章 2: Chapter 2
Lyra looked at her time tracker. It had been three days since the dragon had visited her. He and his rider would be arriving today. Excitement buzzed through Lyra's thin body but a dreading feeling also lingered in the back of her mind. Lyra was nervous, very nervous. The last few days, Lyra had been pacing through her small house, occasionally trying to spar with her new sword. Nothing could get her mind off the Dragonmen coming to the South, and her town even.
Lyra could think of no reason to why they would venture down this far. Lyra walked to her window and looked at the sky. It was an hour past dawn. She planned to be in the town by midday, knowing that was most likely the time the dragons would come bringing their riders. Taking a deep breath, Lyra quickly got dressed. Lyra estimated she still had about five hours till midday. She would have to leave in about two and a half hours. Lyra grabbed her boots and sat down to put them on. Satisfied, Lyra leapt up from her stool and made her way to her sword. She belted it around her waist and smiled at her reflection in the broken mirror she had salvaged from the merchants junk pile.
Lyra then walked over to her door and made her way to the ground. She then walked to her sparing tree and practiced holding the sword in the way she felt most comfortable. She swung at the tree, hitting all the same spots she had practiced before. Lyra kept this up for another hour then went to the falls to freshen up. Stripping off her clothes and sword, she braced herself for the shock of the cold water. Holding her breath, Lyra jumped in the pools. After making sure she washed all of the dirt and grime off her body and what was in her hair, she made her way out and grabbed her dirty practice clothes and her sword. Lyra wrapped herself in clean cloth and went back to her house.
She then put on her best white cotton shirt and her canvas pants she stole from a merchant a few years ago. As she glanced at the pants, she remembered her first thoughts when she first found them. The pants fit me perfectly, why shouldn't they be mine? The shirt was loose enough to not cling to her but left her shape clearly visible. It was long sleeved and tightened at the wrists. Her pants were tight all the way to her ankles but not tight enough to constrict her movement. She slipped on her well worn boots and weaved her long hair into a loose braid that started at the top of her head. Even though her hair was braided, it still reached to the small of her back.
"I need to cut this soon. It is just getting in the way. It's also really heavy…" Lyra thought.
Lyra looked out the window at the sun and decided it was time to leave. Wishing she could take her sword with her, Lyra cleaned her sword off and placed it back into its box. No matter how hard Lyra seemed to hit the tree, the sword never showed any damage. Lyra then grabbed her cloak and fastened the clip across her chest. It was not cold out but she did not want to draw any attention to herself. Lyra covered her ears with her hood and set out towards Mountfell.
Lyra reached her destination by a little before noon. The town was buzzing with life. Townspeople bustling around, trying to prepare for the Dragonmens' arrival. Lyra smiled at everyones' excitement and started towards the center of town. As Lyra was almost there, she heard a roar very much like the one she had heard 3 days before. Soon after the first roar, two more sounded through the air. Lyra looked up and saw the red dragon, a green dragon and a gold dragon soaring thousands of feet above her. Joy vibrated through her body as she saw the magnificent beings glide through the skies. The dragons veered off to the right of the town where she guessed they planned to land. That is perfect, I can watch them from the metalworker, Garrett's house. Lyra raced between the tight houses and climbed up the side of Garrett's house. The dragons had landed right where she had thought she would, giving her the best view. The townsfolk gathered to the edge of the town, scared to approach the great beasts and their riders. The mayor of the town, Iulius, stepped forward and greeted the Dragonmen.
"Welcome! Welcome to the South and to Mountfell. May I ask what your purpose is, coming to the Southern Elgasia?"
The Dragonmen remained silent for many more seconds and then the red rider spoke. He had raven black hair and he wore a deep red leather armor. He appeared young but Lyra recalled the red dragon claiming his rider was very old. As he spoke, Lyra could sense that he was an experienced rider and that the dragon told the truth.
"My name is Cedric, I am the leader of the Dragonmen. I have come to search for those who wish to have a chance to become fellow Dragonmen." Cedric paused for a couple of seconds scanning the area, "Why? You will ask? and I will answer, We have decided to move our headquarters to the middle of Elgasia so that we may protect both the North and the South with ease. To do this, we need more riders and we believed it would be helpful to find those willing in the South. Who better to protect it then those who live or lived in it? So I am asking any young and strong to aid us in protecting your home and your country."
The crowd shuffled, whispers breaking out throughout. Lyra couldn't believe her ears. She would volunteer in a heartbeat, but she was afraid they would turn her away. Silence slowly evolved as the whispers grew to a stop. No one stepped forward. No one said anything. They are all cowards. Lyra felt something in her mind, something nudging her. Lyra looked at the red dragon and realized he was looking directly at her.
"Show yourself, elf. My rider would be very glad to meet you. Show yourself to him, now."
