Wings of Fire: The Forgotten World

chapter 41

By CamsterDragon
Hemlock's POV

The first thing Velocity did was introduce them to her family. "You already know Rattler and Basilisk," she began. "Raptor and Gopher are also my cousins." She pointed first at a tall, fierce-looking dragonet and then at the smaller dragonet from earlier. Both were a light shade of brown with dark brown markings. "Their father was killed by the Sunwings, but their mother is Rapidity." She pointed at the mother, that was just as tall or taller than Raptor, hovering over her sons. She had dark brown markings as well, but her main color was a dark green.

"Rattler and Basilisk's parents are over there," Velocity continues, pointing at a dragon that looked very similar to Rattler with dark brown scales and green stripes and his wife who was a light brown color all over. "He's Dash and she's Antelope." She paused as they waved at Hemlock and Pleiades. "And finally, these are my grandparents, Coyote and Warp." Coyote looked a lot like her namesake. She had light brown scales with patterns of brown and dark brown stripes along her back. Warp, on the other hand, was light brown with light, regular, and dark green stripes that almost seemed to blend into one another.

"Everyone," says Velocity. "This is Pleiades and Hemlock."

"Get it out! Get the demon out!" yelled Coyote. Hemlock looked closer at her dark brown eyes and realized they were clouded over, so much so he believed she was almost blind. "I can smell her putrid smell clogging up my house!"

"Grandma!" Velocity exclaimed. "She's my friend!"

"And she'll stab you in the back first chance she gets! I want her out!" exclaimed the old dragon. She was close to hysteria.

"Please, I've known Pleiades for a while now, and I know she won't hurt you!" Hemlock tried to help.

"You're the Cloudwing?" Coyote asked.

"Yes."

"I trust your judgment. But I still say no." Coyote looked very resolute about this. "Sunwings are horrible creatures."

"Grandma!" Velocity exclaimed. "She's a friend and a guest. Please, I swear she won't do anything to hurt any of us! You should trust me of all people!"

Coyote sighed, finally giving in. "Fine. But, she makes one move, and she's gone." Velocity gave her consent, and the mood was lightened.

As Velocity was catching up with her family, Hemlock confronted Pleiades. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

"Yep. Just peachy. Who doesn't want dragons to remind them that their kind is the most feared and hated tribe in Tarliin." She sighed. "Just leave me alone."

Hemlock didn't budge. "And when have you of all dragons let what others say define who you are?" Hemlock didn't let her answer. "Listen, I know what it's like to live under the assumption that all of one's kind is a certain stereotype, oneself included. But, living like that, I was blinded by the true evil in myself and in the other Cloudwing dragons." He puts a paw on Pleiades's shoulder. "The opposite should be true of you. You shouldn't be blinded by all of the bad deeds from your kind when you could look at all the good deeds." When she still looked unconvinced, Hemlock continued, "For example, the Sunwing family that let us in and your mother and..." He paused. "And you. You most of all. Everything that has happened to you is not your fault. If anything, everything that has happened so far has been your queen's fault, not anyone else in your society. Don't let one dragon change who you define yourself as and who you define your fellow kin as."

Pleiades smiled at Hemlock, a grateful smile that warmed him from his head to his talons. "Thanks.

"No problem," he said, trying to sound more at ease than the butterflies whirling around in his stomach were making him. "Do you want to walk around the kingdom? I should be able to find my way around from all the maps I've studied..."

"Sure." Pleiades motioned in front of her. "Lead the way." Hemlock opened the door for her and then led the way outside. They exited Velocity's household and started to walk away from it.

"The section of the city we're in is where the fastest runners live. My guess is Velocity's grandparents were running champions in their youth." Hemlock pointed at the abundance of jeweled houses in the part of the kingdom they were in. "Of course, the ones on the top of the scoreboard get to live in the palace itself, which is why it is considered shameful if a dragon of the royal family is average in speed." He stared for a moment at the said castle. Despite the abundance of jewels on its sides, it was still reasonably modest for a building of its size. While the Viperwings loved jewels as much as the next dragon, they were more focused on putting their money into the tracks stationed around the city.

Hemlock turned away. "Come on. Next stop, the common area." He led them past the fancy houses and instead to houses that looked very similar to the ones in the rainforest except with a couple of jewels around their doors. "The common area is where the soldiers, middle class, and merchants live, with their status in that order." He gestured to the bustling area around the houses. "This houses the majority of the citizens. All of them can compete in the arena, though merchants rarely do." He nods beyond the common area. "That place way over there is the lowest place in society. It's where the peasants and prisoners live. Neither are allowed to compete in the arena and neither have equal rights compared to the others. The only way a peasant can become anything more is if they get into the top ten speed records their first try with a royal family member present as an official, or if they bond with a Drakous." He and Pleiades stared at the broken homes in the distance for a while before she broke the silence.

"Is this the end of the tour?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

"We should be getting back soon."

"Oh, yeah." Hemlock sighed. He was enjoying simply being next to Pleiades without the usual crazy of their lives. Who knows when everything will be this peaceful again. He sighed again and motioned with his tail. "Come on. I'll lead you back."