The Angel Mirror

Chapter 7 - The Capital

The weight of the mysterious shadowy animals had disappeared by the time Zilder woke the next morning, most likely drawn away by the dawn light. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and sitting up, he yawned, the first thing he heard was the sound of rain falling lightly around him.

Wait, rain?

He was more awake when he realized it, looking around he saw that rain was indeed falling around him in the clearing and on the trees, and by the soaked look of the dirt around him and the fact that the place where the fire was didn't even have embers in it, it appeared it had been falling for a while, except around him. Looking up, Zilder could see a thin violet field, with little shockwaves emanating where raindrops collided with the field.

"Were you planning on letting yourself become drenched overnight? Or letting the shadows cover you until dawn?" Zilder turned his head, the spirit was sitting in plain view. He considered looking over to see if his father was awake, but from his brief history with her it would seem that she didn't want to be found out, either that or she didn't care.

He looked in the opposite direction anyway, as and he thought his father wasn't there, the tent was open but there was no one inside. One of the dragons was gone too, which prompted Zilder to think that Gale had left, but he shooed away the thought, thinking that one of the dragons must have gone out hunting for its own breakfast, while the other stayed to keep an eye on the sleeping boy and the clearing. That still didn't answer the question of where his father went, though.

Running a hand through his snow-colored locks, Zilder yawned and stood up, turning to face the spirit. When he did, he felt small raindrops start hitting him, she must have taken the barrier down. "Er...thanks I guess." He muttered, still trying to shake off the morning tiredness that had overtaken him.

"Hmph." The spirit replied with crossed arms. "You're lucky, I was considering letting all of the rainwater gather overnight and dropping it on you when I wanted you to wake up." She told him, and he shuddered in response. That would have made for a very rude awakening.

He was going to say something else to her, but she glanced off to the side and then disappeared back into his body. Seconds later there was a slight rustling sound and Gale came out of the woods, looking freshly groomed and holding a black pouch with a strap that appeared to be full of some liquid. "Ah, Zilder, you're awake." He noted, making his way over to his son and handing him the pouch. "That's your shower water, just strap it to one of the trees and pull the string to get it to start." He explained. "Shower and dress quickly, otherwise we won't make it in time to see the king."

Despite having warmed up the water himself using his magic, the initial cold burst that came from the pouch fully woke Zilder up immediately. With the grogginess gone from his actions he was able to get dressed quickly into a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt that fit him rather nicely.

They were off shortly after that, and despite the both of them agreeing to having brunch at the capital the day before, Zilder's stomach growled periodically during their flight, which must have amused the dragon he was riding because it snorted smoke a couple of times. When the rain started coming down harder and the thunder overhead became louder, Gale and his son urged the dragons to fly faster and a bit lower. A stronger storm meant a stronger chance of getting struck by lightning, and neither of them wanted that, they were already pushing their luck by flying when it was drizzling.

Within a couple of hours of taking off, the capital appeared over the horizon. A dazzling city where anything could happen and anything often did, as his father had described it to him. Zilder's mouth hung open as he gazed at the gleaming spires, the tallest of which easily dwarfed the largest of buildings back in Wilde. At the high altitude he could see the castle grounds, a vast area smack dab in the middle of the huge city, with its own surrounding garden which was the biggest spot of green that he could see in the enclosed city. As they neared the city gates, Gale started to descend, his son following him.