Heart - A Flight Rising Novel

Prologue

"..."

I sat down quietly on the shoreline. This, a place where no normal heartbeat would ever take a single step in, was where I laid, silent. The ocean called out to me, yet I did not answer. I only wished for the answers of the deity himself: the Tidelord.

...But the Tidelord had been very quiet, too.

Like me, he was silent. Only a prophet like me would have enough patience to wait out for an answer from him. But this time, he was taking longer to speak up. Even a disturbance in the waves told me nothing.

Wherever he was, after all this time, he still hadn't answered any of our calls. This had begun to worry me. Had Tidelord, out of all the dragon deities, been silenced for good?

The waters touched the tips of my claws lightly, as if to ask me to come back to them. But I knew I had something else to do. Something... important.

"...Tide."

That voice... There was only one possibility for who that would be. The soothing sound of her voice... It felt like a burden to hear it one last time.

I dipped my head in acknowledgement to the newcomer.

"...Azure, dear, what brings you to me?"

The deep blue Pearlcatcher dipped her head in return. Her expression told very little, but it was obvious that she was worried.

"Only the whereabouts of our clan's prophet could bring me to a place like this..." she whispered, "but.. Why? Why must you leave now? Especially at a time like this?"

I simply shook my head.

"...I would tell you more, but... It's always the rules of a prophect to keep things secret." I lowered my head in regret.

This was the path I chose for myself. Many lives can and will be lost because of it, but it was for the better good of my clan and my family.

"...At the end of all things, the waves of the tide shall fall forth on the shoreline, and the last remaining shard of life will fade under his hands and his order."

I recited the words that I last received from our deity. The chills it had sent me... The truth itself was unspeakable.

Even I did not know what the meaning was trying to tell me, engraved and etched deep in the words I spoke.

"...I must leave. Now, and forever."

With that, I turned my back on the Pearlcatcher, and for the last time, I would say...

"Goodbye."