Almakia_The vilashi and the Dragons

by Lhaisa Andria

  — It isn't a good idea to disturb a lake with calm water at night.

  Garo-lin froze and almost fell not stumbling in the water, in her desperation to turn back and see who had spoken. And when she recognized the silhouette she saw in the light of the building, her will was to sink and never come back. Nu'lian Gillion, the Royal Dragon, was quietly standing on the bank, as if from the beginning he was there, watching. Then she realized that he was not even at the table with the others at dinner, which meant that in her unpacked run she did not see him, and the dragon had probably heard what she had shouted.

  — Sorry, I-I was-

  He approached, and Garo-lin completely forgot the excuse she made in her head. As he advanced, the water made room, and even the mud dried, allowing him to get close to her without getting wet. There was no escape from a water handler almakin being surrounded by her, so she braced herself for any kind of reprimand for the insult she had just screamed.

  However, the dragon just stopped by her side, staring into the darkness ahead, and asked:

  — Have you noticed how big the sea is?

  Garo-lin blinked at the situation. Was one of the Dragons asking her a question? And it did not come in a tone of debauchery, order or rebuke? Not knowing what to do, she just told the truth:

  — I-I've never seen the sea.

  The dragon stared at her as if appraising her, then gave a half smile and looked back at the lake, explaining:

  — The sea is like this lake, but much larger. So big, that you can't see a margin... it just gets lost on the horizon.

  She tried to imagine such a thing. Everything she knew about geography and the maps of Almakia and the other Realms had come exclusively from the Institute's books, where she spent all of her time that didn't have to be spent in an obligatory coexistence with other students. She knew the frontiers, she knew how to differentiate the relief and the climate of the Regions and she knew that to the east and southeast of the Institute there was a great coast that lay to the sea. This was the Region of Upper Vales, a place of great rocky cliffs, there were the ancient fortifications of the beginning of the almakins history and where the Royal State of Almakia lived. And also where the Water Dragon came from, being the only almakin born within the royal family in a long time.

  — When the sea is furious, it also screams and throws its salty waters against the cliffs, striking as if it had fists. But this lake is quiet and screaming for it will only increase your feeling of being ignored... if you want to be heard, tell someone to listen.

  And then he left, causing the water to return to its original place, creating little waves that broke in the wet boots of Garo-lin. As much as she thought it would be the end of the world, she would have to agree with a dragon: running away and screaming would not do anything.

  But what could she do?

  ***

  — Ahaaa! – Garo-lin dropped into her bed, too exhausted to even settle into a more comfortable sleeping position.

  At least neither Kidari nor she could complain about the room they received, since she was decent. Maybe not so appropriate for kodorin standards, but much more comfortable and spacious than what Garo-lin had at the Institute. However, she knew that this only happened because there were innumerable rooms in that fortress, and it would not matter to the Dragons how they would be lodged... since it was in a place inside the main house, as close as possible to suit any order of them and at the same time far enough away not to be seen.

  — I’m sorry – Kidari asked, thinking she had a fair bit of fault in her colleague's exhaustion.

  — No need to apologize, Kidari – Garo-lin gave a long sigh and straightened her head on the pillow. – If there's anyone who deserves to be guilty here, it's them.

  The girl then remained quiet, concentrating on smoothing the petals of a flower she had in her hand.

  — What is it? – Garo-lin asked, standing up a little so she could see better.

  — Beautiful, isn’t it? – she showed her happy the yellow flower. – Metal Dragon made ladder for Kidari to have the tree. Yellow, like Shion's eyes!

  Too tired to reason or even warn her to accept nothing of the Dragons, all Garo-lin could do was look at the flower for a while and then go back to her pillow and fall asleep.

  — I’m sorry, Garo – Kodorin asked again, before opening the flame-box that illuminated the place and causing the light to cease.

  ***

  — If I see another potato or tomato in front of me, I go back to the Institute, Kris! – the Metal Dragon warned as soon as the group of Dragons entered the fireplace room of the main house after dinner.

  Gillion, the last to come in, closed the door, while the others spread through the room, each doing his best to demonstrate to the leader how that situation was stirring their nerves. After three days following a diet based on those two ingredients, the willingness to cooperate with her friend's goal of torturing the vilashi was already running out.

  — It is more than evident that she doesn't know how to cook anything else! – the girl continued bored. – Why don't you call at least the kitchen servants back?

  Zawhart and Sfairul agreed, staring at the leader with anxious eyes for an answer. Only Gillion stood quietly, as if he only watched what happened, giving no evidence of being in favor or against.

  — No – the Fire Dragon said firmly.

  — Why, Kris?! – the girl insisted. – We'll starve!

  — There's no sense in starting one thing and not ending it! Wait a little longer and soon she will be defeated.

  — Defeated? – Stifful asked incredulously.

  — This is not a game, Kris! – Zawhart informed. – It's affecting us too.

  — One hour or another she will have to give up and recognize her place. Until then, eat potatoes, and if you can't, you have fruit in the trees!

  — Kris, don't you realize it's not working? – Sfairul asked in his weighted way of trying to harmonize the situation.