Lyra's mouth was wide open, no one had ever spoken to her in her mind before. Lyra shook her head to clear it and moved towards the the side of the house. Once she was on the ground, Lyra started to push through the crowd.
The red dragon shifted as the red rider began to speak.
"No one? Well, I expected better, much better." The red rider stopped, as if he was listening to something. He then looked up and looked in the direction where Lyra was pushing herself through. Lyra stepped out of the crowd and hesitated. She looked at the red dragon and he nodded. Lyra pulled her hood off, letting ears and her braid of silver fall into vision.
The red rider was about to speak when the rider of the green dragon shouted. Lyra recognized his voice. She glanced over and saw it was the man from when she first touched her sword. Lyra's eyes widened. Without thinking, she turned and ran through the crowd, knocking people down as she went. Protests rang out as they saw who was running past them.
"Stop, elf! Why do you run? We are coming, you can try to outrun a dragon. It will be wasted energy if you do." The red dragon spoke into her mind.
Lyra tried to project her thoughts to the dragon. "I know the green rider. I had a vision or something of him and, well… he kissed me… I am embarrassed. I don't want to see or speak to him. If you come, please come alone with your rider. Not the green."
"I will come alone. Meet me at the falls."
Lyra continued to run to the falls and sat under a great sycamore, and awaited the red dragon and his rider.
Lyra had to wait no more than 10 minutes. The red dragon and Cedric landed right in front of her.
"Hello, young elf." The dragon said with his mind.
Lyra nodded her head in greetings. Cedric climbed down from his dragon and walked over to Lyra. Up close, Lyra could see that his eyes were silver-gray. He had a handsome face and his skin was a semi tan and he looked to be in his thirties though she knew that not to be true. His body was still as fit and young as any healthy twenty year old.
"Hello, what is your name?" Cedric asked.
"Lyra, my name is Lyra."
Cedric shifted his stance, and looked down on her. "That is a good elf name, a very good elf name. Terrus, my dragon, who you've met, told me of your meeting with Ty." Cedric crouched down and looked Lyra in the eye. "If you could tell me more, I could understand more. Actually, if you allow me, I can look into your mind and see your memory. That would be the most efficient."
Lyra shrugged, "Will it hurt?" she asked. When he shook his head, she nodded, closed her eyes and cleared her mind. Lyra at first didn't notice any change but then she felt something brush her mind. Lyra curiously reached out to where Cedric had brushed it. She soon found herself in another mind. She started to see Cedric's memories. In a glimpse of one memory, she saw a large tower sitting on a hill. Dragons perched along the walls and others flying above it. Another memory came into place, she was seeing a forest, tall white trees standing around her. An eerie light filtered through the leaves of the trees. A blue light was hovering in front of her. It looked like a flame, it looked alive. Lyra reached out to touch it and it streaked away, stopping trees away, waiting.
Lyra walked forward and tried to touch the orb again. This time it sped away, stopped as if to look at her, then flew away further into the trees, like it was saying "Follow me if you dare". Am I still in Cedric's memories? Lyra thought to herself. Lyra broke into a run, jumping over fallen branches. The forest was slowly getting darker, the trees were turning black and burnt. Lyra saw the blue light off to the side of her and tried to change directions to follow it but tripped over a burnt root. Lyra hit the ground hard. Ash shot up when she hit the ground. She sat up coughing. Lyra looked up and saw she was looking at a worn stone. It faintly had runes written on it. A name, Yulia. Lyra suddenly realized she fell on a grave. She gasped, got up and backed away. She then looked around and saw she was surrounded by graves. She didn't know why, but she knew where she was. These were the graves of her people. She was alone. The last, the last elf. Lyra fell to her knees, letting out a cry. Tears gathered in her eyes as emotion swept over her and she wept. Tears leaving trails down her ash covered cheeks. The silence broken only by her cries.
"Lyra! Lyra, wake up!"
Lyra opened her eyes. The graves of the elves still clear in her mind. Lyra realized she was still crying. Her face wet with tears. Lyra focus her sight and found she wasn't in Mountfell anymore. Cedric must have taken her somewhere after she got lost in her vision. Lyra was laying in a bed in a stone room, similar to the one where she met Ty. Lyra looked around and noticed Cedric was sitting next to her bed looking concerned.
"Are you alright? I found your memory of Ty and then I felt you brush against my mind and then you passed out."
"I don't know." Lyra said, still on the verge of tears.
"Ty wants to see you. I saw what happened in your memory. You kissed him." Cedric said, something in the tone of his voice that she didn't quite understand. "Why did you say it the other way around?"
Lyra shrugged. "I don't know… I was still in a rush from getting my sword." Lyra's eyes widened, "My sword! I left my sword in my house! Where are we? I want to go back to my house. I need my sword."
