AN: This was supposed to come this March, but my beta was sick and busy with work (Simultaneously and not simultaneously I assume,) during most of that month, so it didn't come.
"Students who earn straight 'A's in school do so not because of good teachers but in spite of bad teachers."
— Neil deGrasse Tyson
Chapter 11: Realization
Glint awoke to the sound of creaking wood. He felt tired still, but opened his eyes. He heard the creaking continue as the sound emanated closer and closer. The dragon suddenly felt the instinctual feeling of danger. He turned his head quickly towards the sound and was barely able to make out the rough outline of a shaded dragon, the figure was emitting some sort of black smoke, spurting out slowly with purple tinges. He almost didn't have a chance to react as there was a low hiss before the dragon was suddenly tackled by an almost invisible shade. As Glint landed by on the floor with a loud crash, he grunted and saw the bright flash of something sharp.
The dragon threw out his claws and caught a tail blade merely inches from his throat before throwing the shade off himself. Glint scrambled back to his feet as the shade recovered and snarled angrily. The white dragon began to focus and placed his energy into forming a beam of light. In the meantime, he kept an eye on his foe, who was preparing another method of attack.
He then saw two more shades slip into his room through the previously closed window. At this, Glint kept at a respectful cautious difference and slowly made his way towards the door. Before he could reach it, however, one shade let out a torrent of shadow that obscured his vision and caused the dragon to cough. The next two advanced quickly and went into the small cloud to kill the dragon.
Glint then suddenly placed both of his forepaws on the ground before a bright flash stunned the shades. The dragon ran towards the door in their moment of confusion and opened it before running out. He closed it and heard running through the hallway. The dragon glanced at the direction of the sound and caught sight of Fynir making his way towards him. "You okay? They are after Spyro too! It's an assassination attempt or something." He said before stopping next to Glint who nodded.
"I'm fine," he replied before motioning towards his door, which, surprisingly, stayed still the entire time. Odd. Glint stood still, listening closely for sounds of movement. Fynir seemed to have caught on to the situation and mirrored Glint's silent listening. Then suddenly the door burst open with the three shades hissing wildly as one stopped to release a cloud of shadow upon the two. Both dragons split off to the sides and waited for the cloud to dissipate. The shades did not come straight out assaulting yet, instead it seemed they were in the cloud of smoke doing… something.
Glint saw a bright orange fireball go into the cloud making two out of the three shades jump out to avoid it while the third hissed in pain as it absorbed the impact of the fiery projectile. It flew out of the cloud and hit the wall before the corporeal form of the shade simply dissipated into nothing. The other two shades split and attacked the two dragons without any delay. Glint dodged the sharp claws that were aimed wildly towards him before realizing he had charged a beam earlier… and it was still charged. The dragon waited until his opponent made another move so that it couldn't dodge the illuminating light that would be on it soon. The opportunity came when the shade got impatient and lunged at him mindlessly. The dragon sidestepped and whacked the shade with his tail before taking aim at its stunned form. A bright beam of light enveloped the dark shade causing the dragon himself to close his eyes. He opened them to see nothing there and with a quick glance around.
Nothing.
Glint then focused his attention Fynir who had locked claws with the shade he was fighting. The shade hissed vehemently as Fynir broke contact with it before hitting it with a torrent of fire. Glint felt the scorching heat as well before it suddenly died out within a moment. He looked towards the direction of Fynir and saw the red dragon nod at him before running up to the light dragon. "Come on! Let's get to Spyro!" He yelled as he bolted down the stairs. Glint followed and matched his pace before they stopped at the courtyard in front of Terrador.
The Earth Guardian seemed to be checking the perimeters of the Temple, and upon noticing the two dragons he said, "I've got this covered young dragons, go and help Spyro. It seems these dark monstrosities are only here for two key targets." The Guardian then motioned them on with his wing before continuing his patrol of the perimeter. The two heeded his orders and immediately went back inside the Temple, as they made their way towards where the purple dragon would be. They eventually found him and Cynder fighting a larger group of shades already. Fynir rushed into the action while Glint turned around, hearing movement behind him. As he turned, he was surprised to see Aurea walking up to him. The dragoness looked at Glint with concern for an instant before uttering, "Are you alright? We've figured they were only seeking to eliminate you and Spyro."
Glint was sure when she said, 'We've' that she meant the Guardians and herself. "I'm fine, c'mon, let's jump into the fray." He replied before running into the action himself. Aurea stayed behind instead, preferring to keep her distance and strike from afar.
Spyro, out of the corner of his peripheral vision, saw the three dragons come in to support. Now things were certainly getting brighter. He refocused his attention on the five shades that were snarlingat him; they were weary of attacking him. Spyro pressed to his advantage by attacking first, he opened his muzzle and out came a volley of ice spikes that impaled two of the shades who failed to avoid the missiles. They dissipated within moments and the remaining three reacted by coordinating their attacks. One let out a cloud of smoke as another closed in, while the third began to flank Spyro.
All of a sudden, Cynder jumped out of the shadows and lunged at the shade flanking him. One less thing to worry about. While the two were preoccupied, the purple dragon shot a stream of electricity at the shade advancing towards him, forcing it to sidestep. Cursing under his breath at the unexpected movement, Spyro was forced to change his target to the shade that was' hanging around the back and blasted the shade with a couple of earth missiles each one was aimed at various spots where the shade could move to avoid the one coming towards it. It tried to move but was struck by another as Spyro predicted it well. That one was down.
Spyro turned his head and narrowly dodged a tail blade aimed for his neck. The shade beside him hissed and just when Spyro thought it was going to attack again it suddenly disappeared from sight. As the purple dragon glanced at Cynder's direction he saw the other shades continuing to fight but as he tried to come and help,he bumped into an invisible wall, or rather a bubble. It wasn't actually invisible, there was a black smoke around it with a dark grey coloring. Before he could do anything more he felt a force push him against the bubble that was followed by a searing pain, he slid down from the dark bubble and shook his head.
The dragon looked ahead and saw another shade, but not quite a shade. A dragon more so. It was that thing again! From the cave! A cloud of dark grey smoke covered most of the dragon's features, but what stood out were the red eyes that were tinged with blue and the darkened scales. The dragon form said nothing before charging some sort of elemental attack. Spyro forced himself up and stared down at the dragon, charging a torrent of fire as well. The two were at a standoff.
The first to notice the new development was Cynder who just finished off the last shade in the hall. The dragoness ran towards the purple dragon and was blocked by the bubble as well. "What the?" She tapped the thing firmly and began to study it for a way to break in. The dragoness could hear the other three dragons walk up behind her.
"It's some sort of barrier…" Aurea noted, scrutinizing it.
"Well, duh." Fynir said before getting a bit low. "Let me try something." He shot a fireball at the barrier but to no effect.
"Cynder, what do you make of this?" Glint asked as he watched the purple dragon inside start to circle his opponent who was doing the same.
"It's a pretty strong barrier… Something that Malefor could do if he tried…" She stated before disappearing into a cloud of shadows but they heard a thud as the dragoness was thrown back as she tried to pass the barrier with no avail.
Cynder stood back up, "Glint. Charge up a light beam. Maybe that will work." The white dragon nodded before doing as the black dragoness instructed.
