The Dewdrop Kingdom

Chapter Eight

I was unsure how to respond.

"Well. Erm. Well, I think calling you by your name would be fine." I stuttered out, not being used to anyone flirting with me, normally people flirted with my friends and ignored that I was present.

He gave a smirk in response just as Kiree had made her way back to them.

"You took your time, didn't you?" I accused her.

With a short laugh, Kiree focussed her senses on the pile of dried wood she had placed on the ground.

"Wooow." I whispered amazed, watching the flames lick the dry wood, climbing higher than when they first appeared. I looked at Kiree.

"How did you do that?" I asked dazed.

Kiree tapped her nose with her index finger twice.

"It's a secret." She whispered back with a smile etching onto her lips.

Drew let out a deep chuckle from viewing the exchange.

"I can see why you would risk everything to have the friendship you do." He solely addressed Kiree, acting as if I wasn't present in his eyesight.

"HEY!-"

"Hello." Drew turned towards me as he interrupted my sentence.

"I AM, here you know!" I spluttered out, Drew replying in my sentence made me forget my train of thought.

I turned crossing my arms, an expression of pout spreading thickly across my face. My bottom lip producing out, eyebrows furrowed nearly covering the whole of my eyes. Kiree bent over with laughter.

"Awe!" She squealed out at me from how I was acting.

Huffing I stood up wandering away from the group. I hadn't got more than two steps away before my arm was lightly grabbed. The touch was softer than I would have imagined. Turning my head around to peer at the person who had hold of me. Drew stood there with a worried look. My face softened not realising that I'd been glaring at him.

We stood there studying each other not saying a word.

"Huh-mm" The sound of Kiree clearing her throat brought us out from our bubble.

"You shouldn't go wandering by yourself. It could be dangerous, especially in the parts we're in."

"Why?" I asked confused with my head tilting to the side.

"There are creatures here that hunt us. This valley is one of the oldest. It got abandoned long ago." Drew started.

"Story tiime!" Kiree yelled out getting comfortable on one of the rocks.

Drew fluttered his hand to get my attention to go sit down as well.

"A long, long time ago, The King of that time had a problem with fitting all of his kingdom in the small piece of land that they had. A lot of the kingdom was starving. So, he set out the knights to search for new land. They stumbled across this valley; luscious greenery was scattered all over. Not a sign of life anywhere. So, the king moved some of the people up here. Months later, subjects started to disappear, after they sent out a search party, they came across scattered bones, with ligaments hanging off leg parts. Exploring deeper into the land, carefully walking through the graveyard of bones. They came across a hoard of sleeping beasts. Their wings expanded for miles, heads the shape of a dog, with the body of half mammal half amphibians. It was unlike anyone had ever seen. One of the knights tripped over some of the weapons that were left, waking up the beasts. For the rest, you can imagine what would have happened. But one of the knights managed to break away, getting back to his city to warn the king of their findings. However, the beasts, having a taste for us now, followed his scent back to the kingdom in hunt. After they managed to scare them off, the subjects moved away from the area so that they would not be eaten, and we developed ways to camouflage ourselves from the beasts for when they came back looking."

"Ooooh." I was speechless, not having imagined that anything like this would ever happen, not with how sophisticated their realm seemed. But it did make sense to me now why all the houses were in the shape of rocks.

"It all makes sense now!" I yelled out; both Drew and Kiree looked at me.

"What?" Kiree expressed their confusion.

"Why your houses are in the shape of rocks." I explained letting out a little yawn.

"Well with you looking like you're getting tired, and our clothes are now dry we should carry on for a little bit longer until we get the King's thinking place. We will be safe there."

"But isn't it the king that is now hunting us? How will it make us safer to be in his thinking place?" I felt as if I was the slow one here.

Drew attempted his best not to burst out with laughter.

"NO silly, it's just the name of the place. Another myth story for a different time."

"Okay." Was all I replied, standing up and wanting to get going so I could sleep.

They began walking towards the hills, the greenery beginning to get thicker the longer that they walked. I was going at an even pace, walking slightly faster than Kiree seemed to be able to go now. The bounce in my step hadn't deterred with how long we'd been walking. Drew was in front, surveying our surroundings as he went. He knew better than anyone just how real the beasts were. How dangerous they could be if agitated.

The hills towered far above them, almost as if touching the clouds themselves. I felt small and insignificant next to them. The realm going into complete quiet with the more they walked. The sounds of small woodland creatures dissipating. My footsteps were the loudest, they echoed through the trees.

"Step lighter, we need to be as quiet as possible going through here." Drew whispered in warning to me.

"Sorry." I sheepishly whispered back to him.

Toe, heel. Toe, heel. I stepped. It was a technique I'd learned when sneaking up on my friends. Your footsteps couldn't be heard that way.