by C Woodward
Koj laughed, "You might need it considering how rough he might fly." He patted the feral dragon on his head. Koj then surveyed the area, "It looks like we have everything all loaded up. Time to get moving."
The feral dragon lifted his massive wings. He turned to get a moving start as he started flapping his wings to get lift. I was amazed how something that big could fly. I could hear Jerak cheering as they took off.
Koj looked at me, "Time to follow them." He spread his wings and began to flap as well.
I took a deep breath and tried to mimic his movements. To my surprise, it felt quite natural. The wings were more powerful than I expected and I easily pushed the air where I wanted it. Koj climbed and almost instantly became airborne. I copied him and managed to accomplish it as well.
"See? You're fine." Koj reassured me. He turned his body and began to move toward the feral dragon, "Now, try to keep up!"
I struggled to follow them to the northwest. As natural as it felt to move my wings, there was a part of me realizing how strange this was. We gained some altitude and I felt the wind causing me to adjust. Then I made the mistake of looking down. Even with wings, that was scary. I tilted my head up to see the others flying ahead of me. The view was really something. I could see the ocean, which was our destination.
Koj was too far ahead for me to call out to him. The wind rushing past my fin-like ears made it hard to hear much. Bringing them closer to my head cut down on the noise. I assumed that tilting them away would increase my hearing. I had a lot to get used to. I just needed to focus on catching up with the others.
I finally caught up with Koj and the others as they stopped along a rocky coast. Landing was trickier than I expected. I figured that I would have to circle around a bit to slow myself down. I wasn’t sure if draykens usually circled around. I didn't recall seeing that happen before. I was starting to feel a bit embarrassed.
"Good to see you caught up!" Koj greeted.
"Um, why are we stopping here?" I asked.
Koj looked at the feral dragon and then back at me, "We are taking a quick break before we start the long flight to the village."
"Wait, I thought I thought the village was north," I questioned.
Koj laughed, "The coastline curves up and around. The village is on a peninsula. It is quicker to fly across, it would take a few days to hike around on ground."
I let out deep sigh, "Oh, I guess that makes sense. Um, how long to cross is it?"
Koj chuckled, "Far enough to require a little break before tackling it." He put his hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry, it might be long but you have done well so far. You will be just fine."
"Oh, if you say so," I responded insecurely.
He shrugged, "Just work on your landing. Not sure why you were circling."
I lowered my head, "I am still new at the concept of flying."
Koj sighed, "Don't stress yourself, I know it is quite strange to you. Just arch back and slow yourself down. If all else fails, flap."
"At least you can fly," Jerak chimed in.
I walked over to see him bundled up on top of the feral dragon. Amgati looked a bit out of it. I walked up to see him taking deep breaths.
"You alright, Amgati?" I asked.
Jerak replied, "He looks to be seasick."
"Ah, you mean he is airsick," I answered. "It is quite common back on my old world," I assured Amgati.
Amgati gave me a puzzled look. I turned and saw Koj looking a bit confused. The only one that didn't look muddled was Jerak.
"Oh, you mean those flying machine things," Jerak responded.
"Flying machines?" Koj asked.
"Yeah! Blake's world has these crazy flying machines that take people across the world. Even to the moons!" Jerak answered proudly.
"Moon. My old world had only one moon," I corrected.
"Right" Jerak nodded.
Koj shook his head, "That is a strange concept. Not sure how a machine can flap hard enough to get that high up to the moons."
"It's not exactly flapping but, it is rather hard to explain," I said.
Koj calmly sat down on a rock, "Might as well explain while we rest for a bit."
We had a good rest while I tried to explain planes and jets to Koj and Amgati. Amgati's face finally regained its color but he didn't seem very eager to embark across the water. Jerak mostly stayed cocooned except when he had to do his business. I wished he told us before he tried to go off the side of the dragon. The dragon wasn't very thrilled about that.
After our rest, we got ourselves ready to cross the sea. Well, a small part of it at least. The feral took off first with Jerak and the reluctant Amgati. Koj insisted I follow it and he would make sure I didn't fall into the water. I knew he was joking but it didn't make me feel any more at ease.
I got up into the air and began to fly forward. I can handle this, I told myself. All I had to do was follow the feral dragon. At least we are not very high up. As soon as I moved over the water, I realized how sheer the cliff was. Wow, that was quite a drop. Water or not, falling would be bad. I better look forward. The feral dragon was a bit ahead of me. I just needed to focus on keeping up and not at the drop below.
Any fear I had died, due to boredom, within the first two hours. The only thing I could see around us was the sea and the cloudy sky. The feral dragon was still moving at a good solid pace while I was continued getting the hang out of this. I found an interesting trick while finding the right air to get a good glide which really made things nice. Sometimes I lost it or it tried to move in the wrong direction and I had to correct myself. I wondered if Koj dealt with the strong sea breeze as I was. He seemed used to making this flight.
