The Curse's Breath

Chapter Seventeen

The rest of the training session, no one talked out of turn. No one talked at all. Everyone was afraid to even go near Chalen. The tension in the air was as thick as fog and shadowed everyone's mood. The guilt painted in Chalen's eyes was as clear as the stars in the sky, and Celni almost felt bad for him. But the confusion in his eyes was what didn't make sense. He had to have known what he was doing to Piera.

Hadn't he?

Though the incident had soured the night air, Celni was surprised to find that she thoroughly enjoyed learning the training moves. The experience of sending her claws slashing through the air was one like she'd never had before and she couldn't help but admit to herself that she enjoyed it. Chalen had been right about what he had said at the beginning of training: The dragons' connection with their 'weapons' was something special.

That wasn't the only benefit of training. With each minute that passed, the rigorous training helped her become more accustomed to her new form. By the end of the session she could actually walk without tripping over her extra limbs. The others had noticed her improvement too.

"Wow! You're already doing so much better," Sephina commented. Chalen had dismissed everyone, but Sephina, Keltaril, Zakten, and Kulliras had stayed to talk to Celni.

"You're a natural warrior," Keltaril said warmly, giving her a friendly tap with his tail.

Zakten nodded in agreement, his black horns glinting in the moonlight. "You'll definitely be able to teach your people many things when you get back home."

"I guess," Celni mumbled meekly, not sure what to do with the praise.

"Hey! I've got a great idea!" Kulliras said, prancing on the tips of his paws with excitement. "Let's show Sotira around! After all, she'll be here for a while. She needs to know more about her temporary home."

Keltaril perked up, his tail twitching excitedly. "That's a great idea!"

"Sure," Sephina said. "But where do we start?"

"We could show her our villages," Zakten piped up.

Kulliras leapt forward and began pushing Celni towards the forest. "Mine first!" he stated gleefully.

Throughout the night, they dragged her through the whole dragon territory, showing her the separate villages. The forest village was deep in the heart of the trees, not too far from the central dragon camp. The fire village was up high near the volcano, while the venom village was the closest to the edge of the territory, near Terabu mountain and the Battali plains. The new water village was being built near the beach on the west side of the territory, but it was still far from finished. Celni tried to keep a mental map of the territory in her head, but ended up not being able to focus on anything other than the amazing culture each village had.

The forest village was all laid out in the trees. Buildings were circled around trunks and nestled in branches, masked with paint that cleverly hid them from view. Kulliras had to point them out before Celni even realized that they were there. The forest dragons in the village weren't camouflaged, but in their natural green habitat they were just as hard to spot as the houses.

The dragons came swarming down the trees when they spotted the visitors, calling out their names. They begged to serve Celni some wild boar meat and juice from their native fruits, so she relented. She was so glad she did! Then they sat her and her new 'kin' down as a small group of them lined up. Kulliras had a huge grin on his snout, like he knew what was about to happen.

The forest dragons were still as stone, the only sound coming from the trees moving in the breeze.

And then they moved.