Glenhaven, the desert city.
A blue dragoness rumbled in her sleep. She shifted back and forth as the sun's rays made their way into her bedroom. She mumbled to herself about armor sets and designs she'd want to make.
As the dragoness slept, her mother walked into her bedroom. The older dragoness sighed as she placed a forepaw on her daughter's shoulder to shake her awake.
"Time to get up, sweetie," Seraph said with a smile.
After about a moment, Nellie grumbled and rose out of bed. She gave a low yawn as she stepped onto the floor, her white fangs protruding slightly from her muzzle. The young dragoness blinked a few times to adjust to the light, before finally falling back onto her haunches.
"Good morning, Mom."
Nellie was eighteen now; an adult in the eyes of the realms. She had grown to become decidedly feminine and graceful, although years of hefting up a smith's hammer had built up her muscles. Her horns had become thicker with age, and she let her mane grow longer. Granted, she never quite felt as pleasing to the eye as some other dragonesses of her age; maybe she just needed more growing to do.
Nellie did a quick look-around as she went to get her clothes. All of her sets of armor were lined up neatly; chest plates, gauntlets, helms, horn rings… just about every piece one needed to protect the vital areas. And while Hontus had made the armor pieces in the forge, they used Nellie's schematics. She always felt so proud of herself when her dad brought one of her creations to life.
"Is Blank up yet?" Nellie asked.
"He just left, Nellie," Seraph answered. "He's gone to meet up with those friends of his; they're likely halfway to the palace by now."
"Why am I not surprised?" Nellie said with a laugh. She made her way over to her dresser to prepare for another day of daily life at the palace.
"You know, Mom, I just don't get him," Nellie said as she reached for her satchel. "He hates going to the palace; he barely managed to graduate with me." She snorted. "So, why does he get up so early?"
"Blankridge has always been a morning person," Seraph replied. She walked up to help Nellie get her mane straightened out. "I remember your hatchday perfectly. While your father and I were waiting for you two to hatch, we decided to get some sleep. When we woke up, we were surprised to see that, not only had Blankridge already hatched, but he had managed to make it all the way across our chamber and was scratching at our door, trying to get out and explore the world."
"Sounds like him, alright." Nellie giggled. She put on her satchel and made her way toward the door. "I guess I'll meet him at the palace."
"Okay Sweetie," Seraph replied.
Nellie had a few things left to put on to be ready for the day. She reached into a drawer on her dresser and pulled out a few pink bands. She then slipped two of them over her forepaws and tightened them so they wouldn't fall off. Two more bands went on her hind paws, and one more on her tail. Lastly came her favorite part: She pulled out a scrunchie and used it to tie her mane back in a ponytail to keep the hairs out of her face. She then pulled out a pair of pink goggles, which she unclipped to put around her neck. They were her trusty tools for keeping debris out of her eyes when she was drawing or working on schematics.
The very best, Nellie saved for last; her hammer. It was specially made for her by her father two years prior when she first officially began work as a smith apprentice. It was made of blue-tinted metal and had a teardrop glyph engraved on the handle. A small gemstone was embedded in the hilt; just for when she needed to store away a little extra magic.
Nellie hugged the hammer and put it in a special hoop on her satchel. She then spun in a quick circle to look herself over; she felt nice and pretty now. She just wished she had a boy or two to show off in front of.
With that flourish done, Nellie had a look at the portraits lined up on either side of her dresser. They were pictures of her family; her parents, Blankridge… and Rune.
One of the portraits was of Rune and Nellie after his fourteenth hatchday. Rune was standing tall and happy, with his foster siblings on either side of him. Several of Rune's scars were on full display. Nellie sighed; every time she looked at those, she remembered the grueling journey they all went on together with their friends. Times were simpler back before those days.
"See you soon, Rune." Nellie sighed.
It was funny to Nellie to think that she still lived in her parents' lavish home. It wasn't that she didn't want to find her own home; on the contrary, she'd already had her eye on a place or two. But that was still a long way away; she had a lot of funds to save up, as well as some more training. The preliminary years of learning from the Guardians were behind her, and it was time to step up as their apprentice. Plus, she was only just now focusing on her job of working at the local blacksmith forge run by her father.
It was decent work, thanks to some training from Hontus during the colder months. But with Hontus off fetching Rune from Warfang, Nellie had to put her smith-training AND her job on hold. At least once Rune was in town again there would be half a year to continue her training in smithy work… and another half a year she got to spend with Rune. But for now, all Nellie could do was wait for their arrival, and focus on helping the Guardians train the younger students of the palace.
After finally preparing herself, Nellie made her way through her family's home with a skip in her step. As she entered the living room, she found that various blue-and-green streamers were hung from wall to wall. Seraph was off to the side and in the middle of hanging up yet another streamer.
"Is all of this necessary, Mom?" Nellie asked.
"Well, I want the place to look festive when your aunt and her family arrive, Nellie." The adult dragoness replied. She tied a small knot above the left corner of the door. "And besides, a Holiday is coming up: It only makes sense for there to be decorations hanging about."
"If you say so, Mom..." Nellie scrunched up her face.
Nellie barely knew her aunt Nymph; if they'd met before, then she didn't remember it. From what Nellie understood, Nymph was Seraph's older sister and the heiress to the old water dragon throne in Dante's Freezer. What Nymph did with her time after she stopped being a princess, Nellie couldn't say. She just hoped that this Nymph was an agreeable dragoness.
"Are you excited to see her, Mom?" Nellie asked.
"Of course I am." Seraph declared as she moved to the side. "It's been far too long… oh, can you help me with this other end, sweetie?"
"Sure…" Nellie stepped up to help her mother decorate the home. As she did so, she glanced over at the desk, and the fancy scroll lying atop it.
The scroll had arrived a couple of months ago. It was delivered by, curiously enough, a dragonfly. In the scroll, Nymph invited Seraph and her family to come to see her in Dante's Freezer for the Day of the Bonds. Seraph sent a message back with the dragonfly, saying how she wasn't in a position to leave Glenhaven. So, Nymph asked if she and her family could come to visit Seraph instead. It wasn't long before the two dragonesses sent a string of scrolls back and forth, and decided on a date and time for Nymph and her family to arrive. Seraph was beside herself with giddiness ever since.
"Oh, I can't wait for you and Blankridge to see your uncle Hugo and cousin Rupert," Seraph said with a smile. "You haven't been with them since you and Blank were hatchlings."
"Well, I'm sure they're nice…" Nellie said uneasily. After finishing with the streamer, she went to walk toward the door, only for Seraph to step into the way. "Uh… excuse me, Mom, but I need to get going."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Sweetie," Seraph responded with a slight blush. The adult dragoness backed away from the door, grabbed the knob, and opened it for her daughter. The younger dragoness proceeded to head out, her skip returning.
"Thanks, Mom," Nellie stated. She spread her wings and prepared to take off into flight.
"I'm heading off to school. Bye!"
"Have a good day at the palace, Nellie," Seraph called after her. "I'll see you and your brother later!"
"Okay!"