Spyro finally let out his torrent of fire that was met by the beam of dark grey light, it clashed with the fire and started to push against it. The purple dragon stopped and sidestepped as the beam hit the bubble, widening it much to the surprise of the spectators outside. "What is that element?" Spyro muttered to himself before charging the dragon-shade. It braced as they made contact; the two locked horns and snarled at each other. Spyro jumped back and fired a volley of fireballs one after another each hurtled towards the shaded dragon at breakneck speeds. Much to Spyro's surprise, it all struck a shield of the same dark grey light. Spyro growled in irritation before trying another volley but all that came out of his maw was smoke. Spyro realized the cause of this had to be the bubble barrier or the initial strikes of his formidable foe. One, or both, seemed to be draining his energy. He had no other method of attack currently besides to engage in more melee combat which could go swimmingly or just quite the opposite for him.
It appeared that would not be the case however, as a bright beam of white light struck the bubble, causing it to shimmer before a hole appeared on it. In that instant all the dragons outside stormed in and rushed to Spyro's side. The shaded dragon analyzed the situation, evaluating all of his new foes. It roared at them before disappearing in the shadows, letting silence envelope the hall.
It fled.
Spyro let out a breath of relief and looked at Cynder. "Well, it looks like everything is fine now."
"Is everyone okay?" Aurea asked, walking between the two while glancing between all the dragons in the hall. They all nodded almost simultaneously.
"Where were all the Guardians?" Fynir asked, "Glint and I only saw Terrador outside."
"Cyril and Volteer were checking other parts of the temple for any other cases of intrusion." Aurea answered.
"Spyro, how come you didn't use your elements against him after that volley of fireballs?" Glint asked.
The purple dragon responded in thought while looking at the white dragon. "My energy was sapped apparently. I think it was the beam it… or rather… he struck me with." He paused for a moment before a flash of recognition ran between his purple eyes. "It actually looked a lot like your light beam there Glint, if you take away the different coloring and smoke-like effect."
As he said that, all eyes seemed to be on the light dragon himself. He felt the weight of the pressure that bore down on him. Glint scanned all their eyes quickly; they were all expecting an answer of sorts, if not a confirmation. Aurea's eyes conveyed a more empathetic understanding, it seemed she was under a pressure similar to his at some point before in her time, but she appeared to be expecting a more in-depth answer privately rather than publicly in front of everyone. Cynder's seemed to almost match Aurea's, albeit not empathetic, just a understanding look. That was expected of her since he already explained some things to the black dragoness. Spyro and Fynir however were left in the dark in that respect and therefore they only had curiosity.
"Uh… Well… he is a corrupted light dragon…" Glint managed to get out from the pressure bearing down on him still. He remained silent after that. Which made it pretty clear he wasn't going say anything else at the moment.
"Right…" Spyro said. "Well, thanks for at least giving an answer." He was about to continue on a different line of questioning but was beaten by Aurea to speaking.
"I'm sorry to interrupt Spyro, but shouldn't we be reporting to one of the Guardians at the very least? They must be terribly worried." The yellow dragoness chimed in, wanting to spare Glint from anything more.
The purple nodded, conceding with her point. "You're right. Alright everyone, let's go find one of them."
They all began to leave the room. Aurea chose to wait until it was just Glint and her making their way, following the others. "Whatever you know about that shaded dragon. You can tell me, you know that right?" She said to the white dragon with a smile, which he responded to kindly.
"I'll give you all the explicit details later, but thanks Aurea."
"You're welcome Glint. I think I shouldn't be keeping things to myself any longer too…" She responded. At that moment, the dragon looked at her curiously; he had a hint on what she meant.
"You don't mean—"
"Later Glint. Later." Aurea said, cutting him off promptly.
Before the two could say anything else, they stopped as they neared Spyro, Cynder, and Fynir who had already begun their conversation with Terrador. Out of the temple's front doors Cyril and Volteer came out and joined in. The two dragons joined in as well. What they were discussing was merely their accounts of what happened and the findings of the three Guardians.
"Now here comes our most important question? Should the citizens of Warfang know about this incursion?" Volteer asked as they neared the end.
"I believe it would best to keep it hush-hush. It's unlikely it'll happen again."
"And what makes you confident about that my fellow colleague?" Terrador asked before adding in his input. "In any case, it would be unnecessary to inform the populace as they aren't the targets. Rather, it is our two special young dragons here." He used his wing to motion at Glint and Spyro.
"In that circumstance…" Volteer started glancing between the two before looking at Cyril, who nodded, then Terrador, who did the same. "It would be why we decided it would be best if you two do not wander around the city alone, day or night. Now, don't view this as a burden or punishment, it is for your own safety, as I'm sure you two will understand."
"Is there any questions?" Cyril asked, gauging the two for their reactions. They both actually reacted rather well for such an announcement.
"I have one." Glint said which Terrador nodded for him to continue. "Then if we can't wander alone, who's accompanying us?"
"Ah, I knew you'd ask that Glint." Volteer said. "We are not assigning guards to the two of you if that is what you are asking young dragon. Instead, you just have to be accompanied by another, which can be anyone who resides in the temple. There are only four that reside here besides us and the two of you."
Glint glanced at Fynir and Aurea. While Spyro looked at Cynder. "So that means it can be either Glint and I together, or Cynder and I, so on and so forth?" The purple asked.
"You are correct young Spyro." Cyril answered for him.
"That won't be so bad." Glint commented.
"Indeed. That shall be all. You are all dismissed." Terrador said
They all split up as everyone headed off to do their own things. Glint originally did not plan to go to the dojo by himself, but now he was determined to ready himself for a fight with his own brother that is surely coming. Aurea decided to go out and meet up with Phenyla. While Fynir made his way to Sarin's workshop. Spyro and Cynder went about elsewhere, spending time together by themselves.
Aurea walked down the streets of Warfang and back towards the art museum where she assumed her friend would be. It turned out however, that she didn't even have to go a quarter of the way there as the yellow dragoness caught sight of Phenyla making her way towards the temple. She soon noticed Aurea as well and waved at her before making her way over to the dragoness. "Looks like we both had the same idea of coming to visit each other huh?" Phenyla said. "Oh, and before I forget… Sear is coming over to Warfang to visit today apparently. She doesn't know that you're still here however."
Aurea was surprised, she didn't expect to meet another one of her childhood friends again so soon. "Sear… is coming to Warfang?"
"Yep. She is going to be so surprised to see you here!" The wind dragoness then motioned for Aurea to follow her. "Come on, let's walk and talk. I don't like standing around all day."
The yellow dragoness complied started to walk as Phenyla did, matching her pace as they started to wander around. "So… the Amourian Festival is coming up very soon. You remember back in Grantis where our celebration for the Amourian Holiday was merely the boys sending gifts to their special someones? Our village certainly couldn't hold such a festival like the one here."
Aurea thought back to those days. "I remember. Every year I always got something from Dormis, even though I made it obvious I wasn't interested in anyone in the slightest."
"Ah Dormis! He was always trying to get your attention, doing all these weird things and embarrassing himself just to get you to laugh or something." Phenyla replied with a stifled giggle. "He was really into you. You know? I think you broke his poor heart when you left Grantis."
The yellow dragoness lowered her head slightly. "I know… I just wasn't interested. I felt bad for him when I left, but I honestly hope he got over it…" She regarded Phenyla with slight suspicion. "Don't tell me you're friends with him or something, and you're just trying to guilt trip me into… dating him."
"What?" Phenyla replied, "No! I'm not trying anything of the sort! What makes you think that?" She smiled innocently.
"This is coming from the matchmaker in our group…" Aurea replied incredulously, staring at her friend with a flat look.
"Hey! Just because I think dragon 'X' and dragoness 'Y' would look cute together, doesn't mean I always try to play matchmaker." She protested, blowing a raspberry.
"Uh huh… I think I found my 'X' already Phenyla, thank you very much." The yellow dragoness said before suddenly coming to a full stop as she realized what she just revealed. Aurea glanced at Phenyla, who stopped as well, but was looking at Aurea with a wide grin.
