The Clutch of Sharys: Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter 24-Names and Forgotten Soup

Nepthys fought them back, slaying many of the dragons, though not without taking wounds of its own as it forced the survivors to flee before the all-consuming Void.

After a few hours of fitful tossing and turning, Cara found herself thoroughly restless and rather hungry. The growls of her stomach had brought with them pangs that shot up her torso, and Cara was desperate for a snack. Bundling up her dragon in a cotton coverlet stitched in a lime green border of coiling serpents, Cara made her way towards the entrance hall. 

The lack of the meal earlier in the day combined with the overall poor cooking of the last few weeks drove her towards the kitchen, faint starlight winking down onto the two sleeping dragons in the entrance hall through the open doors they guarded. Slipping into the top left door, Cara was extra careful to close the door silently behind her and hurried down the tunnel towards the dining tower. The slits in the wall let in knives of icy wind that cut through the simple knit jumper she wore and tore at her skin, sending a warm tingling rush to the surface that threatened to start itching should her exposure continue.

Quickening her pace, Cara entered the tower, shutting the door behind her and making her way to the flickering lantern that had been left on the table. Reaching a hand out, Cara quickly scooped her palm through the yellow glow of the flame, pulling it back towards her in one smooth motion. 

This time, a hovering ball of light sat in the hollow of Cara's hand, the repeated practicing over the last few weeks paying off in at least some way. She bobbed her hand upwards slightly and then carefully pulled it away, leaving the ball hovering in the air as though held in its own spectral lantern. Fiddling with the coverlet, Cara released her dragon from the blanket, the creature squawking indignantly as she was put down. 

"Oh, you'll survive." Cara told her dragon, walking up the stairs. "You never complain when you're feeling cold, you just crawl into my jacket for warmth." Grasping the orb clumsily in one hand, Cara's touch pushed the light upwards where it sat, hovering above her head.

A hissing reprimand was the dragon's only reply as they ascended, and Cara quickly found herself in the kitchen, where she awkwardly detached her hand from the orb once more. A glance at it showed the handy trick that she had developed for the power; it grew dimmer as her magic faded, ensuring that she didn't accidentally over-exert herself. Right now, the orb was only slightly diminished from its original size, and Cara estimated she had about fifteen minutes left before she could no longer maintain the light. 

Grabbing out a pot, Cara quickly tossed in some fat and some onions, letting them brown, adding some small carrots and runt potatoes. The only cutting utensil Cara could find in the kitchen was a butter knife, but she made it work. Some water, more fat, and a few minutes of heat later, Cara had the beginnings of a small soup that she now added the salted meat into. 

Stoking the fire beneath the soup pot, Cara left the soup to boil as she wandered back out onto the balcony that overlooked the dining area. Sitting down on the edge, she slung her feet in between the stone bannisters and waited, occasionally giving affection to little girl whenever the small dragon stopped by. She checked the soup a few times, each one gradually tasting better as the flavors melded but still needing a bit more time before the vegetables were done cooking. 

Cara left and returned the railing a few times and swung her legs back and forth in boredom after the fourth visit to the kitchen. The sound of a dragon's rumbling greeting sounded from the hall, and Cara wondered who else was up at this hour. Alert, she silently crept down the stairs and out the passage, where she cracked open the door that led to the main hall. 

Through the opening, she saw a shorter, cloaked figure she assumed to be Ahnn patting Kirial's side as she reached out towards the handle of one of the supply closet doors. The girl went in, a small envelope of white getting caught in the door behind her. Cara waited for Ahnn to come back out of the closet or realize she had taken the wrong passageway, but as the minutes leaked on, she realized that something was off. 

Her suspicions alerted, Cara crept up to the door, a wary eye on the dragons slumbering at the end of the wall. Pale moonlight provided her a guide after letting the light orb fade, and Cara carefully opened up the closet door. An empty, well-cleaned room looked back at her, shelves lining the walls, only partially filled, and a few barrels and crates lining the floor. 

"A secret passage then. Of course." Cara wryly thought to herself, her hatchling scuttling past her legs to investigate the room. Cara looked at the letter in her hands, addressed to Lady Aspas in Castle Hirropal. A quick scan of its contents told Cara that this was indeed Petra's mother, and they were discussing plans on how to get a few trusted souls up to the castle with ‘the needed documents.’ Cara didn't get too far into the missive, as little girl gave a sudden, soft cry of alarm and scampered back towards Cara when footsteps sounded somewhere nearby. 

Heartbeat spiking to an erratic rhythm, Cara quickly folded the letter back into its envelope, ushering her dragon out of the room and closing the door on the note once more. She barely had time to flatten her back against the stone outside the closet when she heard something scraping inside the subtle squeak of hinges providing an undertone to the rasping noise. Moments later, the door near Cara quickly opened and closed without a sound, the letter snatched away when next she looked.

It was agony to sit there in the silence, waiting for Ahnn to be gone, but Cara did so, frozen stiff until she was sure the Kitisalian had left. Heading back into the closet, Cara spent a few minutes rummaging around only to find a twisted knob on the door frame above her head, the entwined serpents of Aspas painted around the edge. Pressing the knot caused a loud click at the back of the room, part of the shelves detaching as a section of wall swung inwards. 

