The World of Nymoria - Time's Arrow

A bright flash blinds Zuriak causing him to stumble around. As his eyes refocus, the spectacle before him nearly causes his heart to burst from shock. In front of him, far away, likely millions of kilometers, a bright and shining star sends its rays to his transparent, blue cube. He tries to shield his eyes and looks down below him only to see a vast world through the semi-transparent floor. Zuriak steps back against the wall in fear that he will suddenly fall through the floor, but as seconds pass, he loosens up and drops to the floor again, cradling his open chest wound that is still dripping blood. Strangely enough, despite the floor being tangible, the blood drops fall through the floor and out of the cube, down into the unknown world below.

“Is this purgatory?” He struggles to ask himself, looking all around him at the stellar infinity. Moments later, Zuriak feels a presence from behind him, outside the cube as parts of his peripheral vision are draped in white. He closes his eyes, believing that it is simply another dream as it were in the misty forest months ago. Minutes pass as Zuriak slowly comes to the realization that this is reality, his reality. He opens his eyes and looks up to see a massive, white horse-like creature with a marvelous set of antlers, trident-shaped kirin horn and an ethereal blue mane overlapping one of their eyes. Their three crimson eyes simply stare down at Zuriak, emotionless. Zuriak can’t help but stare directly into this beast’s glaring irises almost as if they are hypnotizing him. Neither of them share any words as the beast closes their eyes and wraps their wings around Zuriak’s cube. Another bright flash of light blinds him once more, causing him to drop to the ground. In mere moments, the atmosphere changes. What was once a bright and warm light from the star is now replaced with cold and darkness. Zuriak opens his eyes and finds his long body bent over several rocks. There is a single, lone torchlight several meters away from him, struggling to light the passage. He looks all around him, noticing the cube is now gone leaving him all alone in the vast darkness. The blood from his chest has slowed now that it’s coagulating, however, the wound will still require attention.

“Have I returned? Hello!?” He shouts into the darkness. Nothing, but echoes respond to his call. He gets up on all fours and starts walking towards the torchlight, letting his eyes adjust. He looks around him, but doesn’t see any familiar landmarks in the little light he has. He continues silently through the passage seeing a row of torchlights every twenty or so meters, limping over the rocks trying not to widen the wound.

“I need to find the others and Idylya. She can stitch this back up.” He collapses to the ground, severely exhausted and in pain under a torch.

“That must’ve been a dream, or an illusion, or some qilin voodoo magic.” He comments to himself, reconciling his thoughts and experience with the trident-horned beast.

“But, it all felt so real…just like the forest…” Zuriak struggles to his fours once more.

“Am I dead? I can’t be dead. Do dead spirits still feel pain? And if I’m still alive, why didn’t the qilins finish the job and kill me?” He walks further through the passage noticing a strange illumination coming from around a bend. He picks up speed, and sees a rickety old wooden door with what appears to be sunlight pouring through the cracks. Zuriak picks up speed, getting a rush of adrenaline, being able to see the outside again. He takes hold of the ring handle and pulls it open, greeting himself with sunlight from above. The whiteness of the outside causes him to squint his eyes, allowing them to adjust. Getting his bearings, he finds himself in a garden outside of several tall ornate pagoda-style structures around him. The main building in front of him gleams in the sunlight, the emeralds on the building cause a cascade of green all throughout the garden.

“I have to find the others. They need to know about this qilin illusion magic and that I’m still alive.”

Through the twists and turns of the dirt path, Zuriak finds himself in front of a tall, marble fountain. He looks at his reflection in the flowing water and sees his filthy complexion as if he’s been living in a cave for years. Blood smears and claw prints cover his entire chest. He dips both claws in the water and rinses the dried blood off. He then sticks his head in and takes a long drink before the sounds of hoofsteps alert him from above the surface. He immediately takes his head out to find several armored kirins all around the fountain, some armed with spears, others charging magic.

“Who are you!? And how did you get into the Jade Palace gardens!?” One of them yells with a bit of fright in his voice.

This is bad. Though do they not recognize me from the fight?

“Speak now, dragon, or we will use force to take you down!” Another kirin interrogates.

Seven of them. It’d be a losing battle to fight all of them in my current state. Flying is my best bet, just need to avoid the spears and fire.

“This is your last chance!”

