Born in the Flame

Chapter Sixteen

    We had officially crossed the border into Nadraria the next morning. My eyes squinted at the morning sun as it seemed to angrily glare into my fragile eyes. Holding my hand over my brow seemed to help a bit, but really anything that reflected the sun put me off. Whether that be wet grass, Aingidh's sleek green scales, or any body of water. I hated being out of the mountain, I realized. Gods, I truly detested it. Younger me had no idea what she was thinking when she told her parents she wanted to travel the world and tame dragons. No thank you, I would like to stay alive and not be blinded.

    "Are you doing okay?" Birch asked from behind me. I guessed he noticed my squinting eyes and the very unhappy expression I bore.

    "There's just so much damn light." I groaned.

    "I forget how sensitive dusk elves' eyes are." He started, "The southern province is usually very foggy from the sea. It should tone down the light to a comfortable degree."

    I breathed a sigh of relief. Of course the dusk elves had chosen the southern half of Nadraria for a reason. I couldn't imagine that they would choose the northern part. The mere thought of light reflecting off the snow there made me cringe.

    "Are we going to be in an actual city or are we hiding in a random hole you found?" I asked, mild sarcasm coated my tone.

    "We're going south to the city of Yaanlian." He breathed, "Don't worry, I have a spot with a private smithing space rented out for us."

    "Thank the gods." I dramatically cried out.

    "What? You think I was going to put your father in a random shack?" He chuckled.

    Birch had laughed more since last night. It seemed whatever barrier he held up against me tumbled away that night. The feeling of being trusted, even with something as simple as showing joy, was nice. It had also been nice to actually talk on the way to Yaanlian. Well, it was mostly me talking to him about myself. I guess he had felt more comfortable talking to me, but couldn't bring himself to tell me about himself. The only conversation starters he could come up with was questions about myself or what Forge City was like for me. I didn't mind of course, I could talk about random things for hours. That is to say if I was comfortable enough with the person I was speaking with. Odd that I considered Birch to be one of those people.

    I ended up telling him about the fight pits, my family, and the forge; I even went down to the mundane details of my favorite color, which of course was blue. To clarify, it's not just blue but the soft blue that hydrangeas have. Birch did tell me his favorite color was not in fact green, but orange. Not just any orange, but the color of autumn leaves. I only lightly teased him for the color description, but admitted that it was a nice color choice. I also asked him if he felt like his hair being his favorite color was a bit too on the nose, but he just asked if I liked to hear myself talk.

    It felt weird becoming closer to him, but had it really been that weird? Not only had I been sitting in front of him for days, but we had also fought for each other. He was a dawn elf, but my perspective of dawn elves had completely shifted, because I actually got to know him. He was stiff, but he was kind when you got him to open up a bit. Most of the things I had heard about dawn elves had been nothing but bad things, but I had also heard the same things about dusk elves as well.

    "You never told me your favorite drink." Birch said.

    "Mead. But I'll drink anything besides Forgewood Ale. My father drinks that stuff, and it just tastes like piss on piss." I chuckled, "You never told me yours either."

    "You'll make fun of me if I tell you." He replied, I could hear the smile turning up at the corners of his lips.

    "If I promise not to make fun of you, will you tell me?"