Children of the Dragon: Chapter 7

With the speed of a dragon, they managed to cover a lot of distance since leaving Agrentum. Silver and Nero guided them soaring over one of the many lush forests of their country. But as they traveled the forest was starting to thin out. From up high as they would they could see the mountain ranges that were deep within Kyrix territory coming closer.

But as the sun had finally come down properly, they had to land. Nero could have kept going but his children were another story. They were in no position to really keep going after the excitement and events of the day. So, he brought them down in a clearing of the forest. A huge swath of hills with rocks, a massive boulder in the center off to the side of the forest.

With the stars above their heads and a minor camp set up, they got comfortable. However, it didn’t take long for Silva and Sefirin to fall asleep. Sofie however wasn’t able to sleep easily. She’d made her bed at the campfire with her siblings but she’d been tossing and turning the entire night.

When she opened her distressed green eyes, she sat up and pulled her blanket closer. Something about the woods around them seemed wider and more dangerous than normal. But she saw her jade dragon curled up nearby and decided that was where she needed to be. Getting up she pulled the blanket around her shoulders and started over to her.

Once she was near her leg and felt the subtle vibrating of her sleeping, she relaxed immediately. But she wasn’t ready to sleep. It was hard not to overthink right now. She’d gone from just being the self-proclaimed weakest link in the Niess family to a dragon rider with her draconic partner sleeping with her.

She looked at her brother and sister, both fast asleep around their smoldering fire. And then she looked over at Silver, curled up but she saw her father on her back. He was laying down and staring at the sky and something about how he was lying, she knew he was awake. She shuffled over slowly, just close enough to her dragon to feel good.

“Daddy?” she mumbled just trying to be loud enough for him to hear without being loud. “Are you awake?”

Nero sat up slowly rubbing his eyes and looked at her. He gave a slow hand wave and moved slowly to get off Silver’s back. Once he was on solid ground, he glanced at Silver who seemed to shift but remained asleep. He walked over and motioned for her to come closer.

He sat down in the grass and she sat down beside him drawing her knees up against her chest. “Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head, “No. Just. Too much on my mind, I think.”

“Mmm. I’ve been there. A lot.” They sat together in silence for a little bit of time, Sofie hugging her legs and Nero leaning back on his hands. But then he just leaned all the way back and looked up at the stars. Sofie glanced up as well. “Hey want to hear a secret?”

She looked at him surprised but nodded quickly, “What is it?”

“When I was your age I was a pretty crappy spellcaster.”

Her eyes widened, “What?”

“Oh yeah. My first year at the academy was rough. Without Al I wouldn’t have really gotten anywhere.”

“But you’re one of the most powerful spellcasters I’ve ever met. Even Professor Sehren says it.”

“I definitely didn’t start there,” he laughed. “He said I was like him when he first met me.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. Ask one of your moms next time you see them.”

“That’s really hard to believe.”

He smiled, “Take a look.”

Holding up his none draconic arm toward the sky he rolled up his sleeve he revealing the scrolling tattoo of all his familiars. From the trio of wolves twined around one another, to the feathered phoenix, a red stag and others she’d seen growing up. But every time it was like looking at a work of art.

“Every one of these familiars took a long time to bring together.  And I had to do a lot of growing before they’d even give me the time of day. What I’m getting at is, it took time for me to grow into the spellcaster I am now.” He looked over at her and smiled. “You’re young Sofie. Don’t rush it. You’ll be cool like me eventually.”

He flashed her a wide smile and she broke into giggles finally laying back near him. “I don’t think I could ever be that cool daddy.”

“Stick with your old man and you’ll be going places.”

When the sun came up everyone woke up slowly as the sun rose. The spellcasters gathered together to eat breakfast from their supplies. However, feeding dragons was not quite that easy. With permission from Nero, they took off into the sky and began hunting.

Nero ladled a bowl of gravy and a piece of bread out and handed it over to Sefirin. With the last of his kids with food, he made his own and then sat down in their make shift circle. They ate in a pleasant silence together but Sefirin kept looking at his dad.

“What’s up Seffy?” Nero asked after finishing. “Something on my face?”

“Nope. Just. I wanna ask you something,” he sat up quickly. “Well, more like show you something then ask you something.”

Mopping up the last of the gravy in his bowl then shoving the entire piece of bread into his mouth Sefirin started walking over to the field. Raising his eyebrow Nero followed going to the now very empty clearing without dragons taking up space.

