Divided by Hostilities (Chapter 9)

[jiminee]

Chapter 8

 Nebris spotted the egg, gleaming on a high shelf surrounded by glass. It was a bad hiding place, but Nebris admitted that if he were Pyro he would want to show it off as well. He searched around for materials and grabbed a stack of dirt, piling it up beneath his feet to reach the shelf. He smashed the glass and gleefully seized the egg, carefully balancing it as he broke down his dirt tower.

“That’s not yours, is it?” said that man, Kurt from below. The dog sniffed around as he petted its head absentmindedly.
“Maybe not. But I need it. Long story.” Nebris said, his feet touching the ground. He turned to leave with the precious loot, but as he did so, the stupid dog bounded up to him. It was just trying to be playful, but as it collided with Nebris, the egg fell to the ground and smashed.
“Oh shit. Control your dumb dog,” Nebris said, turning on Kurt, but the traveller was pointing behind him. The egg was hatching. A baby dragon stretched out its wings and Nebris’ anger quickly melted into delight.
“Look how cute it is!” Nebris said. “I just want to cuddle it!” He reached towards the small dragon, arms outstretched, but the creature growled at him menacingly and he stepped back.
“Maybe don’t touch it,” Kurt advised, stepping back too. “It could be incredibly dangerous.”
As he said this, the dragon started beating its wings, clearly attempting to fly. Nearly falling at its first try, it began again, slowly lifting in the air and gaining speed.
“Oh no. Should we try and - ” Nebris was cut off as the creature shot through the air, breaking through Pyro’s wall and flying out into the night. He was in awe of the strength and speed hidden inside such a small creature, so he stared at it without moving until it flew loops around the king’s palace, spiralling inwards, and smashed through a window. Marvelling at the power and beauty of the animal, he didn’t react until the dragon had returned, breaking out one wall and flying higher and higher, disappearing among the clouds. He watched it go, awed, until its absence brought him back to the real world.
“Oh fuck. Oh no. Now we’re in trouble,” he said, turning first to the palace, then to Kurt in horror.

Pause could smell smoke. He looked up at the window, but could see nothing. He listened carefully, and heard the faint crackling of flames.
“Beef,” he said gently.
“Yes?”
“Not to alarm you, but I think there’s a fire, outside.”
“Has it stopped raining?” Beef didn’t sound worried.
“Yeah. We should be safe, this building is all stone, but I just thought, because of, you know… your butchery…”
“Oh! No, it’s not like I’m… afraid of fire or anything. You can talk about it,” Beef said, laughing. “And you’re right, we should be safe in here.”
“I wonder where it is,” Pause said uncomfortably. He tried to remember the layout of this part of the city. There was the palace, Pyro’s house… A street ran down one side… Pause hoped it wasn’t a bad fire. If it got out of hand, there would be nobody to stop it from burning down the whole city. Not even that rain, which they had so hated before, was here to put out the flames.
“Where is that Nebris guy?” Pause said. He might be able to tell him where the fire was.

From the centre of the burning palace, a light appeared. It started as a small, pure white ball of energy that expanded with speed, becoming huge and red, like an exploding star. The red light blasted outwards, disappearing but leaving something new and beautiful.

The woman stood in the middle of the flames, unhurt and calm. She wore a white robe and a red cloak, and her hair was like flames. She smiled, looking at the collapsing timber beams and charred remains of Zisteau’s palace around her. She looked up at the sky, issued a silent command, and it began to rain. Not in muddy torrents like before, but light, gentle rain from pale clouds veiling a lightening sky. The flames slowly fizzled out. The woman headed for the stone archway, the only structure left standing, and stepped into the street.

All fighting had ceased. Zisteau and Guude were talking at the front while both armies wondered what might happen next. Vechs had taken the opportunity to sit down, as the mud had dried a little and he wasn’t in any apparent danger of being killed. As soon as he sat down it began to rain again.
“Oh boy, here we go again,” he commented to his neighbour, who took off his helmet. Vechs recognised him as the owner of the Royal Chicken, Blame. Vechs took off his own helmet, enjoying the breeze in his sweat-soaked hair.
“It’s not as bad as before, though,” Blame replied.
The sky was becoming lighter as well, the golden glow of the sun colouring the edges of the blue sky. The clouds were thinner and lighter.
“Wonder when they’ll come to a decision,” Vechs said to Blame.
“Oh, you know how it is for those two. They’ll butt heads for who-knows-how-long, and arrive on a decision that benefits neither.”
Vechs laughed bitterly. “Without our input, of course.”
“Kings,” Blame said resignedly.
“Kings.”

