*Sorry but this chapter is going to jump around alot. If anything is to confusing let me know and I'll try to fix it. Thanks!*
"You look terrible."
Valka clutched her head as she tried to sit up in the bed. She couldn't remember how many days it had been, only that she had asked Dazar more than enough times. She took the cup that was offered to her and slowly drank. She was incredibly thirsty, but her throat was so swollen she'd choke at any faster rate.
"Not to push you or anything, but your elf friend in the other room is threatening to barge in here if you don't talk to her soon."
Valka held the water in her mouth, while trying to remember the elf that Dazar was talking about. Elf, elf, elf, what elf....oh.
"Yeah," her voice croaked and she had to take a minute to sip more water before she could speak again. "Let her-"
Dazar stopped her before she needed to speak anymore. "I'll let the guards know." as she started to leave, she took the pitcher and gestured to it by lifting the pitcher in the air. "I'll get some more water."
Valka nodded as the door was propped closed, and tried to rub her head to reduce the headache, while constantly blinking to push the smoke out of her eyes. She took another slow sip of water while staring out the window.
It was an avid scene just from here, flowers of all types grew in the palace gardens, while children played hide-and-seek between the hedges of rocks. Because of this, Valka would often find herself startled when seeing a cactus planted on her windowsill, and she had to remind herself this was a desert land rather than a tropical paradise.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock followed by a guard entering her room. "Lady Valka, Lieutenant Dazar said you wanted to see the elf?"
She nodded.
The guard inhaled sharply, not needing to voice his strong objections. "Let it in." Another guard pushed the elf into the room. "I'll check in, in five minutes." He stepped out and closed the door.
"That guard's an idiot." Kaeytlyn shook her head. "Telling us the exact time only gives me a perfect deadline to kill you."
"What do you-" Valka forced another couple sips of water down. "Want?"
Her eyebrows perked. "I just said I had the perfect amount of time to kill you."
"You wou-" she coughed harshly, but instead of speaking she just grabbed a pad of parchment and quill from the side table. You wouldn't still be in their hands if you wanted to kill me.
Kaeytlyn looked at the parchment and smirked. "I'll give you some credit, Creseldek. I'm not here to kill you, today. There's a greater problem we need you to fix."
She reached for the parchment and quickly scratched down, I'm not going back to Moonlire.
"Yes you are."
Valka glared at her and pointed to herself before drawing a very clear line across her throat.
Kaeytlyn swallowed harshly and fiddled with her fingers. "It's-It's difficult to..." she paused, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. "It's difficult to explain." Valka gestured for her to continue. She looked around the room, trying to gather her thoughts, but then lit up, as if a light bulb appeared above her head. Shifting the bulky chains that encircled her tiny wrists, she reached into her shirt and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. She quickly straightened it against her leg and started to read from it. "They reached the Dracones Valley, Moonlire is gone, Nikolai is set on dying, someone's dead, everyone is injured, and firegirl can't see. Oh and, do not kill Creseldek, don't kill Creseldek, don't kill Creseldek, don't kill Creseldek, don't kill Creseldek."
"Someone's dead!"
"Don't worry your Hiccup son is alright. It was the redhead with tons of scars. But Nikolai is what we need your help with." Valka perked her eyebrows, silently asking for another explanation. Before she answered, Kaeytlyn gestured to the bed. "May I sit?" Valka made sure to scoot all the way up to her pillow, before agreeing. When Kaeytlyn sat down, her head immediately went into her hands and took a shaky breath. "After we reached the Dracones Valley, the Dragon Gang thing fell asleep, but Nikolai couldn't. Naturally as her previous guard, I couldn't fall asleep either. When we talked, she kept mentioning wanting to see Moonlire again. I warned her that based on what I had previously seen in the other tribes, this wouldn't be a pretty picture, but I guess she just needed a confirmation. So we snuck out of the cave that the Father Dracones let us stay in, and ran to Moonlire. But what we found...it was..."
Valka was utterly confused by the crumble of Kaeytlyn's stone hard exterior. What had happened to make the strongest elf she knew, fall back into being a small child? She scooted a few inches closer, which to anyone else seemed weird, but she knew that Kaeytlyn would recognize the attempt at comfort.
