Rose 2-20: Responsibility

Skye

     After a little convincing, Lorelei and I finally set out on our journey to try to find the dragons. We went north since it seemed the most logical to her. The farther we traveled north, the more the villages consisted mostly of humans and less and less elves. We stopped at a few inns along the way to listen to the locals tell their tales about the fire-breathers.

     The farther we got, the less Lorelei could understand what was being said because the dialect altered. At least, that's what she told me. I could still understand everything. She told me that when I spoke to them, she heard me speaking in the local dialect. That confirmed my suspicions that the way I worded my wish at the wishing well was brilliant in a way. This gave us hope that if we should happen to actually find the dragons that I'd be able to speak with them. Maybe if they discover that I can speak with and understand them that they'll give me more than half a second's notice before roasting me into a charcoal briquette.

      I work hard at refraining from asking the repetitive 'are we there yet?' question. I realize she knows only little more than I do.
       We happen upon some hot spring, and Lorelei approaches the boiling water.
       "Those are very hot springs." she says and watches the steam rise off them.
       "Yeah." I say brilliantly. "I wonder if they overflow." I look down at the ground beneath our feet. It looks scorched. Hm...
       "Do you notice the ground, Skye?" Lorelei asks me while digging the toe of her boot into the hard soil.

       "You're going to tell me it's burned, and not by the springs." I answer.

       "You see how this looks like a place they'd choose, don't you?"

       I look around. It's gorgeous here with the waterfalls of cool water splashing down into the bubbling hot spring and creating a fine mist ... that stinks ... sulfur ... Even with the stench, it's pretty here.

       "We're probably on the right path." I say optimistically.

       "I don't know. That last barkeep said how they've not shown themselves for generations. Granted, those are human generations he meant, but still... the only information he had was based upon legends and folktales."

       I scratch the back of my head. This isn't the first time Lori has tried to talk me out of this venture. She's afraid. The other night, she tried to tell me that she didn't think that we were headed in the right direction, that we should've gone south instead of north, or maybe even east.

     "I have a good feeling about this." I tell her reassuringly. Sure, I'm nervous, but I also have a sense of confidence going through me occasionally with the knowledge that I must've been brought here for a purpose. Maybe I can be the 'leader' that Lorelei asked the cosmos to bring to her.

     Lori starts mentioning how we could try to find a path to the top of the cliff to get a better view of the surrounding area when the pendant around my neck starts feeling hot. It's something I found on my way to town that day I got my tattoo, and I thought it was a good sign for me to try to convince my wife to take this insane journey.

     "Skye!" she suddenly exclaims, looking at my necklace.

     "What?" I ask and pull the heated pendant off my chest to have a better look. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear the eye of the dragon has changed to a reddish color.

     I laugh a little, not really knowing what to make of this new development. "Maybe that means something."

      "You dare." I hear from a voice to my right. Lorelei's eyes widen dramatically.

     "You." the man says again as he walks towards us. Lorelei freezes in place in fear. The man has strangely-red skin and markings on his face.

     He also looks to be wearing pants that I'd swear were black jeans, but I haven't seen jeans in this dimension anywhere.

      He circles around us. "You ... you're not even all elf. And you ..." His eyes cut to me for a second. "You dare to walk here. A human." 

     Suddenly, his gaze zeros in on the necklace I wear. "Where did you get that?!"

     "I found it." I answer him, getting irritated. I have a moment of satisfaction when I see that the person wears a surprised expression on his face. 

      I think we found the dragons.

      "How did you learn this language? Who taught you?" he snaps.

      He turns to my wife and snaps, "It had to have been you."

      "She can't understand you, and no one taught me." Is he the only one? After I address him, he acts annoyed that he has to look at me again

      "One of the things I can't stand about elves: their willingness to mate with animals." he says while looking at Lorelei with disdain. Then he quickly looks angry as he snarls, "Well?"

      Lorelei shakes her head and looks like she wants to cry.

      "I told you. She can't understand you." I growl.

      "Skye." Lorelei whispers loudly to me, obviously trying to get me to calm my temper.

      He looks at me fully and asks, "Your name is Skye?"

      What does that have to do with anything?

      "A human. And you wear the pendant." he says in a disgusted voice. "Follow me."
      "Where?" I ask, not trusting him even if he may be what we've spent weeks looking for.
      He turns to me, and I think he has a raised eyebrow -it's hard to tell with those markings that don't really look like a tattoo on his forehead- as he says, "Follow me, don't follow me. Either way, I don't care really, but if She hears about me destroying you after finding out this information, fury won't be adequate enough a word to describe Her."
     With that, he turns on his heel and walks away.
      "Who is 'She'?" I ask, trotting up behind him to try to keep up with his very fast pace.
      "Don't bother me with your questions. If you want to know then keep up." He laughs maniacally and disappears. "Are you coming?" I hear asked ahead of us on the trail.

     

     After being driven half crazy by the irritating red person dragging us all over creation, we finally make our way to the top of the waterfalls, a journey that I'm sure could've been much simpler if he wasn't such an ass.

      "After you." he gestures with a sinister smile, and we leave the trees to walk down into a small bowl. Before us stand more, um, dragons. In the books I read for fun, sometimes the dragons would have a humanoid form if they chose. I guess that wasn't an original idea.

