Devil's tale

Devil's tale chapter 23

"Afraid of heights! Afraid of heights! Afraid of heights!" Avarice repeated over and over again as he tightly gripped the spines on Rheagos' back.

"Oh suck it up, kid!" Jazz called back over the roaring of the wind.

Avarice felt someone grab his waist, he noticed Emily's hands around him, though she didn't grip him too tightly. He looked at her face and saw not fear, but wonder. She glanced up at the clear, night sky and shivered, as they had since ascended above the clouds. She murmured a prayer and a soft glow of golden light began to shine from her, that calmed the wind and raised the temperature around the three mortals riding the dragon. The moon shone high in the sky as a thin but radiant crescent and the stars around it twinkled like tiny diamonds on a dark-blue fabric. Avarice couldn't understand how Emily wasn't terrified, but he was happy nonetheless she seemed to be in wonder.

"It's beautiful." She said.

"Y-You think?" Avarice stuttered, still terrified and simply grateful Emily had shielded him from the wind.

"I never thought the absence of the sun could be so enchanting." Emily pondered.

"Where are we headed anyways?" Jazz asked, directing his question towards Rheagos. The dragon ignored the goblin.

Avarice spoke up. "W-Where are you taking us?"

"Where do you wish to go?" The dragon responded.

"Into Anoria. We need to get there before the king can strike a deal with them to turn us over."

"I'm afraid no dragon has set wing over that desert in hundreds of years, and for good reason. I must return to my horde sooner rather than later. Where along the boarder do you wish to go?"

"Somewhere without a military presence. Something like a mountain-range or a ravine."

"Ah, I know a place, but it is one of fierce magical dangers. Mortals are wise to avoid it, as no one would be foolish enough to attempt to pass through it. Though I believe that one such as you, may yet be able to cross it."

"Your confidence is misplaced, but appreciated. What's this place called?"

"It has no name in the mortal tongue. It is a valley that leads into the desert. Nothing grows near it except for strange, unnatural plants and mushrooms. Mortals who venture there never return."

"What happened there? You make it sound like its nature is not natural."

"Only the eldest of dragons know why the nameless valley is the way it is. My mother told me long ago that it is a place where both the hells and heaven come together, and that it is the aftermath of some sort of calamity. Such is all I know. I shall not fly over it, but I can lead you down to its beginning."

"Why not just drop us off at the end?" Jazz asked.

Rheagos didn't respond.

"Hey! My friend asked you a question." Avarice said.

"Be careful, young devil. You have my respect, but do not abuse it. As for what the goblin asks. When entered from the side of the kingless lands, the valley appears to stretch on into infinity, into the desert, and when entered from the desert, the valley appears to reach endlessly into the kingless lands. There is no way to fly you to its end."

"It sounds like powerful, primordial magics are at work here." Emily commented.

"You think?" Avarice asked rhetorically.

Emily smiled at him warmly and he smiled back. Her face and the warm light of her magic made him forget his fear of heights for a moment and he understood the same awe that Emily must have been feeling, he saw in her eyes what he could feel if he allowed himself to and looked up at the sky as well. For the rest of the flight, not much was said, especially since it didn't take long for Avarice to get scared like a little girl again and shut his eyes as he held tight to Rheagos' back.