The deer's ears swiveled at a distant sound, and he bounded away as Ilkay clenched her spear with a curse. She glimpsed something large flying in the distance, but it was gone almost before she could see it.
She might go to search it out later, make sure it wasn't anything dangerous, but first she had to catch something to eat for her and her family.
"How much further is it until we come to the edge of the desert?" Kasper asked as he helped his wife climb over a large rock lying on the trail.
Shirin stopped, glad for a short rest, and answered him between gasps of breath. "Well...we're nearly there...but you don't want...to go there...trust me. The desert-goers are...vicious."
Kasper, if anything looked disappointed. He had obviously been looking forward to seeing it, but he didn't know just how dangerous the tzayil were--fierce fighters and willing to attack anything they saw. Shirin had only heard tales about them, and even she was afraid to stray too far into the desert.
"But it covers almost the whole eastern side of the continent! How are we to get to our destination, unless we go by ships," Kasper asked, a great deal of distaste attached to the last word.
"We don't have to go through there," Shirin said. "There's a strip of land nearby that will take us to the western continent, it's not within the desert. It's what most of the traders use to go to Kabaan and Toulath."
Standing at the edge of the forest, the land sloped slightly into vast plains, the beginnings of the Guelryn desert just visible on the horizon. The sky was beginning to darken overhead, and Shirin was glad to suggest that they stop and make camp for the night. She was not in shape to be walking through mountains and forests from one country to another, and if she was not getting paid to be a guide, she never would have done it. However, since the young elven scholars had expressed a keen interest in visiting her homeland, and since she could use the money, here she was, traveling crosscountry and wearing herself out every day.
Not getting tired already, are you? Aitor asked as he arrived from the undergrowth, carrying a fat dead rat in his mouth. The ocelot settled down in the middle of the campsite, in anticipation of the fire which would soon be built, and began to eat his dinner.
Shirin scowled at him crankily. "Shut up."
If you'd eat less, you wouldn't have this problem.
"Aitor!" Shirin shouted, frustrated, and Kasper and Esme looked up, startled at the commotion. Blushing in embarressment, she lowered her head and glared at the ocelot, her bond and--usually--her friend. He didn't mean it, but Aitor could say the entirely wrong thing sometimes.
Aitor just ignored her, nonchalent.
The sun had set by the time camp had been fully set up, and they ate a hearty dinner of rabbits that had been captured that day. After the good food and a long rest, they were all in better moods. The four of them sat around the fire, with Aitor purring in Esme's obliging lap.
"So, Shirin, what else can you tell me about the Guelryn Desert?" Kasper asked as his somewhat shy wife looked on in anticipation. With a roll of her green eyes, Shirin told them, "I don't know much, and neither does anyone else. Very few people ever pass through it, because the inhabitants, the tzayil, attack anyone they see. And since nobody's ever been able to sit down and talk with a tzayil, despite their humanish appearance, no one knows anything about them."
Kasper frowned and shook his head in disappointment. "What a shame. I'd love to see it close up some day."
"Me too," Esme said, with a smile for her husband.
"Well, don't, unless you want your insides torn out by the scalies," Shirin grumbled. Fortunately, she didn't think they heard her.
The part Diederik liked best about his job was hunting. He enjoyed the outdoors and thrived in the forest and plains away from civilization. And if he could collect a bounty by hunting down a criminal, so much the better. Currently, he was tracking down an escaped prisoner, sentenced to death for murder, who was running away from civilaztion to escape notice. Between himself and his partner, Diederik had no doubt they would bring him to justice.
Jovanka scrambled back into camp with a pair of gamebirds slung over her shoulder for their supper--or, breakfast really. Since dwarves were not very fond of bright light, Jovanka preferred to travel at night, and Diederik saw no problem with that. The dwarven woman grinned brightly as she slung down her prize. "Food, Diederik!"
He grinned. "Good, I wasn't looking forward to another meal of roots and tubers," he said, smiling at his companion's indignant face.
"What's wrong with roots and tubers," she asked perplexedly.
Diederik just shook his head and began to prepare the birds.
A short time later, Jovanka cocked her head; her dark body just visible outside the firelight was entirely tense. "What is it? Do you hear something?" Diederik asked quietly.
"There's someone over there, beyond the trees," Jovanka whispered back. "I'll go see who it is," and she bounded off.
"Jovanka, wait!" Diederik cursed as she disappeared, and he got up and ran after her.
She had almost gone to sleep when Shirin heard a scream from Kasper. She bolted up, and Esme joined her outside as they went to see what was wrong. From the trees, Aitor's dark eyes followed them.