     What am I doing?! This is insane, I think as I can feel Lorelei look over at me trustingly. I'm sure I've lead us to our deaths. The small, sinister chuckling of the red creature behind me doesn't do anything to instill confidence inside of me. In fact, if this turns into a fight, my last act will be taking a crack at him.
     Every one of them is a different color. Although the child is also green, she's lighter than the one standing in front of her. I wonder if the one in front of her is her father. Two women stand together and watch us approach with interest. The pink one looks irritated if nothing else while the yellow one looks curious.
     "What have you brought us, Glauron?" the yellow one asks. The two off to the side take no interest in us at all and appear to be enjoying their shared conversation instead.
       "I found some strays, and they followed me home. Can we keep them?" the irritating creature behind me says in a mock-child voice.
       "Mind your tone." the pink lady snaps to him. I instantly like her even if she looks disdainfully at me.
      The yellow-skinned... um, on closer inspection it looks like gold ... woman says to me, "You wear the pendant. Come here."

     I decide to wing it.
     Something about the person before me makes me do a small bow before I say, "My name is Skye." Well, it meant something to the red dude.
     Immediately, the pink lady behind her's jaw drops open before she says, "It doesn't matter. It can't be." The gold woman doesn't look fazed by her outburst as she studies me.
     "You speak." the gold woman says, completely ignoring the one behind her. I go on to sort of explain my experience at the wishing well.
      "Wishes do come true." I say with a smile and a shrug to finish my story and then want to immediately die of embarrassment for ending it that way.

     "Imbecile." the pink lady says and turns to walk over to the gold woman's other side. "I had to have been wrong."
      "Hush, sister." the gold woman says. "How can you say that when he matches every description you gave?"
      "I didn't know he was going to be human... and bring a mixed elf mutt with him." she snaps.
      The gold woman ignores her and goes on to explain that the pink lady foresaw my coming here. Then, she looks curiously at Lorelei and turns to speak with her.

     "And you possess the same gift as Peluda." she tells her.
     Lorelei panics and throws her hands up to ward the woman away in fear. I guess she thought all she'd have to do would be to stand and listen to a conversation that she wouldn't understand.
      "It's alright." I tell Lori quietly.
      "Don't insult me, sister." the pink lady, um, Peluda -and why is that name familiar?- says.
      "She doesn't understand me." the gold woman says. "The stories I hear are correct then. They stop teaching their children the old language in favor of the new one."
      "I'm afraid I don't know." I answer her what was apparently a rhetorical statement.

     "Tell me your story, child." she addresses my wife, and Lorelei looks surprised like she can understand her. My guess is correct as Lorelei shyly tells the woman she knowingly calls Eingaia about her vision. I try to keep up.
       When Lorelei finishes, I say, "We come here hoping to avoid this."
       "But we wish to regain our homeland. Can you blame us for this?" the green man says next to me in a deep voice.
     "Surely there's a more peaceful solution." I say with controlled earnest. "The elders now even doubt your existence."
       The gold woman, Eingaia, says with a sense of finality, "Then you will go back with them, Falknir, to discuss our terms and remind them of their responsibility." She turns to the green man as she says this, and he looks resolved to do as she says.
       I'm honestly surprised more discussion doesn't take place. We soon find ourselves ushered out of Her presence and escorted by this Falknir as we walk back down the mountain -- taking much less time to do so than the ascending odyssey.

     We find a clearing of sorts. I guess some tree-cutting had been done to achieve this. We also find some ruins on one side of the clearing.
      We need supplies, and I don't know what else to do but leave Lorelei and the green dragon together at camp while I head off to the nearby village to do a little trading/shopping. Falknir can't come with me, he'd cause panic at the first sighting of him.

      I hurriedly complete my business in the village and return to our campsite, making sure I'm not followed.

     As I approach the solitary light of our lantern, I hear Lorelei giggling. When I come to the clearing and can see them, neither of them notice me even though Lori tells me I'm about as subtle as an ogre when it comes to announcing my presence. The two of them are obviously engrossed in some tale that the dragon tells my wife.
     "Fell right out of the sky. That was the last time he ever tried to pull that stunt.. at least with me." Falknir says, sounding like he's bragging.

    If I didn't know any better... No. They're ancient enemies even if the two of them are getting along... getting along a little too well. He's not being obvious about it... Maybe I should be.

      I walk up to the campsite and swiftly sit down next to my wife to greet her, completely ignoring 'green scales' in front of us. Lorelei acts a little surprised, but she doesn't try to pull away at least. I guess I'm being obvious, but I don't want to leave any doubt in that man's head who's wife she is.

     "So what were you all talking about?" I ask quietly in Lorelei's ear.
     Before she can answer, Falknir says, "I'm going to rest for a while."
     He climbs a tree. I think. I think that was climbing. Lori explains to me that he wants to do that to keep an eye on things. I have to wonder what else he's watching.
      And I'm supposed to create a peace between two nations when I'm already wary of my companion from the other side.

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I feel I must apologize for the incredibly-lame attire I gave my dragons. I could've gone on a CC hunt, but deep down I'm incredibly lazy. And this is just a legacy after all. ... and a side-story of the legacy at that. To create their names, I did a tiny google search and smushed together names I found on the first site I found. Then, I actually googled the names I came up with out of curiosity. red scales hahaha.

Click here to go to 2.21

The next chapter (newer post) starts another random legacy: Uncomplicated :)