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A/N: I’ve made some tweaks to my Patreon – check it out.  You can also check out a sample chapter of my Traditional Fantasy WIP “Shattered”. If pledges reach $50/month I’ll start posting on this site fortnightly. We currently have $33/month pledged so that’s just $17/month to go.

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Andrew watched his mother head out the door with Mantilan, and then looked back at Kadira.

“Moritah Plain?” he asked. Beside him he felt Kimi shudder violently but she didn’t answer.

“That’s a terrible story.” Kadira also shuddered briefly. “Moritah Plain was home to the largest city in the Heartlands. Moritah was larger than Waldhafen, even, and had the largest Core Gate at its heart. About two centuries ago, Shalriya and Mitakrian attacked it, intending to force their way through the gate and destroy the Core.” She rubbed at her temples. “There were far fewer warriors then, but the three that the Core called managed to stop them with the help of the guardians – but the battle left the whole plain totally lifeless. The entire city died and Mantilan was one of the few survivors. We still don’t know who saved him.”

“It was never rebuilt?” Andrew asked.

“It couldn’t be rebuilt,” Kadira said. “The entire region is deadly – whatever killed everyone there still kills anyone who goes there unless they are extraordinarily strong. Even death affinity zones don’t kill so quickly.”

“Or they have a death affinity,” Naria added. “Agrona’s family make occasional forays to see if they can figure out what’s causing the effect and I believe Takilyan-mirian has gone in to look a few times as well, but the borders are well guarded so it’s hard.” She looked down sadly. “Of course that’s because things sometimes come out of there rather than to keep people out.”

“Things?” Andrew asked.

“Yes,” Kimi finally spoke. “Things is a good word for them. They don’t look like any normal creatures, aren’t exactly alive and are surrounded by a similar killing field to the one that spawned them. Fortunately it’s weaker and we manage to destroy most of them before they get too far.”

“That’s not good,” Andrew agreed. “Maybe now you’re talking, you can get them to let people in to look properly?”

“Maybe,” Kadira said. “Once things have settled a little. Moritah Plain was the moment Speakers distrust of dragons turned to outright hatred and I’m not sure things have improved enough to make bringing it up a good idea yet.” She paused and looked irritated. “And you know what, they’re right. We should have stopped them doing that. I understand why the Mirire want to avoid a war – it wouldn’t be pretty – but I’m sure it couldn’t be worse than that.”

Andrew considered that for a moment but the strange roiling in his stomach told him the answer. “Actually, it probably could. I mean if two of them did that, what sort of damage might all of them in a battle cause?”

“That’s a point.” Kadira said thoughtfully. “It’s just – well – I saw Moritah Plain from a distance once. It’s horrible and it feels like we should have been able to stop it happening and I feel guilty.”

“You weren’t even born then, mother,” Naria said reasonably.

“What were you telling me about not blaming myself for something that wasn’t my fault?” Andrew added dryly.

Kadira gave him a startled look and then chuckled. “That’s true I suppose.”

“Yes, it is.” Andrew looked around as his mother and Mantilan returned. “Did you find a unicorn?”

Sonia nodded. “And as I already thought he was telling the truth.”

“Kadira was just telling me about what happened at Moritah Plain,” Andrew said.

Sonia’s eyes darkened and she looked down. “Yes, what happened there was terrible. I asked if he knows what caused that, as well. Unfortunately, he went down before whatever happened.” She sat down again. “But let’s talk about something more cheerful.” She looked around at Mantilian. “Your family still honour your memory; they’ll be glad to know you’re alive even after all this time.”

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