"They're all gone. Everyone. The children, the adults, the elders. All gone. Massacred. Their bodies just left in the snow to rot. And we...we couldn't do anything."
Guilt dropped in Valka's stomach as she recoiled into her own shell.
She pulled her hood further over her wig, and tried to walk at a pace that wouldn't bring anymore attention to her. Of course however, when trying to appear invisible, nothing seems to work.
Valka turned into another hallway and cautiously threw a glance over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. When the coast was clear she ran straight to the end of the hallway and jumped onto the elegant table decorated with a single porcelain vase. She gripped the edge of the painting's silver frame and opened it wide enough for only her body to slip through. As she slid in feet first, she found her sack which she had placed several weeks beforehand.
Everything seemed to be in place.
She grabbed the sack and started to run down the passageway. Though rarely used, they were no secret to the occupants of Moonlire castle. If she were to disappear, she'd have to move quickly.
"VALKA!"
Her heart dropped as she turned the first corner of the passageway. She couldn't move any further, as he would hear her footsteps. Instead she stood just around the corner, clutching her bag as tight as she could and listening to his footsteps grow closer. She didn't try to run, didn't even flinch when she saw his silky platinum hair come into sight.
"What are you doing?" he urgently asked.
"Aren't you supposed to be on your way to Suztest?" she curtly asked, avoiding his gaze.
"Nikolai can wait a few more hours." he replied. "Where are you going?"
"I'm not going anywhere."
His sigh echoed through the hallway. "Valka you are a terrible liar." he tried to grab her hand, but she yanked it away the moment their skin touched. "What, you think I wouldn't notice your music box missing from the fireplace mantle? I know you wouldn't leave that behind, you're too sentimental. So tell me where you were going."
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not." she snapped. "I don't know where I'm going, but I do know that it's nowhere near here. And that's all I care for."
He held his breath and took a few steps away from her, and when he spoke his words were evenly paced and slow. "Valka, you are the queen."
"Something I never asked for." she immediately snapped back, finally daring to look him straight in her eyes, hoping that even in the candle light he could see the pain she has tried to fight for all these years. "All I wanted to spend my life with you. The boy I fell in love with. But then I get here and suddenly I'm expected to rule a nation!"
"You didn't even give it a try!"
"What was I supposed to do?" she looked at herself. "I grew up in the Dracones Valley! I'm a mixed race elf. All I know is how to take care of dragons, yet suddenly I was expected to make speeches, declare war, decide taxes! This life isn't for me!" she took a deep breath and stared at his back. In a lower voice she said, "If you have any respect, or I daresay any love left for me, you'll let me go. It's best for me, for us, for your country, that I go."
For a moment she thought he was going to agree, and a string of hope was threaded through her body. "It's not that simple." But the string snapped and ricocheted across her nerves. "You're the queen, the most powerful elf in Moonlire. You hold the powers of Mother Ling."
"Not anymore. I was able to acquire a special necklace, and transfer the powers to it. Therefore when Nikolai is of age, she can take the powers."
He chuckled. "This is ironic. You're asking your six year old daughter to do something that even you, a grown woman, can't."
"Your daughter." she corrected. "We both know she doesn't have an ounce of me in her. She's a female replica of you, I have no doubt she'll be perfectly fine."
He remained silent, back turned and crossing his arms while staring at the opposite wall. His mind was in deep thought, and for once her mind decided to let her feel the immense weight that this decision held. A decision that could change the course of Moonlire.
"What am I to tell Nikolai?"
Six year old Nikolai. What was she supposed to tell a little girl something she was supposed to carry for the rest of her years? Something to stick in the back of her mind, as a last reminder of her mother, something to cling to when times get difficult. "Tell her that she's exactly like her father."
Valka took a deep breath and turned away from her husband, walking through the passage with shaky breath. Had she made the right decision?
It was a question Valka asked herself everyday since she left. At first she was able to hide it by excitement of a new life awaiting her in the other realm. When she first landed on Berk's beaches, the joy almost blinded any conscious thought she had, and almost forgot to thank the Dracones dragon who flew her there. It only became easier to hide her guilt as she blended into the village, fell in love, and started a new, simple, life again.
