The friends huddled under the rock, holding their breathe, not daring to breath lest it expose their position.
The hissing sound grew louder and as it got closer, the noise more closely mimicked the sound long grass makes as the wind blows through it.
The friends sat quietly for what felt like a millennia. The noise becoming louder with every passing minute.
Suddenly a large cloud of mist appeared from above them. Caeli saw this and slowly placed her hand on the sword she had purchased in Flumen. She had hoped she would of had more practice before needing to use it. She had just recently become accustomed to the weight of the weapon, she had not even begun to practice the true use of it when in battle and her lessons with Raven had never progressed so far as to incorporate weapon use and handling. This fact made her heart race. She swallowed hard and steeled herself, frantically trying to mentally prepare herself.
The mass of mist grew larger until it suddenly it stopped. The next second they saw a large figure float from the top of the rock to the hillside opposite of them.
Caeli could hardly believe her eyes.
In front of her floated the almost transparent figure of a large dragon. The dragon was massive although likely not as large as the continental ones. It's body was wrapped in shreds of fabric, the horns decorated with what would have been sparkling jewels and chains in life.
The dragons movements were not synchronous with how quickly it was moving. It took Caeli a moment to realize that the creature was floating.
Eyes wide she watched the specter slow as it reached the hill. It swung its head slowly left and then right before beginning to turn around. Caeli pushed herself more firmly against the rocks surface, praying internally that it would not notice them.
"Come out little souls. I have traversed these hills long enough to know when something living is amongst them.", the spirit said calmly, almost humorously, the voice innately female.
Caeli turned to her companions before slowly pushing herself out of the rocks cover.
"I apologize my lady for trespassing with my companions. We are on a journey to the Ausia Mountains and the path required that we come through these hillsides.", Caeli said as she bowed on one knee. She struggled to keep the shaking from her voice. She prayed that the honorifics she learned from the Folk would convey the fact that they meant no harm. Although even if they had for some reason sought to attack this Folk, she was sure they were greatly outmatched.
"Ahhhh a human. And one that understands the etiquette of the Old World.", the dragon replied seemingly pleased. She gave a slight nod of her head indicating that Caeli could stand.
This she felt was difficult to do. Suddenly her legs had lost their strength. She precariously straightened herself and gave another bow with a sweeping hand before straightening once more.
She stood still attempting to square her shoulders as she faced the phantasmal dragon.
"You say you are journeying to the Ausia Mountains. A strange destination for a human if I do say so myself.", she rumbled low in her throat and tilted her head to the side examining Caeli more thoroughly. "And for one so young.", she chuckled.
Caeli had not been called young since she was 18 years of age. At this point in life no one considered her young anymore. In retrospect Caeli would realize that this dragon was likely very old, her perspective slightly different than those of the people Caeli had lived amongst.
"Yes my lady, indeed strange but I have recently left my village and am in search of many answers. My hope is that some of these answers can be found on the journey to the mountains if not at the mountains themself.", she replied, sharply aware of the weight of the Seeing Stone in her cloaks pocket. Her mind flashed to her dream of Ventus. She also recalled Raven. For all of her "human-ness" her life seemed inherently intertwined with magic since the day she left the village.
Yes indeed, she felt it in her bones, the answers would be in the mountains.
"You, my human child, possess great magic, are you aware?", the female dragon rattled in a gravely voice. It was only in this instant that Caeli realized the dragons mouth hadn't been moving when she spoke. It reminded her of Raven.
Raven, a very powerful Folk himself.
Caeli swallowed hard and nodded slightly. It hadn't occurred to her much but yes indeed she had even remembered thinking of whether or not she should keep the Seeing Stone in the first place. Magic could be dangerous, she was sure this was especially so when in the hands of someone who had no experience in such things.
"Greater magic than I have seen in many years. Aye, your answers are in the mountains.", the dragon said with a surety that both validated and worried Caeli.
To hear that her journey was not in vain was encouraging, to hear it said in that tone of voice conversely caused a shiver down her spine. What if she did not like the answers she found there? What if the answer was that her life would end in some tragic way? Or that she would lose everything? She couldn't help the thoughts that started to drip into her mind.
"My lady, you know this for certain?", she almost whispered, her voice hoarse.
The dragon seemed to contemplate the question for a moment before nodding sagely.
"Oh yes child. I am gifted with Sight. My particular Sight can show me the past, present, and future, although not often, perhaps the only reason I've maintained my sanity these long years. My poor sisters were not so lucky.", she said solemnly. "Yes, yes I do See. It comes to me in times of need, in times of war, in times of great and cosmic change.", she said more darkly, scanning the hills surrounding her as if lost in another place and a darker time.
"My lady, may I ask, what is this place you call home?", Caeli bowed again at the waist. She figured she couldn't do it too much, this being could end the three of them should she choose to, she knew that much.