~~…~~
Glenhaven Palace was pretty the same as it always was: a massive and elegant structure atop a rock formation. Nellie flew toward the palace at a brisk pace; she was more used to the intense heat of the sun these days. Now she could take the time to gaze down at the streets below.
A large number of young dragons of various ages were lining up on the palace stoop, chatting and yelling amongst themselves as they entered the massive building. Most of the young dragons were of the light kind, as always. But some of the more recent students were dark dragons. Not all dark dragons stuck to just Warfang; some, who were more used to living as nomads, decided to remain in Glenhaven to find new lives. And they were all more than welcome, thanks to the open invitation from the Glenhaven Elders.
As most of the students rushed past to get inside the palace, a young earth dragoness stayed on the outer edge of the stoop. She sat on her haunches with her head held high, looking down only to greet a few students who said hello to her. Nellie sighed; it was her friend Emerald.
The granddaughter of the earth elder had become quite tall as she reached maturity. Emerald had kept her taste in high-class fashion; she wore expensive jewelry and silver-rimmed spectacles. A fine leather satchel covered her back, and a series of rings decorated her horns. She stood regally and beautifully in the morning sun… though the only thing that marred her perfection was the fact that her left eye was half-blind, and a scar ran around its edge.
Emerald was yawning by the time Nellie descended from the sky and came to a landing. Emerald shook her muzzle and rose onto her feet.
"There you are!" Emerald exclaimed. "I was about to pass out waiting for you."
"Sorry, Emmy," Nellie said as she walked around to Emerald's side. "I got delayed a bit helping my mom."
"Well, at least you're here now…" Emerald nearly yawned again but forced her muzzle shut. "Come on, let's head inside."
Nellie looked at Emerald in concern as she followed her friend toward the front doors. "Emmy, did you get enough sleep last night?"
"Barely." The earth dragoness grumbled. "That little brat kept me up with his crying again."
"Well, he is only a hatchling, you know," Nellie replied. "He can't help it."
"I know…" Emerald sighed in defeat.
Quite recently, Emerald's parents, Jules and Mimet, had conceived another child. It was a lightning hatchling, whom they named Ruby. And Emerald was having incredible difficulty adjusting to being an older sister.
"It's a wonder that I'm able to get any sleep at all." The green dragoness stammered. "I think I'm starting to get wrinkles under my eyes." She shook her tail with frustration. "Oh, if only that Urobos was still living as an alchemist around town…"
The water dragoness giggled again. "You're fine, Emerald."
"You're awfully happy today." Emerald raised an eye ridge. "What's gotten you so giddy?"
"Is it wrong for me to be?" Nellie asked. "Rune's going to be arriving in a few weeks, and just in time for the Day of the Bonds!"
"Oh, yeah," Emerald said with a scrunched-up face. "Maybe he'll finally get a date this year."
"Wouldn't that be something?" Nellie chuckled. "I'm sure he won't have trouble."
"Probably not." Emerald reached up to adjust her spectacles. "Lots of dragons are attracted to royalty. I should know."
The green dragoness spread her wings and took a dramatic pose. As soon as she did that, a few male students nearby gasped and looked at her in awe. Emerald smirked and wagged her talon at the boys, making them sulk and walk away.
"You're an awful tease, you know that?" Nellie smirked.
"What can I say? Even when I'm tired, I'm still a shining star." Emerald fluttered her eyes at no one in particular. "Unfortunately for the boys, I'm already-"
The first warning bell rang, making the two dragonesses gasp.
"The classes will be starting soon!" Emerald declared. "Let's continue our conversation inside!"
"Okay!" Nellie agreed. Immediately the two of them ran inside as fast as they could, jingling her hammer around the whole way. They blended in with the other almost-late students in their haste.
As this happened, a third dragoness came to a landing in the courtyard. She saw Nellie and Emerald slip inside the doors, and scowled. She'd been partially listening in on the tail end of their conversation and got a good look at the presumptuous little show Emerald put on for the drakes. The dragoness had scales like topaz and strode forward to the doors with a sigh.
They NEVER change, she snorted.
Roxanne had grown up into a thickly-built dragoness. Her mane was trimmed short, and her four teal horns were scratched and dented. Her uniform robes were stitched together in various places. Her satchel was made of brown leather, and her single bit of jewelry was a copper ring on her middle-left talon, adorned with an agate gem. It had cost her quite a pretty amount to get it… but her pride demanded she accessorizes somehow.
Roxanne strode into the palace gates with a calm walk and turned left down a hallway to head for her first class. Despite years of trouble, Roxanne had pulled through with her training and was well on her way toward being an apprentice Guardian.
She briefly saw Nellie and Emerald vanish around a corner as she walked, and she snorted in derision. Just the sight of them made her blood boil. Once upon a time, Roxanne was friends with those dragonesses… or rather, was a friend of a friend. For a long time, she had a crush on their mutual friend; Rune. Back then, Roxanne thought that Rune was a shy fire dragon with mysterious powers. She grew to like him fast; she even learned a secret and kept it close to herself for a long time; that's how much he trusted her… or at least, how much she thought he trusted her. Rune was the only reason Roxanne was able to hang out with noble students.
Oh, how times have changed. Rune's secret was revealed, bad things happened, and he had to run away on a long journey. Roxanne went along with him, with the rest of his friends. She thought they'd gotten closer than ever by the end… she thought he'd finally…
But it didn't happen. She cursed herself for daring to think about it again.
These days, Rune was gone for half a year; living the life of a prince in a city far away. Without Rune around, Roxanne and the others drifted apart. Of course, it didn't help that Roxanne was responsible for the damage done to Emerald's eye on that journey they all took.
Roxanne gave another huff as she went off to her class. This was no time to think about the past. She needed to focus on her Business Ethics class; she had a lot of work to do before she could start running the family tavern.
Focus, Roxanne… She told herself. Don't let those pains in the arse cloud your thoughts.
~~…~~
Nellie spent the next few hours attending her usual classes.
She and Emerald shared most of the same classes, such as Dragon History, Physical Combat training, Magical Studies Grade Five, and the occasional training session with one of the Dragon Elders. But like when they were younger, Nellie and Emerald now had the responsibility of helping OTHER students through the courses. She taught younger water dragoness how to channel torrents, how to effectively dodge, how to deliver decisive blows… it was rather surreal.
Sadly, the one class she was looking forward to, Smithy Training, had to be canceled. Many other students cheered in relief, of course, but Nellie was frustrated. She absolutely loved teaching younger dragons on the right ways to wield a hammer to forge equipment and armor. And sure, she understood the reason that Elder Telus gave:
"Both of our Guardians of Fire, the master blacksmith, AND the head scholar, have left for Warfang," Telus told the students some time ago. "We can't teach fire dragons without a fire dragon teacher!"
And that's how it was: Nellie had to wait for her father and Voden to return with Rune. In the meantime, Nellie focused on her efforts in her Guardianship program. Did she ever REALLY want to become a Guardian someday? She still wasn't sure yet. But there was no reason to let her marks slip into negatives and make her parents sad.
After the girls' Magical Studies class came to an end, Nellie and Emerald walked out into the hallway and blended in with the large crowd of students.
