Zayal inhaled the crisp night air as she followed silently
behind Gilro and Toyan. So many thoughts and questions pulsed through her mind.
She couldn’t even see strait, let alone think. She hadn’t exactly thought about
what she was doing, and now she started to feel a tinge of regret seep through
her bones.
Why did I leave my home, the only home I’ve
ever known to go with two complete strangers? She asked herself, but she
realised she knew the answer before she even finished the thought. The small
bit of regret disappeared. Zayal needed this, she couldn’t thrive in a place
she already knew so well. She needed adventure, something different, a challenge.
Yes, a challenge was exactly what she needed. Amberclaw would understand. Amberclaw
had to understand. Amberclaw had no need to worry, and Zayal had explained that
in her letter. What if Amberclaw worried anyway? Zayal shook the notion out
of her head. She didn’t need to concern herself with “What if?” questions.
Suddenly, Zayal froze in her tracks. Somebody...something
was watching her and it wasn’t the normal curious woodland creature. Toyan and
Gilro took no notice as they chattered loudly about what had recently happened.
Slowly, Zayal turned her head to the left. Right away she saw the offending
creature, perched on a tree branch staring at her. It certainly didn’t look
menacing. It was a very small Draik-like creature, his tiny talons gripping
the tree branch as if his life depended on it. If it wasn’t for the wings Zayal
certainly would have though that it was a subspecies to a Draik. The wings were
transparent and glittered in the moonlight, they were faerie wings. She had
never seen a creature like it before. What was so frightening about it? In normal
circumstances Zayal would have offered the little guy a piece of food from her
rucksack. This time it was different. There was something about the strange
Draik-faerie that bothered her. She couldn’t put her finger on it. The creature
seemed to be looking her over trying to pinpoint her weaknesses.
What is wrong with me? Zayal demanded
to herself. It is just something I haven’t seen before. No reason to be scared!
Unfortunately, the feeling of danger lingered
in Zayal’s mind. It was a feeling she couldn’t just shake off.
“Hey! C’mon, Your falling behind. We’ve
got to reach Shaylir by Sundown today!” Gilro said, his eyes flickering with
annoyance. He was obviously in some sort of rush.
“Geez, Gilro. She’s probably tired we
just woke her up in the middle of he night," Toyan snapped at the Kyrii
as he trotted backwards to wait for Zayal. Sometimes Toyan got rather irritated
with his long time friend’s quick temper and bad attitude.
“No, No...I’ve just been thinking. That’s
all," Zayal replied not really caring whether Gilro was mad or not. She was
tired, but she had much more important things on her mind.
That was when the serpent came.
***
Summoned by his Master, one of the King’s many Bruce servants came running
into the royal chambers. He quickly bowed to the King, his hands shaking nervously.
“Yes, My Lord?” The Bruce’s body was trembling
with fear, but he kept his voice even.
“What the heck is this?” The King, who
was a Skeith, snapped his eyes flashing with anger. He wore a cloak made of
the finest velvet and it was adorned with jewels that were worth thousands in
gold. Even at fifty the king was a large menacing figure with huge claws that
could defeat many strong creatures. His eyes were small and beady and his skin
seemed like tanned leather. “Darn it! You should no by now that I only drink
red wine!” He spat at the cowering Bruce
The servant sighed to himself, his eyes
still wide with fear. The King could easily request for the General to exile
him and that was something the servant did not want. Ryon, The Shaylirian General
(he was a fiery Lupe), was just as menacing as his king.
“Yes, your highness. I am terribly sorry
for the mix-up and I will be up with your Red Wine in a moment," the servant
replied quickly and with a short bow he rapidly exited the room.
A malicious laugh filled the room as the
king chucked the goblet of white wine at the wall. The King was pleased. There
was nothing better then to see the face of one of his servants when, gosh forbid,
they did something wrong. Of course, they hadn’t really done anything wrong.
The King just happened to change his mind often. This set him off into more
howls of laughter. Complete and total control. Being a King was wonderful. He
watched as droplets of wine dripped off the wall which was made of sapphire
and silver.
“Whoops,” he said out loud to himself.
Foogon flew in through the window, landing
on The King’s shoulder.
“Ahh, Good Day Foogon. Find anything that
may be of interest?” The King inquired the small Draik-like creature with faerie
wings. The two of them spoke telepathically. The King wasn’t a telepath but
Foogon could understand all the same just by listening to his thoughts.
“Well, Two citizens of Shaylir. A Uni-boy
and a Kyrii were found with a young woman. I don’t think they could be of any
harm, but it’s something to keep a watch out for. There was something familiar
about the girl...” Foogon was cut off as the King rudely interrupted.
“You think I’d fear those two hooligans
and some girl? Bah! I don’t need to know about things that aren’t a Threat.
