I know I’m telling stories from a future timeline, but I do remember where the story with Ka is at in the present day, but I felt like the story of Basteth was a dropped plot that needed to be picked up and completed. I’ll get back to Ka soon enough.

Storytime with Basteth In the beginning, the Star gods came to the world of the Dragon gods, and were jealous of the vast oceans, tall mountains, and lush forests, for they had destroyed their own world. And so, the Anse descended like a plague upon the Dragon World, and as the fall of the Wyra approached, the four races of dragons were given the knowledge of the Wyra to hold until their return. To the Water Dragons were given the knowledge of numbers. To the Sun Dragons were given the knowledge of all that came before. To the Sky Dragons were given the knowledge of the stars. And to the Rock Dragons were given the knowledge of all things living. And so the Wyra fell, but in their last breath, the Wyra created the Great Sky Dragon, and the oceans were burned away in fire until only the desert remained, and so the Anse fell with the Wyra. It has been so for 30,000 years. **** Forty years after Balanath laid in the waters of the Healing Temple… Wyrlings and hatchlings scurried through the ancient cavernous Temple, their eyes lit with excitement. The many crevices shrouded in shadows offered endless play and exploration; one wyrling even stood on a rock in front of a torch waving his arms and casting a long eerie shadow on the wall. The dancing light from the torches illuminated intricate murals on the walls of myths and legends as Basteth lie still as a stone in the darkness towards the back of the cave. The children screeched with delight when he reared up with a mighty roar. “We found you, now you have to tell us a story,” shouted the children as they clambered over him. Basteth lowered himself back to the cool floor of the cave. “A story is it then?” said Basteth, his voice crackling like a wildfire sweeping across a dry field of sage grass. “Perhaps I should rather feast on young hatchlings and munch the bones of wyrlings.” The children squealed with delight and retreated to huddle together in front of the big dragon, their expressions eager and expectant. “Tell us the story of King Kanath and The Great Dragon Balanath," one of them pleaded in the thick accent of the Rock Dragons. “Nobody asked you, rock muncher,” replied a young Sand Dragon. “Shut up, sand licker,” replied the young Rock Dragon, his scaly hackles rising. “Pebble brain,” countered the Sand Dragon as he coiled for a strike against the Rock Dragon. The Wyra mother stepped between the two dragons, her hands raised in an unyielding command to put an end to their posturing. Her voice came out calm yet firm. “Knock it off, both of you, or you’ll both be sitting outside until it’s time to go home. Do I need to send for the Mother Dragon?” The Wyra woman glanced from one dragon to the other, waiting for a response. The two dragons stood for a moment longer, facing each other with claws raised and fire in their eyes. The Sand Dragon, though larger than the Rock Dragon, stepped back first, unwilling to risk having the Wyra Mother send for the Mother Dragon. A human boy standing behind the Rock Dragon tugged at his tail, still too young to comprehend why his dragon had wanted to fight the Sand Dragon in the first place. Basteth knew this was yet another example of the age-old feud between the Sand Dragons and the Rock Dragons. Basteth shook his head. Nobody was hatched with hate in their heart, it had to be taught. This was all their elders fault. Basteth decided on the story that needed told, and began: *** The story of King Kanath and The Great Dragon Balanath is a good story, and worth telling. It tells of Kanath’s journey south into the heart of the former Anse Empire, and how he warned the Anse of the coming floods that would raise the oceans until their lands would once again become the ten thousand islands of the Southern Sea. It then tells of how Kanath called the Sun Dragons to him, and became a King. King Kanath then led the Sun Dragons north to the Northern Forests where they would be free – the Sun Dragons knew it was time to go, they had protected the Anse for 30,000 years – since The Great Sky Dragon had burned away the oceans, but they knew that the islands would be too small to produce enough food to feed so many and such large dragons. And so, they followed King Kanath, and within a few days of their departure, the Anse Empire collapsed. And this is where The Great Dragon Balanath’s story begins. Balanath departed alone