The young dragons of Glenhaven, those that were under the age of eighteen, made up at least a third of the draconic population of the city. As such, the Glenhaven Palace had over two dozen various classrooms on multiple sections in the massive mound of rock and earth that the palace stood upon. Furthermore, all the layers of the network of floors were built around the massive Arena that sat on the bottommost layer. To prevent students from getting lost, various signs were posted around the many hallways, instructing the young dragons, and non-dragon staff members, on where they were.
Nellie, of course, had spent so many years training in the palace that she knew the entire layout like the back of her paw. She chattered merrily with Emerald as they made their way.
"So, you getting ready for the holiday, Emerald?" Nellie asked. "Any fancy plans?"
"Not quite yet." Emerald shrugged her shoulders. "Though I think I may ask around to see if anyone wants to go with me."
"Do you really need to do that?" She asked, suppressing a fit of laughter. "I'm sure a certain someone would like to ask you out."
"Oh, I know that," Emerald replied, smiling. "But it wouldn't hurt to have more than one option available in case he doesn't work up the nerve to ask me."
"You could always ask him, though."
The green dragoness sighed. "I'm not that kind of girl, Nellie."
"But what if somebody else asks him?" Nellie replied.
Emerald grimaced. "What makes you think that would happen?"
"Well..." Nellie smirked. "If you don't go for him first, I just might snatch him up for myself."
Emerald scrunched up her muzzle. "You wouldn't dare!"
"You may not be that kind of girl, but maybe I am." Nellie gave Emerald an evil grin. The blue dragoness gave a playful wink and gave a playful strut. Emerald blinked back a few times and then struggled not to have a grin of her own.
"Oh, you traitor!" Emerald declared with another dramatic flair. "My best friend, stealing my lover away!"
"Soon he'll be all mine!" Nellie flapped her wings and pushed out her chest to appear bigger.
Soon, the two dragonesses came to a stop and burst into laughter. Nellie leaned against a wall and took a sigh of relief.
"Okay, to be serious, most guys can't work up the nerve to ask out the General's daughter," Nellie said as she fell back onto her haunches. "You should consider dropping some well-timed hints to get him to realize you like him."
"Hmm, maybe…" Emerald scratched her chin. "But this gets me thinking: did you really have anyone in mind to take as a date to the festival?"
Nellie's expression turned uneasy. She'd given it a lot of thought… but had yet to put it to practice. But before she could reply, the sounds of a gathered crowd slowly rose from down the hall. It grew louder and louder, and the dragons down the hall stepped out of the way of something.
"Well, how about that?" Emerald stood up tall. "Looks like our Orange Oaf is on his way over now."
Nellie quietly offered a blessing to the ancestors that the conversation was halted. Peering down the way, Nellie saw a small gang of dragons making their way down the hall. The head of the group was a teenage fire dragon, which had a ridiculous grin on his face.
"What's up, everyone?" Blankridge asked as he walked down the way. He was backed up by dragons named Keith, Mary, and Marble.
Blankridge had grown quite athletic in build as the years had gone by. He'd taken to wearing a brown bandana over his dark blue mane, right between his bright red horns. He had an adventurous gleam in his eyes as he strode down the hallway. His apprentice's uniform was covered in dirt and tears; it was practically his signature fashion statement. A thick, burlap satchel was worn on his back, and his limbs were covered in bandages from past scraps.
Keith was a lightning dragon, just a few months older than Blankridge. His yellow hide was of an average build, while his light brown underbelly served as a stark contrast. His three thin, azure horns all curled upwards: One grew forwards from just above and between his sky-blue eyes, while the other two grew from just behind his eyes at about the same height as the first one. His golden mane was wildly kept and partially covered his left eye. There was also a tiny bit of stubble on his chin.
Mary was a fire dragoness, about fourteen years old. Her fiery red hide was perfectly complemented by her bright yellow underbelly, and she glistened like a wondrous flame when the light hit her scales. Her four golden horns bent like think stalks lightning on the back of her head, though this was contrasted by her grass green mane which was worn in a long ponytail. She wore a few pieces of bronze jewelry on her talons and a pair of red ribbons on each of her horns.
The newest member of Blankridge's circle of friends was Marble, an earth dragon… the shortest earth dragon Nellie had seen in a long while. His scales were bright brown, while his underbelly was a richer, darker shade. He had a ragged red mane that had small chunks of dirt caught in it. His eyes were ocean-blue, and two short, dark grey horns grew from the sides of his head. Said horns curled backward and upwards a short distance. Marble wore a short, dusty, brown smith cape over his wings and a pair of metal gauntlets on each of his forepaws that went up to his elbows.
"Uh, excuse us, please." Marble said anxiously as he waded through the crowd. "We need to get through."
"Oh, learn to live a little, man." Blank teased.
"Yeah," Keith added as he smiled at a few dragonesses in the crowd. "It's not often that THIS happens to guys like us."
Mary forcefully cleared her throat to get the lightning dragon's attention.
"Or girls." Keith quickly added with a grimace. "This doesn't often happen to guys or girls like us."
"Much better." The fire dragoness snorted.
"Hey, look!" Blankridge declared, pointing past the crowd. "It's Sis and Emmy!"
"Emerald?" Marble's eyes widened, and he nearly stumbled off his paws.
"Let's go pay them a visit, shall we?" Blank declared, hastening his pace. "They probably haven't heard the news yet."
"Yeah..."
The other three dragons followed behind the orange dragon as he approached the water and earth dragonesses. The crowd followed afterward but kept a short distance.
"Hey, girls," Blank said giddily when he finally stopped before them.
"Morning, guys," Nellie replied to the gang.
"Doing good today, Nell-bell?" Mary asked with a jump to the blue dragoness's side.
"I'm… just fine." Nellie gave a patient smile. Emerald, meanwhile, pointed her muzzle in the air. She would have started scowling at Blank's friends, but that was nipped in the bud when she spotted Marble sheepishly approach.
"Uh, Hi, Emmy." Marble said with a careful smile.
Emerald sighed in relief and smiled back. "Hey there."
Unlike most of the other dragons in Blankridge's gang, Emerald and Nellie knew Marble for much longer. When Nellie was signed up for smithy class, she learned that Marble was a student of Guardian Hontus. Marble also had a part-time job working as a squire for Jules and Mimet; that's how Marble knew Emerald. Unfortunately, it was only in recent years when the two girls could get to know Marble; he was sad to learn that they hardly knew anything about him. But they'd been working to change that nowadays.
"Did you girls hear the latest gossip?" Keith asked Nellie and Emerald.
"Not really," Nellie answered. "What is it?"
"Word on the street is," Mary began, "That a new student is arriving from the Concurrent Skies today. Some kid of a big important group of people."
"Really?" Emerald queried.
"Most likely." The fire dragoness nodded. "There's a rumor floating around she's related to the King of Crossbolt... or something."
"I think she's supposed to be introduced in Dragon History," Blankridge said. "But that's not the biggest news of all…" A grin spread from ear to ear. "It's finally happened."
A similar grin appeared on Keith and Mary's faces, while Marble gave a more reserved smile. Nellie and Emerald exchanged uneasy glances, and then looked back at the orange drake.