  — She doesn't even respond to his orders. This is becoming meaningless!

  — If she isn't rationing, it means that we need to make her... ra-rati... you understood!

  Seeing that there would be no way to convince him otherwise, they were content to set up a scheme to go to the adjoining buildings where the servants were and get something decent to eat there. Already Dul'Maojin sat in his armchair and concentrated on formulating new ways to make the vilashi have the reaction he hoped for. Gillion worried about going to the window and checking the sky outside, telling anyone who wanted to hear:

  — Tonight it will rain.

  ***

  Decided, Garo-lin faced those days as she never imagined she could face. She began to use the simple tactic she had already learned at the Institute: to dodge. She listened to the orders and complied, unclaimed, and tried to stay out of their way most of the time. If any dragon implied anything, she would pretend to listen and then leave, as if nothing had happened. Yes, she had sworn to obey the orders of the Fire Dragon. But, for all she knew, they would be orders related to her Assignment, and that was definitely not one.

  But to act as if ignorant and of little importance to what Dul'Maojin commanded served for the dragon to devote himself more and more to his occupation of making her angry. Seeing that just ordering heavy, tiring tasks was no longer working, he'd begun tracking his steps, making comments, and provoking her at any opportunity. He insisted on breaking her as much as possible and always complained about what was already done, forcing her to do it again.

  Among the insults, it was not long before he discovered what could shake Vilashi's determination, even though she did not demonstrate and tried to remain indifferent.

  Each time the dragon didn't limit its offenses to its person and extended them to its origin and to the vilashis as a whole, Garo-lin felt something boil inside of her and desperately struggle to leave. It was impossible for someone not to notice how she turned red, to stare at one point and to increase the pace of what she wa
s doing, to compensate for the fact that she couldn't react. With this, the Dul'Maojin really was managing to exhaust the patience of his protégé, leaving her to explode.

  Then, the morning after the storm, the situation reached a critical point.

  The night before, it had rained and burst, and the next morning, it's possible to see a despairing scene outside the windows. Without the proper care of the experienced servants who were responsible for the lawns and gardens around the main house, they were covered with leaves and branches brought from the forest at night. In the same way, the roofs had received a layer of wet foliage, which should be removed before the sun cooked them and made them smell unpleasant. As she looked out the window at the size of the leaves that spread across the lawn, Garo-lin concluded that her work on that day would be proportional to them. Knowing what to do, without being ordered, she began cleaning early, deciding to start on the stone walkways and the stairs, to work away from the main house when the Dragons woke up.

  But as if she had foreseen it, it was not long before the Fire Dragon emerged from inside the house and sat on the steps above her, watching over her footsteps as he played an apple in his hands.

  — If you continue at this rate, you will not finish on time! – he warned, taking a big bite of the fruit, looking immensely pleased that time had provided her with that difficult task.

  To try not to pay attention to what he was saying, Garo-lin began to mentally sing one of her favorite songs from her village, remembering some steps she used to take with her brothers and friends when she was younger.

  In her village, now the time was coming for harvesting. As soon as all the work was done and well stored and protected to face the cold, preparations would begin for the largest festival in Godan. It was a party that took advantage the most of living with other people in the village, as the wind and snow would force everyone to stay inside their homes protected. Even though Garo-lin had been away from home for almost six years, she could still tell when that time was near. And to imagine what was supposed to be done was a distraction that helped to confront the worst things being an almakin.

  She looked at the treetops in the distance after the lake and thought that her almaki might be something more useful, that could make her fly. So she would leave and could go back to her place, even for a single day.

  — ARE YOU LISTENING, VILASHI?

  The growl of the dragon, very close to her, cut off her thought and made her go back to reality. Without realizing it, she had stopped sweeping and gotten lost in her thoughts. Noticing this, Dul'Maojin went downstairs and went to her to find out what the problem was.

  — Is not it something simple that you can do? Do I need to spread potatoes on the floor so I know where to put the broom? – he threw the apple half-eaten at her feet.

  Garo-lin swept again, pretending not to hear what he was talking about, but she couldn't help herself and dragged the broom harder.

  — ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? – he growled and kicked the bucket with the leaves she had already collected, causing the contents to be scattered all over. – When the Fire Dragon asks, you answer, vilashi! Now do it right this time! – he ordered, pointing to the floor again filled with wet leaves. – I don't know how you vilashis do in your burrows, but we almakins don't do our job in half! If the useless of your parents didn't have the opportunity to learn such things by being who they are, at least you should take the chance to be at the Dul'Maojin Institute and feel honored to have us as an example!

  Garo-lin had heard more than she could bear. It did not matter if she was ignored at the Institute or treated like a slave there. She was showing herself strong and surpassing her expectations in enduring that torment. But to talk about her family and her village, as if they were just worms within the proud Almaki Society, was something she would not tolerate.

  Then, gnashing her teeth, she burst into a scream:

  — SHUT UP!

  The Fire Dragon stared at her, not believing the audacity he had just witnessed.