“So I finally got an understanding with my dragon blood. The stuff I inherited from you and Silver. And I got the hang of the change. But I want to show you. See if I’m actually doing it right. You know?”

“I heard a rumor that you made a big breakthrough,” Nero smiled. “Makes me realize I haven’t seen your magic up close in a while. Show me what you got and I’ll give you some critique, fair?”

“Totally,” he grinned wide.

“Come on Seffy you only just showed it off yesterday and you tired yourself out,” Sofie said from their camp.

“You know how he gets Sofia. Let him be.”  Sofie made a face at her sister but she had gone back to eating while Sofie went on to watch her brother.

Sefirin took a deep breath as he looked at the ground. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again his dragon eyes looked back. He felt the magic inside his body rushing like fire. He tilted his head back and hissed letting out a steamy breath. He ground his teeth together and bent forward his fingers hooking like claws.

Light exploded across his skin like a flash fire. And when the light died down, silver flames licking across his scales Sefirin turned his gaze onto his father. Nero raised both his eyebrows as Sefirin focused on breathing. “Wow. You feel entirely like a dragon. Nothing like that other form you and Silva share.”

“Yeah. It’s… intense,” he forced out his voice several levels deeper. “And I can go bigger than this now.”

“I heard. But let’s focus on this for now.” Nero nodded and spread his arms slowly as his scales raced across his body. He shut his eyes as he changed and when he finished, he opened his eyes and growled under his breath, “Now let’s see what you’ve got son.”

Sefirin blinked several times then let out a slow hiss of steam. “You asked for it.”

“Wait they’re going fight?” Sofie asked looking at her sister. “And we’re letting it happen?”

“They’re the same person. Hopefully, they don’t hurt each other,” Silva nodded spooning a second helping of breakfast. “Want more?”

Sefirin spread his wings and leaped at him, coming down like a missile. Instead of avoiding him Nero leaned forward catching his claws and slid backward, feet digging into the ground. This close he could really see the difference in them. Nero’s scales and snout were smooth like Silvers. But Sefirin’s were raised, spiked, and uneven.

Turning Nero tossed Sefirin toward the boulder near them. He flipped end over end before his wings caught him and he landed on top of it. Nero jumped forward not giving him a chance to breathe as he brought his claws down again.

Sefirin blocked, crossing both his arms in front of his face and the boulder cracked under the force of the attack. Wincing Sefirin opened his mouth and let out a gout of orange flame. It covered Nero and when the pressure on Sefirin’s arm disappeared he closed his mouth breathing hard.

“Wow. That was hot.”

Startled Sefirin jumped forward sliding across the ground. Looking up he saw his father floating in the air, his wings pumping slowly. Some of the orange flames clung to his scales but they were fading away quickly. Breathing hard again he sank down to his knee and then he flashed and the form disappeared again.

Panting he looked up and brushed his hand through his hair, “Wow dad. You really haven’t missed a step, have you. I didn’t stand a chance.”

Nero came down gently, his form fading and sliding away back to normal. “You’re selling yourself short Sefirin.” He stood in front of him his hand out. Pulling him to his feet he pat him on the back and grinned. “What you’ve accomplished is really impressive. Once you get used to it, I think you’re going to be scary.”

“Thanks,” Sefirin beamed. “Think we could do this again? After the mission is over?”

Nero wrapped his arm around his neck and laughed, “You kidding? I was just about to ask you the same thing. Both forms next time”

Nero held out his fist and Sefirin bumped his against it. Before the pair of them could make it back to the girls, shadows passed overhead. With a heavy rumble on the air Silver and Emeralda came down one after the other with a subtle shake of the ground.

Sofie jumped to her feet and walked quickly to Emeralda’s side. She wrapped her arm around her leg and glanced up at her. Emeralda hummed softly and pressed the tip of her chin against her head. “Hello hatchling. You smell of food. You’ve eaten.”

“Yeah we had breakfast. Assuming you guys found some food too?”

“Indeed. Though hunting in these parts is different than home, we were able to satiate ourselves.”

“Hope you didn’t scare anyone,” Nero said resting his hand on Silver’s head. “Come to think of it two dragons flying around might get attention. Didn’t think of that.”

“Well we should hurry and get to Kyrix then,” Silver replied.

They cleaned up their campsite, mounted their dragons, and took off. Ascending above the clouds for the third time Sofie was now used to it but no less amazed by it. They passed through a cloud streaking water across Emeralda’s scales and their clothes. Sefirin shook his head back and forth like a dog scattering water all over her.

