Chapter 60: I am Sylph

Veria flew through sheer willpower alone, even if it was only a few hundred meters. Dragons were not made to carry other dragons as big as Sylph. Veria huffed above her and her blood trickled down along Sylph’s body before it fell to the floor.

To Sylph’s surprise, it did not hurt. Veria’s muscular arms wrapped around her and it did not sting. No strange needles or burning sensation struck through her scales, no pain flared up when they touched.

The rushing wind along her small wings and face invigorated her tired body, and once more, she wished for her own. “You know, I tried to fly, to glide, two times. Dislocated my wing the first time,” Sylph nearly yelled.

“You should not push those muscles. They are not used to the strain.”

“I noticed, but it was desperate.”

“If it was dislocated, a doctor should look at them to make sure you are okay. We planned to stop in Gideza, anyway.” Veria pushed through clenched teeth, loud enough to drown out the rushing wind.

While Sylph imagined them to be alright, it could not hurt. “Why Gideza?”

“It’s about Oasis parents,” Veria’s voice trailed off.

Sylph had not seen her grandparents in forever. “I wouldn’t mind and they have regular airship routes so Brandon can get home if he wants to. But why? Don’t they hate you?”

Veria’s grip around Sylph tightened. “Let that be my problem. We need a place to stay while we got a few things to sort out. The ship still has a purpose to fulfill, otherwise our brief detour might have even more repercussions.”

“I have nothing against a desert vacation instead of more desert prison.” She could hardly imagine a better way to spend the next days than with her family.

Closing in on the airship, Sylph spotted a sand colored Sol and a balding, large man up on deck. Seeing Oasis, and Brandon’s father, she could not help but swallow. Their little pathwalker-letter-delivery lie took quite a while, and they got pretty off-track.

Veria glided down towards the deck, dropped Sylph and then landed in a rough hobbled sprint. In a manner most unknown to her mother, she slumped over and had to catch her breath as her wounds and exhaustion finally overpowered her dragonheart. Not even Veria could go on forever. She huffed a scarce command: “Everybody get inside and tell the captain to start. Dalian, you watch if anyone follows us. I’ll be right behind you.”

Elina landed behind them and Biscuit followed, who was promptly herded below deck with the rest.

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Once down below, in the spacious common room, Sylph barely got time to brace herself before Oasis seized her. “Thank the six you are back.” Oasis pressed Sylph against her chest and engulfed her in soft wings. It did not hurt. The warmth enveloped her like a soft blanket and Oasis’ heart beat gently against her own chest. Her gentle, but firm, arms squeezed her tight. After all that happened, there was nothing to be afraid of here.

She enjoyed the newfound closeness for precious seconds before she opened her eyes and saw Brandon and his father sharing a similar reunion.

“I am so sorry,” Sylph whimpered as an entire variety of feelings assaulted her all at once. Guilt stormed ahead, followed by happiness, and yet it faded all into the loving warmth that radiated from her mother’s chest. “I didn’t know-”

“Shh-” Oasis whispered into her ear and pressed her even closer. “Tomorrow is the time for explanations.” Veria’s head snaked through Oasis’ wings and rested against both of them with a comforting weight. “She’s right. I can be mad at you tomorrow. Ow!”

“She didn’t mean that.”

“She did,” Sylph giggled and sniffed her nose, “I am probably in trouble.” While she knew it was more a joke than anything, she could not deny that a lot of things had been her fault. “Next time, just tell me she is a crazy psychopath and don’t lie about her being dead.” In response, they pressed her half to death in an enormous pile of wings and necks.

“No more lies, no more secrets, I promise.”

The ball or warmth slowly uncurled as they hesitated to let go. Sylph’s gaze fell back to Brandon. His father gave her a sinister stare, and he had every reason to do that. The gaze felt even heavier when she recalled Brandon’s past.

