The Battles of Life (Revised 23-12-10)

In the land of Cientaya, there are many towns, each symbolising the elements of the earth- Silva is the forest, Terra is the ground, Aqua is the water and Caelum for sky. Each town has their own traditions- Silva has traditions mostly in spring, when all the fruits and flowers from the forests are abundant, Terra traditions revolve around the moving of the ground- tremors, earthquakes etc…, Aqua traditions use the moon and the tides to plan their celebrations, and Caelum use astrology to determine when events will happen. In this story, you will be introduced to all four of these towns, learning about their culture.
This story is based in Silva, the land of the forest.
In the middle of spring, they hold a great festival of renewal, in which the whole town goes through a three-day renewal of their bodies, minds and spirits. They believe there is a God who rules the forest, the men, the women, the children, the weather and the animals. They also believe kisses are sacred- on the right cheek symbolises luck, courage and trust, on the left cheek represents respect and thankfulness. If a man was to kiss a woman on the lips before they have been married for at least a year, it is considered treason, and is punishable by condemning and forbidding the person to come back to Silva, or even punishable by death. Their chief, Sustrik, is a sour man, who cares about his village, but not the people in it, and believes he is cursed, for his wife bore a daughter and not a son, so he won’t try again.
So, on with the story.

001
“Still on lookout duty, huh?” Abadelia asked as she flipped her mousey-brown hair back and forth, back and forth, crossing her legs as she leant against the Great Bark Tree of Wisdom, it was spring, and the fruits were abundant in the whole of Silva, just in time for the great festival of the renewal.
“What does it look like?” I asked, arrogantly, still searching the grounds.
Up above, Draco was playfully taunting me, he knew I wanted to get on his back and do some flying.
“Stop it Draco, I’m on sentry duty” I told him, and he landed next to me, flapping his wings.
“No!” I playfully punched him, and he nuzzled his nose into my shirt.
“Eww! Don’t get your dragon snot on me!” I complained, and stuck my tongue out at him.
“I think he’s cute!” Abadelia said, scratching her nails against his black and silver scales.
An arrow skimmed my head, a red arrow. Only one tribe uses red arrows.
“Get down!” I yelled, falling to the ground, and searched for where the arrow came from.
Then I saw them. The Umlings. They were a mixture of men and birds, taller than a man, and had great blue wings that had razor sharp claws on every space that was seen. ‘Very deadly, alert the village if you ever see them. They always come in herds, never, never alone.’ I remembered from when Karak was telling me about them, for I had never seen them, before now. I brought the horn to my lips and blew as hard as I could. I pulled an arrow from my quiver, and aimed for the leader of the group. I let go of the arrow. I hit the leader. It fell to the ground, shaking. In a few seconds, it was dead. This only seemed to enrage the Umlings, and I heard their faint cries of “GANNN!” Which I translated mentally to CHARGE!
Yep. That’s Umlings for you, always wanting to take over Silva.
Beside me, I could see Draco, crouching on his hind legs, waiting for me to get on his back and start flying. I crawled on my belly over to him, and turned to see Abadelia, her tanned face shocked and scared.
“Go to the village! Tell the people to evacuate!” I ordered her.
She didn’t move, she was too scared to. Of all the battles that have been fought here, they women and girls were always in a different part of Cientaya, learning home skills and how to sow things and cook, and how to be good mums or whatever, whilst boys make weapons, and learn battle tactics and statistics of different enemies.
I looked at Draco; he had a face that seemed to say ‘I can carry her’
“You sure?” I asked him
He bowed his head up and down in a nodding movement.
I made a face at him, and then crawled over to Abadelia.
“Ever wondered what’s it’s like to be in the air in this place?”
After a brief moment of thought, she nodded.
“Then hop on”
“You?”
I looked at her “Draco”
“Oh, sorry.” She blushed and stood up slowly, in case of more arrows.
“Hurry up and get on!”
I shook my head, as helped her up. Girls. As I secured the harness, she was questioning me to the safety.
“I’ll drop you off at Eagle Point”
“No! I can’t be left there!” She protested.
“It’s the only place safe enough!” I argued back, and slid onto Draco’s back.
I flattened my stomach against his rough scales as we gained altitude, and so did Abadelia on my back, but out of sheer terror for being so high up, and she wrapped her arms around my chest tightly.
“Wow, you’re pretty firm, do you work out?” She asked me, clearly impressed.
I swivelled around to look at her.
“Are you freaking serious?” I turned around back to face the front, and readied my arrow.
I planned to do a triple arrow shot. I knew there was a little possibility of it working, the last time I tried this, I almost shot Karak, one landed in my right foot, which has been playing up ever since, and I still haven’t found the other arrow. And then I was in the South Forest, not flying through the air on my stubborn dragon and a girl clinging on for dear life to my back (even though she was tied down, I didn’t have anything except my legs clinging onto Draco to stop me from falling off,).
Draco snorted as if to say ‘No, you can’t shoot that arrow, do you want to kill us three?’
Oh well. Too late now. I left the arrows go. I missed completely, crap. Draco, just having to prove he’s better than me, opened his mouth, and burnt them to a crisp.
“Yeah, yeah, hurry up and get to Eagle Point!” I told him, annoyed.

