The New Solare - 12. Chapter 12- Gifts and Skills

“Hey, Gon, have you heard?”

Gonuret turned around as his fellow tribe member called out to him. The excitement in the teenager’s voice made him curious. “About what, Jalisco?” he asked aloud.

“The new Solare representative is from the desert tribe! They say his hair’s as golden as the sunset-speckled mountain lily!” Jalisco gossiped.

“Oh?” Gonuret mused aloud. If rumors about the representative’s hair were already circulating, the young Solare-to-be was probably handsome.

“And, guess what?” Jalisco continued with a wide grin on his freckled face. “The tribe Elder’s asked for all male 20 year olds to gather in the town square! That means he prefers men, just like you!”

A slight blush formed on Gonuret’s face. “So, this means I’ve also been summoned?” He prompted.

“Yeah!” Jalisco affirmed. “If you turn out to be our new Gallant, I’m gonna flip!”

The older dragon shook his head at Jalisco’s enthusiasm. Gonuret knew all of the other men his age that preferred the company of other men, just as himself. There were seventeen of them altogether. He doubted that, out of all of them, he’d be the one chosen to court the New Solare. His thoughts drifted to the sunset-speckled mountain lily. The rare flower would make a great welcoming gift. The grey-eyed dragon had firmly decided to tell their next Gallant about the flower when the Selection ceremony began.

He, along with the other 20-year-old Astrals that met the requirements, had been separated into two uneven lines. For the Selection, a group was chosen by the tribe Elder that was made up of Visionaries from ages 5 through 50, one person for each age. That meant that 46 people would be participating. The group of Visionaries would close their eyes and hold their hands out before them as they summoned a current of magic together. Forty-six seemed to be the magic number, as it really did bring forth a current of magic through them. The ancient magic lit up their hands in an icy blue hue and led them to the astral dragon that they deemed to be the best candidate to represent them as a Gallant.

Himself.

Words fled Gonuret as he stood speechless in their midst. He felt several hands on his arms, shoulders, and the top of his head. The little five year old had a hand pressed to his knee. The Visionaries that couldn’t reach him held each other’s shoulders as the current of magic seemed to rush up into the sky, away from them.

The tribe Elder smiled as he announced that their new Gallant, their own representative, was Gonuret.

When the shock finally wore off, Gonuret held a hand to his temple and frowned. He didn’t have much time before he would be sent over to the Middlemost fortress to meet the other Gallants. All he could think about was that sunset-speckled lily. He had to find one for the new Solare. As overwhelmed as he was, having been chosen as a Gallant, it would be even more overwhelming to have been chosen as Solare. A welcoming gift might, at the very least, dispel some of the young representative’s troubled thoughts if only for a moment.

:::::::

Solare Sindri stared at the yellow flower that his Lunare had given him upon their first meeting. He had planned on pressing it between the pages of a book to preserve it. However, despite the several days that had passed, it refused to wilt. The apricot-hued astral wondered if the rare breed was more resilient than other flowers. But, a sound at his door drew his attention away from the vase entirely.

“Young Solare, your impulsive little friend has been found,” Sentain Yuneza announced.

The blond leader rushed out his chamber door and headed in the direction the aged woman motioned towards. As Sindri turned the corner of the second hall, he caught sight of his best friend. “Ansar!” he called out as he tugged the slightly shorter desert dragon into a hug. “What am I going to do with you? You had me so worried!”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Ansar responded, squeezing his friend back just as tightly. “But, Sin, you’ve gotta hear this guy out! His name’s Darifer and we found out some pretty disturbing stuff!”

As the curly-haired brunet stepped aside, the Solare was able to see Emyve and Ruthed approaching at a much slower pace, so as not to jostle the astral dragon they both carried between them. They each had an arm beneath one of the lavender dragon’s arms, while their other arms held him beneath the thighs. Sindri took one good look at the man and realized why. Though someone had tossed a jacket over his privates, the stranger was nude beneath it, and his shoulders and arms appeared misshapen somehow.

“I am Solare Sindri,” the orange-eyed dragon greeted as he walked over to them. He then glanced at Emyve and then Ruthed, in turn. “He needs medical attention. What happened?”

“How I ended up like this is a long story and I would prefer to use what little time we have to focus on more important matters,” Darifer dismissed with a flick of his fingers, wincing in pain as he did so. Just as he was about to cradle that arm with his other arm, his pale pink eyes shifted to the warm hand on his shoulder. The Solare’s skin tone was a few shades darker than his own, but the touch seemed to put him at ease.

