Author's Note: italics paired with "" represent communication via thought that aren't Nokkland's own. His are indicated with italics only and first-person. I've tried to make the separation clear but it's not easy. Also, this is a rewrite. I hated the first version so bear with me and I hope you enjoy this one too!
A hand of air closed around Nokkland as Embade pushed off the ground, its palm pinning him to the scales of her back, their shapes etching themselves into his cheek. Wind, in turns, roared and whistled in his ears with every beat of her wings. Air flowed by at such a pace that it created a film over Nokkland's eyes, blurring his vision.
Embade angled herself sharply upwards, snout to the sky. Nokkland felt himself begin to slide backwards, gradually at first, then ever faster. He tried to clutch at her scales, scrabbling for a hold on their smooth surfaces. He hissed as one of the edges cut his palm. Yet nothing seemed to slow his descent.
To his left, Nokkland thought he saw the outline of one of the bone spines which marched down Embade's back. Desperately, he lunged for it. The wind buffeted him sideways, his fingers barely brushing the spine before suddenly closing around it. Simultaneously, the force of the air which had been crushing him lessened. He found himself breathing again, the muscles in his shoulders loosening as relief flooded through him.
Looking around, Nokkland discovered that Embade had leveled out her trajectory. By now, they were in the clouds, the earth below long ago dissolved in a curling grey haze. Huge mounds, columns, and fantastical shapes of varying shades of grey floated around them. They swirled as if in a current when Embade's wings tore through them, separating, and then reconstructing themselves into new forms. Here, one resembling a castle and there, one which took the shape of stag's antlers.
Where are we going? He wondered, the clouds obliterating his sense of direction.
A picture floated into his mind, the clouds around him giving way to an unfamiliar mountain scene. A lush forest of a multitude of green tints, more than Nokkland had ever seen even in paintings, lapped at the sheer cliffs that rose to form the peak.
The view moved upwards, approaching a large cavern. A thin lip of rock extended from it over a gorge. The walls on either side seemed lumpy. As the perspective of the picture focused in, Nokkland managed to distinguish carvings crawling up the mountainsides around the cave. Before he could figure out what they depicted, he seemed to be swept inside for the scene shifted past the yawning mouth of rock into a void.
Looking around him, Nokkland found himself floating in midair. Far beneath him extended a bubbling underground lake. Steam rolled upwards towards him in great billows which curled into each of the twelve chambers which opened before him off of the void.
Movement caught his eye. Nokkland tried to turn but found he could not. A slither echoed from somewhere behind him, the sound of something snaking its way over gravel. Then, the entire scene vanished.
Light flooded his eyes. Disoriented, he hadn't realized that he had been in the dark. Around him, the shapes of clouds slowly came into focus, though now shafts of sunlight played with the puffs. They sent shadows scattering just to regroup in valleys between the cotton-like hills.
"That is where we are headed," the dragon's voice broke into his consciousness. "It is a mountain near Reil, in Laenthal, the realm of the elves."
How could you show me that? Nokkland wondered, hoping the thought would transmit.
"The principle is the same as with thoughts. Simply think of the other's name first then concentrate on either words or, in this case, a scene," Embade explained gently, "However, it is much easier said than done. Transmitting is easy. Shielding is harder. As of right now, I can hear all your thoughts. It is rather distracting..."
My apologies. Nokkland thought sheepishly, hoping he hadn't thought anything too impolitic. How do I go about shielding my thoughts?
"Everyone is different. For me, I concentrate on visualizing a wall in my head. What I want transmitted, I picture on the outside. What I wish to keep to myself, I imagine being on the inside. Would you like to try?" Embade inquired.
Could I try sending you an image first? I find that fascinating! He replied eagerly.
"Be my guest, but don't show me anything too personal or embarrassing please."
Nokkland thought of what he'd like to show Embade. His family? A picture of his father and Rothgar gathered around the hearth, hands extended over the flames for warmth, flashed in his mind. His breath hitched and he forced himself to think of something else.
Unbidden, he thought of his pallet on the floor of his family's hut. The rough woven cloth envelope filled with dried saxifrage stood out clearly in his mind, beckoning him.
"If you are tired, little one, rest. I will not let you fall."
Nokkland winced. He hadn't meant to have Embade see that. The patches which he had sewed on sloppily surfaced in his memory. He shook his head, too weary to care if Embade saw them or not.
Until he had thought of his bed, he had been too caught up in the changes which kept happening to his life to feel tired. Now, his eyelids weighed more than they should and kept closing. He forced them open, once, twice...
... and woke up to see clear blue skies stretching out around him. Beneath him, blurred trunks and sleek leaves flashed by accompanied by the occasional mountain top which reared its head out of the sea of fluttering green. Ahead, the sun appeared as a pale golden dot.
Except that the dot was moving! It grew and reshaped itself. Soon, its form seemed familiar. Nokkland gasped. Another dragon was flying towards them, scales and feathers glinting in the sun.
He was thrown off balance as Embade craned her neck backwards, arching it like a swan. The golden dragon mirrored her action. Then, the two brushed snouts.
"It is good to see you again Embade," an unfamiliar voice chimed in Nokkland's mind.
"Indeed," a second, deeper and gravellier voice joined the first, "But where is Shalinara? Why is a HUMAN on your back?!"
He felt a shudder run through Embade at the name and he was jerked backwards as she sharply pulled her neck even further back to break contact with the golden dragon.
"She is with us no more," Embade replied, the thought barely a whisper, "and the human is my rider, Cavi."
I don't belong here, thought Nokkland, And why are there two new voices? I only see the dragon.
"You're right," the first voice snapped, "You don't belong here. But we have no choice but to accept you. Embade, when you are ready, you will need to tell us what happened."