Zuriak takes his claws off the rim of the fountain, crouches, and scans for a quick exit through the air.

“Take him!” Zuriak launches rapidly in the air just as a couple spears pierce the ground he was just at. More spears and firebolts narrowly miss him in the air as he flies around the exterior of the Jade Palace, avoiding the kirins. More guards notice him and begin sending a barrage of magic, arrows, and spears. Just as he’s flying above the long set of marble stairs in front of the palace, a wave of fire strikes his wounded chest, causing his wound to reopen once more. He falls onto the stairs and starts sliding down them leaving a trail of blood. The kirins on the stairs all panic and move out of the way, making way for both him and the pursuing guards. As soon as he hits the bottom, he gets up and narrowly exits the compound and into the streets of Kyrinia’s eastern district. The kirins on the streets all look at him in shock and get out of the way as he sprints through the crowds and dodges obstacles outside of the market. The guards pursue his path, but do not use weapons or magic, as they also weave through crowds of kirins. Zuriak continues going south towards the main north-south road, but sees another group of guard kirins coming up from that way. He quickly turns left and enters a restaurant looking for a way up to the roof. All the patrons stop eating and immediately rush past him to the exit. He pays them no mind and runs through the tables making a big mess until he reaches a set of wooden stairs in the back. He runs up the stairs and down a hallway to an open window. Without a second thought, he jumps out the window and onto the ceramic shingles of the building next door. Now on the rooftops, he jumps from building to building avoiding the pursuing guards who have now resumed throwing spears and magic at him. After getting behind a much taller building, he stops and charges some ice in one claw.

“I need to fly, but I can’t while bleeding, or else I’d lose too much blood.” He then holds his charged claw against his chest and flash freezes the wound. He winces in pain and moves his claw away. “That won’t stay frozen for very long, but it should be enough to get me out of the city.” Zuriak launches himself from the roof and gains much altitude over the city to avoid the barrage. Eventually, the city becomes nothing but a dot to him as he begins flying east.

The others are likely back in Nymerion unaware that I’m still alive. They probably had to abandon me to avoid getting caught themselves. That is what Ryn told us after all.

About fifty kilometers away, Zuriak begins descending down to the forests below, feeling much more exhausted suddenly. As he descends closer to the ground, his vision blurs for a moment and he falls on his stomach. He shakes his head and gets back up looking around sharply in paranoia. The sound of his stomach rumbling catches his attention.

“Ah, right, it’s been more than a day since I’ve last eaten anything. No wonder I’m tired.” Zuriak looks down again at his chest wound, noticing the ice quickly thawing in the hot summer sun. He flash freezes it again causing him to wince in pain once more.

“There’s about sixteen hundred kilometers between Kyrinia and Nymerion. It will take me at least a full day to fly that far, and that’s if there are no obstacles or disruptions. In my current state, I won’t even make it halfway…” Zuriak looks away from his wound to a blackberry bush not far off. He starts heading towards it through the tall brush and towering trees. He picks several and eats them immediately. While eating, he picks up a stick and starts drawing a rough map in the dirt.

“Between here and the Valley of Despair is about eleven-hundred kilometers, but on the southern end after crossing back into Ithral, there’s the village Elderroot. I can recover there and continue after resting. I’ll just need to avoid Kirin Grove in the southern region so I don’t get attacked. For now, it’s just a matter of getting out of Kyryo. Heh, just like our last adventure a few months ago, right Idylya?” Zuriak looks to his left, expecting a response, but realizes no one else is here. He frowns and eats several more berries before dropping the stick and taking flight again.

Soon after Zuriak is airborne, he sees a strange creature in the distance flying at the same altitude. It looks small, winged, and definitely not a dragon. He squints to get a better look, but a strange sensation in his stomach causes him to hold back and look away. He soon finds himself regurgitating the berries and feeling immensely ill. Losing focus, he bumps and crashes through the tall trees and painfully falls through the branches until he is met again with the hard forest floor. As he drifts into unconsciousness, he hears a strange flapping of wings just above him and a gasp.