"What's happened?" Emerald demanded.
"The Elders have finally decided…" Blankridge began shaking with delight. "To let us explore the ruins out to the southwest!"
"Oh…" Nellie blinked and gulped a bit. "Great… That's great."
Nellie didn't claim to know much about the ruins; they were only recently discovered… by Blankridge of all dragons. She didn't quite understand the circumstances of how her brother happened to find old ruins; there was something about a thousands-year-old mirage being accidentally broken when he tumbled down a specific hole in the sand. But the result was the same; Blankridge became obsessed with finding out what was in them. None of the Guardians were interested in an investigation, so Blankridge begged the Elders night and day for weeks to let him check it out.
"I knew all that hard work would pay off!" Blankridge exclaimed. "I've been busting my arse in my Guardian apprentice program to convince them to let me go. And now I can finally explore outside of Glenhaven! Without having to worry about a chaperone, even!"
Blankridge gave an excited squeal and trotted in place like a show pony. Keith and Mary grimaced and backed away, while Marble just slumped down beside Emerald. Nellie snorted and stepped up to tap her brother on the shoulder.
"I'd just like to remind you that you still have classes today." She smirked. Blankridge's eyes shot wide, and he slumped back onto his haunches.
"Aww, why'd you have to go and remind me, Sis?" Blankridge pouted.
"Hey, look on the bright side, Blank." Keith patted the orange drake on the shoulder. "The new girl is going to show up in your next class, right?"
"Hmm, yeah…" Blankridge scratched his chin. Then his eyes lit up, and he smiled. "Hey, yeah, you're right! Let's go meet them!"
"Heh…" Nellie smirked, "it's not every day when Blank's eager to head for a classroom."
"Well, I can't resist a new student showing up." Blankridge shrugged. "Especially not one who's important enough to have rumors floating around about them!"
"If you say so." Nellie playfully nudged her brother. "Just try not to lose your head and spook them back to Crossbolt."
"Yeah, yeah…" Blankridge turned towards Keith and Marry. "I'll see you guys later after school. Make sure you've got all the supplies you need to hit the ruins!"
"Gotcha, Blank." They said in unison.
Blankridge immediately spun back around to face Marble. "You're coming too, right?"
"Uh… sure." The earth dragon nodded.
"Nice!" Blankridge declared. "This afternoon's gonna be GREAT!"
Blankridge practically ran down the hallway to head to Dragon History class. Nellie and Emerald just sighed and followed after him, with Marble trotting just behind them. Keith and Mary, on the other hand, went their separate ways. All the while, Nellie couldn't help but wonder about this new student.
~~…~~
Dragon History class was one of the more diverse classes in the palace. Because the subject could not be restricted by a dragon's age or element, many young dragons of various elements and between the start and end of puberty attended it.
The classroom itself was arranged in a semicircular pattern, with the teacher's wooden desk sitting at the front of the chamber, and the students' desks arranged in rows around it, with each row a short distance higher up than the one preceding it. The walls were made of red stone, and at least three dozen torches kept the room illuminated on all sides. A series of chalkboards were set behind the teacher's desk, most of which had a multitude of notes, diagrams, and other such things written on them with white chalk. Two metal doors stood on each side of the room, and each one had a glass window in it to reveal the hallway outside.
After filing into the room, the students had all taken their seats before a desk, and started goofing off: There was still some free time before the teacher arrived. Nellie, Blankridge, Emerald, and Marble all sat down within proximity of each other on the right side of the classroom. Nellie relaxed into her seat and pulled out a scroll, a quill pen, and a hardcover book titled "A History of the dragon race: 1 N. A. through 99 N. A".
While Nellie was marginally interested in the book, she was more preoccupied with pulling out a slip of paper in one of her folders. Upon the paper were the drawing schematics for two suits of armor. The suits were worn around two teenage dragons; they consisted of helmets, chest plates, and gauntlets. Nellie got to work drawing in finer details around the edges of each piece of metal; her tongue lolled out of the side of her muzzle as she worked. Nellie couldn't help but want to do her best for this bit of armor. After all, the dragons on the paper were her brothers… well, doodled caricatures, but it was Rune and Blankridge nonetheless.
Nellie had been working on this drawing for about half a week. It had started as part of a welcome back present she was preparing for Rune, but decided to include a set for Blankridge as well. After all, she didn't want to risk Blank running off and getting seriously hurt because he didn't have the right protection.
The drawings were just the beginning; hardly even blueprints. No, to work on the real suits, she needed to get her brothers' exact measurements. But the hard part, of course, was getting those measurements while keeping the suits a secret; every time she thought her brother was glancing her way, she shifted to hide her work behind a textbook. He didn't seem to catch on, though; he was practically drifting off to dreamland.
Nellie smiled as she added a bit of detail to the gold rings on Rune's tail. She had a long way to go, but she was still satisfied with how things were going.
These sets will be the best armor I've ever made, Nellie thought as her tongue shifted to the other side of her maw as she added more detail to Blankridge's bandana. Armor fit for adventurers AND kings.
She brought her quill back down to put the last touches on the rings on Rune's tail…
Bonk.
A wad of paper suddenly struck her hard against the back of her head. Nellie gasped in surprise and pain, dropping her quill in the process.
"Hey!" She exclaimed. "Who did that?"
As Nellie looked around angrily, Blankridge reached down and picked up the paper with a grimace.
"They did it." Blankridge huffed as he pointed toward the other side of the classroom. The blue dragoness rubbed her head while following her brother's talon, and then scowled when she saw them giggling amongst themselves.
"Of course." She said irritably.
Across the classroom were the forms of a trio Nellie knew all too well. It was Roxanne, and her two friends Vaun and Aaron.
Vaun was a water dragon, roughly Nellie's age. His build was lanky and slender, with an elongated tail. His scales were a rich blue, and his underbelly was reddish-brown. He had two diagonal, bright-brown horns that grew just above his dark green eyes, and his dark mane was neatly trimmed to stop short of his vest's collar.
In stark contrast, Aaron was a bulky earth dragon. His hide was dirt-brown, and his underbelly was grass green. He had four thick, yellow horns which all curled backward: two thinner ones sat above his yellow eyes, and two fatter ones were behind his eyes. His mane was messy and brown, with a few strands falling over his face.
Vaun and Aaron were Roxanne's two best friends, though both of them were on the poorer side of living. Vaun used to live in the Glenhaven Orphanage before he was adopted into a family of water dragon farmers when he was five years old. Aaron, on the other hand, was the oldest son of a pair of earth dragons who worked for Roxanne's parents in their tavern. The two boys seemed more like goons than friends, as they agreed with most of the things she said these days.
Nellie growled at the trio as they locked eyes with her.
"That's real mature, Roxanne." The water dragoness spat. "Throwing a chunk of paper at me. Wow."
"Only as immature as drawing doodles before class starts." Roxanne scoffed and wracked her talons on her desk.
"Oh, shut up." Blank snapped. "And Leave Nellie alone."
"Oh, dear." Aaron declared, feigning astonishment. "It looks like Big Bad Blanky is protecting his precious sister again."
