The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter 32: The City of Descent
Thus, the seal was formed, immovable and concrete, and Sharys tore out one of its own eyes, shattering it and gifting the pieces to the human monarchs who had supported them.
After a few hours of flying over what seemed to be an entirely unremarkable and arid landscape, Cara was relieved when Petra pointed out the significant cracks ahead of them that stood out in the distance. Split across the ground like the earth itself was a broken clay dish, great gaps and chasms spread across the land, reaching deep into the soil and stretching miles wide at some points.
"What are those?" Cara gestured towards creatures far away that looked like dragons, but something about how they flew was inherently different.
"Have you never seen the Cetnan Glasswings before?" Petra called back, indicating them with her chin. Cara shook her head as Lysander took them slightly down to see his distant kin better.
Darting out of a canyon below them was one of the creatures, a dragon with a narrow, lithe build that stretched its body long and slim, encapsulated by large, broad wings, whose membranes were so thin they seemed translucent in the morning light. Cara looked at its oblong shape, the colorful markings reminding her a bit of Stuk and other Ataran dragons she had seen, explicitly grown for maneuverability and speed.
"Look at the saddle." Cheska called out to them from Lilibet's back, where Cara's dragon had just settled to rest her tiny wings.
Following the direction, Cara looked down, squinting to see the person on the dragon's back. They appeared to be sitting sideways on the creature, legs dangling over the right side in a firm diagonal over a smell ledge built into the saddle.
"They're known for being swift but decently easy to take down if you can get close." Bree said, pulling up beside them and gazing down at the lone dragon below them, an almost predatory look in her eyes.
“Yes, but that’s what Ataran says about every nation.” Cara teased, eliciting an eyebrow waggle from Bree.
"Your Highness." Petra's bracers spoke, a large black piece of crystal relaying the sound. "I suggest we make landfall soon. We are approaching Avila." Cara looked over at Ahnn, who held her hand to a necklace around her neck, lips moving as the sound came from Petra's armor.
In response, Lysander abruptly dove towards the ground, leaving Bree, Cheska, and Cara's stomach behind as the largest of their group made his way towards a landing. A whoop sounded from behind as a teal streak soon joined them, Bree's wild grin urging it along.
Petra scoffed as Cheska joined the fray, the three riders now racing their way to the ground, fighting to reach it first. "Petraaaaa!" Cara yelled as Cheska pulled away to slow her speed, leaving only the smallest and biggest to continue their path towards the fast approaching ground. There was no fear, only cruel determination in Petra's eyes as she urged Lysander on. Wild excitement filled Bree's, the countess also refusing to give up the chase. Lysander jerked upwards in an arc at the last moment, using his mighty wings to stop his upward motion and land.
Stuk and Bree simply pulled a tight twist, the dragon flying off as the Countess easily rolled to her landing on the ground nearby. Stuk went to pester the other dragons as they landed while Bree sauntered her way over to Petra and a very rattled Cara, who made her way off Lysander as quickly as possible.
"You're both mad." She said, looking between them. "We could've crashed."
Bree shot her a grin, shaking her head, which was still messy from the wind. "You'll understand once you and your dragon fly for the first time." She said, turning and gesturing to the surrounding area. "I hate to be the one to call out the obvious but… where's this capital?" Looking around, Cara saw she was right. There was no sight of any city nearby, no walls rising in the distance, or towers reaching for the sky.
"Check the canyon." Petra said, gesturing towards the enormous crack in the ground to their left that spread towards the horizon. Walking over to the ledge, Cara slowly peered over the edge, swallowing back the wave of vertigo that she got looking down great heights. The opposite shelf of rock stretched an eternity downwards, where the rushing sound of water faintly echoed from the depths.
Feeling her knees go weak, Cara took a few steps back, nearly tripping over her dragon and eliciting an irritable snap for her clumsiness. "Sorry, sorry." Cara quickly apologized, crouching down and scratching the dragonling before looking up at Petra and shaking her head.
"Well, Ahnn will know where it is." The Princess said, turning towards the approaching Kitisalian.
"Ahnn, where's the city? The instructions you gave said to fly to the canyon shaped like the crescent moon, which is what we did." At Petra's question, Cara glanced back towards the opening in the ground, which she supposed could look curved from up above. "Your Highness, I believe our instructions were true, simply that the city is hidden from view." Ahnn replied calmly, glancing around at their surroundings as she spoke, her eyes alighting with her magic. Abruptly, she turned towards the chasm and clapped her small hands together, waves of purple energy pulsing outwards in concentric rings.
Ahnn's eyes remained closed, her short brows furrowed as she focused on whatever she had done, fingers still outstretched from the initial noise. Suddenly they dropped as her brown eyes opened, meeting Cara's briefly before finding Petra's.
"Your Highness. I believe I've located our destination." She said simply, prompting Petra to wave a hand for her to lead the way.
