Nearly three days had come to pass since Prince Raxseis and his scouting party had departed from Morgaideign. King Paraxious had grown both impatient and fearful, that his only daughter had come to perish. His men had come to deliver him the same information time and time again, only now he too was losing hope. The only man who still held faith, was the Prince. He and Emerald had come to travel over two hundred miles in their time away. There was no sign of her, no hints as to where she had come to run, or who may have taken her. When the pair and their dragon at last came to land forty miles out from the Kingdom gates, Raxseis realized there was one place that had yet to be explored. The dark and forbidden forest of Quathor.
In a final attempt to locate his lost sibling, the Prince and his slave came to land before the entry of the forest. The cover of nightfall made the grouping of trees seem even more dangerous than they were known to be. So many stories had come to be told to Raxseis as a young boy, some true some falsehoods. As courageous and imbecilic to fear as he was, even he knew better than to tread without worry through the mass of tarnished soils. There were tales of witches, untamable beasts and worst of all, poisonous naga serpents who preyed upon humans. Of those, the young man feared the Smexvelt Tiavoe Vartu the most. It was known to commoners as the Smooth Pond Drake, a creature that stood sixty feet tall. It was known, that they held the scales of a dragon and the ferocity of the most rabid of hunters. Their teeth were known to be often taller than men, making it easy to consume anything their noxious breath came to consume. It was those facts, that came to cement Raxseis to his mount. For the first time in years he felt fear, then he thought, Adalaya could be alone in those woods.
"Must we venture into the woods? They do not seem very inviting." Spoke Emerald, her hands still fisting about the mane of the wyvern. She could feel it too, the pull of the dark magic stirring beyond the trees and their tricks. She had not been born to the land of her new owner, but she had heard stories about places such as Quathor. "I have no other choice. If it were me, alone in there, I would pray that someone would have the courage to come seek me out. I stand a strong and armed man, my sister has no skills of the sword. If she is alive somewhere in those woods, it will not be for much longer."
He stood, offering his hand to the woman. "Come on, the quicker we get inside the tree line, the sooner we can make our way out." Emerald shook her head hesitantly. "I cannot M'Lord, you were right, my body is exhausted, my thighs are near to bleeding from flight. May I please stay here with..." She trailed off, realizing that she did not know the creatures name. "With the dragon?" He came to say his hand moving to the hilt of his blade. "Yes..does he have a name?" Raxseis came to fold his arms about his chest. His eyes coming to cut in thought. He and the other dragon tamers had simply addressed their mounts as dragon or slave. He thought long and hard, his mind returning to the day his father had granted him the gift of the wyvern. "Servion Ignictus, is his name." Emerald at last let go of the creature's mane and placed a soft palm onto its neck. "What does that mean?" She came to question, her eyes falling onto the dull scales of the dragon. "It means fire slave in Halotian tongues. If you are truly so tired I suppose you may stay with him." He handed her off the whip and began to make way for the left wing of the beast. "If he begins to move around, simply give him a few lashings with that whip. I will try and return as soon as possible."
He made his way gingerly down the wing of the flying serpent, his mind forcing itself to focus upon the task at hand. As his boots hit the ground, he came to notice something. There blowing upon the risen root of a tree, flew a torn piece of fabric. The Prince came to kneel, his hands softly plucking the cloth free. He took several moments to look it over and then it hit him. It was from Adalaya's gown, the very gown she had worn to the funeral of the native Prince. His hands came to fold tightly about it, his nose now pressing into the soft feel of the clothing. "She ran this way." He thought to himself. To his surprise he could also view the footprint of what seemed to be a dog. Upon his investigation of the print, he came to see it was too large to be a simple mutt.
Giving a nod to Emerald, he began to disappear into the forest. It was not long before even his steps could no longer be heard, nightfall seemed to grant the forest power. Like all things of the underworld's creation, Quathor truly came alive as the moon came to rise. The baying of creatures, and the terrifying screams of those claimed in times of old could be heard for miles around the forest.
For several long moments, the dancing beauty waited, wanting to make sure that her Master had gone. She made her way down in the same fashion as Raxseis had, her footing mindful of the delicate flesh the dragon called wings. She could feel her heartbeat thumping harshly in her throat. Heat rushed over her body like a burning rain, her limbs and breath came to tremble. The whip came to fall from her hand and into the dirt below, her softened palm coming to glide along the neck of the enslaved mount. Her steps feel easy in a silent pattern, her body language revealing her fear and determination. She moved to the right eye of the dragon, kneeling before the power she knew laid dormant within it.
