Shiri sat contentedly on a rock by a large river with a bridge close by;
unlike her siblings she ate fruit and vegetables to suite her hunger. She
lifted one hand to move a lock of pale gold hair behind her ear as she ate
and then looked out across the water. The late afternoon sun shone off her
form, illuminating her hair and making it appear as spun gold. Her violet
eyes sparkled with mischief, but also with kindness and intelligence. The
rest of her mane fell down around her shoulders like a waterfall and hung
feather light by her elbows. Around her torso, she wore a simple plain
white dress that hugged her narrow waist and tied in a series of strings in
a V-shape near her neck... "Are you quite done in there?" she asked to what
appeared to be the river, not paying attention to the bridge or the fact
that she seemed to be talking to nothing.
A faint ripple spread out along the surface of the gently flowing river and a silvery blue head slowly rose out. "I don't want to come out," Tanginiki replied, blinking her pale blue eyes and shivering happily when the water ran in rivulets down the sides of her narrow face. Long, fragile spikes rose up from behind her front horns and down along the length of her sinuous spine while delicate wings shone dappled in the depths of the stream under the sun rays. "And it's hot outside," she added, her long tail flicking into view with a small spray of foam.
Ignatius snorted briefly as a speckle of water landed on his crimson scales, a few sparks shooting from his nostrils. He shook. his wings fanning for a second and making the droplets scatter. Then he swiveled his head to look at Shiri, red/gold eyes framed in a delicate and almost translucent edging of fine gold spines.
Shiri laughed and whacked her dragon sibling cooling off in the shimmering stream and looked at Ignatius with a smile.
"We should move again...," a voice said from above. The words belonged to a mouth of silver and white scales, "Or split up, I can hear human presence form the wind" he said looking at Shiri who ultimately had the say of what they did.
"Oh lighten up you crank" The emerald scales dragon said rolling over to reveal her light green belly. She was taking in the best of the soil around her, her chime-like voice always calming people down.
The blue form in the stream sunk down and then vanished from immediate view with the flick of her tail before appearing as a silhouette in the waterfall.
Ignatius drew a lazy circle in the dirt near his flat sunbathing stone with a long claw and then blinked, looking towards the green dragon with a huff of slight annoyance. "Ciro has a valid point... you wouldn't want to get into a sticky situation now would you?" he asked in a low voice, his ruby eyes flashing for a second with a glimmer of fear. But it soon passed and his tail flicked up from the grass with a whip-like crack to settle beside his hind foot, the tip twitching now and then as he watched the green dragon lounge.
"No, but I can here them" she sated sitting back up and stretching her long wings. "Their footsteps are just above the rock peak" Zola said her emerald and gold-flecked eyes shimmered.
Tanginika's elegant head slid slowly out from the depths of the waterfall and her head rotated to look towards the nearby cliffs. Then she sneezed, sending a faint spray of mist through the air before suddenly appearing by the bank near Shiri. "It would be a good idea to get out of view now..." she stated, a hint of turquoise swirling across the surface of her ice blue eyes, indicating her nervousness towards the approaching party.
Ignatius looked past Shiri now and down towards the forest where a distant shout could be heard. "They've brought horses this time," he said, his voice deep and a slightly amused look on his face. Then he heaved himself up, the early evening sun glinting off his scales and casting them bronze and copper. His wings arched over his back as he stood on four feet and pushed Shiri gently with his nose.
"I have a plan," she said looking up and him and standing, "all of you hide! Tanginiki wait by the waterfall for me again, Ciro go up into the clouds, and Zola you hid Ignatius in the woods." she said telling them what to do as the footsteps came nearer.
Ciro nodded and flew up quickly disappearing into the clouds with one last whip of his tail. There was no trace of him whatsoever... not even the flicker of a shadow.
Zola nudged Ignatius into the woods and stood in front of him spreading her wings as far as she could, blending in and covering Ignatius. At the closing of her eye they were both nowhere to be seen.
Ignatius crouched low to the forest floor and folded his large wings across his back, watching from behind Zola cautiously.
Tanginika did a one-eighty round about and slid below the surface of the river again before moving up into the wall of water with a shiver of anticipation. She watched as Shiri herself moved up to the top of waterfall and stood situated right at the edge atop a large flat rock in the middle, her hair lifted in a warm breeze as she looked out over the scenery.