But then it started to fail. Her guilt which had been stored up for years started to sneak back in when she held Hiccup in her arms. Dreams started to terrorize her night as a six year old Nikolai stood in front of her burning country saying, "Look what you did." Stoick wanted her to confide in him, let him comfort her to sleep, but she couldn't. Not when dragon heads hung on their walls and the mention of magic was always followed by a nasty word or comment.
So when Cloudjumper found her, she left.
Now she sat in Monrides' medical rooms, and suddenly she remembered all her horrid dreams. Was this her fault?
"Are you certain?" she asked in a slow whisper.
"I'll take you there and you can see all the bodies."
"No thank you." Valka immediately responded. "Do you know what happened?"
Kaeytlyn nodded and took a few deep breaths before telling the rest of the story. "When we saw everything, we were suddenly surrounded by elves who were commanded by a Reckless Sun elf. We were easily captured in our grief and held for ransom for the Dragon Gang thing to rescue. They decided to fight for us, and a major fight happened. But when Nikolai tried to kill the Reckless Sun, she disappeared into thin air, and the redhead guy...Dagger I think his name was, was stabbed by her."
Valka had a difficult time feeling sorry for the fallen Berserker, simply because she couldn't believe out of all the people, he'd be the one who ended up dead. "Do you know who the elf was?"
She looked at her worn piece of parchment again. "Ingrid. I'm pretty sure she's firegirl's mother."
Ingrid.
"When do we leave?" Valka suddenly sat up, forgetting the soreness in her ribs. Her body immediately gave out and she crashed to the ground. At the sound of the crash, both guards came running in with swords drawn.
"Lady Valka!"
She waved her hand. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just stood up too quickly. Give us a few more minutes, that's all we'll need."
When the guards left again, Kaeytlyn helped Valka back onto her feet. "A few minutes?"
She nodded. "I have Cloudjumper and Skullcrusher. Then we can head to Cozotro-"
"Why go there?"
"Viggo and the others are traveling on a diplomatic mission there." she quickly brushed off, taking several large gulps of water. "With dragons we should-"
"Cozotro?" Kaeytlyn asked for a confirmation, which Valka quickly gave. "That doesn't make sense. Cozotro was overrun by Triuq last year, and a drought made everyone else leave."
"Then why would they be traveling there?"
Kaeyltyn bit the tip of her thumb nail. "When the fight was over, Ingrid left she mentioned to Nikolai something about playing her game."
"The game of the High Lords. I remember." Valka painfully admitted. "Theoretically the goal is to conquer all the lands, but realistically that's impossible."
"We're speaking to the woman who murdered an entire race of elite assassins."
"Fair point." Valka stared out the window. "We left Ingrid in the mortal realm, meaning she had to have a way to reach this realm. Viggo mentioned something about his uncle knowing magic, having helped him open the portal in the first place. If he helped her get here, that means the threat isn't back home, it's already here." she looked at Kaeytlyn. "I assume you can get out of those." she motioned towards the chains around Kaeytlyn's wrists.
"Please, I've been getting out of full body locks since I was eight."
"Good, we need to leave now."
* * * * * *
Grimmel rolled his eyes and tried to tune out the bickering of his two assistants by rubbing his temples to prevent an oncoming headache.
"Are you kidding me?" Ingrid yelled. "Why would you have Xedous? You're not even an elf!"
Oteron huffed."And why would you have a human kingdom? You're not human!"
"But I've lived among humans."
"That doesn't count. Plus, you want Monrides, Kalirie, and Triuq, the three most powerful human kingdoms." He pointed to the specific kingdoms. "If you have Xedous that already gives you four kingdoms."
"And you seven."
Grimmel growled and immediately caught their attention. "Enough! Oh this is so annoying listening to you two bicker like little children. You'll have your spoils in time, but first we must focus on the task at hand."
Ingrid picked up a wooden boat and twisted the limber stern. "After you explain why you have one person in the mortal realm and two over here. While we are here still completing the task, Drago is over there just enjoying an entire realm. I have stood by you since the beginning, and yet you tell me to give half the land to this trivial pond."
"By all means take the mortal realm if you'd like. I don't care who ends up where, as long as I have the Elemental Powers and the Dracones Dragons are dead." Grimmel stood up from the throne and slowly descended down the steps.
"The Dracones Dragons are right now protected by Hiccup Haddock and his Dragon Riders." Ingrid set down the boat and stared at the maps. She knew it wasn't impossible to beat them, but at the moment she didn't see a direct plan. "We could use the hostages somehow."
