At first, the guards refuse to leave the Maiden alone with the "savage prisoner". At least until they begin to feel growing pressure fill the air in the room. The Inquisitor tells them that they should leave. This time they decide to listen to her advice and leave the Maiden in the room by herself with the prisoner. They close the door behind them. The maiden looks at the prisoner nonchalantly for a few moments. "How did you know that I was not her subordinate?" Shaking his head, the prisoner explains, "I did not. HE did. She is a diplomat of sorts while you serve as a member of some secret order for the rulers of this land. If your brother had not been with our people, you would not be getting this opportunity." She replies telling him, "If my brother wasn't with you, you would still be dealing with her and I would getting ready to interrogate you. Needless to say, that is far less pleasant than this." He smirks, "I suppose we are both fortunate that your brother is safe with my people then. So what is it that your people wish to know?" The Maiden begins, "The obvious first question is whether or not, my people should expect more massacres from yours." The prisoner shakes his head. "Your brother explained to Kavos and Daniva the long battle you have been having between your people and the vermin who caused the deaths of so many of our brethren. We have no quarrel with the mainland. In fact, we prefer to be left to ourselves." The Maiden asks, "If your people enjoy an isolated existence, how did all this happen?" The prisoner sighs as he realizes that the initial cause of it all seems so far away now. "Short answer, one of our own sought out "help" in order so that they would not lose yet another of the Tournament of Dragons in an embarrassing showing. The help they found merely wanted to exploit our island, but the Peridot were too blind to see it." She stops him to seek clarification, "Peridot? Is that a title you give to a person? And what is the Tournament of Dragons?" The prisoner shakes his head and says, "I suppose I should start from the beginning then?" She nods and tells him that they have plenty of time to talk. He nods and begins his explanation:
"Our homeland is an island called Isla Dragos, the island of the dragons. We are told that there are very few dragons or dragon spirits here on the mainland since many Tyrael generations ago, most of the dragons left the mainland and many settled on an island that seemed to have an abnormally high percentage of Tyrael in comparison to the number of humans on the island. The dragons were feared at first, but within a generation or two, the spirits and dragons started living harmoniously with the Tyrael and humans. Everyone just worked to live in peace. There are... were eight main villages of Isla Dragos. Each named after the gem that serves as its great symbol. Every three years, champions are selected from each of the villages and sent to neutral territory, the Great Temple of Dragons, symbolized by the Ruby. I was selected to be the Champion this year from my village, Tanzanite. HE was selected to represent Topaz. We trained for weeks to prepare for the Tournament. It is a very important tournament as it brings honor to the one's village if you do well. Also, the victor receives a powerful dragon spirit for their village and often, they are invited to be trained personally by the Ruby Mystics during their three year reign as Champion of Dragons. The Peridot are the village of the Wyvern. Wyverns and Drakes, which are my people, do not tend to get along, which is why Peridot and Tanzanite were established on opposite sides of the island. We see each other only when we must. The Peridot ventured here... well, where I was captured in that port village. They had sought out the aid of those faessi (cowards) and they struck a deal. The... brokers? They agreed to give the Peridot champion powers that would help him win and in exchange, they wanted to see Isla Dragos and they wanted a favor to be asked later. The Peridot agreed and brought the Brokers to Isla Dragos.
Rumors of the foreigners on Isla Dragos spread like wildfire. Most of our people just treated it as more exaggerated jest than anything else. Kavos did not find humor in the matter, however. For most of the dragonkin, their powers develop slowly and then once they reach the age of adolescence, they take their rite of awakening and their powers development takes off from there. When we were kids, a group of us would visit an old dragon that lived in the caves around the midway between our villages. The dragon would tell us stories for hours. Kavos' powers started to awaken on their own before they should have and it worried some people. The old dragon noticed it first and told Kavos to stay behind when we went to visit him. Kavos had me stay with him and the dragon who had the gift of clairvoyance looked into the stars of Kavos' fate. He told him that great changes would come when he stood dragon of dragons. He told him that his powers would continue to grow stronger and stronger before they should and that his power, while meant for the same good that was seen in his heart and actions, would bring about so much death and destruction. I still remember the old dragon's words even now:
"Young Kavos, you begin to awaken without a rite and before the age of normalcy. I have seen you in my visions for many years now. That is now clear. We have remained isolated from the mainland because our power instills fear and terror as well as wonder and advancement. When we dragons become spirits, a Tyrael can utilize our power to do great things... though not always good and just things. Your powers will grow wildly fueled by your emotions. Your own people will develop a hint of fear that you might walk the path of a fallen dragon. They will try to stop it in many attempts, but ultimately, they will not and they will at the same time. For your most glorious moments will be forced upon you by an outside threat and in your truest awakening lies the decimation of our people. Many... so many will perish, both dear and unknown. And you will do many things that you never thought yourself capable of. When you fear that you will lose everything, that is when you will gain that which you will cherish most and so much more."
When you think about it, that's a lot to tell a boy. That his abnormal situation will bring about great destruction. So when we develop the ability to fly, so many of us wanted to explore the skies and see what lies beyond the horizon. Kavos, of course, never did. He was genuinely happy on Isla Dragos and he also feared what the old dragon said because his village did exactly as the old dragon predicted. They tried nearly everything to contain his powers though looking back, I don't think they ever realized that they were causing several of the outbursts. The old dragon was the one who taught Kavos how to control his outbursts and his powers. Kavos was not all that happy that the old dragon waited several years to teach him, but to an old dragon, a few years were mere minutes. Once he learned how to control his emotions better, Kavos truly excelled. For 3 consecutive tournaments leading up to this one, village leaders tried to convince him to be Topaz's champion, but he avoided glory as he worried that it would bring about the time the old dragon spoke of and because he worried about losing control in the heat of competition.
