The Curse's Claws

Chapter Five

She spotted a fire dragon sitting outside his cave, picking a rock from between his claws. She descended so she was in front of him. "Hi," she said.

He looked up, cast a quick glance over her and then resumed what he was doing. "I'm taken."

"That's... not..." Celni shook her head. "I was just wondering if you know where Keltaril's cave is."

He stretched for a good moment, tail extended and claws curling into the round. Celni narrowed her eyes impatiently, waiting for him to finish.

The fire dragon finally stood up, shaking himself. "That way," he said, pointing to a cave up to the left with his wing.

She sighed. "Thank you." She turned and flew up to the cave entrance. She was about to call Keltaril's name when a dragon came padding out of the darkness.

It wasn't Keltaril, but still someone she vaguely recognized. It was a fire dragon with rust colored scales and sky blue eyes. Celni pulled back into the reaches of her memory, trying to remember where she had seen him before.

The dragon looked up, realizing that she was there. He stared at her for a moment, his gaze enigmatic. "You have a visitor," he called back into the cave. With one last glance at her, he took off into the sky.

Celni poked her head into the cave. "Keltaril?" Her eyesight adjusted to the darkness and she saw a figure lying down in a nest of rocks. "It's Sotira."

One of his ears flicked. "Sotira?" He lifted his head, eyes glowing in the faint light. "You can... you can come in."

She walked in and lifted the tip of her tail in greeting. Keltaril sat up, shuffling so he could face her.

She sat down and curled her tail over paws. "Was that one of your friends?"

"Oh, you know him?"

"I think I've seen him around a few times."

Keltaril shrugged his wings. "We weren't talking about anything much. He's been visiting me every now and again to keep me company." He looked over at her. "What have you been up to?"

Visions of the contest in the Training Arena flashed in her mind. Ashnule, one of the slave dragons, bearing down on her and Srenya with snapping teeth and sharp claws. Her falling into the lava tunnels, then reaching behind her and finding a crossbow. Bolts going into Ashnule's chest. One. Two. Three. Four...

Thud. His body fell to the ground.

Screams echoing across the street. Dragons coming from the lake. One. Two. Three. Four... Her father next to her, handing her a sword. Battle. King Albaras. Run. Run. Don't die. Claws. Lynea. Sylvia—

Celni flinched as she mentally shut down the thoughts in her head. She couldn't let herself fall down that hole, or she'd never get back. She realized that she still hadn't answered Keltaril. "Nothing big," she said flimsily.

Would her mouth ever start to bleed from telling lies?

Keltaril shuffled into a different position. "That's good."

They sat in awkward silence for a bit.

"I heard the attack went well," he piped up.

Celni nodded, wrapping her wings around herself for comfort. "Everyone seems really glad to have their families back."

She could almost feel him shriveling up beside her. "Yeah. That's great."

She shook her head. This was pointless, both of them sitting here falling into depression.

Celni stood up abruptly. "Come on."

Keltaril blinked at her, confused. "What? Where?"

"I don't know. Anywhere. Let's just get out of this dark cave and do something." She looked around and noticed his satchel laying against the wall. She remembered how when she had first visited the dragon territory, he had been carrying that bag with a strange piece of metal in it. "You scavenge things, right? Why don't we do that?"