"Hey, don't call me that!" The orange dragon demanded. Vaun and Aaron chuckled again.
"Nice comeback, Blanky." Vaun grinned. "You'd think the son of a Guardian could afford some brain cells to come up with something original."
By this point, Emerald and Marble had become aware of what was happening. Emerald rolled her eyes and looked back to glare at the trio, while Marble shielded her with a wing.
"What do you hope to accomplish with this childishness?" The green dragoness scolded. "Do you think we're all going to be impressed by your aim via pelting people with wads of paper?"
"Shut your trap, Rich Bitch!" Roxanne snapped. "You don't have the right to throw in your two billion cents' worth."
"Hey!" Marble exclaimed angrily. "Leave Emerald alone!"
Roxanne's two goons chuckled again. Aaron stood up tall and wracked his talons on his desk. "I figured we'd hear from yet another brainless chump who does whatever he can to make the rich girls happy."
"I'm not brainless!" Marble snapped.
"So you admit to being a chump?" Aaron winked. That was more than enough to make Marble seethe in anger.
"Seriously, why waste your time hanging around those bimbos?" Vaun asked. "You're not nearly as rich as they are. And besides, there are hundreds of girls around who don't think they're better than you."
"Hey, lay off him!" Blank shouted.
"And I'll kindly ask to NOT call me, or Nellie, a 'bimbo.'" Emerald added, her anger growing.
"Oh please." Roxanne chided. "Like the size of your wallets makes you two higher authorities than us."
"Is that your one card?" Emerald asked with her snout held skyward. "Just going on and on about how much wealth our parents have?" She took off her spectacles and wiped them off with a cloth. "Honestly, Roxanne, you used to have such better insults when you were still our friend. I guess hanging out more with Vaun and Aaron has stunted your witty repartee."
Roxanne flinched. She then growled and gnashed her fangs. "Screw you!"
It wasn't much longer before the two groups would rise from their desks and get up close and personal for an argument. But that was nipped in the bud rather quickly when the door to the classroom was pushed open. Everyone gasped as a blue figure made his way into the room.
"Settle down, class." The ice dragon ordered. "Take your seats."
Immediately both groups gulped and fell silent at their desks. Nellie hurriedly hid her schematics beneath her textbook and sat down sheepishly.
Zecht made his way forward toward his desk. And following behind him was a young pink-hided dragoness. Nellie scratched her chin as she looked between the two of them.
Zecht was roughly in his late thirties. As a water dragon from the eastern islands, his build was slender and athletic. His mane of ocean blue hair was shaved to resemble that of a rooster's feathers, and his four horns resembled icicles. His eyes were a dazzling orange, and his underbelly was a light shade of blue. His armor resembled pieces of ice, which sparkled in the light as he walked forward. He had two brown satchels affixed to his back, out of which poked various items required to teach the class.
Zecht had the pink dragoness stop and wait by his side as he sat down at his desk.
The dragoness looked about twelve years old. Her underbelly was a lighter shade of pink than her scales, and her wing membranes were a matching hue. Her eyes were royal blue, and her thick yet short yellow horns curled backward and sideways past her head. Her flowing, purple mane fell all the way down to her torso and had a few gold beads braided into it. A small, gold-studded necklace hung around the girl's neck, with a small gemstone emblazoned in the center. The dragoness struggled not to lose her balance, due to the large silver-laced satchel she wore. And yet despite the obvious weight issues, she seemed more than happy to be here; her eyes darted all around to take in every bit of space, and each face of the students.
"Good afternoon, class," Zecht said with a patient smile.
"Good afternoon, Captain." The young dragons responded in unison.
"Today, I'd like to introduce the newest student in our class." Zecht declared. He extended a wing toward the pink dragoness. "Class, this is Ember, the niece of King Tintreon of Crossbolt. She has been transferred to our school to complete her education at the lightning king's request." Zecht looked back at the students. "Now class, even though she's of above-average familial roots, I urge the lot of you to treat her as you would any other student; with kindness, courtesy, and RESPECT."
Nellie leaned back curiously as she looked at the delighted expression on the pink dragoness's face. Zecht pulled a couple of textbooks out of his satchel and passed them onto Ember's back.
"These are the books you'll need for the class." He said happily.
"Do I have to read them all at once?" The dragoness asked curiously.
"Not at all." Zecht laughed. "You'll get the hang of it as time goes on: I promise."
"Alrighty!" Ember chirped. "Thank you, Mr. Zecht."
"You're welcome, dear." Zecht pointed towards a few empty seats in the back of the classroom. "Go ahead and pick out a spot, Ember."
"Okay." The pink dragoness walked towards the back of the room, while the Guardian walked around his desk to begin the lesson.
"Alright, class. Take out your copies of A History of the Dragon Race and turn to page one hundred and six..."
As most of the students prepared for the lesson, Ember sat down at an empty desk. By sheer chance, the desk she chose was directly next to Nellie. Ember shrank down in her seat, hoping not to attract too much attention from the other students as she awkwardly fumbled with her big books. Nellie frowned in pity; she scooted a bit slower to whisper to her.
"Hello," Nellie said with a smile.
"Hi," Ember replied. She looked over her two textbooks and pouted. "Uh, do you happen to know which of these books is the right one…. Uh…?"
"I'm Nellie." The blue dragoness replied. "And it's the large one with the gold trim."
"Oh." Ember put away her smaller textbook and opened the other one to the specified page. "Thank you, Nellie."
"You're welcome, Ember." Nellie nodded.
~~…~~
After the history class came to an end, the lunch period started.
While most of the students took off in different directions, Nellie, Emerald, Ember, Blankridge, and Marble all gathered together outside of the classroom. Since Ember didn't know anyone else, she decided to follow after the blue dragoness, who didn't mind at all. Blankridge was especially happy to meet the new student. Nellie gestured around to introduce Ember to her friends… though the pink dragoness seemed downright enraptured at the sight of Blankridge's unsightly uniform.
"Hiya." The orange drake smiled. "I'm Blankridge. My friends call me Blank."
"Wow…" Ember's eyes dazzled upon looking at his bandana. "N-Nice to meet you."
"Welcome to Glenhaven." He said with a wink. "Sorry if you get bored; I know the desert city isn't nearly as exciting as Crossbolt."
"I like Glenhaven already." Ember chirped. "The desert sky's so much different from all the storm clouds at home. And I can see to the outer walls from atop the palace!"
"I guess it's a nice view, yeah…" Blankridge nodded. "But honestly, some of the best places to check out lie beyond the city walls."
"Oh?" Ember wagged her tail.
Blankridge proceeded to describe to Ember all of the various places he'd seen years ago; during the great adventure to Mount Erebus. The purple dragoness wagged her tail and listened intently, while Nellie just rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Marble took this opportunity to sheepishly creep around to stand beside Emerald, where he raised a wing to hide his muzzle.
"Hey, Emerald?" Marble asked shyly.
The green dragoness looked at him and raised an eye ridge as she gave him a knowing smirk. "Yes, Marble? How may I help you?"
The male earth dragon could feel his face flushing with embarrassment as he tried to speak. "Well... I was wondering... if you're not busy on the Day of the."
