Dragons of Arilla (Book 1 - Draft 2)

Chapter 1: Silent Regrets

Note: This is only the second draft of the story. The focus of the second draft is to clean up major issues with the plot, structure, world, and characters. It will still have plenty of wrinkles and messiness, but it shouldn't be as bad as the first draft was.

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The afternoon sun glinted off the waters of Lonely Lake, making it sparkle. As lakes went, it was very small, and it was named Lonely, because of its secluded location. As secluded as it got in Calahr, anyway. The woods closed in around the water, leaving only one clearing along the southern bank, the side furthest from Central, and nearest to the peaks.

It was the best place in all of Calahr for some peace and quiet, without heading into the peaks. As such, it was the favorite hangout spot for Red and his friends, though the time they spent together had been dwindling.

This afternoon, of all afternoons, Red needed the escape. Only Zephyr had been available, but that was okay. Even if they couldn't get the whole group together, at least there was someone he could waste the day with, and of all dragons, that happened to be Zephyr. His first and best friend.

Red lounged on his belly, with his forelegs stretched in front of him, and his wings tucked loosely at his sides. He could enjoy the view of sparkling water until the sun set.

"Ahh, I miss the old days!" Zephyr sighed, drawing Red's attention.

He watched with a raised brow as his friend chugged the second half of his drink, then tossed the empty bottle onto the growing pile. The blue dragon wasn't a light weight, that was for sure, even taking into account that the dreck they were drinking was weak as spit.

"You and Violet were close as can be, Moon and Night were disgustingly lovey-dovey, and we could hang out everyday!" Zephyr said, grabbing another drink. "No job, no real obligations, just us."

Zephyr had, as usual, put himself in charge of supplying the booze, which was fair, considering that he always drank more, out of the two of them.

"I think you're remembering it over fondly," Red snorted. "There was always some sort of trouble, and you were always at the center of it."

"Not always!"

"Weasel? Hopper?"

"Damn." The blue drake took a swig. "You wanna talk about a shitty love life? Least I've had relationships."

Calling either of those a relationship was incredibly generous, and Zephyr hadn't done anything non-casual since that fiasco at the ball, over a decade ago. Red didn't want to hear about relationships from Zephyr of all dragons, best friend or not.

"Gimme another," Red said, sitting up.

"Another? Haven't you already had more than your usual?"

"Only one more, let's make it two."

Zephyr handed one over. "You know, you're kind of a stud, you could get plenty of nesses if you wanted."

Red choked on the first swig of his drink. "Creator, don't say it like that. Besides, you know I'm not looking for anything right now. Got too much other shit to deal with."

"Starting to think you don't feel attraction to anyone, if not just super repressed. Whatever, maybe it's for the best. Can't have both of you down for the count. Night's being so lame, he should be out drinking with us, not holed up in his room all day."

"They were dating for forever, it can't be easy."

Zephyr grumbled into his drink, then a look of startled realization crossed his face. "Shiiiiit... aren't you supposed to go have dinner with your fam? Won't you be late? Your sister's visiting, yeah?"