Through the Eyes of the Dragon

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – Born of the Dragon

“… It’s time,” Katakura Kojuro called into his quiet tent, causing Motochika to jump slightly before releasing a long sigh.

“Alright, I’m up,” the Acquan prince replied, shaking his head free of reminiscent memories and rising to follow the general outside.

The morning breeze was cold and crisp, the ground glistening with a light layer of frost. Despite the previous day’s snow, however, there was hardly any white in sight, suggesting that it must have all melted overnight. Back home in Acqua, it would have been considered the middle of Moon season, when more night was seen than day and the temperature grew considerably cool. Or at least, cold in comparison to their southern weather.

In contrast to the weather, General Katakura was dressed in the same clothes he wore yesterday, a lone katana hanging at his side for that day’s trek to the Aerosian capitol. In the past month or so, the two of them had actually grown rather close, often discussing current events whenever the general could spare a few moments for chat.

Adjusting his own cloak, Motochika greeted his new friend with a stiff nod of his head, his hand securing his bag over his shoulder. Once three other soldiers had joined them, the group set off on foot, traveling around him in that same rhombus-like shape.

Curiously, his uncovered right eye took in his surroundings, observing way the snow would gather in mounds alongside the small path they walked upon. It reminded him of stories his mother would tell him about Eastern Ignis; a land barren and free of water, where sand piled high and crested like mountaintops. There, apparently very few people resided, for a large, towering fire-filled mountain rose from its midst to blanket the skies in black ash.

To Motochika and his siblings, such a place seemed terrifying and anarchic. But when out of the snow he made out the vague silhouettes of a massive mountain range, he began to think twice.

The Aerosian Mountains were incredibly high, in which not even 200 soldiers standing one atop another could match its might. Heck, probably not even 2,000 men could touch their very peaks! Peaks rounded and uneven like a dragon’s spine, they were blanketed by a soft layer of fluffy snow and veiled by a mystical mist. ‘Like the tops of those Ice Treats mother used to get us,’ Motochika thought, believing his childhood iced cream somehow resembled the intimidating mountaintops, ‘given that they added a splash of fruit syrup.’ 

As they neared the mountains, the sun was shyly poking its head over the horizon, its warming rays brushing past the rocks, the snow, and most noticeably the mist, leaving behind a beautiful trail of colour and light.

“I… have only heard of such a place from fairy tales and travelers… but never before would I have thought… that they were THIS amazing…” the Acquan prince remarked, his breath short as he marveled over the sight.

“Ah, yes. Those writers and artists could never really paint an accurate portrait of these very mountains,” Kojuro mused, his voice surprisingly bright as he watched his friend take in the sights. While his men had been a bit displeased with their general insisting that they take the scenic route home, the Aerosian just knew he had to test the young prince in some way. There was only so much one can learn from children’s stories, after all. “Come,” he urged, giving Motochika a light push, “You have not seen anything until your eyes have grazed the beauty of our actual kingdom!”

Though Motochika was sure that he was already in the kingdom, he hurried along towards the base of the rock formations anyway. All the while, he tried to picture the fabled ‘kingdom in the skies’. Was it true that Aeros was constructed into the clouds and rock themselves? Working out the technicalities in his head, the Aerosian soldiers pressed on ahead, guiding him through steep, narrow, and winding pathways seemingly cut out by nature’s many wind snakes.