I waited for Nuri and Drax on the day we chose to head off lying by my lake, but this time, I wasn't looking at my reflection. Instead, I was focused on the spot on my right arm where a patch of scales was missing, revealing the skin underneath, and where a scar had formed from a past injury... It happened a long time ago, and even though I tend to think about it a lot, it's not a subject I really like to talk about. I didn't have to wait for very long, luckily. I saw their shadow before I even looked up, when I did, they were just going in a circle waiting for me to join them. I grabbed the bag I had bought the other day and stuffed it with some basic things I thought I might need and flew up to meet them.
"Ready to go?" Nuri asked once I reached them, She had a bag slung around her neck and Drax had one strapped to his waist. He had an annoyingly large grin and I was annoyed at myself that his enthusiasm had made me excited as well. "I think so... With the three of us, we probably over-packed, but then again, can't hurt to be overly prepared, right?" I answered, placing the bag around my neck so I didn't have to carry it the entire time we traveled. "Right! Well, as long as one doesn't get weighed down by the extra equipment," Drax said, very quickly making me worry that we did have too much. "Can we get going before Jewel decides to spend an hour double, and then triple-checking her stuff?" Nuri said, smiling in my direction, knowing EXACTLY what I was thinking of doing.
As we flew over the village towards the border with the Kingdom of Drake's colony, I had a strange feeling deep down inside my mind... The only word I can think of, even now, to describe it is bliss. The feeling quickly went away when we neared the closest village inside the colony's borders as it was walled off with large wooden spikes, and armed guards absolutely everywhere, to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I never trusted the soldiers who guarded the colony's villages. "We should land, they won't like it if we just fly over the walls," Drax said, pointing towards the nearest gate that led inside.
"Why would they care? The walls weren't built to stop dragons anyways," Nuri said, she was always confused by the customs of 'modern' kingdoms. "So that they can monitor who comes and goes, to prevent smuggling and what-not," Drax replied as we landed just outside of the walls. "HALT!" A guard yelled as he flew down to meet us, it was pretty hard to tell what he looked like with the amount of armor he wore, only that his scales were pretty dark in color and his eye was a dull brown color. "What business does tribal Drakens and a Driken have here?" He demanded, standing in front of us.
Drax calmly came forward and stood on his hind legs so his wings were free to reach into his bag to pull out a little plastic card. He would later explain to us that it was his ID card, which he showed the guard. "My friends and I are just passing through, here is my information, sir," he said as the guard took the card from him to examine it. He kept looking back and forth between the card and Drax. I had started to worry he wouldn't let us through to the village. "Everything seems to be in order... You can pass," the guard said as he handed Drax his card.
I allowed my wings to relax because apparently, I get EXTRA nervous around dragons with armor and probably super sharp claws. "C'mon, we'll need to find a way to travel to the kingdom's mainland," Drax said as he took the lead. "That'll be easy," Nuri replied as she flexed her wings. "Can't be that far, right?" Drax just shook his head and sighed. "Our world is bigger than you think, the Kingdom of Drakes is several days away by flight, most dragons can't make the journey without a boat or places to rest. We definitely wouldn't make the flight on our own," I replied, in part to ensure that Nuri wouldn't try to go on a suicide flight. "Oh," She responded.
This village was far more organized than the one near my home, it helps when you get funding and access to contractors from a giant country, of course. Each building was made out of a mixture of stone walls, wooden pillars, and tile roofs, each of different shapes and sizes. The bigger buildings are closer to the center of town, probably meant for officials and the more permanent residents. Just surrounding those buildings were the shops, some built the same as the rest of the town, permanent locations to buy goods. Others are much like the market in my own town, built quickly, and can be easily torn down in order to move to another village.
"So, what are we looking for, exactly?" Nuri asked as we walked along the side of the main road, built for the humans, and thus, rude for dragons to walk directly on. "A sailor, preferably one of the cheaper ones, who tend to be closer to the coast, so for now, we're just passing through until we reach the docks," Drax answered as he looked side to side, seemingly keeping an eye out for trouble. As we got closer to the market sector or the town, I could feel little pinpricks all around my scales, as if I was being watched... Probably just my imagination... calm down... calm down, I thought to myself as my eyes darted from a shopkeeper to a client, then a guard, and then to another shopkeeper.
"What in the world are you two worried about? Just look at yourselves looking around like we're about to be jumped!" Nuri finally said after what felt like an eternity. "I'm not entirely sure... I just don't feel comfortable," I replied. "These towns can be dangerous in their own right, at least towards those they see as outsiders... Like you two, con artists tend to be pretty common around here," Drax answered, still keeping his eyes peeled for possible dangers.
