t h r e e | l a n a
g r a p h i c b y mahana258
AFTER A WHILE, Lana starts to get used to flying on Firedust's back, but still holds on to some of the initial apprehension. When she looks to the side, and the sun is so close she feels like she could touch it. When puffy clouds wisp by, breaking against Firedust's scales delicately, she feels her heart beat faster as she remembers she's on a dragon, flying leagues above the sea. His wings seem so delicate; a thin membrane against the strength of the winds, but miraculously he keeps them aloft with ease, something that fascinates her.
Her breath quickly catches in her throat as the beautiful wings she was admiring change as they turn softly to their right, the movement fluid but still exhilarating to her.
"Where are we going?" she calls to Skye over the winds, and he jumps slightly, looking as if Lana had snapped him out of his thoughts.
Ever since they made their escape from the place she had lived bitterly for the past nine years, Lana feels conflicted. She can't seem to forget what happened as they fled the ship, she doesn't ever think she will, but she feels lighter somehow.
Standing there on the deck, she felt as if she was presented with an impossible choice. She could do as she had always done and stayed compliant, something that saved her from many major punishments, or she could go against everything that she had learned for a chance at escape.
Skye was standing before her, chained and trapped, and as she was frozen that man— Robert, she remembers bitterly— grabbed him. An epiphany hit her then: in all the years that she had done nothing, she had the power to do something. For once, Drax's presence and the entire crew didn't incite fear within her as she realized that maybe she finally had a chance to get off that god-forsaken ship. She felt the flames of rage burn their way through her veins for the first time in a very long time.
She didn't have to think. She just let her rage guide her movements, but as the blade made a horrible squelching sound as it went through his body, she started to feel horror at what she had done. By letting cruelty govern her, how is she any different than Drax?
The rain had long since washed away the blood from her hands, but it seems ingrained within her skin. It's not exactly guilt that she feels, but as if she hasn't truly escaped from Drax. A small part of her, even as she feels the wonderful wind against her skin as a free woman, seems to be waiting for the punishment to rain down upon her shoulders.
For the past few hours, she's been trying to quell this incessant and very obviously irrational fear. She watches the sun rise higher into the clouds until it reaches its peak, and begins to fall again. Distant islands and rocky outcroppings are visible in the gaps of the clouds, and wonder seems to be the only thing that soothes her anxiety.
She can't help but wonder how far they've flown as Skye motions toward a small island that they land on moments later. As soon as Firedust's feet hit the ground, Skye leaps off the dragon, offering his hand to her seemingly as an afterthought. She wants to say something to him to maybe alleviate the darkness that seems to creep onto his expression, dulling his bright eyes and aging his youthful features, but doesn't know what to say.
How does she help someone when she feels a similar swirling pit of emotions churning within her?
He's turning away from her before she can do anything, silently offering her water and dried fruit from his bag, before walking towards the water's edge and staring out into the distance. Lana considers approaching him and though she doesn't think he is anything like the crew members of the Sea Terror, she recognizes the look Skye has from them. His whole body is coiled, wound too tight with emotion, that any infliction might make him snap. It's safer to keep distance.
She finds herself turning towards his dragon, and the creature stares down at her with eyes so large that she can see her reflection within them as if it's a mirror. After all the destruction she's seen from him, she should probably be afraid, but she finds herself surprisingly comfortable around him.
She almost subconsciously finds her hand reaching out to touch his snout, and when her bare skin touches his scales, she finds herself smiling breathlessly. She finds her grin reflected in Firedust's eyes, and he lets out a little puff of smoke that almost resembles laughter.
Lana doesn't notice Skye is beside her until he says softly, "Let's go."
There's a distinct rush of disappointment as she parts from the dragon and as she turns back towards the saddle, she notices that Skye's stiff stature is gone, replaced with a weary expression and red rimmed eyes.
"Are you alright?"
The question hangs between them, and he sighs softly, looking up at the sky as if to hold back the emotions that want to escape from him.
"I just..." he starts, his voice barely above a whisper and he clears his throat. "I need to finish what I started."
Lana starts to ask what he means by that, but unlike the tenseness he held before, there seems to be a fragility there. He's not on the verge of snapping— he's about to shatter and is barely holding himself together. She settles for a nod, climbing back onto the dragon without any more words, letting her mind wander until they reach their final destination.
