I'm sure y'all can guess who this is. ;)
I was shaken awake from a dreamless sleep by strong hands.
I opened my eyes to see the narrowed violet glare of Nisvārtha Shade as he leaned over me.
"Come with me." He said and walked out, leaving me alone with Sanna sitting awkwardly in his hammock.
I stood up, straightened my leggings and adjusted my tunic, then looked at Sanna. "Will you come?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I can't."
I nodded and walked out of the room.
I caught up to Nisvārtha outside of his room just as his doors opened and he gestured for me to enter.
Rather than dark and terrifying, the room was well lit with candles and torches. In the left corner against the wall, was a bed. At the back wall was a large wooden desk littered with books and maps. The rest of the wall space in the room was taken up by shelves lined with books. In the center of the floor was a single chair.
"Sit." Nisvārtha ordered without looking at me, his face brooding like he was working with a complicated puzzle.
I sat and watched him pace before me. Before I could speak he cut me off.
"You are definitely a dragon," he said in that deep velvet voice. "That much I am sure of. You do not smell like one because obviously you were raised in an environment that masked your scent. But how? And where? Not the human world, you were definitely lying about that."
"I was not!" I was appalled at the way he just assumed everything and dismissed my words like a buzzing fly. The nerve of this guy!
"Did I say you could speak?" He said with his hands steepled under his nose, eyes closed. "No, thank you, please continue your silence. It is difficult to tell your species because of your unusual eyes and the masking of your scent, so you could be from any one of the Clans and I could never tell...hmmm." He opened his violet eyes and studied me for a moment.
Then he put both hands on the arms of my chair, locking me in and getting all up in my face, his scent filled my nose. I could only describe it as moonlight, cool, sweet, and fresh. "Three possible things could lead you to be here. First; you are telling the truth and you were raised in the human world, as a human, and came into this magnificent ability to cross through the Gates, despite their being locked for hundreds of years."
"Yes!—" I started to say but his hand came up and covered my mouth, blasting that symphony in my head.
"The second option is that you are lying about this whole thing, and the third is that you were kicked out of your Clan because of severe amnesia and have this false idea of who you are." His hand left my mouth and he smirked. "I am going to go with lying."
I scowled. "Why assume I'm lying?" I spat, my temper starting to simmer.
He sighed and stood back up. "Because the simplest option is usually the correct one, and the easiest thing a person can do is lie. So!" He clapped his hands together in contemplation. "Why are you lying and what were you doing in the Silver Tower?"
Before I could answer he continued, "Of course! Some issue in your Clan forced you to run away. So obvious but the questions is why and from where? They were petty reasons judging from the state of your dress. You could not have been out there long and so your family probably wants to find you."
"Of course they do!" I shouted in frustration. "That's why I need to get home!"
Nisvārtha laughed, a cruel sound that held little amusement. "Of course! Daddy's girl wanting to go home as soon as it gets too hard," he taunted me. "I will be glad to get you home, but..." His violet eyes sparkled. "Where is home?"
I bit down on my tongue hard, the answer I had was one he'd already heard and it would do me no good to repeat what he didn't want to hear.
He'd caught me, and he knew it.
Blood filled my mouth with the sharp taste of salt and copper as I stared down this asshole of a leader who easily accused me of lying. Then the room grew cold, ice spread out from under my feet and frosted the whole room.
Nisvārtha grinned. "Nīrina Clan it is."
* * * *
Nisvārtha led me out of his room where the Sanna, Suruli, Havala, and Śarat waited.
"Good news!" he said sarcastically. "She is a serpent who is a long way from home. And we are going to return her."
"We?" Havala said in shock. "Nisvārtha you can't be serious!"
"Of course I am serious!" He said with a scowl. "You will leave her for dead, and those three like her and will probably beg me to keep her."
Suruli looked guilty while Śarat made a face at Nisvārtha. Sanna kept his face blank.
"So I have to go with you all, I need you Havala because you know the City of Rivers better than anyone here. Suruli is our Doctor. And I need you two to carry people and supplies."
"How are you getting there, Nisvārtha?" Sanna asked glancing at me.
He rolled his eyes. "I will fly of course."
