Here it is! The first chapter that begins my book that I shall publish one day! Please enjoy!
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Chapter 1
The world was
at a calm that day, which probably should have given me reason to worry. After all, there was that whole bit I heard
about the calm before a storm and usually such things tended to be
correct. Yet, today I just simply wanted
to lay down on the hill, listen to leaves crunch under my weight, and watch as
the bard beside me strummed his instrument that I never bothered to learn the
name of. It was because I wanted to
enjoy a nice day today with my bard, something that was scarce due to the
assumption that dragons never were meant to mix with humans.
Of course if
that were the case, then it made me wonder as to why we had the ability to take
on a human guise in the first place. In any case, I made a point to never
listen to that particular notion, choosing instead to spend time with him. The
bard, Myde, was very much a honorable man. He strayed away from conflicts
unless someone needed defending, and was very awful at handling any sort of
weaponry. Instead, he was gifted with words and music. A gift to bring about
serenity and order to chaos was a trait I admired most.
This was merely
part of the reason I loved the man sitting alongside of me with his dirty gold
hair sticking in every which way except up and storm cloud eyes that saw into
the hearts of all even my impulsive one. His face was one that could be fierce
with such sharp angles, yet expression always softened this and the rest of the
slim built features. If he had been a warrior, he could have been a tall and
terrifying force that would slip through the smallest openings in a defense.
Instead the said man looked over with a chuckling smile that glowed with joy.
“You know if you keep staring at me like that, you will go
blind.”
I raise a brow
and snort in my very unladylike fashion, “Myde that applies to the sun, not
you. Even if I call you bright, you aren’t blinding my dear musician.” Rolling
over to my side, I prop myself up with my elbow and look at him a little more
closely, glad that he wasn’t indeed the sun or else my eyes would be bleached
out by now.
I could not
help but stare, he was a gentle person with an expression that promoted ease
and relaxation. Silently, I gave a smile
and started to draw myself into a crawling position, slinking up bit by bit
until I was close to his face, pressing lips gently onto his. The song faltered and the instrument was
gently cast aside as calloused fingers took hold of my cheeks. A smile formed
and I drew back after a minute and gave a fierce grin.
Then the proverbial
storm broke through as I could hear a throaty growl in the distance. This
little hill had a backing of trees, while nearly a half a mile away, still would
give good cover for one to spy if they were quiet enough. This spy, it seemed,
was going to be a grump as usual. He always was, though I would have preferred
if he waited a little longer before stalking us.
Things were
never simple. Myde started to frown as eyes flicked over to the source of the
sound as well, “I didn’t realize she sent a chaperone.” Words were sour and a
sigh followed as he drew back from me, arms making movements to grasp the
instrument once more.
It was hard for
him to tolerate the scrutiny of the others, and I would not have blamed him for
leaving with the growing source of violent trouble that had arose in recent
times. Yet, he would still be there at my side, albeit with a frown, but he
loved me just the same. A smile started to pull at my cheeks with a devious
light.
“Well, they can
just watch then. We might as well give them a good show.” I brought a hand to
settle into his hair and my form sank into Myde’s before he could even grab the
wooden object. The bard was pushed into the leaf covered grass as I deepened
the kiss, letting it last precious moments longer before hearing a growl turn
into a disgruntled snarl.
We parted, leaving him with a happily dazed grin while I
was beaming breathlessly. It turned quickly into a fit of giggles on my end as
I took in the situation and the quiet draconic swearing coming from the trees. The
poor man looked at me confused, wondering if he did something wrong. I gave a
breathless kiss on the cheek to reassure him, “It isn’t you I am laughing at,
just Onyx.” He relaxed only slightly.
Reluctance
tugged at me, but I knew I had to deal with the problem soon, so I stood and
adjusted myself thusly, smoothing out the white tunic I chose that day and picking
a leaf off of brown leggings. Bare toes curled happily in the grass as I always
enjoyed the cool texture it provided, “I’ll go have a quick chat with him
awhile. Stay here and keep playing your wonderful music for me, my brave bard.”
Hand rose in an idle wave as he finally seemed to fall into the soothing
actions of playing the string instrument.
Meanwhile, I
took little time in coming to the trees, allowing steps to crunch loudly with
the carpet of leaves growing more dense. I searched for the gold ones I knew I
would find glaring back at me, and eventually I caught a glint from a thick
section of trees. I would stop and cross my arms over my chest.
“You hide and growl like a jealous dog,
Onyx. It does not suit you…” a pause and I gave a cheerfully innocent smile
as I continued in my native tongue, “Well,
it does, but they don’t make dog collars that big.”
A snarl as the
words did their work and his head burst from the trees like a comical head
ornament on a hunter’s wall, teeth bared as he hissed, “I am not jealous of that pathetic thing you keep as a pet.”
