Wings Of Fire (WOF) : A dark family affair

Chapter 19

Nightjar watched their speaker carefully. At first glance, she was a hybrid between a silkwing and an icewing. She was quite small for an adult dragoness, due to her origins. Her horns and spines on her back were definitely reminiscent of those cold northern regions of Pyrrhia and her antennaes on her head and her eye-catching colors were reminiscent of her Pantala roots. His gaze puzzled the half black mudwing. She couldn't tell if it reflected curiosity or pity. It was a weird feeling to be observed by her, like her appearance and her intentions, which was still unknown.

However, Dandelion's gaze clearly expressed distrust. His face was closed and had a stoic attitude. "May we know what you want from us, witch ?" he insulted.

- "I want to reveal you your fate, she said, continuing to scrutinize Nightjar and then Maple.

- You mean our future ? asked the green dragon, doubtful.

- Exactly," she confirmed. She looked for into a small pouch hanging around her neck and pulled out a small wood card box before continuing, "My cards cause me to use their power. They only manifest themselves for people in need". Her far-fetched speech, at first glance, did not convince Nightjar, nor did Maple, who looked at her with doubt. He squinted, trying to find out what she thought. It all sounded like an attempt to manipulate them in order to steal their money. Nightjar remembered the story of how a fortune-teller had met her sister Poplar by chance. He had assured her that the next few days would be good for her and that she would even meet the love of her life. In the end, she fell ill and only met the doctor.

Even before Nightjar found this concept of divination ridiculous. She didn't believe in a future that had already been decided by someone who was beyond the comprehension of "mere mortals" and that could be revealed by a miracle so simply. However, she preferred to think that she was free of herself and that the future depended only on her choices and no one else's. "To each his own, after all," she thought, a little despairing at Snowdrop's words.

Dandelion stepped in between them, cutting short the stranger's argument: "We don't have time to be bewitched. Let's go now", he finished to Maple and Nightjar while tracing his route. They followed him, abandoning the supposed seer who had not tried to follow them. "I never thought you would accept the veracity of any sort of divinations, Maple commented.

- And yet I would have hoped not to believe it.

- What do you mean by "bewitching" ? he continued.

- Many people got caught up in his guessing game of the future. All of them had fateful predictions and none of them escaped. Since then, she has been known to cast evil spells on the unwary who try her tricks. These are just rumors, he added, However we have no time to lose in any case".

After a while of wandering in the streets, they arrived at the famous border river. It was wider than Nightjar would have imagined and small islands had formed in its waters. Dragons were bathing in it or were sitting or laying on the sand, staying here alone, in couples, or with their families to relax. However, most of them came here to cool down or to take the shade of the palm trees to face the desert heat. Shy herbs were growing in the middle of the heat wave. Nightjar noticed that there was no bridge connecting the two sides because dragons were flying freely from one point to another. She also noticed that the sun was starting to descend. They had walked longer than she had thought.

Her observation was cut short by the smell of spices that tickled her nostrils, making her sneeze, and then by Dandelion's words : "We have finally arrived. Welcome to our second home". The building did not stand out from the others around. It was simply taller and wider. They went inside and Nightjar was amazed at how surprisingly bright the room was. Unlike the Sky kingdom, the dragons inside were more closed on themselves, whispering only so they would not be heard by prying ears. Silence seemed to reign despite their numbers. When they arrived, many of them had turned around to look at them, to observe them, to analyze them. Nightjar felt a shiver go down his back. "Two worlds, two atmospheres... Nice in any case", she thought, half laughing.