Chapter 5
He fell asleep in the heat, the chamber a dark red. Now – of all times – would it be expected that Fercius’ nightmares would resurface, but instead, the thoughts of red and black reminded him of Rinny, and Rinny reminded him of the exact opposite her colors portrayed: Friendship, loyalty, compassion, mercy, perhaps love. He didn’t quite remember what he dreamt, but as he awoke the next morning, there were no burn marks across the wall he was facing, and instead of the usual cold fear he’d be engulfed in after awaking, he felt perfect, the world couldn’t have been any better. Rin’Tsu hadn’t even awoken yet, her head pressed up against his side. He took a mental picture of this night, the crickets still chirping, and froze for a few moments, ignoring the pain from the spikes in the back of her neck against his side, the heat from the vents, and the darkness of the chambers.
Perfection.
However, good things come to an end rather quickly, and perfection lasts for just a moment.
Someone was knocking on the chamber door, the noise awaking Rin’Tsu, who yawned loudly, stretching, pressing her neck farther into Fercy’s side. Fercy leapt up on all fours.
“Sorry!” Rinny apologized.
“Someone’s knocking.” Fercy said, looking over to the chamber.
“Really?”
The person knocked again.
“No,” Fercy said, “we’re both just hearing things.”
Rinny faked a laugh, “Very funny blue.”
“Thank you… red.”
My red rose, Fercy thought, mesmerized by her stride as she walked over to the wall panel and opened the door. Fercius’ gaze shifted from Rin’Tsu over to Darko, who seemed significantly more perturbed than either dragon, a splinter in their otherwise blissful relaxation in these chambers.
“What were… how… whatever… Fercy!”
Fercy stood at attention, slanted slightly from the pain he just realized he had in his fore right leg.
Xiu Wei entered the room as well, and Rinny immediately stood at attention next to Fercy.
“What is your dragon doing in Rin’Tsu’s chambers?” Wei asked Darko.
“We’ve got more pertinent issues at the moment Xiu.” Darko replied.
“But how – “
“Fercy, we have to go.” Darko said.
Did I do something wrong? Fercy thought.
He glanced back at Rinny, who locked eyes with him until he was obstructed by the corridor walls.
“Something’s happened in Sedon, there were reports of a smoke signal a mere half an hour ago.” A smoke signal visible from even the Apalene Mountains meant a call to arms. “This probably has something to do with the R and B we encountered at the lodging.”
Fercius really didn’t want to leave right now, even if it was a call to arms. He could still feel the wounds from yesterday’s combat, and really didn’t like the idea of flying all the way to Sedon. As Darko signaled for him to kneel for his equipment, Fercius refused, taking a step back and whining in protest. Besides, he’d miss Rinny.
“Fercy, we have to go.”
He’d miss her a lot, so he sat down, licking the wound on his right leg and whining again. He then fully extended his wings, looking back at them; there were scars all across the thin membrane of grey skin, the base of his right wing swollen slightly from a possible sprain.
Wei appeared from the corridor, walking into the open castle hall where Fercius and Darko stood.
“Rin’Tsu is in no condition to fly.”
“Nor is Fercy.”
“Then follow me to the stables,” Wei said, “we’ll get some horses there.”
“Fercy, guard the castle.” Darko said as he disappeared past the main entrance.
“And don’t expect Rin’Tsu to be as friendly as before!” Xiu Wei called as the door closed after him.
What did that mean?
And he was on his back again, looking up at a seemingly angry Rinny.
“You tricked me!” Rinny said.
“In what way?” Fercius asked.
“Wei said I should know.”
“Then tell me.”
She took a step off him, her fore legs the only things keeping him pinned at the moment.
“You were ordered to save me!”
“Haven’t we already discussed this?” Fercius asked, finding her anger a little comical.
Her eyes watered and she stepped off of him, looking and walking away.
Oh no.