Anything else?” The King’s telepathic voice was obviously astounded that Foogon
thought a simple girl could threaten his plans.
“Nothing else...but you must be wary I
really do think...” Foogon was cut off yet again by the King’s raspy voice.
“Shut up you old Lizard and go find me
some useful information," the king said with a snap of his fingers. “You’re
dismissed.”
“Yes, Sire,” was Foogon’s reply, but he
was sick of the King’s complaints. If he didn’t appreciate his information,
somebody else would.
***
It was huge.
Zayal took a few steps back so she could
size the gigantic serpent up. It was at least three feet in diameter and there
was no way to tell exactly how long it was in the darkness. It’s scaly skin
was obviously very thick and it glistened menacingly in the moonlight. It’s
eyes weren’t the usual yellowish in colour but a demon-like red. Just looking
at the serpent’s eyes sent a shiver through Zayal’s spine.
And it was hungry.
Gilro was frozen in his tracks. His eyes
were wide with terror and his entire body trembled with unmistakable fear. Toyan
slowly backed up dragging Gilro by his shirt collar. Zayal’s first instinct
was to bolt back down the path, but she knew that there was no way it would
work. The serpent was hungry and there was not a chance it would let his prey
get away that easily. It could easily track them down. They had no choice but
to slay it. At first Zayal grabbed for her spear so she wouldn’t have to get
too close to the serpent. Then she cursed. It’s point was made for catching
fish, not piercing the skin of a serpent. There was no way she could defeat
it with such a dull point. She had to use her dagger.
“Toyan," she whispered hoarsely as she
edged closer to the serpent. “Distract it while I get him from behind.” She
knew there was no way to get close unless she had Toyan’s help.
“What the heck? There is NO way I am going
NEAR that things face!” Toyan replied sharply as he reared backwards. He was
horrified of serpent’s, one had defeated his younger brother when Toyan’s parents
were still alive. Toyan’s past wasn’t exactly happy.
“Fine. If I get beat, I blame you," was
Zayal’s cold response. The serpent hissed with fury as she walked even closer
towards him. He curled up ready to strike at any moment, It’s eyes following
the young girl’s every movement. This got Toyan moving, he wasn’t going to let
another person be defeated at the mouth of a serpent whether he knew Zayal well
or not.
“Darn it...” Toyan rushed in with a large
branch in his arm. The serpent reeled back, opening his mouth in surprise. The
centaur took the opportunity to stick the branch into the serpent’s gaping mouth.
Zayal acted quickly, thrusting her dagger deep into the serpent’s vulnerable
neck. The serpent hissed with astonishment and fury as he tried to swing it’s
head around to face Zayal. It screamed in agony as pain shot through it’s entire
body. Zayal held on tightly to the hilt of the dagger as the serpent whipped
it’s head around. That was when Toyan first realised Zayal wasn’t just an ordinary
girl. He watched as the serpent’s dark scarlet eyes slowly began to dull as
it became defeated. Finally it’s immense head fell to the dusty forest floor
with a loud thud.
“Wow...” was all Toyan could say, his
jaw had dropped and his eyes revealed his astonishment. He was truly impressed
with Zayal’s bravery, it wasn’t often you see a girl take down a serpent. Heck,
It wasn’t often you see anybody take down a serpent.
“It...was...huge," Gilro said shakily,
staring at the serpent in awe. It’s eyes still seemed to be watching all three
of them.
“Let’s just hope it’s not some kind of
Snake-Hydra hybrid and it doesn’t sprout three heads and....” Toyan was cut
off by Zayal sharp tongue.
“Shush. That is complete nonsense," Zayal
said quietly, giving Toyan an icy glare. The serpent’s body twitched suddenly.
“Natural Reflex," she said with a ghost of a grin as both Toyan and Gilro jumped
in surprise.
“Let’s just keep moving," Toyan grumbled.
The experience had shaken him quite a bit and he just wanted to get to Shaylir.
***
Foogon had always been an outcast to his kind.
Draik’esha’s, the real name for his species,
were timid little creatures. Surprisingly, They lived in underground cities
without any knowledge of the world above them. Foogon was an exception. He had
always known that there was something more then their hidden towns. Most Draik’esha’s
believed that anything above ground was a myth. Foogon knew better.
He remembered when he was only a child,
his parent’s would scold him whenever he told them about his dreams of going
to the surface. For a long while he banished the thoughts from his mind, but
the hunger for adventure got the best of him eventually.
That was when he ran away from home.
It hadn’t been hard at all to find an
opening to the surface. There were many along forgotten tunnels that had lead
to abandoned Draik’esha establishments. He had simply flown out into the new
world, which to him, had been as amazing as he thought it would be.
It had been fifteen years since that day,
he didn’t regret it, rather he regretted trusting who he did.
He had trusted the future king.
To be continued... | 