The specters face contorted into a reptilian portrait of agony and anger.
"A graveyard child.", she said shortly and slowly turned away from Caeli and continued in the direction she had initially been going.
Caeli stood shocked for a moment before scrambling up the hill to follow the dragon.
"Miss Caeli, wait!," Aurum hissed before throwing himself out of underneath the rock to follow the two.
Brego shook his head in disbelief, the girls disregard for danger would be the death of them, he thought to himself. He slowly stood from where he had been resting and followed as well.
"A graveyard, my lady?", Caeli asked softly.
"Oh yes, I suppose the world has moved on since then.", the dragon said to itself. "The graveyard of my people. Long ago, when the world was still Old, when Folk lived happily and abundantly on all the continents, this was my small kingdom. My Lord himself put me in charge of these beings and lands. It was centuries of peace and joy before the war with the humans came to us. They came, they slaughtered, they stole, and we fought with glorious vivacity, but in the end, we lost", she told Caeli, her voice breaking at the end. "I myself, on the edge of death, buried each of my citizens, one by one. Once my people were laid to rest, I myself collapsed and met my end. My soul lingers here, keeping my tortured kingdom protected from those that would disturb their rest. In the beginning humans would come in groups, exhuming their bodies and using their parts to be sold to other humans for various reasons. I could not abide it, so I awoke and drove them away, and have done so for quite some time now."
Caeli's skin had grown cold and her stomach felt as though it had turned upside down. She felt sick thinking of the souls that had been violated by humans for their personal gain. It was despicable.
"I am so sorry.", Caeli said softly, a lump in her throat threatening to strangle her or come up in the form of vomit. Her heart broke for these long dead Folk. To be ambushed, slaughtered, and then to be denied eternal rest, all because of humans.
She imagined the Folk children prancing through the woods, the dances and nursery rhymes they had taught her. The laughter that used to fill the wood at the edge of the wood when she would go to visit them.
Sher recalled the families preparing dinner and playing music on strange instruments, their love life and family always apparent.
It wounded her to think of them torn asunder and in pain.
"It was not long after that, the humans thought themselves powerful enough to defeat the Folk. The lands far and wide, the news of their attacks traveled slowly. I don't believe it was until years later that the human king declared war against the Folk. Little did the humans know that all of his predecessors had been already waging battles on the Folk for centuries. In secret, slowly, one small kingdom after another, evading detection, written off as rogue human groups and nothing more by most, even Folk. We trusted them and paid a hefty price. In the end the human kind convoluted some story against us to justify the actions of his entire blood line. In the end, the Folk and humans drifted apart and became enemies. I still remember long ago when humans first came into existence, small curious creatures with an astounding capacity for love and kindness. Small minds capable of incredible innovations. Then they began to follow their male god and abandoned their love for the goddesses that brought them into existence. Led by lies and deceit, we tried to help them, to no prevail, it has been one of my greater regrets in life. Regret that they changed so horribly. Perhaps because I knew them before they became selfish and violent.", she sighed as she continued to drift across the hillsides, floating one hilltop to the next as Caeli and her gang hastened between each to keep up.
"The male god you speak of, is it Amon?", Caeli asked curiously. The dragon nodded in affirmation.
Amon had been the sole object of the villagers devotion besides the human king. Small statues erected in his honor lined window sills and hearths in most of the villagers homes.
Even her small village had a large building dedicated to those of Amonism, churches they called them. His likeness in the form of a wooden statue nailed to the roof of the well kept building.
Caeli had never attended, even at her uncle and aunts insisting, there had been something about the place, something about the people who went, that made Caeli uncomfortable.
Not to mention that spirits and Folk were either did not want to, or were unable to, enter the building.
All of Caeli's friends had been Folk, what reason would she have to go in that foreboding place?
"Many in my village practice Amonism diligently. A few still believe in the goddesses but to many they have become myth. Characters in children's stories.", Caeli thought aloud.
"And you child? What do you believe? Answer in truth for I will know if you lie.", the ghostly figure rumbled low in her throat sliding her eyes down and to the side to look at Caeli.
"I am not sure how much you know my lady, or how much your Sight shows you, but I was raised by Folk, more so than my human relatives that had taken me in out of obligation. I was taught that the goddesses are as real as the grass and earth beneath my feet. I believe that to this day.", she said, remembering the bittersweet memories of spending every minute of her free time in the forest with the Folk.
They had taught her the way of their people along with the teachings of the goddesses. That you only take what you need from nature and once taken you show gratitude and respect in anyway that you can. That the relationship with the world was give and take and that these actions would help maintain balance. A balance that the majority of humans did not understand.
With the mass grave of Folk at her feet, she now understood the extent of humans disregard. It made her despise her own skin to think that she was one of them.
