Chapter 37

One flap, two flaps, up, up, up they went. Jeremy felt his full weight accumulate on his rear sitting on Glyn’s neck. Amy stirred in his arms, he felt her heat, her weight press upon him, upon his chest. Her eyelids parted; Jeremy looked; with the fog of slumber still clinging, her dark brown eyes were like the warm sun debuting on a chill hazy morning. Jeremy breathed deeply; the air, the air was sweet; not still, not stagnant like the air of wherever it was he came from, compared to the air of wherever it is he is. His urge to apologize as Amy awoke, vanished in the midst of his wonder at the sight before him. Tall white cylindrical towers, contending with the lazy slow-moving clouds, while others were wider and a portion of the height.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”, Jeremy’s eyes traveled up Amy’s shapely legs to her face as she stood and stretched, unperturbed by the wind buffeting her form.

“Yeah, umm where are we?”, Jeremy screamed struggling to overcome the sound of the buffeting wind; he couldn’t help looking at her chest as she leaned back.

Amy chuckled, with a smirk, with a wry grin, with a sideways look she responded oblivious to the location of his gaze, “This is the tower of Arbell; and this is the city of Arbellorn, which means upon Arbell”.

Jeremy was still lost with words he had not heard before, “I mean where is this?”.

He coughed a little bit his vocal cords becoming raw from yelling.

Amy was silent for a moment, “Hmmm”, was all she said.

Her expressions and little gestures, still allured Jeremy; although a lot had changed. Gone was her accent when she spoke English; and though, there were still traces, like the last smoke from a snuffed candle, her inferiority had all but disappeared. It was replaced with the confidence of someone who had visited death’s territory, and fought, struggling to return alive. Jeremy was well satisfied with her growth and development. The strength and character he had wished for, had come to pass. Although, he was regretful that he had not experienced it, did nothing to help, and was not present to shield and protect her.

His expression became sad, the grandeur of the sights soured and receded, “You saved me!”, Amy said.

Jeremy knew she was reading the lines of guilt on his face, “I’m so-…”

“There he is”, Jeremy could feel Glyn’s voice vibrating through his toes as he stood on her, “Liam is there eating noodles like he always does”.

His apology was interrupted.

“So, you’re a stalker too?”, Sean’s voice could be heard despite the gale pushing against Jeremy, as if it were seeking to shove him off.

Jeremy turned. His hand on one of Glyn’s spines, he saw Sean, the Suns beaming down upon his shining royal blue scales. He saw a wave from Veve and Lorenn perched upon Sean’s back as the sunlight lit their standing figures against the backdrop of the blue sky.

As Glyn drew towards Sean, she snapped back with a low growl that traveled up Jeremy’s spine, “If I didn’t have passengers…”.

Glyn tilted her wings, Jeremy leaned to the side to compensate, holding tightly to his anchor. Jeremy did not show it but he hated and feared flying in helicopters, it was a secret he would keep to his grave. Though his nature was contrary, his training and experience compensated for his lack of courage. Strangely the flight was vaguely familiar, he remarked to himself as Glyn began to circle. It was like riding a glider mixed with a smooth stealth helicopter that was highly classified of course.

He was still calm; even though, his phobia had sealed his mouth. Sean circled the opposite direction seeming to flee after the threat was issued. First Jeremy looked around, there were swarms of Dragons flying here, there, everywhere. It was not chaos, there were patterns, and the flight was orderly.

“We’ll get a fine if we linger”, Sean’s voice could still be clearly heard despite being hundreds of yards away.

It was a surreal experience for Jeremy. Syllables were entangled upon his tongue, and his clenched jaws dammed the flow of words.

“Ohh…well I’m sure it will be fine, we’re still on official raid council business”, Glyn replied nonchalantly.

Jeremy turned his focus downwards as the angle of Glyn’s slant had increased. There was a white spire seeming to gradually rise up from the ground as if to greet them; surrounded by a variety of smaller structures, some angular, some square, some built of wood. The rays from the sun gleamed off the colored dome, like stones skipped on a lake, emanating a golden light. If it were compared to earthly architecture, it would be twice as tall as any thing fashioned on Earth.

“The people here in this city, in the dragon district, live in the towers. All the stores and services necessary for everyday life are centered around each tower”, Amy explained in surprisingly well pronounced structured sentences, that were above Jeremy’s natural everyday speech as a native English speaker.

Jeremy wanted to interject; he had an urgent to need to apologize; but Amy looked so satisfied. Proudly, excitedly, she showed off the world before her, as if she were the one that discovered it. Interrupt her, he could not. He dared not.

With excitement with enthusiasm brightening her every expression, she pointed to some trees that rivaled the majestic heights of the towers, “The forest district is over there”.

“We are about to descend”, Glyn said after a few moments had passed, her muscles flexing, moving underneath Jeremy’s feet.

Words unintelligible for Jeremy, left Amy’s mouth. It wasn’t and was like the language he heard her use before, like seeing a picture of an ancestor and noticing the similarities. He could see black smoke rise from Glyn’s nostrils with each breath she took, drifting past them like a sign on the road. Jeremy inwardly shuddered as he watched it draw away; as Jeremy shuddered, so too did Glyn.

