Promise the Sky

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Kiara

 

 

 

I wake to insistent hands on my shoulders and the small tavern room swims reluctantly into focus. I return to consciousness, blues and purples swirling disconcertingly around the ceiling.

"You have to leave." A voice hisses, somewhere in the darkness, and I tilt my head to take in the form of the barkeep, earnestness and  insistence battling across the unfamiliar territory of his pleasant face.

"What?" I ask blearily, running an arm over my eyes.

"Look," The youth begins, speaking just a little too quickly for my muggy brain to fully comprehend. "I don't know what you are to the Dragon-herd, but I consider myself his friend, as much as that man can have friends. So you need to leave. And quickly."

"Why?" I ask, waking enough to be curious, but not yet concerned.

The barkeep flinches and I realise with a chill that he responds to a shout on the street. The rain continues to patter delicately on the windows, but some sounds call out to the deepest human instinct and this one is clear. Some sounds can be heard over everything.

"I think you were safe while he was here." The barkeep mumbles, throwing a worried glance toward the door. "They don't trust him, but they fear him. Mother knows what she's speaking about when it comes to magic, though. There's not a man here that would follow his word over hers, not if he wasn't breathing down their necks."

"And he's gone?" I ask, slipping silently from the bed. "It's not safe?"

"Everybody knows the Dragon-herd does not stay when it rains." The boy mumbles distractedly.

"Why is he called the Dragon-herd?" I ask, bundling everything I own into my arms. I collected it when I was running; it is not much, I carry it easily. "It is a strange name. Has he seen a dragon? Why does he leave when it rains? Why does he only walk around the outside of the room?"

The barkeep turns his distant gaze onto me with shock.

"This is not the time for pointless questions!" He all but squeaks, herding me to the door. "Where did you come from, girl, how can you not realise I am telling you to run for your life?"

"I thought this wasn't the time for pointless questions?" I mumble bitterly, and slip my arms into my coat.

The barkeep does not hear me. Another shout drifts up from the street below and this one cannot be anything other than hostile. My heart catches in my throat as I wake properly, as the gravity of the situation settles on me. This is not stupid whispers or childish pranks, not anymore. This is a stranger telling me to run for my life.

"I am sorry." I mumble, chastised and serious. "Your name was Ren. I must thank you. Thank you, Ren, thank you for saving me."

"Just go." He hisses. "When they get here, I will not delay them. This is all you get."

I need no other prompt to ghost silently from the room. I am grateful to have been given a chance at all.

I have never sensed a town come alive like this, but as I step nervously out into the dark and the rain, the atmosphere positively crackles. Fire flickers, ominously orange against the natural colouring of the night, but it remains distant for the now: a tiny relief and one that I cling to desperately.