Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 26

Day lead to dusk which then faded into night. Night slid away as dawn brought forth the baby rays of sunshine and thus their travels slowly continued. The dwarves were not the best horse riders, they constantly complained that human saddles were too hard on their rumps or that horses moved too jarringly compared to their Thunder-Birds. Talia's patience for their complaints had worn thin on the first day, currently they were on the fifteenth.

A fortnight of riding with the dwarves had proven difficult. They were nosy little creatures with nothing more to do than ride beside her and ask questions all night. Bromyr had taken pity on Lotus who had complained of Talia's hard riding and allowed her to ride behind him on his steed which he had named Dickey. The horse was a high-quality gray show-horse which had come from jumping lines. It was a mutt, if she wanted to get technical. The gelding was fast however and had a powerful and muscular build on long stilt-like legs. She couldn't complain of his breeding, though she had been tempted when she first noticed his mixed heritage.

The other mounts she had managed to procure were similar, mixed blood breeds used in mounted patrols, show-rings, or as hunting mounts. They were seasoned, fast, and most of all used to hard work and long hours. She wondered why these horses had not been bought considering their strong fortitude and willingness to work. Was it because they were mixed? She didn't often sell mixed lines to her knowledge, she'd have to look into that later.

"So you're telling me you own a stables near the city of Arboros?" Floki sounded as skeptical as ever as he raised a bushy brow. He rode next to her on another gray gelding with a roached mane and a mule-cut tail. Talia rolled her eye, how many times would she have to repeat it? Was it so outlandish to learn of her outside business? She wasn't chained down to Hephatus's order, she did have a life of her own on the outside despite Nazir's best efforts. It wasn't much of a life, but it existed.

"It's a few days ride outside the city so calling it 'near' may be a stretch but yes. I do own a stables under the surname Ermyrra." She knew the next question that would come, and she knew exactly who it would come from.

"So where did someone like you end up with a surname like that? It's not from this land." Bromyr asked for what she could swear was the thousandth time. Their conversation had always gone the same, and she always denied them the information they so desperately desired. They were like children with candy dangling in front of them, they'd never stop grasping for it. Damn Lotus and her fat mouth...

"You've said this many a time, it is no longer news to me." She drawled. True, the first time he had said it she was amazed. If it wasn't from this land then where was it from? Overseas was the answer she got.

"Yes, but you have never been overseas so how did you come across such an interesting name? More than that how did you gain the title of 'Lady' with that name?" Talia was cursing Lotus internally as Bromyr continued. Just a few nights ago they had been asking the girl her story when she told them that she had been saved by 'Lady Ermyrra'. This of course caught the dwarves off guard. It caught her off guard too. It wasn't like Lotus didn't know her name was Talia.

"It's not a story I am willing to share with you lot." She spat at them, how many times would she have to ward them off the topic before they got the hint? It wasn't as if they would become best friends or as if she'd be spending years and years with them.

"Where would we go if not for the dwarven kingdom? There we can learn, we will be safe behind their mountains and their armies." Reezara was always trying to be her voice of reason. Though that reason was starting to wear on her nerves.

"I'll not be a servant to a tiny man or his royal family's wills. They will want my services in exchange for my safety. I can keep us safe alone, when this is done we can learn what we must before moving on." She wanted to see the elves, to know if they could truly heal what had happened to her. If they could scrub the growing darkness form her body, mind, and soul. The dwarves had no answers for her condition that much she was certain of.