The Sky Demons Part Two: Quest

Chapter Nine- Twinges

Kayira- Twinges 

Just as we were completing the charms necessary to send Lofar and Maria off in pursuit of the younger members of their family, the two of them returned with a young fish-tailed deishani leading them along. Ketsuo and Serefk'na re-entered the air bubble to be mobbed by just about everyone in it, and it was a while before things settled down enough for Serefk'na to timidly introduce Nerida. The deishani wordlessly regarded those before her with the distant ferociousness of a young warrior set to guard someone they didn't care much for, which I guess is what she was.

Though acting as our guide Nerida kept up the same attitude throughout our journey along the Azhui River, maintaining a distance between herself and the bubble and spending much of her time in deishan form, effectively cutting off any attempts at communication. She did seem to make an exception for Serefk'na, swimming close by the edge while the young hybrid walked with just Amber staying near to her on the other side; but even Serefk'na couldn't stop her completely disappearing from sight when everyone settled down to sleep.

Around four weeks later- or, alternatively it was twenty-eight days after the first, but definitely not the last complaint about the taste of fish- Nerida announced through Serefk'na that we were five days walk from the Capital and that it would be best to enter the city itself from above ground if we were to avoid suspicion. It was almost unanimously agreed that we should return to the surface from this point onwards and so we prepared to fly upwards, leaving Serefk'na to say goodbye to the young felinsa deishani. At her exclamation everyone turned- Ketsuo fastest of all- to see her standing alone at the edge of the dome.

Asher raced over to her, crying: "Serry! Serry, what's wrong?"

"She's gone, she's not here."

"Huh? Nerida?"

"She didn't say goodbye or anything, I came to look for her and she's not here anymore."

"Don't worry about it Serry, she probably doesn't like goodbyes," Asher soothed, and then their voices dropped and the two of them murmured quietly as they rejoined the group. Maria briefly engulfed both of them in a hug before spreading her brown wings wide, flushing waves of cinnamon scent throughout the bubble as she took to the air. I climbed atop Firah and helped Senka, who was struggling to bring Ridere up onto her back as well, the dragon being the only one large enough to carry a creature his size.

Soon everyone was standing up to their knees in murky, reed filled water, shivering in the newly autumn air and watching the water roil as the main river collapsed over the bubble.

"We just would surface in one of the swamps by the river, wouldn't we," grumbled Gensan. Asher bent down and hefted him up, ignoring the muck and dead leaves on the jackalope's underside that was now smothering his shirt-front and arms.

"Oh, don't worry yourself about that, we just need to find a bit of drier land to settle down on and then we'll make our way out of here and into the forest proper when it's light," Aniar crooned. Asher paused for a second as if surprised to hear such bubbly optimism coming from someone other than himself, but then smiled sheepishly and hugged Gensan closer.

"Let's get a move on then," yelled Tigre, grabbing Serefk'na and Senka each by an elbow and marching off with them, "I want to get out of this bog! Let's go Nightshade." She made it a few metres before Senka swiped at her head and clambered onto Ridere's back, looking quite put out. With that everyone began to make their way towards higher ground. 

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"Okay Firah, I think that's everything we need packed. Let's go," I whispered, patting her briefly before moving around to climb onto her back. Firah grumbled under her breath but dropped down low for me to get up, silent amongst the rustling of the reeds in the wind.