  “Very little, to tell you the truth.  It was old before the Pax was even considered by the monarchs of the old kingdoms.  And, for the most part, it existed outside our ken, a device created for the war between the Sidhe races and your ancestors.”

     Vaughn nodded thoughtfully.  Made sense, in a strange sort of way.  The name could only be common to both cultures if the elves and the humans both were aware of such a powerful talisman.  According to Crux’s brief history lesson, they had more than a fleeting common history during the centuries of war that raged between them, vicious enough to push the elves into forming the Pax and fleeing Earth in the distant past.

     A ragged smile touched her lips as she realized she was already calling the Sidhe elves in her mind.  The transition seemed almost natural.  The smile vanished however when she considered the consequences of having such knowledge.  It may take very little, in the tinderbox situation that was the Pax under siege, to stir up old hatreds by revealing old memories.  And that could mean more trouble than the Directorate could hope to withstand, even if it were as technologically advanced as the Pax.

     Somehow following Vaughn’s reasoning, Crux spoke.

  “While I always relish in illuminating minds with the revelation of knowledge, I suggest you keep this nugget to yourself, colonel.  No use inciting those who’d be your allies, against you.”

  “I was thinking much the same thing, Lore Master Crux.”  Vaughn admitted with a grin.  “At least not until we find the Crown!”

     It was sometime later that found Vaughn in the massive central chamber, the one Ixim called the flight chamber, sitting casually with her back against the wall.  Scattered throughout the chamber, half the throng that they had passed through to reach Crux now stood revealed in their draconic forms, lounging on the flat stone slabs as they continued their conversations in rumbling voices.  Occasionally a flare of flame would appear out of the dimness to lick at a stone column or table to warm it, improving its comfort to the reptilian creatures, throwing the chamber into stark shadow and ragged edge.  But, for the most part, it was warm, spicy murk that the wiry human gazed into from her perch on one of the blocks.

      Though tales of dragons now raced unchecked through her mind, Vaughn found herself oddly at ease in the great chamber, untroubled by the fact that a good fifty dragons were in various states of relaxation all around her, each easily as long as a Marine Corp drop ship.  Instead, with a small electric lantern at her side throwing a bright circle of blue light around her, she felt quite comfortable and safe as she chewed her way through some cheese and dried meat Ixim had brought for her.