The horses and the knights galloped over the bridge and came to a stop at the middle, the lead on looking at Shiri. "You again!" he stated glaring at her. "Every time we think were getting close to the dragons we come across you! Who are you!" he shouted feeling angry at the fact that the clues Shiri left always lead them to her.
She smiled like she always did and just looked on at them, she never let them get close enough to her to see that she had violet eyes and not blue. She never responded she teased them with smiles and glances of wordless beauty.
"ANSWER ME!!" Keronio screamed at her thinking her just a peasant.
Inside the depths of the waterfall, Tanginika's silver blue snout moved and she braced herself, slowly getting her wings ready for flight.
One of the knight's companions hauled on his horse's reins to calm it down. "Stand still for God's Sake! Do you see a dragon?" he asked, looking around with an expression that clearly told everyone that he thought his horse was losing it, holding on firmly and trying to stroke the beast's neck, but to no avail as it jerked it's head and gnawed nervously on the bit. At the end of a lean leg, a hoof pawed in distress and the creature rolled it's large brown eyes back at him in obvious fright.
"Your eyes deceive you," she said at last, her yearlong vow of silence finally broken. She smiled once again not saying anything else but the knight got off his horse and began stamping over to beat it out of her but she simply turned and once again jumped of the edge of the waterfall letting the wind roll past her.
Her head shot out, followed by a long sinuous neck. Large wings flared out and caught on the updraft. The waterfall appeared to come to life as it foamed and sprayed out in a million glittering droplets before it was swept down towards the pool below. In the churning depths of the river, a faint laugh echoed across the roar of the waterfall and the flick of a sapphire tail danced out of the water for a millisecond before there was nothing.
The knight looked over the edge to see nothing and nearly spazzed, "That it we are splitting up!" he said before freaking out and kicking things around.
That was all the horse could take and it reared up, nearly unseating it's rider in the process. "Damn animal!" The other knight cursed out loud, reining it in sharply and turning it to the right in a tight circle to calm it down. "She's gone.... Almost like she got swept away by the wind or something," he commented as an afterthought, watching the clouds for a second. Then he signaled to some of the troops. "You three. Come with me towards the West." Then he galloped off with the others in close pursuit.
Tanginiki nuzzled Shiri's shoulder under the cover of their watery haven and shifted her gaze to look up through the light rays filtering through the surface to the knight who was still gazing over the edge.
Shiri looked up and almost laughed causing herself to almost choke, her hair flowing with the stream and her white dress becoming see-through.
Zola opened her eye slightly and watched them rid away in the opposite direction of the other party.
Tanginiki extended a forearm to help her stand and then rose up from the stream a bit so she could watch as well.
Ignatius sighed a bit and then slid out of cover slowly, his crimson scales clashing vibrantly with the soft mossy floor.
Zola lowered her wings and came back into view, "phew! That was close" she said lowering herself into a resting position and looked up at the sky.
Ciro flew down and rested on the rocks, "we have to split up or they will catch us" he said knowing that they could close in on them at any time.
With a slosh of water, Tanginika's long neck rose out from the water and she moved to shore, gently depositing Shiri on a flat rock by the bank before climbing out, her sinuous torso streaming with translucent rivulets of water.
Ignatius arched his back for a second to get the kinks out of his back and then rustled his wings. "He's right. We would be best out of each other's company for the time being."
"Whom should we leave Shiri with?" Zola asked knowing where she could go and pondering how Shiri could make it with them around.
"Whichever would be easiest for her to travel with undetected," Tanginiki responded quietly, the surface of her pale blue eyes reflecting the low lighting and seemingly coming to life with a hundred facets of turquoise.
She looked to the silver dragon and dipped a wingtip to look over at Shiri. "Ciro would be able to get an aerial view of the landscape and could easily blend in to the skies," she said, "It would be a good idea to go with him this time."
"That is true but she still has human traits and we would have to come down to land to eat which would give us a vulnerable spot," he said shaking his wings a bit.
"I'd take her, but I'm going deep into the woods where there is not much water and not fruit" Zola said remembering that Shiri only ate fruits and vegetables.