When he landed, Abadelia begged I didn’t leave her there.
“I’ll be back to get you when they’re gone, I promise” I promised.
She looked at me, and then she kissed me on my right cheek. A kiss on the right cheek symbolised luck, courage and trust. She slid back, and said two simple words “Good luck”. Then she sat down, patiently.
I climbed back onto Draco, and gave her one last glance before telling Draco to fly over the village. I got my binoculars out, feeling relieved I’d strapped myself on before Draco jumped off the ledge, and zoomed in onto the village. The Umlings hadn’t reached there yet, but I could see Karak, and a few of my mates waiting for an attack to come, Karak held his sword in his hands, with a tight looking grip on it. Some of his determination had rubbed off onto me during his teachings; the other half was from my dad. Karak taught me everything I know about dragons, Umlings, the different settlements on Cientaya, how to shoot an arrow, single hand and two hand sword fighting. Mum never did approve of the life I lived, and I bet she wondered how the son of a woodchopper could ever compete in battle, but she was hell proud of me. But I bet dad wanted me to be a woodchopper. Too bad, he had my younger brother, Steven to be the woodchopper, but Dad would always protest that I should be cutting wood, and mum would sigh ‘There’s always something about the first born’, before returning to making dinner for the night. If there was going to be dinner.
Draco swooped down to the village, and Karak held out a sword for me from his hilt.
I stretched my hand out, my hand tensing, waiting for the impact for when it made contact with the steel. Then I hit it, and grabbed it with my now bloody hand.
“Go Matthew Go!” I heard him shout out to me, and Draco turned around to face him, with the face of anger. “And you too Draco! Take care of my apprentice!” That made me smile, that’s the good thing about Karak, and he never changes, no matter the situation. I remember when I first introduced myself to Karak, as a small, weak and feeble three year old boy ‘Hi! I’m Matthew!’ I beamed. Karak had looked at me ‘Matthew? That’s a strange name, isn’t it?’ ‘I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it’ I had protested folding my arms, showing my stubbornness. Yeah, I was stubborn even then.
Then I flew past them, and saw the girls and women evacuating the village to the safe underground haven. Only girls were allowed there, never men, ‘men are too dirty and rude to understand things like beauty’. Huh, I understood beauty. Gwenevere, the daughter of the village leader Sustrik, was the most beautiful thing in Silva, her blonde hair, her blue eyes, her cheery laugh, her soft and gentle voice. Whenever I heard her singing, I could feel my heart literally melting. Except, she was said to be married to Kirk when she turned 17, in two years’ time. Then I saw her, her blonde hair easily pointed out compared to the brown or black hair of the other girls. Gwenevere was said to be an angel in disguise, coming down to this land for a reason nobody knows. I think it was totally to marry me, and show that occupation shouldn’t be what decides love. But, that was totally out of the question, how was I going to make her fall for me? I was lower than the bakers, who were allowed to speak to the heads of the village. I was barely allowed to look at them for small amounts of time.
I whispered into Draco’s ear for him to get closer, forgetting about my binoculars, I had to make sure my mum and little sister were safe.
As we got closer, I saw them, mum with her blue and white apron on, as usual, and my little sister Carlie holding her hand, looking at the sky, her green eyes wide of amazement, looking for me.
I yelled down to them, and she turned around quickly, eagerly trying to find me.
She soon spotted me, huh, I wonder how. I felt proud to be the only dragon guardian in our village, and all of my friends were jealous that I had been chosen to be a dragon guardian.
“Hi Matthew! Hi Draco!” she yelled out of enjoyment. This was the first time a battle had been here since the year before she was born, six years ago today. Funny, the Umlings only attack once in a while, on the same day. Weird. “Are you taking me with you?”
“No, you’re too young, and especially not now! I promise for your next birthday, when you turn six! That’s not too far away!” I told her, before Draco swooped even lower, and I saw Gwenevere up ahead, looking at me with fear. She’s such a girl, being scared of dragons. Whenever Draco goes out for a hunt or a walk, I can always hear her screaming and running away from Draco as he walks through the town, but he loves it when Gwenevere runs away, he thinks she wants to play.
“Mum! Where’s Dad?” I shouted out, as Draco turned upside down, so my face was right in front of hers.
“Matthew! Bad! That’s dangerous!” She fussed.
“Muuum! It’s fun!” I laughed, as she shoved my shoulder.
“Your father should be in the cave”
Only my family knew about the cave, and where it was located. I had seen it the day I first climbed onto Draco’s back out of pure excitement that there was a real live DRAGON in the town, and that I had found his egg earlier, and ever since then, I’ve still found the same excitement of a dragon, four years later.
“Alright. Come on Draco, I’m getting dizzy, and we still have a battle to fight” I said, and Draco turned onto his stomach, and flew vertical up into the sky, until slowly he turned his nose down, and we were flying parallel to the ground. I could see Carlie waving at me, and so I waved back. I loved my little sister.

