The room was filled with tomes, illustrations, recipes, and colorful reagents haphazardly littered around the floor. The desk was stained with ink and flooded with parchment paper. The room itself had a scent that could only be described as a mixture of medicine, spices, and weeks old laundry.
Finally, on the bed (arguably the cleanest space in her room) was Serah, sleeping like an angel who crash landed into earth face first. Try as she might to sleep in, sunlight peaked through the thin curtains of her windowsill hitting her right in her eyes. Serah groaned and turned away from the window, yet somehow she couldn't escape the light in her eye.
As she weakly opened her eyes she could see the glistening skin of a spotted brown scaled dragonkin.
"Ugh, Nanaia stop it." she groaned at her sister.
"Stop what?" she replied with a hint of smugness in her tone.
"You know what you're doing" Serah said groggily.
"But dad already left an hour ago!" Nanaia protested and hopped on top of her, jumping up and down on her back. In reality, her light, petite frame did little to bother her but to a young girl who had just woken up, it felt as if Nanaia could really break her back.
"Fine!" Serah shouted and threw the covers over her dragonkin sister. "I'm up you menace!"
Serah could hear her sister mumble something at her but with the covers muffling her words, she was given a small reprieve from Nanaia's morning excitement. As she walked down the steps she could smell the savory scent of venison soup and sourdough bread. She could also see her mother Amise setting up her and Nanaia's cutlery.
"Good morning to you too," Amise said as she sat down "another late night?"
"Morning~" She yawned "and yeah, not a day goes by when I'm not burning my eyes on dusty tomes and scrolls."
"You know I never know what you're up to these days." She said with a concerned look on her face. "As your mother, I value your privacy but I just want to know if you're doing anything...well, illicit?"
"Mom!?" The question woke her up from what's left of her groggy state "Where's this coming from?"
"Well, I was talking to Mynar and Luhe" she explained "and they told me a lot of kids today are trying out this scalebite thing? I'm just worried."
"Mom there's nothing to be worried about." Serah reassured her "You know me, I don't go out, and I have one friend."
"Okay Serah, but just to be sure" Amise pressed "you're not hiding anything from me?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die, mother." Serah said as she ate.
"Knock on wood. Anyway, once you're finished eating get ready to go out, your father's been waiting and Nanaia has been itching to go on her first venture into the mountains."
"Can't she go on her own?" Serah said rolling her eyes.
"She's six Serah."
"I went up mountains alone when I was five." Serah whispered.
"What was that?" Amise turned to her and Serah could feel her gaze searing into her.
"Nothing!"
"That's what I thought." she smiled "Oh and don't forget your backpacks, I had the neighbors make you a small one Nanaia!"
Nanaia beamed with excitement and went away from the table, barely finishing her meal to see her new bag, and soon after Serah would join her. By the door she saw her backpack, years of wear and tear marked it as a beloved item. Its many scars and scratches tell the story of long ventures into caves, woods, and mountains. Meanwhile Nanaia's bag was a stark contrast, it was new, untouched, and ready to see the world. Serah smiled, she used to be like that too, she thought.
The pair left home carrying with them essential items for their journey. A bag of reagents, a hunting knife, a shovel, rope, and long poles. As the two of them walked down the roads of Verderis, Nanaia stared in awe at the dragonkin that were dressing the village up in vibrant purple. Serah, on the other hand wishes she shared her sister's childlike wonder and enthusiasm.
Purple streamers were hung above the main road, purple flowers were placed along the streets, and the every house had a purple sigil painted on their front doors. Semesters by the stream were dyeing clothes in purple, purple colored caps were stocking up in kiosks, and Serah could hear the chefs near the square debating about the logistics of purple colored food.
To everyone else, this was a day of meticulous planning but to Nanaia it was the tell-tale signs of a festival. Giddy with glee she hopped, looked to her sister, and asked.
"What are we celebrating today!?" she blurted "or tomorrow? soon!?"
"What?" Serah looked at her and smirked "They didn't tell you at the school?"
"I may have not been paying attention." she said, turning away from Serah.
"Come here you little skink!" the pair laughed as Serah picked her up and ruffled her brown hair.
"If I must be responsible for your education, so be it!" Serah said mockingly with a deep voice, shaking her fist at the sky.
"Come on, dad's not like that."
"He's a little like that."
"Well if you really wanna know," Serah began "today we're, erm..., we're celebrating the day our Skaedir retires."
"The Regal Rider is quitting!?" Nanaia gasped.
"Well the man is old." Serah explained a matter-of-factly. "He's gonna have to step down sometime."
"Yeah I guess..." Nanaia grumbled "I just didn't think it'll so...soon."
"It's soon for you but for the rest of Verderis, he's been doing this for sixty years!" Serah said "It's about time the man got a break."
"He's been protecting everyone for so long." Nanaia pondered "we don't even know who he is. Hey Serah, why is that?"
"It's tradition." Serah explained before putting on her deep voice. "They who hold the mantle of Skaedir shall do so in secrecy, that they may live among us as an equal!"
"Or whatever that means." Serah added. "Anything else?"
"Well what happens to us now?" She asked "Who's going to watch over Verderis without Skaedir?"
"Don't worry, we won't be without a Skaedir for long." Serah smiled "They're gonna pick a new one soon."
"How?"
"Wow, you really haven't been paying attention in your studies."
"Can you blame me? they're not fun."
"Touché."
"Anyway," Serah explained "after the last Skaedir retires the Great Hunt begins, for the next 10 days hunters around Verderis race to hunt and defeat the ancestral spirit dragon Iskadi. Whoever successfully catches Iskadi becomes the new Skaedir."
"Sounds dangerous...and up your alley." Nanaia's eyes widened "You'll be joining aren't you?"
"Oh gods no." Serah scoffs. "I'm human, I'm not allowed to."
"That's boring." Nanaia scowled. "I bet Manarams is going!"
"Nope." A blue scaled dragon peaked his head over Serah's shoulder, making her jump in surprise.
"Mana!" Serah shouted.
"The one and only." He grinned.
"You nearly scared the devil out of me." Serah sighed.
"Never gonna get tired of that."
"Mana" Nanaia called to him "You're not joining the hunt?"
"No." He replied "I'll be overseeing it, got to make sure no one's breaking any rules during the hunt."
"What?" She gave him a puzzled look "But you'd totally win!"
"And be responsible for Verderis for the rest of my life? I'd rather wipe with sand paper." he scoffed. "So, where are you two headed?"
"We're headed up the mountains." Serah replied "Dad's about to show our little alchemist-to-be the ropes."
"Mind if I join?"
"Don't you have anything better to do?"
"Nope."
Serah didn't believe that in the slightest but she couldn't deny that she'd enjoy the company this blue dragonkin would bring. The three of them continued along the road, passing by several dragonkin busy with preparations. Eventually they'd reach the base of the mountain trail and at that moment Serah could breathe easy.
She loved the forests, the lakes, and the mountains. She loved the freedom, the excitement, and the sense of discovery. She could spend hours in the great outdoors without having to return to civilization and as long as she respected it it would respect her in turn. To put it simply, she loved everything outside of Verderis.
Climbing up the well worn trail she see Manarams giving Nanaia a ride on his shoulders, they sang songs, and made jokes on their way. It was always her and Rasze climbing up these mountains, she had to admit, this was a nice change of pace.
They continued along the path and upon reaching the clearing at the top she could spot her father, on laying down on the ground clutching his bleeding leg.