The Curse's Breath

Chapter Eight

Celni suggested that they meet up afterwards to get to know each other better. Unsurprisingly, Srenya quickly pretended like they had come up with the idea together when she saw that the others were on board.

After going home and getting out of her uniform and cleaning up, she went to Bark's drink bar. When she walked in the door she saw her group sitting at a table already. Hyden gave her a big grin and waved her over.

It didn't take long before they began chatting. Rozanel started them off with some ice breaker questions. "Okay," she said with a grin. "Let's start with your favorite pastime, the dragon you're most excited to hunt, and what made you want to be a soldier."

"Ooh ooh, can I start?" Hyden pestered.

Rozanel tilted her head with a laugh. "Sure!"

"As you could probably tell by now, I'm hilarious. Can't help it, I was just born that way," he boasted. "I love cracking jokes. In our town, I'll go to the diner on Friday nights and do stand-up comedy. The dragon I'm most excited about fighting is a forest dragon. They're so tricky to keep an eye on when they camouflage themselves. Keeps you on your toes." He winked at Srenya, and she rolled her eyes in disgust. "Finally, my parents always wanted my brother and I to be soldiers. Me, more than everyone. 'You need to put your energy to use and do some good,' Ma would always say," he said, making up a ridiculous voice for his mother. "So here I am." He grinned in Celni's direction.

Keran chuckled. "You should bottle your energy and sell it."

Hyden's eyes twinkled mischievously.

Dyfar shook his head. "Please, no. We do not need more of him around."

"Alright, then. Your turn!" Rozanel said. She leaned forward, ready to hear his answers.

"Though I love my brother, performing comedy on a stage would be horrendous for me. I prefer being outside in nature, reading a novel or watching the native waterfowl." Dyfar's blue eyes grew wistful, as if he was imagining being out in the forest right now. Celni knew how he felt. "I think the water dragons are underestimated, just because there's not an abundant supply of water around that they can fight with. They have many talents and are still great adversaries. My brother is right that our parents drove us to become soldiers, but I never fought it. Fighting for my people is a great honor."

Next was Srenya. She cleared her throat so that everyone was paying attention to her before speaking. "My only 'pastime' is training to be a soldier. I believe that spending your time on anything that does not benefit the war effort is ridiculous and selfish."

Celni huffed. Obviously, she trained a lot too, but she wasn't haughty or self-righteous about it.

"Venom dragons are the most ferocious and fearsome," Srenya continued. She had a hungry look in her irises. "I can't wait to have one of their heads on a spear. As for being a soldier, well it's just my destiny. I'm built for it. If you couldn't tell by my score," she said smugly.

"That's impressive that you've devoted your life to the war," Keran noted calmly. "Very admirable."

Srenya seemed surprised to have gotten praise from him. She recovered quickly and raised her chin. "Thank you." She peered at him. "What about you?"

Keran was folding his napkin into a tinier and tinier square. He didn't look up when he spoke. "I'm interested in history. I like reading books about the past or finding old relics. My favorite dragon has to be the forest dragon like Hyden. I find it fascinating how they are able to vanish into their surroundings." He paused a moment before speaking again. He still didn't look up. "I grew up in Inua city," he said.