"Ignatius can't take her because she would not be able to stand the heat for too long," Ciro added again looking over at his youngest sibling.
"Then I guess Tanginiki should take her" Zola said, "It would be for the best till things cool down," She said.
"Then it its agreed, we will meet again in two full moons when it is high in the sky" Ciro said waiting for a recollected response from his siblings.
"I agree" Shiri said flicking her blonde hair.
Tanginika flicked her tail and then nodded slowly. "It's settled then. Shiri will come with me this time," she responded, turning her head to look at Shiri rather affectionately. Keeping half of her attention on the girl, she concentrated the rest of it on the skies above as stars started to peek out of the velvety blue expanse.
Focusing his red/gold eyes on his older sibling, Ignatius rustled his wings and lifted a fore-claw to scratch an itch under his jaw. "In two moons time." he echoed, "Do you think it will have settled down by then?"
He lowered his front foot and sneezed, sending a spray of embers into the cold air.
Ciro nodded his slender head, "In two moons if we show no sign of life they will think it was a rumor. But we have to never appear in public again till the second moon, that's when Shiri will take our kingdom back." he said looking up at the dragon constellation.
"True," Ignatius replied, fidgeting nervously. Always one who had a knack for impatience, Ignatius did not want to stay around long.
Tanginika swatted him lightly with a wingtip to make him stand still. "Don't fidget. You'll get bad habits," she said, but there was amusement in her eyes.
Ignatius glowered for a second, but stood still, occasionally flicking his tail.
"Alright," Tanginika said, "Off we go. We'll meet in the field by the north lake at the rising of the second moon." She lowered her wings and crouched so Shiri could get on.
They nodded and slowly they took off, Zola first who disappeared into the woods where she would remain for 2 months, anxiously awaiting the time of their dawning. Shiri climbed on the blue dragon's back, "It's going to be hard for us to stay out of trouble," she said with a laugh and a grin.
A low chuckle voiced itself in Tanginika's throat. "We are just going to have to work extra hard to remain inconspicuous," she replied, before lifting her wings and angling them along her sides. She padded over to the river edge and descended into the rippling waters.
Ignatius looked around once more and then rose into the sky, banking on a bit of a breeze and heading towards the fire pits near the top of the mountain peaks in the distance.
Ciro watched his younger siblings leave and when he felt them safe he opened his giant silver wing that shimmered in the stars and was up in one quick whoosh. He soared high and swiftly to the icy peaks of the highest mountain in the land where he would blend in with the clouds of the upper atmosphere. Not be seen or heard from for two months time.
A faint ripple spread out along the surface of the gently flowing river and a silvery blue head slowly rose out. "I don't want to come out," Tanginiki replied, blinking her pale blue eyes and shivering happily when the water ran in rivulets down the sides of her narrow face. Long, fragile spikes rose up from behind her front horns and down along the length of her sinuous spine while delicate wings shone dappled in the depths of the stream under the sun rays. "And it's hot outside," she added, her long tail flicking into view with a small spray of foam.
Ignatius snorted briefly as a speckle of water landed on his crimson scales, a few sparks shooting from his nostrils. He shook. his wings fanning for a second and making the droplets scatter. Then he swiveled his head to look at Shiri, red/gold eyes framed in a delicate and almost translucent edging of fine gold spines.
Shiri laughed and whacked her dragon sibling cooling off in the shimmering stream and looked at Ignatius with a smile.
"We should move again...," a voice said from above. The words belonged to a mouth of silver and white scales, "Or split up, I can hear human presence form the wind" he said looking at Shiri who ultimately had the say of what they did.
"Oh lighten up you crank" The emerald scales dragon said rolling over to reveal her light green belly. She was taking in the best of the soil around her, her chime-like voice always calming people down.
The blue form in the stream sunk down and then vanished from immediate view with the flick of her tail before appearing as a silhouette in the waterfall.
Ignatius drew a lazy circle in the dirt near his flat sunbathing stone with a long claw and then blinked, looking towards the green dragon with a huff of slight annoyance. "Ciro has a valid point... you wouldn't want to get into a sticky situation now would you?" he asked in a low voice, his ruby eyes flashing for a second with a glimmer of fear. But it soon passed and his tail flicked up from the grass with a whip-like crack to settle beside his hind foot, the tip twitching now and then as he watched the green dragon lounge.