002
All afternoon, we were swooping down at the Umlings, firing arrows and fiery breath. The sword Karak had given me earlier was still in my hilt, and I planned an attack with Draco.
He spread his wings, and touched the ground gently, right beside the cave.
“You know what to do if you see anybody, Draco” I told him, before rolling back the stone that led to the cave.
I trudged down the muddy floor of the stairs, until I saw the familiar candle glow, and my father hunched over a piece of wood, carving it into a shape. I never questioned his work, I just observed curiously and confused at his creations. None so far had worked, but my family was determined to one day rise from the bottom of the Silva hierarchy. One day.
“Hey Dad, you know that the Umlings are invading again?” I asked him, and peered over him, looking at what he was so mesmerised by. It was a cube shape, with a lid with iron hinges. He must have bought them earlier. Wait. Bought?
“How’d you afford those hinges?” I asked him, and he swivelled around to look at me “If you must know, I promised Berk that you would marry his daughter Abadelia”
I was gobsmacked. “YOU WHAT?” I thundered, my voice echoing off the stone walls.
“Well, she likes you, and I thought you liked her…” He trailed off, seeing my expression.
“I HATE Abadelia! She’s always in the way, and she almost got me killed this morning! I don’t want to marry her, give Berk the hinges back NOW!”
“Now?” Dad asked, looking puzzled “I thought a war was on…”
“Then do it after!” I stormed out of the cave.
How could dad do that? Didn’t he know I wanted to marry for love, not for a better social standing?
Argh! Still, at least I could take my anger out on some Umlings.
As I broke into the daylight of the afternoon, I shielded my eyes with my right arm. Then I saw my hand, it had a few cuts from when I grabbed the sword earlier. I heard a brook bubbling to my left, and walked over to it, and shoved my hand in. It instantly healed. Then I looked at the sky. The sun was brightly shining, giving us support that we needed to win this battle, as Umlings had the best night vision, and we had to take around 10 to 20 minutes to adjust, but even then it wasn’t perfect. It took precisely two hours for our night vision to work. Two hours was far too long in battle time.
I twirled the sword in my hand, and ordered Draco to stay at the entrance of the cave. My dad wasn’t going anywhere.