After spending most of the day at the docks visiting merchants and independent shipping companies we found ourselves outside the last open office waiting while Drax spoke to whoever worked there about getting on their last boat. When he did finally come out, it was obvious it wasn't going to work out. "Well, the price is about right... IF we wanted to visit the exact wrong side of the empire," Drax said with a sigh. He must have seen the disappointment on my face. "Look," he sighed, "why don't we find someplace to get something to eat, and rest at one of the inns and search again in the morning?" I'm pretty sure he could tell Nuri and I was getting tired from the day of traveling.
We didn't go anywhere fancy, some cheap restaurant with cheap food. Everything was undercooked or overcooked... You'd think a map maker would make more money, but I guess not. "Look, I know things are not going the way you hoped, Jewel, but you are asking to be taken across the sea to another landmass. It's not cheap, let alone easy. If it was me, my goal wouldn't be to go on this huge hunt that might not give you the answers you'd like..." Drax said between bites of his fish stew. "If I was in both of your places, I'd seek to get into the foster system in the empire, you're both still kids after all!" He finished while I sat in silence.
"That's a load of crap and you know it!" Nuri jumped in with passion. "You know as well as us how important this all is, regardless of what you think we might find, Jewel's been researching this far longer than you have!" We sat and finished our food, Drax chose to leave only a small tip for the servers due to the poor quality food and next to no service provided other than taking our order.
Drax led us through the village to a rustic two-story tall inn called "Gets Away" with double doors on the right side and a sign above saying "ENTER." 'Looks... lovely,' I thought to myself, not confident in its construction. Once inside, it was pretty obvious how it was laid out, the main room on the first floor was a bar, with the back rooms probably used for the staff. With a staircase in each corner of the building, I assumed the second story was where the resting quarters' were. "Two rooms please," Drax said after reaching the check-in desk, I hadn't even realized we walked so far into the building by the time he paid for our rooms.
Once Drax led us to our room I realized that he intentionally got Nuri and I a room to share. I tilted my head at him and he only smiled back. "Try and get some rest, plenty of long days ahead of us yet," he said before heading off to his room. "C'mon, let's go settle in for the night," Nuri said as she opened the oak door. The room wasn't big, but it didn't need to be. There was a bed with a dresser next to it and a desk with a mirror across the room. We didn't have much need to unpack, so we just sat our bags down on the desk and inspected the bed for any unwelcomed surprises.
Thankfully, the bed wasn't much different from my sleeping arrangement back home, so getting comfortable didn't take too long. Once I was under the sheets, I worked on getting my muscles relaxed, closed my eyes, and did my best to focus my mind on one thing - shutting up and going to sleep. I let out a contempt sigh as I could feel myself slip into sleep, always felt nice after a stressful day.
Waking up, Nuri was already off the bed stretching her wings and legs, yawning out a lazy "mornin'." I chose not to join her but instead lay in bed for a few minutes longer and just watch. "We should go find Drax and get breakfast before we leave. I bet this place has better food than that dump we went to yesterday," Nuri said while putting her pack back on. I was the first out into the hallway and felt an unnerving chill like something wasn't quite right.
We knocked on Drax's door. No answer. We waited a few minutes, knocked again... No answer. My mind began to panic as it came up with a million possibilities, most unrealistic, but still terrifying. Nuri was visibly confused but knew to stay calm even when she gets worried. "Maybe he's already downstairs waiting for us," she suggested. While she guided me down the hall, everything started to blur together as my mind raced with fear. Drax was the stable one, the predictable one. He wouldn't have just left without telling us first. Right?
Now downstairs Nuri frowned, unable to see the young wyvern, making my stomach churn with anxiety. When she's visibly upset, then you know something's off. "C'mon," she said to me as she guided me with her wing outside. 'What if he's hurt? Or gotten kidnapped in the night? Well, he's twelve, so KIDnapping probably isn't the right wor- what if he was MUGGED, o-or maybe that guard we passed just HATED him and killed him for no reason!' I thought in a panic, completely unaware of my surroundings or where I was. "Hey, you're alright, you're good," I heard Drax say with a jolt. As my senses came back to me I realized he was standing practically on top of me while Nuri was holding me tight with her wing, wrapping her tail with mine. My thoughts slowed and the panic subsided as I sighed heavily, staring at the stupid wyvern who left us.
