Cold

I went home, Dad.
I didn't think it was possible for a place to feel so right and yet I felt so out of place. The air was cool and the ceilings high and the stone solid…among so many people but I felt so alone. Our crest was missing, only the echoes of what once was left in its place. The glances, the silence as I passed, do you think they knew? Who I am, who I was?
 
The gnome said we wouldn't help. But we couldn't. Did our ancestors feel helpless?
Trapped behind the stone they crafted so carefully and beautifully, no wonder it drove them mad. What did it for you? Is it just in our blood? Was it the servitude you were born into? Benevolent masters are masters nonetheless. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, any sign that my mind is going as yours did.
 
The gnomes care not for their slaves, experimenting on them like animals. Do they not think we have minds? Hearts? Families? What did you endure from your Hylar masters I wonder. What made you rise up? What made mom pick up her long hidden axe and stand for her people once more? Was it hatred? Desperation? She paid for it with her life, and we were exiled to never return. I carry our people's symbol with me still. Is it time to gather again? I wonder if we ever truly can return, how many of our people are even left. What is enough to make me rise up?
 
My friends are generous, but it is my cause not theirs. Dragons are back in the world, who am I to think anything is more important than that. Although, allies are allies in times like these, and Klar are the best of them.
 
We also saw much destruction. I know Bo and Zy said their village was destroyed, but the magnitude was lost on me until now. It was razed, their people slaughtered. We must prevent this from happening again, and stop this lady in black. I hope their mother is safe, and that it won't have to come to Bo or Zy making a hard choice…
 
Manan thinks books will help us. Maybe they will, but I'm concerned that all we'll find in the desert is dust and unfulfilled promises. I'm trying to be optimistic and calm my mind - glad Kaylan has been showing us some meditation techniques. But I still want to bash that damn gnomes stupid face in. Hope you are resting easy.