-Uncle Brannen ! I’m thirsty ! Complained little Wiksie. Where can we get a drink ?
-There’s a bar over there ! Answered Brannen pointing at a hollow tree nearby.
The barman was standing outside, smiling at the newcomers and welcoming them inside.
-And what can I get you ? He asked.
-A cratcha juice for the boy and a stinga rum for me. Said the tryker.
Wiksie didn’t like standing at the counter. It was matis-sized for one thing, too high for him to reach. He also felt uncomfortable next to drunk homins staring at him with vacant eyes, smoking their pipes full of cratcha moss, and making him cough loudly. Sadly all the tables were taken. An old and wrinkled matis, beckoned him slowly at his table, smiling. He was bald, bent and toothless. He looked almost blind, his small black eyes hidden behind a curtain of wrinkled skin. His fingers were long and bony, his hands withered, damaged by time, shook uncontrollably when he reached out for his cup. His walking stick hung on the chair, and by the look of it, he’d been using it for a long time already.
-Come ! come ! Little one. Old Paolo could do with some company. He croaked.
Wiksie wasn’t sure what to do. His parents told him countless times never to trust strangers. He looked back at his uncle Brannen who was holding a tray of drinks and a jug of water. Brannen nodded, and smiled at the old homin. Wiksie climbed on a chair. A barmaid found a set of cushions for the little tryker to sit on. His chin was level with the table.
-My name is Paolo. Paolo Angeli. Croaked the old matis.
-I’m happy to meet you mister Angeli. I’m Brannen. And this is my nephew Wiksie.
-And what a sweet little boy you’re nephew is. Said Paolo with a smile. So, what brings you both to Yrkanis ?
-Sightseeing. Answered Brannen with a smile. We hitched a ride with a caravan of merchants.
-I trust the journey here was a safe one ? Asked the old matis.
-No encounters whatsoever, except in the maze of heretic hovel.
-Uncle Brannen killed 2 torbaks and a cuttler ! Said Wiksie, happily drinking his cratcha juice. And one day I will fight just like him.
Old Paolo chuckled at the little tryker, and leant forward slightly to take a better look at him.
-Is that what you want to become, young Wiksie ? A warrior ? He asked.
-No, no. I want to be a forager ! A forager in the primes roots !
-Ah...The primes roots, yes...You’ve been there ?
-No, it is too dangerous to take Wiksie down in the roots. When he knows how to handle a sword properly I’ll take him there for prospecting.
-You are a forager yourself then, mister Brannen ?
-Yes, I am. I sell weapon materials in Fairhaven.
-What do you do mister Angeli ? Asked Wiksie.
The old homin chuckled again.
-I live of the kindness of other people. In my old age handling a pick is like lifting ten bodocs in one hand. I used to be good at foraging though...very good...I travelled all over the world when I was a young matis.
-Did you go to the primes roots ? Asked Wiksie, interested.
-Oh yes ! I loved the roots ! Answered Paolo. It was my home...my sanctuary. It fascinated me ! Some much mystery...so many secrets...
-Did you find the Dragon ? Asked Wiksie suddenly.
At this, Old Paolo laughed. Brannen smiled and said :
-I’m sorry ! My nephew is into fyros literature at the moment. He doesn’t quite understand what the Dragon is.
-No one does. Said the old matis.
-Did you see it ? Insisted Wiksie.
-Of course he hasn’t !
-Yes...I have. Croaked Old Paolo.
-Wha...
-Let me tell you a story.
The old matis lifted his cup and sipped slowly. He had never told this to anyone. Taking a deep breath, gathering his thoughts and memories, Paolo started :
-You have both heard of course, of the Exodus. All 4 civilisations forced to tolerate and live with each other during the dark days of exile in the primes roots. I was there. Those were terrible times. Constant fear ! Eternal darkness ! We’d all stick together, huddled up like baby yubos. But I did not. I’d always be alone. I’d slip away from the camps and walk for miles around, exploring caves, sit next to sap marshes, and watch the underworld life. Pia, a zoraï, would sometimes keep me company. We shared the same passion for the roots. Poor Pia. She was the closest thing I had to a friend. A sister even. The roots were her home. And she gladly shared it with me. We’d feed baby bodocs with handfulls of small plants and pretend they were ours. I even remember the names we gave them : Jappa, Mitu and Pillio.
