The Flaming Ice

Chapter 3: The Water Tribe Base

I can feel my eyes dazzling as I gawk at what I see at the end of the tunnel.

It leads to a ginormous hollow cavern that stretches hundreds of feet above, from which water pours down from the ceiling into a few ponds dotted around the area. The perimeter is a moat. In the center of the cave is a pond five times larger than the others. Two waterfalls pour down into it, and there is a tall stone pillar with a few platforms branching off of it. The center pond is speckled with lily pads, and several dragons are drifting in it. I even see a few dragonlings - I'm assuming those are baby dragons based on what Commander Dusk Fog had called me - annoying... dragon... - splashing each other with water and diving beneath the surface, only to come back up and spit the water at someone else. There are also some crystal-things that are spotted all over the walls and seem to give off a blue-tinged light. Also on the walls are ledges bulging out of the stone, similar to the one that Aquamarine and I took up the cliff from the Low Lands to the High Lands, that lead up to numerous more openings and tunnels in the walls. To top all of that off, the place is filled with dragons.

Dragons of each and every color, with different patterns, some flying, some gathered on the ground, and still some relaxing in the ponds, swarm the cave. It seems like a jar of spilled magical jewels just moving among each other.

"Wow," I breathe. The patrol had stopped moving - I'm thinking so that I could properly take the new place in - at least they're kind enough to do that - and Aquamarine is now standing beside me. I guess the Tribe guards finally sees that I'm of no threat to the princess. When I look over at her, I see that she is already looking at me, and with a rather proud expression, if not a little amused.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" the light-purple dragonette speaks my thoughts. She turns her gaze to the cavern, and I do the same. She sighs deeply. "I really am happy to be a water dragon, and to live here. I don't think I could ever survive if it weren't for the base. And not only for its safety, but also for its magnificence."

We begin moving again then. As we do, I notice that the water dragons are starting to notice me and realize that a complete stranger is in their base. The skin beneath my scales starts to prickle uncomfortably, and I step an inch closer to Aquamarine. I don't know why, but I feel... safer, in a way, when I'm with Aquamarine. I know that I haven't left her side since she found me, but I just have a strange feeling that if I were without her, I would be completely lost and vulnerable.

The princess interrupts my thoughts and I focus on her words. "This has been the home of the Water Tribe for only about thirty revolutions now," she explains.

Does she know that I feel skittish? She doesn't look like it, but I'm kind of assuming that she could sense it like I sensed her anger from before. Maybe she's just trying to keep things under control. Also, what the heck is a revolution? Probably another time period term.

"We used to have a different base, but we had to abandon it. That was when the Fire Tribe first attacked us head-on, which started this war we are in right now. They attacked us directly in a Tribe base! Crazy, isn't it?"

That is crazy. Didn't she just say a moment ago that she likes this base not only for its magnificence, but also for its safety?

"It seemed to work well enough, though, since only two or three successes later, one of our Tribe hunters discovered this cave, so we moved here. It's perfect for preventing attacks on the base, having only one way in and out, closely guarded every single flash. But of course," she adds lastly with a glance my way, "I wasn't even born yet when they attacked. I was basically born into this war. Right in the middle of it."

Aquamarine looks straight ahead then as she finishes her speech. I try to sense what she is feeling, but there are so many dragons in here that it's too overwhelming for me. Her face looks neutral, and I have no clue what she could be thinking.