When the evening wrapped up, Conor headed for his SUV parked around back. As he reached to open the door, a shadow loomed over him.
"Hand over the pendant, Roviin Felkir," a gruff hand tightened on his shoulder.
Conor panicked, but images of his short training with Celia flooded his mind. He ducked and spun, trying to process the odd words the man had spoken. "What do you want? And what did you call me?" Conor backed toward the Spice Emporium hoping to draw attention. Four more figures appeared, one was right behind him.
"I said, hand over the pendant, you wandering feral child. You have no business possessing the sacred talisman of Celia. Only the high counsel of the Dovari may bestow such an honor on a worthy initiate."
The man came at Conor again, but grunted as Conor's arm flashed up to block. Conor looked as shocked as his attacker that the move had succeeded. The man attacked again, sweeping a leg at Conor, knocking him to the ground. Conor's head slammed hard into the road, nearly making him black out. He was hauled to his feet by a burly man from behind and a fist slammed into his gut. The memory of a night at the Grizlhut flashed through his mind.
"Where is the talisman?" demanded the gruff voice, only inches from his face.
Conor's steel-blue eyes flashed with sudden power, and a deep guttural voice came from deep within, "Dragoons Dovari thaarn vahrin. Hi tahrovin zeim vokri!"
The five men stumbled back, shocked. "The holy tongue of Celia!"
"It declared us unforgivable oath breakers!"
The leader sneered and advanced again on Conor, "Cheap tricks and lies from a memorized holy text. This rat shall pay for his desecration of the relic."
"Not on my watch." From the shadows, a figure detached from a wall. Parker Townson stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Hello, boys. Seems the Dragoons are not the same as the old days. We didn't use to be street thugs for a faithless Prima. So much for honor."
"Stay out of this, it doesn't concern you."
"If you are here to harm the chosen Dovari Kendov of Celia, then I beg to differ."
"Ha, this runt, the chosen of Celia?"
Conor felt a swell of power as Celia melded with his consciousness.
'Conor, I can't maintain this. It drains me even now. Release your hold.'
Conor relaxed and let Celia take over.
His voice now low and guttural, "Parker, Wrath Attack."
Parker's eyes went wide in recognition of the command but quickly slid to Conor's left. "Now!" In perfect unison, they struck the stunned Dragoons. Conor landed a right uppercut, followed by a left fist to the groin on his first opponent. He glanced to see Parker had broken the arm of another and was dropping into a leg sweep. Conor used Parker's lowered shoulder to brace his arm and vaulted over a man to slam his foot into the side of another's head. Three down.
The two stood and rounded on the remaining brawlers.
"Kendov!" they cried together before turning and fleeing down the street, abandoning their companions.
Conor slumped as Celia's power retreated to the pendant.
'I will not be able to do that again for some time, young Dovari. You will need to learn to defend yourself. This Dragoonis honorable. Keep him close.'
"Conor, are you ok?" Parker asked, worry evident.
Conor doubled over from the pain in his gut. Cough, "Ah, you remember me." Cough.
Parker grinned, "I remember those who help me. You and that gal, Cara. Want to tell me how you ran afoul of Dragoons?"
"Not here. Care for a ride?"
"Yeah, right" Parker looked down at the Dragoons, and walked over and rammed a knee into the side of one's head just as he was starting to rise. "Disloyal gits. Here, I will drive, you look like crap."
"Thanks," Conor said sarcastically but handed over the keys. "Do you know Dreadnaught Law Firm?"
As Parker drove them back to Vokrizin, he asked again "So how did you run afoul of a team of Dragoons? What were they doing in Jinstain anyway? The last I had heard, active members had all been recalled to Velyki in Targu province."
"That is a long story but it seems they were looking for a relic."
"Ah, the prima has them on the never-ending treasure hunt for the lost relics then," Parker chuckled as if this was a common complaint for the Dragoons. "I hear about a mission every few years to retrieve this or that. Did they say which one they were after this time in between their pummeling's? This new breed of Dragoon seems to be the hit first ask questions later type."
Conor looked Parker over carefully, assessing, "They sought Celia's pendant."
Parker nearly swerved off the road in his shock but collected himself just as they arrived in the parking lot of Dreadnaught. "Celia's pendant? Damn! That went missing three or four years ago. When the teams arrived to recover the temple, I heard stories, but I had been out of the service for a time so it was only bits and pieces. Seems they didn't find much."
"Any idea why they want it?"
"That new Prima of theirs, Zadok I think is his name, he wants anything that would give him the illusion of power. He has been obsessed for years about getting a seat on the king's counsel, but the Dragon Thunder as a whole has only had two seats in recent memory. The Royals have always been happy to have the wisdom and counsel of the Deinmaar of the dragon souls, but they tend to shy away from the rest of the religion."
"The Deinmaar? I don't think I have heard that term in many years. Was it something like, guardian?"
Parker laughed, "Kid you do know a tad more than the common citizen. No wonder the Dragoons figured you might know something. Yeah, the Deinmaar were the guardians of the soul stones. Dragoons in my day were fiercely loyal to the Deinmaar of Abrasax, but Celia... everyone bowed to Celia, the Dovajun, their queen."
"Celia was queen?"
