Inkway to Albreton

Chapter Eight

Trapped in awe, Jasmine gaped up at the dragon as it descended. Just before it reached the height of the treetops surrounding the clearing, it spread its wings wide to slow its fall. Its left wing caught on the canopy and so when it landed, the dragon had to flick the broken branches and leaves off its wing with a horizontal twitch. It waited for the crash of timber behind it before it stretched both wings above its back and folded them down. Its landing had been surprisingly light aside from the bits of tree that had caught in its wing.

It stared at Jasmine with striking yellow eyes. That's when she realized why the dragon was so stunning, aside from the fact that it was a dragon. It still had all its color. Scales so dark a purple they could be mistaken for black covered its body. Its underbelly was tinted a brighter shade of purple and its wings had a leathery texture on their pitch black undersides, which Jasmine could only see because the dragon's wings were so large that they wouldn't fold seamlessly against its body. Its slender neck and tail grew progressively lighter so that its head and the tip of its tail were both vibrantly purple. Two horns extended out of the back of its angular head, jet black and dipped in gold at their spear-sharp point, and a tuft of bright, feathery purple fur ran down its back, all the way to the end of its reptilian tail.

The dragon blinked at Jasmine. She didn't know whether to move or not. Like a snake, the dragon stuck its tongue out and slurped it in again.

In a voice that was female and crisp it said, "What are you named?"

A gravelly noise escaped Jasmine's throat.

"Speak louder. I cannot hear you." The dragon turned its head to the side towards Jasmine, as if listening.

Still teetering with her arms behind her, Jasmine found the nerve to say, "J-Jas--" She had to clear her scratchy throat, "Jasmine is my name."

"Hm," the dragon scooped its neck down to meet Jasmine's eye level. "You smell of magic. Has someone cast a spell on you?"

Jasmine shrugged, which, given that she had been leaning backward on her elbows, caused that muscle-awakened, prickling feeling to launch up her arms. She tried not to flinch as the dragon reached its head closer and flicked its long, pronged tongue just inches in front of her face. She felt like an ant. The dragon was at least twice the size of Enkaiein, if not bigger. "I dunno," Jasmine finally said, quite dumbly.

Seeming contemplative with its yellow eyes focused intently on Jasmine, the dragon waited for a moment. Then it undraped its neck, straightened tall and said, "I am named Ellindris."

Rising to her feet now that Ellindris didn't seem intent on eating her, Jasmine responded with, "Hi, Ellindris."

There was an awkward few seconds when neither spoke to the other and it made Jasmine more uncomfortable than the idea that Ellindris was big enough to stomp her out of existence.

Jasmine broke the festering silence, "I came here because I need help. I heard dragons are immune to magic and there's this wizard who's trying to make the kingdoms to the South destroy each other."

Ellindris slurped her tongue again. It was impossible for Jasmine to decipher what she was thinking because, as a dragon, her face was that of a reptile: placid and structured. Her tail swayed back and forth across the ground, spreading the dirt and foliage beneath it.

"Will you help me?" Jasmine asked. Her voice squeaked and cracked.

Ellindris turned her neck away. "I will not. I do not like wizards."

Desperation surged through Jasmine like electricity. She thought of the prince, of the cat's idea that he had already died on the battlefield. She thought of Enkaiein and his prison inside Castle Albreton. She thought of the kindness Mythos had shown her, even though she was an outsider. A slave to her emotions, Jasmine couldn't stop even though she knew this was a terrible, possibly deadly idea. She yelled at Ellindris, "That's a pretty stupid reason not to help me!"