~

Zuriak feels a strong ray of sunlight pierce onto his cheek and the smell of old, rotting wood fills his nostrils. His eyes slowly open to a large wooden roof held together by an array of decaying support beams. Many holes cover the roof allowing bits of sunlight to peek through. He looks to his side and finds himself on a damp pile of hay surrounded by other taller piles of loose hay. He rolls over, slides down the hay, and looks at his twisted, long body extending towards an open door frame. The sounds of grass rustling alert him of a lone figure in the doorway which causes him to instinctively charge up some lightning, but he freezes and dissipates the charge after getting a better look at the figure before him. Both the creature and Zuriak stay frozen and silent for a solid minute, before the creature moves towards him with their mouth gaping in awe. Upon closer inspection, Zuriak notes their pony-like figure, with a set of matching white antlers, dragon wings, and a long dragontail. Zuriak backs up against the hay piles trying to keep distance between them.

“I can’t believe you’re alive, especially after falling from the sky at such a height.” The pony-like creature says, getting closer. Zuriak doesn’t respond, feeling uncertain about the situation. She takes note of this and stops.

“Sorry, where are my manners? I normally don’t talk to ponies, or well, dragons because of…well…um…nevermind, my name is Scarlet Rain.” She says with a wavering voice. She hops over Zuriak’s long tail and holds out a hoof. Zuriak hesitantly shakes it, feeling a bit better about the situation, but still skeptical.

“I’m Zuriak.” He answers, staring down at the mysterious pony.

“I found you tangled within the tree branches and you looked hurt, so I brought you here.” She points at Zuriak’s stitched chest wound. He looks down, amazed at the stitch-work. “Judging by that other scar, it looks like you’ve been through a lot. Luckily, I carry all sorts of antidotes, potions and first aid tools when traveling through Kyryo.” Zuriak looks around the dilapidated, wooden room.

“Where is ‘here’?” Zuriak asks.

“I’m not actually sure, but I want to say around fifty kilometers south of Kirin Grove. This place used to be an old farming settlement before it was abandoned years ago. I always pass by it on my way to Kyrinia from Novawind.”

“You’re from Equestria?”

“Mhm!”

“And you’re not afraid of me?”

“Why would I be afraid?” Zuriak shrugs his shoulders and stands fully on his front claws, towering before her.

“I always thought ponies avoided dragons at all costs out of fear.”

Scarlet Rain chuckles a bit. “I wouldn’t call myself a pony.” She holds up her dragontail and spins around with her wings extended. “You’re heavier than you look, by the way. It was quite the struggle carrying you here, but thankfully this place wasn’t very far.” She says as she rubs her left wing.

“Y-you carried me here? How?” Zuriak answers with mild surprise.

“Like I said, it wasn’t easy. I had to drag you through the air high enough so your body wouldn’t brush up against the trees. My wings are still aching.”

“Oh, sorry.” He responds, slightly embarrassed. He then stands on all fours and walks over to the barn’s entrance, looking out at the dense forest ahead of him. The sun is beginning to set, and the sky above glows a bright orange. Scarlet Rain sits next to him and also takes in the scenery.

“Thank you for your help, by the way.”

“Anytime! But may I ask where you’re from, or where you’re going?” She looks up at him.

“My home, Nymerion.”

“Seriously, you mean old Nymerion? Why there?”

“Old? Well, it is a pretty old city, come to think of it.”

“I didn’t know anyone still lived there, though I haven’t actually seen the city myself.”

“What? There’s loads of dragons there! Do they not teach you anything about dragon culture in Equestria?”

“No, but I wish. It'd help me learn more about myself.” Scarlet replies, with a hint of sadness. Zuriak looks down at her, trying to make sense of her anatomy.

“What are you exactly? I’ve never seen a pony with…well dragon features.”

“I get that a lot. It’s alright though, I don’t fully understand what I am either. My mom says my dad was from the dragon lands across the Celestial Sea. I’ve never met him, but it would be nice to someday because I have tons of questions I want to ask him.” Scarlet gives him a warm smile.

“Has your mom been able to help you find him?” Her smile quickly fades.

“She passed away about eight years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Didn’t mean to open old wounds.”

“Don’t sweat it, I’ve gotten over it, but it’s been tough living alone on the farm in Novawind.” Scarlet holds a hoof against her chest. “But enough about me, what brought you out this far?” Her expression rapidly changes to curiosity. “I still can’t believe I’m seeing an old Ithralian lung dragon for the first time!” Zuriak laughs heartily.