"Aurea…" The wind dragoness started, making her friend groan as her grin grew wider. "Who is this dragon that you have your eyes on?"
"I… don't know what you're talking about." Aurea replied, feigning ignorance.
"Come on! You spilled the beans already. So just tell me and I won't go interfering with your love life." At this point, her grin was so wide that it could be considered almost physically impossible for it to get anymore wider. Her tail was waving back and forth at an insane rate, making it a mere blur to anyone who viewed it.
The yellow dragoness found it pointless trying to deny it now. "He's… a dragon called Glint. A light dragon." She answered with a long sigh, looking away.
For a moment, she noticed how Phenyla was quiet for a moment. Almost as still as a rock, but then, the wind dragoness spoke. "A light dragon huh? Gee, that's kind of like swooning over the purple dragon."
"Not quite… Sure, light dragons are thought to be more of fables than actual things; but I don't think a light dragon would be as renowned as a purple dragon. Although, Glint did just happen to make a bit of a name for himself in the more lowly districts of Warfang."
"Ah, there you go again!" Phenyla exclaimed, wagging a claw between the yellow dragoness' eyes. "You sound so pompous and snooty when you say 'lowly districts'" She said, imitating such a manner while saying that. "It's due to the fact that you were kind of the 'unofficial' nobles back in Grantis, and it is getting in your head and all."
"Well, I am sorry my choice of words there made me sound pretentious and arrogant." Aurea replied with a roll of her eyes.
"Nice to know you didn't change much." Was the reply of her friend, who chuckled quietly.
Both were silent however, as they had wandered into the central plaza of Warfang, the conspicuous signs of the Amourian Festival were everywhere. Hearts dazzled with lively pink and red that were cloaked by the large sheets of cloth that were held by the rooftops of buildings; creating a more indoors-like feeling. There were also various stands being set up that were to cater to the couples that would inevitably make their way past them at some point.
"It's very elaborate," Phenyla commented as she took in the sight, marveling at the amount of detail being put into the decorations.
"Am I really going to be walking around these festival-themed streets for the first time?" Aurea said to no one in particular, but perhaps, more so to herself.
"You never went?" Came to the unsurprised voice of her friend, who caught her statement.
"Of course not." The electricity dragoness replied, "I wasn't—"
"Interested," Phenyla finished for her, already expecting such an answer beforehand. "So… when can I meet this 'Glint' of yours?"
"You'll meet him. I promise." Aurea replied.
"I hope so. I wonder how he managed to catch your attention."
"Oh, he doesn't try. It was never his intention, that much I can assume."
"You mean you're the one who started to—"
"Actually, when we first met, I didn't think much of him then. He just seemed nice. And I was shy around him because he wasn't familiar. I had no romantic interests until… well… I don't know. I guess I started liking him more and more as we spent time together."
Phenyla looked at her with a raised eye. "And you two aren't in a relationship now because…?"
"I… don't have the courage to ask him…" The yellow dragoness said, looking away almost shamefully.
"Oh boy, typical of you Aurea. Typical." The wind dragoness said with slight exasperation.
"I'm sorry… I just… can't say anything." Came the bashful reply of the dragoness.
"Well, you have to say something at some point. What if… he's in the same position?"
"Glint? No, I doubt it."
"If that is the case, then it's just really up to you." Phenyla said with a sigh. She began to make her way towards courier station. The dragoness normally checked if she had received any messages around this time. Aurea just tagged along, assuming she still had more to say. It wasn't until they actually reached their destination the two resumed conversing.
"Well, this is certainly surprising…" Phenyla said as she scanned the contents of a letter, smiling at the contents within it.
"What is it?" Aurea asked, trying to peak at the words written on the letter.
"Nothing important. I'll tell you later." Phenyla replied, quickly closing it and placing it firmly in her grasp, before the dragoness could do so.
"Later when?"
"Tomorrow, if you want."
Aurea nodded, though her interest was piqued with the letter, the dragoness was willing to wait at least that much.
"So… in theory this should be able to give you the lightweight needed for lift… but making it flexible is a different story. It's a pretty rigid hunk of metal here." The earth dragoness said, pushing the googles she had on up, while holding a small piece of metal up and tapping it with a claw.
"That's not the only material you're using, I recall." Fynir replied as he came up to look at the metal. He gently took it from her as the dragoness went to fetch something else.
"It's not… but… you realize I have never done such a thing like this. What we are trying to accomplish is right out of a folktale Fynir." Sarin answered as she pulled something out. "In theory however, I suspect that creating a hybrid of that metal and this," she pulled out another more malleable and flexible material out, "could give us the properties that we are looking for."
"Well, what exactly are we waiting for again? I mean, we have both of the materials... so why don't we just throw them in the mixing pot and see what we get?" The fire dragon asked as he placed the metal from earlier down on the table nearby.
Sarin shot a glare at him, "because, you impatient hot-breathed lizard," she started, causing the dragon flinch slightly at the new insult. "These two materials are extremely valuable, which makes me very reluctant just to mess around with them on the slight chance that we'll get what we want."
"I get it. I get it. You don't have to be so… temperamental."
"Temperamental? Just stop being so impatient and maybe I won't yell at you for once in a day." Sarin then sighed, "With the Amourian Festival going on, it's going to be harder to procure more of the two materials." She muttered loud enough for the fire dragon to hear.
"I'm probably going to go dragoness hunting in that festival." Fynir commented with a small chuckle to himself. "Eh…" he glanced at his disabled wing. "I think I might have a problem either way."
Sarin just rolled her eyes, "You have fun with that. To be honest though, a decent dragoness would not care for your deformity, Fynir."
"Oh, so you're not going?" He replied with a teasing tone.
"Not at all. I have to work that day too, you know. Zethur and I, we'll be making crafts for all the couples." She answered, ignoring his the tease in his tone. "Besides, I don't have time for that lovey-dovey stuff. Yuck."
Fynir was silent for a moment, "Do you really think a single dragoness wouldn't care if I had this?" He asked a softer tone, displaying his left wing.
The dragoness gave him an exasperated look, "Like I said, if the dragoness truly doesn't care she'd be interested in you. What is so hard for you to understand about that?"
"Alright… I'll take your word for it Sarin. Thanks."
"You're welcome… I suppose you already know, but I'm normally pretty… er… grouchy… so I hope you take my little remarks lightly." She said with a small grin.
Fynir nodded and smiled, "I got used to it already. So no worries."
The earth dragoness pushed her googles back down and made a clapping noise, before grabbing both materials and placing them on the table in front of her. "Alright! There's no point in delaying any longer. I'm going to start 'mixing'," she said, doing air quotes with a grin before continuing. "You better pray to the Ancestors that everything will turn out fine. I can't guarantee anything, and I'm potentially throwing many white gems down the drain. So wish me luck and all."
"Good luck Sarin, when can I expect you to be done?" Fynir said.
"How 'bout this, you can expect it to be done after the Amourian Festival. Why? Go find yourself a dragoness and when you come in here the day after the festival; you can either go cry on her shoulder if this screws up or dance… party… something if everything turns out okay." She replied with a chuckle to herself before finishing, "Claws crossed okay?" The dragoness asked with a nod.
Fynir nodded back in excitement, "Claws crossed!" He said before heading out of the building, the fresh air hitting him and the more industrial one that was of Sarin's workshop leaving his scent. The dragon figured that it was best to go back to the temple. He started to maneuver his way through the bustling streets of Warfang. Sure, he got looks from others when they could clearly see his destroyed wing, but whether they were looks of curiosity or pity was beyond him at this point, for he didn't care. The dragon wasn't sure if would be able to accept being condemned to a flightless life, but… if he had been living with it for a couple years already, just how bad can it be? He shuddered regardless, it was still bad, it still hurt. He wasn't really sure anymore sometimes.