When the blond pulled back from the sympathetic touch, Darifer lifted his arm as if to rake back his dark violet hair. He was quite surprised when the movement didn’t hurt him as much as he had come to expect. The lavender astral held his hand to his line of vision, flexing and contracting his fingers a few times. As Darifer continued to move, he realized that he suddenly felt stronger than he had in weeks.

“What is this? I no longer feel pain…” Darifer gasped, thoroughly distracted from his previous mission.

Sentain Yuneza’s eyes widened. “My,” she mused aloud. “It seems as if empathy isn’t the only gift our young Solare has.”

“What do you mean?” Sindri asked.

“I do believe that you’ve healed the boy is what I mean,” she responded before turning her attention to Emyve and Ruthed. “Why don’t the two of you get him to a bathroom to wash up and find him some clothes? It’s better that all of the gallants are here before discussing anything.”

“I can heal others…?” the Solare wondered aloud, staring at his own hands after Emyve and Ruthed had left with Darifer.

Ansar suddenly took hold of those two hands. “As I was saying before, we’ve found out some disturbing stuff!” He explained quickly and all in one breath. “The rough gist of it is that some Pure Dragons hid in a bunker underground and apparently used it, or something else, to set off timed explosives...though, come to think of it, their timers must be off cause the bombs were supposed to detonate at the same time every day-”

“Did you just say bombs?” Sentain Yuneza interjected.

“Is that really the cause of the tremors?” Sindri questioned. The very thought didn’t make much sense. An unprecedented amount of supplies would have been needed for so many tremors to have taken place. “Just how many bombs are needed for tremors to affect higher ground?”

“Even little bombs make big messes, don’t they?” Ansar fired back. “Whether they were the reason or not, we still gotta find them, don’t we?”

“Yes, I never said we shouldn’t,” Sindri responded. “Wait a minute, find them? How?”

“Dari said something ‘bout the bunker being a complex radar and that’s when Emyve was all like ‘oh, there are electronic manuals on stuff like this in the fortress’ and that’s why we came straight here instead of a clinic,” Ansar explained. “Madhal and Ilohir tossed some crazies in a ward and they, along with Gonuret, are doing the bulk of the evacuations.”

“How many have been evacuated thus far?” Yuneza asked.

“Well, a bunch were able to fly right on out…” Ansar recounted. “I’d say almost everyone at this point. The town down there was cool and they were all huge and all, but I’d say our desert tribe alone’s got a higher population of people.”

Both the Solare and the Sentain looked a bit more relieved. “If that’s the case,” Yuneza mused aloud. “Then, I’ll have Vitara and the other Sentains join us after accommodating them. I have a feeling we’ll be needing a lot of hands soon.”

::::::

As Sentain Yuneza had predicted, the evacuations and accommodations went by faster than anticipated. Darifer had made quite the miraculous recovery thanks to the Solare’s innate healing ability. He offered his help in exchange for their not holding a trial against Duke Borev, who had acted in a state of mental instability due to the old machinery in the bunker. The Duke and his attendant, Fringe, were both cared for at a seaside ward. Neither of them reacted to any of the equipment there.

Solare Sindri wasted no time in healing Gallant Kelius and any Pure dragons with injuries. The Pure royal family took up residence in the fortress, as well. Since the twins Cero and Cera were so adamant about using their Astral form indoors and their Pure form outdoors, the king and queen also did the same. Inspired by their leaders, many Pure dragons also shifted into Astral form while indoors. Expectant mothers, however, remained outdoors and large, sturdy tents were setup to protect them from any weather changes.

Though there was initial alarm in both the Pure dragons and the Astral dragons when they first arrived, the majority of the population had overcome that fear rather quickly in the face of the ongoing tremors surrounding the site of the crater. Fear of the ‘common unknown’ seemed to unite the Visionaries and the modern generation of Pure dragons faster than what would have been considered as normal. The overall equanimity allowed the Sentains and the Gallants to focus on more important things, like the source of the tremors.

“I found files on a similar bunker!” Emyve announced. Darifer, the Gallants, and the Sentains rushed over to take a look. The redheaded astral had pulled up digital files on a projecting screen that contained blueprints and manual-like instructions on the features of the old machinery.

“Yes! Finally!” Darifer cried out. “Now, how do we bring this information with us?”

Sentain Yuneza walked over to what appeared to be a filing cabinet and pulled out a flat, rectangular screen. “With this,” she replied as she handed Emyve a flashdrive-like device. “Copy the files to the stick and transfer them onto this tablet.”

