Dawn's Light

Chapter 24

"You're still not messing with me, right? Because this is an awful long way to go for a simple prank." An unfamiliar, feminine voice reached Verbena's ears as it echoed down the tunnel, "a real, live dragin? No illusions or lies or trickery? Don't make me put you under a true light!"

Verbena lifted her head out of the ball of worry she previously curled into to watch for the owners of the voices as they would come into view.

"Yes, Hytha," a male voice Verbena recognized spoke as the voices neared, "a real, very much alive, dragin."

Verbena struggled to place the voice but then realized the voice belonged to the one guard she heard speak earlier. Her nose crinkled in distrust and anger, but she resisted the urge to growl.

"I'm so excited!" The feminine voice exclaimed in joy as one of the sets of footsteps increased in frequency. Soon, a female Ulven with long brown hair appeared in Verbena's view. Once the figure spotted the female dragonet, she swiftly slid to a stop and a wonderstruck grin spread across the tanned skin on her face. "Oh, what a beautiful creature," she awed and spoke in the same feminine voice Verbena heard previously and approached the cage.

The female Ulven before her did not wear a mask, unlike all of the other Ulven Verbena had seen. She had the same light bronze skin tone as all of the Ulven, but her slightly slanted green eyes were softer in comparison to the hard gazes of all of the other Ulven she had encountered. She smelled like the sweet scent of dirt, the same as all the Ulven, but also scents of strange animals clung to her shirt, and verbena sensed the same sort of magical presence Verbena could not explain to Celia well.

Verbena was unsure about this new person, so she stayed where she was and stared straight into the female Ulven's green eyes. The dragon only blinked occasionally when she absolutely needed to blink.

"Such a beautiful green color, the pattern is especially beautiful with the touches of darker shades accenting the brilliance of the main shade of green," the female awed with wide eyes and an excited, open-mouthed smile, "and her eyes, they're such a brilliant, dazzling purple. I've never gotten to see a live false dragon so close before, especially not close enough to talk to one."

Verbena snorted at what she perceived to be an insult. "I a real dragon!" She raised her head high as she glared slightly and her wings raised a few inches off of her back to make her appear larger to the slightly smaller creatures on the other side of the magic metal bars.

"I did not mean that as an insult," the female Ulven assured, "we call your species false dragons, or dragins because your species is so different from the true dragons, which are scaly and are weak when it comes to cold." She smiled to Verbena, then added something, "and that is why dragins are far superior to dragons. You are so much more beautiful and stronger than a dragon could ever hope to be."

At first, Verbena accepted the compliment with a purr and a slight wag of her tail, then paused in realization and refocused on the female Ulven in front of her, "You understand me?"

"I have a gift to be able to understand all languages of all species, so yes, I can understand you, though my brother here only here's growls and other noises." She pointed to her brother the guard as she spoke as if he was completely useless. "He's only good at defensive magic."

"Hytha! I would like to remind you that my talents are at least useful. The most you could ever be is a garden keeper while I get to be a guard and help protect what remains of our land."

Hytha rolled her eyes as she mocked her brother by mouthing along with his words with her hand as if she's heard it all before. When he was done, she looked to him and smirked, "being able to spend every waking moment in the garden? That's my dream job!" She grinned, then turned back to Verbena, "don't mind Doegus. He can't see how amazing and smart some creatures are."