“Well, unlike Nymerion, I’m not that old. I had…an assignment out around these parts, but it didn’t go as planned. At this point, I just want to return home and see my friends again.” Zuriak looks again at Scarlet Rain, noting her color scheme. “You know, you remind me of one of them.”

“Who?”

“Just…someone you wouldn’t know. I hope she’s not mad at me for not returning last night, but…” Zuriak reflects back to the winged-unicorn he witnessed in the blue cube and their burning crimson eyes. “...as I said before, things didn’t go as planned.”

The last bits of sunlight dip below the horizon and the sky is quickly filled with bright white stars. The sounds of grasshoppers and other noisy forest critters quickly fills the ambience as day shifts to night. Fireflies appear and begin illuminating the forest and around the barn. Scarlet digs through her saddlebags and pulls out several strawberries. She tosses a few over to Zuriak.

“Here, it’s not much, but it should hold you over for the night. I was actually en route to deliver a bunch of these to Kyrinia, but wasn’t expecting to spend the night in the wilderness. You’ve got to be hungry especially after all the vomiting you were doing earlier.” He holds a claw against his stomach area, suddenly feeling malnourished. The strawberries in his claw look freshly ripe and larger than the ones he remembers seeing in Nymerion.

“Thank you, again.”

Scarlet responds with a big smile, and eats her portion. Zuriak eats all three in one mouthful and goes back to the hay pile he woke up on earlier. Scarlet yawns and collapses on a smaller hay pile, opposite of Zuriak’s.

“Good luck on your journey home.” She exhaustedly says before drifting off. Zuriak looks up through the broken ceiling at the stars above, once again recalling his experience in the cube.

I hope you’re doing okay, Idylya.

~

Zuriak awakens to the familiar sounds of birds chirping and the swaying of branches outside. He lazily rolls sideways down the haypile and stands on all fours, feeling much less sick than the day before. He looks across the barn at the still-sleeping pony snoring away.

“At least you don’t dump water on someone to wake them up.” He whispers to himself, looking at the sleeping dragon-pony. He exits the barn into the morning sunlight and takes one last look at Scarlet Rain.

I hope she’ll be okay with me leaving, but I can’t waste any more time.

Zuriak crouches, then launches himself in the air, flying high over the forest below. He turns and flies into the rising sun while shielding his eyes. The wind blowing into his mane, and the warm morning weather puts him at ease as he begins flying home.

As hours pass, Zuriak approaches the Valley of Despair and looks down into it. He sees the wide river cutting through it, dividing the two sides.

“Huh, was the river always that wide? It didn’t seem that way when we crossed it months ago.” Zuriak descends lower as he crosses over the valley. He eventually lands on a cliff on the eastern side, right before entering Ithral. He looks down the slope into the valley, remembering his and Idylya’s crossing back in Raina, and the race they had up the mountain.

“Feels so long ago…” As he turns around to face the looming forest before him, a sudden realization pops in his head.

“I wonder if it’s still there.” He takes off to the skies once more and continues traveling east. Not long after, a gap in the forest catches his attention. He looks down and starts hovering lower until he’s face-to-face with the Zyntrithian stone monolith. Much of the lower half of the stone is covered in a thick layer of moss. He brushes away the moss and reads through the writing again in the hopes that there’s something more to it, something that they may have missed.

“If only you were here, Idylya. I can’t remember what most of these mean-” One symbol in particular catches his attention. He places his index claw over the symbol for ‘time’.

“Huh, that wasn’t there before. Tenjo. The same symbol that matriarchal qilin had.” Zuriak drops to the ground. “Did her spell relate to time?” He steps back from the monolith, getting a better look at the whole thing. On doing so, he trips over one of the gravestones and stumbles back before falling in a pile of leaves.

“Ow, I don’t remember the gravestones being this close to the boulder…” He gets back up and looks around, seeing many more gravestones lined up in a wide circle around the monolith. Zuriak shivers a little in fear and lightly hovers off the ground to avoid stepping on any more. “Idylya was right about this place. It feels unnatural.” He does a loop around the monolith once, pondering its contents when something peculiar catches his attention. Near the top of the stone, mostly covered by branches of an adjacent tree, a strange object is chiseled in. Zuriak floats up and moves the branches away, revealing what appears to be an outline of a tesseract with the Zyntrithian symbol for time below it.