I saw a group of Umlings ahead of me, and I turned around to make sure none where behind me. I snuck up to the back of them, carefully making sure not to make a sound, and alert the enemy of my position. That would be all I needed. As I stood a distance behind them, I could hear them talking.
“Kikka dia gong floie duing gn critin?” said the tallest.
I mentally translated it “When is the attack going to happen?”
Then aloud I said “Ga’dd ne’r duing gn kaka gih a-bey”
You’re never going to find out now.
They turned around, surprised, weapons ready.
When they saw me, their beaks opened wide with horror, and I held up my sword.
“Hwanna gn giet hih-hih?”
Want to fight man?
“Ga gid’a giet kikka ga’dd die-die!” I smirked, slashing their heads off.
You can’t fight when you’re dead!
Their heads bounced as they hit the hard forest floor.
I got my horn out and scooped a horn full of blood out from the torso of each Umling I had killed, and drank it. Then I cut their bodies into quarters, and spat on them. Then I got bored. I looked at the sword Karak had given me, it was dripping with blood. I licked the blood off it, it was delicious.
It had a gold hilt, and had stones embedded into it. Pretty cool really.

Draco gave me a look that I knew well. What have you been doing?
“I was killing Umlings if you must know”
An ‘Oh? Is that all?’ expression was pulled on his huge face, and he snorted.
Smoke billowed out of his nostrils. I covered them up, to prevent people, or Umlings finding us.
“Come on then, let’s go see what stage the battle is at” I said casually, and climbed onto his back, securing myself down with the harness that Karak had given me the day I announced that I had found a dragon. A lot had changed since then. A lot.

Overhead, the battle looked like it was about to end. Draco swooped down, and I air-fought the last of the Umlings. Karak and the others had successfully managed to stop them coming into the village, where the main healing bath was.
As he landed, I hopped off, and went to shake Karak’s hand.
“Congrats” I said.
“You too” He laughed.
The sound of Trisina’s voice came to my ears “Has anybody seen Abadelia?”
That’s when I remembered.

“Hey! I thought you’d never come!” She giggled, standing up to greet me.
“I need to talk to you.” I ordered, beckoning her to sit back down.
“What’s up?” She asked, confused.
“My dad promised your dad I was going to marry you.”
Her mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, then she raised an eyebrow.
“Only thing is,” I began, drawing with my finger in the soil “I don’t want to marry you.”
Her face dropped. “Oh” She whispered. Then she burst out crying.
I crawled over till I was sat next to her. I put my arm around her shoulders, trying to stop her crying and let her see things from my perspective.
I laid onto my stomach, and she did the same, facing opposite me.
“Why not?” She frowned.
“Because I don’t love you” I looked down at the ground. I had drawn Draco, absent-mindedly.
“So? Is that the reason people marry out here?” She questioned sharply, and I stood up, walking to the edge of the cliff.
“No, I know, but I think you deserve a guy who loves you back, or at least likes you…”
“What makes you say that I love you in the first place?” She questioned her face solemn.
“Your dad” I said, looking over the edge of Eagle Point, 100 metres below lay jagged rocks, along with the rotting corpses of Umlings and former enemies. I kicked a small rock that was near my feet down, puffed, and went and sat down next to Abadelia.
“You’re mums looking for you by the way, we’d better get back”
“Oh, what a good idea!” She said, sarcasm evident in her voice.
“Don’t you get stroppy with me! I know just the guy for you.”
She looked hopeful.
“It’s not me.”
“Who?”
“You’ll found out soon enough.”
She let out a shout of frustration, before climbing onto Draco’s back behind me.
“I’m still wrapping my arms around your chest” She ordered.
“Alright!?” I said back, as she once again wrapped her arms around my chest. I have to admit, it was nice having somebody’s arms around me, it made me feel like I was actually wanted, and not a nuisance. But, it would feel better if those arms were Gwenevere’s.
Maybe I’m being too hopeful here. I should make my goals achievable.
Hmm… What’s achievable? Oh! I want to learn how to shoot a triple shot. I mean, Karak can do it, why can’t I?