When the dragon reached the top of the steps that lead up to the temple, he glanced at the cloudless, sunny sky. He imagined for a moment, the wind hitting his wings as if he were flying one last time. He sighed and instead walked over to the fountain near the library and stared deep into the reflection that started to manifest in the water. If a dragoness saw him now… what would she say? "Hey Fynir," a voice called out from behind, there was two individuals walking up behind him, that he can hear however. One he knew for sure, was Aurea, the other… who?
He looked up and turned around, the unknown person was a wind dragoness. He blinked for a moment. Aurea actually had friends? Since when? "Uh, hello Aurea and uh…"
"Phenyla," she said with a smile. However, upon noticing his left wing, she gasped in shock, before frowning as her eyes slowly went over every little rip and tear on his torn membrane. "Oh dear, If you were a wind dragon I would not know how you would be able to bear that." The dragoness said sadly, looking at Fynir with pity.
"It's okay… I've gotten over it mostly." Fynir assured, he wanted to switch the topic, for his wing was not something easy to talk about with someone he just met. "So how do you know Aurea exactly? I thought she hardly had any friends besides all of us that live in the temple, a grand total of four."
"I couldn't expect any more from Aurea." Phenyla said grinning while looking at Aurea who just smiled. "Anyways, Aurea and I? We're childhood friends, back from our little unheard of village called Grantis."
"Aurea, you never talked about your past friends with anyone. Doe's Glint know? What about Cynder? Spyro?"
"Cynder and Spyro knows and Glint only knows a bit." Aurea answered.
"So… I'm the only one left in the dark? Well, gee, thanks a lot Aurea. I value the amount of trust and faith you put in our friendship." Fynir said in a joking manner, making the two dragonesses giggle, to which he smiled at.
"Sorry. You were pretty preoccupied with other things, I didn't think it would best to bore you with the insignificant details of my life." Aurea replied.
"If you two get along pretty well, then I wonder how it is like for you and this Glint of yours Aurea." Phenyla said, commenting on how she noticed the two interacted with each other so far.
"Looking for Glint now eh?" Fynir asked.
"Actually, not really. I was showing Phenyla around the temple. We didn't run into Glint at all yet." Aurea answered.
"Ah, okay." Fynir replied before looking at Phenyla, "so how do you like the Dragon Temple so far?"
"It's very nice actually, some of the views are just begging to be captured in a painting."
"You're a painter?" The red dragon said in slight surprise, "Well, I do admit that some of the views here are just stunning… but I suppose you haven't seen much of the views that a city can offer?"
"Not at all, I lived in the countryside my entire thus far. This is a completely new experience you know."
"I think most of us grew up around the countryside, so yeah, I know how the change can feel."
"Oh, sorry Aurea, I suppose we should get moving huh?" Phenyla said suddenly, looking at the yellow dragoness who was just listening to the two silently.
"If you would like."
"I understand you two," Fynir said, "Catch you girls later!" The dragon waved at the two as they departed elsewhere around the temple, possibly the library, now that he thought about it. "I guess I should go find Glint myself." The fire dragon said to himself before beginning his little endeavor to search for the light dragon. The dragon was curious though, if the two dragonesses had not found Glint yet, then he must be in somewhere out of the norm. The fire dragon considered checking the dojo, or maybe the dorms, perhaps… there wasn't actually that much places Fynir thought that the light dragon would be.
Regardless, the dragon made his way to the dojo and found it vacant. He then went into the dorm areas and went by the light dragon's door to his room. He could hear movement inside and thus, he knocked lightly. There was a delay before he heard Glint's voice through the door, "come in."
Fynir turned the knob to the apparently unlocked door and stepped inside to see Glint lying on his belly, facing the window with a book underneath his head. "What are you reading?" The fire dragon asked walking up to the light dragon before trying to sneak a peak at the book's words that the dragon had beneath his head. Glint hastily closed the book and turned his head.
"Stuff."
"What kind of 'stuff'?" Fynir said with a raised eye, he watched as the white dragon lower his eyes for a moment, hesitating. He let out a sigh after a moment.
"I'm not too sure to be honest. It's supposed to be about love…" Glint said before picking the book up and handing it to the red dragon, who took it with piqued interest.
"Why are you reading about this stuff anyway—" Fynir started before stopping himself, he opened the book while giving the white dragon a grin. "Wait. Glint… what prompted you to even research something like this?"
"Well, it started with me asking Aurea about the decorations they placed around the city, then Cynder coming to talk with me yesterday. The Amourian Festival, I was curious. That… and love. Which is just something more than I ever cared to think about for once." The white dragon replied, almost nonchalantly.
"That sounds typical of you, but are you even going to the festival? I mean why read about it if you can just partake in it instead? Experiencing things is different than just reading and knowing about it you know?"
"Yeah. Problem is, it seems like a really serious thing to partake in. I don't have anybody in mind…" The dragon trailed off oddly.
Fynir blinked and set the book down, "Are you just thinking about that—"
"Initially…" Glint continued, picking up where he trailed off, "initially, I had nobody in mind…" He looked Fynir, "Do you think… that Aurea likes me?" He placed a claw on his muzzle, before his eyes lit up. "It would explain so much! Her actions! Everything!"
The fire dragon chuckled and shook his head, "by the Ancestors, did you just figure that out now? Seriously? Well, at least you figured it out before someone like me could have told you. It's great not to be naïve isn't it?
"So she does! Doesn't she?!" The light dragon said, standing up and glancing out the window for a moment before turning to face Fynir, who waved his other, functional wing, in front of his face. A stern look manifested on his face.
"Before you start doing anything you could regret… Let me ask you this, if you now know Aurea likes you that way, how do you feel about her?"
The question made Glint pause, he blinked and suddenly deflated… "I'm… not sure." Came his troubled reply.
"Well, how did you feel when you figured that out?" Fynir shook his head, "no… better question; how do you feel when you're around her?"
Glint closed his eyes for a moment, before shrugging dejectedly. "I'm still not sure."
"Oh boy… okay, you need a live test. Which is convenient, 'cause Aurea and her friend were looking for you earlier, or that's just the impression I got. So let's go find out now shall we?" Fynir said as he started heading out.
"Sure…" The light dragon replied as he followed along.
"I believe they are in the library. That's not a good place for our little test, considering Volteer is there. So… let's just meet them outside. And if they are already outside, great. Now, tell me this Glint, have you been thinking any odd thoughts about her lately. Like some random comment, you would have never thought of before?"
"Um…" The white dragon started uncomfortably, "her eyes looked pretty. I thought that once unexpectedly yesterday. In the library." He said shrinking his head back a bit.
Fynir glanced at him, "you know, as much as I want to say that you do like her back that way… I don't think a single random thought reinforces the notion strongly." It only took a short while for the two to reach the outside of the library, near the fountain. Fynir studied the library and started to make his way inside, saying, "Wait for me out here, I'm going to check if they're inside."
It only took a moment for the red dragon to come back, and when he did, he was rushing to the light dragon. "They're coming! Get ready and don't slip up." He hissed slightly, while turning himself around before assuming a more casual stance. Not a moment too soon two dragonesses, walked out of the library, and upon seeing the two, they went to greet them.
"Hello again Fynir, and Glint." Aurea said, looking at the white dragon, while smiling warmly. Phenyla walked up to Glint and stared at him for a moment.
