Realm of the Runes: Blood Right

Chapter XXVI

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Once they were back in the Athenaeum, Chronos shooed them away to read their books. Bobby was writing words with the aether pen all over the library, singing them aloud while Chronos instructed him. After a few minutes the little boy’s yodeling got too much for Rich, and he retreated to a quiet nook in one of the upper rooms. 

Thick white candles lit the small alcove like a cathedral, and he dropped into a pile of cushions with a contented sigh. He was fiercely protective of his book for some reason. Something told him that it was vitally important, and he craved the information inside like a starving man.

Besides, it’s a work of art! God knows how much it’d be worth...

Dragonlore was a thick book, beautifully illustrated with embossed metallic dragons. There were picture of dragon anatomy; their skeletons, muscluature details, cardiovascular system, the construction of their scales, and even their fire-breathing mechanisms. The beautifully drawn details were inscribed with precise measures, as well as health care and breeding habits. Rich was pretty sure that every type of dragon was documented within the pages. He longed to scan ahead and enjoy the pictures, but so far he’d only managed to read a little of the history. 

It was an intriguing tale, beginning in an ancient land called Cymru.

“There were two major ports in Cymru, where the Cymruvians traded almost exclusively with the Isle of Eire and the Gauls. One port serviced the northern half of Cymru, called Port Penrhyn, and the other the southern half, called Port Swainey.

The clans of Cymru were divided into several territories, with the country ranging from vast coastal stretches and fertile plains and swamps, to highland tundra and the mountain ranges. The clans were generally peaceful traders, working together to supply their fellow countrymen with the necessities to survive. 

The coastal villages supplied fish, lobster, oysters, whale fat, salt, glass, and ground bone for medicines. 

The inland villages on the plains raised cattle and sheep, trading the meat and hides for other goods. 

The fertile valleys allowed farming clans to cultivate the land, growing wheat, barley, vegetables, and fruits. They also raised hogs, and their salted pork was in high demand. 

The highland tundra clans lived on the lower slopes of the Cambrian Mountains, where they hunted deer and foxes. They were tough people, but traded fairly of their venison, hides, bone powders, timber, and furs. Rare medicinal plants also grew in the tundra.

One clan lived in the swamp area, cultivating flax to make rope and linen cloth. They also domesticated the swamp birds, and traded eggs and meat for other necessities.

The mountain clans were the miners, living in the mountain caves and excavating rich veins of copper, coal, and gold. 

One day the miners stumbled upon a cavern deep inside the mountains, where a collection of large scaled eggs had lain for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. Nobody knew where they came from, and it caused a good deal of confusion for the clans. It wasn’t long before the Cymruvian cave dwellers had hatched the eggs by their fires, and were taming the feisty baby dragons.

At the time, the Cymruvians were in the middle of a war against the Britons. They were struggling to hold back the invaders, who were close to charging over the Cambrian mountains and taking control of the country from the west.

The Cymruvians learnt how to train their dragons to fight, and used them as mounts in battle. They drove the Britons from the mountains, and evicted the Vikings that had infiltrated Port Swainey.