The two sat quietly, watching the sunset, along with the rest of the soon-to-be students - and the guide dragoneer - who were all resting on the clifftop.
In the blink of an eye, the glorious sunset felt like it passed by too fast. What a pity. Amala really wanted to enjoy the sight a little longer, but she supposed she still had many days in front of her. Many days to enjoy the view, over and over. And, that's a fact.
She stood up from her spot as the sky darkened. Zane didn't follow after her, but she let him be. Time is precious, after all. No shame in wanting to stay a little while longer, she thought.
"Well, Ignis.. we're this close to a new life, aren't we?" She hummed to the Skullbane Wyvern, who hissed gently.
The said wyvern lowered his scaly cranium and the girl responded with soft caresses on the surface of his cranium. After a few moments, the young girl let go with a sigh as she backed up. "Go rest with the other dragons.." she trailed off with words that sounded like a command, but really, it was a mere suggestion. One that the gentle giant of a dragon took to heart as he scampered off, leaving rather resounding sounds of footsteps in his wake.
"Hey! What a beaut your dragon is, eh?" Said a voice to Amala's left, and it almost startled her - still, she managed to maintain composure, and she turned to her left to address the speaker.
"Oh, you're uh..." she hesitated.
"Pfft.. obviously, I am none other than Alistair Breckenridge." The girl scoffed in a playful manner. "I'm just busyin' m'self with conversation 'round here, though I didn't expect ye to not know me."
"...We never even had multiple conversations back in Artunville, we never voluntarily approached the other for stuff other than small, forgotten favors--" Amala pointed out a couple of facts, before being shushed by Alistair who sighed as she got the point. "I get it, jeez, stop there will you?" She huffed, retracting her hand from Amala's personal space. "You must have such terrible memory if that's the case, Amala. I, for one, can remember yer name."
"Oh. Err... neat?" She said warily, put off by the whole situation. Though that quickly dissolved. "I didn't expect you to say that about Ignis, though. People tend to find Skullbane Wyverns scary."
"Well, I'm... going to go now, so uhh... see you--" Amala was interrupted once again, much to the ire of the girl. But this time around, one could not complain, as it was the guide who suddenly talked quite loudly.
"Finally done with the fire, you lot come 'round and sit down on these logs my dragon prepared for ya." The guide called out. Then, a random soon-to-be student complained out of the blue, "You scared the hell outta me! Why're you always so quiet like.. 24/7 until you've got something to say??"
He sighed and his bright, emerald green eyes looked downcast, offended yet it seemed as if it didn't really affect him at all. He fixed his tousled blond hair, replying to the random individual, "That's just how I am. I leave you lot alone unless I've got something. It's all part of the job, you see," he explained, all in one go. "Now come on, all of you, just sit down around the fire." He sighed.
In a dreadfully quick amount of time - or, at least a moment or two that felt like such a time - several young individuals ran around and sat down on the many logs. Of course, the two nearest people to Amala were Zane and Alistair. Something she noticed but rolled her eyes at. I get Zane, but I don't get Alistair. Whatever, that isn't really important, she huffed in her head, sitting on a clean log with her head held in her right hand.
"It's actually pretty warm. I wouldn't be surprised if the fire was from a dragon," Zane started, probably dreading the silence that lasted.
"I doubt it. This is clearly some manmade flame, there are wood and stones beneath it," Amala presented a counterpoint. "Whatever you say. You're no fun, Amala." Zane hit the aforementioned girl awfully lightly. A short expression of mock pain rang out. "Hey, that's rude!" She exclaimed.
"We do it all the time!" Zane pointed out, and that was when they were shushed as s'mores and biscuits were passed around. "Oh, I love s'mores!" Alistair, next to Amala on her right, exclaimed quite loudly, though, for some reason the latter didn't find herself too bothered by the volume.
And so, many students began enjoying their snacks beneath the darkened sky, around the fire, in a setting almost similar to an outing in the woods.
YOU ARE READING
Guiding Flames: IGNIS
Fantasy"Reach the end of your story in your own way." Such were the final words muttered to the young, future dragoneer, Amala E. Adalgild, before her ultimate departure. No, this young woman isn't some legendary protagonist of a fantasy elegy. She's just...