"You are not one of them. I See that in you now as surely as I can see the moon and stars this night.", the dragon said reassuringly. "This is part of why I know your answers will be found in the mountains.", the dragon said with a smile in her voice, as though she knew a humorous secret.
"And I am sure that you would be unable to tell me exactly what your Sight has shown you about me?…", Caeli trailed off, only allowing a small amount of hope to enter her voice.
The dragon chuckled deeply and her shoulders shook with her laughter.
"No child. I have lived long enough to know that fortelling prophecy to those that it affects is foolish. I watched as my sisters were sought out by travelers, human and Folk alike, desperate for insight. Always to end in ruin. They thought they could change their fate, they thought they could prevent their own tragedies. Perhaps they did change it at times, but they could never escape it.", the dragon said still with humor. Caeli assumed that when you lived as long as she had, you likely adopted a dark sense of humor. If not for survival then strictly out of habit. "No child I will not relay my visions to you. But heed my warning.", the ghostly figures turned to her and lowered her head to bring her snout inches from Caeli's face. To the dragons surprise she did not falter nor back away. It made the dragon quite happy indeed.
"On your path you must remain true to yourself, you will find many answers about your past and you must accept them whole heartedly. You will find those along the way that will have your answers, in that your life will be in their hands. But once the knowledge is yours, do not deny who you are, should you do so, you will surely die.", the dragon said, her voice hard and cold as steel.
Caeli fought against the need to swallow the mouthful of fear that choked her.
So much for not telling prophecies to those they affect.
She took a quick breath through her nostrils and attempted to replay the warning in her mind. She knew that it would be critical to remember as she continued forward.
She felt the urge to ask questions, she needed more clarification. But Caeli fought the instinct. She knew that she had been fortunate to receive what the dragon had willingly offered. It would be foolish to push for more.
She gave a curt nod to the dragon and the creature retracted her head on her long neck. She turned back the way they had been heading, and continued to float along.
Caeli followed quietly next to her for a moment until she noticed a large structure ahead of them. The ground had begun to level out and the moonlight shone on whatever lay ahead. As they drew closer she realized that they were heading towards bones. Very large ones. Closer yet and she saw that it was the skeletal remains of a dragon. One that would be comparable in size to the ghostly one she walked beside.
She slowed as realization dawned on her. They had come to her resting place.
Caeli's eyes took in the incredible, and heartbreaking, sight.
The bones lay heavily in the soil, some parts hidden beneath the earths surface. The skull tilted to the side, as if the dragon had laid down for a midday nap.
The images brought to Caeli's mind of a peaceful and sleeping dragon, lost to war and violence, wrenched at here insides.
"My lady,", Caeli whispered, "I have yet to know your name. May I be free to ask it?", she said, emotion causing her voice to wobble precariously.
The dragon seemed almost startled and looked down at the human child with shock.
"My name… name..", she said to herself as she continued to move towards the remains. "My name was…", the rest of what she said was inaudible to Caeli. Caeli watched as the dragon walked inside of the remains and began to settle in the same position the skeleton had been left in. Her body must have fallen to the ground in exhaustion and it could be seen that the dragon had curled in a crescent moon fashion, her tails tip almost touching her snout. As the spirit settled in the same position it could almost be thought that she was sleeping.
Caeli felt tears rise to her eyes. Her heart was broken for the female reptile that had buried each of her citizens.
After the dragons spirit had settled amongst the bones her image began to fade. Once it was gone a ray of light shot onto the remains and Caeli turned to realize that the sun was beginning to rise.
Slowly she walked to the skeleton and came down in her knees beside the beasts head where it lay peacefully.
"I give thanks for your bravery lady dragon, I give thanks for your kindness, I give thanks for your sincerity. I pray for your peaceful rest. In the name of North, East, South and West, I pray.", Caeli said softly with a hand on the skull of the dragon with no name. A single tear fell and landed on the bony surface. Caeli used her right hand to touch above, below and to either side of her heart making a small cross section in the traditional sign of the goddesses of the North, East, South and West just as she was taught by the Folk near her village.
As she stood she wiped another defiant tear away. She started to walk towards Aurum and Brego when she noticed their rapt attention was on the remains behind her.
Slowly she turned to see what they were seeing.
Her mouth opened in awe at what she saw.
From where her tear had fallen, life grew, flowers and vines crawled quickly across the body, blooms sprouting in every spot, until the body of the dragon was consumed by the growth. After it had finished all that remained was what looked to be a rough silhouette of the dragons body, covered in beautiful flowers and greenery.
Caeli let out a soft sound, a garbled combination of laughter and sobbing as she watched. Slowly the greenery that grew atop the dragons body spread across the hilltop she rested on. And on and on it grew, moving from hill top to hilltop as it went.
Once the companions realized that this would likely go on for quite some time, they each bowed to the lady dragons remains in respect and departure.
The three turned and left, once again heading for the mountains.