"True." Grimmel casually agreed, passing the table of maps without a single glance. "But I have something that will kill two birds with one stone."
"And what is that?" Oteron piped up, stepping to the side to see what object Grimmel was pulling out of her vest.
Impressed with his work, Grimmel turned around and displayed a vial of royal purple liquid. "We take one of their own, and use it to destroy Hiccup Haddock and his pitiful gang of dragon enthusiasts."
Ingrid's interest suddenly flared. "And who have you chosen?" a malicious smirk crawled onto her face as she spoke in a tone which could have indicated her impressment.
Grimmel took a second of pure silence to listen in the hallways for any footsteps approaching. "I have sent guards to get her. I believe with her lineage and proper grooming, she'll be the perfect candidate." He let his two assistants ponder on his candidate, as he casually walked back up to the throne and sat down.
His timing couldn't have been more perfect, as the moment he sat down the guards arrived carrying a small seven year old girl. He gave a gentle smile and said, "Hello darling. I'm so glad you came to see me." he patted his lap. "Come over here, we have much to discuss."
* * * * * *
Viggo threw his fists against the bars, completely forgetting but equally not caring as electric bolts shocked his entire body. In the cell across from him, he could hear Treshzar's snide remarks. "If you do that again, I'm almost certain your brain is going to fry."
"And that's supposed to be worse?"
"Yes."
Viggo rolled his eyes and once again started to pace the cramped corners of his cell. It didn't matter that his legs were numb from the continuous hours he had spent wearing down the concrete in his cell, or that his stomach was howling with hunger. It was nothing compared to the feeling of absolute failure and depletion of hope when his uncle and Astrid's mother pulled back their hood, while Oteron Helrost walked out of the carriage to greet them.
How could he have missed it? At first he blamed Treshzar, for the extensive games he was playing during their last days in Monrides, but he wasn't captured. He seemed just as confused as everyone else in the dungeon.
"Right now we need a plan of attack." Eret declared. "It doesn't matter how we got here, only matters how we get out. They already took Zephyr which means our timeline is immediately crunched down to minutes."
"But without knowing how we got here, we can't figure out how to stay out." Viggo grabbed his short hair and tried to figure out all the outrageously difficult puzzle pieces. But so far he hadn't even found the corners.
"But at least we'll be out." Eret implied, taking his finger and drawing across the floor. "Our first step is to get out of here. Even if we are in the presence of guards or the leaders, we will still be out in the open. Teams Alpha and Beta were captured with us, but Team Gamma followed a few hours behind. Since they are the elite force, they should have figured out by now that we are captured. Being out in the open lets Team Gamma figure out a rescue plan."
"You have a very good eye for things." Treshzar complimented. "I like your plan, except for one thing. How do we get out in the open? And if we do, how do we know someone is actually coming for us? They could've also been captured, they also could be working for Grimmel. What happens then?"
"Then we get more information at least. Maybe he's just holding us for ransom."
"Hm, doesn't seem like his style."
"Okay then." Eret tapped his fingers rapidly and tried to come up with another plan. "What if, we request an audience, then jump the guards. Can you fight?"
Treshzar gave him a deadpan. "How many ambassadors do you know that can fight?"
"All." Treshzar gave him a puzzled look, before Eret quickly added, "I only know Viking Ambassadors."
"Oh, well I wouldn't necessarily count those as ... nevermind. In this realm, we do not usually learn how to fight."
"Well I can cover your bit. Once I take them, you get out and try to free the others." he cracked his knuckles.
Treshzar seemed skeptical of this plan. "Are you sure this is going to work?"
"I never ask that question until it's over."
Viggo tunned back into the conversation. "But you really should. Then you'd be more concerned about the consequences."
"What's the worst that could happen? We have more security put on us? If we can't get out in this level of security, it wouldn't make a difference if there's a higher level."
"While I don't agree with your reasoning, attempting to escape, whether successful or not, would signal to our captors that we are desperate and decrease the probability of someone coming to rescue us."
Eret looked across the hall to Viggo. "Is this where you learned to talk all fancy and stuff?"
"Monrides yes. Him no." he rapidly replied, before returning to his stressed muttering.