A few more hours passed and my wings felt tired. My mind just wandered all over the place. I heard the feral dragon let out a roar. Seconds later I saw land! I was never so happy to see cliffs. I didn't care if the village was still a bit from the cliff, I was walking the rest of the way. My wings were just too tired.
I followed Koj's advice about landing and it was no surprise that he was right. It was much easier to land now. I grabbed the grass as soon as I landed. My wings were relieved as well. I was surprised they managed such a long trek. I stared back at what looked to be endless sea except the mountains poking above the eastern horizon.
Koj walked past me, "Come, we’ve got a little hike to the village."
The landscape was fairly smooth with rolling hills and tall grass. There were only a few decent size trees which were spaced out from each other. I picked up a faint, sweet scent amid the salty air. I marched toward it and found a pillar of white flowers that grew on thick, green stalks.
"Careful, that's Dragon's Bane," Koj warned.
I stepped away, "Is it poisonous?"
Koj laughed, "No, it just makes you sleepy."
Amgati walked over to give it a sniff, "I don't smell anything."
"That's is because you're not a dragon," Koj responded. "For us, it has a strong soothing scent that causes us to get drowsy," he added.
"Isn't Dragon's Bane rare?" Amgati asked.
Koj nodded, "It is quite a picky flower. It only grows here and maybe on a few select islands not too far away. It takes quite a few to collect enough oil to really do much."
"Could it be use as some sedative on us?" I wondered.
Koj laughed, "It is mostly used for medicine and the rare sleepless night. It takes a while to really knock anyone out. The old poachers tried using it as a means to capture some feral dragons long ago." He chuckled a bit to himself and added, "All it did was inspire the ferals to take a nap after slaying the poachers."
I leaned over to give a little whiff of it. It really had a soothing scent. I almost wanted to pick a bit and keep it for a better night's rest.
We marched onward until I picked up another welcoming scent. It was the smell of cooked meat. I began to see a strange dome-shaped roof in the distance. The farther I went, I saw other similar buildings. We must be at the village!
&nb
sp; The village was actually larger than I expected. There was a good size wall around that was made out of harden clay. Inside stood many curved shaped buildings made the same way. Each building had its own creative design with some bits of color mixed into the tan colored building material. There were a few good size buildings but most seemed to be small. I wondered what could fit in such small buildings.
The people were quite different from what I expected as well. Most of the men wore simple kilts and harnesses while the females wore simple but colorful dresses and aprons. I saw fancy headdresses that draped the top and back of their heads. The draykens were of various colors. Some had red scales, some green, and some even had blue and yellow scales. They appeared more slender and the dragon-like snouts of the females were more petite than the males. I wasn’t sure if it’s the fact I am a drayken now, but some even look kind of pretty. That kind of bothered me for a number of reasons.
A female drayken wearing a light blue and white dress walked over to us. "Koj! Glad to see you’re back!" she said in an excited tone. She gave Koj a warm hug.
Koj smiled, "I have so much to tell you, sweetie." He looked back at us, "Let me introduce you fellows to my mate."
The female drayken smiled, "Wow! So, these are the ones we have heard about." she turned to me and looked almost star struck, "Who is this?"
Koj rubbed the back of his head and gave an awkward chuckle, "Uh, this is Blake, yeah. It’s kind of a long story."
Koj's wife eyes went wide, "The Blake? How did you become... this is just..." she seemed a bit lost for words.
A few other draykens walked over to us. I didn't know how to react. I wasn’t sure how the rest knew who I was. Could it be because I appeared different than the other draykens?
Koj's wife laughed, "Well, where are my manners? I am sure you and your elf friend are quite tired from your long travels."
Koj grinned, "Blake, you are going to love her cooking. She is the best in all the village!"
"Now, now, you know that is not true," Koj's wife corrected and looked a bit embarrassed.
"She makes the best meat pies you ever tasted," Koj bragged.
"I love meat pies!" Jerak replied excitedly from out of view.
Amgati smiled, "We should really get him down."
We carefully took Jerak down and placed him on the ground. After removing his protective covering which successfully prevented any more injuries, he tried to sit up causing him to cringe a little.
"How's the ribs?" I asked.
Jerak sighed, "Still hurts, when I sit up."
A female drayken with blue scales walked over, "Do you need a healer?"
Amgati answered, "That will be most helpful, thank you. Didn't know draykens are skilled in magic."
The female drayken knelt down by Jerak. She inspected his wounds, "We don't have a wide range of magical knowledge but we are capable of learning it." She placed her hands on Jerak's side, "Yes, this could use some attention right away."
Jerak looked at her, "Is it serious?"
The drayken smiled, "It is not life threatening, but it would be best if you are treated as soon as possible." She leaned over and carefully picked Jerak up.
Jerak looked downright shocked when she did that and even more shocked that she held him like a baby. I could tell he wasn't sure how to react.