"You look… almost like a wind dragon. But you have that aura around you, it's odd. Argh, don't mind my rambling. I'm Phenyla. Aurea told me so much about you." She said while extending her paw for the dragon.
Glint shook it and smiled, "A pleasure to meet you. Aurea never went into specifics about her past. So I don't know much about you. Heck, I didn't even know your name until now." He said with a chuckle.
Aurea just shifted a tad bit nervously, she glanced at Fynir, who was listening closely to their conversation. "Well, at least she told you something! I was left in the dark Glint, can you believe that?" The red dragon exclaimed, feigning hurt.
The light dragon gave the yellow dragoness a feigned look of disappointment, "And here I thought you valued his friendship." Glint said before sticking his tongue out playfully, making the dragoness giggle.
"I already apologized to Fynir." She replied a little shyly.
The white dragon just smiled at her. "So is Aurea showing you around the temple?" He asked Phenyla.
She nodded, "Yep, I'm pretty impressed. Her uncle… Guardian Volteer, is um… interesting." The wind dragoness finished, looking at Aurea. Who didn't mind what was said of her uncle. He could be considered eccentric really.
"You don't live in Warfang, do you?" Glint asked.
"Nope. I'm just here temporarily. I'll be gone... after the Amourian Festival, I believe."
"So you're not going to participate in the festival then?" Fynir chimed in, asked out of curiosity.
Phenyla shook her head, "I don't have the time. I'm going to preoccupied with some things during that event, as much as I would love to experience it, it just wouldn't be possible this year." The wind dragoness then gave Fynir a teasing look, "Is that a question you ask every single dragoness?"
"Not at all. I believe that question would be 'how's life?', rather than that." The fire dragon responded with a tone likewise to her look. They both snickered at each other before glancing at the other two dragons.
"So Aurea, are we going to continue the tour? I don't think you've shown me the inside yet." Phenyla said.
"Of course," the yellow dragoness said before beckoning the wind dragoness to follow her.
Glint and Fynir said their goodbyes as they departed. Fynir waited until they were out of eyesight before speaking to the white dragon. "So?"
"I… Well, what is this warm feeling you get when you're around someone?" He said in slight awe to what the red dragon assumed he was feeling now.
"Bingo! You feel the same! That's wonderful!" Fynir exclaimed with a laugh.
Glint's face lit up, "Really?"
"Yep. I think that feeling you have there, my friend, can be called l-o-v-e." The fire dragon responded, spelling out the word.
The light dragon suddenly looked bewildered, "Um, now what? I mean, we figured this out… So what do I do next?"
"You ask her to go to the Amourian Festival with you?" Fynir replied slowly, looking at the white dragon with a befuddled look. "I thought that was obvious."
For a moment, a look of enlightenment flashed in Glint's eyes before he gave Fynir an apologizing look, "And then what?"
"You do activities." The red dragon deadpanned.
"Like?"
"Whatever the heck you two want to do, if you don't have an idea. Then maybe ask Aurea." Came the slightly frustrated reply from Fynir.
"Oh, okay… Sorry about this. I didn't think this through ahead of time."
"Really? I was pretty sure most of the things you do were impromptu." Fynir said with a flat look, he sighed before moving on. "Well, congrats again. The two of you should talk later… in private. Nobody wants to hear life drama. Right?"
"Right." Glint answered, before looking down for a moment, "well, thanks for the help Fynir. I guess I should go do some stuff now huh?"
"You do that. And I'll do my stuff." The red dragon responded with a grin before the two of them went their separate ways. If there was one thing the red dragon was uncertain about, it was tomorrow.
For all the things Glint was concerned about, he never really fretted over something that seemed really simple. It was just one line, about four words, or around that. Rather simple in thought, but delicate to execute in speech. "How does one even go about saying such deep things like that?" The white dragon muttered as he stared out the window, hours already passed and the sky was filled with colorless black, but the stars that littered the plane above were simply a beautiful sight to behold. The light dragon could make out several constellations from his memory, he recalled them from the brief lesson Aurea and he had about astronomy. His eyes landed on the one of the moons that hovered overhead, it certainly held an appealing glare to it.
His thoughts, however, were interrupted by a single knock on his door. Glint turned his head, someone at this hour? It was quite late, and the only reason the dragon himself was awake was because his mind was troubled with various thoughts, restless. So here he was, staring at the night sky for some relaxation. But now, someone else was at the door. The dragon was confident on who this was.
He headed towards the door and turned the knob slowly before pulling the door open slowly to reduce the commotion it could cause. He saw the somewhat slim frame of Aurea standing just outside. She had a troubled look upon her. "I'm sorry… did I wake you?" She said in a soft, low tone.
Glint shook his head, "Actually, I've been awake for a while now." He studied the dragoness for a moment before concluding a suspicion he had earlier. "Nightmares?" He asked with concern.
Aurea nodded slowly, almost shamefully. "I'm sorry," she murmured before the dragon motioned for her to come in.
Upon entering, the white dragon noticed she was carrying a box. "What is that for?"
"It's part of why I came here. I think you finally need to know…"
"Know? You mean…?" Glint trailed off, the dragoness is going to tell him about her more darker parts of her past. The scholarly dragoness nodded without saying anything. She set the box down on the nearby table before going into thought about how to start.
"Aurea, you don't have to tell me now… I mean, originally, I thought you were seeking—"
"Comfort?" She interrupted with a shaky voice. "I am, by telling you this, I can find some comfort." Aurea then looked down sadly, "so that I can be judged, by someone who isn't family."
"What do you mean?" Glint asked, he stepped closer to the dragoness, and practically started to touch scales with her.
"You'll see… When I tell you." The dragoness said before starting mouth a few words in preparation. "Alright…" Aurea said slowly, her voice still shaky and little pained. "This started when I was younger; I had just reached my adolescence just a little over a day. With the war going on, my town, Grantis, was relatively safe, apart from the on and off raiding parties by the apes. But everyone was still expected to train, just for the sake of safety. I lost my parents that day. All because of a mistake…"
A younger Aurea stared into the book beside her before looking up and taking a breath. "It's okay, I can do this." She said to herself before staring down at a target dummy she set up earlier in preparation for this. Her muzzle started to charge and bristle with electricity before she opened her mouth, unleashing the deadly zigzag of voltage into the dummy, which it struck ferociously before suddenly chaining to other dummies set up behind them. There was a bright, but brief flash of yellow light before all the dragoness could see were dummies lying on the floor with smoke emanating from them.
"Ah, perfect." She said to herself in satisfaction before grabbing a pen and scribbling down the results. After that, she turned reset everything and tried it again, with even more satisfactory results. The yellow dragoness performed a couple of more trials before concluding that she was proficient enough on the elemental strike. She turned the page of the book and opened another one before taking some notes furiously as she quickly read over the contents from before.
"Milady Aurea?" A voice called out.
"Yes, Ulris?" The dragoness responded, not looking up.
"Is everything okay over there? Do you need a refreshment perhaps?" An armored dragon said as he walked towards the dragoness. Ulris was one of the town guards specifically placed to watch over her family as it was decided a long time ago by the town council.
"Water, please." The dragoness said, before realizing something and looking up from her books. "I thought Feylia was supposed to be tending to me?"
"She is, I am merely the messenger."
"That explains why she sort of disappeared." The yellow dragoness said.
"I would suggest exercising some caution milady. We wouldn't want you setting the house on fire now would we?" Ulris said with a chuckle as he adjusted his armor slightly. He glanced at the dummies, "I'd say you're doing very well in your elemental studies. But I guess we could expect no less from the niece of the Electricity Guardian."