As we landed, Trisina rushed up towards Abadelia.
“And where were you young lady?” She snapped at her daughter.
“On Eagle Point,” she said, giving me the evils.
I pulled a face at her and walked away.
“And what were you doing there?” Her mum demanded.
“It’s his entire fault!” She yelled, in the direction of my turned back, not turned for much longer.
“What did I do?”
In the corner of my eye, I could see Gwenevere backing away from Draco, and with each step, she came to me.
“You left me up there, instead of delivering me safely to the haven!”
“If you weren’t up on the hill with me, you would have been going to the haven! I almost got killed because of you!” I argued back.
“Argh! You’re so full of it!”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded, as Sustrik approached me and Abadelia.
“Now! What’s going on here?” He boomed.
Gwenevere screamed, and ran to the shelter of her dad.
“Go away Gwenevere! I haven’t the time for you!”
I suppose I’m not the only person here without their parents really caring for them. I mean, mum cared, but only now that I was risking my life.
She burst out crying, and ran into the East Forest. Where the wild beasts live.
Nice one, Gwenevere.
“He left me on Eagle Point when the Umlings were invading because…” She rambled on and on, and I lost concentration on her.
My only concern was Gwenevere. Sustrik hadn’t even noticed when she ran into the darkest forest, and now the sun had set, she didn’t stand a chance.
Not without a hero.
Not without me.
I walked away from Sustrik and the rest of the village.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Sustrik demanded.
“Rescuing your daughter.” I said.
“Who do you think you are, rescuing her? I shouldn’t even be talking to you!”
“Well, maybe I can show that somebody cares for those around them, even if they don’t care about me!”
“Oh you little cheek!” He stomped.
“Are you going to follow me into the forest?”
“Of course I’m not! My daughter isn’t worth risking my life over!”
I walked up to him, standing centimetres from his face.
“Well, she’s worth mine!” I punched him in the stomach, and walked away from the shouts of the village into the forest, to find Gwenevere.