"Servion...we have to go." Her words came forth gentle, her wish not to command the beast as all others had. She respected him, and admired him for his strength. "We can both be free, we can run away together where no other will ever find us. This is our only chance, the Prince is gone, who knows if he will ever come out of that forest alive." The scaled lid of the wyvern came to slide open, his slit pupil coming to look over her miniscule frame. "They will kill us both foolish girl." He came to speak. To Emerald it came across as no more than a show of vicious teeth and snarls. The magic of the dragon had been suppressed so far down, that he could no longer communicate with other races. She stumbled backward sucking in a breath of fear. "Please..do not eat me."
The old bull came to squint at her, at last his head came to rise high above her and as it did it came to tilt in confusion. "Eat you? Why would I seek to do such a foolish thing? My Master adores you, not only that, your bones would be lodged in my teeth." Again, a series of growls and grumbles came to rush over Emerald. "Shh, hush now he will hear you." She urged, her hand moving to pat his foot. "I know, you are frightened, I am too. If we work together we can survive. You are a dragon, freedom could restore your power could it not? I do not wish to live out the rest of my days as a slave. You should wish to be free as well. It is better for us to be granted freedom for a while, than to die in the shackles of another."
Her eyes came to frantically scan the open area around them. There was nothing she could do to persuade the animal. Off in the distance she could see a large lake, she knew dragons to be loyal even in bondage. An idea came to her mind, she hoped it would be enough to get the old wyvern moving. "I would rather drown than return to those horrid walls. If you will not carry me to freedom, I will free myself in death." She began walking, not turning back to look at him. "Come on...follow me please." Her pace began to quicken, she did not run but she did her best to make it seem that she was serious. Servion watched her go, his head moving to rest back on his feet. "Foolish girl, what trouble will you have me endure?" He pondered. "Do not be so idiotic as to kill yourself, you have the favor of the Prince." His mind raced with several thoughts. He could let her drown, and take the lashings or he could save her and see her wet body handed over to his Master. He could not make a choice, perhaps she was right. Raxseis had foolishly left him alone for the first time since they had met.
He watched as the dainty female fell into the lake with a splash. He shook his head, his mind racing and debating upon his options. If they came to survive, he could return to the Kingdom and see it turned to dust. His power would one day return, and with it he could come to set free his brothers. The tales of Incendartu came to rush through his vison, along with his defiance and leadership. The little human was right, who were her kind to condemn and enslave his race. Why had they allowed it to happen? His heart came to fill with pride, it was then that he realized, perhaps this one was different. In all the races, he had come to cross paths with, she was the only one to show him compassion. Like him, she was enslaved, beaten, mistreated and underestimated.
The wyvern came to stand, his wings moving to slide to either side of his back. He took a step forward, the first step towards freedom and vengeance. Knowing he had grown too large to dive into the water, he allowed his head to rush into it. Its embrace was shockingly cold, and for several long moments he wondered how deep she had come to sink. Servion could feel her grasp take hold of his hair and only then did he allow his head to surface.
Emerald had only a few seconds to begin the long and slippery climb onto his neck, before they were airborne. Within a blink, the mighty creature had come to ascend at a vertical climb. The way up into the clouds made her want to scream, her stomach was in knots and she felt sick. Her bare feet came to dig as best they could into the leather crests of his neck. It took what little strength she had left to hoist herself up onto him fully. Through the clouds they went, his wingspan coming to form a draconic silhouette over the moon. At last they came to level out, and that is when she looked down. Within a moments breath, the pair had come to fly at a height of twenty thousand feet. She found herself taken aback by his power, and agility. They flew over Morgaideign, so far below them the grand old Kingdom seemed but an ant consumed by the vast open landscape.
"Thank you. I care not to where you carry me, just promise that we shall never return here." For the first time since she was old enough to comprehend, Emerald felt free. Her days as a slave to men were over. The sky consumed them both, and in that moment Emerald came to die, allowing Shenva to be born again. No longer would she hold the name forced upon her by her suppressors, from that day forward, she vowed to hold true to the name her mother had given her at birth.
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