“Brandon.” Sylph approached, ignoring his father’s gaze, “I am going to hug you and you can not stop me.” He froze, more stumped than anything at her words. And she had to admit that hugging a human was pretty hard. There was so little to hold on to. He had an awkward size, so she had to balance on her hind legs to even reach. “Thank you so much for coming with me.” He sagged a little under her weight and she noticed the odd texture of his skin when compared to scales. It was far softer and yet leathery and she feared she might tear it open by touch alone.

“Is this okay? I am kind of touching you right now.”

Sylph’s gaze fell on Elina in the back. Perhaps she had been right. It was all in her head. Or the painful burn over her face, neck, and chest had numbed all senses. She hoped for the former rather than the latter.

“Hrmph,” Brandon’s father said, and held out his hand to Sylph. Something still not done with a dragon. “You saved his life. After endangering him in the first place, that is.”

Sylph kept staring at the outstretched hand until he pulled it back in a strange attempt to brush it off as wiping his tunic. While Sylph surely gained no favor with him, at least he was not immediately dragging Brandon somewhere and scolding him for her actions.

“It must have been quite the journey for you too,” Brandon said. Considering his father’s opinion on dragons, traveling with Veria had to be. Sylph heard Veria burst out in laughter as Brandon’s father turned towards her with a somewhat calm smile. “If I recall correctly, her exact words were: Which prison did our children end up in?”

“I thought you celebrated your ability a bit too hard, wouldn’t be the first time I had to pick you up from a cell.”

“Once, and that was years ago.” Sylph snorted and the burn on her head flared up with her facial movements as shameful heat added itself to the mix. Hearing both Veria and Brandon’s father laugh in unison sounded oddly special. Perhaps he had time to reconsider his stance as they traveled to bring back their children.

“I guess we got a lot to talk about.”

Veria pointed with her tail towards Elina and Biscuit, who still sat quietly in the corner talking among themselves. Sylph only noticed now that he held a tree cutting, which she guessed was lemon. “Speaking of things to talk about, who are you?”

“Friends made on the way. They are Elina and Biscuit. They helped us escape, and I promised to help them get to Sawaila.”

“Biscuit?” Veria tasted the word with a smile on her lips and he let his tail fall limply onto the floor.

“A lovely name,” Oasis said, and carried nothing but truth in her smile. “You are a baker, are you not? Your parents must be proud that you followed in their footsteps.”

He hesitated for a second, so used to his name getting made fun off that he never heard the opposite. “I am.” His voice brightened as much as his flicking tail.

“Then please, I could use some help in the kitchen. I think we all need some tea.” Oasis turned to Elina. “You should come help too. I’d love to hear your story.”

“It is the least I can do to return the favor. I am a servant. I can work. We can work to make up for everything,” Elina said, but Oasis gently silenced her with her wing. “Please, don’t stress yourself too much. It is not good for you, you know why. Be our guest.” Oasis picked up all with what seemed like instinct alone.

“Tea sounds good,” Veria nodded.

“You two,” Oasis eyed both her and Sylph with the unquestionable authority of well meaning, “You two get all these wounds looked at. Before you have tea.”

“These are just scratches.”

“It’s not that bad of a burn.” They both obviously lied. The floor speckled with blood did not.

“We will see you for tea in a few minutes.” Sylph followed Veria down the corridor deeper into the ship, just like the times she came home victorious but bruised from a match in the arena. “Does my fresh scar look as terrifying as it feels? I can only imagine the faces of my amateur opponents if it does.”

Veria gave her another glance and held up her own arm, eyeing the cauterized wound. “Scars are like memories. They show you have come out on top in a perilous situation. You let the field know that you succeeded in your past and you will again, no matter what comes.” She grinned. “So yes, they will think twice when they see yours.”

Sylph puffed up with pride as though she grew a little in size. She would need no more paint to hide her old scar, either. The world saw that she prevailed. She was Sylph, with all the scars that came with the name.

The End

To be continued...