They had been locked up for days, Raisel couldn’t keep track of how many days it had been exactly. She knew it was occasionally day and night from the small light that streamed through the very high window in her cell. The only connection to the outside world. She had never been trapped all her life, not for any reason whatsoever, it felt like she was going to lose it any moment longer she spent trapped. The guards would occasionally come and serve unpalatable food, suddenly she longed for the wild berries in the forest and the streams where they drank water from. And if she was willing to admit it to herself or anyone else, she missed her companion, the man with whom she had travelled through cities in search of a gem that had been found long before she was born. She needed to meet with him, she had questions that needed to be answered. Surely she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the sense of understanding between him and the dragon. At that moment when they had tossed him to be
One minute she was running to find Fury the other minute she was above ground level, high up in the air held in place by a very large dragon. Yes, she had indeed asked to see a dragon but she hadn’t intended to be picked up by one. Esmeray’s instruction had been clear; go to my house, get your supplies to grab your horse and come back here, while you do this avoid getting caught again. She had protested initially but Esmeray had sworn on her life that she would ensure Dragomir’s safety. Raisel had followed the instructions to the latter, on her way to Esmeray’s house, she spotted a lot of guards littered about like they were in search of something. So to avoid getting caught she had hidden and tried to get past them. All of a sudden there was an uproar and people began to run Helter Skelter. They had pointed to the sky and she had looked up at that moment to see the largest creature she had seen. Somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to move, she stood rooted in her spot and stared at
Dragomir stood patiently outside waiting for Raisel to return. After the talk with the bartender. He had woken up with a banging headache and he couldn’t remember what they had talked about in full. However, one sentence kept ringing in his ear: however, you can make things right with this one. That is what he had done. He dressed up the next day without a care in the world of all the things that could go wrong with coming to meet Raisel. However, things had gone smoothly with no hitches whatsoever. She stared wide-eyed at him, it was surprise at first, her features softened to an emotion he couldn't recognize at first glance but there was no longer anger in her eyes. She showed up dressed in leather, her hair tied back in a ponytail. Except for her missing knives, she did look like her old self again. She waved at the small family that had harboured her and they waved back beaming with smiles. He turned to her, the excitement not leaving his eyes, his hand outstretched towards her
When he landed on his feet, she dropped his clothes on the floor, right in front of him and turned around, She clutched at her chest, fingers trembling, as if trying to keep her racing heart from leaping out of her body. She turned around to face him when she was sure he had changed into his clothes she was wrong, however, he was still struggling into his shirt. “Do not do this again”, she warned, her fingers were shaky, her lips quivering in fright. He burst into laughter. “How is this funny?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear. “You should see your face right this minute”, he pointed out, “I figured out now we didn’t have Fury with us, we needed a faster means of travel" “No!”, she snapped, “We are going to walk wherever we have to, or next time give me a heads up before lifting me like that?”, she shrugged, her arms folded across her chest, "I mean it is only fair that I am informed before I am lifted thousands of feet about the ground level" “Heads up, okay duly noted”,
They had hired horses with which they rode in search of the nearest seer in town, they had been directed to meet with one just outside town. They both rode in silence before Raisel broke it, “I don’t see any signs of life anywhere around here” “The one man who gave me directions was sceptical about it” “Where do we go from here?”, Raisel questioned. He pointed over to the grove, “There, we move head-on north, it’s the only house in the hills according to him” They rode faster towards the grove, till they got to the entrance, which was thick with trees. Dragomir slowed down his pace, he raised his hand, an indication that she should halt. His keen eyes scanned the area in one sweep, “It is eerily quiet, I have a bad feeling about this..." “Good thing I got my sword then…” He glanced at her, “Someone’s in a mood” “I miss Fury”, she confessed. He nodded, “I do miss you clinging unto me while I ride”, he moved further into the grove not giving her time to reply. Raisel was stunne
Dragomir held her tightly as they dove into the portal, when they appeared on the other side, they stopped to gaze at the beauty that was Islandia. Dragomir, despite the countless times he had seen it, still had the same reaction. He was always astonished. The clear blue sky and the sun seemed to be in harmony of their own, casting down a glow like never seen before. A little distance from where they stood, there was a pool, water as clear as crystals flowing freely down a fountain. Beautiful flowers of variant colours were what made Islandia colourful. It was like mother nature herself had carefully tended to Islandia and had given her best to it. Raisel stared speechlessly as different animals scurried away from plain sight. Even the insects seemed to be colourful and much bigger than usual. A colourful butterfly landed on her finger, the purple and pink pattern with touches of white was intricately designed. And then there were the beautiful humans and creatures that walked about
The whole of Islandia was in merriment, there was a colourful array of beautiful silks, beautiful harmony, food and drinks. Everyone was either dancing, singing, playing, drinking or eating. There was a ray of hope in Islandia again. Their prince was back, there was a future to look forward to. Raisel's silk skirts billowed in the breeze, she drank the wine of very fine berries, and she looked ahead as the crowd made merry under the beautiful night sky. If she thought Islandia was beautiful in the morning, then she didn’t know the right adjective to describe the nighttime. It was a starry night and a full moon, everywhere was lit with nature’s best lights. She sipped the fine wine and looked ahead, her thoughts strayed to earlier today to how Dragomir had defended her against Sahar and had declared his trust for her. It made her heart swell for joy, she didn’t realise she was smiling… “A penny for your thoughts?”, Dragomir appeared from behind, “I’ll give anything to know the reason
Votigern was having one of his usual parties, it was these celebrations that kept him sane and in control of things, he was on the topmost floor of the Goldcrest Tower, one of his many acquisitions. The inside was painted in obsidian colour, there was a high table where he and a few other distinguished guests sat. A few steps down was a very large space where the other wooden chairs and tables were littered about. A glass chandelier with lit candles hung just above their heads. The glass windows were shut for it was late at night, the curtains were red with streaks of gold and they draped the windows. Save for the red carpet that draped from where Votigern sat to the large grand entrance the rest of the floor was made out of glass marbles still in obsidian colour. The men and women gathered were people of different calibre and all walks of life but if Votigern was entirely true to himself, the guests in attendance were mainly low lives and truants, these were the kind of men who foll