Old Paulo smiled at the thought. A tear escaped his wrinkled eye as he continued :
-Pia didn’t live long. She died shortly after a vorax attacked her and bit her neck. I killed it. But I couldn’t stop the bleeding, and I was too far away to get help. She was only a child...
The table was now silent. No one uttered a word. Brannen and Wiksie drank from their cups, listening intently to his every word. Paulo contiuned :
-And that is when it happened. The day Pia died, we found an empty cave. We did not explore it further. There was nothing there. Waiting for us outside was the beast, feasting on the corpse of a bodoc. The vorax who attacked Pia happened to be a baby who escaped from his mother’s claws. The mother found me shortly after I buried her...Pia, I mean ! Not the vorax. I could smell it’s breath, stinking of rotten flesh and blood. I could see my reflection in it’s cruel eyes fixed on me. I could hear it’s roar, it’s anger, pounding in my ears. I could feel the ground shake under my feet as it came up to me. I could no longer move. I was paralysed, stunned. I couldn’t even feel the prickling in my spine or the shaking of my limbs. It was going to kill me...eat me...And then I thought “I’ll see Pia again.” But I didn’t. Darkness took hold of me, quite suddenly. Was it death already ? It was painless, and it was quick. I’d hoped the same happened to dear little Pia. I hoped she didn’t suffer too much. She told me she couldn’t feel anything, when I knelt down by her side to cover her wound with strips of clothing. She told me it was useless. She was going. It was too late. Then she asked me to remember her, when I’d see the light again. She loved the primes roots, but missed the light of Atys.
-So what happened ? Asked Wiksie.
-I woke up. I woke up next to Pia’s tomb. But the vorax disappeared. He was no where to be seen. I stood up, shook my head and looked around. Then I heard them. Whispers. All around me. “Osa ès ?”. “Osa ès ?”. “Aka ulyùs ha ?”. “Who are you ?” I shouted. “Where are you ?”. “Geykud !” “Geykud dekün dekalash !”
Suddenly I saw a glow. A red glow in the cave. I walked towards it. The whispers became louder. My head was full of them. They seemed angry, but I did not understand them. So I kept going. I looked inside the cave. And I saw...blood...shattered weapons...corpses. Death everywhere ! Carnage ! Massacre ! I started to panic. Something was not right. The whispers shouted even more, hitting my ears like an axe on a tree. “FYRK DÈCHÙT EL ! FYRÙT EL ! APOTÙT EL !”
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND A WORD YOU ARE SAYING !” I yelled, covering my ears.
“Dey ès gladash ür orum ! Dey sharùs orèch ! Zel, sun atalash ûr talen. Sun depyren. Fyrk ! Fyrk ! ” “DEPYROS !GAYÙS DEPYRÈCH ! ” Suddenly, the ground shook. I stumbled and fell. A sudden burst of heat erupted from the cave. I felt shear pain as it burned me, choked me, tore me apart. I could not breath ! Sweat ran down my face like a torrent, a river. A titanic roar filled the cave, crackling the walls and shaking the scorched ground, now filled with ash and fire. I put a hand to my ears and touched blood. Had I gone deaf ? No ! I could still hear that roar ! Or was it in my head ? I yelled as loud as my sore parched throat could handle. Was the roar covering it ? I couldn’t hear my own voice. All i could think of now was...run ! So I did. I ran. Away from the cave ! Away from this nightmare ! What was happening ? I could not reach the end of the cave. I kept running in the darkness but I never saw the end of the cave. That’s impossible ! And all the time the whispers were there : “DEPYROS !GAYÙS DEPYRÈCH ! ” “FYRÙD ! DETAL ! FYRÙD ! FYRK ÈT KA ! FYRK ÈT KA Ì GAYÙR DÈCHÙCH EL !”