for the Western Desert where the Rock Dragon’s lived, and just as Kanath forgave me for what I did to him, Balanath needed to forgive the Rock Dragons for what they had done. When Balanath arrived at the Rock Dragon’s canyon, the flood waters of the rising oceans were already sweeping through the Rock Dragon’s canyon. The Rock Dragons stood terrified on their cliffs watching the water rise. Balanath fearlessly walked among the thousands of Rock Dragons, but they had no stomach for a fight. Perhaps it was Balanath’s limp from his missing leg that stayed their jaws, or perhaps they already saw The Great Dragon he was to become. Balanath called out to the Rock Dragons that he knew a path of still dry land and to follow him. And so, Balanath led them south to the lands of the Anse where the rising ocean had not yet reached. By the time they reached the Anse territory, Balanath was to the Rock Dragons, the Great Dragon Balanath. They found the Anse Empire in chaos, without their Sun Dragons, many of the Anse would not make it to high ground in time to escape the coming ocean. The Great Dragon Balanath commanded the Rock Dragons to spread out and carry the young, the old, the infirm, and those too far from high ground to safety. The Rock Dragons obeyed, and in doing so, they discovered something they had never allowed themselves to hope for. The Rock Dragons are the smallest of the dragons, being perhaps twice the size of a Dire wolf – they were too small to ever carry a full grown Wyra, but the Anse humans were small, fragile, and very much need dragons to survive. In those early days that the Rock Dragons carried the Anse to safety, they discovered the Riders they had always wanted. Dragons crave that special companionship that comes only from a Rider – a bond so deep, that dragon and rider’s soul becomes one. But, that was not the greatest discovery found. In the thousands of eons the Rock Dragons had stayed apart from all other dragons, their language and speech had changed. They now spoke at a much lower frequency than we do, and for the first time, the Anse heard dragons speaking, and in that the Anse finally understood the evil they had done to the Sun Dragons. The Rock Dragons became as revered to the Anse as we are to the Wyra. *** Basteth paused as the little Rock Dragon turned to the human boy clutching his tail, and lovingly ran his long rough tongue across the child's face, eliciting a giggle and hug. Not wanting to be outdone in the show of affection, the Sand Dragon coiled around his young Wyra boy and gently squeezed him in its embrace before being rewarded with a laugh and a hug from its doting Rider. “Master Basteth,” said the little Sand Dragon. “Why is the ocean salty?” Basteth blinked. “What?” “The ocean, why is it salty? “Well, it… and…” Basteth shook his head, he had no idea why the ocean is salty, or why young children were so adept at changing directions so quickly. “If you want to know how to count to one-hundred, ask a Water Dragon,” said a new voice. “But, if you want a story, ask a Sun Dragon.” The children's eyes widened as a giant Sun Dragon entered the cavern, her scales shimmering like the sun in the torchlight. On her back, a man in his fifties with a thick head of mixed copper and yellow hair sat majestically. Basteth smiled. It was Solethel and their Rider, Garteth. Solethel’s original name had been Soot, and she had been Aerethel’s dragon. Aerethel eventually became King Kanath’s wife, and Queen of the Ten Thousand Islands of the Southern Sea. But, with the rising oceans, Solethel had no choice but to follow the Sun Dragons north where they settled among the northern Wyra tribes. Curiosity had led her to visit the Temple, and the rest was a blur of pleasant memories. They had produced three sons, all of whom became Surgeons and now provided medical services to the Northern Wyra tribes. Solethel had never taken a new Rider, and so Garteth served as Rider to both of them. Garteth considered himself the luckiest Rider in history, because he had two dragons. “I thought you went to visit the boys,” said Basteth. Garteth leapt from the back of the dragon and landed with a grace that defied his age. He brushed off his dusty tunic and affectionatley stroked the neck of the large dragon. “We did, but the coughing sickness is sweeping through the northern tribes. The boys are very busy, but we did get to see the grandkids, they’ll be coming to visit for Festival Day. You should see Tarethel, he’s getting big like his grandpa, and Marethel is as pretty as her grandma.” Solethel moved around the huddled group of children. They