The Vermillion Sky, Pt. 8

By Andrew Agney 

aagney@lc.edu

 

Later that night, Ciel and the Nature Coven students make their way out of the city and start hiking their way up the mountain trail, towards the dragon’s lair.

“So…what’s the name of this dragon? And how do we appease him?” Ciel whispers to Breeze as she leans in towards her goblin companion. 

“His name is Varos. And what do you mean “How”? I thought you said you could do this!” Breeze whispers back, sounding worried.

“I can!” Ciel quips back “I just…need to know what I’m dealing with..” she says quietly. 

Breeze lets out a sigh as she starts to explain, “In the mountains outside the city, lives the dragon Varos. The witches of the city made a pact with him, he helps protect our city and every year we have to give him offerings or help him in some way. If we don’t…he takes it as a sign of betrayal and will attack us.”

“Sounds about right. Dragons are pretty stuck up…but why us? Why not have the elder witches or somebody do this?” Ciel asks, the dragonchild looking curious but also not noticing that she and Breeze are starting to fall behind the rest of the coven.

“Well, Varos is supposedly highly skilled in nature magic and likes those who are attuned with the world…as for why us kids have to do it, the elder witches insist it will help us ‘get more in-tuned with our magic,’” Breeze continues with her explanation, doing air quotes at the last part as both of the girls start to giggle. 

“Wait…Ciel, where’s the group?” Breeze questions as she now notices that the group has gone forward without them, leaving them quite the ways up the mountain. 

“Huh. Guess we lost them…but that’s alright! I know a shortcut through this trail, I use to take it all the time as a hatchling!” Ciel says excitedly, grabbing her goblin friend’s arm and pulling her off the trail.

“C-Ciel, wait!” Breeze cries out nervously. “We shouldn’t leave the trail, I hear there are monsters in the forest…” she says with a soft whimper. “Maybe we can just follow and meet up with them later…”

Ciel rolls her eyes and gives Breeze’s arm another tug, pulling her more off the trail and into the forest, “And miss all the fun and a chance to meet a dragon? No way! It’s every half-dragon’s dream to meet an actual one! Like I said, I used to do this all the time as a hatchling, there’s no big scary monsters in the forest.”

“A-alright…if you say so,” Breeze says quietly as she reluctantly follows Ciel into the forest.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

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