“That’s what it’s called, a tablet?” Ruthed wondered aloud as he gazed at the device. “Is it the only one of its kind?”

“Oh, we have plenty,” Yuneza said with a wave of her aged hand. To her, it was almost like a child being fascinated with a handheld calculator for the first time. “You can tinker with one later, if you so wish.”

The teal-haired Gallant let out a sound of excitement, but otherwise allowed the two more technologically savvy dragons to handle the ‘tablet.’

“Who’s going with us this time?” Emyve asked.

“I’d say this is a job for all the Gallants,” Sentain Dranel pointed out. “They know just where the bunker is and how to operate it now.”

“I want to go!” Ansar insisted. “Sindri, too!”

For a moment, the Solare shifted in place. Of course, he wanted to go with all of them. But, he also had his responsibilities as leader of their people…

“Then, for the time being, I can act as Solare Regent,” Sentain Vitara suggested. “Should any of them be injured during the tremors, Solare Sindri’s healing gift would be indispensable.”

“I agree,” Sentain Yuneza added.

Sindri’s smile lit up his entire face. “Then, yes! I would very much like to join the rest of the Gallants on this mission.”

::::::

Several hours later saw all of the Gallants, and Visionary Ansar, within the bunker where Darifer and Kelius had been held captive. The lavender-hued dragon and Emyve wasted no time in using the digital manuals to operate the radar. Even with the help of the manuals, the progress was slower than they would have liked. When they were finally able to run a few scans, they were surprised with the results that came back.

“Emyve and I had assumed that the blast area would be located either below us or around this very bunker…” Darifer began.

“We were both wrong,” Emyve concluded. They pulled up the charts on the screens for the other Astral dragons to see. “We are seeing more activity around a set of islands several miles from here.”

“Islands above an area of the ocean that those from the Volcanic Isles call the Qyton reefs,” Darifer explained with a frown.

“What’s wrong?” Kelius asked, concerned about the expression on Darifer’s face.

“It’s just that, from the videos we saw of the Pure Dragon Radicals, it didn’t seem like that area would have been an ideal place for them to set up those bombs…” The lavender dragon explained.

“Ideal or not, that’s where they seem to be, right?” Ansar spoke up. “How are we going to disarm them?”

“Madhal and I came up with something,” Ilohir pointed out. “When we asked around the seaside ward about what made the Duke lose it, we were told that the older technology like this radar were never ‘Pure-proofed.’”

“Pure-proofed?” Sindri questioned.

“Yes, the Pure dragons that got along with the Astrals of the past worked together to create magic barriers around the new technology,” Madhal elaborated. “That is why Duke Borev and Fringe were not affected by any of the devices in the ward.”

“And it also explains why the Pure dragons that were evacuated on the ships weren’t affected, as well,” Ilohir added.

“So, you want to put a barrier round the islands to protect them from the blast?” Ruthed asked, a bit confused.

“No…” Emyve responded as he put two and two together. “You’re suggesting that we encase the bombs in a barrier so that the blast is contained?”

“Right!” Ilohir replied.

“But, how?” Kelius asked.

“If the Pure dragons helped the Astrals create them in the first place, do you think any of them remember how?” Darifer wondered aloud.

“If the Pure dragons that were evacuated are descendants of the Pure Dragon Radicals, then there’s no way they would know,” Sindri pointed out.

“What about the Astral dragons that have always used magic?” Gonuret prompted, finally speaking up. “The goldsmiths that formed my gauntlet and Sindri’s crown, for example.”

“...Well, it looks like we have head go back to the fortress no matter what,” Kelius suggested.

::::

Upon their return to the fortress, the goldsmiths and other Astral dragons that exhibited special skills were summoned to discuss their plan to contain the explosives. Even Pure dragons were invited into that meeting. The urgency was felt by every dragon in the room.

Through some trial and error, and documents found by Emyve and Darifer, they finally managed to replicate what their ancestors had done to form the barriers. They then formed teams and boarded aerial ships with two gallants, a goldsmith, and a Pure dragon (in Astral form) each. The ship flown by Lunare Gonuret also held Solare Sindri, Visionary Darifer, and Visionary Ansar.

Sindri held his breath as they neared the islands. Darifer, who peered through the window next to him, developed a deep frown on his face. The volcanoes that once ran down the middle of the islands seemed to have been leveled out.

“Just what is going on down there?” Darifer whispered aloud. As far as he had been told, even the volcanic islands above the Qyton reefs were relatively untouched for generations upon generations.

Could it be that Pure Dragon Radicals still existed?