Chapter 36: High Risk Vacationing

Sylph could not stop the twitch racing to the tip of her tail as her mother opened the door to Brandon’s room. He would be fine, she hoped, but her mind had grown suspicious about every word Nahana uttered. Authoritative, angry, calm, friendly, nobody could flick through so many emotions so quickly.

But this time, all her worries were unfounded. Brandon sat cross-legged on a large square bed with a book in hand. A pile of leather-bound tomes surrounded his left, while a bowl of fruit rested on his right. He did not notice them enter and absentmindedly stroked the stubble on his face. The door fell closed. He dropped the novel on his bed, looked up, saw Nahana, and bowed.

“Raise your head.” She pointed with a sharp claw, as if trying to lift his head on the tip.

Sylph would have preferred to talk alone, without the imposing yet elegant authority of Nahana scrutinizing every word they said. Brandon uncrossed his legs, taking great care to not knock over his surroundings, and straightened his red robe. The ripped and bloodied white garment from before was nowhere to be seen.

An awkward silence followed as nobody talked and waited. Sylph decided she did not need to wait for something like Nahana’s permission. “Brandon, how have you been?” He peeled his gaze away from her mother and brightened up.

“It has been pretty great.” He picked up the book again and pointed at the title. “Halligans’ guide to advanced alchemy. A first edition.” He turned to Nahana with a strange glimmer in his eyes. “I feel honored to visit a library this large and filled with books you never see further north.” Brandon’s experience seemed to differed completely from her own. Probably because he did not have to follow her mother all day.

Nahana’s wings flared, and she smiled. “Parts of our library are quite extensive. I did not expect your friend to be so academically inclined.” The last part was aimed at Sylph.

“He is a great alchemist. Saved my ass with it, too.”

He nodded. “Tanno’s nose could not handle the stink-” Sylph froze, as did Brandon, when he noticed her reaction. She had no chance to tell him she omitted all of Tanno from her recalling of the story.

“Tanno, you say?” A suspicious echo laced Nahana’s voice. “Quite a prominent personality in Prina.”

“Yeah, some guard with extremely loose tongue we ran into that did not buy our disguise. He chased and nearly caught us until Brandon threw that vial of Sol stopper, I believe it was called. Dust picked us up after we hid in a cellar for a day. Not all that important really,” Sylph snorted, but feared she might have said too much to sound believable.

“Is that so?” Nahana’s voice raised in pitch, suspiciousness dripping all over the words. “It is unlike Tanno to let somebody like you get away.” She did not mention his death, but leaned in closer and her ears twitched as she focused on Sylph.

“The smell is extremely vile and will stop anybody that is not an Aer.” Brandon dared to interrupt her focus and she spun towards him instead. She stepped forward, lowered her head, almost pushing Brandon back onto the bed with bared teeth. “Tanno himself is more repulsive than any liquid could be. Not that the bar is very high for your kind.”

“I told you that Brandon is not a slaver.” Sylph squeezed in between them, using her horns to make space between Brandon and Nahana without touching either. Her mother wanted to intimidate him. She would not let her do that. “It is not him you have to worry about.”

“Was it not humans that stole you?” Nahana spoke softly, but with a tongue as poisonous as a Vispan’s tail.

Sylph did not pursue the line of thought Nahana wanted her to follow. “Yes, they did. They collared me, put me on a chain and even used me as bait against Void,” Sylph hissed, and Brandon duck away. “I blame specific people with all the hatred and fury I can muster, but I do not blame all humans. I know you also blamed Dust for that, so I’d like to hear what he has to say.”

“I doubt Dust’s lies will benefit you. He will say anything to preserve his own scales. Did he not bring you here to save himself?”

Sylph could not answer the question. “I assume he tried to redeem himself, if he was at fault.”

Nahana merely grunted. “Tell me, do you think a dragon would steal an egg?”

“I hope not. But after everything, I imagine every species can do horrible things like that.”

“For us, it is a tragedy, a singular dragon gone mad, driven by hatred for a partner, or trying to sway those in power.” Nahana turned back to Brandon. “For them, it is business. You barely saw the full extent in Prina.” Brandon stayed silent in the wake of teeth the size of his hands. “What do you say about the actions of your brethren?”

He swallowed. “They are not my brethren. They are bastards. I have seen it firsthand.” Unlike back on the ship, he did not debate Nahana and went silent.

“So you would rather agree with another species completely alien to your kind?” She turned back to Sylph. “Tribes stay together. That is how it always was. In times of great need, dragons gather, humans band together. You can not fight nature.”

“Unless you forbid nature from doing what it wants, then I can totally fight nature,” Sylph laughed, but nobody joined in, and she cleared her throat instead.

Nahana glimpsed upward at the sun falling in from the window. “I still want to show you something. Come, time is running thin.” She folded her wings neatly onto her back and turned to the door, expecting Sylph to follow without question.

Sylph’s gaze switched between Brandon and Nahana. “Don’t worry about me. This is a great vacation.” He laughed, but mouthed a whisper.

“Actually, let me grab a fruit,” Sylph said, walked up and held her ear close toward his head. “The servants are really nice to me, a bit too nice. I had to listen to someone talk about what they thought human hygiene was for about thirty minutes. They don’t seem to hate humans as much as her, though.” His tiny voice was barely audible, even to her. If his biggest problem was Elina gnawing his ears off in conversation, she would not have to worry about his wellbeing.

She reached for the bowl and threw the enormous book to the floor by intentional accident. The thump echoed through the room and reverberated in her head, forcing her ears to adapt. “We will head home soon, after I hear the truth,” Sylph mumbled as she shoved a banana into her mouth, hoping the echo had disturbed Nahana’s ears aswell.

“Sylph?” Brandon said, and picked up the book.

“Yeah?” she spoke while chewing.

“You are supposed to peel them.”

Nahana sighed in the distance. “But the skin has great texture,” Sylph argued.