The drayken turned to me, "I will take your friend to get healed. He will need to get plenty of rest.
Jerak frowned, "I am going to miss out on some meat pie."
Amgati laughed, "I'll send you some, alright?"
Jerak sighed, "You better."
We watched Jerak get carried away. A few other draykens showed up. They quietly whispered to one another and stared at me.
Koj walked over to me, "Don't mind it, they never see dragon-folk like you before."
I looked at my hands, "Is it because of my dark scales?"
A soft spoken female voice spoke, "You're the first dark scale since the first was born." A green, female drayken walked toward me from the small crowd. She wore a fancy yet practical pink dress with blue designs on it and a matching headdress. She wore various silver jewelry, from a necklace to rings on each of her horns.
"I am Nahryn. Priestess of the Dragon Spirit," she explained. She walked over to us and continued, "It is quite an honor to have you here, Blake."
I smiled, "I am honored to be here. Um, what of this first born?"
Nahryn smiled back, "The first born was the very first dragon born in this world. He was like the ferals but had the intelligence of dragon-folk." She frowned a bit, "He was murdered long ago by a small group of humans and elves."
Amgati took a step back to hide behind me.
"We do not blame all elves nor all humans," Nahryn assured us as she noticed Amgati's movement. "It was a group of dark magic-users and wicked dragon poachers," she explained.
Koj added, "That was when our Great Father was sealed away."
Nahryn nodded, "It is quite a long, sad story." She then smiled, "Our great father returned to us, thanks to you and your friends! You are all most welcome here!"
Koj chuckled, "I’m glad you did that, priestess. I already promised Blake some of my mate's cooking."
Nahryn laughs, "That is quite fine Koj. I am sure you all need some rest." Nahryn turned to me, "Perhaps sometime tomorrow, Blake, you can visit the shrine. I am sure he would want to speak with you."
I gave her a friendly nod, "Of course." It took me a moment to realize she meant the Dragon Spirit. It is hard to believe we managed to reach this far.
The small crowd dispersed as Amgati and I followed Koj and his wife, er mate, to their home. I was kind of surprised when they walked over to a one of the tiny buildings that looked to be just a large door. Once opened, it revealed a stairway going down. I also noticed how everything appeared normal-sized to me but yet it must appear big to Amgati. He was about the same height as me when I was human.
Once we moved down into the entry room, I saw an opening in each direction. The side openings were concealed with a drape-like door and the opening behind the stairs appeared to be for storage. There was a clutter of various pots and baskets stacked under the stairs and a small room. Koj led us to an opening directly in front of the stairs which led to a larger, round room with a short wooden table and various rugs and cushions. The walls were scattered with hanging tapestries of various designs and colors. There were a few shelves that displayed bone carvings and clay figurines. At the back wall was a counter which partially blocked another opening that I believed to be the kitchen. Their house had a humble and cozy feeling.
Dinner was exceptionally good. I couldn't recall the last time I had a meat pie so good. I was surprised to see vegetables in it. Oddly enough, I thought we were carnivores but apparently we eat veggies and bread along with our meat. I shared some stories with Koj and his mate and retired early to one of the side rooms used to store several tools and hunting supplies. Koj gave us extra sleep cushions as well as our own supplies. It will be nice to sleep inside for a change.
Amgati left to deliver a pie to Jerak. I laid on the floor, staring at the little clay oil lamp. This was still really strange for me. Even sleeping was a whole new experience in this form. I hoped Talestria was okay. I was thankful she hadn't seen me like this. The very thought of that felt painful to me. I miss her but inside I knew things were over. Her curse had been broken and she would be better off with someone other than a monster like me. Should I even go back to the Farlands after all this? It may be too tempting.
"Something troubling you?" Amgati spoke.
I was too preoccupied with my worries to notice that he came in. "Oh, it is nothing. I am just tired," I claimed.
Amgati knelt over to his pack, tending to his belongings. "You might have a new form, but your eyes still tell the same story," Amgati mentioned as he pulled out his bed roll.
"Eh, nothing to worry about," I muttered as I tried to get comfy with my blankets.
Amgati sigh
ed, "I can't imagine what you been going through. But, it is never good to just bottle things up too much."
I groaned, "Whatever happened to not letting things destroy me and just keep going onward?"
Amgati let out a slight chuckle, "Yeah, I did say that, didn't I? Keeping it stirring inside is just another way to let it destroy you."
"I guess so, but she is better off without me," I muttered.
Amgati walked over to grabbed a blanket, "You know what I caught Jerak doing when I brought him his pie?"
I looked over, "Hmm?"
Amgati chuckled, "He was telling stories to that healer. They were laughing and just enjoying themselves. Jerak didn't seem repulsed by the female drayken and enjoyed his conversation with her. She didn't seem at all bothered by his goofy stories. I also don't think Talestria would be repulsed by you now."