Born in the Flame

Chapter Seven

   
When I was a little girl, I thought I wanted to travel the continent. The idea of seeing the eastern mountains and seeing the Southern Isles of Corys thrilled me. That changed when I discovered I was a mage with a strong connection to fire. Being near the forge and the mountain consumed me and I never really thought about leaving after that. My sole focus from the ages of eight till I was twenty was honing my spell craft. After that, it was all about smithing and using my magic to enchant weapons. Not once, since then, had I contemplated leaving our country's borders. That was until now.

    I stood on the large stone bridge that sat right outside the city's gates. Below, the Lǫngubak River rushed, carving its way around the base of the volcano. I had thought that I would be taking a train with Birch back to Nadraria, but of course it wasn't that simple. A train rushed by on the left most half of the bridge. As it passed, I looked at it with envy. Though Droca's relationship was, to put it lightly, strained, there had been no issue with connecting rail lines with the southern part of Nadraria which was the dusk elves half of the territory; which also happened to be where Birch and I would be going.

    He explained that the train cars nullify magic, so he wouldn't have been able to hide his identity. Though I would have had no problem getting on the train, we would be journeying to the southern province of Nadraria on his drake.

    As if he were summoned by the thought of him, Birch stood by the stables across the bridge. After he had dispelled the illusion he casted on himself, I had gotten used to seeing the dawn elven features. I knew how different we looked from humans. Only a blind man would be able to deny the differences. Our pointed features, our longer legs, our ears, and our skin tones definitely cast us into a whole other category from them. Seeing Birch attempt to look human again was startling. Only the most obvious features were muted to an almost human nature, but it still looked unnatural.

    "Are you ready to leave?" He asked, not even bothering to look up as he fastened the saddle to the sleek, green drake. The drake, though, did turn an eye in my direction.

    "What's her name?" I asked, ignoring the question entirely.

    "Aingidh." He replied, but stopped for a moment and looked up at me, "How did you know she was a female?"

    "She has a slimmer frame and longer body. Aingidh also has a smaller head than the males." I replied tightening the straps to my cross body satchel, "I had a fascination with them when I was younger; along with dragons."

    Birch simply nodded in acknowledgement and went back to tightening the saddle. He wore the same cloak as before, but underneath was a new set of clothes. These, while simple, were obviously finely made. Birch wore a sleek, gray shirt that hugged his torso along with dark riding trousers. Even his boots seemed to be made from the highest quality leather. His entire outfit definitely did not look to be something someone would travel in over many weeks. It seemed too light for the possibility of a dangerous encounter.

    I wasn't as relaxed as he was about traveling. While I did keep it simple, I still wore a leather jerkin that tightly hugged my torso like a corset and leather bracers. It had been a while since I had worn them, but thankfully my size hadn't changed since my twentieth birthday. Currently, I wasn't wearing my dark blue cloak but I held it in my arms just in case I would need it. On my hip, the death steel axe sat in its leather cover. I hoped to the gods that I wouldn't need to take it out, but I wore the leather gloves just in case.

    "Alright, you go ahead and get on first." He said, motioning for me to get on.

    "Wait, am I riding in the front?" I asked, giving the male an incredulous look. Obviously, he didn't understand why I had such a problem with it; if he didn't understand, I wasn't going to explain it.