"Hey, I just remembered!" Blankridge suddenly yelled. He immediately grabbed Marble by the cape, nearly pulling him off-balance.
"G-Hey!" Marble protested.
"Marble and I need to get ready for our Music class." The orange drake declared. "After that, we'll need all the time we can spare to make sure we're good and ready for the trip to the ruins!"
Ember gasped excitedly. "Trip to ruins?"
"I'll explain later…" Blankridge tugged on Marble's cap again. "Come along, dude."
"But, I... uh..." Marble stuttered. "There's something I wanted to ask Emmy..."
"You can ask her later!" Blank snapped. "Come on! We've got work to do!"
"But..." Despite Marble's protests, Blankridge practically dragged him away. "Blank, let go of me!"
"Bye, girls!" Blankridge shouted back to them.
As Blankridge and Marble vanished down the hall, Emerald leaned against the wall and snorted in derision. Nellie, however, couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
"I swear, Blank is getting me back for all the times I made him come with me somewhere…" Emerald sighed. "If only he'd never found out about Marble's crush on me."
"Hey, he's not THAT smart…" Nellie nudged her affectionately. "He's just being inconvenient out of sheer coincidence."
"Maybe…" Emerald snorted as she stood up and stretched out her back. "Well, I'm gonna head for the cafeteria for a bite to eat. You two wanna come?"
"Uh, I don't know..." Ember stated with shaking ear frills. "I really like this place, but I don't really know my way around this palace very well."
"I can show you around if you want," Nellie suggested.
"That sounds good." The pink dragoness smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'll do that."
"Okay then." Nellie looked back at the green dragoness. "You don't mind, do you, Emmy?"
"Of course not," Emerald replied. "I'll see you two later. Bye."
"Bye, Emerald."
The earth dragoness walked toward a flight of stairs that lead down to the cafeteria's floor. Meanwhile, Nellie turned back toward Ember and fluttered her wings.
"Just follow me." She said. "The palace isn't really as complicated as you might think."
For the majority of the one-hour lunch period, Nellie showed Ember around the palace's infrastructure. The blue dragoness pointed out how each of the layers was built in a circle-like pattern, and how there were stairways next to most of the side passageways.
But as Nellie was talking, a small scroll slipped out of the side of her satchel and fell onto the floor. Ember noticed this and picked it up.
"Hey, you dropped something." She stated as she picked it up.
"Huh?" When the water dragoness saw the scroll, she gasped in alarm. "Wait! Don't look at it!"
Nellie moved to snatch the scroll away hurriedly, but just before she did so, Ember spotted the words at the top.
"Oh hey, it's Blankridge…" Ember said happily. "And this is… Rune?"
"Uh… Don't worry about it." Nellie blushed as she hurriedly put the scroll away in her satchel. "It's, uh… nothing important. Not in the slightest."
"Rune..." The pink dragoness stated, her expression racked in thought. "It's funny: I think I've met a boy named Rune once or twice..."
Nellie's eyes went wide. "You have?"
"Uh-huh," Ember replied as she fluttered her wings. "A black dragon named Rune once saved me from a bunch of monsters about four years ago."
Nellie's jaw practically hit the floor. "Did… Did this happen to happen back in Crossbolt?"
"Yeah." Ember nodded. The pink dragoness took a moment to explain the events that took place four years prior when horrible monsters attacked her kingdom. Nellie fell back onto her haunches in amazement; she'd hardly thought about that terrifying day during the journey. But all of the details came back as Ember recounted her story… and Nellie was especially shocked at how familiar the pink dragoness was with Rune.
"Did... Did he happen to have a blue hourglass on both of his shoulders and a set of crossed möbius signs on either flank?"
"I think so." The Ember nodded. "He's the son of-"
Ember suddenly gasped and looked at Nellie in shock. The blue dragoness was just as perplexed, and they got their heads up close to shout.
"How do you know Prince Rune?" They both shouted in unison.
There was a long, awkward pause for a moment as the both of them tried to get over their confusion and embarrassment.
"Okay..." Nellie eventually stated. "Clearly, we both have some explaining to do..."
The two girls spent the next several minutes walking down the hallways, talking about how they both knew the black dragon. Nellie explained that Rune grew up in Glenhaven for several years as an adopted member of her family before he ran away from home on an important quest. Ember talked about how Rune, in the guise of a fire dragon, saved her life when her home in the Fractured Hills when was attacked by black-hided monsters called Crepsculi.
"What are the odds..." The water dragoness said with a surprised smile. "I never imagined running into someone else who kept Rune's secret."
"Yeah." Ember agreed. "Small world..."
Eventually, the two girls arrived at a female restroom.
The walls and floors were made with white tiles, while the doors and walls of the restroom stalls were made of green metal. A line of marble sinks was lined up next to the doorway, and a massive mirror ran along the same wall as the sinks.
Nellie took a moment to use a restroom stall and then approached the sinks. She talked about a few more details of what happened on the adventure her friends all experienced together, and how Rune ultimately got his mother and brother back.
"Ever since those days, Rune's been spending part of the year living with his family in Warfang," Nellie said. "But he often comes back to Glenhaven to keep living with us and train with the Guardians."
"And it's been that way for four years?" Ember asked.
"Yeah." Nellie nodded. "He'll always be family to us."
"Aww…" Ember smiled and wagged her tail. "That's so sweet, Nellie."
"Yeah, real sweet and sappy; a classic faerie tale…" An irritated voice said from behind. Nellie groaned; she didn't want to turn around, but she knew that the dragoness would do something nasty if she didn't. So, Nellie turned about carefully and faced Roxanne, who had just stepped out of one of the metal stalls in the back of the room. She approached one of the sinks with her tail defiantly raised.
"What are you doing here, Roxanne?" Nellie demanded.
"It's a RESTROOM. Put two and two together, dumbass." Roxanne snorted as she washed off her forepaws. "But by the ancestors, after listening to your mushy-gushy version of what happened back then… I might just have to use the toilet all over again."
A low growl escaped Nellie's throat, while Ember looked on in confusion. "Who're you?"
"Who am I?" The yellow dragoness snorted. "So you really don't remember me?"
"Remember you?" Ember tilted her head. Roxanne groaned and stepped a bit closer.
"It's Roxanne." She declared. "You know: the lightning dragoness who was traveling with Prince Rune? The fifth member of the gang of friends?" She scowled at Nellie. "I should have figured as much, considering Nellie neglected to mention MY NAME."
"Well, maybe it would be easier to tell her that you were one of our friends if you didn't turn traitor on us." Nellie snapped.
"Turn traitor?" Roxanne repeated irritably. "Since when is having your heart broken considered turning traitor?!"
"Heartbroken?" Ember asked in confusion. Nellie sighed and shook her head.
"When we were younger, Roxanne had a crush on Rune," Nellie said. "But Rune said he just wanted to be friends. And Roxanne didn't take it well." Nellie glanced at the yellow dragoness with a sneer. "And she's been taking it out on the rest of us ever since."
Roxanne growled at Nellie but then took a deep breath to try and keep calm.
