Beasts of Flames

Chapter Nine

I was awakened by an icy breeze blowing into my face. My body shuddered from the chill and my eyes squinted awake. I momentarily contemplated if this was death. Had I reached what awaited me on the other side?

    As a stronger wind blew past me this time, beckoning me to move, and I forced my eyes open against it. I was in a camp, of sorts, surrounded by tents of all shapes and sizes, but saw no people moving about. The ground beneath me was frozen, chilling me from my talons to my back. I stretched out my wings, freeing them from their stiff icy sleep, before tucking them in tightly. Rallying my strength, I willed myself to stand and discover where I was.

    I marched towards the largest of the tents placed in the center of the encampment. Outside the entrance, two flags hung bearing a sigil of a ring of six-pointed stars painted in a midnight blue. I did not recognize who the sigil belonged to, but I hoped it was not someone malicious. I looked over the small entrance, noting it was not made for creatures like me to set foot in. Just then, a figure appeared from inside.

    A woman with long silver hair and deep olive skin moved towards me now. She was dressed in a billowing fur-trimmed gown and a silver and diamond diadem sat delicately above her brow. She exuded elegance and grace, but her eyes were like pure ice. She stood stiff, taking in my presence silently.

    "Glad to see you are awake," her voice strangely familiar, she motioned for me to follow her, "Come, I will show you to your friends."

    Evonne and Gavin. I had nearly forgotten. I did not know if I should trust the strange fae woman before me, but I had little choice. She was the only person around, and I had no semblance of where I was. I nodded, but stayed reserved and on alert. If this woman proved to be dangerous, I'd rather be prepared to run or fight.

    I followed the woman, keeping a distance between us. She led me threw the labyrinth of tents before stopping at one at the very edge of the camp much smaller than the rest. As if they had heard us approach, Evone and Gavin came running out to greet us. They were dressed similarly, covered in fur coats and thick winter boots. They both jumped into me, latching their arms around my neck tight enough to nearly choke me. I leaned into their embraces, glad to see they were safe.

    "I've missed you both," I said, a light laughter leaving my body. Evonne and Gavin pulled away from me, smiling brighter than the sun above us. Evonne, wiping away tears, laughingly said,

    "We've missed you, too, Lyda."

    "Try not to die on us anymore. We have enough emotional trauma to deal with in our immortal lives," Gavin said, smile turning into a playful smirk. I swiftly swung my tail around, knocking him off his feet, throwing him into the snowy ground.

    "If I am immortal now, then I'm sure this will be the last time I'm close to death. I do enjoy a good brawl," I half-jokingly said. It was true. My temper was a flame I had always struggled to contain. Now that I could create actual flames, I was sure it would be much, much worse.

"We could use some of that fire here, draki," the woman with silver hair spoke, "It has been a long time since your kind have been seen in Alaria."
"My name is Lyda. I was human, I am not a real draki."

"Apologies, Lyda. My condolences for the loss of your humanness, but you are a draki now," the woman spoke calmly but with an edge of royal authority. A queen who was not used to being spoken to so disrespectfully. Evonne stepped in now, putting herself between the woman and I.

"This is Queen Isolde, Lady of the North. She was the one who saved your life."

I eyed the queen up and down and met her icy stare. This woman, Isolde, had saved my life. The least I could do was thank her. Thank her for giving me more time in this life.