The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons Read Online Free PDF Page A

have an impact on that?”
    “I have two dreamings—the wintiki, or night bird, and light. It is the latter that was disturbed. I have long suspected that the First Dragon’s songline was located in Australia, although I have yet to prove it.”
    “A songline is . . . ?”
    She laughed. “I did not call to give you a lecture in Aboriginal history, Ysolde. It would take much time to explain it all, but for now I will simply say that a songline is the dreaming and trail created by spirit beings such as the First Dragon.”
    “All right. So because he left behind some sort of an ancient trail, that’s affected your dreaming?”
    “Yes. Only his touch upon you would result in such a thing. Tell me again what vision he gave you.”
    I described once more the scene between Constantine and the female mage.
    “I have heard nothing about the event Constantine described,” she said thoughtfully. “There is no record of Baltic being expelled from his sept. And it is unheard of for the First Dragon to interfere with the weyr. I wonder if Constantine . . .” Her voice trailed off.
    “Could he be lying?” I asked, and thought about that for a minute. “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I’m just going to have to ask Baltic about it.”
    She laughed. “It is always a challenge to get information from a dragon, and doubly so when it concerns something they do not wish to discuss.”
    “And well I know it. But this is too big for him to hide—at least I think it is. I certainly feel like being declared ouroboros is a life-altering event. If it’s true, what could he have done to piss off the First Dragon to that extent?”
    “That I do not know, and I suspect you will find it difficult to get Baltic to tell you. But I admit I would give much to know the answer.”
    “Let’s look at the facts: the First Dragon resurrects me when Constantine kills me.”
    “Yes,” Kaawa said.
    “Then he tells me, five hundred years later, mind you, which is a bit annoying, that I am supposed to do something for him.”
    “And you somehow let him down before—didn’t he say that?” Laughter was in her voice, taking the sting from the comment.
    “Yes.” I sighed. “There’s just nothing like knowing you’ve let down the one dragon ancestor you’ve failed in the past, and he’s told you to do something for him without telling you what it is, and oh, yes, don’t blow it. Again. You know, it’s a wonder I’m still sane, having that hanging over me.”
    “I don’t think it’s a bad thing, Ysolde,” Kaawa said slowly, her voice now meditative. “You have warranted his trust for some task. That is an honor, no matter how you look at it.”
    “With the bottom line that if the First Dragon sent the vision about Constantine to me, then it must be related to whatever it is I’m supposed to do.”
    “Perhaps. Perhaps not. It is definitely odd.”
    “I agree, but what am I supposed to do about it other than try to worm the information out of Baltic?”
    “I am afraid I do not know, but I suspect you will find that answer for yourself.”
    “I wish I knew how I was supposed to do that,” I said, weary of constantly being in the dark concerning whatever task the First Dragon expected me to perform.
    “If I could answer that, I would be able to tell you what it is the First Dragon desires of you,” she said with a little laugh. “Talk to your mate. Encourage him to tell you about his past. The answer may well lie there.”
    “It might,” I said, a sudden insight coming to me. “But you know, Kaawa, if it was something Baltic did that is connected with my task, then it seems to me that the First Dragon would have given me a vision of that event, not of a discussion by two unrelated people casually mentioning it. No, I think this is a very big—if obscure— hint about something the First Dragon wants me to do about Constantine. He was the focus of the vision. But what is it I’m supposed to do? He’s dead, after all.