"Why don't we tell Ember here about some of the juicer details of our adventure?" Roxanne grinned. "How about the part where that hoity-toity Emerald kept giving me shit left and right no matter where we went?"
"Don't go there, Roxanne." Nellie snapped. "Unless you want me to bring up how you blasted Emerald in the FACE, leaving her scarred for life."
Roxanne growled, and Nellie growled back. For a brief moment, Nellie considered pulling out her hammer and bonking Roxanne on her thick head to make it ring like a bell. But she decided against that; her hammer didn't do anything to deserve being dented.
During the glaring, Ember looked between the two dragonesses and sheepishly backed away. When Nellie realized this, she gulped and fell back onto her haunches.
"Damnit, I'm sorry, Ember." She frowned. "You're a new student; you shouldn't have to get caught in the middle of this."
"Hmph, I'll give you that…" Roxanne tilted her snout in the air. "Besides, I've got better things to do than waste my time on an inbred noble…" She made to leave the restroom, but then looked back at Ember. "If you ever want to have some REAL friends, come find me and my guys. Nellie and her gang aren't worth your time."
And with that, Roxanne left the restroom. Nellie sighed in contempt, while Ember looked on at the doorway.
"Again, I'm sorry about all of that." Nellie frowned. "No doubt you'll be seeing a lot more of that kind of confrontation if you hang out around my brother and me."
"I'll… keep that in mind." Ember grimaced.
"Well, let's get going…" Nellie walked toward the doorway. "I need to show you to your next class."
Ember sighed as she followed Nellie out of the restroom; they hoped that they didn't run into Roxanne again in the next classes.
~~…~~
Eventually, the school day came to an end.
The many students of the palace took off for flight to head home. Nellie, Ember, and Emerald emerged out in the front courtyard. Across the way, Blankridge and his band of adventuring buddies were gathered together. The orange drake was walking back and forth, going over some sort of checklist while Keith, Mary, and Marble prepared their supplies.
"Okay, so we've got the torches?" Blankridge asked.
"Check." Mary held them up.
"How about the canteens and rations?"
"Got them!" Keith held up a flask and a bag of mix.
"Alrighty…" Blankridge put a talon on the clipboard and snorted. "And we've got our map, just in case we somehow lose track of the entire CITY from a few miles across the desert."
"Hey, you never know…" Marble said as he held up a scroll. "Anything could happen out there."
"I guess so…" Blankridge shrugged. "Still seems a bit redundant, though."
Nellie walked up to her brother, and Keith pointed her out to Blankridge. The orange drake came to a stop and smiled over at her.
"Oh, heya, Sis." Blankridge flapped his wings. "You change your mind about coming with us? There's always room for moooooore."
"Thanks, but I can't, Blank." Nellie shook her head. "You know I'm not one for adventuring."
"Suit yourself…" Blankridge turned to grin at Emerald and Ember. "How about you two?"
"Well…" Emerald looked across Blankridge to grin at Marble. "I wouldn't mind having an excuse to spend time with a certain someone."
Marble's face turned from earthy brown to tomato red. Keith and Mary flashed him playful grins, and lightly nudged at his shoulders to try and get him to make a move. Ember didn't notice anything going on between the earth dragons; she just marched up to Blankridge and looked around at his group in delight.
"Where are you all going?" She asked.
Blankridge gave a toothy grin and proudly gestured to his friends with a wing. "We, little lady, are going to explore some mysterious desert ruins!"
"Really?" Ember's tail wagged.
"Yep." Keith gave her a wink. "They're big, spooky, and filled with danger."
Ember gasped. "Can I come?"
Blankridge's eyes lit up and stepped to the side a bit. "Oh, Absolutely-"
"NOT."
All of the young dragons flinched; Nellie in particular felt a shadow falling over her back. She nervously stepped to the side, and an imposing figure stepped forward to glare at everyone. A yellow dragon glared at Blankridge, who fell back on his haunches and gulped. His friends soon followed suit, with Marble shaking as he avoided looking the dragon in the eyes.
"H-Hiya, Lord General." Blankridge said with a nervous chuckle. "P-Pleasant day for some fresh air, isn't it?"
Nellie sucked in a breath and did her best not to gain Jules's ire.
Following the exile of King Saul from Glenhaven four years prior, there was a gap in the desert city's hierarchy. To fill it, two promotions were given out: Guardian Zecht was granted the rank of Captain, while Jules was made the new General. And not just a general, but Lord General; Glenhaven would be in his paws, should anything happen to the Elders.
And the new rank and responsibilities had taken their toll on Jules. His eyes ached he struggled to stand tall in his armor and cape. He had a disheveled bit of stubble on his chin, and his horns were slightly dented. He scowled at each of the young dragons in turn, until he stopped to sneer at Blankridge and Ember.
"I should have known you two would try to get into trouble together."
"Together?" Nellie repeated curiously. Blankridge and Ember glanced at each other only once before they focused on the general and tried not to make him angrier.
"What's going on, Dad?" Emerald looked up at Jules and bit her lower lip. "Are you alright?"
"I'm just fine, Emerald…" Jules snorted. "The Elders saw fit to assign me as Ember's bodyguard while she's staying in Glenhaven…" He gave the pink dragoness the stink-eye. "And they warned me that she'd try to sneak off the first chance she got."
Ember slumped her head down. "I'm sorry… I just really wanted to see that-"
"You're not leaving Glenhaven's walls," Jules ordered. "Especially not on your very first day of school here. The Elders would have my head in an instant if I allowed it…" He then glared at Blankridge, who flinched. "Though not as fast as I'd have YOURS if you allowed anything to happen to her."
"I-I'd protect her with my life!" Blankridge declared; he reached with a wing to cover Ember's back. "Nothing bad would happen to Ember! Apprentice's honor!"
"My answer is still NO." Jules snapped. "Don't make me forcibly cancel your little adventure, boy."
Blankridge gulped; he let go of Ember and backed away from her. "Y-Yes, General. S-Sorry, General."
Ember frowned at Jules. "I didn't mean to cause trouble, Sir."
"See that you don't." He snapped.
Nellie looked between the pink dragoness and the general and furrowed her brow curiously. "Lord General, why would you think someone like her would cause trouble?"
"Speculation." Jules declared. "Suffice it to say that Ember was quite the pawful at her old school in Crossbolt if Tintreon's word is to be believed."
Ember flushed with embarrassment and looked away. Nellie frowned at that; she didn't seem like much trouble to her.
Across the way, Blankridge spread his wings and motioned for the others of his group to do the same. Keith and Mary took off right away, while Marble was a bit more reluctant; he sat nervously on his haunches with his head held still, while Jules gave him a passing glance.
"You're dismissed, Marble," Jules said calmly. "See to it that you all return before midnight."
"Yes, Master." Marble bowed his head, and then frowned at Emerald. "I'll… see you later."
Emerald silently nodded, and she watched as Marble took off to join the other three dragons. Emerald, Ember, and Nellie all watched sadly as Blankridge's group flew off toward the southwest, and vanished from view a few moments later.
"Right, now that that's dealt with…" Jules stretched out his wings and groaned. "I need some time to relax before my next shift."
