The People of Dahtiidro

II: Erinn

Hunter's Moon

"Time to wake up, my princes! You have a very important meeting today, need I remind you." Our maid, Förnäm, chided as she tugged the sheets out of our grasps.

I grunted and turned over onto my side, curling my slender tail up so that it rested beneath my chin.

"The meeting isn't until this afternoon. Why do we have to get up? " I mumbled, raising my head to glare at her with one eye.

"Because your father would not be too happy to hear that his sons were late for their first Truce meeting. You both slept through breakfast." She said in Namato, raising an eyebrow and smirking at me, hands on her hips. At that, I nearly fell off my side of the bed as I felt adrenaline rush through me. Crap! I need to get dressed! How did we miss breakfast?

She waved, opened the oaken bedroom door that led out to the midday sky, and took off with a hardly a whisper from her pale, orange-colored wings.

   I quickly grabbed the set of clothes I had taken out the night before and turned to my sleeping brother, hitting him in the shoulder to wake him up.

"Get up, you sheet hogger! If we don't rush, we'll be late for our first Truce Meeting!" I hissed as he blearily and grumpily opened his eyes.

"What?... OH SHIT." Nylez jolted up, wide awake.

   I tugged off my nightclothes and pulled on my undershirt, tunic, and pants, being careful to not get my long tail or large wings stuck in them.

   As I reached for my leather boots, I saw that Nylez was already dressed in his matching outfit and waiting for me by the entrance, his tail swishing in annoyance.

   "You done? Come on, I'm hungry." He yawned, pulling his wavy, chocolate brown hair back into a short ponytail.

   I finished tying my boots and strode towards him, smacking him on my way out with one of my dark green wings, saying "We'll have to eat quickly, since it takes an hour or so to fly to the Palaveri Mielenrauha."

   He snorted and unfurled his wings before diving off of our doorstep.....and into the ocean of fluffy, cotton white clouds below us, disappearing beneath them in an instant.

   I quickly followed him, letting gravity and the wind do most of the work as I glided along the warm air currents a few feet above him, a breeze floating through my hair. We coasted in silence for a while, passing grand, ivy-covered stone arches that stood tall and strong in the daylight.

   As we flew towards the Great Hall, where the throne room was, Nylez drifted up to my height until our wings were almost touching. "Take a deep breath, Erinn. I can feel that you're tense." He said, staring at me in all seriousness.

   "I don't need to take a deep breath, Nylez. We just need to find our dad, eat something, and then we'll be on our way to Palaveri Mielenrauha for our first meeting."

My brother nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey, we're here," I said, pointing to the balcony that led to the throne room within the mountain.

   We descended onto the smooth surface, folded our wings to our sides, and began walking towards the pair of stone doors that awaited our arrival. When we were almost in front of it, the mountain doors, sensing our presence, rumbled open to let us pass through.

   The throne room was a vast, circular space that was lit by a large, bright fire on the ceiling. This fire grew and shrunk per the overall mood in the room, and was now burning as white as the clouds outside.

   In the center of the room, A large, silvery throne with a huge sapphire on the head gleamed in the firelight. Two smaller, golden thrones were on either side of the large one, and they each had a jewel on their heads. On the right, a bismuth. On the left, an opal. Our father, Righello Hrafn, stood near the thrones, talking to the group of advisers that would be joining us.

   He looked over, and seeing that we had arrived, exclaimed "Ah, my boys! Come on over, you're just in time! Are you excited for your first Truce Meeting?"

   I looked at my brother expectantly, knowing he would answer. "Mostly mixed feelings, Ada. For the both of us." Nylez replied.

   My brother and I have an almost telepathic connection. Nylez reads someone's aura, then says what they are feeling, while I read their body language and know what they're thinking.

   I stayed quiet, studying my father as he smiled slightly, nodded at Nylez and me, then turn back to his advisers to end their conversation. He's nervous and stressed about the meeting, even though he hides it well. There's also.... something I can't place? Hmm... I pondered until my thoughts were interrupted by my father's rich voice.

   "Erinn, Nylez, we're going now. There will be food at the Palaveri Mielenrauha, so you can eat there." He said, spreading his dark, royal purple wings out as he walked past us to the balcony where we had first landed.

   "The winds are good today, so we should get there on time. Ready to fly out?" He asked, looking back at us.

   I opened my wings along with Nylez and nodded, adrenaline singing through my veins at the prospect of flying to a new place.

   Father smiled widely at us, and with a powerful flap, he was airborne.

   Nylez and I followed him out into the open sky, flying West to the Mada Doku Forest. Today was the Truce Meeting. The outcome of it, uncertain. But for now, I was happy.

* Ada - Father