“Rinny…” Fercius didn’t know what Xiu Wei had said, but it was obviously stabbing her in the heart. There must be something he could do. But as she looked back, it was almost as if she had reset, her face calm once more.
“Forget about it. Come, let me show you around.”
“A tour, now? Don’t you wonder where they went?”
“Xiu said everything will be alright. He also told me to show you around.”
“What else did he tell you?” Fercy asked, angry.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Rinny replied, in a shrill voice that Fercius didn’t dare challenge.
“Fine, where are we going?” he asked playfully, stepping closer to Rinny.
She stepped back, “Upstairs.”
He ignored the pain in his chest from her sudden rejection and followed her through another series of corridors, which finally lead to a large spiral staircase. They were halfway up when Fercius had finally built up the courage to ask her about this sudden change in their relationship.
“Sudden?” Rin’Tsu laughed, “I was tired, you were a pillow.”
“You followed me out into the snow.”
“I was ordered to.”
“To go out in the snow?”
“To monitor you!” she snapped back, “I just didn’t think I was in that weak a condition.”
“Right.” Fercy replied, probing for more information.
“Oh please,” maybe more information wasn’t the best idea, “you aren’t the only one.”
He knew the rest would be bitter, but he wanted to hear it through.
“Only what?” Fercy asked angrily, looking away from her and down towards where the spiral staircase downwards began – they had already reached the top. This was no different from his encounter with Lorna.
“Only dragon I ever fought, only dragon that ever slept in my chambers. My chambers have remedial qualities. Remedial!”
Fercius looked down at his chipped toenails.
I knew it was too perfect.
He had nothing else to say to her, his grin long gone. At least Lorna didn’t feed him false poisoned hope.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, she faltered in the same manner Lorna did.
“Fercy…” she sounded like the Rinny he knew again. But only for a moment, “come, let me show you something.”
Well I didn’t go up this staircase for nothing, he thought, following Rin’Tsu down an opening hallway, which widened to more and more pillars the farther they went. He could see the sky off in the distance, and as he looked up, he saw that there were no windows here, but instead just a mesh of iron across the top of the castle. He could see the full moon up above. He could feel the refreshing draft from outside, and they walked all the way to the edge of the hallway, where it opened to a type of terrace. There was no fence to keep them from falling, and as he walked along the terrace, he saw that it spanned across more than half of the castle.
“Look over there.” Rinny said, shivering slightly. She motioned towards the village down below them. “This castle overlooks that city, the city of Seleene.”
Where are you going with this? Fercy wanted to say, but he decided to keep quiet, letting her keep talking.
“When I first came here, I would look over this city in awe, mesmerized by its beauty. Even in the black of night, you could see the torches around the perimeter of the temple, as well as the farmers securing their livestock for the night. I could hear the sound of tractors being shut down, and horses being stabled. I used to find this all fascinating. But…”
She paused, looking back towards Fercius, she seemed worried.
“But what?” he asked.
“But something’s changed. I look over this city and shivers go down my scales, there is something dreadful out there, I can sense it.”
The way she spoke sent shivers down Fercius’ scales too, and he shuffled slightly as he settled into a comfortable position, sitting down.
“Does it have something to do with a mage?” Fercius asked.
“I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything, but I flew here for a purpose. If only I remembered.”
Fercius played tactfully here, asking only questions that lead to more reiterations, “Remembered what?”
“Why I’m here.”
They stayed silent, gazing down at the sleeping city a kilometer or so away. Fercius didn’t know what else to say, so he simply looked over at Rin’Tsu. She was mesmerizing, her dark gray skin clashing with her red stripes beautifully. Her skin was a darker gray just above her nose, and he could see the small spikes protruding down the back of her neck. Although elegant, he also knew she was one of the most lethal species of dragons out there. As he looked back, he saw her long ears, the tip of them red, while half of the base was a dark gray. He then looked farther down, her chest plating a light gray. He was staring at her legs and tail now. Her legs were very similar to a feline’s, lined with muscle that was embossed with red stripes, giving her an elegant sleek quality to what would otherwise simply be well built and muscular. As he slowly followed her back up, he saw that she had noticed, and was staring at him now, a little annoyed.