"Please Ulris, I don't like to think about having high societal status just because of bloodlines." She replied modestly.
"That would be when your elemental prowess could be used to keep the annoying buggers of suitors away eh?" The guard said with a laugh.
"Don't tell me I got another gift or something." The dragoness said with a slight groan.
"Since you've just turned of age to be properly courted not too long ago… I'm afraid so." The dragon then shook his head at his forgetfulness, "Sorry milady, I will tell Feylia to fetch you some water."
"Your apology would be accepted if you stop addressing me like that Ulris, I thought I told you I want to be treated normally. I'm nothing special."
"Oh, of course Aurea, sorry for trying to look professional." He said with feigned hurt before smiling.
"This isn't exactly what you call a formal conversation or setting for that matter." She replied, smiling back as the guard left to fetch Feylia. She had been the nanny for Aurea ever since the yellow dragoness hatched.
It was moments before the guard returned with water, he offered it to the dragoness casually and went back to his duties after that. Aurea saw that a letter was also given to her, the dragoness assumed that this was likely one of those gifts or something that potential suitors sent. However, her usual frown when dealing with these things dissipated as she saw who it was from. "Dormis? Again?" Aurea said with an exasperated sigh, "I thought I made this perfectly clear already," the dragoness said aloud before opening the letter and reading the contents within. Despite her initial thoughts about the dragon, she could admit however, that he was certainly tenacious. And he wasn't really all that bad, except for maybe when something like this happens on a weekly basis, sometimes daily. Then it got annoying. "If I ever do get interested…" the dragoness muttered as she finished reading the words written on the letter. "I guess Dormis would be first choice if I don't actually find anyone, and if he's still interested."
The letter itself was a little out of the norm from the dragon, instead of a sly and cheeky attempt to ask her out, it was a simple greeting. The dragoness couldn't really just ignore something so apparently harmless, so she made up her mind to reply back later. Aurea took a sip of her water before looking down on her books again, she set the letter down beside her on the lush grass that she laid on without looking and then grabbed her pen to start taking notes once more. "Alright, section four, subsection one, 'Furies'." The dragoness shook her at this, "Too advanced, and potentially unsafe, I think it would be better to try something else." Turning the page, the dragoness came upon something different. "'Elemental Augments'? Sounds harmless enough." The dragoness was about to begin but was interrupted once more.
"Excuse me Aurea, but your mother requests your presence immediately." Ulris said as he stopped a few feet short from the yellow dragoness with a slight bow.
"Alright. Thank you Ulris." The dragoness replied as she got up and proceeded inside, towards where she expected her mother to be. The dragoness went in through the back door and looked around the living room, she heard movement nearby and went to the source to find her mother taking ahold of a box. The older dragoness turned to face her daughter and smiled.
"Aurea, dear, since you've came of age just recently. I have prepared a gift for you, a heirloom, if you want to think of it that way." Her mother handed the box to the younger dragoness, who then examined it before trying to open it, but she was quickly stopped by her mother. "No, no, no, dear. You're not supposed to open it now, it's for a special occasion." She said to Aurea, who gave the older dragoness a partially confused look.
"But why give it to me now mother? And what kind of special occasion?"
"It is so if you decide to live elsewhere, like Warfang, I wouldn't want you to come all the way back to Grantis just fetch some old box. As for the occasion, well, if it isn't that obvious dear, it is for when you find that special someone, then you can wear what's inside." Her mother said before giving the dragoness an expectant nod.
Aurea took that as a sign to open the box to see what item she was talking about. "A necklace, mother?" The yellow dragoness said in surprise as she directed her own topaz eyes to her mother.
"I wore that necklace as my mother had, and her mother, her mother's mother… they all wore it, but when? It was always when we found the ones we were sure to be mates for our lifetime. So that is why I pass it to you, as tradition goes. When you find the dragon you will love forever, you can wear it. For now, however, you can keep it as a memento of your mother in the future. So that you may never forget your family."
"I'll try to keep that in mind… but how will I know if it's the right dragon? What does love for another who isn't family even feel like mother?"
"You were always awfully bright dear, like your uncle… but less verbose. It doesn't surprise me that you don't know this, you will have your answer through experience." She answered with a wink.
"You know I don't like hearing answers like that mother…" Aurea replied with a tinge of disappointment.
Her mother giggled, "Of course you don't, but it's one of those things you can't expect someone to answer for you." The older dragoness then gave Aurea a teasing look after a moment, "So… have your eyes been glued to any particular dragon yet?"
The younger dragoness almost lost her grip on the box as the question registered within her brain, her look of disbelief and shock plastered on her features. "No! No, not at all. You can't seriously expect me to go about examining every dragon I meet or see. I'm not even interested yet!" She said quickly with burning cheeks.
"Oh, look at you! Fretting over a simple question like that. It's just adorable." The older dragoness said, laughing.
"Mother… it's not funny!" Aurea said in frustration, looking away in embarrassment.
"You know, Dormis always tries to get your attention. Why don't you ever give him it? He doesn't seem so bad." Her mother continued on, musing about the dragon while ignoring her daughter's comment.
"What? Dormis is, frankly, and I'm sorry to say, a tad bit annoying sometimes. And I would appreciate it if you stop talking about something so serious like this mother." The younger, yellow dragoness said in a slight pleading tone. Seeing that she did have her mother's attention, the dragoness continued. "Besides, no one here is interesting, and before you even start, I'm not going to the Amourian Festival this year in Warfang. I will go to Warfang, however, to visit Uncle Volteer but that will be the only thing I will being doing in Warfang if that is the case."
"But you aren't denying that Dormis is dedicated, or maybe even handsome, I mean, you never said anything about his physical features." Her mother simply said with a grin.
"Mother!" Aurea exclaimed, almost shouting at this point, her voice even cracked a bit.
"Leave the poor girl alone, Aunea," said the voice of Aurea's father as he entered to room to check out the commotion. Aurea let out a breath of relief at this point.
"Aw, but it was fun while it lasted Condis." The older dragoness said with disappointment.
The electricity dragon chuckled, "funny as it may have been, I think you've teased our daughter a bit too much this time." He looked at the younger dragoness. "Isn't that right dear?"
"Yes. I don't particularly like being interrogated about my more confidential things."
"Well, that's one way to put it." The dragon mused as he watched Aurea depart with the box in her grip.
The yellow dragoness sighed as she stepped outside, back to her training area. She was relieved that her father came in and saved her from any further torment from her teasing mother. Aurea walked back over to her books, and set the box down. She then looked to where her books would be… if they were there. The dragoness stared at the empty patch of grass with a flat look, unamused. "Now, who could possibly be the culprit for such a deed?" She muttered in an irritated tone before hearing a snicker that was suddenly cut off. Aurea did recognize who it belonged to in that brief moment though.
"Dormis…" The dragoness started as she looked around before standing up. "Give me back my books, it's not funny. And I'm irritated enough as it is without your antics." She waited for a response. There was a sigh before an earth dragon stepped into view from a heavily shaded area.
"Sorry Aurea, I didn't know." He said in an apologetic tone with his head low as he handed the books to the dragoness. Who just took a breath before grabbing the books and setting them down gently.
"Now. What do you want?" Aurea said in an exasperated tone.
"You didn't reply to my letter." The dragon said as he picked it up and waved in front of the yellow dragoness.
"I received it…" She took a moment of thought, "about an hour ago. How could I have possibly responded to it within a short time frame that's about… thirty seconds to a minute? I was busy conversing with my training, then I was conversing with my mother. Just tell me how I could have responded to your letter when I was so blatantly busy?"