Cedric raised his eyebrows, and a smirk crept across his face. "We are at our new headquarters, Ventera. It is approximately 100 miles from your home. You were passed out for a couple days. The sword that you call your own was stolen from us eighteen years ago. We have been working on recovering it ever since. You are obviously too young to have stolen it in the first place, but I do wonder how you came by it. It is a riders sword, you know."
"I may have stolen it from a merchant. It came by the same merchant each year for as long as I can remember. So, you have seen my sword which means you have it. Will I get it back?" Lyra asked, very seriously.
Cedric's smile widened as he spoke. "If you complete your training as a Dragonman, or should I say, Dragonwoman, you may choose a sword, or a sword may choose you…. Now, back to Ty. What is your quarrel with him?"
Lyra paused for a moment to think, slowly, she thought of the words that would explain her thoughts the best. "I do not really know. I have never been as bold as I was that night. I survived in this world by not being seen, touched or loved. I had broken out of my normal life routine by stealing that sword, and I still was in that rush and wasn't thinking clearly. I don't know what he thinks of me or what he expects of me. I am afraid and shy yet … I don't know if this is making any sense… I'm afraid of change, I don't really regret kissing him, actually I liked feeling of being wanted but I am not used to it, it frightened me. Also we had just met! I don't know what I was thinking! Sorry, I'm not making much sense."
Cedric watched Lyra for a couple seconds, after, he spoke with a thoughtful look on his face. "I think I understand a little. Lyra, when elves were in this world, they had a different way of feeling. Especially at a young age, their moods often changed a lot. Most of the times, elves prefered to watch and observe, not really putting their feelings out at all. I believe you were prematurely forced to not show emotion in order to not be hurt and now you are allowed to feel and you are frightened by it because it is new and you don't understand it and can't control it. I think I know who I want training you. I will observe and help when needed but Ty will be your mentor. He is young still but this will help the both of you."
Color flushed to Lyra's face. She nodded, "I understand. How young is Ty?"
Cedric smiled, "He is about 41 years old. He was taken in as a rider at age 21. He has been a rider for 20 years. The years fly by. I am well over a thousand years old yet I still feel as if I was twenty. Ty is still young and I believe you will get along as long as you both try to." Cedric paused to think, "The Choosing is in three days. We found sixteen other volunteers other than yourself. You are the only female and only elf. The days before you are chosen by a dragon, you will be taught the history of the Dragonmen and will be trained in swordwork. You will not be expected to master anything you are taught but it is good to have an understanding and a jumpstart on what your training will be. If you will excuse me, I need to give the news to Ty. You may clean up yourself, the bath is through that door and Ty will come and meet you… say, around mid-afternoon. You will find clothes that should fit you in that wardrobe and there are shoes in the bottom drawer. I will see you at the training fields. If you need me, either contact Terrus or come to my study, which Ty will show you when he gives you the tour of the hold."
Cedric got up and walked out the door that was opposite from her bed. Lyra looked up and glanced around the room. The bed sat in the middle of the wall opposite of the door out. The wardrobe Cedric mentioned was to the right of the bed and the bath door was directly across it, on the left side of the room. The room had an enclosed balcony where a desk was placed facing the window. Paper was neatly placed on top of it and two quills rested on top of the paper. Lyra walked over to the wardrobe and opened it up. It was full of clothing. Lyra grabbed a dark blue shirt and found piles of folded pants. She grabbed a pair of light brown pants and a pair of undergarments. She then made her way over to the bath door and opened it up. The room smelled of lavender and it looked like a nicely lit cave. Glowing crystals littered the walls. Two benches were carved into the stone, on opposite sides of the walls. Directly in front of her in about 4 feet, a pool of crystal clear water silently moved before her. Lyra placed her clean clothes on one of the benches and found two towels in a cupboard above one of the benches. Stripping off her once favorite clothes, she threw them into the waste bin.
Dipping her toe into the water, Lyra smiled as the warm water moved around her foot. Lyra had never taken a warm bath before in her life. Lyra stepped in and noticed that the pool slowly got deeper. The deepest spot left Lyra on her tiptoes to remain standing. Lyra could feel all of her pains and aches fading away, being pulled from her body by the water. She wished she could remain in the pool forever, but after finishing washing her body and hair, she knew she lingered too long in the pool and decided it was time to get out. Lyra got dressed and was surprised that the clothing fit perfectly. The blue shirt fit her like her other cotton shirt and the pants fit her almost as tightly as her canvas pants. Lyra dried her hair as best as she could with the towels and ventured back into her room. Lyra found her old time tracker and saw she only had about twenty minutes till Ty would knock on her door. Sighing, Lyra found the shoes the Dragonmen had provided her with. They were nice sturdy boots that came up past her ankle. She laced them up and soon heard a knock on her door. He was early.
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