003
“You’re so brave! But why did my dad treat me like that?” She cried, between sobs.
“I didn’t do anything... Except stand up to him.”
“About time, he only cares about himself! Somebody had to stand up to him.”
I looked at Gwenevere; she sat on the ground, metres from the entrance of the thick woods.
“Do you want to talk, Gwenevere, or do you want to go back to the village?” I asked, peering around trees to see the fiery glows of the fires that awoke as night fell in the village.
She looked at me, the moonlight streaked across her face. I wanted to pull her close to me, and kiss her, but I knew I couldn’t.
She smiled “Let’s talk, stuff the whole talk about order of hierarchy and all that crap.”
We had walked further into the forest, not caring which way we went, with me leading the way, until Gwenevere finally said “Here’s a good place”
I brushed some moss off a tree trunk, and offered Gwenevere a seat.
“Where are you going to sit?” She asked, looking hurt, as there was no other tree stumps around.
“I’m not fussy like you; I can sit on the ground”
“Ugh! I’m offended!” She giggled, shoving me with the sole of her bare foot.
I brushed some moss off it.
“Stop! That tickles!” She giggled some more.
I laughed with her, happiness was contagious.
“I feel bad sitting on this tree! I’ll come sit next to you!” She announced, sitting down next to me.
“But, you’ll get your nice clothes all dirty!” I protested.
She looked at me “You’re worth it”, and smiled.
I smiled back, and swivelled around to lean my back against the tree stump Gwenevere was previously sitting on. She moved over next to me, and laid her head next to mine, and draped her left arm over my shirt, slowly, back and forth, up and down, smoothing her soft and feminine hands against my ripped and dirty old shirt.
“You were really good today,” She said, turning onto her side and leaning her head on my shoulder, “it must be so much fun to know that you have a place in the village, but we girls just feel useless.”
“You’re not useless” I murmured into her soft hair, and stretched my arm around her shoulders. She looked up at me, and smiled. I looked down at her; I had never imagined her close to me, and not minding it.
“Gwenevere” I began, clearing my throat.
“Gwen” She interrupted.
“Fine. Gwen, is it true that you’re going to marry Kirk?” It hurt to say it, but if the answer was what I thought it would be, the pain in my heart would be much worse.
“Nah, it’s just so all the guys wouldn’t be after me”
When she said that, I just wanted to yell at the top of my lungs a triumphant ‘YES!’ and dance, and sing, only I couldn’t sing, and guys don’t dance.
“But what about Kirk, if you’re not marrying him then?” I questioned.
“Oh, he’s leaving next year; he’s travelling to Caelum to become a merchant or something”
“I see.”
“How old are you, Matthew?”
“Seventeen” I replied.
“Who are you going to marry?”
“My parents want me to marry Abadelia.” I sighed.
“Can you sing to me?” Gwen asked.
“I think I can remember one my mum used to sing to my little sister…” I concentrated hard.
I murmured, and stroked hers soft pale hands, with my hard and tanned hands, just gently, with the base of my thumb, and sang the song mum sang to Carlie.
“That’s beautiful,” She whispered, before she looked at my hands, “You’re hands are so hard, how come?”
“From cuts and stuff, and then holding all the weapons with wooden handles, it just toughens your hands up, I suppose, that’s why yours aren’t, they’re too girly” I joked, and she played with my hands for a little while, before she got fed up, and we just laid there together, listening to the sounds of our breathing, and the beat of our hearts. I looked down at her, her face was so peaceful, eyes closed, her nostrils flaring slightly when she breathed in, and then returning to normal when she breathed out. I looked around, and saw two glowing eyes staring directly at us. It stepped out into the clearing. It was an animal that I’d never seen before.
It had four legs, like a dragon, and walked on all fours, but it had a long thin tail, unlike a dragon, two ears, pointed on the top of its oval face, and had a little pink nose. It made a ‘mew’ sound, and Gwen’s eyes flew open. When she saw it, she squealed.
“It’s so cute!”
“It could be dangerous, what is it?” I questioned, I would have remembered something as weird as this before in one Karaks books.
“I don’t know. Can you see if it’s dangerous?” She asked me, looking hopeful.
I let out a ‘fine’ and slowly approached the new creature.
It looked at me with expecting eyes.
I wrapped my hands behind its front two legs, and picked it up.
It hung awkwardly from my grip, and I saw a flash of claws suddenly come out from its paws. It didn’t pierce my skin, luckily. Maybe it was just scared I’d drop it.
Huh. I seem to drop things a lot. When I found Draco’s egg, I dropped it on the ground when I was running back to the village to tell Karak what I’d found, then lo and behold, a baby dragon crept out, and then I vowed to protect it, and I haven’t broken the promise since, even though when it saw me, it flew away in terror, before smashing into a tree.
When I sat back down next to Gwen, I placed the animal on my outstretched legs, and it sat down, making a funny noise. It sounded like when Draco purred, except softer. Maybe this thing was a girl.
“I think it’s a girl” I said.
“Can we name it?” Gwen asked eagerly, pulling on my arm, her eyes shining with excitement.
“The species or this specific one?”
“This specific one, we don’t know if the species has a name”
“Alright, what are you going to name her?”
“Uhhm” She thought deeply “Charlotte, that’s a pretty and unusual name.”
“Nice, I like it” I smiled at the creature.
Charlotte had walked it a circle on my shirt, gently pulling it with her claws, and then she curled up into a ball on my stomach, and Gwen was stroking Charlottes back, and she purred softly, her tail slowly swishing back and forth. The sound of the still air and the purring of Charlotte soon drifted me to sleep.

