Dreigiau Book 1: The Gift of Flame

Chapter 5

"Well, now. Welcome back!"

The voice was overly cheerful, even through the groggy haze that clouded AsaHi's mind. The girl's eyes inched open, then fluttered against the amber light filtering in from window above.

"Sunset already?" she murmured. "I slept that late?"

There was the sound of a warm chuckle, "You like understatements, don't you?"

AsaHi pushed herself into a sitting position. Instantly, stiffness racked her body, nearly forcing her to collapse back against the pillows again. She fought the desire until her muscles finally complied with a dull ache.

"How do you feel?" the voice asked.

"Like I fell off the top of the Spire," she grumbled a reply.

Rubbing her temples, the girl rolled her head around to loosen the tension in her neck. Then she glanced towards the source of the kindly voice. Instantly, she recognized the middle-aged woman who sat there. "Aunt SaRa?"

"You really are one for getting into nasty scrapes, aren't you? You remind me of me when I was young. Between Zento and I, I am surprised we left Zemi with any sanity at all," the woman gave another chuckle.

"Lord... Zemi..." AsaHi heard herself speak as if a million miles away.

Everything suddenly came back to her. Images flickered through her mind, superimposing upon each other until they became one. The flower... the cave... the statues... the globes... the runes of light... the shadow... The Dragon. An overwhelming fear and awe gripped her at the realization that such a creature really did exist, that she saw it with her own eyes, and she was still alive.

The girl reached out, grasping the older woman's robes, "He's real!"

"Who is, dear?" Aunt SaRa gently removed the girl's fingers from the hem of her garment. Then with a silence born of grace, she strode to the other side of the room and began pouring a drink over a little tray on the table.

"Lord Zemi Dreigiau!"

"Of course he is," she replied drolly. "Now, do you take your mastak with or without sweetening?"

"I... I... didn't believe it!"

"You seem the type to like yours sweet," Aunt SaRa dropped a spoonful of soft white powder into the cup and began to stir gently.

"I didn't think I'd find anything there!"

"I see," the sound of stirring stopped. "So that's what you were doing in the Host Gate, was it?"

AsaHi nodded meekly.

"I'm certain you discovered that Zemi doesn't like when his existence is discounted. It must have been quite a blow to that colossal pride of his," Aunt SaRa glanced over, her deep eyes shimmering in mirth.

"There's nothing funny about this! He could have easily..." the girl swallowed, leaving the thought unfinished.

"Bah!" The woman waved a hand with a girlish grin, "Zemi needs to be taken down a few notches every now and then. Either that or the old fossil will get too big for his own scales."

AsaHi gaped.

Aunt SaRa didn't seem to notice as she carted the tray across the room on one palm, placing it in the girl's lap. It was filled with an array of sliced fruit, cold-cut sweet meats and warm puffed pastries. "Here, you must be starved. Close the talk and grab a bite to eat."

The girl stared down, eyes moving over the cuisine in wonder. At the sight of the food, she realized she was absolutely ravenous. With nothing more than her fingers, AsaHi began to tear into the dishes with great relish, stuffing bits of this and that into her mouth all at the same time.