Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Luka let out a low whistle, eyes devouring the map. “Damn. That’s a pretty clear-cut piece of evidence right there. The Tupã were right along the major trade route.”
“They were, yes.”
Evora leaned in over his shoulder to get a better look. “Astonishing. I’ve never seen better evidence than this. What else have you found?”
“The ship captain’s log was riveting, in fact. Most of it didn’t pertain at all to anything dragon or mage related, except for one incident that he chronicled. Somewhere in the June month of the fourteenth century, his ship was very close to shore when lightning struck. They were able to put the fire out quickly, but it left the ship damaged and several sailors with extreme burns. They signaled for help and the other ships in the area tugged them to shore. It was then that the mayor of the town took pity on their situation, being so far from home, and sent word to the Tupã.”
Samuel was warming up to the story now. He had a riveted audience, like children with a bedtime tale they’d never heard.
“The dragons came and took a look at the situation, realized several sailors would either be dead or disfigured for life if not given prompt aid, and they, in turn, went and fetched several mages from the Sousa Clan. The mages were powerhouses of healing ability and, within a week, all the sailors were on their feet and almost fully recovered. The dragons even helped them cut fresh wood to repair their ship. It was such a kind act of service the captain gifted them with a crate of his best wine in return. The whole town threw a party before they went on their way again.”
“Holy shit,” Thiago breathed. “That’s an eyewitness account.”
“Indeed. The spelling of the clan’s name was different, but I accounted for that as being from a different language. The captain was Spanish.”
“Ah, of course, the Portuguese spelling was probably different.” Evora sat back and toyed with her water glass. “You must have been researching for years to come across any of this.”
That was quite possibly the understatement of the century. “It’s what us archeologists like to do. Anyway, you see why I’m confident of where the mage clan was. I think the dragon clan was either right next door, like a neighbor, or barely a stone’s throw away. I’ve seen too many signs of one appearing where the other was. They must have been close in residence.”
Thiago lifted a hand. “I’m convinced. We’d love to find the dragon clan that was here. We were told there was one, when we first came over, but we’ve never been able to find any sign of them.”
Samuel didn’t have to ask any questions about why. It was common knowledge that every dragon clan had fought in the Dragon Wars. Everyone. They’d all been drawn to that fateful battlefield.
But what had happened after the final battles remained shrouded in mystery and secrets that were still being revealed to this day. The survivors had either hidden away or moved entirely, like the Valerii and the Burkhards. He didn’t know about the other clans, though he’d seen images of dragons beyond the Burkhard reds and the Valerii icy blues.
The Tupã were the strange ones. It seemed that not even other dragon clans knew what had happened to them.
Luka handed the tablet back. “What do you hope to prove? That the Sousa existed? I think you could do so just with the evidence you have on hand.”
No. What Samuel wanted was so much more than that. “There’s so much about these two clans that I don’t know anything about. The mage clan especially is a question to me. Why were they here, of all places? Most mage clans chose their territory based upon what they needed, magically speaking. What was it about this region that drew them here? What happened to them? Unlike the other mage clans that were wiped out with the Jaeggi’s spell, this wasn’t a major clan. Unless you lived in Brazil, you didn’t know they existed. So why did they disappear overnight? There’s literally no sign of them. Your librarian, Anna, received a message back from the Sodalicium just before we met for dinner. They confirmed there are no Tupã and never have been any.”
Luka slowly nodded. “That’s a lot of questions with no answers. You’re right, it is really strange. Clans and civilizations don’t just disappear overnight.”
Samuel gave a small smile and a shrug. “Well, sometimes they do. The Anasazi leap to mind.”
“I’m sorry, the who?” Thiago blinked at him, expression blank. The dragon was tall and thin with a sprinkling of gray at his temples, mingling with the rest of his dark hair.
“A very powerful civilization that existed before the American Indians in Central America,” Samuel explained. “They existed after the Basket Weavers era and were known to inhabit the Arizona and New Mexico region. They disappeared without a trace around 1100 AD. Practically overnight. The Indian tribes who traded with them saw them one day, they were gone the next. So historically speaking, this does happen. But it is strange and incredibly rare. I’d like to figure out what happened here if at all possible.”