004
I awoke suddenly in the morning, with Charlotte still on my stomach, and Gwen lying next to me, her hair all around her angelic face. I placed my hand on her right shoulder, and gently rocked her back and forth, not wanting to hurt her, but trying to wake her up. Her eyelids fluttered, and soon she sat up abruptly, looking around startled, but she saw me, and her body loosened and she settled down. I rolled my neck, which was stiff from the awkward position I had been sleeping in. “Sleep well?” I asked, standing up stiffly and shaking out my legs. She held her right hand out, and I pulled her up.
“I suppose we’d better get back to the village”
“If we can”
“Can you carry me? I just want to sleep” She said, yawning and rubbing her eyes, and wiping her muddy hands down the front of my shirt.
I looked at my shirt “Thanks”
She smiled innocently, and I shoved her. She almost fell over, but grabbed a nearby tree, and stopped her fall. She walked over to the tree stump, and stood on it, putting her hands on her hips, “Come here then” She ordered, “Slave” she added, and with a giggle and a jump, she was hanging off my back.
I trudged through the damp ground, occasionally tripping on a rock jutting out, scraping the bottom of my feet, but not awaking Gwen, who had fell back asleep soon after I started walking in the direction I think we came from. Maybe if dad invented something for our feet to protect them, we would be higher. But I wasn’t going to tell Dad my idea, not after what happened in the cave. I looked behind me, Charlotte obediently following me as I trekked through the wild jungle, soon, I saw the trees becoming thinner, and hopefully I would be out of this mess. Yes, I could see the village, all the little wooden huts, with a central fire pit.
I could hear voices, so I woke Gwen up, and told her we’d reached the village.
She let out a yawn, and then saw Charlotte.
“Oh, good girl! Following Matthew all this way!” She beamed, picking her up, and giving her a squeeze.
She put her down, and wrapped her arms around my neck, and nuzzled her face into my still dirty shirt,
“And thank you, for coming to find me, even though you didn’t have to. I don’t think my dad will let me see you anymore” she stopped, frowning, before continuing “So, thanks” And she kissed me on left cheek, a sign of respect and thankfulness.
I looked at her, confused. “You kissed me on the left cheek, but I’m lower then you”
“Men are always higher than girls, girls are useless compared to men,” she said, as if that explained my statement.
I kissed her on the forehead, and as I pulled away, I saw her blush.
“That’s new, what does that represent?” She asked, biting her lip.
I thought for a few seconds before saying “It’s a promise, and I promise that this is goodbye isn’t the last.”
“We’d better go.”
I nodded, and we walked out of the forest, separately.
I stared in shock.
Where were we?
This wasn’t our village.
Crap, I walked the wrong way. I let out a groan, and Gwen rushed to my side, clinging to my arm.
From the distance, I could see somebody approaching us.
“Uhhm. What do we do?”
“Maybe the locals are friendly, come on.” I said, walking towards the figure.

It turned out to be an old woman, with her grey hair tied back in a small bun. When we were in front of her, she looked us each up and down.
“What have you been doing? Your legs are bleeding, and your feet swollen!” She said, shocked, looking at my legs.
I looked at them. Wow, they looked pretty bad.
“Matthew! You should have been more careful!” Gwen fussed.
“If I wasn’t worrying about you, I would have seen where I was walking” I said, looking down at her.
The old woman laughed “You kids these days” and shook her head. “My name is Beatrice”
“Hey, I’m Matthew, and this is…”
“Gwen” she stated, finishing my sentence.
“Where are you two from them?” Beatrice asked, smoothing her hands on her apron.
“The other side of that forest, in Silva.”
“Silva? How did you get through that forest?” She looked behind us.
I looked at my feet “Obviously not very easy”
“Well, let’s get you two cleaned up, and get you something to eat”
That was when I realised how hungry I was.
When you aren’t the richest of the colony, it’s usually hard to get stuff to eat, so mum sends Steven out (he’s 16) to hunt, and I’ll usually fly above him, on look out for danger.
But, you can’t go around killing animals every night, so we would just sit around the fire, trying to put the thoughts of food out of our heads.

Outside Beatrice’s hut, stood a red dragon. It was smaller than Draco, and didn’t look as fierce. Maybe this was a girl. Gwen screamed, and rushed into the hut, but I walked up to the dragon. It looked at me with its big pink eyes, watching my every move. I raised my hand, and it nuzzled its nose into my hand.
“You have a way with the beasts” Beatrice commented.
“Not really, I have a dragon as well”
“You do? I thought she was the last dragon left.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, alarmed.
“Dragons have been extinct for years, but one day, my daughter brought Sunshine’s egg home, Sunshine being the dragon, and I was amazed to see it.”
“Why Sunshine?”
“The Egg was yellow.”
“Fair enough, where’s your daughter?” I asked, curious.
“I’ll go get her”
“Thanks” I smiled, looking up at Sunshine.
She bent her legs, and plonked herself on the ground.
I put my hand on her neck, and rubbed my hand up and down. It worked, just like it did with Draco.
“What are you doing?” a girl asked, who had appeared in the doorway.
She was around the same age as me, with long brown hair flowing down to her waist. She had flowers in her hair, and wore a floaty skirt, and a simple top.
“Looking at a dragon” I said blandly, looking at her.
“You seem to know how to make a dragon happy” she said, eyeing me up and down.
“I have a dragon too” I said.
Behind the girl, Gwen was hiding.
“Gwen, come here” I said, but she stayed hidden.
“Call your dragon” The girl told me, and I did as I was told.
I brought my fingers to my mouth, and let out a loud whistle.
Soon, Draco was above, looking for me. I saw his expression when he saw Sunshine.
He was curious.
He landed, folding his wings back to his torso.
Sunshine walked up to him, and they walked in a circle, eyeing each other up and down, and turned to face each other.
Draco reared up, and sat on his hind legs, and Sunshine did the same.
They started talking using dragon calls.
In my head, I figured out what they were saying.
I walked over to Draco, and rubbed his tummy. He fell onto his back, and I jumped on his stomach, and tickled him some more, whilst trying not to fall off as he rolled around.
“Dragons are ticklish?” The girl asked.
“Evidently” I said, stopping.
I hopped down, and walked over to the doorway.
Gwen’s face was priceless.
“Lunch is ready!” I heard Beatrice call from inside the hut.
The girl went inside, and I looked up at Draco.
“No rough play now Draco.”
He snorted at me, and I walked into the house.

