The Lost Kingdom

Chapter 2 - A New Land

Ivory stood in front of the small, weather worn rock in front of her. She gently dropped an exotic purple flower onto it, watching as it floated down. A single tear slipped from her eyes, but she pushed it away. Tears were a sign of weakness, and even though no one was around with her right now, she wouldn't cry. She had done enough of that when Echo, her brother and last remaining family member, had died.

She bent down and shooed a fly away from the gravestone, silver hair falling in front of her face. This might be the last time she ever came here. It would be hard to leave the place where her brother had been buried, and she knew if she died fighting in Ellamenta that she wouldn't be buried next to him.

Swan had told her privately that he wanted Ivory to come with them, knowing the other survivors wouldn't agree. She was a horrible sword fighter and generally disliked, but Swan had always seen her potential as an archer.

She heard footsteps behind her and immediately made herself unreadable. Showing emotions had done her no good in the past, and they wouldn't begin to help her now. Feeling the dagger tucked into her belt, she turned and saw Indigo, the dragon trainer from Ellamenta. She dropped her hand from her side when she saw who it was. Indigo was good- Ivory could sense it.

"Swan said you'd be here," The indigo-eyed warrior said. "It's time to go."

Ivory nodded and followed Indigo to the dragons. Other warriors were loading supplies and weapons onto the smallest dragon, which still wasn't very small. She spotted a father hugging his son before his son climbed onto the largest dragon, grabbing a spike to help himself up.

Ivory glared at the fire-breathing creatures, hesitant to get on one but unwilling to show it. Absently, she reached back and made sure she had all her arrows. She didn't like anything related to fire.

"Don't worry, the dragons won't hurt you," Indigo said, picking up on Ivory's distaste.

"They breath fire," Ivory retorted, watching as warriors hopped onto them.

"Only to enemies," Indigo said, smiling. "You should get on Lukraine soon, you don't want to be riding on the end of his tail."

Reluctantly, Ivory walked up to the giant beast, running her fingers across his green scales. How was it possible to tame a dragon so huge? Squaring her shoulders, Ivory climbed on to the dragon, apparently named Lukraine, sliding between two of the spikes that ran along its spine.

Soon, everyone going had climbed onto Lukraine. Indigo was riding on the third dragon, a blue one with a long tail called Kraze. "Up!" She cried, and the dragons rose into the air.

Ivory's breathing hitched, and she clutched the spike in front of her. The dragons flew higher and higher, and then they were off to Ellamenta, soaring over waters that rippled beneath them.

_____________________

Ivory was sore by the time the dragons approached Ellamenta. From above, the kingdom was beautiful. Ellamenta was a relatively large kingdom, with lush mountains and crystal blue waters. But a portion of the kingdom had turned black from battles with Malifimus. Smoke rose into the sky where a fire had burned.

The dragons dove down, soaring right above darkened trees. They landed in a small clearing, and Ivory slid off of the dragon. The ground was blackened and stained with blood. Tree leaves had rotted, and the air wreaked of something foul. Ivory scrunched her nose. Malifimus brought their darkness with them everywhere they went.

Ellamentian warriors watched Ivory and the other warriors as they got off the dragons. They looked tired and worn out, some of them still bleeding from wounds. Fallen soldiers lay on the ground, some dead and others dying. Ivory tried to look away, but her eyes were glued to a boy no older than fourteen, lying on the ground with his side bleeding. There was only one healer trying to attend to them all. Ivory wondered why there wasn't more.