“That can’t be the same one…could it?” His heart races as he begins processing this new piece of information. The recent memory of the blue cube becomes much more clear to him now.

“No, that’s not possible…” His claws slide off the rock, and he drops to the ground abruptly. He balances himself against the monolith and looks around at the gravestones he doesn’t remember seeing months before. None of them are marked. In an instant, he takes to the skies once more, creating a strong gust of wind below. In the air, he vastly picks up his speed in the general direction of Nymerion.

“Those qilins at the palace, they acted like they’ve never seen me before. Was that matriarchal qilin capable of time travel magic?” He ducks below the clouds and tries to get a better look at the forests, but nothing about them seems familiar. “How long was I gone? Days, weeks, months…years?” He asks himself in a fit of paranoia. After about an hour of flying, Zuriak slows down and descends lower, getting closer to Nymerion’s city limits. As he gets closer, his paranoia is quickly replaced with sorrow as the shining waterfall city now appears desolate and in ruins. He gently floats down next to the northern waterfall on the outer ring and looks over in shock. The Tower of Nymeria, once stood proudly over the city, now torched and coated in holes. Many of the surrounding buildings either burned down or fell over. Mysterious flames still linger on many of the buildings, perpetually burning.

“No…” He whispers to himself. He slowly floats down off the ring and into the city’s center, where the great fountain used to be. He falls onto the uneven cobblestone and looks around in a circle at the devastation of the place he called home. Shops completely vacated and ruined, streets overturned and littered with rubble, and trees and bushes burnt to ash. A silent tear rolls down his face, as he looks towards the Arcanum of Nymer, or what’s left of it. He approaches the derelict structure and weaves past the broken doors and fallen bricks. After reaching the central room, he looks around and notices all the books are either gone or piles of ash. He walks up the round set of stairs and over to where Idylya was sitting the last time they met here. All that remains is a single frail scroll wedged behind one of the bookshelves. He picks it up and holds it against his chest.

“I’m sorry, Idylya. I should’ve never left you…” More tears roll down his face as he collapses to the floor. “You’re all gone, and it’s all my fault…” Zuriak coils up and lets the tears freely flow, anguished, and distressed. A few moments later, the gentle caress from a hoof takes him out of his trance. He opens his eyes to see the purple dracony from the other day looking down on him, saddened.

“I should’ve told you last night, I’m sorry.”

Zuriak briefly makes eye contact with her before looking away. She keeps stroking his back to comfort him as the two sit in silence.

“How long has it been?”

“Well, according to our history books, the kirins attacked Nymerion in early three hundred ninety-three. That was sixty-one years ago.” Zuriak squeezes the scroll hard and his face shifts to anger.

“Please don’t be mad. I know you’re in pain, but anger will only make it worse.”

“How can I not be mad!? They took everything from me, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it! Was it the matriarchal qilin that did this!? And why did you even follow me here!?” Scarlet backs away in fear, unsure how to answer. Zuriak calms down upon seeing her cower.

“It doesn’t matter anymore…” He looks down at the scroll and unravels it. His heart flutters a bit upon seeing several lines of musical notes written on a staff. The title and composer are no longer legible due to years of water damage, but many of the notes are still clear. The melody was written for flute.

“I can’t even begin to imagine the pain you’re feeling right now, but don’t take it out on me! I followed you because I wanted to know if you were going to be alright knowing what happened!” She bursts out, mirroring his anger.

Zuriak turns away from Scarlet, remorseful over his outburst. He wipes his face clear of the tears and composes himself. “I’m sorry.”

Scarlet’s face softens, but she doesn’t respond, now curiously looking at Zuriak’s scroll.

“What is that?”

“It’s probably one of the last pieces of dragon culture left in the city that’s still mostly intact.”

“May I see it?”

Zuriak hesitantly hands her the scroll, then turns back around, looking out the broken window. She holds it up with one hoof and examines its contents.

“Oh, it’s music.” She says, more curious than before. Soothingly, she begins humming the melody. Zuriak’s ears perk up and he looks back at Scarlet with intrigue, thinking back to when Idylya played the flute in front of him.

“You’re also musically-skilled, just like her.” Scarlet stops humming and looks up from the scroll.

“Like who?”

“Someone I should’ve listened to all those years ago.”