Turning, Ahnn headed back to Kirial, signaling to the rest of them that they, too, should mount their dragons once more. Following the purple scales of her Lady in Waiting's dragon, Petra took to the air with Cara gripping on behind. Ahnn took Kirial over the canyon, dipping her dragon down into the crack. She knew they were going the right way when a few of those long, narrow dragons flew past them, overly large wings quickly sending the creatures aloft.
Many feet further down the crevasse, the rock shelf that they had been standing on minutes before disappeared, giving way to a gargantuan overhang that sheltered a city under its rocky shelter. Within the vast, opening mouth in the rock was a paved courtyard, a commerce hub for business and arrivals. Carts of ore, stone, and gems were taken across the yard while a couple of riders swooped in, dropping off a bloody carcass to an old woman with a jagged knife.
Tan buildings stretched back further into the depths of the overhang, their shapes clean and rectangular as they slowly descended downwards, the streets a neat slope that all led up to the central landing area. A dirt road stretched its way further into the city, but Cara didn't follow it because they were landing, and she was waiting for someone to attack or stop them from doing so. When they entered without incident, she released her breath and slid down, waiting with Petra for everyone to gather.
"Such an enclosed design." Cheska muttered, gazing up at the far rock ceiling, dripping with stalactites that reached glittering, rocky fingers down over the city.
"Well, they had to make it slightly hard to find to avoid the punishment of the Normarcha in the initial secession," Bree said, looking around. "History says they weren't the happiest about half their people moving to make a new nation in the north."
"Lady Bree. If you are done, we should find lodging for the evening and let Baron Veshmi know we have arrived." Ahnn reminded her, herding the group towards the road. Cara quickly guided her little dragon with them and then realized that the rest of their dragons still sat there. "Shouldn't we find an Aerie for them?" Cara inquired, gesturing back.
"Good point. I think they house in cave walls nearby, but we should guarantee it." Cheska said, striding towards a man, who looked up at the monk with a mildly terrified look on his face. After a few minutes of talking to different people, they found, paid for, and housed the dragons with the only aerie in Avila, which was run directly off to the side of the central plaza. The group made their way out of the shop by the eastern walls as the cavern darkened with the failing day, shadows pouring in the rocky mouth which they had entered through and dulling the world in their obscuring grasp.
"We're lucky the Aerie keeper speaks several languages." Bree announced after coming back out.
"We'll be lucky to find an inn that does the same." Cheska pointed out, nodding towards the city. "And with night falling, we'd be best to find it quick."
Wandering through the city, they walked down a slope as the cavern went deeper, gradually descending towards the bottom of the street where a group of large houses stood in an imperious ring, surrounding what looked like a walled park.
They continued in their search of an inn, scouring signs and shop fronts filled with barrels and sacks of different goods as they made their way through the city. Quite a few people gave odd looks to the little silver dragon darting in and out of the crowd, but nobody said anything to them otherwise.
"That sign has a bed on it." Bree said, pointing at a swinging piece of wood hung over a blue painted door. The smell of fresh bread and the chatter of conversation within were enough for the group to decide she was correct, and cross the dirt road to go in. The indifferent roar of a well-loved tavern greeted them as they stepped onto the neatly swept wooden floors. A vast collection of people from different nations gathered around long rectangular tables laid with metallic mugs of golden ale and steaming dishes of thick stew, with chunks of beef and vegetables floating brown rice gravy.
Ahnn stepped up to the counter with Petra to discuss lodging with the innkeeper, a middle-aged gentleman with pale blond hair and a practiced smile. They took a few moments to iron out a price as the rest of them hung back, taking in the raucous cacophony from a group of workers that had imbibed too much.
"We've got two rooms." Petra announced upon their return. "Accursed Cetnans love to haggle." She led the way up the staircase from the bustling, rowdy common room as they climbed up, Petra adding, "We had to pay extra to have dinner upstairs, so take advantage of that and stay out of trouble tonight."
That last part was aimed at Cheska, who had been drug away from flirting with a pretty barmaid with an obvious interest in the sculpted muscles of the Farcan fighter, eyes lingering on Cheska’s back even as they walked away. Ahnn and Petra took the first room in the hallway the staircase led them to. Cheska, Bree, and Cara took the second. A lumpy couch, round table, two simple beds, and a fireplace that was blackened with use greeted them, the entire luxurious furnishings being rounded out with a chamber pot in the corner and no screen to cover the privacy of whoever used it.
Cheska immediately claimed the couch, kicking off her boots and reclining on its dark green surface with a pleased sigh. Taking the available beds, Cara and Bree curled up until dinner was served, a hearty affair of a beef stew and fresh brown bread, accompanied by a tiny apple tart for dessert. After feeding most of her food to her dragon, Cara went back to her bed, still full of thought about everything going on around her, her own heart and shortcomings. Something within her had felt uncomfortable at seeing Cheska flirt with the pretty barmaid downstairs, raising dull, nagging fingers of irritation within her chest. She pushed the thoughts from her mind, clearing it and listening to the rhythmic crackling of the fire that gently provided a rhythm, matching her heartbeat and sending her off to sleep, arm tucked around her dragon.