“Seffy! Stop it!”

He just laughed and looked at Emeralda as her wings moved slow and heavy. “Hey Emeralda.” The dragon turned slightly so that an eye could see the young spellcaster.

“Yes Sefirin?”

“What’s it like here compared to where you come from?”

“You mean where I was born?”

“Yeah. If I was understanding it right Reditus is totally different from out there.”

The dragon was silent with the only change being the leather flap of her wings. Sefirin looked down at his sister confused but then Emeralda spoke. “Where I come from there isn’t as much open space. Learning to fly is essential. Far more mountains covered by a constant fog. But the higher up you travel the more the fog thickens. And then at the very top, it vanishes entirely. The mountains of my home have no tips. Just massive plateaus. That’s where many dragons are not only born but make their nest.”

“Wait. I met you in a forest. There wasn’t any fog or anything. Where was that?”

“Where we met was not my home,” she said. “I was traveling. Leaving my home and finding perhaps a new home for myself.”

“Leaving the nest and all that?” Sefirin asked.

“Is that a phrase hatchling?”

“Yes. Basically meaning finding your own identity,” Sofie told her. “It’s kind of the sign you’re an adult.”

“If that is what it means then yes, that is what I was doing in a way. My siblings had taken to the north, I took to the west. The part of the forest that you stumbled through was just the edge of it.”

“The edge?” Sofie repeated. “You mean it got bigger?”

“In that forest, there are trees and animals that would make me seem small.”

“You?” Sefirin asked sharply and laughed. “But you’re like. The biggest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“We may be the most dangerous predators in our realms but there are always bigger beasts,” she said with a rumbling laugh. “Many a beast bigger than I have tried to make a meal of me but I am standing and they are not.”

“You almost sound smug,” Sofie said and Emeralda rumbled minor agreement.

They flew in relative silence after that coasting on the winds. The world beneath them quickly thinned out the forest and greenery. All of the life they were used to that represented their home was fading away and with it so did the warmth. The wind grew cold despite being so close to the sun above their heads.

The sun was making its arc across the sky and the mountains that were in front of them were getting closer. Unlike Emeralda’s home, there wasn’t fog to obscure their peaks. Instead, there were snow covered tips. Even with the sun moving above their heads the shadows were actually moving to reveal the valleys below. Dotted at the base of the mountains there were villages forming a line.

Some were small barely a few houses and buildings within. But there were some that were substantial with their own walls and even one so massive that they could see it from their position in the sky. Watch towers, stone walls, and dozens of homes and buildings within it. But more pressing was the river that snaked out of the mountain and the black spires at the tip of the mountain that seemed to be hiding.

“Castle Kyrix,” Sofie said staring at the spires. Emeralda followed her gaze. “That’s where we’re going.”

“We’re making great time,” Sefirin said. “It usually takes like a week and a half to get to Kyrix with horses. And that’s just crossing the border.”

“Well when you don’t have to worry about roads and terrain you can cheat your way there,” Nero shouted from Silver’s back. “Dragon is the best and only way to travel. Trust me on that.”

“Father what’s that down there,” Silva asked pointing below them her eyes dark amber and draconic.

He glanced down with her and saw the large diamond shaped village. It wasn’t the biggest one of the villages that they’d seen from the sky but it was definitely hefty and hugged against the wall of the mountain. But something was coming down the mountainside. A tumble of dust and rocks coming down like an avalanche.

Nero looked closely and kept his hand on Silver’s neck. Scales raced across his face, turning both his eyes yellow. “You seeing this?”

“More than that I can feel it,” she said slowly. “I did not think these situations were going to come so soon though.”

“Neither did I. I’ll go down there first. Take care of Silva,” he said slowly starting to stand up startling his daughter.

“Your recklessness hasn’t dulled down as you’ve matured, I see.”

“Come on Silver. You know I can handle this.”

“Be careful little one.”

“Always.”

“Father what are you doing? What’s going on? Is it an avalanche?” she tried to look closer at the smoke and raised her hand. She drew it across her eyes, turning them amber, and looked closer into the smoke and she swore she saw a shape within it. A shape that seemed familiar.

Nero rolled up the sleeve of his shirt slowly and as he did one of his tattoos started to glow. A bright red like a fire. She swore she saw a few feathers appear along his arm and his face. He looked at her grimly and said.  “No. It’s a dragon.”