Chereads / Dragon Child / Chapter 33 - Aliya- After the Storm

Chapter 33 - Aliya- After the Storm

Aliya woke warm but damp. The storm had stopped but the air was full of moisture and clung to her skin. When she sat up she dislodged a sleeping Kilnik's head. He rumbled in his throat and unwound himself. He stretched his neck up to the sky as far as it would extend and turned his head slowly to the right and the left.

She stood and looked out over the Academy. The rain was puddled on the ground all over the campus. Sometimes the air after a storm felt fresh and the world looked clean and new. Not this time, this time it just looked dirty and slimy and the air felt suffocating.

It was a morning where one woke up feeling restless and they didn't know why. She looked back at Kilnik who had finished his stretching and was looking at her. "What's the matter?" He asked.

She sighed. "I don't know, I just don't feel right."

"Hum..."

She picked up the book that had fallen to the wayside the night before and put it back into her bag. She slung the bag over her head and went to the edge of the cave and looked down.

"Don't be silly, I'll take you down."

Aliya turned and swung up onto his back. Kilnik effortlessly launched out of the cave and into the open air. "Let fly for a little bit, I'm not ready to go down yet."

As a creature made for the sky, he had no objections to this. "What time is your first class?"

"Don't worry we have time."

Kilnik flapped his wings and they ascended up above the cloud cover. When they broke through the overcast sky she was met with dazzling light and clean clear air. She filled her lungs over and over again. Kilnik had stretched out his winds as wide as possible to warm every possible inch of his body. It was a glorious morning this high up.

They flew for a long time, occasionaly another dragon would surface and fly around in the sun for a while before dipping back down below the clouds.

"Did any of them speak to you?"

"A few greetings."

"What is it like being able to talk to others besides me?"

"It's different, Not that I don't enjoy talking to you but I'm not going to say that it hasn't been nice to get to talk to more dragons."

"I'm glad. I'm a terrible person."

"Why would you say that?"

"I never thought of it before, all this time you've been with me I never thought about the possibility of you being lonely?"

He chuckled in her mind. "I was never lonely. Yes, I can now talk to others of my own species, but I've never been lonely when I'm with you."

"I'm lucky to have you, Kil."

They continued to fly for a long time until they were both warm and happy. "I think you should go see him."

"Humm?"

"Go see Lord Tate."

She sighed and took one last look at the clear blue sky. "Okay, let's go down and I'll go to his office."

They sunk beneath the clouds and returned back to the misty world below. It had gotten a little brighter and the dampness a little less but it wasn't gone. Kilnik landed softly but his paws still sunk a few inches deep in mud. He looked down at the ground in disgust.

"I hate mud."

She dismounted and looked at him. "I'll come find you when I'm done."

"No need, I'll just wait here. There is no training scheduled for me until this afternoon." He sat back on his haunches, careful not to let his tail or hind end actually touch the ground.

"Okay, I'll be back then."

He murmured an assent and got so still he almost looked like a living statue. She smiled and then turned and went inside. She found her way to Tate's door and raised her hand to knock.

"Are you looking for Lord Delmont?" A woman's voice stopped her.

She turned and saw one of her instructors, a woman named Lyla Norier.

Aliya nodded her head in respect to her teacher and then confirmed. "Yes."

"He's not here today, and he will not be back until the start of next week."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I'm not too sure myself I was just told that he was ill today. I'll see you in class later." Lyla said nodding to her and passed to continue to whatever had been her original destination. As for Aliya she stood in front of the door and wavered on what to do next. Should she just wait until next week? No, what if she lost her nerve? If he was sick, was anyone looking after him? She knew that logically as the son of such a high house that of course someone was looking after him if he was ill, but she still felt an urge to see for herself.

Well, if she was going to claim him as a brother then she better start acting like a sister. As his sister, she would go and do a quick wellness check. She nodded in satisfaction at her new plan. She turned and went back to Kilnik.

"That was quick."

"He's not here, I was told he's sick. Do you know where his new house is?"