Everyone looked nervous and shocked at these words, and kept giving me those glances.
I remembered how quiet everyone had gotten around the subject of Nisvārtha. Did they know what he was? They must know, or else they wouldn't be looking at me like that. Was it a secret? What the hell is Nisvārtha Shade?
"Everyone pack a bag of clothes and hash out who is carrying supplies and who is carrying Kendra and Havala." Nisvārtha ordered.
"I will carry, Kendra." Sanna said.
Nisvārtha nodded. "Okay, eat, get supplies, and meet at the Temple in one hour." And with a glance at me he turned back into his room and shut the doors.
"I can't believe this!" Havala groaned in frustration as she went to her room to pack.
Śarat groaned, "Ugh! Why do I have to carry the serpent?"
Suruli rolled her eyes, "Because Benki gave you strength."
The green eyed woman huffed, "Benki and Kidi combined don't have the strength to deal with that woman's attitude."
"I heard that, Stone!" Havala called from her room.
"You were meant to!" Śarat called back, and looked at me. "Hey, Kendra, sleep well last night?" she grinned as she ducked in her room.
I felt my cheeks heat, causing Sanna to laugh.
"Relax, she knows what happened." He said, leading me to his room and tossing me a backpack made of cloth and leather. "Almost killed me this morning when you were gone and I told her where you were." He tossed me a pair of leather pants and two blankets to put into the bag then helped me pack it in. "She calmed down once I told her what happened."
I swallowed and felt my cheeks burning again. "Why is Havala so upset?"
Sanna sighed and led me out of the room. "I can't tell you that."
We walked out of the Head house and toward the Mess Hall. "Why not?"
"Not my story to tell." He said with a smirk. "You want to know what happened to her? You have to ask her."
I sighed. "You don't really think I'm a serpent do you?" His yellow cat eyes met mine. "Nisvārtha he just...." I bit my lip and ran a hand through my hair. "Ugh! He's just so infuriating! He rambled and talked to himself until he had come to three conclusions, truth, lies, or amnesia! And he just decided that I'm lying and some spoiled brat and then the room froze over and he's like bam! Nīrina Clan it is then!" I poorly imitated his voice but I didn't care, I was angry again.
"Such a temper, Kendra." Śarat came up from behind and slung an arm around my shoulders, making me hear brass, strings and a pan flute. "We had better watch you closely, yes? Make sure you do not start a murder spree."
I pulled away from her in shock, "What are you talking about?"
"Śarat, be nice," Suruli scolded as she joined us. "You know racist comments like that are crude and unfounded. How would you like it if someone called you a dirty thief?"
Śarat just shrugged, "I would not care, I am a dirty thief."
"Hey," Sanna gave her a stern look. "You are no longer a thief, Śarat, remember?"
Śarat snorted, "Shows what you know." But her smile was genuine, and I wondered what more there was to her story as we entered the Mess Hall. We sat down and began to load our plates with breakfast.
"I am sorry if I insulted you earlier, Kendra." Śarat gave me a kind, yet playful smile. "I was making a joke, serpents usually are much less angry than you are."
I smiled back, "It's fine, no harm done."
"Why do you have so much anger, Kendra?" Suruli asked as she packed a sack of food into her bag.
I hadn't noticed everyone had left to grab food for the trip. Sanna handed me a strip of dried fish and held up a small white sack. "This one is for you." He said and shoved it in the sack of his stuff.
I stared at him for a moment before he grinned at me. "Are you going to answer?"
I blinked and shook my head. "Probably because of how I was raised. House full of large Scottish people, they were born angry."
"But you are not Scottish," Havala said, walking up to the table. "You are a serpent."
I scowled. "Says Nisvārtha Shade."
She sighed and walked away.
Sanna took my hand and pulled me up. "Let's go, you need to see the Temple before we leave."
I followed him with Śarat and Suruli on my tail, out of the Mess Hall and into the village. To my right there was a cliff face riddled with holes, I could spot the heads of creatures looking down. Most of them looked like enormous birds but there were a few wyrms here and there. Beyond that were more large buildings a waterfall, fields of farmland and a river by which another structure stood.
