Purple Dragon [REPUBLISHED]

Chapter 13: Thabor

As the group trekked on, changes occurred in the landscape. The forests and wildflowers grew scarcer as the land grew steeper. Great mountains rose up in the horizon, touching the sun. Amasya stood, entranced as she watched the sun light the sky on fire in a purple, orange, and yellow display.

"I've forgotten how the sunrises look in Thabor," Judd grunted.

"Do you miss it?" she asked. A light beeeze blew on her face, cooling her flushed scales.

"Do you miss Keslin?" Judd returned.

Did she miss Keslin? The place where she was ostracized and an outcast? The familiar defensive anger welled up inside of her. But what of her siblings? Elias and Sonia? Did she miss them?

"I couldn't tell you," she said coolly.

"Then don't ask," Judd said quietly. Amasya looked at him incredulously.

"And a personal question evaded," she said.

"Touché," he replied walking away.

The changes weren't only in the land. Amasya could feel herself start to shift. Muscles rippled down her back, and her survival skills were revived. Androsythians were built for the wild, but it had been so long since anyone had truly broken free and tapped into their inner instincts. Once she did, it was impossible to stop the roaring gush of feelings that poured out of her. Everything was sharper out here. It was like she had been sleepwalking for the first decades of her life, and she had finally woken up. She had woken up from a nightmare.

She hadn't gotten to speak to Everett alone yet. Amasya could feel everyone's eyes watching her whenever they spoke. Especially Cass's. Amasya didn't need Sabra to tell her that something had happened between Cass and Everett. After all, Cass was the oldest member besides Everett to join the group.

"We're approaching Thabor camp," Judd said one day when he and Amasya were tasked with finding fresh water.

Amasya nodded, but didn't say what they were all thinking. Would the Thaborian chief, Gadarine, welcome them?

They worked silently, filling bowls with water from the stream. The great blue sky stretched over them as the sun glinted off the caps of the monstrous mountains in the distance.

Judd spoke softly in his low rumbling voice,

"I spent most of my days quarrying and carrying stone for the Chief's palace. I was a Servant for my legion. Good for nothing except for everything."

Amasya looked up, startled at his confession. Judd was old and subdued, and, well, grumpy most of the time. He didn't seem like the type to share a heart to heart with anyone.

"What does that even mean? 'Good for nothing except for everything'." Amasya asked. "That makes no sense."

Judd grunted low in his throats and looked at her, his grey eyes boring into hers. "Maybe not to you." She blushed. Even though she had been an outcast, she still had been the daughter of a high ranking family.

Judd flicked his eyes to his back, and Amasya followed his gaze.

Thick scars and cracks in his grey hide crisscrossed his back, revealing evidence of severe beatings. They were faded, melting into his other skin like they were naturally a part of him. The scars of his slavery would never leave him.