From Out of the Blue - Part II
Did you miss Part I?
“Truth-Sayers Guild” read the sign at the bottom of the huge mountain. “No flying for wingspans exceeding 7 feet!” read a smaller, newer sign below it. Jah’Draco shrugged his huge pinions. He would have to walk and there was nothing to do about it.
As he plodded up the steep incline, occasionally using his forelimbs to grasp the rocky surface for balance, Jah’Draco saw the reason for the prohibition against larger fliers. Thousands – no, tens of thousands – of smaller creatures winged to and fro in what appeared to be random movement, but apparently was a very structured pattern. Pixies and pigeons, herons and hawks; and even an occasional griffin, either very young or very dwarfish, circled the mountain from every direction.
Fly Right Mountain was the administrative center for the entire kingdom. It was enormous and, at its summit, resembled a collection of a hundred castles connected to and stacked atop one another. The styles of those connected castles were as different as the various species within the kingdom. Every creature had the right of representation and every representative had a right to reasonable comfort.
Jah’Draco struggled to collect his thoughts as he ascended the mountain. He still had no idea who from Glass Eerie had made the terrible accusation that Jah’Draco had used his flame on an eagle egg, but he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He had carefully written down all he could remember about the incident and he had the scroll in a wooden tube, secured with a leather strap around his neck.
“May I help you?” The question caught the young dragon by surprise. He raised his massive head and saw an old crane with spectacles, impossibly peering down at the towering Jah’Draco. How could a creature look down on someone who stood at least 8 feet taller?
“Um, I hope so,” said Jah’Draco, as he suppressed a nervous blast of smoke that threatened to escape his scaly nostrils. “I’m looking for the Office of Grievance and Redress. Could you please tell me how to find it?”
“Do you know which division?” Jah’Draco shook his head, and this time a smoke blast did slip free. It was extremely embarrassing. But the formerly white-feathered crane did an admirable job pretending he was not covered with soot, black as a raven. Jah’Draco wanted to hide in a cave, but this place didn’t look like it had any caves lying around. Maybe hidden castles, but not caves.
“You need to go up two more levels and follow the corridor on the right.” Then the crane frowned further, if that was possible. “Also, there is a trading post on the next level up where brimstone is available.” It was widely known that sucking brimstone would help soothe the itchy glands in the jaws of dragon kind. In stressful situations, those glands could swell up erupt in spontaneous combustion. (That's why dragons are so popular at barbecues, but they are never invited to parties where there are ice sculptures.)
Fortunately, there were few occasions where this spontaneous combustion occurred, as there were few reasons for dragons to be nervous. One needed powerful magic and/or enchanted weapons to create an environment to unnerve a dragon. Usually, when napalm flowed from a dragon's jaws it was because he was pissed, not nervous. Contrary to the stoic performance of the clerical crane, it was difficult to stand in the shadow of Jah’Draco without feeling some level of intimidation. The young dragon was aware of this trait, but he didn’t like it.
He stopped by the trading post, run by a very talkative penguin in a conservative black and white suit that the penguin nvertheless somehow made look gaudy. “Hey, fellow, we also have some anti-itch poultices,” he said suggestively. “When are you due to start molting?”
Jah’Draco couldn’t believe how casually the penguin asked such a personal question! The young dragon abruptly turned and left the trading post, but not before another nervous blast of smoke turned the penguin's suit all black. The chubby avian was not nearly as complacent as had been the crane, and his indignant howls followed the Jah’Draco as he continued on his way. Soon he came to a door marked “Office of Grievance and Redress.”
Entering the massive chamber, he noted that the dominant feature as a huge desk, atop which was perched a snowy white bird who, with his beak tucked just under the right wing, appeared to be dozing. Jah’Draco spoke hesitantly: “Uh, hello?”
“Jufu Whooo,” the bird said, never moving his head.
“Me? Oh, I’m Jah’Draco,” said the dragon. "I’m here to –“
“I know whooo yooo are,” the owl said testily. Jah’Draco now recognized it as an owl because the creature had finally lifted his beak. Now the dragon could see clearly the distinct markings around the eyes and the tufted feathers at the side of the bird's head. “I was giving yoo the courtesy my name – Jufu Whooo. The reason I already know whooo yooo are is that a pixie was sent in advance of yooo not long after yooo coated our unfortunate reception crane with sulfuric ash.”
If green were redder, Jah’Draco would have blushed. As it was, he barely suppressed another ashy belch. “Uh, I’m terribly sorry about that – "
“No need for remorse,” the owl said. “We are quite clearly busy and I need tooo know your desire.”“My desire?” Now the dragon was really confused.
“Indeed. Yooo feel yooo were unfairly treated, but what dooo yooo desire us tooo dooo?” The owl peered so intently now that Jah’Draco felt he was looking at something on the other side of him, and the dragon nearly turned about to investigate.
“Well, I uh – “ Jah'Draco suddenly stood taller and puffed his chest out. “I want the truth to be known, of course. And I want whoever told the lie to be reprimanded, and I want my access to the Hill Mountains restored.” His chest deflated. “But I don’t know what I need to do."
“Indeed,” the owl agreed. “A tribunal will be set tooo review-oo your circumstances. Have yooo any documentation?” The dragon removed the scroll from around his thick neck and placed it on the desk, right below the T-shaped stand upon which the owl perched. “Good. We will review-oo this and notify yoo when yoo should return. The trib-yooo-nal will consist of one of your peers from Hill Mountains, one of our Fly Right clerics and a third party, as yet tooo be determined.
“Yooo are encouraged tooo attend and, if no other means are available, we will conference yooo in through the Crystal Ball Network. Do yooo have access to a Ball?” Jah’Draco nodded his head and the owl continued.
“Excellent. There are three possible outcomes of this trib-yooo-nal. One: The decision tooo banish yooo from the eerie will be validated and the exile remains in effect. Tooo: The decision will be overturned and yooo will be reinstated tooo your previous position.” The owl paused, and for a moment, seemed as if he might drop back off to sleep.
“What is the third possible outcome?” Jah’Draco finally asked.
“Ooooh, the Third.” Jufu blinked in surprise. “Well, that never happens. But, okay - Three: the trib-yooo-nal may be unable to determine whether or not there was unfairness.”
“And then what?”
“Oh, well the matter it is turned over tooo one of the Magi.”
“Which one?”
“The one in charge of the Hill Mountain complex,” Jufu replied. “Magi D’Ranis.” Jah’Draco frowned. He knew of this magus and he suspected that D’Ranis could have found the truth, if he wanted to, long before matters had come to this complicated length.
“Is there anything else I need to know?”
“Just try tooo remain available for the next week or so. A pigeon or sprite will summon yooo when the trib-yooo-nal convenes.” The Jufu’s beak disappeared beneath his pinion again.
With the audience clearly at an end, Jah’Draco turned and retraced his steps out of the complex and down the mountain. He wasn’t happy that the ultimate authority could be a magus that should have been on top of things from the beginning, but there was nothing to be done for now.
If Truth did not emerge through this process, there were still other avenues to take. Besides, there were owls a lot cooler than Jufu had demonstrated himself to be. Night owls, barnyard owls - owls that really knew how to give a hoot.
Tribunal time soon enough, but now it was time to party!
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posted by JahStorm @ 9:06 PM
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