It's several hours past sunset when Lana can faintly make out lights beneath the thick clouds they fly above. She sits up straighter in the saddle, excitement pushing past the fatigue that plagues her mind and even Skye seems to come to life at the sight.
It's nearly impossible to see anything through the clouds, and Lana wonders why if they why they stay so high up if the city is right below then, but when they fly past a large gap in their cover, she realizes why.
In the brief image she caught, she saw the front of a large island nearly engulfed in flames a legion of ships sat in the port, with numerous dragons encircling them, attacking them with all their might. Her heart starts to pound and all remaining traces of exhaustion seem to vanish at the violent sight.
Skye suddenly shifts in the saddle and yells over his shoulder. "Hold on!"
It takes her a second to decipher what he said over the wind and when she does, she automatically tightens her grip. There's a second where nothing happens.
Then they dive.
Firedust plunges straight down through the clouds, the world becoming a blur as she buries her face into Skye's back. She can't even hear herself scream as her body seems to go weightless, her stomach turning and her heart stalling.
She tries to peek around Skye's shoulder and can only see vague shapes get closer and closer. She's almost sure she's crushing Skye at this point but they're getting too close. They're going to hit the ground!
She squeezes her eyes shut when they're only a few leagues above the edge of the city, but even as she does, there's a sudden weight pressed down upon her shoulders. The winds stop buffeting against her ears so heavily and her stomach seems to settle as Firedust slows his speed drastically to land within the city. She almost sighs out of relief.
Lana hears the ballista bolts before she sees them, a dull whistle against the hum of the air around them, and her eyes widen as she realizes what is about to happen. Firedust swerves dramatically to the side, and she sees a dull blur of metal as they seem to brush right by them. She can quite literally feel one nearly nick her arm, it's sudden presence forcing her to cry out in fear as it rockets by.
They're close enough to the city that Lana can hear the screams of soldiers below her as the volley makes their mark, and she can feel herself shaking. She feels helpless amongst all the chaos and can only watch and hope that Firedust lands soon.
He now glides low over the burning town, heading straight for a building, or rather palace, that stands taller than the rest of the city, its grandeur providing it height as well as its placement at the top of the hill it's built on. It's a wide rectangular building, with two statues guarding the entrance that she quickly makes out as stone dragons. During the day, those dragons may be proud and empowering, but in the darkness the flickering of the flames casts dark shadows on their once distinguished features, making them appear sinister.
She feels almost overwhelming relief as the palace towers over them, a weakness overcoming her limbs and she leans into Skye, just taking comfort in that they both somehow made it. Neither him nor Firedust have the same response, the dragon simply bringing them to a quick stop in a clearing and Skye's body remaining stiff on guard.
Lana quickly jumps off as soon as Firedust is still, her shaky limbs unable to support her and she falls to her knees, her vision almost spinning as if not used to the stability of land. She takes deep breaths, closing her eyes for a moment and tries to center herself. In all of her years, nothing has ever terrified, and somehow as adrenaline rushes through her, thrilled her as that free fall had. Absurdly, she feels laughter bubbling up within her and she lets a few breathless chuckles past her lips, somehow converting her fear into this pure energy that needs to be spent.
She shakes her head and turns back to Skye, wanting to see if he's experiencing the same high she is, when the sight of him sobers her.
Somehow he has managed to stand, but his skin has lost all of its color, and his bright blue eyes have faded to gray. His hand trembles over his arm, which to both of their dawning horrors has a jagged gash from one of the bolts must have grazed him.The blood has already soaked through the sleeve of his tunic, and she now realizes because this crazed bout of adrenaline, he must not have felt it. Until now, at least.
He falls back against his dragons side, his eyebrows raising in dazed surprise as he touches the wound and his fingers come back crimson.
"We have to go see the Dragon King. Things are worse than I thought," he says, but she notices a distinct slur to his words.
He tries to push himself upright, and she rushes forward, grabbing his uninjured arm. "Wait a moment. You can't just let it bleed out like that."