He glanced away, focusing back on the city.
Her gaze stayed fixated on him, however, and he started to feel a little nervous as she saw the blue of her eyes in the corner of his. He could hear her feet shuffling as she turned to face him. He finally looked over at her questioningly.
“I can’t.” she sighed.
“Can’t what?”
“Do what he told me to do.”
“Kill me?” Fercius asked, surprisingly calm.
“No!” she snapped, “But then again I don’t exactly know what he told me not to do.”
Fercius thought about what he could say to that… “Uh what?”
She stepped closer to him and rubbed her face across his left shoulder, bracing herself against his body. He strained from the extra weight. She sighed.
“How do I do what he told me not to do?” she asked.
“Ok I’m confused.” Fercius replied bluntly, altering his center of balance so they supported each other’s wait. She closed her eyes.
“You’re so warm.”
You’re freezing. He wanted to say, but he liked the position they were in right now, her whole left side basically braced against his chest. He slowly lay down, letting her head rest between his fore legs, and his head rest just above her neck. She was shifted in a way where her spikes wouldn’t instantly puncture an artery.
“Are you cold?” he asked, unsure of what else to say.
“Not anymore,” she replied, grinning, “thanks to you.
“So…” he thought of a proper way to word this, “what was it that he said you shouldn’t do?”
“Fercius,” she asked, responding with another question, “if Darko hadn’t told you to save me. If – if he had told you to kill me. Would you have done it?”
“If he would have told me to just let you… fall… to your…” saying it made him cringe, “death?”
“Uh hmm.” she nodded.
“Never.” he said, shaking his head. “I couldn’t, I don’t know why.” Admittance was hard, but he had to tell her, at least what he knew, “There’s just something about you Rin’Tsu – that struck me from the moment I came into this castles. You’re…”
Rinny’s ears straightened, listening more intently. He couldn’t see the expression on her face from the angle they were at, so he was still flooded with anxiety.
“Mesmerizing.”
“Mesmerizing?” Rin’Tsu asked, fishing for compliments, “In what way?”
“In every way… you’re…”
Rin’Tsu shifted her weight, lying on her right side so she could see Fercy’s face.
“Yes?” she asked, grinning.
“Would you feel weird if I said beautiful?” Fercius asked.
She laughed, “I don’t know, would you say I was beautiful?”
“I don’t…” Fercius stopped himself from tracing her response, “Yes. I probably would.”
“Probably?” she asked, not sure why she wanted to hear a definite answer.
“Definitely.” he seemed more confident now. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Wow, he thought, where am I going with this?
For a moment she didn’t seem to take him too seriously and just laughed.
But then he extended his right wing and gently covered her like a blanket, looking her straight in the eye, as serious as she wasn’t. But now she shared his gaze, and she stopped laughing, strangely comforted yet caught off guard by this gesture. He was so warm, and she felt infinitely safe under his wing, cuddling up against his chest plate so he could wrap his entire wing around her. She kept her wings retracted, and she pulled her ears all the way back. It was her turn to be nervous.
Where was he going with this? she thought.
Maybe this day can get better. Fercius thought, looking down at her. Their faces were close, nearly touching. He could see her pearly white fangs as he looked at her with his red eyes. She saw her colors in him, and he saw his, and then suddenly Rinny remembered how she got by her killing him, so she kissed him. Not the way a human kisses another human, but a dragon’s show of affection – a quick lick across the fangs and mouth of the other dragon. To Fercius, this moment seemed strangely unreal, but even if he was dreaming, he quickly kissed back before he’d wake up, and kept his nose up against hers. He could smell and taste her breath against his, and felt her smooth skin up against his. This wasn’t a dream. After a few defining moments and actions, they fell asleep once more, this time in each others’ embrace, both infinitely satisfied.