The elf man was sprawled out on the ground, and a hairy, black creature crouched on his chest. Shirin gasped to herself. She knew they lived in the area, but though she'd never seen one before, she knew this was a dwarf. She was small, only about half the size of Kasper, and it was mostly sheer surprise that had allowed her to pin him to the ground. Her black hair fell across the back of her body in curls, but the rest of her body was covered in short, fur-like black hair as well. Her eyes were dark, and when she grinned, she showed ivory fangs.
"Jovanka!" A man called from beyond them, and a man--a human--emerged from the same direction the dwarf must have come from. He looked aggravated, and his face had an irritable look.
The dwarf looked up at them, and then her grin faded. "Oh. You aren't him?" she said to Kasper, and then reluctantly climbed off of him. "Well, who are you, then?"
Kasper rose to his feet, sputtering. "What do you mean, who am I supposed to be? What are you doing out here?"
Esme put a calming hand on his shoulder and said, "We're travelers on our way to Kabaan on the western continent. Shirin and Aitor are our guides." She gestured to the elf in question.
Diederik looked around, wondering where the other guide was, until Jovanka elbowed his leg and murmured, "It's the cat, Diederik."
"Oh," he whispered back, just now seeing the spotted cat that strutted out to join the trio of elves.
Jovanka laughed sheepishly as she faced them. "I'm sorry, I just thought you were the escaped criminal we were looking for. We're bounty hunters, you know."
Esme glanced up, alarm on her face. "There's a convict in the area?"
"We think so, but don't worry, we'll take care of it. If you want, you can stick with us, and you'll be safe if he does appear." Jovanka was trying her very best to be calming and sincere, though Diederik groaned at the prospect of prolonged contact with other people.
"That would be a good idea. Kasper, what do you think?" Kasper grumbled and glared at the dwarf and human, but didn't actually say anything.
"I suppose we stick together then," Shirin added, "You can share our fire, if you wish."
Once they had all settled down again, Esme sat with Kasper, staring up at the stars, while the others huddled around the fire or tried to sleep. "I love looking at the stars," Esme sighed, Kasper favoring her with a smile. "They look so beautiful, and--oh!" she gasped, pointing to something in the sky. "What is that!"
Shirin sat up, and the bounty hunters looked about in alarm, but they soon saw it as well. A flash of fire, nearly directly overhead, and in the flash of light they saw a large winged creature falling from the sky.
Esme gasped again. "We have to go see what it is. It could be hurt!"
"And, in its pain, it might try to kill us," Diederik added.
Not to mention it clearly fell in the Guelryn Desert. It's not advisable to go there unless you want to meet a band of tzayil, Aitor pointed out. (Jovanka had to repeat it to Diederik, the human being the only one unable to hear the darji.)
"We have to at least see," Kasper said, and beside him, his wife nodded.
"Well," Shirin said, "I guess we could go see what shape it's in, whatever it is. If we're careful."
Diederik groaned. "I can't believe we're doing this," he muttered as they all ran off at once.
By the time Ilkay could once again go out to look for the creature she had seen earlier, it was night. She told her family of her intentions. "Be careful," her father warned her. "If it's a nightmare from the Green World, it could be powerful, and dangerous."
"And if it is, I shall kill it," she replied, though she didn't think it reassured her father any. She took a pair of spears with her, just in case.
It was more difficult to see at night, as the tzayil were diurnal people and did not often go out after dark, but she knew the land well and found her way fairly easily. As she walked, she wondered what it could be. Legend said that beyond the borders of their land was a dream world of green, where solid, living nightmares resided. Sometimes they would enter Honuur, and then it was the tzayils' duty to exterminate them to keep their families safe. Ilkay's family, the Moon Clan, regularly patrolled this area of the desert, though they moved the location of the village as hunting and foraging allowed. Ilkay herself had only seen these nightmares from afar, and thought they looked a lot like tzayil. Looking at one close up, however, made her shudder, and she gripped her spears tighter.
In front of her was another rocky dune, and she crept up it carefully. Partially hidden by a large rock, she looked down at the what lay on the other side.
A hour or so of jogging brought them to the general area of the creature, gasping for breath but in one piece. They turned to Aitor. "You should be able to find it the most easily, with your senses," Kasper said. "You lead the way."
The ocelot set off, grumbling to Shirin, Alright, but you can help me too. Might as well use the heightened senses I gave you.
At night, the desert was surprisingly cold, the heat of the sun dissapating quickly in the dark. The shrubs and cacti were tall, dark shapes among the dunes, setting their nerves on edge as they kept an eye out for the desert's inhabitants. Esme glanced around nervously, sticking close to Kasper, and Jovanka and Diederik kept a close watch on the surrounding desert.
As they climbed to the top of another dune, Shirin and Aitor stopped. The creature--creatures, rather--lay slumped on the ground. "Wh-what is that?" Shirin said in a hushed voice. The rest of the group looked down as well.