Someone was unlocking Pause’s cell door. He looked up, startled, and stepped back. He wasn’t a hundred percent clear on how prisons worked, but he was fairly sure that the doors were meant to stay shut. He was about to call to Beef, but the door swung open and a female voice said,
“Come on out.”
Pause was puzzled. “What? Who are you?”
She laughed. “Aureylian. I’m letting you and your friend out.”
“What?” Beef said from his cell, equally confused.
Pause walked forward cautiously, and went through the door. There was no trap. Just a woman wearing a blindingly white robe.
“How… Do you work here?” Pause asked.
“No.” She didn’t say anything else. Pause turned to Beef’s cell, which was still locked, and suddenly it hit him. He was free! He was out of that damned cell that had caused him so much pain.
“Thank you, thank you so much. I can’t believe I’m free, oh my god,” he said dizzily.
She laughed again, her green eyes sparkling. She went to Beef’s door and said something quietly. Pause heard a click, and then she pushed the door open. Beef came out slowly, and stood by Pause. He thanked the woman, and then turned to Pause, only hesitating for a second before throwing his arms around him. Pause hugged him tightly. It was something they’d never done before but now felt well overdue. It was long, and warm, and full of emotion. Having only had a single brick wide window of contact for three days, the hug held three days of lost interaction. It held other things too; for Pause, the hug felt like a taste of the love he could have shared with Beef, if he felt the same way back. A pang in his heart reminded him that that would never be. The hug ended, and they drew apart somewhat awkwardly.
“Great to see you. Like actually see you,” Beef said. Pause nodded, feeling warm, and different.
Beef turned to the woman.
“What’s your name? Should you even be doing this?”
She nodded, smiling. “I’m Aureylian. And I know exactly what I should be doing. We should get going.”
“Going where?” Beef asked.
“Firstly, we have to pick up your things that were taken from you when you were imprisoned. Then, well I have business to attend to. Follow me.” She turned, her cloak swishing. Pause followed her, with Beef beside him, both equally bewildered about the strange woman and what was going to happen next.

 Nebris had stayed entirely too long staring at the palace. He’d realised, as the flames began to lick out of the palace windows, that the dragon must have breathed fire inside it. He was afraid. He knew that if anyone knew he was responsible for the palace burning down, he’d probably be imprisoned for life, or even killed. But worse would be the entire city going up in flames. The emotional burden of having single-handedly destroyed his, and many others’ homes would be an even worse punishment.
But then the… explosion had happened. Only it wasn’t a real explosion; nothing had been destroyed. It was more like a ball of energy, accompanied by a strange, intoxicating feeling that had burst outwards like a bubble. He hadn’t seen what caused it; the ground part of the palace was hidden from his view by the prison. But it soon started raining, a gentle, summery rain that doused the smouldering remains of the palace and washed away at least part of Nebris’ fears.
He turned to Kurt, who looked almost amused. “This wasn’t meant to happen.”
“I can imagine.” Kurt said.
Nebris hadn’t even noticed that it was starting to get light until Kurt said, “I better get going soon. I haven’t gotten much sleep, but tonight was eventful enough to make that worth it.”
“You’re welcome for the entertainment,” Nebris said, bowing.
Kurt laughed. “What are you going to do? About the fire?”
“Oh, I’m not going to say it was me. The dragon did it.”
“And how did the dragon get here in the first place?”
Nebris paused. “Um. Pyro carelessly left the egg alone and it hatched. Obviously.”
“So,” Kurt said, “You’re going to push the blame on to Pyro?”
“It was an accident.”
“Alright,” Kurt said. “I have to go. Have fun,” he laughed.
“See ya, Kurt.” Nebris watched the man gather his things, call for his dog, and stride off towards the gate. He wondered where he was going. He watched for a while, then began to walk back towards the prison.
He stopped quickly when he saw the three figures coming towards him. They were a red-haired woman he’d never seen before, and -
“Hey!” he called, his mood quickly changing. They were the two prisoners he’d been watching. What the hell were they doing walking freely down the street?
The woman stopped calmly in front of him. Both prisoners were clearly startled at seeing him, and they hung back.
Nebris stepped up authoritatively. “Who are you? And what are these two doing, just walking down the street? Do you know they are convicts?”
He was taken aback when the woman smiled. “I know. I set them free.”
“You can’t do that!”
“I can, actually. It’s why I’m here,” she said vaguely.
Nebris was confused. He wasn’t expecting this kind of non-confrontation. He looked at the two men. Both looked just as bewildered.
“How did you – what?” He trailed off, his sentence lost in his confusion.
The woman spoke again. “Did you know neither of these men is guilty of anything? They were wrongfully imprisoned.”
“I don’t know anything. I just watch them. I was told they were spies.”
The woman shook her head. “They’re not. Come with me, everything will be clear soon enough.”
Nebris held some doubts about this. He couldn’t just go blindly along with this unknown woman who claimed to know what she was doing, where so far all she’d done was free two prisoners of war.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Aureylian. I know you’re confused, just trust me.”
He stared at her, then looked at the two men. One of them, the one called Pause shrugged. He mouthed I don’t know. Nebris looked at the other. Neither of these men seemed at all dangerous. Nebris didn’t feel sufficiently equipped to try to take down these three people and drag them back to prison. He sighed. What was the worst that could happen?
He turned to Aureylian. “I’ll come.”
She smiled brightly. “Good.” She led the three down the street as Nebris began to go over how many times he’d messed up tonight.

Etho sat wearily, looking at the ground until murmurs in the crowd caused him to look up. A small group of people were walking towards the two kings at the centre of the battleground. People were pointing, confused. As they came closer, Etho’s heart leapt as he recognised Beef. He looked tired and hungry, but he was alive! Etho stopped his impulse to get up and run to him. Aside from Beef, there were two other men he didn’t recognise and a woman. She was clearly the leader. Everyone’s eyes followed them as the three men fell back while the woman walked into the space between the two kings’ horses.
“Who are you?” asked king Zisteau. Etho was reminded of the incident earlier with the other traveller.
“Aureylian,” she replied. She spoke clearly, loudly, and with an uncanny happiness that felt out of place in the sombre silence of the battleground.

Comments

[linkcam15]

Oooooh, I love Aureylian's entrance! I hope she's like a goddess or something. Excited for the next chapter!

[jiminee]

:D