The Dragon Prince - Book 1: Cold War

Muscle Memory

Rayla

The land of the Sunfire elves was remarkably different by day than the one Rayla had envisioned the previous night. Crags of crimson coloured rocks jutted from the red earth landscape and some artists had even hewn them into varying sculps of animals and figures. Despite its desert location, this village was teeming with lush, green plants coated with spikes. Thin trees armoured with scale-like bark scraped the sky with their triangular green fronds. As Rayla walked further into town, she noticed fewer people than the previous night and everyone appeared to have focused look like they were all on some important mission.

She proceeded down the hill from her uncle's cabin towards the centre part of town, the same location where the Sunfire elves had held the previous night's celebrations. Her uncle Zelmai had told her she would locate his nephew Nivin here, who may have information Rayla was hoping could shed light on where her parents had been hiding. As she got closer to the town centre, her ears began to hone in on a curious sound. It first emerged like random notes plucked on a moonharp but then her mind began to piece together a melodic chorus. She didn't know why but when she focused on the melody, she envisioned a crowd of Sunfire elves appeared within her mind. Included in the crowd, was an out-of-focus visage of Nivin's face and she was certain he would be at the source.

The centre of town had a similar desert-like appearance to that of the surrounding landscape only greater care was put into the groundskeeping. In the middle, stood an ash tree that had grown around the pipings of an ancient fountain. Over time water flow had carved deep canals into its white bark. Benches had been arranged in a circle surrounding the trunk of the tree. Rayla could now see six or seven elven women standing on the benches and waving their arms in time to the music. Surrounding the Sunfire women were a cadre of younger men and women wearing light crimson-coloured robes and Rayla recognized that they were practicing a type of synchronized sword drill.

The elves practiced their drills wearing a flexible string that wrapped around their horns and wound along the length of their back and back around their front forming a loop. They used practice swords to stretch the loop out in front of them. Their horns and feet were employed to tension the strings, pitching the sound of the notes whenever the blade struck the string. As soon as the elves finished a repetition, the strings hummed and glowed emitting a tone that created images within her mind. Sometimes the images were of majestic fields of battle, sometimes it created a sensation inside her like she had strength of two Raylas! One thing was clear, this was a form of magic at play that was completely foreign but one Rayla found intriguing.

The elven woman leading the session called for a recess and the students broke off to speak with one another. Rayla had spotted Nivin engaging in conversation with the elven leader. In full daylight, Rayla could see that he was a lot younger than he appeared the previous night. He was about a head taller than her and though perhaps a few years older, at least nineteen or twenty by her reckoning. Rayla took in a deep breath to shore up her confidence and walked up to Nivin as he engaged in discussion with his teacher.

    Rayla cleared her throat, "excuse me, might you be Nivin perhaps?"

    "Ah," said Nivin pausing to take a gulp of water, "if it isn't our Moonshadow guest from last night. I trust you and your betrothed have been adequately blessed?"

    "Y-yes," Rayla replied nervously, "although I wasn't completely honest about the circumstances. It would seem that your uncle by blood and ma' uncle through honour is one and tha' same."

    The older woman gave Rayla an odd look, "Nivin, is she talking about creepy uncle Wilmet who lives under the gazebo in the park?"

    "No, Mom..." Nivin sighed, "she's probably talking about uncle Zelmai. You are talking about Zelmai, right?"