Rhaegal strangled. For a moment he had almost hoped that Darbi had forgotten that there were many other things he had told him… and above all about the prophecy. "Yeah... right" he murmured. "Well, I know it sounds absurd, but… while I was a prisoner, a priest of the God of Knowledge came to see me and told me that… well… that our brother is destined to become the king of all dragons, and that his future is something so extraordinary that none of us could even imagine it"
Darbi was silent for a second, then took a deep breath. "Our brother. A king"
"Exactly"
"Our brother that possesses the empathy and understanding of other people's needs of a fly. The king of all dragons"
"Yes"
"Dragons who, let's remember, aren't exactly social creatures and it's already a miracle that our family exists, let alone an entire kingdom"
"That's right"
"And a priest of the God of Knowledge told you about them. The same god that Inpu told us that everyone is looking for and that, until proven otherwise, he should be our enemy since he is indeed a god"
"Precisely"
Darbi shook his head violently. He seemed unable to put all that information together. "Do you realize, right, how absurd this sounds?"
"Don't you believe me?"
"Of course I believe you! And that's exactly what worries me! This is the craziest prophecy I've ever heard... and the fact that it's technically the only one I've ever heard doesn't count! Why didn't you tell Haku?"
Rhaegal bit his lip. He wasn't sure he could think of an explanation his brother could understand. "I... I don't quite know how to tell you... but I can't. That priest told me that our brother in front of him has two paths, one positive and one negative, and if he takes the negative path he could become something so terrible to scare even himself. He told me that I must be the one to keep him on the straight and narrow path… even though I don't know exactly what that is either. And he also told me I better not tell him the truth"
"And you believe him!?" Darbi exclaimed. He wasn't sure he understood exactly that story of the good and bad road and Rhaegal's role in it all, but still he found it absurd that his brother had decided to do as the priest had told him. "Rhaegal, that was the servant of a god! Do you remember or not that so far we have only found evidence that the gods are our enemies? Haku even thinks they are connected to the catastrophe that wiped out almost all of our species! That priest is an enemy!"
"I know!" Rhaegal exclaimed. "And that's why I didn't say anything. I... I think that priest might have told me not to say it just to entice me to tell you about it, so as to lure us into some trap. Or maybe not... but even if what the priest said were true, I don't think it's a good idea for a person to know their future!"
"That's not the point!" Darbi said. "Rhaegal, we're talking about Haku here! Our brother! You have no right to withhold such information from him! Whether this prophecy is true or not... it's still something Haku should know!"
"And I'll tell him. When it will be the time" Rhaegal replied. "But not right away. First I want to know what these cryptic words mean. I want to know what the positive way and the negative way are. I want to understand what's behind this story, before driving our brother crazy by revealing it to him"
"Why? Because so you can make sure our brother chooses the right path?"
"That... or that he avoid getting hurt in the process"
"Do you listen to yourself when you speak!?"
"Darbi, please!" Rhaegal exclaimed, shaking slightly with tension. "Listen... I know this story sounds crazy, it seemed like it to me too, but I think I'm starting to piece it together... and maybe this prophecy could be true. Do you remember what Inpu told us?"
Darbi thought about it. "That… the time of the great resurrection is coming, or something like that?"
"Exactly! And the gods are looking for the God of Knowledge for this!" Rhaegal said. "Listen... I don't know who the God of Knowledge is, or what he has in mind... but I don't think he's our enemy. Maybe the other gods are, but not him. In short, according to Inpu he disappeared mysteriously, and now the gods are desperately looking for him because something should happen soon. I don't know what the great resurrection is... but it is something that scares them. If the God of Knowledge were on their side he would have already intervened, don't you think? Instead he mysteriously disappeared and now he's giving us prophecies. Don't you find that strange?"
Darbi scratched his chin. "You mean... that the God of Knowledge might want to see the dragon domain flourish again?" he murmured. "But this is absurd. Come on, brother, do you know how many dragons there are in the world? How many have we met so far? The only other dragon besides our parents that we have ever seen was a corpse in our mother's territory. We are traveling from almost two and a half years now and we haven't found a single member of our kind. Even if Haku becomes the king of all the dragons left in the world, we'll still be too few to counter the newcomers, let alone all the gods! How can this make a resurgence the civilization of the...". He stopped suddenly. His expression became concerned… or rather, more concerned than before. And maybe even a little scared. "Wait... do you think...?"
Rhaegal let out a snort. "Inpu told us about the great resurrection and that according to his superiors there is little time left. Little time left for what? I think to prevent it. But why prevent it? Well...". His eyes narrowed. "... what could frighten the gods more than the return of those who ruled this world before them?"
"Rhaegal, are you mad? The ancient dragons are all dead! They've been bone and dust for thousands of years!"