I sat down on a wooden chair, opposite from Gwen.
She smiled slightly at me, as Beatrice laid lunch on the table.
There was a collection of fruits, meats and nuts laid onto the table, placed right in front of me.
She nudged me with her elbow, “Don’t be afraid to eat as much as you can, you look like you haven’t eaten in a while” She smiled.
Yes, when was the last time I ate?
A few days ago, I think.
Yes, Steven had caught a deer, and we each got a few bites from the scrawny animal.
When I was walking in the forest, I saw heaps of trees growing fruit, but was the fruit safe?
I arranged the food onto my plate, and wolfed it down. After a few plates, I felt full, good thing too, as there was no more food laid on the table.
I stretched my back out, and rubbed my hands onto my shirt, massaging my stomach.
I heard Gwen quietly giggling as she broke the shell of the Crabnut.
“So… Where are we exactly?”
The old woman smiled weakly.
“Welcome to Aqua.”

005
“I’m afraid to say we only have one bed, and it is one-manned,” Beatrice said sadly after reappearing from cleaning up.
“You have the bed Gwen; I’ll sleep on the floor.”
“Are you sure Matthew?”
“I’ve been sleeping on the floor all my life, remember?”
“Well, not anymore. You have it.”
“Ever think of sharing?” Beatrice’s daughter Matilda said.
I looked at Gwen. She shrugged.
“Right, that’s settled then. I’ll just go and put some sheets on it,” Beatrice smiled
That night, we sat outside Beatrice’s house. Draco had lit the bon fire, and the rest of village came as well, introducing each and every one to us.
“Everyone here is so peaceful,” I whispered into Gwen’s ear.
She nodded, pulling a thoughtful face at me.
I smiled, and Gwen bit her bottom lip.
“What?” I asked.
She looked away shyly, “nothing.”
I reached over, and tapped her neck “What’s that?” I asked.
She looked down to where I was pointing, and I flicked up my finger onto her nose.
“Oww! Meanie!” she wined, giving me a shove.
I raised an eyebrow at her before turning back and looking at the bonfire. Fire. Fire. Fire. What is it with me and fire? I love the way it starts out little, grows big, and then flickers and dies. Like people, like animals, like birds. Draco nudged me in the back, sending me flying, my face just inches from the base of the bonfire. I rolled onto my back, stood up and brushed the dirt off, before running up to Draco. He sensed what I was going to do, and so began to slowly jog away from me. I jumped forward, and grabbed his tail. He swished it back and forth, before looking over his shoulder to see if I was still hanging on. I was. He crouched down, wiggled his butt in my face, and took off, sending a circle of dirt out as we left the ground. It was a full moon tonight, and it was almost the dark hour. I yelled out to Draco, but he couldn’t hear me, he was under a trance from the moon.
I yelled out in protest, but my voice was silenced. I screamed and I screamed and I screamed, but no sound passed my lips. What was happening to me? No, I was losing my sight. I felt my arms going limp. I felt Draco’s tail slip out of my fingers. But I was already out, falling to my death.