"Look, Lana, we don't really have a choice here," Skye says quickly then sighs, "taking this prophecy to him is important, more important than I realized. Those allies of the Morai we saw out there? Those were dragon hunters. They travel around Maris, killing dragons for profit or just pure spite, and if they're already here it means we don't have much time left. We need to get this prophecy to him."
She feels a rush of confusion by his words but senses the urgency in his words. "Do you at least have something to wrap it with?"
"In the saddle bag," he groans and nods his head to Firedust.
She follows his gaze and without hesitation climbs back up the dragon, balancing herself on his leg to open the pack attached to the saddle. Below her, Firedust nuzzles the young man affectionately and Skye manages a small smile that slightly qualms Lana's worries about him. e, She finds herself rummaging through spare clothes and other random objects until she finds a scrap of cloth, but before she can climb back down Skye stops her.
"Can you also grab the scroll that is in there?"
She hesitates, seeing the blood spread further down his arm, but relents, digging around until she a small paper held together by a little wax seal. Somehow she can sense a power within it's minute contents, and cradles it carefully as she climbs back down from Firedust to Skye.
He lets her take his arm, and she starts wrapping the cloth around his wound tightly, trying to ignore the blood seeping onto her own hands. Skye tries to keep still but she can feel him wince every time she wraps the cloth around. Guilt prickles through her at the sight and she tries to coach her shaking hands to be more gentle.
He winces as she pulls the bandage especially tight for good measure, and she freezes. "Sorry."
"It's okay." he says softly, and she ties it off.
As she sees the pain reflected in his eyes and his expression pales even further, she grabs his wrist lightly. "You really should go see a healer."
He puts his other hand on hers briefly and sighs. "I will, but it's best not to keep the Dragon King waiting."
Skye pulls away from Lana slowly and gently grabs the scroll form her, grimacing at the pain the small movement causes him. Firedust lets out a puff of smoke in indignation, and nuzzles Skye's good arm affectionately, who almost seems to be reassuring the dragon with a pointed look.
Lana watches, a touch of fascination brightening the horror around her as she recognizes them communicating non verbally, something so mystic she can hardly comprehend it.
Whatever was said, Skye now won't meet her gaze as leans away from his dragon slowly, before starting a slow march up the steps towards the towering building with a determined expression.
Lana follows him closely in case he needs her help, and is impressed by his resolve as he doesn't stop until they reach the massive double doors of the building, with its two intimidating stone dragons and two expressionless guards barring the door. Skye is panting and has a nervous look in his eyes, his skin only becoming more and more pale, giving him an almost translucent appearance in the braziers by the door. The two guards move towards him as he sways slightly but he immediately waves them off with an irritable expression.
"Skye—"
"I'm fine. I'll feel better when we get this over with."
Lana starts to protest, her argument already on the tip of her lips, but he's already reaching for the door, and trying to push it open with his one good arm. Cursing his stubbornness, she pushes the doors open for him, and they enter the most finely decorated place she's ever seen.
It's a long hall, lined with pillars on the sides, and in between those are more stone dragon statues, each of them more exotic than the next. Some are tall and ferocious, but Lana sees others that portray a mother dragon with her young. She has to tear her eyes away from the statues in order to see the rest of the room. The grandeur of the hall is stripped slightly as she sees the tables littering the marble floor and looks as if a hasty meeting took place. Papers are scattered across every desk, some even strewn across the floor.
She lets her eyes wander for a second longer before they fall onto a figure in the room who commands attention. A lone man stands at a table in the center of the hall, his personal guard off to the sides of the room, watching Skye and her vigilantly as they enter. The man doesn't even look up, continuing to lean over what appears to be maps with a drawn expression on his face that seems all too familiar.
After a long moment, the man speaks "do you have the prophecy?"
"I do," Skye says, but refuses to look up from the spot on the floor he is focusing on. Lana doesn't fail to notice how his hands clench and unclench in a mixture of anger and anxiety. That's when it hits her, the similarities between the two men too obvious to ignore.
She stiffens. "You...the Dragon King..."
Suddenly it all makes sense. They even look alike with their bright blue eyes, dark hair, and same permanent proud expression on their faces.
Skye looks resigned however, and says in a cold voice, "Lana, meet my father: the Dragon King."