Pain and beauty
Kassia kneeled precariously close to the edge of the small rise, surveying the city she had lived in for her whole life. The sinking sun cast lengthy, black shadows around every house, and the slight red tinge painted the surrounding areas a breathtaking, red-gold.
On the edge of Ceunon stood Kassia's house, where her father and sister were doubtlessly preparing the evening meal. The ancient tree swayed gently to the peaceful song of the wind, and as she watched it fondly Kassia heard laughter drifting to her from the little city.
She loved sitting up there in the evenings, watching the enormous trees snatch away the sun with their leafy fingers. But something in the air was different this evening, a foreboding chill to the wind, a cautioning call from the birds, everything was affected by it.
A cold breeze caused Kassia to tighten her tunic around her neck and tuck her hands into her sleeves. She glanced around her curiously, her features drawn into a slight frown.
Kassia was a young Elvin girl, with glossy black hair that flowed down to her waist in clusters of tame curls. Her elegantly slanted eyes were clear-blue, like little pieces of the sky, her father always said. She smiled to herself at the thought of her father, who always managed to make her smile with his comments and beautiful singing.
He had told her that there was a war going on between the elves and dragons, when even her sister had been too afraid to tell her. The war was fading now, though, for Ceunon hadn't seen a dragon since the last emergency rush to the forest, where they would be harder to flame.
Thud. To her left, Kassia heard loud wing beats, a sound that made her freeze in fear.
Thud. She whipped around, and saw a formation of glittering beasts, like a shimmering, blinding rainbow that soared towards the city gracefully. Dragons.
She could barely tear her eyes from them; they were immensely beautiful. Each of them was a different shade, like a moving rainbow, gliding so expertly that for a moment Kassia wished she could be there with them, zooming through the air with her most hated enemies.
Large, shimmered patches of colourful light flickered on the ground, created by the dragon's translucent wings. They were truly amazing, but terrible, and they caused so much pain... pain and beauty did not go well together.
She shook herself and sprinted urgently to the nearest tree, where she grasped its trunk and pulled herself quickly to its branches. She scampered lithely from branch to branch, like an Elvin squirrel, until she strayed as far as she possibly could.
All this time, she had been hiding her terrified thoughts from herself. Not terrified for herself, but for Ceunon, her beloved home. There was no time to run to warn them, and no matter how often she denied it, she knew it… they would all be flamed to death… the animals, the elves… her father and sister.
She stayed silent, her breath caught in her throat, as the dragons flew overhead, a mass of iridescent scales through the gaps in the leaves. A sob shook her slender body, and she curled her hands around the branches to stop herself from leaping up to try and claw at the foul creatures. Her dying would not help her family.
Thud. Each wing beat brought her family and friends closer to their doom. There was no way she could deny that.
Thud. She wept into her hands, finally acknowledging the fact that the dragons were there to destroy.
Thud. Blasted beings! Their wonderful exteriors a disguise, with their supple necks and glittering eyes. They were monsters! She cursed them with every curse she had ever heard, sobbing all the while.
The powerful wing beats stopped suddenly, as if the dragons were now hovering above their prey, tauntingly. "No, no, no, no…" She continued chanting the denial that it would happen.
Her
chanting was interrupted by a horrified shriek, and the roaring of
fire erupting from dragon's mouths.
Flashes of magic pierced
the growing-darkness, but Kassia knew it was hopeless; the elves had
been caught off guard, in their homes, sleepily enjoying the last of
their meat-free dinners.
A dragon roared with obvious agony, and Kassia could imagine it plummeting to the ground… and then landing on some crying elves. She didn't dare look past her leafy tent; she knew there was nothing the elves could do. They would perish, and she would be alone.
She rocked back and forth on her perch, weeping softly. With every sob her heart seemed to tear in half, until it felt like a pile of torn paper rattling in her ribcage. How would she feel again after this? There were so many people she had left, and she was hiding… she was hiding while they all perished.
There came a point where she could no longer take the heart-rending screams from Ceunon, and she slipped of the branch and ran deep into the forest, fleeing from the sounds.
Deer abruptly raised their heads as she zipped past at an inhuman speed, and birds scattered in all directions as she tore through bushes. The forest whizzed by, but she paid no attention to it, she could barely see through the tears shining in her eyes.
Eventually she stopped, and she collapsed on the damp foliage, breathing in the sweet smells if the forest, and relishing the blissfulness of the scream-free silence. Her eyes drooped, and there was no denying her exhaustion. She allowed her eyes to close, and she fell deep asleep, lulled by the familiar croaks, caws and squeaks of the forest.
Somewhere in a forest near Osilon, a young Elvin boy named Eragon did the same