Dragon Riders

Chapter 9: A Plan for Action

Aspen POV:

The Hiji was massive! First of all, Serafina thought of it as a meadow... So not a meadow! The grass was golden and the trees were silver. The bronze Council Dragons sat on marble thrones arranged in a semicircle, raised atop a silver platform. Then, behind the semi circle of members, elevated even further, sat the golden King Dragon and the silver Queen Dragon. The Hiji was even covered by a gargantuan linen sail to shield the members from the intensity of the midday sun.

"Greetings," welcomed the Queen Dragon. "Aspen Blaze and Serafina, you are here on account of your witness to the attack on Tura. You may call me Rowena. My husband is Wrynn. All we want from you is the truth with no feelings. There is to be no deceit. All we want is to be able to decide what course of action to take before this spirals out of control! Am I understood?"

"Yes, your majesties!" Serafina obliged to those conditions.

"But of course," I agreed. "Your benevolences!"

"Then begin with what happened, young princess." She turned her attention to me. I thought for sure she would ask Serafina and not me, the mortal, but I guessed wrong. I slid off Serafina, stood tall, and cleared my throat.

"We had just returned from our first ride together," I began. "We had just discovered that I was a Viy and Serafina a Teff. Thank you for such an honor," I bowed my head gratefully. She nodded in response. "We landed and I slid off of Serafina. I looked up to see what I thought were shooting stars. When I told Serafina to look up she grew worried. She made me climb back onto her and took off. She told me that those were not stars, they were Phoenixes. As we flew over the city, I remembered my best friend."

"The other mortal?" A Council Dragon inquired.

"Yes," replied Serafina cooly. "We apologize for not getting permission to bring him, but we were in quite a predicament and he was severely in need of medical attention." A Council Dragon looked like she was about to retort, but was shushed by Wrynn.

"That is no problem," the King Dragon allowed. "We are always open to helping those in need." The Council Dragon put the case to rest as I continued,

"We saved him from his collapsing house and went to escape, but our path was blocked by Inferno!" An uproar resulted from the news that Inferno had been spotted.

"Silence!" Ordered Wrynn. "We knew he survived his volcanic accident."

"What accident?" I pressed.

"He was shot out of the sky by our Dragon General." King Wrynn informed me. "He spiraled straight into a lava filled volcano. We knew he wasn't dead... Phoenixes can't be killed by fire after all and his body was never found. "

"Was he golden?" I asked.

"Yes..." Rowena responded. "Wait... Was?"

"He is black now," Serafina told the Council. "His feathers are permanently charred from the lava." The Council nodded in understanding.

"Continue, young princess." Wrynn commanded.

"He was a bit confused that a Viy and Teff would be so far from Beliu," I continued. "He told us he was going to kill us. Serafina told me to stall him as she figured a way out. I insulted him multiple times and he threatened me."

"What did he say?" Rowena questioned, horrified.

"He told me I would watch my Kingdom burn and my friends and family die," I started. "Then he would torture me in every way possible, then rip out my heart." A deafening silence hung over the Hiji.

"Do not worry," Rowena assured me, breaking the silence. "We will not let him touch you." I nodded, swallowed hard, then continued,

"Then Serafina, my friend, and I escaped. We were chased to Lyo by Axel and a flock of Phoenixes, where Serafina camouflaged us and hid us in plain sight. After our pursuers left, we decided to go free those trapped in Tura. The city was just a collection of rubble, minus one tower left standing. We freed those remaining, but were surrounded once more by Axel and Inferno. We distracted them by putting on a show and Juniper had some Space Dragons open a portal and we came back here."

"Is she pure of heart and mind?" Rowena suddenly pondered. "Has she told the whole truth?" A bright yellow Dragon stepped out from behind the Council's risers.

Zane, Serafina told me. The Idea Dragon. He can tell whether someone is being honest or not. Upon his back was the Dragon Keeper. I smiled weakly at him and waved sheepishly. It was a honor to be in his presence.

The first Viy, my mind reminded me.
"Yes," Zane answered. He bestowed a rare smile upon me, then took off to return to his hidden area in forest of Beliu. Rowena smiled brightly at me.

"You have gained our trust, Aspen," she beamed. "You are now a Viy of Beliu!" A bright light surrounded me and I was lifted off the meadow floor. My torn brown pants and dirt smeared green top were replaced by a pair of loose fitting, black slacks and and a flowing silver top. A pair of goggles rested atop my suddenly braided hair, along with my tiara. My makeshift leather shoes were replaced with sturdy boots. My eyesight improved tenfold. I could see so much further and in more detail. As I was lowered to the ground, I noticed Serafina had a beautiful leather saddle on her back now and a sliver helmet. I smiled wildly at the Council and royal Dragons.

"Thank you," I gushed. "I will not fail you!" The Queen was concentrating on the forest.

"He's late!" Rowena accused. "As always. I told him to be here when the sun set!" Just then, another Dragon entered the Hiji. I could not mask my astonishment. The enormous Dragon was jet black. Two horns curved around his massive spines. Almost like sails, webbed material connected these spikes that ran down to the base of his long neck. His wings were like curtains, they rested perfectly and were elegant when waved. His talons stuck out like daggers from his paws. His large leg muscles flexed as he strode casually towards us. He wore a gold helmet on top his head. His saddle was not empty.

Atop him sat a stunning girl. She was strikingly beautiful. Her cheekbones arched perfectly, making her face structure highlight her big, round, deep blue eyes. Her golden hair fell in perfect ringlets down to her waist. She wore a uniform similar to mine, except her top was gold. She was slimily built, but was clearly not to be messed with. She had a bow across her back, along with a quiver full of arrows, and a sword hung at her waist. She eyed my tiara in confusion, but turned apologetically to the Council.

"I'm sorry," she confessed. "Shade took a little detour on the way here. He went to investigate a storm on the western end of Beliu."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Iris," Rowena nodded. "It's your Teff who needs to explain himself!" She glared at the black Dragon. "Or is his arrogance to great that he can't even make it to meetings on time?"

"Um," the Dragon interjected. "I was preventing a tornado from ripping up the oldest part of the forest." He bowed. "I'm sorry about being late, but I took saving the forest as a priority over whatever this is about!"

"Thank you, Shade, for protecting the Dragonwood," Wrynn declared. "But we have an escalating situation."

"What?" Shade wondered. Rowena informed the two newcomers of the severity of the situation. Iris swallowed loudly and Shade just turned and stood in awe at us. After Rowena finished telling the story, Iris swung off Shade's saddle and knelt at my feet.

"Princess," she addressed me. Shade bowed his head in respect.

"Uh," I stuttered. "Rise!" They followed my command. "You don't have to call me princess, I'm Aspen. Just Aspen!"

"Oh," Iris said, surprised. "I like that you're not all..."

"Girly," I finished her sentence, already knowing what she would say. "Yeah, not what you would expect, huh?"

"Yeah," she answered. "So, what is your Dragon called?"

"I'm called Serafina," Serafina responded for me. Shade had not noticed Serafina until now and his eyes widened at her. Iris smiled and eyed him knowingly. He glared down at her.

"Shade," Rowena called him back to the meeting. "The Council members and I have been discussing mentally, and have decided on a point of action." She paused. "War. But we need your agreement, as general, for us to actually declare it upon the Phoenixes."

"I definitely agree," Shade concurred.

"Then it's settled," Wrynn proclaimed. "We are now officially at war with the Phoenixes!"

"Shade, assemble the Viys and Teffs." Rowena commanded. Shade nodded and sent a lightning bolt into sky. Thunder rolled as the sky lit up. The light reminded me of that produced by the flames that engulfed Tura.