Lily of the Shadows

Chapter 8

Location: The Valdt

Hadrix rolled over in his sleep, absent mindedly scratching his jaw with his hind foot. He licked his chops and yawned loudly before falling back asleep. He had just begun to snore once again when he was jolted awake by a sharp pain in his side.

"Morning, sunshine!" Kaeliyra said, giving him a playful lick on the nose.

Hadrix stretched and got to his feet, loudly thumping his tail in warning. The smaller female dragon gave him a soft nuzzle under the neck and he stretched out his wing and wrapped it around her, pulling her closer to his side. Their tails intertwined and Hadrix said, "Why did you have to wake me up?"

"Oh, don't be grumpy! You were asleep long enough, and I wanted to watch the sunset." the golden she dragon replied, batting her hazel-green eyes innocently.

Hadrix yawned again and said, "How about I watch the sunset in my dreams."

She responded by giving him another jab in the side with her claw, and he yelped in surprise, saying, "K-baby! How many times do I have to tell you that it hurts when you do that! I already have enough of a scar in that spot!"

Kaeliyra pouted and turned her back to him, saying, "I don't like you."

Hadrix responded by pouncing on her tail and nearly pulling her off the ground while she gave a small squeak of protest. He then nudged her smaller frame and pushed her out of the cave, saying, "Look, baby! There's your sunset!"

She wriggled free of his grasp and gave him a sharp kick in the shoulder with her hind foot, and he pretended like it hurt. Kaeliyra looked at his expression and shyly walked over to him, saying, "Aww. Where's the boo-boo?"

Hadrix let out a false whimper and pointed with a claw to the spot where she had kicked him. She gave the spot a small affectionate kiss and said, "There, is boo-boo all better?"

Hadrix pouted and said, "Boo-boo hungry."

Kaeliyra turned back towards the cave and brought out a dead stag, dragging it to him and placing it in front of his feet. Hadrix sniffed the carcass, tilted his head, and then dove for Kaeliyra, tackling her in a warm embrace. The two of them gazed into eachother's eyes like there was nothing else that ever existed. That one moment could have lasted forever between the two of them, if Kaeoryn hadn't appeared over the crest of the hill. As the seasoned warrior approached, Hadrix and Kaeliyra backed away from each other, and stared at the ground in embarrassment. Kaeoryn raised an eyebrow at the two lovestruck dragons, but he didn't say a word.

Meanwhile, a hooded figure stood over the remains of what once was long ago a thriving city, now buried beneath an open field of grass. He knelt over the barren grassland and plucked a white flower from its soil and breathed in its sweet fragrance. He examined the bloom intensely, recalling that it was a lily lock, a rare flower that had only grown in that area. He remembered fields of lily lock, enchanted in the springtime's embrace, frolicking amongst the small blooms when he was a child. Those long gone days were once vivid to him, and the small city had been his home. The sunlight filtered down through the clouds, its rays pointed towards the bones of a once mighty dragon protruding from the earth. Vines had since crept up its ribs, and its skull was almost all but buried in the fragrant white flowers. Since the time that city had fallen, no one had dared walk its soil. And yet there he was, returning to his long lost home. Almost as if it was happening there, he saw a child rushing along beside the stream that had once supplied the place, laughter bubbling from its chest. He almost was caught up in the memory, when a little green bird broke the silence with her song. The figure stood and looked over at the bird, knowing in an instant she wasn't anything ordinary. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a rabbit slowly hopping through the grasses, not afraid of his presence, as if it had never seen his kind before. He knew he had not been to this place since he had turned thirteen, in fact it had only been twenty two years since he had left. Yet so much had happened, so much in so little time. He only knew of one person that would have had the motive or the resources to wreak such havoc. He stooped down, grabbed a clump of soil, and ran it through his fingers, for once revealing the dark blue fur coating his hand. Grief hit his heart like a large stone, yet at the same time he was hopeful, and he turned towards the path of long lost destruction following the field, saying quietly to himself, "Brother, I will find you."