Movement near her shoulder woke Cara up, and she groggy peered after the dragon that was scuttling its way across the floor. "Geh bakeer." Cara mumbled, swiping after scaly tail. Instead of stopping, little girl quickly scurried over to the door, using her head and pushing it open. "Wasn't that locked?" Cara thought, shoving her boots on and racing after the dragon. There were no sun pads here in Cetna, as it seemed the dragons here primarily lived in the cliffs around the city. “Maybe she just badly needed relief,” Cara thought, following the dragonling out of the sleeping hotel and into the street.
Instead of stopping to relieve herself, the dragon raced across the street, dashing into a dark alleyway. "Alright, no." Cara hissed, skidding to a stop in the middle of the road. "I am not going on another weird dream chase in the wild with you! Especially not here!" She kept her voice quiet as she whispered angrily after her dragon, who stuck her pale head around the corner and impatiently chirped at her.
Cara was getting ready to walk over and forcibly pick her dragon up by the neck when she heard a cry of pain from the other side of the building that the alley ran along, causing her dragon to whip back around the corner and disappear.
"Fine." Cara huffed, following the dragon down the short passage and peering around the end to see what had made the noise.
Weapons were drawn and magic flickering; a small group of people was shouting at someone, clearly mongering for a fight. Cara hesitated, looking back towards the inn where her companions slept and the group of people in front of her. "Stay here." Cara whispered to her dragon, her words undercut by the dull thud of someone's body hitting the ground.
Looking over, Cara saw an unconscious, unmoving person, their sword falling out of a hand that was frozen to the wall in a thick patch of ice. She took a step backward, reconsidering her plan. This had gotten violent quick, and it would be better to just go back. What had she even been thinking in the first place, sticking her nose in?
She turned to go, something inside of her telling her to go back, she was needed, and it would take too long to go back. Cara shook her head, trying to ignore the voice when a shout rang out behind her. She had taken too long and been spotted by someone from the group of thugs.
More thuds landed as shouts rose, and Cara turned to head to the inn when a wall of air buffeted her back, knocking her off balance. She landed painfully before scrambling to her feet, darting out of the shadows towards the person with their hand raised. She landed a solid punch to the throat of the air rider, pushing them over so she could escape.
Someone immediately came and wrapped a thick arm around her throat, its brutal bulk squeezing it tighter and tighter as she clawed at the restricting appendage. Her lungs burned, gasping for air as the crushing pain began pressing so hard that Cara could see bright bursting lights as she tried to escape from her attacker.
She flung her head back, colliding with their face and dropping a hand, reaching towards the street and calling an orb of light from its torches. Flashing, the light came shining brightly enough above her head to startle her opponent. Using that opportunity, she used her free hand to yank her keeper’s shank from her boot, jabbing it into the soft area behind the attacker’s knee as she jerked her body downwards.
She finished her escape with a brutal blow to their stomach on the way out, driving her non-wielding elbow behind her and using the force to propel herself away. A blur of shining silver zipped by her, lips curled in a snarl that framed sharp white fangs hungry for blood. Her assailant stumbled backward, tripping over the fierce little dragon that didn't know how to obey orders and loved biting people that hurt her rider.
Cara stayed where she was, gasping for air as her throat tried to open, each breath full of pain and the constant urging for more. The dragon looked at her, quickly checking that she was alive before looking around for the person responsible. Seeing her prey knocked prone, the silver-scaled creature obliged her revenge, sinking sharp teeth in the man's thigh when he tried to get back up, eliciting a yell of pain. The dragonling didn't get long to savor her victory, as she was sadly forced to pull away as a sheet of ice shot up through the attacker’s legs, securing them to the ground.
"I appreciate the unnecessary, though welcome assistance." A soft-spoken voice said, and Cara whirled to find someone standing there, a person just about a head taller than her, with hair so pale that it looked white even in the darkness. A bright, thick blue necklace lay around their neck made of many square pieces of lapis intertwined with gold wire. The brilliant blue stone shone in the torchlight from the nearby street, standing out above the dark tan skin of their collarbone.
A mild, grey-eyed gaze looked over Cara as well, and she got that tingling jolt of familiarity when their eyes met before it disappeared seconds later. One of the assailants stirred, and the person turned, movements fluid and quick as they knelt in front of him, breathing something that made little sense. The thug replied, mumbling something about a house that seemingly satisfied the figure because they stood, dealing a swift blow to their opponent’s head before turning back to Cara.
"I have completed my reason for coming here. Do you require assistance or financial retribution for your efforts?" They gestured at the surrounding slumped people, each partially restrained by ice.
"Oh... no, you did all the work, really." Cara said, waving her hands and backing away. Something within her got the impression that although this person was curious, they were also ambivalent towards whether their exchange ended in blood or peace.
Silently considering her through pale grey eyes, the stranger nodded before turning and walking towards the street without further ado, their back turned to Cara. Slowly looking at the incapacitated people, Cara stepped over a few limp limbs before she could rush back down the alleyway, hurrying back to the inn with her dragon in tow before they could run into any more mysterious encounters.