Jeremy heard Glyn like a whisper, A tickle in his ears, but clearly intelligible and articulate, “Now that we circled enough to clear our landing, here we go. Please, hold on tight, Amy would hate me if you fell…and return all trays to their upright position”.

Jeremy’s lips tightened; he could feel his knuckles creak, as he held on to a spin of Glyn’s. His footing shifting, muscles flexing beneath his soles: Glyn swerved up, pressure was felt as his knees bearing the burden of his weight; and then, he felt light as if he had shed forty pounds. The roar of the wind screaming by, grew into a crescendo, their speed increasing, the wind howling, they were descending.

“Faster! Faster!”, Amy screamed.

Jeremy remained silent; his composure keeping his face from showing any tell-tale signs of his inner fear. If it were poker, he would have won the game with his stoic expression unchanging hand after hand.

Down, down, down they went. The ground rushed at them, as if it were an old friend running to embrace them after a long separation. Just as Jeremy thought they were going to end up as dragon jam with a hint of human, on the ground. Glyn opened her wings catching the air with a swoosh, his heart catching in his throat. With a click and a clatter from Glyn’s claws grating the stone paved streets, four thuds resounded as her weight rested on her feet.

Liam a day later came again to eat some ramen. Again, today he was lost in thought. The gruff Orc chef shoved a steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of him. Click clack, again he parted his chopsticks. His mind was still trying to come to a conclusion; although, the dark ominous feelings were more like background music today, ever present, yet subdued. With a grunt, the orc motioned for the bowl. His dark brown skin flexed; his muscles rippling; his straight short black hair restrained by a white bandana. A stoic face, a stony look, yet cracks appeared and a shadow, of a thought of a smirk, appeared on the face of the silent orc.

“So today is the day”, Liam remarked, to which the Orc grunted.

Like Osgur this one was not long on words. However, the reason why Liam visited here is because of the “special bowl”. This ramen stall was like any stall littering the streets of Arbellorn; but there had been a rumor that if one came here consistently after an unknown amount of time, they would receive the special bowl. It was once described as being the best bowl of ramen here and even on Earth. Liam pushed the bowl back, and the Orc dumped it. He turned around his large back hiding his recipe, he must keep it secret, keep it safe. Another bowl appeared in front of him, this time the smell ignited his olfactory senses, tickling his appetite. He slowly grabbed a grip of noodles. “Whuu Whuu”, he blew on it. Then a shadow cast over his bowl. He looked up to see two dragons circling hundreds of meters above.

“Tsk”, Liam clicked his tongue.

They should know better to land on a busy street. He turned to his bowl with regret, he wouldn’t have time to savor it.

“Haste is the best ingredient for ramen”, the orc said with a surprisingly gentle, pleasant, articulate, baritone.

Greedily he slurped his ramen, trying to finish it before they landed. Liam stopped to sigh; he knew there would be a lot of work with their return.

The group had circled, after admonishing Sean and Glyn for not contacting once they got reception again, and also for not meeting him at the guild, and for landing on a designated no landing zone. Still despite this, his focus was on Amy as he halfheartedly continued his thorough reprimand. Most mages were battle mages in the raids, enchanting their own weapon, strengthening their body with spells or support roles. True mages were rare. It required a versatile and agile mind to be able to conjure spells, to focus while another being wishes to extinguish your existence. His eyes travelled up and down Amy for a moment. Her clothing, which had been enchanted with all types of expensive spells, possessing unique effects, even a few skills was torn and ripped in some places, revealing her bare skin. As a fellow pure mage, he could feel it. Her encroaching aura was different, stronger, bolder, deeper. She had become much more powerful. ‘Who is that man’, Liam thought with a puzzled expression. His scolding had ended, and Sean and Glyn stood there in their human-like form as if nothing had been said, the last five minutes of thorough ‘mentoring’ had been worthless. Liam shrugged his shoulders. Then it hit him.

“Jeremy”, Liam said.

The young man’s eyes widened. Surely, he would be surprised to have guessed who he was without a word of introduction, without a reference. It must be odd for humans to perceive dragons; he looked around the same age as the late twenty something youngish man in front of him; yet, Liam was old enough to be his great grandfather.

Jeremy nodded, he offered his hand to shake it, “Yes, my name is Jeremy. Pleased to meet you”.

‘Hmm, military huh’, Liam thought to himself as he observed him; Jeremy had all the vestiges of a combat veteran, the sharp look, watching eyes. He accepted the offered hand, shaking it firmly.

“Now about the exploration trip, I assume you came here because there were pressing issues”, Liam said focusing on Osgur, to which he nodded.

After Osgur gave his witness, Liam put his hands to his chin.

“Rest for a while, job well done! The situation is dire though, we will convene an Elder Dragon Council. Be prepared to step in front of The Dragon Elder Council”, Liam said with a grave tone.