Esveldza: 'The Lonely Child of Fire'

Chapter XXV- The City of Hadar

Chapter XXV

The City of Hadar

Weeks passed in this way as we travelled through Hadaarac desert and I had grown tired of the never-changing scenery, heat and preserved food. To see a simple plant would cause great excitement within our group. Being exposed to so much sun, all of us had gotten a slight tan.

My mother was born a princess of Charvton (chahv-ton), land of ice and so while my father had the slight Arveltrian tan my mother was pale and I had inherited that paleness. I was quite fond of the paleness in fact and so I despised having my sun-tunned skin.

Daarken must have had some other land’s blood in him as he was normally very pale too but from the sun he had also been changed by the rays.

I sat next to Salvator on the driver’s seat; Salvator was testing me about Dwarven etiquette, of which it was very different. Dwarves of Arveltri do not usually live outside of their mountains as their skin and eyes have grown sensitive to the sunlight; plus they think Elves are arrogant and so prefer to keep to themselves.

“When can I make a saddle?” I asked Salvator when he was trying to think of another question to test me.

Salvator sighed, “You and Noomkiara are not ready flight yet, I have told you…” He tried to explain but I was becoming fed up, Noomkiara and I had done quite well for the children we were.

“It is not like you have ridden in a long time how do you know?” I snapped suddenly and I instantly regretted it. Salvator did not glare at me and scold me for speaking so rudely but the look of sadness that passed over him was worse than any punishment he could give me.

Guilt ate at me as he remained silent for a few minutes; “Salvator, I am deeply sorry that was a horrendous thing to say…” I began, how could I have been so inconsiderate?

Salvator sighed again, “It is true I have not ridden in a long time but every memory I have of flying seems to somehow stay vividly in my memory, as if it was just yesterday that Rippleave and I flew across Esveldza or even the first time I climbed upon his scaled back.”

He smiled, such an action I would never have expected from that moment, “The time will come Akaiya, you will fight glorious battles with Noomkiara and suffer many wounds together and you will share a pint of wine with her; share her love for other dragons as she shares your own. Do not try to rush something as magical as growing alongside a dragon.”

I felt my eyes sting with tears; sometimes Salvator had such redeeming moments that reflected his incredible life. “Did Rippleave ever have a mate?” I asked timidly.

Salvator nodded, the smile lingering on his face, “He did. She was a magnificent dragon; she had beautiful white scales that simply sparkled in the light.”

I smiled, she did sound beautiful.

We both fell silent and simply watched the horses moving in front of us. After a while I spoke again, “So… when are we due to arrive at the city?”

Salvator lifted the flap off one of his packs and handed me a telescope. I cocked an eyebrow but accepted the telescope and peeked through it. I was about to say that I saw nothing when the tips of tiny buildings arose in my vision.

“We should arrive in the afternoon tomorrow.” Salvator said, pleased. He must have been tired taking responsibility of some children who always fought and fooled around.

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At dinnertime we chatted excitedly over dinner. Over the course of the last few weeks they had allowed me to make a few dinners under strict watch of Salvator but only when our supplies began to turn into already pretty bland tasting preserved food. On our last night however, Salvator made us our dinner and we devoured it happily.