"Well… were you going to at least reply to it?"
"I was going to… but you're here now." The dragoness paused for a moment, "So hi, I'm fine. Thank you for asking Dormis. What about you?" Just right when the dragon was about to respond Aurea spoke again. "Good? Well, that is great." And just when the dragon opened his muzzle again to speak, she continued. "Now go and leave me to my studies please."
The earth dragon just smirked, "nice try. But I'm not leaving just yet."
"Oh for the love of the Ancestors," the dragoness sighed with as her eyes flickered with slight impatience. "Do you want me to get Ulris to throw you out? Unless you can give one good reason why I shouldn't then you better start your departure. I would appreciate your sensible action greatly." Aurea finished, rubbing her head for a moment to collect her thoughts.
"Who destroyed a book of yours earlier? You're awfully rude today."
"Well, sorry. You were getting on my nerves… your reason please?"
"I, uh, provide company!" The dragon said with a grin to which the dragoness shook her head at.
"I don't even know how I tolerate you Dormis."
"Because you like me, that's why. And that should be the reason why you should—"
"No, Dormis, I am not attracted to you in any way. And no, I am not going to the Amourian Festival this year with you. You can find a better dragoness than me." Aurea interrupted, closing her eyes for a moment, as if she was asking the Ancestors to grant her mercy from the dragon's presence.
"Come on! Why don't you give me a chance?" The dragon said throwing his arms out before getting right next to the dragoness.
"That is a good question…" Aurea replied calmly, pushing him away, trying to reign in any more urges just to shock the dragon right now. "I'm not interested." She then sighed as she saw him deflate slightly. "Listen… maybe in a few years when I do get interested in… having a relationship… I'll consider you. But please, just leave me alone right now, I would like to get back to my studies."
The dragon just nodded and took a few steps back before turning and spreading his wings, the dragon then began to run before jumping and taking off. He made a sharp turn and went out of the dragoness' sights. "He tries, I'll give him that much." Aurea muttered before resuming where she left off. "Right… so elemental augments… This one is supposed to construct a shield of electricity in front of me, so that I can amplify the voltage of my elemental strikes that pass through the said shield…" She trailed off.
The yellow dragoness started to commit the steps written on the book to memory, a few minutes passed before she took a breath. "Time to start." Aurea started to focus, pooling her elemental energy together and condensing it, The dragoness closed her eyes and began to spread the electricity that was now manifesting itself on her forearms. She almost had it, she could feel it. Once the dragoness felt confident, she made a motion with both of her forearms, expecting a shield of electricity to suddenly form. But to her surprise, nothing happened.
That was… until she felt sudden surge of electricity in her chest that caused her to stumble as she felt a sudden throbbing pain that flashed quickly. It was a moment before she was about to dismiss her concerns of her own element killing her, but where did all that elemental energy she built up go to. The dragoness placed a paw on her chest, it seemed fine until the sudden pain came again, but more intense. She cried out in pain before a flash of yellow blinded her vision for a moment, the cackling sparking of electricity all around her. It formed a sphere-like shape. The dragoness realized all her elemental energy was just realized, she effectively just lost control of her own element.
The sphere of electricity grew in size and eventually started to send bolts of electricity flying in random directions, or so it seemed… as it shot some in the air, the dragoness was surprised to see birds falling onto the ground below her, smoke emanating from them. At this point, the dragoness started to move, trying to get away, and possibly find help.
But the sphere of electricity seeming dashed towards her, sending more bolts of electricity flying. One hit the dragoness, stunning her for a moment, making her cease her actions. For a moment, Aurea was sure she was going to die by her own element, but to her surprise, it went in the other direction and shocked some other poor wildlife. The dragoness didn't dare move, she started to figure it was drawn to movement, and practically shocked anything that moved.
She also came to the conclusion that it would run out of energy and dissipate, if it spent all of its time shocking stuff, but the said stuff would have to be actual live beings. By now, the dragoness was sure that the sphere was attracting attention from the town. And that wasn't good. Unable to move still, she watched as the sphere went around, shocking everything that dared move in her own backyard. Even insectsshe couldn't see were just being zapped as the sphere dashed in sporadically to every new target.
A few minutes passed before the dragoness was sure that she was the only live being standing here in the backyard, everything else was beyond her house. And the thing didn't even look close to running out of energy. "Just how much energy did I put in that thing?" She asked under her breath.
Aurea started to theorize about her accidental creation of death, would it just run out of energy it was left alone there? If so, then she would have to be content with standing her all day until if was gone. If not… Her thoughts were interrupted by it suddenly breezing its way to her house, right by the wall, the humming noise that it was making getting louder and louder.
No…
It was going to…
The dragoness could only helplessly watch as it started to sense movement from within the house and possibly even through the house.
That was when it started to unleash a fury of bolts at the house, lighting the wooden materials that her home was made of on fire.
"No!" The dragoness yelled as she took as step forward. It was a horrible mistake, as she saw the sphere send a bolt towards her direction faster than she could react to it, shocking the dragoness and making her collapse on the floor. It suddenly flashed and started unleashing more on her house. By now, her home was ablaze, and Aurea could only hope her parents were safe, that everyone was safe. A few minutes passed as her home became an inferno and the sphere spent all of its energy on the house before flashing once more and finally fading into nothing.
The air was filled with smoke.
She could hear all the commotion.
"Mother. Father." Aurea said, pushing herself up and making her way around to the front of her house. There was already a large crowd of dragons standing outside. Most stood around, watching the fire rage in the house. Some of them, more notably the ice dragons, started to try battling the fire. The more reactive dragons started to join in, trying to do their best to combat the fire.
"Milady Aurea!" A voice shouted, the dragoness found herself confronted by the guard, Ulris, as he rushed towards the dragoness before stopping hastily in front of her. "Are you okay?" He asked.
The yellow dragoness took a breath and tried her best to remain calm, "I think so. What about my parents?"
"Nobody came out, and there were only two inside. Feylia went out about a good ten minutes before… this." He said with a glance towards the burning house. Aurea just nodded solemnly and began to make her way through the crowd towards the front of the house. She weaved through the crowd somewhat forcefully and gasped as she saw her mother sticking her head out through a window. The yellow dragoness sprinted towards her and stopped dangerously closed to the flaming building.
"Mother!" She cried out as the older dragoness beset her sorrowed eyes on her daughter.
"Aurea, dear… What happened?" She asked softly.
"It's my fault… It was all a mistake..." The younger dragoness said as she dropped on her knees, looking up at her mother, her eyes starting to water as they started to fill with regret.
"I don't have time to say much, I don't think I'll be getting out either. Your father and I were cut off… and… Well, never mind that dear. All that really matters right now is that you're safe." She looked back for a moment before smiling sadly at her daughter. "Keep the box with you will you? And tell Feylia that I'm enacting what we discussed long ago if you can. I expect she'll know however. She did a great job of caring for you while you were younger."
"Mother… please… why can't you try? Someone will get you out surely. And father as well…" The dragoness replied softly as she looked on helplessly. Her chest was wrecked with guilt and her thoughts along with her emotions clouded as a storm raged within.
"Don't falsify hope dear... Be rational about this, like you were taught. We all fade away at some point. It just looks like my time is now. Life is not fair but we move on… Try to keep this in mind. I want you to be happy later on, don't dwell on this event forever." Her mother calmly stated as she too started to leak tears.