  Garo-lin knew she was throwing away all her good sense, but at that moment she didn't care. She took a deep breath, threw the broom hard on the floor, and said with all the dignity she knew to possess:

  — Who are the useless here? Since when do Almakins do any work? You do nothing but think you own everything and everyone! I don't care if you are the heir Dul'Maojin and and your damn it of your title of Fire Dragon! – she advanced, facing him, and even having the disadvantage in size, made him retreat. – I CAN'T LET YOU TALK ABOUT MY PARENTS! YES, I AM A VILASHI, AND I HAVE A IMMENSE PRIDE THAT! IT WILL NOT BE A CONVINCED LIKE YOU THAT WILL MAKE ME MAKE THINK THE COUNTER!

  Her noise and her cries were enough to make Kidari and the other Dragons run to the windows and check what was happening. They arrived in time to see a raging Garo-lin gather all her rage accumulated from those recent times and focus it on her fist clenched. Then, with a leap to make up the difference in height, she did what no one had dared to do before:

  — IF YOU WANT TO BE RESPECTED, LEARN FIRST TO RESPECT, IDIOT DRAGON! – and punched Dul'Maojin's nose, causing him to lose his balance and fall backward.

  Gasping, and still in the pose of attack with which she had returned to the ground, Garo-lin saw something she had never imagined to see: the great Krission Dul'Maojin staring at her from an inferior plane, lost and frightened as if his world had collapsed along with him.

  But when his nose began to bleed, it was as if something had returned to the place on her head and the vilashi realized what she had done. She had just attacked the great Fire Dragon, and that was almost like becoming a declared enemy of the whole of Almakia. She looked up the stairs and saw that the other Dragons and Kidari had witnessed everything that had happened.

  Understanding that this was her end, she ran away without thinking twice.

  ***

  The other times she had thought of it, it was an absurd and reckless idea. But in the face of what had happened, kidnapping the mombelula and flying away was now her only option. Without knowing exactly what to do, Garo-lin let go of the chains that held the animal and descended the retractable ladder, climbing as fast as she could, even with her hands shaking with nervousness and thoughts running from side to side in her without being able to take a definite form. All she could do at the moment was to follow that fixed idea of fleeing far away, and when she was safe, she would decide whatever she had to decide.

  As soon as she took the reins of the mombelula, the creature became aware and began to turn its wings, making that buzzing characteristic of its flight. Trying to remember how Dul'Maojin had led her when they left the Institute, Garo-lin pulled them back in the hope that this would sound like an order to go. And it worked, the mombelula began to rise from the ground. But at the same moment the cabin swayed and Garo-lin searched around to see what had happened.

  She felt as if a cold blow hit her stomach when she saw the Fire Dragon clinging to the ladder she had forgotten to collect.

  As if he did not care that they were already far from the ground, where a fall would be fatal, he used all his strength to climb the ladder, not seeming to be afraid of falling. His angry expression, added to the dripping blood trickling down his face, left Garo-lin terrified, and once again she pulled the reins, propelling the mombelula forward at full speed.

  — Stop now! – Dul'Maojin ordered, catching himself on the side of the cabin, despite having slipped with the creature's impulse.

  Garo-lin did not look back and held the reins more firmly in her hand, encouraging the mombelula to go faster, almost managing to overcome the lake's reach and into the forest.

  — You don't know how to drive, vilashi! – he snarled, and at once the creature sprang up, changing direction, going down.

  — Of-of course I know! – she stubbornly and turned away from one of the giant trees, but eventually lost altitude and fell between the lower canopies of the forest.

  — Stop now! – he demanded, as the cabin began to tremble
over consecutive impacts with branches, which also hit him. – The cabin will not hold out for long!

  — No! – she screamed once more and bent down to divert from a branch, automatically taking the reins with her and causing the mombelula to rise again, whizzing upwards, rising as far as Garo-lin had ever been off the ground.

  — YOU ARE GOING TO KILL US! – the Fire Dragon's scream came out with an unmistakable note of dread, like a sentence, as his feet hung out of the cabin, getting caught in it with only his hands.

  Even though she had to admit to herself that she was desperate for the situation, Garo-lin tried her best to maintain that she was guiding. Courageously, she wrapped a loop around one of her hands, so that the harness held steady, and with the other gripped a point ahead of him. Then she let herself fall backward, thus getting the mombelula to turn around and go to the ground. With the sudden movement, Dul'Maojin was thrown into the cabin and rolled to a stop at the front end, crashing hard into the driver's seat, while Garo-lin stopped in the air for a few moments and then flew out of the cabin. Shouting as she had never screamed in her life, she clung to the lasso with all her strength, the only thing still holding her back to the mombelula, who was driving dangerously and swiftly into the lake. She looked up and saw the dragon moving beyond the cabin, trying to reach the harness. But they were too far away and the creature was too fast to give time to do anything. Then, hopelessly, she closed her eyes and waited for the impact.

  But it did not come.

  Suddenly, the movement shifted to the side and her body was pulled violently along. With her arms burning with pain and her hands falling asleep, she opened one eye and caught a glimpse of the dragon pulling the antenna of the mombelula, causing it to change direction and decrease the rotation of the wings. Then her legs slammed painfully and the fright made her lose the remaining strength she had to cling to. She fell on the lake, spreading water until she lost all speed.