If a dragon could make a smug expression, Kilniks was the smuggest. "Of course I do, unlike you, I keep tabs on the important people around me."

She scoffed, "What important people?"

"Well, it's just the two of you for now until I find some more interesting humans to add that is."

She smiled in surprise to hear him say something like that. "Wait are you trying to say that Tate and myself are a part of your hoard?"

"What a rude suggestion, I'm not a wild animal. A hoard, what kind of books have you been reading? We dragons can control ourselves you know. If I did consider you a part of a hoard don't you know I'd keep you both locked up in a treasure cave, didn't your book tell you that?" He ranted.

She laughed. "Calm down, I was just teasing you. Also, I haven't been reading any books that mention hoards, Tate told me about those legends a long time ago." She mounted onto his back and looked down at his head mischievously. His head was tilted at just the right angle to be able to side-eye her even as he shifted his body for take off. "But tell me the truth, have you really never fantasized about a hoard? Gold? Trinkets? Weapons?" She paused for dramatic effect and smirked. "Women?"

He almost fell over in the middle of pushing off from the ground, he immediately cloaked himself. He sputtered in her mind in indignation. "What the, why, who, what...what on earth are you saying? What would I do with human women?"

"Oh come on haven't you heard the legends? Dragons of old whisking away beautiful women as their treasures. Keeping them locked up in their caves."

"Those are just stupid stories, I don't know who came up with them. What would a dragon need with women? The only female I care about is you and as crass as it may be to say it that's because we are bonded. As for Lord Tate, he is important to you so that makes him important to me. Now hush, I don't want to hear another word about such a baseless foolish rumor."

They lifted into the air once more and she leaned forward, both hands almost at the base of his neck, getting her own head as close to him as possible she whispered out loud. "So you don't care about any treasure. That's good then. I will be given an allowance soon, one gold coin." he twitched, "I'd planned on giving it to you but if you don't want it I'll just keep it." His eyelid twitched rapidly a few times.

"Well, if you wanted to give it to me of course I'll accept. Not because it's gold but because it would be a gift from you. I'm not saying you have to if you've really changed your mind, but I wouldn't be rude and refuse it if that was what you wanted."

She laughed loudly. "Hoarder." She whispered in his mind.

"Shut up or I'll dump you." He growled unhappily.

She laughed some more. She felt better now, spending the morning with Kilnik had been a good choice. At the castle, they had been each other's only company besides Tate and the servants. They had spent five years being in each other's presence almost constantly. Things had changed a bit since coming to the capitol. Even though they were bonded and the other's presence was a constant in each other's minds, they both had more opportunities to meet new friends and acquaintances. They also had separate lessons for the first time in their lives. It had been an adjustment and they had not spent this much uninterrupted time together in weeks.

Kilnik slowed and circled a modest house in a fancy neighborhood. Aliya could tell that it was a street the rich lived on by the condition of the roads and the small but elegant front gardens. It was the exact opposite of where she'd grown up.

Kilnik landed softly on the roof of the home and kept himself cloaked. "His room is the second window from our right on the top floor. There is a balcony you can jump down to. Give me a signal when you're done and I'll pick you up at the railing."

"Why don't you just take me down there now?"

"It's not a far drop, you'll be fine. Besides I'm very comfortable where I am."

She shook her head at him in disbelief. "Fine."

She cautiously went to the edge of the roof. She was visible now that she wasn't touching Kilnik. She tried to hurry because she didn't want to be noticed and have the guards called on her by one of Tate's neighbors.

There it was! Second window and a balcony. She took a deep breath and jumped down. She stayed crouched so as not to be noticed. She looked at the closed double doors, the curtains were drawn. She wondered if it was locked, and if it was how was she supposed to get it.

She lifted her hand and pulled down on the doorknob, to her surprise it moved and the door opened soundlessly. She grinned at her success and as quietly as she could shuffled into the room still crouched. As soon as her body passed the curtains a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist pulling her into the room.