The two men rolled their eyes. "Has he ever been captured before?" Treshzar muttered.
"Once, and that was by the person who's now his future brother-in-law."
"Oh. And you?"
"Lived in it for a few years, then Viggo released me. Been serving by his side ever since. So actually I guess that would be two times Viggo has been in captivity. But that time he befriended our captor who was growing old, inherited his ships and started a dragon hunting empire."
"He's resourceful, I'll give him that."
"He wasn't the top dragon hunter for no reason." Eret said,slowly leaning down from his crouched position and letting his muscles relax against the wall.
They waited for a while for a guard to come ang return Zephyr, but when it never came, Viggo started to freak out again. "What are they doing to her? They could be torchuring her while we're just sitting here doing nothing."
"And last time I proposed to do anything, you said that was a bad idea."
"Well now I think it's a good idea."
"When's the last time you got any sleep?" Eret questioned, tilting his head and examining the way his friend walked on the other side of the dungeon. Viggo was beginning to falter, slump in his posture, and become extremely jittery.
"I don't need sleep, I need to figure this out."
"Oh Thor." Eret shook his head then shot back up to his feet. He banged his hand against the bars, completely forgetting that it was electrified. As he yelled from the electricity, he shouted, "Guards!" After a few seconds he yelled again. He kept yelling until the dungeon door opened. "Hey! I want to see your master! I've got a few friendly words to say to him."
From the cell's corner, Treshzar lazily opened his eyes. "Are you-"
"Yes, yes, I'm sure. I've fought and defeated every creature-"
"Nikolai?" Viggo's attention shot up as he looked directly across. That statement took Eret back, and he had to take a moment and pause to look at the being in front of him. They were indeed as tall as Nikolai, taller in fact. Same glossy white hair, same colored markings. No, those weren't the same. Eret blinked twice, and noticed a crescent shape moon wasn't perched at the top of their brow. Nor were strings of navy blue crossing their face. This wasn't Nikolai.
"What, never seen a Rogue Moon before?" Treshzar teased. "Nikolai Daengrus isn't the only one you know."
"You wanted to fight?" Once again their expectations were subverted as the elf spoke. Expecting a smooth lullaby voice that could sway anyone into a soft slumber, it startled them to hear a monotone, segmented, voice speak choppy clearly unnatural English.
"We want to be let out."
The elf unlocked the door and swung it wide open. "Win fight, you may leave."
"That's it?" Eret asked. He took the elf's silence as a yes. "Alright then." he jumped up and down a few times and swung his arms around to get the blood flowing. When he was ready, he stepped out of the cell.
The elf gave him a blank stare with his striking violet eyes. They both stood in front of each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move. Eret wisely took the time to consider his options and remember everything he had ever learned from Nikolai.
Quick on your feet. Don't forget above. Watch your legs.
Eret lunged forward but immediately dropped to the floor and rolled underneath the elf flipped over. He jumped up and tried to catch the elf's hand as they tried to reach for their weapon. He caught one, but ducked after seeing the familiar silver glint. A circular blade sliced over his head as he ducked, letting go of the other hand. He sliced his hand into the elf's back and swept his leg underneath.
The elf's feet slipped but he caught himself by rolling over and jumping off of the wall. While performing his complicated flip, despite the cramped space, Eret spotted a row of brooms. He grabbed one right as the elf threw a knife. It ricocheted off the wall but Eret caught it by the edge of the broomstiick's handle as it spun before the collapse.
Eret started to run back towards the elf, ready to attack first, but his body was slammed against the wall. The other circular knife was centimeters from his throat, with only the broom's limber handle in the way. Already he could feel the wood strands starting to bend into a snap. He tried to adjust his grip on the handle, but was too scared to lose the small amount that he already had. He pressed harder against the broom, staring straight into the violet eye's reflection as the handle snapped in half and he threw the broom side into the elf's head and the other into its abdomen.
The elf's head was stained blue as he fell to the ground. Eret dropped on top of his and started throwing his fists. He punched the throat, the head, the nose. Any adrenaline he had left, he threw into the punches.
Someone knocked him to the side, and it caught him off guard. He threw a side punch into a jaw and scrambled to his feet. His eyes immediately scanned the floor for a weapon to defend himself with, but Treshzar's waving hand made him snap.