Low growls
began at the back of my throat as I did my best to keep myself from losing my
short temper. I blame my dragon half for such, although it could have just been
my father, but there was not many calm dragons to compare with so I usually
just did my best not to ignite the already glowing embers, “You will not speak of Myde
as such High Mage Onyx Vertiga. Else I will be certain to remove valuable
appendages and drop them in the nearest pit of molten lava, do you understand?”
Further he
emerged from the greenery, black scales finally catching the sunlight as he
brought himself to a towering height over myself, almost surpassing the tallest
trees, “I would like to see you try, Lady
Itisha. Your pet will turn on you as all humans do.”
Had I mentioned
I have a very bad temper? I did not appreciate Myde being called a pet, much
less a traitor as I very well knew that he was not. A snarl escaped my lips and
I felt my own vision clarify as the tips of my fingers itched to tear out the
throat of the dark one before me. It was the mere fact of Myde being so near
that I had not leapt forward in the form I held to gouge out an eye.
It would have
been difficult for me to reach anyway, even if I did try to grasp the bony
protrusion from his chin. In this light I could see the long twisted horns
better along with the smaller protrusion of scales that formed a pointed
texture along his head and trailed off like whiskers along the rigid jaw line
of his face. Short narrow spines trailed down the center of his back to the
tail tip, flourishing into an arrow head shape. Even his wing span was massive,
large paper thin flesh stretched out to reveal veins in the attempt to make him
look menacing.
A normal person
would have run away at this tall beast before me. Even some dragons would have begged
for forgiveness for reciting such challenges for the High Mage to accept. Yet,
I was not normal under any standards for I had a streak of stubbornness that
stretched far and wide. No, instead I used every ounce of frustration in me to
anchor myself to the very ground before I did something I would regret.
I was fairly
certain that without a thought, I had already begun to slip into the draconic
form that was requested of me. A mental check and I was certain of it, as teeth
were sharpening and nails were elongated. It was time to reign myself in before
I started tearing my clothes so I spoke plainly, “I ought to make you regret
your words, but as this is the only place I find comfort in with the one person
I find comfort with, I will not. Take your words and terrible mood and go back
to spying for Empress Sapphrin elsewhere. My business is not your own.”
A snarl as head
was lowered almost close enough for me to smack, “You just do not want your pet
to get caught in the crossfire. It is too late. Sapphrin knows of him and you
know very well that anyone other than me would have put a quicker end to him within
his first word to you. Not everyone is afraid to incur your anger or to draw
your blood.” White teeth shone as he rose his head once more with a superior
air before peering to the human who played his music, but not without stealing
curious looks to us.
“Goodness Onyx,
I should feel so grateful to your generosity that I let you insult and belittle
someone in exchange for not giving me a reason to kick your scaled behind.” A
fake cheerful voice escaped my lips before I relaxed slightly, allowing
features to fall into the more comfortable human one, “I will deal with
Sapphrin on my own. Which by the way, I am sure with that look means she has
told you to give me a message.”
He shifted
slightly with a grimace that told me he had wished for me to lose my temper. A
chance to fight me was always welcome in his eyes if he could finally prove
that a full dragon untainted by a lesser blood would easily win over my own
dirtied lineage. While I was confident in my abilities, I was not risking the safety
of anyone else to prove it.
“You are to
return home. Empress Sapphrin is
needed to take care of important matters elsewhere while you take watch over matters
there. Laru is still with Lady Talith, but she will be going with the Empress
on her journey.” A matter-of-fact tone from the beast was enough to make me
sigh. Hand brushed back my silvery bangs before I shrugged in response and
started to quickly walk back over to Myde, “Without the human.”
“Myde comes
with. Sapphrin will not be there. He knows how to take care of Talith just as
much as Laru does. I won’t hear any arguments. In which case tell her I will be
home in a few hours.” I gave a victorious smile as the meaning of my words
caught on and he growled quietly. The few hours were enough to take my good old
time walking home with the bard as well as infuriate the empress further due to
my refusal to fly there. Myde was not fearful of flying, rather enjoying it,
but none-the-less I took my enjoyments where I could slip them in.
A grunt as he
started to hunker down and tension filled his wings, “Fine, I will pass it
along, Lady Itisha.” An abrupt take off followed, his force kicking up dirt and
leaves while causing the trees to sway. A smile played on my lips as I made my
way back to the musician and offered my hand.
“Have to walk
back, apparently Sapphrin has important business to take care of today. Timed
it just to be annoying I am sure… too bad since I was really looking forward to
a good swim.” My arm motioned out towards the water that nestled itself below
the hill and the smile on my lips grew to something playful.
He laughed
softly, worry threaded into his every motion when he took my hand and pulled
himself to his feet, “Maybe next time then. Although, if she is gone, you do
have the spring…” Worries started to fall away while he gently placed the
instrument in the fabric cover and drawstring pulled snug before draping the
thick fabric strap across his chest. A smile lit after he took my hand once
more and we started our walk back together.