"Not of the kingdom, but of the dragons. We are talking three thousand years ago. But she has always been regarded as such. It's part of why the royals have always feared the Dragon Thunder temples, in case they get it in their heads to try to replace the current royal family with the Deinmaar of the dragons. Thus far the Deinmaar have always been satisfied with being advisors to the kings instead of ruling themselves," Parker paused for a minute before continuing, "though I guess in a way the Deinmaar have always ruled the hearts of the people in some shape or form from the temples. A much more benevolent rule of course. I suppose it makes sense why someone as power hungry as Prima Zedok would want to also claim the title of Deinmaar."
Parker helped Conor through the doors and into the elevator. As they arrived on the Vokrizin landing, Parker whistled, "Nice digs. Whose office is this?"
Conor smiled through a spasm of pain from his side, "Mine."
"But I thought you worked at the Grizlhut?"
"Got fired, figured I needed to move on to better things so... here we are. Vokrizin."
"Restore Honor? I like it."
"You know the name?"
"It's a fun mash-up but yeah, the meaning is there. My question is, why would you choose it?" Parker looked hard at Conor, assessing.
"Parker, you have been honorable and have guarded me when you did not need to. Before I can answer that, I need something answered. Whom do you serve?"
"I... What?"
"There is trouble brewing, Dragoon. I need to know if you are prepared to return to duty. Are you prepared for a new purpose?"
Parker lifted an eyebrow, "Kid, are you offering me a job? I am not sure what kind of work you do here with Vokrizin, but it doesn't look like mining. That's about all I know since I left the Dragoons."
Conor leaned hard against the empty secretary desk, "I am considering offering you work in your old field, as a Dragoon. I am going to need to increase my security force here apparently, and your skills would be very useful."
"I-" "That's not what-" Parker started haltingly. "Kid, I have not been a Dragoon for maybe ten years. After the war with Serret, I was released of my oaths, and have been an honest miner since. Well, until Benedict..."
"If you had the opportunity to return honorably, would you consider it?"
"Security work you say? Not thuggery or intentionally going off and getting ourselves into trouble?" Parker asked, pondering.
"If I have it my way, you could sit right here and talk with Kayle all day and never be bothered."
"You kinda avoided one major topic, kid. Why are there Dragoons from the Prima after you?"
"I need to know your loyalty first. Are you loyal to the Prima or-"
Parker barked an angry laugh, "There is no way in the five hells I serve that prick. My loyalty is and always has been to Abrasax as leader of the Dragoons, and to his queen, Celia. For all I know, the new Prima is responsible for the death of or several of the deaths of recent Deinmaar, including the last one who bore Abrasax. Zadok was pissed when Rania saw to it that another was chosen the successor before he had the chance to figure out how to claim it. Abrasax had awoken for him at the Velyki temple. He always claimed he had been next in line to bear the pendant."
Conor quivered at the mention of Rania, remembering the brief glimpse of her he had seen just the other day.
"So, how 'bout it?"
"Beats not having money for food and having some heat this winter would be nice." Parker peered at Conor speculatively again. "Are you looking for some ancient oath or something? Cause that was never done just to start work for a business. Just saying."
A power came over Conor as he felt Celia stir. She didn't take over his senses as before, but their minds merged, and she shared a stream of thought with him. Conor stood tall, pain forgotten, "This is no ordinary business, Parker Townson. This is Vokrizin, now the home of the Dovari Deinmaar Kendov. Service here is in service to Celia Dovajun." He withdrew the pendant, and let it rest on his chest, a slight blueish glow emanating from the stone.
Parker's eyes grew wide as he took in the site, and in an instant, his lax posture went rigid, and he dropped to a knee, head bowed. "Zin Dovajun, I serve. On my oath, my blade is yours to command, this Dragoon shall defend with his life."
"Rise, Parker." Conor returned the pendant beneath his shirt. "There is little need for such formality moving forward. After all, to the world, I am the failed Conor Brantley. No need to dissuade them of that notion."
"But you bear the pendant of Celia, her wisdom guides you. Why not demand the due respect owed from that alone?"
Conor considered for a moment. "It is not Celia's way. Respect is earned, not simply given. Our actions will speak volumes in the coming months. If that is not enough to sway people, they were never going to be convinced of anything. We will not let that prevent us from being a force for good."
"What are our goals, sir?" Parker asked, a bit more formally than Conor was prepared for.
"Parker, remember, I am hiring you for security, not to be a robot. Call me Conor when we are alone like this. As for plans, well... first I want to catch my breath." He sat heavily at Kayle's desk and sighed. "This city has so many hurting. You will know better than I some of the worst of it I would imagine. My first goal is to launch Celia's Blessing as a community outreach. There is a man named Johnathan who is managing a small community center. Are you familiar with it?"
"Yeah, he lets some of us crash there on the colder nights. It's run down for sure, but the kids love it. It's a great place for them to hang out when they have nothing else to do."
"I want to visit there again tomorrow. I want to really get a feel for their needs and meet everyone. Think you would be up for tagging along with me, in case those guys try something again?"
"Of course, Sir. No problem."
"Good, then we will head out tomorrow... as for tonight. Do you have a place to stay?"
Parker looked at his shoes.
"Not a problem, let me get someone to show you around. There are actually showers and a cot on the second floor. One of Mr. Nuri's guards should be on duty, I'll let them take you down. I think I am going to bed."