A Symphony Of Frost And Flame

VOLUME 2 - MEET THE DRAGON: 10 • RAEHERYS

The ocean waves carried their boat to the east of Draconos Isles, taking Raeherys and Fetyr to the lands completely unknown to them. Nightfall came. The stars sprinkled on the blackness of the sky with no clouds giving them hide.

Raeherys stared at the dark waters. Lots of questions screamed louder in his head as he tried to understand everything that had happened. How could his own Mondramyr betray him? How could his own people betray him? Was he wrong? Was he a terrible king? He tried his best to rule in the path of righteousness. He tried to be better than his father and his brother. But why did it end up like this?

"Your eyes had been on the ocean for hours, My King." Fetyr spoke as he paddled on their small boat.

Raeherys didn't seem to hear, but he did when Fetyr called him again. "Why, Fetyr?" he whispered, his eyes still on the waters. "Why?"

A short moment Fetyr took before he could answer. "Sometimes ... what a king does is beyond the current understanding of his people. They did not realize that what you're doing was for the best of the realm ..." he frowned, "If only they were patient enough ... they would understand."

Silence followed, only to be filled with the sound of the waving ocean—along with the salty breeze that sighed on their ears.

Many believed that Raeherys had been a cowardly king. They thought he wasn't doing anything. Of course, they wouldn't understand his struggle of handling the situation at all. They were not kings.

"What shall be our plan when we reach the shores, My King?"

Raeherys turned to Fetyr, not expecting that he had no plans at all. "I don't know," he admitted. He'd never been outside of Draconos before. The anxiety came back to him once again as he remembered he's about to step into the world of humanity. He feared he would end up just the same as his family. He feared making the same mistakes. But Raeherys had Fetyr. He's not alone in this journey. And again, he had to prepare for the worst, waiting for them in the lands. "I'll only follow what you say we should," he continued.

Fetyr frowned. "I hate to say it ... but like us, the humans would also have no plans but to kill us when we're recognized ... We should do the same."

"You're saying we should kill them?" Raeherys said, recalling how cruel all humans were, as what he had heard from his mondras before.

"Whoever gets the kill first shall live. We burn them down at first sight."

"I don't know, Fetyr."

"Kill or be killed, My King. We're monsters ... beasts ... That's how humans see us." Fetyr tightened his grip on the wooden paddle. "Remember what they did to my ... to us ..." His eyes fell down, lips pressed together all of a sudden.

Raeherys took notice—but he understood whatever loss Fetyr had experienced because of the humans. He was not wrong. All humans were merciless killers. They would always be. He remembered his loving father and his mad brother who never returned—because as what Gramad said; they underestimated the humans. But the bigger mistake they had made, Raeherys believed, was ignoring the words of the Lawdras.

Raeherys vowed not to make the same mistake. He would never underestimate the enemies, and he would unquestioningly follow whatever Fetyr would tell him he should do.

"We're close," he said, finally having the sight of the shores ahead. "We could've reached sooner if you'd fly us there, Fetyr."

"We could ... but the humans would welcome us at the shores, My King," Fetyr said. "It's safer if we stay small in their form."

Raeherys gave a frowned look. He wondered what would happen had Fetyr not gone with him. He would have been captured and killed by now for flying in their lands like a fool.