A Dragon's Retribution [Book 3 in Rising Dragons]

Chapter 10: Azrael IV

The last of the dragons settled down, quietening beneath the calm light of the moon and the steady gazes of the kinboks. Pamphilos was near them, but he was further away. I assumed he wasn't going to play a major part in sharing the hah'tey.

Andrea had explained earlier to Thirak, Seeryath, and myself that the kinboks would be sharing one of the older name stories. He had gone on to explains that name stories are how a name is given to a dragon or how they came across their name. The stories were for everyone's ears as they rarely covered any terrible topics.

Names, apparently, were considered extremely important and could take years to gain. The notion of taking a name and being given a name arose from the belief that names were provided by ancestor spirits and were often considered to be gifts from them. Many of the hatchlings, we had learned, had names given to them by their parents until such time as they took a name or were given a name.

Nkruma lifted her head, the moonlight turning her blue scales pale. "Hush all," she said, voice strong and cool in the night air. "We've come together once more to share a hah'tey. Tonight we will share a simple story, a happy one, for we all need happiness in our lives. We welcome Seeryath, Thirak, and Azrael into our lives and hope they learn much in their time here. Remember back to your name day. Remember when you claimed your name.'

Heartbeat-wingbeats were the same. It was easy to fly with the wind whistling around me. Undoubtedly the wind was chilly, but between my scales and feathered wings, I could feel little. I tilted my wings, angling myself east. The ground was laid out beneath my eyes, a merge of different colours and environments. The mountains beneath me rose, and even at the altitude I was, I still had to twist to curl around their tips. I dared not go higher. This was the highest I had ever flown, and I was largely depending on the steady wind beneath my wings. Breathing was difficult, but not impossible.

I narrowed my eyes, searching for a location that would serve as a place of safety-refuge, a place that could be safe-haven-home. A sudden gust of wind grabbed hold of my wings, pulling me and taking me elsewhere. I loosened my muscles, gliding on the wind and letting it take me on another journey – even though I lacked the time to go on another one as I was due back in a few days. It would take days as it was to get our current resting-site-not-home.

My eyes focussed on the land below me, and I frowned thoughtfully. The mountains circled the deep valley and trees hid much of the valley from my sight. However, I could still see slips of blue between the tree branches, and the river wandered for a bit before disappearing completely from view, probably underground at a guess.

With a dip of my wings, I changed my flight path, circling and getting closer to the ground. As I approached the grass-covered earth, I started noticing that the mountains had cave openings. I smiled to myself, landing lightly. It looked perfect. Everything felt perfect. The thump-thump-thump of my heart seemed to resonate in the air and it felt like the land itself was providing its own beat.

Unlike our old home, destroyed by kin-slayer-oath-breaker-egg-stealer-murderer-fire-betrayer, this one lacked any natural magic laying heavy in the air. However, it felt right – that this place would be new, lacking everything. This was where we could make a new life, a new home.

I huffed, grinning wildly, and took off. The sky welcomed me, wind embracing me. The wind lifted me higher and higher, and soon I was right near the mountain-tops. I glided lazily along the air currents, letting them carry me through the mountains.

Despite the isolation of being so high up, I wasn't lonely. The wind was a constant companion, and the silence gave me time to think. I could get lost in my thoughts and place my trust in the wind to take me where I needed to go. It was what I lived for – the travelling. No one could keep up with me. My ability to fly higher than anyone else dared, than anything else could, meant I travelled alone. Always. Nonetheless, my wandering took me to incredible places, and I saw some of the most amazing things.