The Tail of the Sword and Shield #Wattys2020

Chapter 8: Flying Lessons

Since leaving the village behind, Alkanos maintained a steady pace.

Birds called to one another, signaling the nearing of the fall of dusk. Alkanos saw the painted sky through openings in the canopy of leaves over the road.

He heard squirrels chatter to another, storing food for the winter. The leaves on the trees were still green, but a few sparse leaves were beginning to change color.

"I've been on the road this long?" Alkanos asked aloud. When he had left the palace, it was the middle of summer. Perhaps parts of the kingdom changed seasons earlier than others.

Even though, his clothes had dried completely, back at Granny's. Alkanos could feel the temperature threaten to drop in the breeze, that pushed the dead leaves across the forest road. The road was wide and smooth, a hill was coming up, wooden planks had been set into the hill to create a stop, in the event a cart lost a wheel.

Alkanos ascended the hill, using the stops as steps. I should find shelter soon, but how? Alkanos thought, resting his hand on his knife. All the supplies were lost in the flash flood. I don't even have a lantern.

Then he heard the crunch of gravel, further up the hill.

Please don't be an assassin. Oh stars above, don't be an assassin. Alkanos pleaded. When he crested the hill,  there was a traveler.

The traveler wore olive green clothes, that had seen better days. The shirt sleeves flared at the elbow. His weather-stained hood up, on his back, was a pack with a bedroll, and in one hand was around unlit lantern on a stick.

Just keep walking. Just keep walking. Alkanos told himself. Don't make eye contact. Just keep walking.

Alkanos hadn't made it past the traveler, when the traveler pulled his hood part the way back, and said, "Nice seeing another Dragon on the road."

Before it could register in Alkanos's mind, he miss-stepped on the plank and fell backward. "Ah!" Alkanos exclaimed, having that moment of weightlessness, one experiences before gravity becomes a jerk.

Or, at least, that would have happened, if the traveler hadn't grabbed Alkanos's shirt, pulling him back onto the step.

"Easy there, hatchling, no need to try to fly just yet." The traveler said, from what Alkanos could tell, he had blue-green eyes flecked with orange. The traveler's pupils were circular, except for the top and bottom points.

A Dragon?! This far from the mountains? Alkanos knew Dragons sometimes traveled, but these were dangerous times in Eldoria to be a Dragon. "What do you mean by hatchling?" Alkanos asked when both feet were on the ground. The traveler removed his hand from Alkanos.

"As the name implies, you are still young and yet to fly. You are a Dragon unless my nose betrays me." The traveler said.

"I'm a Dragon." Alkanos said, "I'm guessing you're one too?"

"Of course. I'm a Dragon, I am Wayfarer, the wandering flight instructor. I find hatchlings and teach them how to fly," The dragon explained, " Would you like to learn how to fly?"

"I would sir." Alkanos said, unsure if Wayfarer was a shyster or an Assassin.

"Let's get off the road then, shall we?" Wayfarer asked.

Alkanos followed Wayfarer over the hill, then off the road and into the woods. They stopped at a clearing that wasn't that far from the road. All the walk, Alkanos was mindful of where his knife was, and in what direction they were going, the whole time.

They went to the middle of the clearing, they then sat their stuff down by Wayfarer, and Alkanos took ten steps back.

"Before you fly, first you transform. You need to stay perfectly calm, the whole time you're transforming. It makes the transition smoother," Wayfarer explained, " But, being calm doesn't allow us to change alone. To begin the change, you need to reach deep inside you, find that spark that makes you a dragon, and embrace it. You'll need to concentrate. At least until transforming becomes as easy as breathing." Then Wayfarer paused, so Alkanos could absorb the information.