shuhaige
Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Part 2
“That’s what it’ll be like working in the void, or on the moons.” Yazadril thoughtfully pointed out.
“Everything will have all its momentum, without its weight.”
“Yup.” Mark agreed. “That’s what it was like in Quewanak’s cavern on Blenda, when we took our
training with him. It was pretty awkward just trying to stand up straight without bouncing around. At
least here, these men have their own weight, so they at least have some traction.”
“I notice those men are using mortar between the stones, though Kragorram said they wouldn’t have
to.” Nemia pointed out, indicating a fireplace that was going up near them.
“Yes.” Mark nodded. “Some want the rustic look of roughly shaped stones and mortar. And the mortar
does give a nice color contrast to the stone. Almost all of those who chose smooth squared blocks are
having them fused, and the fusing is being done by elves with a spell Alilia had, since it looks like our
dragons are going to be hollowing out that mountain for another couple of hours at least. Quewanak’s
den is done, but Kragorram and Povon’s is barely half finished. No need to make Kragorram do a
bunch of stone fusing after all of that.”
“I wonder what they’ll do with all the extra stone?” Nemia said as they moved along. “All these that are
being used by the rest of us are only a tiny fraction of what they’re taking out of the mountain. There’s a
huge pile of it between their dens.”
“Kragorram says he’ll use it to build an astronomical observatory on the top of the highest mountain in
Hiliani.” Povon psionicly reported. “He says that such serene contemplations as astronomy shouldn’t be
interrupted by distracting weather, even for those of us who’re immune to discomfort from such things.
The observatory will be more than large enough for us to teach Karzog of astronomy there, so a great
number of you smaller folk will be able to observe there at once, if any are inclined to such things. I’m
not, particularly, but I do wish to share in the experience as Kragorram teaches our son about the sky,
and what’s up there. Besides, at this point, astronomy is also scouting the enemy, and the battlefield for
the coming conflict. And I wish to know that battlefield very well when the time comes.”
“Thank you Povon, that’s good to know.” Yazadril told her with a smile. “And some wise thinking on
your part, as well.”
“Thank you. I’m really not assisting with this den-building in any way, except by contributing power, and
my thoughts on the design of our home. So I’ve been using my spare attention to follow the activities in
the rest of the settlement. And of course I couldn’t help but notice when you thought of us.”
“Ah. What’s little Karzog doing?” Nemia asked.
“He’s watching the excavation. He loves us both, but he really idolizes Kragorram, and takes him as his
role model. He watches all that Kragorram does, and imitates what he can. Of course, though he’s
fourteen years old, his mind is equivalent to that of a four-year-old human, or perhaps a five-year-old
elf. Dragons develop slowly, but then we have more development to do, and more lifespan to do it in.
So there’s not really a lot he can do to help right now. But he memorizes everything he sees with fierce
concentration. He will be much like his blood-father in size and ability, if not in personality.”
“Who is his blood mother?” Talia asked.
“Tekritimaki, formerly First Flame of Serminak, second in power under Zarkog when he was Dragon
Lord. Our adopted son has a strong bloodline, there is no doubt. Tekritimaki had a brood of one
hundred and thirty-one surviving young from six different clutches, the last three of which were
Zarkog’s. Since Zarkog fell she’s given all but eighteen out to adoption, keeping nine boys and nine Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
girls from her last clutch, and she’s given up all duties to devote herself to raising them full-time.
“Zarkog fertilized three or four females every night, when he wasn’t engaged in astronomy. Not even
counting the many young he fathered in his very long life before he took over Serminak, he had over
forty thousand children as Dragon Lord. About one-third of living dragons can find him in their bloodline
somewhere. And of all the children he had, Karzog was the only one who came out black. Karzog also
had the largest egg and the heaviest hatching weight of any dragon in history, and was the only child
that Zarkog allowed to be named after himself in any way.
“After the war, no one wanted to adopt him but us, because they feared that he might be difficult to
raise. It’s suspected that Zarkog may have magically altered him in some way during the fertilization.
That’s part of the reason why The Ninety-Nine asked us to adopt only him, when Kragorram and I had
planned on adopting nine young after the war, as many Xervian Draconians have done. The other part
of the reason being that they wanted us to concentrate most of our energies on re-building and running
Serminak, as Dragon Lord Regent and Prince of Serminaki Draconia. I know I didn’t have to point that
last out, but I’m still rather thrilled by having gained such a high position!”
“You deserve to be, as you deserve to be very proud of the job you two have done there.” Mark told her
as they made their way over to the site of the dragon’s constructions. They heard it before they saw it;
a continuous cacophony of breaking rock accompanied by an intermittent roar of fire.
They came within sight of it; an arched opening in the rock face over fifteen meters high with a stream
of rock dust rising out of the top like hot smoke that didn’t dissipate. The stream of dust rose up the
steep rock face and disappeared from sight over the mountain. A constant stream of rocks ranging
from pebbles to boulders floated out of the middle of the cave’s entrance and along the rock face to the
huge pile that was growing almost a hundred meters away. Looking inside revealed an already huge
cavern, Karzog crouched in the center of it and watching intently, Povon lounging behind him with her
tail toward the door.
Povon turned her head on her sinuous neck and gave them a smile before turning back to watch the
excavation.
Kragorram and Quewanak worked together on excavating the back wall further into the mountain.
Kragorram blasted the rock face with a huge stream of blue-hot fire, then Quewanak cast Cold on it.
Then fire again, then Cold. This cracked the rock, making it easy to tear the rock out of the face, with
claws in Kragorram’s case, and with Movement spells in Quewanak’s. Kragorram constantly felt ahead
in the rock face with his psionic awareness and guided the positioning of the fire and the cold, while
Quewanak dealt with the dust and the rubble. They removed a vertical strip of rock from the ceiling to
the floor, then started at the top again beside the last strip. They slowed when they were removing rock
near the floor, and exercised the extra care needed to leave the floor perfectly smooth and flat.
“They’re going a lot faster now, since they finished making all the shaped stones that were requested.”
Povon reported, still speaking psionicly since the noise of the excavation made normal conversation
impossible. “Just ripping the rock away is much quicker. Kragorram will smooth the rest of the wall and
ceiling when most of the excavation is finished.”
“You’re keeping this dome shape?” Equemev asked.
“Yes. It’s the strongest shape, Kragorram says. This will be our main room, with another domed room in
the back for private activities and sleeping. He says there’s a spring running through the rock deeper in,
and we’ll have a bathing pool in the back room.”
“Nice!” Talia told her.
Then they all received Dalia’s broadcasted Speaking. “Could we have all the available Translocators
come help with bringing household goods and supplies? We might as well get started on it now, then
we can have all our new homes ready to move into by nightfall.”
Mark and Talia waved goodbye to Povon, and went to join the effort.