Dragons of Alaevia

Chapter 25: Cyprian

Cyprian kneeled in front of the Woodlander, and she gazed up at him with golden eyes that sparkled brilliantly and reminded him of the sun. Well, in...in a bad way of course. Not in a pretty way or anything. Whatever. It doesn't matter. Shaking his thoughts away, Cyprian trailed his eyes over the Woodlander's forehead, searching for any sign of blood or wounding.

Nothing.

The Woodlander watched him warily. "What are you—"

"Your dragon just healed you."

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she snapped her gaze towards the light dragon standing above her—still sniffing her forehead as if to ensure she was completely healed. She smiled a little, providing his scales a gentle stroke.

"Yeah, um...he can...he can do that. I guess I should have—"

"He's a light dragon, yes?"

The Woodlander glared at him. "Could you please stop inter—"

"Answer the question."

"Ugh, fine! No, he's not a..." She trailed off, her eyes meeting her dragon's. "...well, actually, if I'm being honest, I don't really know what he is."

"You don't—" Cyprian exhaled, pressing his fingers against his temple in unadulterated disbelief. "You don't know? Woodlander, your dragon can heal for Alaevia's sake. Its wings are feathered with gold...with light. What else could you possibly think—"

"Stop." The Woodlander cut-in—her shiveringly sharp glare slicing into his gaze as she rose to a stand. "Stop talking down on me. You keep acting like I'm below you. Like I'm some stupid Woodlander who can't understand a single thing." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Look, I know Jisu's not a light dragon because I found him in the woods ten years after the war your people, might I add, caused. All light dragons were destroyed in that war—and, even if he had somehow survived, he couldn't have stayed an infant for ten years. It doesn't make any sense."

"Guys..." Kaeirin muttered beside them, his tone apprising.

Cyprian rose, unable to allow the girl to stand above him—overcasting him with shadow. "Fine, Woodlander." He admitted. "You have a point. Though I'll have you know that, after studying book after book about every dragon out there—I've never once encountered a text describing a dragon like yours. You want to know the only dragon books that are banned from Alaevia's library shelves? Light dragon books. So it would only seem sensible that—"

"Guys!" Kaeirin exclaimed once more.

The Woodlander shook her head. "What if he's a dragon type no one has discovered yet? What if he's a species unknown to Alaevia? That could be another reason as to why you haven't read about a species like his in your library. He's not a light dragon."

"Woodlander, I don't think you understand—"

"GUYS!" Kaeirin shouted, finally obtaining attention—and Cyprian glared at him.

"What do you—"

"LOOK OUT!" The Woodlander cried as she slammed into Cyprian without warning, shoving him out of the way just as a giant club crashed down right where they'd been standing. For a second the three of them were downright motionless—the Woodlander lying awkwardly over Cyprian's supine form before Kaeirin broke the silence at last with one loud,

"RUN!"

The club came swinging at them again, and the Woodlander stumbled away from Cyprian as swiftly as possible. She then grasped Cyprian's hand with hers, hauling his body up from the ground. The club narrowly missed their heads as they ran towards their dragons.

"GRRRAAAAHHHHH!!!" The glitter-skinned troll roared one last time, smashing his club into the ground as the three of them climbed onto the backs of Jisu and Raene. Then, as swiftly as they could, they took off into the skies above.

On the way up, Kaeirin cupped his hands over his mouth, eyeing the furious troll down below. "So long, Sparkle-Toes!" He shouted, causing the troll to smash a few more trees in rage. Kaeirin chucked to himself atop the dragon Jisu.

"Heh...Sparkle-Toes..."