Yellan stared her bunkroom window, trying desperately to see beyond the fog that bordered the black market. It was thick and unrelenting, and it made the imperial feel eternally dreary. She was a light dragon, and this darkness weighed her down like chains. She longed for something more.
Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.
"Come in," She barely lifted her head as she responded. It was probably Edna, back from yet another day of training. Yellan wondered when her own training would be starting. Jett kept saying she would start when she was grown up, but he hadn't followed through despite the fact that she was no longer a hatchling. The wildclaw kept saying he had 'special plans' for her, but Yellan was beginning to doubt it.
"Yellan?" Kael's voice caused the imperial to jump with a start.
"Kael!" She hadn't expected to see the quiet skydancer today. Usually he was busy on recruitment with Katie.
"I've been given the day off. I thought I'd drop in and see how you were doing," He responded gently, giving her a sympathetic look. "You seem like you need the company."
All too late, Yellan remembered how he could sense her feelings, and she felt a wave of embarrassment.
"What have you been thinking about?" Kael asked, settling down beside her.
"What's it like out there?" Yellan asked, nodding out her window. "You leave the Black Market all the time. You must have some good stories."
"To be honest, there's not all that much," Kael said sheepishly. "Katie and I mostly scour the tavern, or visit balls for recruitment, and she does all the talking. There aren't that many dragons in the Forgotten Kingdom. They're a small clan to begin with, but when you consider how spaced out everything is-" He shook his head. "I don't know, I just feel like there's more to the world than there is in this city. Do you remember anything from before you came here?"
Yellan shook her head. "I know I'm from the Sunbeam Ruins, but beyond that, nothing. I guess I was too young."
Kael nodded, understanding. "Honestly, this is all I've known too. I was born here, and I'll probably die here." He sounded miserable.
"You want to leave that badly?" Yellan asked, surprised. She thought she was the only one who felt that way.
"Yeah," Kael grimaced. "Unfortunately, my siblings don't see what's going on. Katie's the firstborn and heir, and Dad's favourite, of course she won't leave. She's got everything she wants, and she's blind to all of Dad's faults. She doesn't see-" He suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking guilty. "I shouldn't be talking about that. But anyways, Kobe's so wrapped up in his magic, he barely gives anyone the time of day anymore. I just feel like I'm constantly shunted to the side, tagging along with Katie but never really seeing who I am myself."
"If you could go anywhere, where would you go?" Yellan asked, curious. She didn't know much about the world and was curious to find out what Kael knew.
"I don't know, somewhere far away from here. Across the Sea of a Thousand Currents maybe, to wind. Apparently, dragons come and go as they please all the time there," The skydancer looked to the sky wistfully. "It's where skydancers are from too. I feel like I'm missing something in this darkness. The air is stale, and everything is so dark and heavy. I want to know what it feels like to fly free, nothing holding you back."
"I know what you mean," Yellan sighed.
"If I ever work up the nerve to go, would you come with me?" Kael asked.
"Of course," Yellan said, smiling a little. It was nice to dream of a future beyond this corner of the city. She knew it was nothing more than foolish dreaming, there was no way Jett would let her go, especially not with her mistral minion keeping an eye on her at all hours of the day. But still, it was nice to have something to hold onto, the possibility of someday.
Someday she would go beyond the fog, and no one would be able to tell her what to do.
"Again!" Edna barked as Kobe sent another blast of shadow magic her way. She countered it with a burst of nature magic, the element flowing through her body. As the bolts of magic collided and exploded, she felt her internal reservoirs switch to water. Instantly, she felt calm, the roar of the elemental magic flowing below the surface, like a current below the surface of a calm lake.
"You're getting better, but better isn't good enough," Kobe grinned slightly, raising his eyebrows. "You need to be the best. Otherwise when your time comes to face your opponent in real battle, you'll be the one to fall. You need to gain control of your shifts, otherwise you are at the complete luck of the draw."
"But I've tried!" Edna growled. "Do you remember last time? You almost had ridgeback bits all over the training area."
