The Draykon Series (1-3)

Lokant: Chapter Twenty-Eight

'You taught them to shape shift,' Llandry said, awed.

Limbane nodded his approval. 'Very quick, Miss Sanfaer. Yes, that is what we did. Taking human shape, they were thoroughly camouflaged. They identified suitable communities of humans, generally choosing those who had not participated in the war against the draykoni. They blended in easily enough, and some of them even married in time. To our satisfaction, they also had young. We had never been able to determine how far the camouflage stretched; we learned then that the shape taken was not merely a shell but that the whole biology of the creature was changed.

'It wasn't long before the effects of those unions began to be seen. In Arvale - Glinnery - where the Iskyr draykoni had settled, some children were born with wings. Of course they were cast out as mutants at first, but as it became more common it became also more accepted. In time it was the wingless who were considered "different", and they began to leave the realm, leaving it to the winged. The people of Glinnery also began to show some talent at beast empathetics, a talent that had once belonged to draykonkind alone. They had found their way back to Iskyr by then, and they used these new abilities to befriend animals from the Off-Worlds and bring them home. Thus they termed the skill "summoning".

'As for the Ayrien tribes, they settled mostly in Glour, and one or two in Orstwych. There were some winged children born, though for various reasons it did not take in that realm as it had in Glinnery. These peoples inherited a different set of draykoni magic, specifically manipulation of light and shadow and the outward appearance of things. Sorcery, as it is now called.

'It remains something of a mystery as to why the draykoni magics divided in this way. We wondered whether, in time, some individuals might combine the two again, though that has not usually happened. We have taken great pains since then to engineer virtually pure draykoni bloodlines, to ensure that someday there would be the chance of revival. Should we wish to encourage that.'

Silence followed Limbane's long speech when he finally stopped talking. He sipped at his drink, oblivious, apparently reminiscing. Andraly, on the other hand, watched the group closely. Llandry felt the woman's eyes on her, though she refused to meet her gaze.

So the other gold names on the chart - the ones without family names - were those first draykoni shape shifters. And she herself was the eventual product. The word engineered stayed with her, chafing at her. She disliked the implication that the relationships chosen by her ancestors had been, in some way, chosen for them.

For a moment she thought of asking Limbane what exactly he meant by engineered, but she decided against it. At the moment, she just didn't want to know.

'But,' she said. 'You said that Krays didn't intend to bring back the draykoni. And you certainly didn't plan it. Why not? And why did it happen anyway?'

'We've discussed the possibility many times,' Limbane replied. 'I suppose for one, we weren't sure that we could. Additionally, we feared that we would merely begin another human-draykoni war. And that fear seems to have been well-founded. So we bided our time.'

'That's why you took our books,' Tren said suddenly. 'That was you, wasn't it? And you've probably been at it for a while. No wonder I couldn't find anything in the libraries.'

'Mhm,' Limbane said. 'A boring and repetitive task. It's amazing how some bright-eyed idiot is always stumbling over sensitive information. It was safer for humankind in general to forget about all of this.' He shifted in his chair. 'As for Krays, he has no scientific interest in these questions and no reason to love draykonkind, nor to wish for their return. But at one time he did take a great deal of scientific interest in the draykon bones. If he has involved himself, and it is clear that he has, then it is the bones and the hide and the teeth he is after. But I do not know why.