Am I Not The Hero?

Chapter 10 - Draigh Silas

The sun had vanished from the sky, and the only thing there was were the grey clouds, ready to wash over the land. It was a while since Draigh had seen rain in Esperar, so he was a little excited, even though he knew the group would get soaking wet if they didn't reach Flumen in time. "How far away is it again?" Akira asked what had to be the hundredth time that day, "About seven hours," Ravi annoyingly answered.

Of the five of them, Akira was probably the most excited to reach Flumen; he didn't tell much about his past or life in Mere, but you could tell he missed it. But none of them did, so Draigh didn't blame him.

As they rode toward the land bridge, Draigh could already hear the waves. The smell of sea salt lingered in his nose again, and he just felt free being near the oceans again. On earth, he never had the chance to visit one, but they were full of garbage and toxic waste, so it wouldn't have been enjoyable anyway. Esperars' ocean, on the other hand, was just immaculate. The waters were crystal clear, and you could see the different kinds of animals living there.

"What are you thinking about?" Akira suddenly asked him. "What? Oh, just thinking about the ocean, it's so beautiful," he explained to his friend. "And you should see the Citys down there. They're even more impressive. I've only visited my grandparents a few times, but I still cherish those memories." Akira told him. Draigh wanted to know more about him, about his family, and why he chose to go so far away from them. But it was most likely a sensitive issue, so he decided to leave it be.

"Can I go there?" he asked instead, "Sure, I mean, you'd have to hold my hand the entire time, but that shouldn't be a problem, right blondie," Akira winked at him, and the two of them laughed. „What are you guys talking about?" Ravi said, „I convinced Akira to go on an underwater date with me," Draigh jokingly told him, winking back at him.

Ravi gave him a funny look before wandering off again; Draigh turned to Akira, who was already smirking, "what did I do?" Draigh desperately asked him. "I don't know, man. You tell me," he said in his typical sarcastic tone as he shrugged his shoulders, "not funny, Akira. We just got along, and now he's pissed at me again; well, I think he is; did he look pissed to you?" His so-called friend just laughed at him as he rode off to Esmeralda.

They had officially reached the land bridge, with the dread tides to their left and the Chatri Lake to their right, and were riding along the beaches. With every step Oakley took, they sunk into the sand below. The sun was still nowhere to be found, and the clouds around them turned darker and darker. It was only a matter of time before the sky's daggers hit them.

Flumen was still nowhere to be seen on the horizon, and with every passing moment, the group grew more impatient. "Are you sure we're heading the right way?" Z asked and raised their eyebrow at Ravi, "We're on a fucking land bridge. There is only one way," he snapped at them, throwing the map into their face. "Ey, stop it; throwing things at each other won't make us arrive faster," Esmeralda scolded them.

"Don't tell me what to do, Gidá" everyone stopped in their tracks to stare at Ravi. "What did you just call me?" Esmeralda turned furious and got off her Equus, "I called you a Gidá because that's what you are, right?" Ravi copied her movement and walked towards her.

Draigh didn't understand a single thing; what did Gidá even mean? And why did Esmeralda get so angry about it? "My ancestors did not risk their lives to protest for my rights so that a stuck-up rich elve boy can call me Gidá," Esmeralda shouted as she pulled her combat stuff out of her backpack, ready to attack him.

"Esme, stop it" Draigh was so focused that he didn't even notice Akira getting off his Equus, too; the staff slammed against his hand as he tried to stop it from hitting Ravi. "This isn't worth it, alright? Trust me."

The two of them got back on their Equus but not before Esme could spit at Ravi and call him names again. Slowly Draigh got an idea of what just happened between the two; he waited until the others rode away before he went to Ravi, "What the fuck, man?" he shouted at his friend. "Stay out of this, Draigh" he avoided his gaze and instead looked into the distance. "Why did you call her that? That was completely unreasonable and not okay," he scolded him.

„I won't repeat myself another time, Draigh. Stay out of this. Why don't you hang out with Akira? He's so much cooler than me, isn't he? So go, fuck off, leave me alone." He was confused; what happened that Ravi was acting like this again? But if he wanted to act like a little toddler Draigh didn't want to stay. He turned around and did precisely what Ravi had told him, hang out with Akira.

The last rest of the trip was tense, everyone was even more on edge than before, and the dispute between Ravi and Esmeralda stayed unsettled. She would threaten to fight Ravi every now and then, but Akira got her to calm down. Z ignored the whole thing and stayed with Ravi, but Draigh couldn't hear what they were talking about, or maybe they didn't talk at all.

„Guys, look, there's Flumen," Draigh shouted and pointed into the distance. It was still quite far away, but now it seemed much more reachable. „Should we sprint the rest of the way?" He asked the rest of the group, Z and Ravi already pressing forward at top speed. „I guess it's a race then," Akira suggested, and the three of them began galloping too.

The wind slammed into their faces blowing their hair away in funny ways. Sand swirled around them, and Draigh had to close his eyes to prevent it from getting there. He stretched out his arms as if he were to hug the sky; he didn't care that they would go slower now or that he might fall off; Draigh just wanted to feel free.

A drop of rain. It hit him right on his cheek and slowly made its way down to his jaw from where it dropped onto his leg. Another hit right on his hand, then another on his hand, and soon enough, they hit him all over his body. „We should hurry up!" he shouted after the others, but they couldn't hear him anymore. The sound of the rain splashing onto the ground and the thunder in the far distance drowned out any words leaving his mouth.

The group galloped as fast as their Equus could take them, and Flumen grew greater in the Distance. As they got closer, Draigh could make out more and more details of the city. It seemed that every building was either aquamarine or white and had the form of shells. In the middle of the town, a high tower stuck out with a massive crystal on top of it. After taking a closer look, those crystals seemed to be everywhere around the town, just in smaller versions.

Suddenly a thin yellow film in the form of a globe started appearing around the city, and all the water droplets repelled from it. „You see that too, right?" Draigh shouted again, this time louder than before. „I think it's a Tendrá shield; the question is now, will it let us in, or do we have to sleep outside in the rain," Akira shouted back. Sleeping in the rain didn't sound very pleasant, so Draigh prayed to whoever was up there that it would let them in.

When they reached the globe, they were already soaking wet. Ravi got off his horse first to try to enter through the film; he reached out his hand and, with a burning hiss, immediately pulled it away again. „There's no way we will get in there," he proclaimed, „let me try," Akira suggested and copied Ravi's movement. His hand went through it like smooth butter, and with it his arm, „I guess this thing just doesn't let in racist assholes," he joked as he walked through it.

„Let me go next," Esme said and confidently walked forwards. Her head bounced off, and she fell to the ground; she cursed to herself as she stood up again. „Ok, apparently, it only wants to let you in, Akira; go find someone who can open this thing." „Alright, I'll be back as soon as possible," and with those words, he vanished into the streets off Flumen.

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