"No, but I can here them" she sated sitting back up and stretching her long wings. "Their footsteps are just above the rock peak" Zola said her emerald and gold-flecked eyes shimmered.
Tanginika's elegant head slid slowly out from the depths of the waterfall and her head rotated to look towards the nearby cliffs. Then she sneezed, sending a faint spray of mist through the air before suddenly appearing by the bank near Shiri. "It would be a good idea to get out of view now..." she stated, a hint of turquoise swirling across the surface of her ice blue eyes, indicating her nervousness towards the approaching party.
Ignatius looked past Shiri now and down towards the forest where a distant shout could be heard. "They've brought horses this time," he said, his voice deep and a slightly amused look on his face. Then he heaved himself up, the early evening sun glinting off his scales and casting them bronze and copper. His wings arched over his back as he stood on four feet and pushed Shiri gently with his nose.
"I have a plan," she said looking up and him and standing, "all of you hide! Tanginiki wait by the waterfall for me again, Ciro go up into the clouds, and Zola you hid Ignatius in the woods." she said telling them what to do as the footsteps came nearer.
Ciro nodded and flew up quickly disappearing into the clouds with one last whip of his tail. There was no trace of him whatsoever... not even the flicker of a shadow.
Zola nudged Ignatius into the woods and stood in front of him spreading her wings as far as she could, blending in and covering Ignatius. At the closing of her eye they were both nowhere to be seen.
Ignatius crouched low to the forest floor and folded his large wings across his back, watching from behind Zola cautiously.
Tanginika did a one-eighty round about and slid below the surface of the river again before moving up into the wall of water with a shiver of anticipation. She watched as Shiri herself moved up to the top of waterfall and stood situated right at the edge atop a large flat rock in the middle, her hair lifted in a warm breeze as she looked out over the scenery.
The horses and the knights galloped over the bridge and came to a stop at the middle, the lead on looking at Shiri. "You again!" he stated glaring at her. "Every time we think were getting close to the dragons we come across you! Who are you!" he shouted feeling angry at the fact that the clues Shiri left always lead them to her.
She smiled like she always did and just looked on at them, she never let them get close enough to her to see that she had violet eyes and not blue. She never responded she teased them with smiles and glances of wordless beauty.
"ANSWER ME!!" Keronio screamed at her thinking her just a peasant.
Inside the depths of the waterfall, Tanginika's silver blue snout moved and she braced herself, slowly getting her wings ready for flight.
One of the knight's companions hauled on his horse's reins to calm it down. "Stand still for God's Sake! Do you see a dragon?" he asked, looking around with an expression that clearly told everyone that he thought his horse was losing it, holding on firmly and trying to stroke the beast's neck, but to no avail as it jerked it's head and gnawed nervously on the bit. At the end of a lean leg, a hoof pawed in distress and the creature rolled it's large brown eyes back at him in obvious fright.
"Your eyes deceive you," she said at last, her yearlong vow of silence finally broken. She smiled once again not saying anything else but the knight got off his horse and began stamping over to beat it out of her but she simply turned and once again jumped of the edge of the waterfall letting the wind roll past her.
Her head shot out, followed by a long sinuous neck. Large wings flared out and caught on the updraft. The waterfall appeared to come to life as it foamed and sprayed out in a million glittering droplets before it was swept down towards the pool below. In the churning depths of the river, a faint laugh echoed across the roar of the waterfall and the flick of a sapphire tail danced out of the water for a millisecond before there was nothing.
The knight looked over the edge to see nothing and nearly spazzed, "That it we are splitting up!" he said before freaking out and kicking things around.
That was all the horse could take and it reared up, nearly unseating it's rider in the process. "Damn animal!" The other knight cursed out loud, reining it in sharply and turning it to the right in a tight circle to calm it down. "She's gone.... Almost like she got swept away by the wind or something," he commented as an afterthought, watching the clouds for a second. Then he signaled to some of the troops. "You three. Come with me towards the West." Then he galloped off with the others in close pursuit.
Tanginiki nuzzled Shiri's shoulder under the cover of their watery haven and shifted her gaze to look up through the light rays filtering through the surface to the knight who was still gazing over the edge.
