Chapter 950 — Dragon, Priest
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
Anqian, Supreme Speaker of the Council of Assessors.
This old one was said to be among the oldest dragons of Tarrande—an "Elder Dragon" who had been active since before the ancient Upheaval of the Countercurrent, and who lived still.
Long before ever coming to Tarrande, Gaoyang had crammed a great deal of knowledge about this realm from Metzen's mouth, and that knowledge naturally included brief introductions to the highest members of Tarrande society; the name "Anqian" was therefore not unfamiliar to him. And he knew one thing more—this "Elder Dragon," who looked like a man already deep in his dotage, seldom left the deep halls of the Council of Assessors; in the last full millennium, the old one's departures from those halls could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
It seemed that from extreme age he ordinarily rested in his "throne" in dragon form; that today he had come out in person to greet them, and had even taken the trouble to assume human form, said enough about the Speaker's attitude.
Realizing this was a courtesy, Gaoyang at once answered with fitting gravity: "It is an honor to meet you, Lord Speaker. On the way here I have already seen it—Tarrande is an extraordinary realm, and I am certain this journey will leave a very deep impression on me."
Speaker Anqian smiled warmly, and half turned to make an inviting gesture; only after Gaoyang stepped up beside him did the old one speak with a smile: "It has been many, many years since we formally invited a foreign race here—apart from the occasional 'wanderer' who lands on this soil by accident, the last formal visitor I recall came many thousands of years ago, when the rulers of the continent of Loren were still a kind of creature with three pairs of limbs..."
"The previous civilization," Gaoyang said, looking at the Speaker with a faint smile of his own. "Then it truly was a very long time ago."
"Yes, a very long time... We have always watched the world beyond Tarrande, yet we almost never bring people or things from outside here," Speaker Anqian nodded. "I hope you are satisfied with the welcome we arranged—we took human customs into account as far as we could while building on dragon custom, but after all we differ greatly; if anything makes you uncomfortable or ill at ease, by all means say so."
"It has been most thoughtful," Gaoshaoke said. "But what concerns me now is the schedule ahead—from Metzen I heard no detailed itinerary."
Speaker Anqian led the guests away from the landing platform, and Metzen, having resumed human form, followed close behind. They crossed the long bridge linking the platform to the palace's main structure, heading for the inner court of the Council headquarters; within these dragon halls, vast and magnificent beyond measure, Gaoyang felt his own voice echo as though in a mountain valley.
"My apologies—it was indeed a breach of courtesy not to give you a detailed itinerary, but that is because our god had not yet issued detailed instructions," Speaker Anqian said, walking at Gaoyang's side, the old one's voice reverberating down corridors of gold and jade and lavish carving. "The god... is inscrutable. His arrangements usually carry deep meaning; and on the other hand, when He long delays His arrangements, that too has its deep meaning."
"Then has He made His arrangements now?" Gaoyang glanced at the Speaker beside him. When the conversation turned to the god who ruled Tarrande, he meant no offense, yet he found it hard to summon the awe and worship the dragons felt; so he chose the plainest possible tone—after all, he stood here today because that god had taken the initiative to invite him. "Frankly, my chief purpose in coming was not to tour foreign wonders. I came to keep an appointment, so what I care about more is when I may meet your... 'Dragon God.'"