"We need to go!" he shouted and pointed towards the ceiling.
Dust was falling through the cracks racing across the stone while it fell in shingles. The walls of the prison were starting to shake and bursts of falling stones from above would occasionally erupt. Released guards were hurrying around the cells trying to open them in time. Two cells at the other end had already collapsed. "What happened?"
"We don't know, but we need to go if we want to stay alive!" Treshzar shoved Eret towards the front door, not daring to be the one to go first. Eret picked up the elf's circular knives and held them at the ready. He kicked the door open and waited a second. Once he determined the hallway was empty, he hurried out of the dungeon and ran straight into another elf.
His first instinct was to swing the knives, but the elf immediately collapsed to her knees and held up her hands. "Yield, yield! We're on the same side!"
Treshzar and Viggo poked their heads out from the door. "Who is it?" Viggo asked, stepping forward.
The elf looked up, revealing her clothed eyes stained with black. "My name is Kaeytlyn Starzt. I worked with Lady Calisa during the twenty year freeze, and came here with Valka Creseldek."
"Kaeytlyn Starzt?" Viggo recognized the name, in fact he knew the name by heart, and he was sure if the blindfold was removed he could recognize the face as well.
"Catch up later." Treshzar yelled as another couple of cells collapsed. "I can confirm she worked with Lady Calisa, now let's go!"
Treshzar's word was enough proof as they all rushed up the stairs. The pyramid castle shook and some flames would arise from the windows. Many wanted to ask if those were dragon wings they saw, but were too out of breath to do so.
With the massive holes created by the destruction, it was easy to slip out of the gates, where two dragons were waiting. Valka offered her hand to help the guards climbing onto Cloudjumper and Eret quickly took his place at the head of Skullcrusher.
"Good to see yah lad." he said while patting the dragon's head.
"Do we have everybody?" Valka yelled out, trying to pick out the important faces in the crowd. "Where are Zephyr and Iren?"
"I'm right here!" Iren raised his hand and while being held by several guards and Viggo, stood up on Cloudjumper's back.
Viggo could've sworn a heartstring snapped as he realized Zephyr wasn't on the dragon. "She was taken by the guards to see my uncle. She never returned."
Valka's mouth tightened. "Kaeyltyn, take them to the Dracones Valley. Tell the others what has happened and the plan from then out. I'm going to get my granddaughter."
Kaeytlyn's skin suddenly became very pale. "Wait, but I can't-" Cloudjumper suddenly started to dive as her voice became very high pitched. "FLY A DRAGON!"
* * * * * *
The valley stretched so far past the horizon, Bemila Trojas had a hard time believing there was more land on the other side. A light fog rested just along the top of it, like there was a sheet of glass preventing the fog from falling any further.
It wasn't anything like she had expected, but what was the expectations of an inexperienced sixteen year old girl standing next to the reality of an ancient valley that was the foundation for so many forbidden tales her nurse would whisper by the candlelight.
"How are we to get down my lord?" she shivered slightly as a breeze nagged at her thin layers. She started to regret not wearing thicker clothing, but that would have disrupted her flying.
"There are two ways, but I don't know if the other still exists." Nel Wod peered over the canyon. The years had not been good to him. For Bemila it was easy to notice all the years of war and oppression crease the wrinkles in his face, but even for someone just meeting him, it would be easy to notice all of that. His nose was almost inline with his pointed jaw, so much so that when she was little, she would imagine pressing a board against his face to see if it would hurt. "When the Rogue Moons needed to cross over the valley, they would send two people to climb down a steep staircase and walk across on foot holding one edge of a bridge. They'd climb back up here," he pointed his finger along their side of the valley. "And tie the bridge so the others could cross."
"Why would it not still be here?" she asked curiously. "Don't they still need supplies?"
"Not necessarily. It's not comfortable, but Rogue Moons have thick skin. I haven't heard of a Rogue Moon crossing the valley since twenty some years ago."
She nodded, eager to absorb every piece of information she could. She was four years short of being alive when Nikolai Daengrus left Moonlire, and the Elven Tribes fell into chaos. And five years short of being old enough to actually rule, at least by elven traditions. But when her brother died last month, she was required to take the throne. Then she started to understand why he was always biting his lip and tightly clenching his fists underneath tables. How he could manage to have hours of content to rant about in the evenings. She used to grow tired of hearing the same things over and over about their captors, as he would call them, but now with an entire country's fate in her hands, she was finally beginning to understand it all.
