Through Smoke and Ashes

Six||This Journey O' Mine

Succulent is a word I could describe the slab of steak sitting in front of me. I had finished over half of the meat that leaked its bloody flavour onto my plate. It was my second night living in the tavern, and as I regained my land legs, I could explore the island's contents. I knew that Wintercrest had beautiful sightlines, but I didn't think they would be this breathtaking.

The first place I had accidentally explored was the sheer, unsteady cliffs that hung over the whitecap-churning waters. The sea was still recovering from the night's storm that drifted violently away only hours ago. With a suddenness emphasized by the silence that followed, I felt at peace watching everything unfold before me. The sky cleared, and the waves seemed to flee with the clouds. Damp air shimmered into a rainbow, enhanced by the sun's rays gleaming off the magnificent colours.

A dark shape rose over the water's surface—a shadow cast by a giant golden dragon whose scales rippled from the sun. On Wintercrest, it was not uncommon to see a rider and his dragon fly over the island. I was mesmerized. The absolute beauty of this situation left me oozing with awe.

Unintentionally, my emotions turned bitter, and my mood was soon foul. I was plagued with the overwhelming feeling of jealousy. The feeling of tight coils wrapped around my torso, leaving me incapable of feeling anything else except for hatred. My own emotions incarcerated me.

As I watched the beast fly off into the distance, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would have been like if I had been accepted into the academy. What new skills and abilities would I have acquired being trained to my full potential. I certainly wouldn't have minded if I got newfound respect. It would be nice for a change, wouldn't it?

Deciding to head back to my room in hopes of getting a few hours of sleep before I depart from this island was the best idea I had in a long while. My room, as I left it, was a complete mess. My clothes were thrown in a messy pile, and alongside the wall lay my open pack with other items toppling over the sides. My map was lying flat on my bed, along with a few daggers set on each side of the map to hold it open.

During the countless days of my journey, I mapped out my trails of where I had previously gone and where I would now go. Clearing a space within the scattered mess, I lay my body down, thinking how a few good hours of rest would do me some good.

The morning after showed to be quite eventful. As soon as I packed my belongings and left the hotel room behind, I was on my way through the bustling streets of Wintercrest, observing the people passing by. I hadn't seen a single woman on this island. Instead, it was men with tattoos of the same shape but differing colours. White, red, blue, green and very seldom did I come across someone with a golden marking. I knew very little of this world, the questions racing in my head yearning to learn more.

More often I found myself searching the arms of the men I passed, but some were covered up and I wondered if they had a dragon rider marking or not. All had weapons strapped to their hips or back, allowing me to come to the conclusion that I was amongst soldiers.

A part of me wished to go up to one of the men and speak freely, asking them about their experiences and what the tattoos meant, but my journey took me elsewhere, and I was becoming antsy with putting my voyage off for so long. I also didn't want to draw attention to myself. Three days I had stayed at Wintercrest. Three days of deciding if I should travel to Aeberuthey. In the end, I concluded it was too late to turn back, and I could only move forward.

So forward I walked until I can across a docking station with vessels of all shapes. My conversations with the sailors were brief, not exposing too much information of my intentions. All they needed to know was my direction, and only one was willing to take me out that far to sea. Once we settled on an agreement, I was off into the ocean yet again.