A blinding light suddenly burst the darkness of the never-ending cave. A beast of unthinkable size was approaching. I closed my eyes and crouched on the ground. I was doomed to die. There’s nothing I could do. Destiny cruelly changed it’s mind, changed my cause of death. Goodbye, Atys...The beast was there ! A burning monster that changed everything to ash simply by touching it. The heat made my head want to explode, split in half. My veins were throbbing. I could see a blur, the beast...it was coming. It saw me...My eyes were shut, my bloodstained hands covering my ears, but I could still see it. I wanted to look at it. See what it was like. I opened my eyes, slowly, one at a time, sweat came in the way and blurred my vision even more. I turned my head, only to shut my eyes firmly again. The light was too blinding. Instead I looked the other way. And I saw...Ghosts ! Spirits ! The whisperers ! Laughing and shouting at me ! “ DEPYRÙD ! DEPYRÙD”...The beast came closer, and closer. I could feel it, dominating me, smelling my burning flesh. A searing pain covered my arm as a claw, a fiery claw cut my arm, burnt my skin, pouring blood. I did not have the strengh to shout. I was agonising. I was dieing. And then, I heard it. A soft voice in my ear, drowning the whispers. It was feminine, beautiful, comforting. It was speaking to me like a mother would to her child. I could feel it fighting off the whispers. Fighting off the beast. The heat diminished, disappeared. I felt cold now. But I felt safe. I felt my wounds heal. I relaxed. I fell asleep.
-And then ? Asked Wiksie. What happened ?
-I woke up...in a tent. It was a fyros one. When my eyes opened I could see a fyros female crouched next to me, smiling. “You’re awake at last !” She said to me. She had a kind face. “Where am I ?” I asked. “Safe...” She answered. “When we found you you were about to be eaten by a vorax. You fainted. A lot of people were very concerned about you. At times you’d be rolling around muttering to yourself, and catching nasty fevers. Even the karavan guardians didn’t know what to do with you.” “How long have I been asleep ?” “3 months ! We are out of the primes roots now. We’re already building what we hope will be our new city. I suggest you have some rest for now. In a couple of days you can join your people.”
I could never thank her enough for looking after me. 2 days after I awoke I left the desert and joined my people in the forest. I never told anyone what happened. Until now.
-But this was all a dream ! You didn’t really see the dragon ! You had a nightmare ! A hallucination !
-But I still saw it ! I don’t know what you think dreams are mister Brannen. But to me, they are a reflection of wisdom, of truth.
-There is no solid proof the Dragon is a living creature, anyway. It could be a description.
-Call it what you want, mister Brannen. I am too old to debate on the metaphor of the Great Dragon of the Myth. Said the old matis as he struggled to get up from his chair, holding onto his walking stick.
-Mister Paolo, what was it you were muttering in your sleep ? Asked Wiksie.
The old matis looked at the little tryker and blinked.
-I believe I was muttering : “Fyrk ! Fyrk ! Fyrk Dèchùt el ! Fyrùt el ! Apotùt el !” It’s a fyros dialect. It means : The Dragon ! The Dragon ! The Dragon will kill you ! Burn you ! Destroy you !
Wiksie was confused. Did Old Paolo dream everything ? He was not sure what to make of this story. Wiksie remembered what his uncle once told him, when his friends didn’t believe that he managed to craft a rifle all on his own. “If people ever doubt your word, show them proof.” But there was no proof for this story. Or was there ? Wiksie stared, as old Paolo Angeli reached out for his cup. His sleeve was worn out and too short. And Wiksie could see, quite clearly, a long scar on Paolo’s forearm.
THE END
Thank you to the French community for their amazing work on Civilisation languages.
How’s my fyrosish ? I hope I haven’t made too many mistakes
click here if you want to find out what the whispers meant. You’ll need to understand french though
rofl i think i must've mistranslated the last bit 
