Elanya Silverwind
Newtale
February, 1703 AR
"They're causing quite the ruckus, aren't they?" I say to the crow beside me, "Good-for-nothing dragon knights. A boy found my sleeping place because he was trying to clean out the stables so they looked presentable. Not like they're going to be coming in on ripping horses, anyway."
"I'm sorry," says the crow, "But what have I got to do with this?"
"I needed someone to talk to," I respond, tossing more seed from my pockets at his feet.
"Thank you...Why are you on the roof?" he caws.
"I'm watching them."
The dragon knights have just summoned their armor, and though I can appreciate it for what it is, it does not impress me. It looks too much like human armor, even if it isn't. I prefer oak-skin and leather. Much prettier.
The dragon knights dismount from their dragons and walk into Amber Inn, leaving their scaled friends to fly freely. The smallest and darkest one takes off quickly, but after he sees his master go inside, he glides slowly to the forest near the entrance to the city. Overcome by an impulse to pet him, I leave the crow confused and leap to the roof of the other building nearby. Nimbly, I slip down the side of a small cottage and behind a haystack near the wall where no one can see me but a nearby beetle, who is too concerned with his own familial life to try to alert someone of my presence.
I can see him through a hole in the wall. The dragon rests his head on his paw-like claws, stretching his back legs as he relaxes in a clearing in the woods outside. The gates are opened for a stunned group of merchants, amazed by the sudden appearance of a dragon, and I walk by, willing myself not to be noticed. It works. At least for the guards it does. They wouldn't arrest me for leaving, I just find no pleasure in talking to paranoid humans.
The dragon's eyes open, and he raises his head curiously. When he finds me walking towards it, he bristles a little. I open my hand and magically produce a series of small, phosphorescent spores which float the air and vanish in the wind. The dragon instantly calms, and looks to me.
"I'm Kasai," he says in an eerily smooth and crystal clear voice, "Who are you?"
"Elanya," I saw, enjoying the glint of light from the full moon as it bounces off of Kasai's back, "I'm a druid."
"An elvish druid," he says calmly, "I do like elves."
"Who's the man you came in with?" I ask.
"That's Rael Ironflame."
"Has Rael kidnapped you?"
"What!?" he yelps, his voice suddenly a harsh moan.
"Are you under a spell?"
"Rael is my best friend! He is part of me and he is the only one who will ever understand me!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" I start, feeling the magic of the scene fading."
"A dragon knight would never force a dragon to stay with him. He is not my master, he is my friend," says Kasai before he quickly takes off.
So apparently I can't even talk to dragons, I think to myself, I figured they'd be easier. I guess humans aren't the only fickle ones. Why is everyone so easily offended? It's ripping ridiculous.
I turn to walk back to the city, watching the faint silhouette of the offended Kasai as he soars into the clouds. Unfortunately, the gates have been shut since I left.
"State your business, traveler," says one of the two guards, both in identical leather armor.
Everything freezes as I try to figure out what I should say.
"I'm just here to get into the city?" I ask, shrugging.
"Why?"
"Because...there's a celebration there?"
They look to one another. I can't imagine a girl with twigs in her hair, poorly cut furs and a jagged staff looks very trustworthy. I breathe deeply, clenching my hand into a fist and placing the back of it against my spine.
"I don't..." starts one of the guards, but he suddenly shivers as my hand opens and a pleasant chime sounds through the air, "I suppose that's a good enough reason."
The other guard nods and opens the gate and I pass through.
Gods, I think, You'd think that guards as paranoid as them would at least have magic resistant armor or a talisman. I can't believe Charm Animal even worked on them. I suppose I'm just lucky.
I push myself from the crowd and sit cross-legged under a nearby tree. It calms me exponentially. Having to talk to a person like that made my shoulders tense. An hour of meditation would be good for me. My mind begins to slip away, but just as I begin falling into a trance, my relaxation is broken by a loud thump. My eyes open, blurry and unaccustomed to the light.
It's Kasai. He had landed and has begun walking in my direction with his dragon knight on his back. The crowd of people becomes denser as they move to the sides of the road, making way for the dragon. For a better look, I make my way up the tree behind me. Though I nearly fall due to a headrush, I catch myself and swing through the branches until I find myself at the top where I can see a majority of the rooftops in this small, but sizable city.
Suddenly, there's a loud crack and a window from a nearby building is blasted open, one of them cracking and the other bending its hinge. From my vantage point, I can just barely see inside through the flowing white curtains. A naked half elf with his back turned to me is hunched over, his legs unfortunately spread in a defensive stance. A slightly pink man, seemingly twice his size, runs at him and, to my surprise, the half elf falls from the window. With a slightly girlish scream, he falls, flailing and twisting for the few short moments he's in the air. With a crash, he lands directly onto Kasai, giving me an unpleasant view of...well everything.
"Ugh," I grunt, averting my eyes.
The boy runs off, but the man, apparently called Rael, calls him back and gives him a set of rather expensive looking clothes.
"Ooh, this is good," says a squirrel on the branch next to me, "The barbarian's coming."
Sure enough, the man in boiled leather with pinkish skin comes bursting through the front door, steam threatening to blow from his ears and nostrils. There's a good minute or so after Rael and the half elf dismount of nothing but inaudible talking between them before the man lunges forward with his sword held high. Rael becomes a blur, moving quick as lightning towards him and jabbing his fingers into the man's body several times. You would've missed it if you even dared to blink. The barbarian lies on the ground, either moaning silently, unconscious or dead. Either way, nice job on the dragon knight's part. I look to the squirrel. His little jaw has dropped open.