Us? Who is the second?
And then as Embade nodded, he saw who the first voice belonged to. The smallest shift of position revealed a rider lying flat along the golden dragon's back. The elf wore a golden suit of the same shade as his dragon and where his skin should have been, a rough bumpy hide stretched, camouflaging the rider.
"Can you give me a few days to process before I recount what transpired?" Embade requested.
The elf shifted position, his tail unwrapping from around one of the golden dragon's bone spines. He swung his legs so that he sat sideways, facing Embade, bare toes brushing the feathers which coated his dragon's chest and wings. He stretched out a hand and caressed Embade's cheek, wiping a tear from her eye.
"Take all the time you need."
"Thank you, Cavi," Embade replied, "for understanding."
"That is what our community is for," the gravely voice chimed in.
"Thank you Yiran, I appreciate your support. Both now, and when I decided to show Shalinara her homeland," Embade said, turning her head towards the golden dragon.
"Come, let us go home together," Cavi offered, swinging himself back around, "And I suppose you must bring the human too..."
Wow, so complimentary aren't we? Nokkland thought as the group turned and began to descend through the clouds.
"We have reason to be," Cavi retorted, "Do not speak of what you know nothing about, human."
Nokkland made a face but resisted thinking anything. He didn't want to risk it being accidentally transferred, not only to Embade, but to Cavi and Yiran as well. He focused instead on how the clouds reminded him of cream as they rolled by, coating him in dampness.
Meanwhile, he heard Yiran remark to Embade about really needing to train him to shield his thoughts. He winced, hunching his shoulders forward. He stomach gurgled. So, much for thinking of cream...
"There is food at Aernan," Embade chuckled, "And we are nearly there. See, if you look to your left, you can see the peak."
Nokkland turned his head, screwing up his eyes against the wind as Embade banked and then veered towards a grey speck on the horizon. The peak glowed pinkish in the evening sun, winking at Nokkland.
"Race you!" Yiran challenged, nudging Embade with his snout.
Nokkland held on for dear life as Embade shot forward. The roar of the wind was deafening as she plunged towards Aernan. He felt himself floating, his only anchor the bone-spine. The clouds thinned into a mist, which, in turn, cleared to reveal the forest he'd seen in Embade's memory earlier.
The cavern entrance loomed ahead, growing larger by the second. The next he knew, Nokkland found himself colliding with the rock lip as he was knocked off Embade. He rolled, stopping right before the void began, breathless, limbs protesting.
Vaguely he heard:
"It was a tie!"
"No, I got in first by a second. Then, you careened into me and dislodged Nokkland."
"A second does not count."
"Indeed it does! And I was flying with a novice so it counts double."
For all that they were mystical creatures, and presumably much older than him, Yiran and Embade were reminding Nokkland very much of himself and Rothgar.
He groaned, sitting up slowly, one arm slipping into nothingness as he did so. Blood rushed to his head and he lay back down, but rolled to his right to be further away from the edge.
"Are you alright, little one?" Embade inquired, using a claw to pick Nokkland up by the back of his tunic and setting him up on his feet.
Yes, but no thanks to your competition. And I can get up on my own, thank you! He protested.
"Oh you can?" Cavi asked sarcastically, "Didn't look like it to me."
Could you mind your own business?
"Oi! Respect your seniors and elders. And I could except that your chaotic thoughts, which you are projecting everywhere, are a tad bit distracting," Cavi retorted, tipping his head on one side.
He slid gracefully off Yiran and then changed color, vanishing except for the golden tunic as his skin darkened to the same color as the cavern walls. Nokkland gaped.
"His bond is a chameleon," Embade explained, "You get used to not seeing him."
Nokkland simply nodded, dazed.
"Oh, Embade, you can room with me and Shiri again, if you would like," Yiran offered, "Qui'xia still insists on having a cavern to herself since she claims constant fatigue from ferrying the eggs around."
Eggs? Ferrying? Bother, it's just too much new information. Nokkland shrugged.
"You'll understand soon enough, little one. And yes, Yiran, I would like that," Embade replied.
What about me? Nokkland wondered.
"The human can room with the other new rider, the one who bonded with Parlaek, egg number one-fourteen. They'll be a good fit for each other," Cavi proposed, a definite sneerish tone to the thought, "It's the third cavern to the left of center. You can show him."
"This way, honey," Embade directed, picking Nokkland up in one paw.
She beat her wings once and glided across the void, the smell of iron stinging Nokkland's nostrils from the steam rising off the lake beneath. She then deposited him just inside the cavern and flew off without a word.
A warm light flickered indistinctly in the distance hinting at a fire. The light danced and reflected off of shiny particles in the rock walls and stalactites and stalagmites.
"Hello?" Nokkland called, using his voice for the first time since that morning.
"Coming," a light male voice replied in the distance.
It was followed by a slow scuffling which grew louder as out of the gloom a silhouette emerged. An elf with huge golden-brown wings, bronze skin, and long black hair stepped into view. A tiny green dragon perched on his shoulder, looking Nokkland up and down.
"A human! What on earth are YOU doing here?" the elf exclaimed, his wings ruffling.
"I am not sure, to be honest. It's a long story but I'm supposed to room with you...?" he trailed off.
"Great," the elf sighed, "Of course they room the outcasts together. Name's Erudeln by the way and you are?"
"Nokkland."
"Pleasure to meet you and if it's any consolation, I have no clue what is going on either but I do where some food is. I can hear your stomach from a mile away," Erudeln laughed, making Nokkland's cheeks flush.
"This way," the elf beckoned, leading Nokkland further into the chamber and what he assumed would be his life from now on.