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“I grew up in Xrotte, I grew up alongside dragons and in the militia to fight the Fae. I’ve spent some time in these mountains, not a lot, and not that high. But I know what’s coming.”
“There is a militia to fight the Fae?” I had only ever heard of Dragons and riders fighting the Fae, I was impressed. So was Philit, his chest puffed out as he smiled.
“Yes, we are so close to the border that attacks are common. We are trained from the time we are twelve to fight. We spend our days protecting the dragons and our people. We take the role the goddess has gifted us very seriously. I was lucky to have been chosen.”
He almost seemed like he was praying. I had prayed to the goddess on more than one occasion to bless me with silver hair. Seeing Philit made me question if I was grateful enough. Did I need to burn something? Kill something? I had a feeling Philit would know, Dragons were clearly his life.
“Here.” Zilon was near snarling as he passed me my bag. Something about what Philit had said had clearly pissed him off.
“I can carry that one too,” I said, grabbing for my other bag. He moved it out of my way, throwing it over his shoulder and out of reach.
“I got it. We should get going.” He smiled back, before going the same direction Landers disappeared. I swear I could still feel him there.
I could feel all of them when I thought about it, not that I was going to say anything. There was too much I didn’t know, and that seemed like a question for the academy.
Yes, this was bound to get far too complicated. Especially if we continued to have cold nights, and looking up to the snow covered peak, there was no question that we would.
Chapter Twelve
Everything about this mountain grew worse the further we traveled, and my momentary promise of not falling on my face was not working very well. Not only did we have uneven ground, but now we had phantom tree limbs that I could have sworn were moving in my way intentionally.
More than once I managed to avoid one stumble, only to trip over something else and fling myself into a low lying branch. If I wasn’t one giant scrape and a bruise by the time we got through this mountain it would be a fucking miracle.
Something which Landers was reminding me of with the silent glares he was sending my way every time I fell. He gave me another one and stalked off to the left of where I was, Philit by his side.
Zilon stayed back with me, helping me, but also keeping his distance. Apparently the morning wake up was a bit too much for him to handle.
Guys and their dicks. They are either jealous they can’t rub on me, or mad that they did.
We had turned into a surly, grumbly group as we continued up the mountain, the air growing colder with each second. I had pulled out an extra cloak to wrap around me, but the chill was relentless. Even Zilon looked like he was shivering now.
“I thought Dragon’s don’t get cold,” I prodded, his hand warm against mine as he helped me over a fallen log. “You don’t feel cold.”
“I have never experienced something like this before,” Zilon said, his wings pulling around his shoulders like a jacket. “I didn’t know that a cold like this was possible.”
“Do you not have winter where you are from?” I asked, and he shook his head. I clamped my mouth shut.
“How is that possible? Everywhere has a winter.”
“Not Gryiene.”
“Gryiene?”
“He means the desert of Gry,” Landers piped up, giving us a look before trudging ahead again. “It’s the endless sands that are in the far south of Pyre. Zilon might actually be more from nowhere than you are, Rayna.” Even Philit laughed at that, I however just stared at Zilon.
I had heard of Gry, it was where the King banished the criminals. Parents and teachers would always threaten to send us to Gry if we didn’t behave. “That desert is a death trap.”
Zilon shook his head, “It’s not. Not if you respect the Goddess of Air and the God of Water.”
“The God of Water?” I had never heard of that. Everyone knew of the Goddess. She was who created our world, who breathed life into the dragons and gave us what we needed to protect us.
“Don’t start spreading that blasphemy here, Zilon. I warned you back in Xrotte,” Philit was firm, his eyes so dark they sucked the light away as he looked back at us. “You are a dragon now. Leave that false God behind.”
Zilon snarled, the sound pulled away by the wind as his eyes flashed the color of ice. It was clear he wanted to say something, but instead he snarled and stared at his feet.
“How do you live in the sands?” I whispered after a minute. I didn’t want to piss Philit off, not that I knew what he was so pissed about.
“We live in caves in the base of the mountains. The land is our friend, it is your friend too, Rayna. No land is dead, sometimes you just need to speak to it differently.”