looked as if they had only just woken when she arrived, and others looked ready to fall asleep. Solethel raised an eyebrow and said, “Why do they look so bored, were you telling them one of your history stories?” Basteth waved away her question as if it was ridiculous. “It was a very important history story! They just need to pay better attention.” “And unto the Water Dragons were given the knowledge of numbers,” replied Solethel. “So, go count something while I tell them a proper story.” Basteth snorted indignantly as Solethel faced the children and began to speak: *** Did I hear you ask why the ocean is salty? Well, let me tell you, salt is very important, everyone has a tiny bit of salt inside them. Without salt, you wouldn’t even be able to lift your legs to walk, and fish would taste terrible. She stuck her tongue out and made an expression of disgust that got a laugh from the children. But once, long long ago, the ocean had no salt because… She paused for effect, then shouted, an ogre had stolen all the salt from the ocean! The Water Dragons swam after the ogre, but couldn’t catch him because he was too fast and made it to a tall tree that went all the way up to the clouds, and the Sky Dragons tried to fly after the ogre, but the tree was too tall, and the Sun Dragons stomped their feet trying to make the ogre fall, but he was too strong and clung to the tree and continued to escape with all the salt. The dragons wailed, ‘Whatever shall we do, an ogre has stolen all the salt from the ocean.’ Then, the littlest of all the Rock Dragons appeared; and no taller than a sage bush. The littlest Rock Dragon jumped up on the tree and started to climb, because everyone knows that only the littlest of Rock Dragons can climb a tree, because by the time a Rock Dragon is all grown up, they’re too heavy and would fall back down. And so, all the dragons cheered and shouted, ‘You have to save us, Littlest Rock Dragon, for you are the only one that can.’ And the Littlest Rock Dragon climbed and climbed and climbed, and the sun went up, and the sun went down, and at last the Littlest Rock Dragon reached the ogre’s castle above the clouds. The Littlest Rock Dragon snuck into the castle, and there was the ogre, asleep on his bed, because it was night time. And on a table next to the ogre was a magical golden box the ogre had put all the salt inside. The Littlest Rock Dragon took the box and turned to flee, but stepped on a little bell. Because that’s what ogre’s do – They put tiny little bells around their bed so nobody can sneak up on them at night. The little bell jingled, and suddenly the ogre shouted, ‘Fe Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of a dragon. I’ll crunch, and I’ll munch, and I’ll chomp your bones into dung.’ The Littlest Rock Dragon ran as the ogre leapt from his bed to make chase. The castle shook and rocked as the ogre pursued the Littlest Dragon through the castle and out onto the clouds. The Littlest Rock Dragon jumped onto the tall tree and ran down and down and down. The moon came up, and the moon went down, and when the sun peeked over the horizon, the Littlest Rock Dragon finally reached the ground. ‘Cut it down, cut it down,’ he shouted to all the dragons. And so all the dragons chopped and chopped and chopped until the tree began to fall, and with it, the ogre also fell, and where he hit the ground, he made a hole so deep that he fell all the way through the world and popped out the other side. And the ogre was never heard from again. The Littlest Rock Dragon opened the magical golden box, and poured all the salt back into the ocean. And all the dragons cheered and shouted, ‘The Littlest Rock Dragon has saved us. Hip Hip Hooray!’ *** Solethel glanced at Basteth. “And that’s how you tell a story.” Basteth rolled his eyes. “Really? An ogre stole all the salt from the ocean?” Solethel grinned. “It’s about as true as thinking a five-legged dragon hopped hundreds of miles across the desert all by himself to lead the Rock Dragons to safety. Rock Dragons are so stubborn, they’ll stand in the path of a flood until it’s ten feet over their heads before they even start to think about moving out of the way. Maybe you should ask a Sun Dragon what really happened.” Basteth watched as the little Sand Dragons gathered around the little Rock Dragon and patted him on the back enthusiastically as if he’d been the one to personally save all the salt in the ocean. Basteth grinned. With one silly story, Solethel had ended the hate and bullying of the little Rock Dragon in the nursery. It was nice to have the wisdom of the Sun Dragons back.