Watty's Shortlist 2023
"I have been waiting a long time to meet you."
________________
When two warring kingdoms hear of a magical object that will end the conflict once and for all, two rival heirs embark on a quest to retrieve it and bring their...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Surprise coursed through Aila as she registered that Ember had allowed her to oversleep. The pair had talked well into the very early hours of the morning, learning about what life was like when they were both children. Aila had dreamt of two young dragons running around together, flying together, getting in trouble together, pranking each other and arguing as siblings do. Despite this, she still expected the dragon to wake her up for her training session.
"Why did you not wake me?" She reached around his wing that was acting as her blanket, and poked him.
Ember's red eye cracked open lazily and he released a warm puff of air. When he transformed, the frigid air slapped Aila and she yelped, which drew a chuckle from him.
"We are not going to train today."
He strode over to the cabinet lining the walls and drew out a small packet before he resumed his position before her with his legs crossed.
"I think it's about time we play a game, don't you?"
Aila watched, mesmerised as his deft fingers handled a deck of playing cards. Ember appeared amused, watching her expression as he dealt them.
"But training?"
"You need to give your powers rest or your reserves will burn out."
"But Splint?" Aila frowned.
Centuries old pain flashed in the dragon's red eyes, but he shook his head, his voice firm.
"She will not benefit if we do not do this right."
Aila nodded and leaned back against the pillar, taking the cards into her hands when Ember had finished dealing. Following the dragon's lead, she turned the cards over and studied them, frowning at the symbols.
Ember chuckled at her expression.
"The star signs are what we use to play. We call this game Constellation, though I don't know why. The aim of the game is to hold all three of the signs of an element in your hand."
Aila's brows furrowed further. She noticed an image of the element that each zodiac sign belonged to at the edge of each card.
"You may take a card from this pile," Ember gestured to a neutral pile in the middle. "Or you may choose to take a card from my hand. Each turn, you must discard a card that you don't want to keep."
"Simple enough."
"Ah not quite. There are four sets of each star sign. When the element is in the right colour, it is the "good" set, which is the one we need to get the same element signs in, in order to win. When an element is purple, it is a "mystery" set, which means you may ask any question of any member of the group. When an element is white, it is the "secrecy" set, which means you must tell the group something about you that they don't know yet. When an element is black, it is the "death" set and you automatically lose."