They get back on Kasai, who both looks annoyed and pleased at the shocked reaction from the crowd. Not wanting to be seen by the dragon, I jump from the tree onto a nearby roof. A couple of shingles fall, but the slant hides me from another painful encounter with him. My ankle burns slightly as I land a bit wrong, but the only thing that really hurts is my dignity. I can feel the squirrel's eyes on me as he judges me for that botched landing.
"Like you're perfect!" I yell up at him.
"What?" he says, turning to me.
"Nevermind."
I follow along the rooftops, watching the strange trio as they make their way back to Amber Inn. As Rael turns his head to talk to the half elf, I see the rest of the dragon knights running from the building. Making them my new target of observation, I make my way over there just in time to hear the end of their conversation.
"Please be civil," says the tallest one, "Sano there is no need for fighting.""THERE WAS NO NEED FOR YOU TO TRY TO KISS ME!" says the girl called Sano, pointing at a very terrified looking boy, "AREN'T YOU A DRAGON KNIGHT!?"
"Yeah, but..." whimpers the boy with a cheek on the verge of turning purple.
"This is not some romantic getaway where you can just grope me because you're feeling lonely! We're supposed to be finding our place in the world! You. Are. A. Dragon knight! Act like one!" she snaps in a quieter, but much more aggressive tone.
"Yes ma'am," he says submissively.
An awkward, green dragon glides down and half crash-lands beside Sano. She mounts him skillfully and holds onto the saddle tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"I'm going to the Capital," she grunts, matter-of-factly, "Follow if you will but know, Martin, I won't hold back next time."
"You were holding back?" Martin chokes, rubbing his bruised cheek sadly as she shoots from the ground.
"We have to follow her..." says the tallest one.
"What about Rael?" asks Martin.
"Rael is a master of tracking. And I'd imagine it's not exactly a mystery where we went," he says, rubbing his temples as his gold dragon and Martin's small red dragon land beside them, "He'll find us."
"Okay..." he says as he climbs up the shoulder of his dragon, "You better be right."
With a colossal gust of wind, the knights take off with their dragons.
"That was interesting," I say to myself.
About five minutes later, Rael and his companions arrive at the Inn, just missing the dramatic scene. Rael glances over at the clean spot on the road where the dust and leaves were blown away by dragon-wind, but he turns his attention back to the Inn as he and the half elf dismount and make their way into inside.
I could apologize, I think, looking at the dragon, He's young but he's still not a human. He might accept my apology now.
After taking awhile to gather myself, I slide down the roof and fall onto the hard grass below. Wincing at my ankle, I stand up and walk towards the dragon with a slight limp.
"You shouldn't be here!" he says to me, "Rael!"
His thoughts are heard by more than just me. The intimidating dragon knight bursts through the door, his draconic eyes narrowing to tight slits.
"Svabol ui xuut, Kasai?" he says before his eyes settle on me, "Get lost."
"You're Rael, right?" I say, trying not to look too awkward or afraid.
"Who's asking?" Rael grunts.
"Creol vaecaesin svaust tiric ti vucot svanoa ekess jilg jacioniv ooble," Kasai cuts in.
Rael narrows his eyes at me, his vertical pupils nearly invisible.
"Wux re throdenilt versvesh loupon jacioniv," he says calmly, in what I'm assuming is Draconic, as the half elf walks out from inside the tavern, "Tir ti xihood, si geou jehli nomeno."
"I like your cat," I say to the half elf, addressing the grey tabby in his bag, "I'm Elanya."
"Come on, Markkason," says Rael, "We should try to find Raine, Martin and Sano."
"Where do we start?" asks the half elf called Markkason, not breaking his curious eye contact with me.
"Maybe with the wind-blown part of the street. Seems to be blown South which means if they took off, they must have gone North."
"I know where they went!" I realize as they mount onto Kasai, "I can help!"
Rael raises his eyebrows at me.
"I'm listening."
"I saw them! Apparently Martin tried to kiss Sano and she punched him!" I start, noticing Rael's short laugh, "They came out from the Inn you just walked out of. They were arguing and their leader...who I guess is Raine, tried to calm them but Sano took off on her dragon anyway. Martin and Raine followed her. That's when you arrived"
"Did she say where she was going?" he asks, Kasai turning his head to me. Their expressions of interest are nearly identical.
"She said she was going to the Capital."
"Damn it," curses Rael, "Raine had all the rations we had left. There's no way we could catch up with them."
"Don't tell me we have to sleep in the street. Shouldn't you have enough coin to buy some rations here?" asks Markkason, resting his cheek against the dragon knight's shoulder blade. Rael shakes him off.
"No...Like I said, we'll just have to find work else-where to pay for the Inn. I could afford common rations here, but they wouldn't work like the rations we brought. Wouldn't last as long."
"Can I come along?" I ask. Judging by their reactions, they seem to have forgotten I was still beside them.
Rael pauses for a second.
"Do you have experience with questing?" he asks me.
"It's all I could do since I left the woods," I say, feeling a pang in my heart upon mentioning the woods, but I move on before it can hurt me, "Amber Inn would be a good place to start."
Rael nods, and the two dismount from the shadowy dragon. To my surprise, Rael beckons for me to follow them as they turn to walk back into the tavern. Kasai looks disappointed as they leave, but quickly glares at me as I enter through the door.
"Looking for work," says Rael, slightly aggressively as he slaps a fist onto the bar.
The bar-keep raises a bushy eyebrow.
"I'm not an employment agency, Dragon Knight," he growls.
I smile and step in front of Rael, addressing the man with a sudden burst of confidence.
"We need money to pay for a room here and we're hoping to find any rumors or errands that might lead us to some coin."
He smiles.
"I think I might have something for you..."