It was a dim, colorless shape in the night shadows, but they could clearly see its clawed feet and leathery, outstretched wings on its back. It took a second for them to notice the second being, sprawled beside the first. He was a human, but as unconscious as the dragon--for dragon, even they knew it to be.
"Impossible," Kasper breathed. "I thought dragons were extinct."
"I thought they were just a myth," Diederik said, and Jovanka beside him nodded.
"It looks hurt. What made it fall from the sky, do you think?" Esme said, taking a concerned step towards the dragon, but Kasper held her back.
"Wait, you don't know if it's dangerous or not."
His wife rolled her eyes."It's obviously unconscious, and besides, can't you see the human is hurt too? It's probably friendly if it's a human's companion." She knelt down beside the senseless duo, checking them over. "Wow. They're bruised, but otherwise, they seem to be alright. I wonder what happened, though?"
"Esme, look out!" Kasper cried, starting forward as a dark shape sprang out from a rocky dune. A tzayil woman landed on her feet, a few yards away from the elven woman and the two strangers. Diederik and Jovanka immediately drew their weapons as Aitor unsheathed his claws and hissed. The tzayil surveyed the lot of them and faced the fighters, a short spear in either hand.
Shirin studied the tzayil's features as she fought. She looked like an elf or a human, except with darker skin and hair. At the back of her rough tunic, she could see splotches of moss green scales covering parts of the woman's back and neck. Well, that was why they were called scalies.
The tzayil fought gracefully, but facing three different foes, she was outmatched, and with no other tzayil coming to help, she was quickly overcome and disarmed. She fought, hissing and thrashing against their clutches, but Diederik and Jovanka held her down, immobile.
"Well, what do we do with her?" Jovanka asked.
"Kill her, before she has the chance to call more of them," Diederik grunted.
Esme protested, "We can't do that! She can't be any older than us!"
"And we'd actually have the chance to observe a tzayil," Kasper added.
"Thanks, dear, you can be quiet now." The tzayil was beginning to settle down now, and glared at all of them sullenly.
"Look, as soon as we give her the chance, she'll start trying to kill us again," Diederik said.
"But--" Esme stopped midsentence, for there was a loud snort behind them, and the dragon opened its eyes and stared at them.
The human was waking up too, and he looked perplexed, more than anything. "Oooookay. Any idea what's going on?" he asked, seemingly to the dragon.
I do not know, I just woke up as well. We could be anywhere, the dragon replied.
Elves, dwarf, human, darji, and tzayil alike gaped at the pair of them.
"It can talk?" said Kasper.
Diederik shook his head, "Why can I hear it when I can't hear Aitor?"
"I told you it was friendly," Esme said smugly.
"Da drona tiyxale...Vra kanka ell-ta?" the tzayil murmured, staring at the dragon wonderingly. She seemed to have forgotten the rest of them, and was not even struggling against Diederik and Jovanka.
The dragon and the human stared at the strange tableau in front of them, bemused. A trio of redheads staring at them with a cat at their feet, and a man and a hairy creature holding down another woman, all wide-eyed and fixated on them.
The man let out a breath, and somewhat nervously, said, "Ah, don't be afraid, we don't mean any of you any harm. We're just lost and don't know where we are. Lucky you people found us before something else...did..." He glanced again, unnerved, at the tzayil woman being restrained by the others, but she was looking at the dragon with a look bordering on worship.
They were soon mobbed with excited questions. Once it had settled down again, the human began to explain where he had come from, a place called Lantessama Isle, and told them about himself and his dragon. All the while, his dragon had been deep in conversation with the tzayil woman, and she had calmed down considerably, though she was now very quiet and introspective.
"Look, if you want, I can take you all back with me and you can see it for yourselves. And anyway, there's always eggs waiting to hatch and bond," the man explained.
"Dragons, of our own?" Kasper said with wonder and eagerness in his voice.
"That sounds wonderful!" Esme exclaimed.
"Dragons..." Diederik shared a glance with Jovanka. "Those could be useful."
"...I'm not sure I need another bond..." Shirin sighed.
Let's go, it sounds interesting, Aitor countered.
"Well, you know, curiosity killed the cat..."
"And...you?" The rider looked at the last person, the tzayil woman. She looked not at him but at the dragon.
"Yeeess." She nodded.
"Okay then, I guess it's settled. You'll have your pick of clutches, that's for sure," the rider grinned.
In less than an hour, Ilkay's entire life, and world, changed. It would definitely take some time to work out, but the chance of seeing more dragons, befriending one herself, that was worth anything. She would go to watch, to listen and to learn. And even if these weren't the same as her dragon ancestors, they were intriguing and wonderful. Even if she didn't come back with a dragon, she would have a lot to tell her family.