Shiri looked up and almost laughed causing herself to almost choke, her hair flowing with the stream and her white dress becoming see-through.
Zola opened her eye slightly and watched them rid away in the opposite direction of the other party.
Tanginiki extended a forearm to help her stand and then rose up from the stream a bit so she could watch as well.
Ignatius sighed a bit and then slid out of cover slowly, his crimson scales clashing vibrantly with the soft mossy floor.
Zola lowered her wings and came back into view, "phew! That was close" she said lowering herself into a resting position and looked up at the sky.
Ciro flew down and rested on the rocks, "we have to split up or they will catch us" he said knowing that they could close in on them at any time.
With a slosh of water, Tanginika's long neck rose out from the water and she moved to shore, gently depositing Shiri on a flat rock by the bank before climbing out, her sinuous torso streaming with translucent rivulets of water.
Ignatius arched his back for a second to get the kinks out of his back and then rustled his wings. "He's right. We would be best out of each other's company for the time being."
"Whom should we leave Shiri with?" Zola asked knowing where she could go and pondering how Shiri could make it with them around.
"Whichever would be easiest for her to travel with undetected," Tanginiki responded quietly, the surface of her pale blue eyes reflecting the low lighting and seemingly coming to life with a hundred facets of turquoise.
She looked to the silver dragon and dipped a wingtip to look over at Shiri. "Ciro would be able to get an aerial view of the landscape and could easily blend in to the skies," she said, "It would be a good idea to go with him this time."
"That is true but she still has human traits and we would have to come down to land to eat which would give us a vulnerable spot," he said shaking his wings a bit.
"I'd take her, but I'm going deep into the woods where there is not much water and not fruit" Zola said remembering that Shiri only ate fruits and vegetables.
"Ignatius can't take her because she would not be able to stand the heat for too long," Ciro added again looking over at his youngest sibling.
"Then I guess Tanginiki should take her" Zola said, "It would be for the best till things cool down," She said.
"Then it its agreed, we will meet again in two full moons when it is high in the sky" Ciro said waiting for a recollected response from his siblings.
"I agree" Shiri said flicking her blonde hair.
Tanginika flicked her tail and then nodded slowly. "It's settled then. Shiri will come with me this time," she responded, turning her head to look at Shiri rather affectionately. Keeping half of her attention on the girl, she concentrated the rest of it on the skies above as stars started to peek out of the velvety blue expanse.
Focusing his red/gold eyes on his older sibling, Ignatius rustled his wings and lifted a fore-claw to scratch an itch under his jaw. "In two moons time." he echoed, "Do you think it will have settled down by then?"
He lowered his front foot and sneezed, sending a spray of embers into the cold air.
Ciro nodded his slender head, "In two moons if we show no sign of life they will think it was a rumor. But we have to never appear in public again till the second moon, that's when Shiri will take our kingdom back." he said looking up at the dragon constellation.
"True," Ignatius replied, fidgeting nervously. Always one who had a knack for impatience, Ignatius did not want to stay around long.
Tanginika swatted him lightly with a wingtip to make him stand still. "Don't fidget. You'll get bad habits," she said, but there was amusement in her eyes.
Ignatius glowered for a second, but stood still, occasionally flicking his tail.
"Alright," Tanginika said, "Off we go. We'll meet in the field by the north lake at the rising of the second moon." She lowered her wings and crouched so Shiri could get on.
They nodded and slowly they took off, Zola first who disappeared into the woods where she would remain for 2 months, anxiously awaiting the time of their dawning. Shiri climbed on the blue dragon's back, "It's going to be hard for us to stay out of trouble," she said with a laugh and a grin.
A low chuckle voiced itself in Tanginika's throat. "We are just going to have to work extra hard to remain inconspicuous," she replied, before lifting her wings and angling them along her sides. She padded over to the river edge and descended into the rippling waters.
Ignatius looked around once more and then rose into the sky, banking on a bit of a breeze and heading towards the fire pits near the top of the mountain peaks in the distance.
Ciro watched his younger siblings leave and when he felt them safe he opened his giant silver wing that shimmered in the stars and was up in one quick whoosh. He soared high and swiftly to the icy peaks of the highest mountain in the land where he would blend in with the clouds of the upper atmosphere. Not be seen or heard from for two months time.