"But perhaps death isn't the true end. Perhaps... the great resurrection concerns us. Perhaps there is a possibility that this world will return to its rightful owners"
"Rhaegal, seriously... you're scaring me now"
"Why? Think about it! We know death isn't as simple as we thought. We know there are souls and eternal life! So why shouldn't there be something more for us dragons as well? Perhaps what our ancestors are trapped in it's just a long sleep similar to death... and maybe with the passing of the eons even death can die..."
"Ok, that's enough! Stop!" Darbi exclaimed, gesticulating as if in the grip of a feverish delirium. "Rhaegal... I don't deny that your hypothesis has some foundation... and indeed there are parts that fit... but I don't think it's a good idea to study this prophecy. You're trying to control things that you don't understand. Haku made the same mistake as you and regretted it bitterly... with the difference that what Haku didn't understand were the consequences of his actions on our emotional sphere, you are playing with forces that even our brother can't understand well!"
"I'm not doing rituals and invoking supernatural beings"
"Sometimes just asking too many questions doesn't do any good. Rhaegal, please tell this to Haku. I'm fine with not telling him about the torture… but you have to tell him this. Regardless of what the prophecy says, its very existence confirms to us that there is at least one god who knows of our existence and who has already found us, and it is the same god that all the other gods are looking for and that all newcomers respect as if it were absolute! It's a danger we can't ignore"
"So far he hasn't done anything to hinder us. We have no reason to believe he's a threat"
"Oh, so if a rabbit discovers that there is a wolf outside its hole, and that wolf doesn't attack it for a whole day, the rabbit can rest easy because surely the wolf isn't a threat!?"
"I just want to wait a bit! A bit more time to better understand what it means!" Rhaegal snapped in annoyance. "Can't you trust me this once? I'm sure there is a reason why this prophecy was revealed to me!"
Darbi was silent, then shook his head. "I was wrong... you're not becoming like Haku during his first few months of life. You're already exactly like him" he said. "Look at you, Rhaegal! You're hiding important things from the family, you think you have some great destiny ahead of you, and you keep it all inside! When you'll have a crisis like he did, don't come crying to me! I hope at least you don't you'll start clawing at some of us!"
Rhaegal felt even more hurt by those words. "I won't make the same mistakes as Haku"
"Everyone says so. Everyone says they won't make the same mistakes as their predecessors. Yet here you are, doing the same things our brother did" Darbi said in a broken voice. "Haku was going behind our backs, just like you are. He was keeping things from us, just like you are. He was convinced he was destined to play the hero, just like you think you are destined for something big only because a robed charlatan has come to give you a stupid prophecy, and in my opinion far too cryptic. He hid his true feelings and tried to ignore them constantly, just like you are now doing with all the secrets you have. He had become irritable and little inclined to dialogue, just like you are becoming now, since it has been a long time since I heard you scream or flaunt that irritated voice just because I expressed a different opinion from yours, an opinion which is much more rational to my notice. You say you don't want to repeat his mistakes, but that's exactly what you're doing!". He let out a deep sigh, as if sniffling. "Seriously... stop now. Let's go to Haku and tell him everything. We can work this out together"
Rhaegal was tempted. It really was. The prospect of finally being able to have no more secrets from his family was tempting… but still he balked. "I can't do this. Not until I know something more"
"We can discover something more together!" Darbi exclaimed. "After all, what can you do alone? You have no source for...". He froze again. "Rhaegal... if you're really looking for an explanation... how are you looking for it?"
Rhaegal lowered his gaze slightly. "Well... Inpu helped me a lot. He's very talkative if you ask the right questions"
"How did you manage to talk to him?" Darbi asked. "It's Serengal who holds the scroll that spirit is sealed in! Did you get help from her? Or…?". The words seemed to die in his throat, and for a moment his gaze almost begged Rhaegal to contradict what he was thinking.
But sadly Rhaegal didn't. On the contrary, he fully confirmed his suspicion. "You know what they say. The only creature dexterous and silent enough to steal something from a dragon without he or she noticing... it's another dragon"
Darbi seemed to blush. His silver scales took on a dark tint. "You stole the scroll from our sister...?" he whispered, then let out a growl and turned away. "Okay, I understand. Do what you want, I'm out"
"Brother..." Rhaegal tried to call him back.
"I don't want to know anything about it anymore!" Darbi exclaimed. "Do you want to continue living a lie and poking your nose into the affairs of the gods? Do as you please. But don't count on my support or my help. I have seen nothing, heard nothing and done nothing, and since this moment on I don't want you to say anything to me at all. But when this story ends badly, because that's how it ends, I'll be there, lurking behind a tree, and when the time is right I'll jump on you, I'll look you in the eyes and I will tell you the exact words: I told you so". And having said this, he turned completely around and disappeared among the vegetation; Rhaegal heard him mutter: "And he only explained me just two secrets out of five... really great"
Rhaegal let out a deep growl and rubbed his temples with his fingers. He had a really bad headache now, and he too was starting to feel the urge to destroy a tree.