#mage rey

He makes the trip once every decade, flying across the sea to the archipelago. The islands were cluttered around the sea, most of them forgotten by the reigning empire, deemed not useful.

Mortals shy away from these islands, for there is old magic at work there. Kylo knows this – he also knows he can’t bring his apprentice there, not yet.

So he excuses himself, tells the mageling that he’s going hunting for several days, and leaves.

The flight is easy, in early spring. He moves quickly across the skies, and lands on the island. It is rocky, green; the gnarled roots of olive trees and the tufts of hardy grass are the only things growing in abundance.

The civilization that had once been there is in ruins. The stone houses built into the cliff sides are gone, the archways are merely stone slabs atop pillars.  Everything is overgrown, run amok with lizards.

Kylo feels a pang deep inside him; this is where his family had perished.

Everything is in ruins – that is, except the temple. The temple is pristine, untouched by the ages. It looks the same way it had when Kylo had been a human child, centuries ago.

Skywalker.

His grandparents.

Kylo steps inside the temple and feels a shiver as the old magic goes through him. He hates this part, how his body aches and twists and comes out all wrong and weak and wilted. He shakes his head as he takes on a new form – his true form, if he’s honest with himself – but that sort of raw honesty is something he’d done away with long ago.

So instead he ignores the limitations of this form – this stupid mortal form that the Temple imposes on him – and he walks up to the tombs. There are two of them; the bodies of his grandparents encased in crystal and perfectly preserved. A gift from the dragons, his mother had called it. A gift from his great-grandfather.

His great-grandmother – well. Nobody knew where she was, but Kylo has a feel that she’s still alive.

He kneels in front of his grandfather’s tomb and rests his forehead against the crystal. “Is this is?” he asks, not expecting an answer. Is this the end of his kingdom? Is this – two tombs inside a temple that nobody can even see – the end to his family’s legacy?

He gets none.

Oftentimes, Kylo comes here waiting the return of his uncle. He knows that Luke is still alive, knows that the cowardly sorcerer fled when the kingdom was at its most vulnerable. Kylo had done everything he could to protect it, to no avail.

He returns to the tombs in hope for a clue, to find a new manuscript that he’d missed, to find a hide or hair of Luke, but there is none.

Rey walked by his side, keeping a hand on his flank for balance as they descended a large pathway. The further into the tomb they went, the darker and dryer it got. The ceilings were high, the walls wide. There was an chamber in front of them, the entryway flanked by two columns. Rey cast a witchlight as they entered a main chamber, and gasped.

Bones – human bones - were inlaid into the walls. There was a smaller archway, one that was human sized, that had a skull as the keystone. On stone slabs entire skeletons were laid out – some of which, Rey noted in horror, were small enough to be children. There were shelves built into the walls where more skeletons lay, engravings underneath saying who they were.

The letters were mostly faded.

Relax, said Kylo. This is an ancient tomb. These people buried their dead in catacombs, like this one.

“If it’s human catacombs,” Rey said, speaking aloud because the silence was disconcerting, “Why is it big enough for you?”

These people left enough room for their gods to visit and take the souls of their dead to the afterlife. They were a bit literal. But that’s not why we’re here.

Kylo maneuvered through the tomb with a grace that a creature his size shouldn’t possess, leaving the remains undisturbed. He stopped in front of one and dipped his head in front of it. What can you tell me about this person?

Rey looked down at the skeleton, swallowing against her initial revulsion. So this was a learning opportunity, then. She frowned. The skeleton seemed about the size of an adult, but that was all she could see. “It’s not a child,” she said, knowing that he was about to correct her.

You can tell the age and sex of a skeleton by looking at the teeth, chin, and pelvis. With magic, you can tell more. But first…

Kylo lifted his head and touched her forehead with his snout. Females have less of a brow ridge, and a smaller chin. He dipped his head further and nudged her behind. They also have a wider pelvis, with a curved sub-pelvic angle.

“Are you saying that women have birthing hips?” Rey asked with a laugh. Kylo nudged her rear again.  Yes. Males have narrower pelvises and typically have larger skeletons. Take a walk around; find me a female and a male.

Rey did as instructed. It was more difficult than she thought it would be, but soon enough she was able to make a sure distinction. “What about children?” she asked. “The smaller skeletons are all identical.

Kylo dipped his snout and touched one of the skulls. Some things are only visible in adults. Other times, magic helps. Human remains tell a long story; tell me what this one has to stay. Reach out, little bird. It will come to you.

Rey did as instructed, all the while wondering why Kylo wanted her to know such things about human remains. And how did he know so much about human remains?

She voiced as much to him as they exited. If you are to learn healing spells, a basic knowledge of the human skeleton cannot hurt.

“But why would you need to know so much about human skeletons? You’re a dragon.”

Kylo flicked his tail at her hip. I like knowledge for knowledge’s sake, little bird. And I presume you would want to know the basics of childbirth sooner rather than later.

Rey stopped in her tracks. “I don’t want children, Kylo.”

He blinked at her, then shifted his wings in his equivalent of a shrug. It is a useful skill, nonetheless. Midwives are highly regarded. Such was not always the case. “Right,” Rey said, and decided to change the subject. “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know why that tomb was so bare, would you?”

Her dragon nudged her bottom with such force that she stumbled face-first into the snow. “Hey!” 

I don’t know what you’re talking about, he said, amusement evident on his face. 

The next day, Rey woke to find a small collection of shiny glass fathered at her head.

Jinx was there, setting another glass piece down. Rey recognized it from the back of Kylo’s horde, where some older pieces had broken over the years.

Kylo was outside; Rey had no idea why he decided to sunbath in the middle of winter, but there he was. It was a rare sunny day, but it was still frigid outside.

The bird nudged the glass piece closer to her and flapped its wings, gave a cry.

Rey smiled. “I guess this is how you repay me?”

The bird cawed again. Rey got up, wrapped in a wool blanket, and went to retrieve more nuts for the bird.

…

By the third day, the bird – a magpie, Kylo told her – was eating out of her hand and brining her more and more pieces from Kylo’s horde.

That thing, Kylo said with a flick of his tail, is rearranging my things.

“You don’t do anything with your things anyway. Besides, it’s just small things. She’s grateful.”

Kylo huffed. Jinx landed on one of the spikes on his back; Kylo swatted at her with his tail and she took off…only to land on the crest of his head.

Rey couldn’t contain her laughter. “She likes you!”

She’s a nuisance.

“Please – she’s just like you, collecting shiny things and giving gifts to repay a debt. You’re cut from the same cloth.”

I am a dragon. She is a common corvid.

“Well, she’s my common corvid, and she’s staying.”

Kylo flicked his tail across her calves. As you wish. But you are cleaning up after her.