“Was she the same one you were talking about last night? Idylya?” He turns to her, surprised.

“How did you know?”

“You talk in your sleep.” Zuriak turns away, embarrassed.

“What happened, exactly?” She follows up behind him.

“Years ago, several other dragons and I were on a mission to assassinate a specific qilin. They referred to them as the matriarchal qilin, or one who has the Ethereal Matriarch’s gift.” Scarlet approaches him by the window, feeling a little more connected.

“A matriarchal kirin? That kind of rings a bell…” Scarlet ponders.

“Idylya told me it was a bad idea, and that I shouldn’t kill the qilin despite being instructed to do so by my superior. I told her everything is going to be alright, and that I will be back. Little did I know that I couldn’t follow through with it anyway, and got trapped. The qilin used some sort of time spell on me, but I didn’t realize that until…now.”

“A time spell?”

“This qilin trapped me in some sort of blue cube, and for a moment, teleported me someplace I don’t know how to describe. It seemed like I was only there for mere minutes before returning.”

“That wasn’t Terra Nova, the Time Kirin, was it?”

“You know of her?” He asks in shock. Scarlet gasps and holds her head.

“Sweet Celestia, that was you who attempted to assassinate her? That was one of the major reasons the kirins sought to attack Nymerion!” She exclaims. Zuriak holds his head in his claws. “Shortly after Kyryo’s previous Empress died, her son succeeded as Emperor and within a year began the Siege of Nymerion. Many kirins refer to him as a brutish ruler in comparison to his mother.”

“So, it really was all my fault then…” Scarlet looks away from him, regretting saying anything. “I was so stupid not to listen to her, and now everyone suffered because of me.”

“Revenge never solves anything, all it does is perpetuate the bloody cycle of hatred. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Scarlet grabs one of his claws with her hooves and pulls it away from his face. He looks down at her with watery eyes.

“She once said the same thing. It’s hard to believe you and her are so much alike.” Zuriak rubs his eyes and gets up. Scarlet steps back a little as she watches him step over the debris back to the set of stairs.

“Hey, where are you going?” Scarlet flies over the broken tables, chairs and bookshelves, and follows him down the stairs. Zuriak trips over some of the pointed wood and squeezes past the broken doors again until he is outside. The clouds above grow thicker and cover the sun, giving the city a dismal atmosphere. Scarlet hovers above him still waiting for a response.

“How long have these fires been burning?” Zuriak points up at the building adjacent to the Arcanum.

“Decades, and they will continue to burn for many more years to come. Only those in the royal kirin bloodline are capable of producing the eternal flame, or so I’ve been told. It was a spell the royal kirins formulated in the three-nineties in secret before they besieged Nymerion. No one’s quite sure how they fabricated that spell, as it seems comparable to the matriarchal kirin’s magic.”

“And what happened to the dragons that survived this catastrophe?” Scarlet returns to her hooves and rubs her chin.

“No one really knows that either. According to historical texts, when the kirins were gaining the upper hand in battle, many of the dragons abandoned the city and fled east. The winged dragons of Drogos reported hordes of them flying further east into uncharted territory. Those that stayed in Nymerion, however, were brutally outnumbered by the kirins.”

“What about the other four cities?”

“The kirins captured them shortly after. Most surrendered because of the vast kirin army while some were able to flee.”

“I see.”

“There’ve been sightings in recent years, though. I remember reading about a small Equestrian town in the far northeast say they saw a group of Ithralian lung dragons flying from the Frozen North into Equestria about five years ago, but they haven’t turned up anywhere else since then.”

Zuriak flies off without saying a word, but slow enough for Scarlet to catch up. As he travels over and under the dilapidated residential plateau, the realization that his friends Idylya, Xellis and Fenrir possibly perishing during the onslaught settles in. His eyes start to well up again, though he rubs them to avoid another episode of tears. Scarlet flies just above him also looking around the wastes of the city in both fascination and pity. As soon as a familiar treehouse comes into view, Zuriak slows down and simply hovers outside. The elder tree he once called home still stands tall on the lone grassy plateau higher above most of the residential district, however the leaves have all decayed. The other elder tree residences nearby all appear as decayed as his, some have even toppled over. Scarlet stops as well and looks curiously at the tree waiting for Zuriak to do or say something. He floats down to the entrance and enters his home for the first time in seventy-five years. Inside, a thick layer of dust covers every surface, and broken glass from the windows litter the floor. Many of the things he cherished once have either shattered or been stolen. Only his circular bed and a few pieces of furniture remain, all covered in mold. Scarlet hesitantly enters shortly after him, not wanting to interrupt this delicate moment.