"Say, Dad…" Emerald looked at him. "Is Ember going to be living with us for a while?"
"No." Ember shook her head. "The elders were nice enough to assign me a bedroom here at the palace." She twiddled her little talons. "But I don't exactly want to stay cooped up in there all day."
"Naturally..." Jules grumbled. "And since she won't stay inside, I need to keep eyes on our guest here until we're sure she can be trusted to explore Glenhaven on her own."
Ember sighed and wagged her tail in disappointment. Nellie frowned; she could sympathize with wanting a bit of freedom. And that's when the spark of an idea came to the blue dragoness.
"How about Emerald and I keep an eye on her for a while, Lord General?" Nellie asked.
"Eh?" Jules raised an eye ridge.
"Why not?" Nellie smiled. "Emmy and I are trusted apprentices, right? Surely we could take a burden off your back by escorting our guest around our fair city."
Ember frowned. "I'm not a burden."
"She didn't mean it like that, Ember." Emerald shook her head. She then focused on her father's eyes. "But as Nellie said, we'd gladly help you out, Dad. That'll free you up for one of your patrols… or for going to see how Mom is doing with Ruby."
"Hmm…" Jules scratched his chin. "You know what? You girls make an excellent point." He turned toward Ember and stamped his foot. "You can spend the afternoon hours with my daughter and her friend. Just make sure you're back at the palace in time for Lady Attonita to collect you. Supper is at eight, little one."
"I'm not little, either." Ember pouted and brushed her mane out of her eyes. Jules wasn't phased by her protest, though, as he immediately turned toward the stairway to make his way down the long path toward the city streets.
"You girls be safe today!" Jules called over his shoulder.
"See you later, Dad!" Emerald called after the captain. Once he was finally out of earshot, Emerald sighed and fell back onto her haunches. "So… where do we take our guest?"
"Well, that depends," Nellie answered. "What places would you like to see, Ember?" She tapped her talons and smiled again. "There are lots of places to check out."
"I don't know the area all that well." The pink dragoness sighed. "So, pick whatever spot you might like to start with."
"Would you like to see the Glenhaven Grand Library?" Emerald suggested.
"Uh, okay," Ember answered with a nod. "Sure."
"Okay, let's go," Nellie exclaimed. She and Emerald spread their wings and took off into the sky, with Ember following close behind them.
~~…~~
The Library was as massive and magnificent as it had always been. The interior of the Library was large and spacious, with most of the floors having exposed areas for dragons to fly up to them. There was also a large spiral staircase connecting all of these floors near the back, so that non-dragons may traverse them. Each of the Library's floors was covered with a fine red carpet, while the countless bookshelves were constructed of hardwood.
Just like always, the librarian Jonas and his cheetah assistant sat behind the Library's front desk. The middle-aged drake hadn't changed much either, much to Nellie's discomfort; she'd hoped that, as he'd gotten older, he'd be nicer to dragons who had visited his library for so many years.
As the girls entered the library, the topaz dragon eyed them suspiciously. Ember hid behind the other two girls out of fear.
"Uh, hello, sir," Nellie said shyly.
"You two again." He stated apathetically. "And I see you've brought a friend along, too."
"Uh, yes..." Emerald stated. "Her name is Ember. She's a transfer student from-"
"I don't care where she's from." Jonas interrupted. "As long as she doesn't cause a ruckus in my library, she's perfectly welcome. But I don't want her breaking ANY of the library's rules and regulations, which can be easily found on the front wall of each of the library's floors."
The fat dragon eyed the pink dragoness, who flinched. "Do I make myself clear, young lady?"
"Y... Yes, Sir." Ember mumbled.
"Good," Jonas stated. He sighed, and then spoke again, his voice sounding halfhearted.
"Any child may obtain a children's library card if they provide five copper coins as payment and the express permission provided by a parent and/or Guardian. Regulations on the process of checking out books, tomes, and other such items can be found at all active helpdesks."
"Uh... okay." The pink dragoness nodded dubiously. "Thank you, sir."
The trio turned to fly up to another section of the library, while Jonas continued enjoying his quiet solitude.
For the next couple of hours, Emerald showed Ember around the library, while Nellie went off to explore on her own. During this time, she stopped by a small table on the far side of the Fourth Floor: otherwise known as the Nonfiction section.
This was the usual spot: The spot where all of them, the Glenhaven Gang, would hang out the most during their visits to the library.
Nellie could recall countless times when she'd sit to read books with Emerald and her brothers. They'd all sit around, joking and laughing and sharing their favorite stories. Blankridge would try to pretend he wasn't interested in learning about past adventurers. Emerald would scold him for not paying attention, even though she would sometimes find her mind wandering. Rune would bury his muzzle in tomes about Spyro's early life. Even Roxanne would be there, gushing about romances in novels and rooting for the underdogs to win the hearts of nobles.
Everything was so different now. Rune wasn't around for months at a time. Blankridge was preparing to go off on more adventures, should his trip to the ruins work out well. Emerald was well on her way to being the first of their group to become a proper Guardian. Nellie was going to start working full-time at the forge soon. And Roxanne… the less Nellie thought about Roxanne, the better.
After spending some time reading and relaxing, Nellie flapped her wings and glided down to the ground floor of the library. Emerald had just checked out a few books, and Ember was helping her carry them. Nellie came to a landing nearby and approached the two girls.
"You ready to leave?" She asked.
"Uh-huh," Emerald replied. "I checked out a few Romance novels for Ember since she doesn't have her own card yet."
"Thanks again for that, Emmy!" Ember exclaimed happily. Upon hearing this, Jonas cleared his throat loudly, making the pink dragoness jump.
"Please keep quiet in the library at all times." The overweight dragon sneered.
"Sorry..." Ember muttered. Emerald and Nellie chuckled lowly at this.
"Don't get overworked, Ember." The green dragoness reassured. "Everyone makes that mistake every once in a while."
"Not as often as Blank, though," Nellie commented. The two older girls chuckled again, while Ember looked on confused.
"In any case," Emerald eventually stated calmly, "I think it's about time we take Ember to see a few more of the sights and sounds of Glenhaven. We've still got some time before eight."
"What did you have in mind next?" Ember asked.
"Well," The green dragoness fell back on her haunches to tap her chin, "For starters, there's this very nice prairie where some younglings like to chase sheep around."
"Ooh…" Ember's eyes widened. "You guys have SHEEP? Back home I had to settle for goats."
"Well, then you're in for a great time." Emerald snickered as she stood up. "Let's go, girls."
"Okay." The other two said in unison.
As the three dragonesses left the library, Nellie turned and glanced up at the fourth floor. She sighed in satisfaction. Things might not have been the same… but she'd always have her memories of being part of a gang of friends.
~~…~~
Greetings, friends, and loved ones.
Fixed some errors, and added sleight new details here and there. But otherwise, everything's just fine; it was a slice-of-life chapter in the desert city.
Oh, but we're not done with the Glenhaven Gang just yet! Tune in next week, to see just what happens on Blankridge's little expedition! Stay tuned!
Tenebra ecce Veritas.