In the center of it all was a great domed temple, made of stone and finely crafted wood. A set of beautiful doors carved with pictures. Sanna pushed open the doors and I walked into a masterpiece. The temple was a perfect circle, split into six sections. The first was a hall lined with small streams in the floor, the others began to wash their hands and feet and Suruli motioned for me to do the same.
In the center of the temple was a statue that looked like silver marble. The statue was of a dragon. A long graceful neck attached to a powerful body, four strong legs armored with scales, ending in great paws, a long whiplike tail curled neatly on the pedestal. Her head featured a sharp beak, large eyes, pointed ears, two long horns and a crown of feathers. Her entire body was made up of fur and scales like Sanna, but great feathered wings lay folded on her back.
"Beautiful." I breathed.
"Yes, she is." Said a soft voice.
I tore my gaze away to meet Suruli's deep brown eyes.
"That is Modala, The First. The Great Mother of Avondale." She smiled at me. "Before a journey we must respect her and ask for protection and luck."
"How?" I asked.
"Everyone has their own way to speak to the Mother," she explained. "I prefer to offer her a bit of music as thanks for her protection. Others may silently call to her, and some just speak aloud." Suruli smiled kindly, "There is no wrong way, Kendra. Modala loves us all."
I studied the statue as the rest of the group began their own methods of prayer. I had never been comfortable with prayer in church, but had learned how to do it anyway.
Following a strange pull that came from the statue, I reached out and touched it, resting my hand on her wing. Beside me, Suruli hummed a simple tune, and the softness of its melody calmed me. I closed my eyes and hummed a harmony with the simple melody. I wasn't sure about this Divine Mother that they worshiped, but I figured I should at least pretend to pay my respects.
When that was done I opened my eyes and Suruli kindly urged me toward the other sections of the temple. "Now we must pay respect to our patron gods."
I sighed and rubbed at my arm, growing more uncomfortable. "But I don't follow any God."
"You are a serpent." She said. "You follow the gods Nīrina and Sāgara." She pointed to the second section to the right.
I frowned. "Don't I have a choice?"
Suruli stared at me for a minute with an odd expression, "No one has ever chosen different."
"Well, maybe it's time someone did." And I walked into the first section on the right.
There were two statues on pedestals, the left holding the male phoenix, the right holding the female. Engraved in the floor before each statue was a name. The male was Gāli and the female was Tangāli.
I looked at them both. They're just statues. I thought to myself and moved onto the next section.
I regarded Nīrina and Sāgara, and since everyone thought I was a serpent I didn't see any reason to ignore them, so I gave each statue a little bow of respect, then moved on. The next was Bhūmiya and Kallu, the wyvern gods. Still only seeing statues, I moved on. Wyrms next, Benki and Kidi. I smiled at the statues as I thought of Śarat, but these were not gods to me.
The last section was had no statues. Instead there hung a painting, worn and old, I could just make out two figures. One had dark blue hair and bright blue eyes, a man in colorful robes with a collar of jewels around his neck, the other was a woman with golden hair, but I couldn't make out her face.
Below the painting was an inscription; The Myājik three years before the Drake War. On the floor were two names, Myājik and Prīti, between them was a passage.
The image of our last Myājik is all that is left of the lost drakes, their image forgotten to time, we honor the gods with the mourning of the good Jik and his Myā, lost but never forgotten.
I felt my throat grow thick as I looked from the words to the damaged painting, one word calling out to me. Lost. Just like me. If anyone understood what it was like to be lost, it would be these gods.
I sank to my knees and looked at the names. Please, I thought out to them, hoping they were real and would hear. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm so lost in this place, please, if you truly can help me...help me find a way home.
"What are you doing?"
I turned to see Nisvārtha scowling at me with his bright violet eyes.
I stood, "Um, praying?"
"These are not your gods, Kendra. This is not your place."
I scowled back at him. "I can choose who I ask for help."
He grabbed my arm and dragged me out into the center. "Be that as it may, you do not get a choice in your gods."
I ripped my arm out of his grip and the symphony faded away. "There is always a choice."
He held my stare for a long while before I was forced to look away.
"We are leaving," he said, raising his voice so all could hear. "Now." The growled word seemed to be directed at me as he stormed out.