Aurea was on the verge of just breaking down into a sobbing state but was grasping on what little control she had on her emotions and thoughts. "Mother… please don't leave me now. I need you…"
Aunea just smiled sadly again, "We love you dear." The older dragoness said as she receded from the window. There was an audible snap, followed by some cracking noises before the building started collapse as its foundations, weakened by the fire, gave way. Aurea found herself forcefully pulled away from the collapsing building, she looked back to see who pulled her away. It was Ulris.
"I cannot fail in my duty in making sure you are safe." He simply stated before letting go of her. The dragoness looked down at the ground, staring blankly. The guard simply took it as her being in shock and went off to find Feylia. The roaring of the flame had died down effectively as the dragons who were battling the fire were almost finished. The smell of smoke hung around the air.
Out of the corner of her eye, Aurea saw five dragons approaching her, but her sight was cut out by another form moving in her view, she did catch a glimpse of Ulris intercepting the five. Who, she presumed, were her friends. "Aurea…" A gentle voice started, making her look up. It was Feylia. "I know this is all sudden, and I'm sorry for your loss, but a detachment from Warfang is already on their way to pick you up and escort you to your uncle… I'm not coming though. I have to pay my respects here… Your mother and I, were long time friends as well… So you can see why I want to stay here right?" She said.
The yellow dragoness just nodded mutely.
And she just sat there.
"I…" Aurea paused to wipe her tears, "effectively became mute for a day or two… even then… I hardly spoke when I did start speaking again. I was just so traumatized." The dragoness said before looking away and letting out a cry of sadness. Making the white dragon move in closer towards her, he extended his wing and gently placed it over the dragoness.
"Aurea… please don't cry… I do not like it when you cry." He said softly in a soothing tone. She looked at the light dragon.
"Glint… I… It's my fault. I killed my own parents. It was all my fault… In my nightmares… they are there… looking at me… with blank eyes at first. But then they start to fill with the contempt they have for me since it was me who killed them. I was the cause…"
"No. You weren't. It is not your fault. Your parents didn't flat out blame you now did they? Your mother said she still loved you, your father included, even if he wasn't there to say it himself."
"Then why? Then why do I see what I see in my nightmares? Why do they blame in there? Why do they hate me? You don't know them! …I do." The dragoness stated abruptly, pushing herself away from the dragon, surprising him. Before just looking down. "I don't deserve you as a friend… I don't deserve anything…"
Glint thought for a moment, he was caught off guard with her sudden change in behavior there… and he wasn't too sure why the dragoness did what she did. But if one thing was certain… it is that she really needed someone right now. And he was the only dragon here to be that someone. The white dragon stepped closer to the yellow dragoness. "I don't know your parents, like you said. But from what you've told me, they wouldn't blame you. Your nightmares… they need to stop. You get them because it's a manifestation of your inner thoughts Aurea. In that case, you are doing the exact opposite of what your mother asked you not to do. You're dwelling on this. Let it go. If not for my sake…" The dragon was next to the dragoness again, "Then for your parents."
"I…" Aurea hid her face with her wing and simply looked away. "Glint..."
"Let me be the light in your darkness dear Aurea." The white dragon said before gently pushing her wing away and her face to face his. His brown eyes met her watered topaz ones. It triggered a thought from her.
"Glint… did I… ever say… anything about how I…" The dragoness murmured to the dragon, as she started to build up her newfound courage while wiping away her tears.
"Feel about me? No. But I know." The dragon interrupted before smiling at her. She stared at him in shock for a moment, waves of emotions flooded her, clouding her thoughts for a moment before she started to clear them.
"You… knew?" She slowly said in disbelief.
"I did. I figured it out not too long ago with some help." Glint confirmed, he gently grabbed ahold of her right paw, bringing it up to both of their chests, his gaze firmly remained on the electricity dragoness before him. "Aurea… smile… Please." He implored before affectionately touching his snout with hers.
The physical contact from the white dragon made the dragoness blush as she started to push away her sadness from before and letting happiness that stemmed from the white dragon to take over. She smiled, weakly though. "Where would I be without you? Thank you… Glint." She said softly before breaking away from him, she glanced at the box and walked over to it.
Glint watched as she opened slowly, whispering something to herself that he couldn't catch before taking out a necklace. A necklace that that dragoness kept for many years, untouched until now. "Aren't you rushing?" The white dragon asked as she held the valued item up.
"I don't… think so…" She replied, smiling at him shyly. "Glint… I have been at my happiest when I'm around you than before. I do not think that I'm making a misjudgment here." Aurea finished with a light blush.
"In that case…" The dragon started as he watched her put on the necklace. "I'm assuming you would like to go the Amourian Festival."
The yellow dragoness nodded sharply, "tomorrow night, yes. I never thought I'd be going there so soon…" She said in slight awe and disbelief.
"Can I be honest here?" Without waiting for a reply, Glint continued, "I'm actually a bit nervous about going out in public for once." The light dragon laughed quietly as he said that. "It's weird."
Aurea nodded, she knew how that felt. As it was pretty common for her just to feel like that on a consistent basis. The dragoness then yawned, realizing they were still awake at the middle of the night. In fact, it looked like the moons were leaving the night sky. "Glint… do you mind… if I stay here tonight?"
The white dragon froze at her question, he considered it for a moment. "Despite the fact that we may get in trouble…" He started slowly, "sure." It was clearly stated by the Guardians that a dragon and dragoness can not share rooms in the Temple. For many reasons, like the fact that the Temple will become a school of sorts for the younger generations of dragons at some point in the near future.
"I normally play by the rules… but for once, I don't care if I get chastised by my uncle for breaking them." Aurea said as she watched Glint stare at the bed for a moment trying to devise a way for this to work comfortably. The white dragon looked up at her for a moment.
"You originally came in her because you had a nightmare right? Use that for an excuse." He said, giving her a cheeky grin.
"No, Glint, I am an adult. I will take responsibility like I should instead of using excuses. Even if this one is rather valid… and embarrassing."
The dragon hopped on his bed as the dragoness said that and found a comfortable position to lay in. "Ugh, does that mean I have to act like Terrador does? Stoic and… intimidating?"
Aurea giggled at that, "No… I don't think so. I sometimes think you have the heart of a hatchling Glint, hence why you act like one sometimes."
"Me? A hatchling? I thought the orphanage that I visited long ago which was filled with many annoying rascals was bad. And you think I act like one of them?" The dragon said, feigning hurt as he humored the dragoness. "You insult me dear Aurea. You insult me greatly."
The dragoness stuck out her tongue for a moment as a response to his comments, something she rarely ever did. "I don't get to do that often…" She explained as she saw Glint's eyes widen for a moment in response to her bizarre action that was uncharacteristic of her. "But you visited an orphanage? When? Why?"
"Uh… curiosity beckoned, it was too enticing…" He answered as the dragoness rose a brow. "What? It offered food in the terms of an answer. Who am I to resist such a tempting offer? Although, I did end up regretting some of it in the end." Glint added with a shrug.
Aurea just smiled before she gently made her way over to the white dragon, getting on the bed and lying beside him. The dragoness scooted closer to him to the point where their scales where touching, and let out a sigh of bliss. "I can't say the word to you just yet Glint… you know how I feel about you." She said as the dragon blanketed her with his free wing.
"Love you too Aurea." He said with a short chuckle before closing his eyes, listening to the dragoness steady breathing as she fell silent as well.
And in that moment, the two were as happiest as they could be.
AN: I... do hope that everything wasn't... how to put this...? Too cheesy, and whatnot during these last parts.
Anyway, up next is the Amourian Festival for the central focus, it might come in two parts as I look at what's already been written so far. And it comes whenever... because I can not predict how my status will be in the upcoming weeks.
Thanks to my beta Unit Omicron for working on this chapter!