"I'm sorry Jewel, I really am. I didn't think you two would wake up so early," He said with wings drooped low, heavy with guilt knowing how my mind tends to freak out. "I had been trying to find us a boat, and struck gold!" he said, letting his wings lift back up. "...Really?" I said with a soft voice, "Yes! I had been speaking to a merchant who was staying here, of all places. He said he would have plenty of spare room, and food, for us," His voice was full of energy, excited to have us meet this merchant. I wasn't as enthusiastic about meeting new people... "Do we really need to meet them? I was hoping you'd do all the talking and I'd just sit in the back," I asked nervous. Deep down, I knew I would have to talk to strangers eventually, didn't mean I'd like it.
"I wonder how big the ship will be," Nuri said looking to the sky in thought. "I wonder if it's safe," I replied. 'Will I get seasick? Or will Nuri? Will something bad happen and make the boat sink?' I think in fear. It wasn't a long walk to the docks from the inn, but it sure felt like it took forever. Thankfully the streets were mostly empty given it was still early in the day. Drax led us around what felt like a maze of small buildings before stopping at one with an old-school sailboat docked not far from it. The boat looks like it was pulled straight from a pirate book! "Please tell me that's not OUR boat..." I asked nervously. "Not sure, he just said to meet them here," Drax replied before knocking on the wooden door.
'Great,' is all I manage to think before the door swings open, with a dark green dragon standing just beyond the light of the sun. "Eh? What ya want wyvern boy?" He asked with a thick accent, the strangeness making my scales itch. "Ahm, yes, I believe your captain is expecting us?" Drax replied, making sure to stand straight to seem important, but in reality, it was probably just to make himself look bigger. "Hmm. Follow," He said, gesturing us inside before turning and going deeper into the poorly lit building.
It wasn't very big, it looked to have just a few rooms, with a door on the left and one along the back. I guessed the left was a restroom, and the other was probably an office or something. The first room we went into was open and clearly just a waiting room, which makes sense, really. I was quiet the entire time, taking slow, deep breaths, just to stay calm. Nuri stayed by my side the entire time, being just as quiet, which didn't help AT ALL. "Wait here," the green dragon said before disappearing behind the office door. We stood there awkwardly for a minute before realizing they had seats along the walls, Nuri made sure she was sitting right next to me the entire time.
Although it was just a few minutes, it felt like hours as we waited, but as the door opened, a gray colored dragon walked out followed by that green one. He seemed grumpy other than his smile. As he greeted us, he let out a grin, showing off a golden fang, as he did, the age in his eyes seemed to fade. I swear he must be in his late fifties, but when he smiled, he looked 30 years younger. It made relaxing easier. "G'day my friends! Or, as my people say 'Koo Sa,' I am KyTen of the Ky clan, captain of the merchant ship Regal Wing," He said with passion while the dragon behind him just rolled his eyes. "This fine draken behind me is Hassen, a fine comrade that you'll come to love!" He said.
"Wait... You're a Ky? As in, like, ser KyRon...?" Nuri asked, tilting her head in curiosity. "Indeed, that fine young man and I are related, never met em myself though, was at sea while he traveled the land," KyTen replied, nodding his head. "Come, I'll introduce you to the rest of my crew, I know you'll love 'em!" He said, nodding to the door before taking the lead. Drax first looked to us, then followed the two, myself still clinging to Nuri.
My eyes already adjusted to the dark lighting of the building, so the bright sun was pretty blinding at first. As we got closer to KyTen's ship, I could hear voices as other people worked and got everything ready to go out to sea. My nerves began to ache at the idea of meeting even more new people... "Come aboard! We don't bite!" KyTen said with his toothy grin. "Speak for yourself, Captain," a female voice said from aboard the ship. "Ah yes, the bird," Hassan said as a feathered head poked into view.
"Is that... THAT'S A GRIFFIN!" I shouted seeing the beaked creature, my worry replaced with excitement as I stared at her slightly purple feathers atop her head. "Joyful one, isn't she?" The avian commented, eyeing KyTen. "I'm Stella, a pleasure to meet you, please, do come aboard," She said. As I walked up the ramp, I was able to get a good look at the feathers on her wings, a beautiful shade of purple that faded to orange near the top, Her tail, like most of her kind, was long with flight feathers at the end. Those went from orange to purple near the end.
"There's still some work to be done, mostly getting our cargo secure, but it shouldn't take long," KyTen said as Hassan walked down a set of stairs to below the deck. "Feel free to explore and meet the rest of the crew," He finished. "C'mon, I'll show you around," Stella said, gesturing us to follow. After I calmed down, my worry came back as I felt the ship rock back and forth on the water, but Stella and Nuri helped keep me calm, for the most part.