“This place used to be my home, but now like much of the city, I barely recognize it in this state.”

“I’m sure it was very beautiful back then. Equestrians used to call Nymerion the ‘City of Sapphires’ because of how blue and pure the water was. It seemed to make everything grow lush and green.”

Zuriak moves his bed across the room revealing some loose floorboards underneath. He removes a couple pieces of wood and gasps and its contents. He picks up an old dagger with a familiar set of symbols and tendrils written along the blade. Surprisingly enough, it appears to be in pristine condition despite the years of neglect.

“What did you find?” Scarlet asks, walking towards him. Zuriak also recovers a tattered journal that the dagger was resting on and a sack of coins. He spins around and shows the dagger to Scarlet.

“When I was in the warriors guild in early three-seventy, we had a mission out on the northern end of the Valley of Despair. It was storming pretty badly, and we had to take shelter in a cave near the river, along the cliffs. I found this strange dagger wedged in-between some rocks not far into the cave and was surprised to find it in excellent condition, not a single patch of rust. I decided to hold onto it for luck, though I’ve never been sure what these symbols mean.” Zuriak shakes his head. “Anyway, I gave this to Idylya before my mission so she’d be able to defend herself. Somehow she knew where my secret stash was, but…” Zuriak’s expression changes. “...she didn’t need the dagger anymore.”

“Maybe she didn’t know what to do with it, or she didn’t feel right holding on to it?” Scarlet responds with confusion. She then notices the torn journal in his other claw. “Is that a diary?”

“It’s my old journal. I used to write in it, so I wouldn’t forget the things that changed me.” He examines the cover with a look of confusion.

“Hmmm, this calligraphy right here, I don’t remember ever writing that.”

“What do they mean?”

Zuriak’s attention affixes to the third symbol.

“It’s Zyntrithian. This symbol here means ‘time’.” He taps his claw over the last symbol. “But I don’t know what the other two characters mean.” Scarlet looks closely at the third symbol and ponders to herself.

“That looks like the marking on the Time Kirin’s horn. I remember reading about that in our foreign history books way back when. What did you call it? Zyntrithian?”

“It’s an ancient dragon language that we used to speak and write in many years ago. It was constructed to help us connect with the twelve divines as a lot of old relics discovered in this region were inscribed with these symbols, but the language effectively faded away after the Great Equestrian War. Idylya was the only dragon I knew who was sort of capable of reading it. Come to think of it, she was teaching me some of it not long before the siege mission. I must’ve accidentally scribbled some on the cover.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

“I didn’t expect you to. A lot of history here is now lost to time.” Zuriak looks back down at his journal and starts flipping through the delicate pages, struggling to read much of the faded text.

“Hard to believe I’ve been writing in this since I was seven.” He turns some more pages, and for a brief moment, smiles. “This was when I met Xellis in Julis of three seventy-seven. He got drunk at the Festival of Fire that summer and threw up on me when I was in line to try a bowl of spicy liquid dragonfire. He would not stop apologizing that day and offered to pay for my meal.” Scarlet chuckles at the thought as Zuriak turns several more pages.

“This entry was when Idylya and I were paired for the monthly hunts in Sarais of three seventy-eight. She kept telling me about how good she is with the bow and how its special properties would help us get the most prey. It actually did the exact opposite and we wound up with one rabbit which she blames me for. I could tell it was her first time hunting because she had no idea what she was doing, but she didn’t want to admit that.”

“And this one was…this one was in Thera of three seventy-nine…” Zuriak trails off.

“What was?” Scarlet questions.

“...It’s nothing important.”

He continues flipping through the pages, but stops just after the last entry he wrote about the siege mission. A new entry was written in someone else’s handwriting. Zuriak skims through the contents until he reaches the end and sees Idylya’s signature scribbled in.

“She wrote something to me.” He looks at Scarlet with surprise. She sits down, appearing interested in hearing what Idylya wrote.

“Freiden, twenty-first of Aquilius, three seventy-nine…”