Survivors of the Wild - Larry Stylinson

Chapter 26

They reach the edge of Du Weldenvarden the next day, midmorning. Opheila's positively thrumming with excitement, tail flicking back and forth when they land. Louis is calmer, but he's buzzing with it, too. Haven't been here in a while, he shoots at Harry.

The trees are huge, towering high above the heads of all their dragons and a dark, deep green. All they can see behind their trunks is darkness. Two elves melt out of the shadows, dressed in long dark red robes. One of them has a dragon's riders sword tucked in their belt, and Harry vaguely wonders where their dragon is.

Louis nods his head deeply, hand resting on the bag of eggs carefully resting on his hip. "Louis Tomlinson, coming from Occitens with four eggs from the academy."

If the guards recognize the name, they don't show it. The rider just asks, "Your group?"

Louis introduces each of them, then says, "We're headed to Osilon, then we'll move towards Ellesméra and the academy. Standard route."

The shorter elf steps forward. "Okay to confirm identities?"

Louis nods. "Be my guest."

The elf steps forward, reaching forward and pressing a hand to Louis' forehead. Louis says to Harry through the bond, It's a spell to confirm we are who we say we are. Very difficult magic.

Harry sends back his thanks as elf moves through them as his partner watches the rest. When they get to him, he freezes up at the touch of their mind, until their soothing voice reassures them to not worry. Harry just shuts his eyes and lets them poke around his head. They finally step back after a bit with a short nod.

"We must warn you," says the rider. "There has been increased rebel activity along our northern border, and we encourage you to be more careful than usual within our borders."

Louis presses his lips together, eyebrows furrowed. "Even more since the most recent report?"

The other guard nods. "Even more."

Louis frowns but nods determinedly. "Thank you. We will take care."

The guards disappear back into the forest, and when the group walks in, there's no sign of them. Cara lets out a low whistle, waggling her dark eyebrows. "Someone needs to take those two out for a drink. Way too serious."

Louis snorts and rolls his eyes. "Sure, why don't you invite them to meet us at Osilon?"

Cara shrugs and turns in a circle, shouting, "Hey! Drinks on us tonight!"

Harry barks out a laugh, covering his mouth. He can feel Louis' amusement through the bond, but Louis just shakes his head and says, "Alright, let's go."

They climb back on their dragons, taking off so that they're flying just above the trees. The trees become slightly less thick after a few miles, giving short glimpses to the forest floor below. They stretched into the distance as far as their eyes could see. He sits far back on Opheila, twisting around to gage the sea of trees. Opheila is swift, thinner than most dragons but with longer wings, and she flies just behind Garza to her right. Cara is to his left, and Niall and Donovan fly behind.

Harry doesn't even realize they're arrived to the city when they have, but he realizes there is indeed a huge hollow ahead of them that Louis is headed towards. Louis signals to let him land first, and follow in order. Harry watches him dive into the trees, followed by Cara.

When he touches down in the hollow, he doesn't see a city. The ground is covered with flowers, a variety so bright and lovely they out shine the gardens that Harry can grow. He can make out some twisting paths through the flowers.