The Bluebird Of Adelion

Chapter 8- The Mountain

When the white drake's wings gave in to our combined weight we fell to he ground. Though the fall was not very far since the drake had lowered it's flight drastically, the impact nearly knocked us out. When the white drake landed it wiggled itself and pushed us off it's back with a hurt howling sound. 

It rushed away from us, terrified and limping. Then it struggled to bat it's wings again to get away, eventually managing to lift the white, snake-like body up in the air and flee. It disappeared somewhere over the mountaintops.

After the crash my head felt heavy and spinning and my ribs were hurting. I managed to sit up from the position I had landed in, laying on my side.

Cal was right beside me. He sat up and rubbed his head, appearing just as light headed as I felt.

"This is why we don't fly White Adder Drakes," Cal groaned as he attempted to stand up on his feet.

"Are you alright?" I asked him, ignoring his comment.

Cal failed to stand up and stumbled back on his butt with another annoyed groan. He sighed and answered in a calmer voice and smiled at me.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm alright." Then his smile exploded into laughter as he looked up to the sky with a relieved look on his bright face. His laughter gripped me and I started chuckling. It took a hold of me and for the next few minutes we sat there together in the enjoyment of our laughter. The feeling of wonderful relief of our escape took over us as we sat in each other's company. The laugh died out after some time but the smiles remained on our faces a while after.

Cal looked in my eyes with the most gorgeous smile I had ever seen. It warmed my heart and made it flutter for a moment. I looked down as I felt my cheeks blushing. I saw my dress was slightly torn in places, a few tiny pebbles hanging in the blue fabric. I dusted hem off and brushed my hair behind my ears.

"I can't believe we did it," he said to me, a slight chuckle returning. I agreed with a nod and a sigh.

"Come on now", I said as I stood up, my dizziness mostly gone and held my hands out for Cal. He grabbed them and stood on his feet, his mossy eyes  still fixed on mine. He pulled my hands when he got up and stepped closer to me, so I felt his breath on my face. His chest brushed against mine an the butterflies that had formed in my stomach fluttered faster and faster when he didn't move away. 

A smirk appeared on his lips as he moved in. His face got closer and closer until his smiling lips were an inch away from mine, his eyes eyes almost shut. But nothing happened. After a short moment of anticipation he moved away with a slightly embarrassed look in his eyes."I'm sorry I didn't mean to..." he said when he took one step away.

"No," I quickly interrupted him, trying to keep it from getting awkward between us. "It's okay. I like you," I said honestly, revealing my feelings to him and to myself. I felt something for him, maybe gratitude for saving my life was mixed in the feelings I had for him but it was certainly not the only thing. Of course I had had crushes before but never a relationship, nobody had ever made me feel like he had just now. The only way I could describe it was... warm. It made me warm on the inside and sparked a little light in my heart.

I took his hands in mine when his smirk emerged again, but he didn't move in again. The moment had passed and we left it in the rocky hill and walked away, returning to reality. Our way went uphill, to cross the mountain and get to the other side where the kingdom of Hearth lay, our hope of refuge. 

We didn't go any faster than walking and since the way was still long, about a day's journey left, I wanted to kill some time. The only thing that came to mind was asking Cal about all the things I had been wondering about since I came here, and there were a lot of things. I thought I had gone insane when Cal had first told me I had somehow landed in a new world but now I was as convinced as I would ever be.

"Have you lived in Adelion your whole life? Is there nothing outside of the three kingdoms?"

Cal looked at my curious face with the question. Then that familiar grin he always gave me appeared on his face and he answered as we walked up the mountain.

"Yes I have actually, with my little sister Layla. I was just a baby when Amari was crowned Bluebird so I don't remember much from the Ruler before her but I do know his name was Mirial. I have heard stories of his great rule over Adelion, nothing like it is now. After the Plague hit sixteen years ago it got worse. Countless children and parents lost. My parents lost."

He paused as a slightly painful look took over his face as he brought up the memories of the Plague. He continued when he been lost in thought for a moment. 

"I'm so sorry about your parents, Cal," I said sincerely, hoping to ease his pain in any sort of way I could. He gave me a forced smile but I could see his appreciation in his eyes.

"The loss of many families took it's toll on the three Kingdoms but Adelion came out the worst. We never really recovered from it. It was once the richest Kingdom but it is long since Hearth became the largest and most powerful. As far as I know Adelion, Hearth and Brynn are the only cities around, apart from the community of the Centaurs who rule part of Aker Woods. People are not supposed to get mixed up with the Centaurs. We're lucky they didn't kill us."

He paused again and let out a chuckle as his mind and mine flooded again with the experience of our meeting with the Centaurs. Then he continued.

"I know of no Kingdoms anywhere else except maybe over the First Sea. You can see it across from the Castle of Hearth when we get there. It's beautiful, Avery. A few ships have crossed it to explore the adventures of the open seas but none have returned  back. So nobody really knows what's out there."

A beautiful look swept across his face when he mentioned the First Sea, something that could be a thirst for adventure. His eyes looked up to the mountain top but I saw he was trying to look through the gray stone of the hills and at the beauty of the sea. His lovely features overtaken by dreams put a simper on my face and made me want to sail the seas with him, in search of a great adventure.

Then a familiar thing caught my eye in a patch of grass we almost passed. "Look" I said aloud when the blue flowers came to sight. I jogged towards them  and pointed Cal at them. "Forget-me-nots!" I had always loved those flowers, I was amazed that it was possible for them to live in this world. 

"Forget me not? I've never seen these before." He asked me confused. He came up to me where I crouched down to look at the blue flowers. "Forget me not, what a strange name. Why are they called that?" 

His question reminded me of something from my childhood. "I don't know. But I used to read this story about two lovers that used to meet in in a field full of forget-me-nots. They were not allowed to be together because the girl was supposed to marry another man. When the man she was to marry found them in the field he killed her lover. As he lay dying in the flowers he said his last words to his lover:'Forget me not, my darling. And you will always be, my darling.' And since then the flowers have been called that. Forget-me not."

My mind flooded with these old memories. I had read that story so many times I had long ago remembered the last words of the star-crossed lovers. The recollection of my childhood almost had me in tears but I looked up and batted my eyes a couple times before they grew big enough to fall.

I felt Cal's eyes on me as I turned to him again. Then he bowed down to the flower bunch and pulled one of them from it's roots. He looked at it for a moment before he stood up close to me and handed the blue flower to me. I took it with a sweet smile and placed it carefully in a pocket on my dress, the warm feeling he always gave me emerging in my chest.

Then our journey to Hearth resumed as the sky darkened with the black clouds of the night.