"I'm not talking about wielding more than one element at a time, goodness knows that's impossible, but you must find a way to control the shifts, or your done for," Kobe pointed out calmly. "You cannot be at the random whim of whatever forces come your way."
"I. Can't. Control. It." Edna spat through gritted teeth, trying to keep her patience.
"You're not trying hard enough, you're letting your feelings get the best of you," Kobe reminded her. "Like you magic, emotions aren't bad, but you need to channel them. That is the key to mastering magic."
Edna took a deep breath, trying to resist the urge to rip the skydancer apart. He was irritatingly calm. Why couldn't he show a little more emotion every once in a while? As her anger surged, her element shifted again as it rose to a rolling heat. Fire surged through her veins, hot as her temper.
"Alright, let's go again. This time, try to remain in control of your emotions. They are the key to your elemental switches.
With a growl, Edna charged into the center of the room once more, ready to continue sparring. She would not let this skydancer get the best of her yet again. One day, she would be stronger than him. She would be stronger than everyone else, and then no one would stop her.
"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Gillian asked Amity as the spiral slid into the opposite side of the booth. He glanced at the tavern counter, where a fresh order of drinks were waiting to be served.
"Hey, it's okay, I'm just taking a little break," Amity shrugged. "Seaberry won't mind."
Gillian knew for a fact that Seaberry would mind this very much, but he didn't say anything. For whatever reason, he struggled saying no to Amity. It was probably because she reminded him too much of Violet.
"Soooo, when's Blackwolf coming?" Amity asked, unable to disguise her grin. Ever since she had first met the pearlcatcher, she hadn't been able to stop mentioning him. It was clear she had a bit of a crush on him, though Blackwolf himself was very oblivious. Not wanting to crush the spiral's feelings if his friend didn't reciprocate, Gillian had never brought up the topic.
"Is that why you're here? To see Blackwolf?" Gillian teased, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, don't worry! I wanted to see you too!" Amity grinned.
In that moment, they were interrupted by a dragon clearing his throat. Gillian looked up to see a ridgeback towering over the pair of dragons. He recognized him from the Rockbreaker Ball, though he hadn't caught his name.
"You're Gillian, right?" The ridgeback grunted.
"Yeah," Gillian nodded "Can I help you with something?"
"Can we talk," The ridgeback asked, casting a side glance at Amity. "In private."
"Yeah, sure," Gillian responded absolutely baffled He cast a pleading look at Amity.
"Oh! Right! Of course!" Amity exclaimed, getting up again. "I should be getting back to work anyways!"
The ridgeback didn't speak again until after Amity had returned to the counter. He then lowered his head to Gillian's level and looked out from the brim of his hat, his nose uncomfortably close to the wildclaw's face. Gillian tried his best not to cross his eyes to look at it.
"The name's Elladan," The ridgeback sniffed. "I hear you're the one with the lost treasure?"
"The treasure is gone," Gillian said defensively.
"Buried? Yes. Gone? Not quite so much. At least, not if you have someone who knows how to dig," Elladan pointed out. "I happen to have a lot of experience in that area. I've been working in the tunnels since I was a hatchling, digging out treasures. You have no idea how much has been lost to the earth."
"Why are you so interested in Crius' Vault?" Gillian asked, suspiciously.
"I'm something of a treasure hunter," Elladan admitted. "I wouldn't be wanting everything, you see. Just a few choice pieces. I'd leave the rest to you, of course, as the rightful heir of the riches."
The offer was unbelievably tempting. Was it really possible that he'd have another shot at reclaiming his grandfather's inheritance? It seemed too good to be true. But yet-
"I'm in," Gillian responded, before he was even aware of his decision.
"Perfect," Elladan grinned toothily. "Now, let's see that map of yours."
I had another scene planned with the introduction of the new dragon, but I need to do more thinking with her to figure out how she gets here and I've run out of writing steam, so I think I'll wrap things up here.
As of today, however, I've finished all my assignments and everything, so I should be updating the pinkerlocke far more frequently now that I have more brain space to brainstorm and plot.
