Denu had remained hidden from the sight of Neron,
in the far desert. He had taken the shape of a fearsome dragon and no animals
came near. The fire that spurted from his eyes singed a great tract of the
desert and it never gave birth to life again.
Still he missed Onera.
At last, he left the desert and flew as a bird to
espy the peaks of Neron’s domain. He saw with amazement that magnificent
palaces had sprouted from Amalteron and that they were heavily populated with a
bronzed and beautiful race. He alighted in the old orchards of Nomra and
watched the children play.
From whence these fleet and fair people? They were
not his children. Where were the children he had abandoned? What had Neron done
to them? He dared not reveal himself upon that holy mountain, but he lingered
long, watching and listening. He found Nez, sitting on the cliff, watching the
horizon.
Ariaj tried still to lure him into a smile, but
Nez was still heartbroken.
“At least play with your grandchildren!” Ariaj
implored. “You have lost Onera, but she is still here, all around you!”
So. This brazen being was the father of this
strange race. And Onera…with an anguished cry, Denu flew from Amalteron. How
had Onera done this thing? Had Denu really been gone for so long? Had she
forgotten him? He had never forgotten her…not even when entwined in the arms of
Triona beneath the sea.
He circled Neron’s mountain again.
Perhaps he need not hate Onera…she had done no
worse thing than he…but he could hate this gold-haired seducer. He could hate
him and he would hate his children.
Where were the children of Denu?
He flew over the sea, and skimmed the boughs of
Onerae with his blue wings. He saw Onera beside the healing stream, alone and
sad. He alighted beside her and chirped.
“Be gone,” she said. “I wish to see none but my
Denu.
Denu transformed into a dragon and roared furiously,
rippling the waters of Nyr. Onera leapt back with a cry, but she saw his fiery
eyes and ran to him, throwing her arms around his scaly neck.
“Denu!” she wailed. “I have missed you more than
any one thing in the world!”
“Then why did you love another?” Denu hissed as he
resumed his original form.
Onera looked into his starry eyes and hers filled
with tears.
“Denu, forgive me!” she said. “I never meant to!
He—he deceived me with a magic brew…I’m sorry, I thought, I thought he was you,
for the potion he gave me befuddled my mind and reason. As soon as I realized
what was done, I was very furious, but it was too late! Eanez, Arathez…their
children now flood my father’s palace as ours once did.”
“Ours?” Denu asked.
“Yes!” Onera beamed. “We had seven. Ner, Deru,
Nom, Ee, Nerus, Nu, and Dena. But Ner was vicious. It was he that gave Nez the
potion that confused me. I am sorry, Denu. I love only you!”
“I forgive you,” Denu said slowly. He paused,
thinking of Triona’s lips. “I only love you, too,” he said, and his shadow
loosened from him.
“And Neron?” Onera asked. “He does not know you
are here?”
“He believes me dead,” Denu said.
“He never told me,” Onera said indignantly.
“No,” said Denu, glad that she had not heard of
Triona another way.
“Well, we shall be able to live here happily,
then!” Onera said. “Neron is not looking for you! No more fleeing and hiding,
we can be happy at last!”
“I wish to see my children,” Neron said. “What
happened to them?”
“They had many children of their own and grew
until father became displeased with their number and so Ner led them away and
they dwell now beneath Neronimahnon, in their city, Nemraltus."
“Let us go and see them!” Denu exclaimed in
delight.
“But Neron—” Onera began.
“Fie in Neron!” said Denu. “He will not hear of
it, and anyway, I have discovered his power and no longer fear him.”
“Of what do you speak?” Onera asked. But Denu
would not tell her of the eyeless semblance he had called forth. He changed
into a dragon and flew to Nemraltus, with his shadow barely clinging to him.
Ner had not yet aged and died, but he was beginning to show more age than the
father he greeted with respect and a shadow of wariness.
Here was the father that had abandoned them…was this
a time for vengeance, or a time to unite in hatred of Neron whose distrust had
caused the rift?
Ner was double-minded and it was no trouble for
him to hold both sentiments in his heart. Denu, too, was confused. Here was his
long lost son, also the sorcerer to blame for aiding Nez in the seduction of
Onera. But Denu was as capable as his son in the holding of hatred and love
together at once.
And he planned a vengeance and a blessing in one
as Ner brought him to banquet with the other six children. Nu at once spotted
the fluttery shadow of Denu and remembered the old tales that Ariaj had
whispered of the days when shadows were rent from flesh and heinous acts were
committed.
If she had known what was to come, she would have
silenced her brother Deru when he spoke of the pilgrimage to see Nomra beneath
the earth. He told of the sparkling chambers where Nomra was preparing to
receive them when Nemrus’ curse would cause them to die like animals. He told
of her seas of gold and milk, of her fantastic creatures and of her Night
Light, Mihr.
Denu’s eyes sparkled at the tales.
He remained with Onera in the city of their
children, disguising again in the form of a dragon, lest Ariaj should espy him
from the air.
And the words of prophecy spoken by Unonera still
troubled him.
They will be
reviled! The Race of Nez will take your eyes!