"So how do you plan on getting down there?" she asked, daring to lean far over the edge, knowing her wings would catch her if she slipped.
"The best option would be to fly." Nel said, but before making a final decision looked over at the row of trees that outlined the forest. "Unless Kymil has something to say about it."
Bemila leaned back to see in the treeline, but she couldn't even make out the shadow of the other elf with them. She had left the castle with Nel, and she could sometimes feel the presence of the other elf, but had never seen his face. It was still unclear to her, if Nel was just talking to the trees or if there was actually someone there. "He doesn't like to talk much." she commented.
"He's shy." Nel teased, and quickly looked behind his back. "We'd best go now.
She nodded and looked back at the canyon. "It's just another jump." she tried to tell herself. Her nerves were running everywhere and filling every part of her body with anxiety. Something about dropping into the Dracones Valley made it all that more daunting.
"How about we count?" he offered.
"Yes." she breathed out, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
"One. Two." he paused. "Three."
Bemila counted to five before her legs actually jumped and by mental reflex her wings popped out to catch her.
The wind started to pick up. It was moving so fast that her thick braid didn't have time to flap on her back. Everything was just perfectly still as they flew down to the bottom of the valley. They kept going, and going, and going. Was Nel going to tell her when to stop? How was she supposed to know when the floor was coming. She couldn't see anything through the heavy fog, only that the light was rapidly decreasing as the cold was piercing her skin.
Her eyes were watering and she kept wiping away with her numb hand, which was covered in black petal outlines. It was nearly impossible to know her hand front to back, there were so many delicate intricacies that even after sixteen years of boring lectures, she could still find some new details. But during the descent, she didn't dare stare at it for too long in case the valley floor snuck up on them.
Finally she heard Nel's shout to pull up, and she tilted her wings upwards and shot into a huge backwards circle. When she landed on the ground, her adrenaline was nearly popping out of her veins and her stomach flew with a thousand butterflies. "That was amazing!" she jumped excitedly.
"Yeah." he shrugged. "Once you get over the-" he heaved a deep breath while resting on his knees. "Blind entry at fifty thousand feet below the earth."
"I think you're getting old."
"Can't live forever." he agreed. "Now, the real question is where do we find them?"
"Maybe they're camped down at the bottom somewhere?" Bemila looked around but all she could see were faint fires about a mile up.
Nel looked around as well. "No. It's too cold down here. My guess is they are up near the fires."
"Then let's find out." she jumped up into the air, but the moment she did a large pair of wings cut through her wind and forced her to fall to the ground. Another pair flew by closely after. "What are those?" she whispered. The two creatures carefully placed their package on the ground, then flew to the side. "Are those...Dracones Dragons?"
"Approach carefully." Nel reminded her. "They may be Dracones Dragons, but we don't know if they are friendly."
She nodded and step-by-step walked closer to the creatures. As their bodies became more defined through the smoke it was clear they were dragons. Their snouts had smoke steaming from their nostrils with a hint of fire red barely showing. Their claws dug into the ground to hold steady their heavy bodies, weighed down by their magnificent wings.
As she got closer, Bemila looked at the package they had been carrying. It was small, lumpy, and almost about the size of herself. Could it be a person? She wondered. She took a moment to pause and watch what the dragons would do next. But when they remained still, she carefully continued walking towards the package till she could see the fuzz of the cotton material.
A dim light started to shine over the package, and it was enough to show the facial indents on the fabric. But she didn't have time to ponder as Nel pulled her away from the dozen flaming arrows flying towards her.
Words: 6171
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Happy New Year guys! Hope 2021 will bring you guys good luck! Sorry for the later updates, now that TITLT is nearing towards the end of it's first book, I've started working a lot more on my first original novel Hoax. I'm looking to post the first part soon after the completion of this book. If you're a writer you understand this, but the ideas for my novel just keep coming and I don't want to lose them! That's the reason it's taken a long time for me to update these chapters during the scheduled times.
Thank you for your understanding though and I hope you've been enjoying the book so far.
Anyone ready for the sequel?
Best Luck! Cassiopeia
Bemila Trojas btw :)