It was a
relaxing journey, one that was in stark contrast to the growing violence I have
witnessed in the passing days. Dragons while usually haughty were not supposed
to be looking for trouble, yet I started to see more and more bloodshed as the
empress gave a mere passing glance to those being slain over questions of the
standing the species held in comparison to others. Too many humans were afraid
to call out those dragons for blatantly breaking the truce forged under the claws
of late Emperor Oldim. Something that would have never been allowed had Azrin
still been alive.
I looked back
at those times often, when my father, Azrin, would tell me the stories of when
humans invaded Kaidia to build their homes within our land. A time when dark
magic had been used to enslave our entire species to the wims of a dark mage
and soon the entire culture of people that came with him.
My father’s
mother had been lost to that dark time, breaking Oldim’s spirit until he could
no longer stand the unnecessary violence Azrin and Sapphrin were suffering at
the hands of humans. It was with the help of those who were sympathetic to
their plight that the dragons were able to rebel that led to the warlock’s
death and an uneasy truce formed between the two species. It would stand that
in exchange for our retained freedom that the humans would keep themselves out
of our matters if we protected them from larger threats that promised to wipe
them off of the land.
It had been a
long time ago, before I was born. A long time before I was even conceived by
the human woman Azrin came to love and even soul-bonded with. She was an
adamant soul who bore both my sister and I into this world. A strong woman with
high spiritual power that was only equal to the love she had that kept her at
the side of my father in their final moments. It was the woman I named my
younger sister after in her infancy.
Talith.
A world full of
abhorrence for others flowed easily between dragons, but I knew better and I
made sure to teach her just as well. I was glad that the lessons took, much to
the ire of our father’s sister. It was even more of a blessing to have
befriended the bard alongside of me, having known him since we were both young and
growing into the love we had shared since the first time we met.
A gentle
squeeze of the hand brought me out of my thoughts as I was drawn gently aside
from a tree that was in my path, “Thinking again, Itisha?” Myde would ask
softly with a knowing smile. I returned it with a small nod, giving his hand a
squeeze while we slipped between more trees, giving to loud steps and letting
our presence be known to the inhabitants around us.
“As always,
Myde. Just hoping for a day where people will learn as Talith has that the past
is the past. There are no humans alive that remember the time without the
truce. They only have stories of Oldim while there are dragons who treat them
as though they were the ones who originally inhibited their freedom.” My expression
soured as it always would when returning back home. It was supposed to be a
relaxing day, which more often than not, was ruined by some sort of event
bringing me back to the dark reality that was Kaidia’s problems.
The sudden stop
of his feet caught me off guard as I felt myself being stopped even as inertia
continued to want to draw me forward. Curiously, I peered into the stormy eyes
of the human bard that offered a brilliantly warm smile. Soon, arms encased my
being and distance closed as soft lips pressed into mine, bringing doubts to a
halt. A beat before he withdrew and the glowing smile continued, “You can do it
one being at a time my beautiful dragon. After all, today Onyx didn’t even try
to claw my back off. I find that is an improvement.”
I winced at the
memory before pressing a kiss to his nose, “I am not sure if he is really
acting better or if he just wants to avoid he fury of the pocket dragon from
chewing on his neck again. He was especially grumpy today.” He would laugh,
giving me a squeeze as we both stood amongst the plant life. Finally, he
released me and laced nimble digits into mine before he continued to walk once
more.
“What nicknames
did he have for me today?”
“Oh, less
nicknames and more describing. You are still my pet, though a pathetic one in
his eyes.” I offered, omitting the bit about betrayal as it just would have
upset him. The rest of it rolled off of his back as he continued his laughter
despite.
“Hmm, I wouldn’t
mind being your pet so long as you promise treats.” All was said with a smile
that clouded his eyes in such a way that drew my thoughts off track. A scheming
grin was in response as I rose my free hand to pluck a leaf from his mane,
twirling the crumbling object thoughtfully as though deciding on my next words.
Although, I
already knew what I wanted to say, “Maybe, if you behave you will get plenty of
treats. Just make sure you don’t wake anyone up.” My tongue stuck out playfully
and hands flicked the bare stem into the air, “But first, we have to deal with
the hoard of grumpy nobles, family members, and anyone with scales who will
likely want to eat you for a pre-flight snack.”
An all too
human laugh broke out between us, bringing an ease onto me that would be lost
on my being without his continued existence. Conversation burned time away far
too quickly and soon we would see the grey stone castle in the distance. I
sighed in apprehension, hand gripping his tightly as I could see a dragon
taking off from a tower of the building.
Things would be
alright, as he reminded me often. How much I wished that he would have been
right.