Beyond it stretched a dark tunnel, reaching into the darkness and curving downwards a few feet in. Leaving her newfound route, Cara quickly shut the door, collected little girl, and crept back out into the entrance hall. She would need to find some night when Ahnn wasn't using the tunnel to make her escape, and she needed to make sure they didn't suspect her plans. Crawling back into the curtained shelter of the window seat, Cara drew the fabric shut around her, blocking out the light as she began to plan. 

The next day, Petra showed up alone around noon for sparring, her clothes replaced with a loose pair of cotton pants and an olive green sleeveless shirt with wide straps. Her blonde hair was clipped back by a couple of black pins; an air of excitement filled the space around her, making the morning seem that much brighter for the force of her smile.

"Good morning. I still don't know your name." Petra announced, swinging the door wide open. "Also, Ahnn's mad at me over some charred pot of ash she found on the hearth this morning. Would you know anything about that?" 

Cara jumped slightly from her perch up on the third floor, and she shoved the armful of blank paper she was holding onto the nearest empty shelf, of which there were many. "The soup!" She silently scolded herself, her nighttime snack wholly forgotten in the excitement of discovery she had made. Ignoring both of the princess' questions, Cara quickly braided back her hair, fussing at the clothes that limply hung off her frame. 

She was still wearing the same set of nightclothes she had been abducted in, loose trousers and a short-sleeved flannel tunic; her flight jumper left up by her bed to dry. The damp fabric irritated her skin at some points, so Cara was not in the best of moods while being forced to climb.

As she descended the ladder, Cara landed on the bottom floor and looked around, spotting her dragon's tail curling out of the stack of bookcases against the far walls. Ever since the pile had originated, the little dragon had been accumulating random fake books, with their shining leather and gilded spines, into the pile of shelves. It was a natural urge for dragons to hoard at a young age, and Cara supposed there were worse things to collect, so she had let the small creature have her nest. 

Attention snapping back to the problem in front of her, Cara found Petra gazing at her with an odd look on her face, partly a pained smile at the lips, and a twist of confusion in the crease of her pale brow. "That's… what you were wearing yesterday…" Petra said, eyes flicking up and down ".. and for some reason, it's damp."

"That it is." Cara agreed, making her way towards the center of the practice area.

She stretched, pulling up her leg behind her and ignoring the accusatory stare being thrown at her back. "Fine, be vague. Be warned, though; I’m going with the assumption that you fell in the bathing pool fully clothed and are too childish to admit it." Petra turned on her heel and walked over a few feet away from Cara, unbuckling her belt and laying her sword down on the floor behind her. 

Coyly looking up to Cara through pale lashes, Petra said, "See, Lady Myzanti? Trust."

Cara nodded again and turned away from the inflammatory comment to continue her stretches, back facing Petra. A few minutes of silence passed, and Cara’s body gradually relaxed as she finished her warm-up. 

Straightening up, Cara rubbed the aching shoulder that had slipped between cushions last night, her weight pressing into stone while she slept. Turning, she laid her eyes on Petra, who was doing a set of stretches much like her own. The girl's face was focused, eyes pointed toward the leg she bent towards, blonde locks smoothly falling behind her ear, curving upwards to a pleasing curl that framed the aristocratic build of her cheeks. There was something about Petra at this moment that belied a more serious, focused mentality, a complete change from the blustering royal Cara had lived with the past few weeks. 

Curious, Cara was pondering if perhaps Petra was just really focused, and she was overthinking things, but a loud, drawn-out scraping sound behind her quickly interrupted her thoughts. Both she and Petra looked up, glancing around for the source of the noise, finding its culprit rather quickly. 

Up on the second floor was one of the hefty, ornate placeholder tomes, a black book with silver inlay coiled around the edges of the spine and cover pushed one of the piles of scrolls off the shelf, causing a small commotion as they fluttered to the floor. Standing there, paused in motion, with the lovely cover firmly grasped within a resolved jaw was her little dragon, lavender eyes fixated on where Cara stood, a stubborn light shining within. 

Cara looked at her dragon, and the dragon looked back, neither averting their eyes nor moving for part of a minute as a silent standoff occurred between dragon and rider.

"You're going to crush yourself if you keep at that." Cara called up to the creature, shaking her head. 

Slowly and not without some reluctance, little girl slowly released her jaw, backing down from the book and letting it fall back to the shelf with a heavy thud. Silver horns shone in the lantern light as she launched off the ledge, swooping downwards and diving into Cara's arms with a force that almost made her stumble back a step. 

"Yeah, yeah, you made a good decision about your previous bad decision. Good for you, you little rascal." Cara scratched at the little creature's head, looking up when Petra let out a thoughtful noise.

"You know it's odd to see a Netian rider talk to their dragon like that. Conversation with creatures that can't understand you is a waste of time unless you're Farcan and believe in the nonsense about spirits and respecting all living things.'' 

"I feel they can if given the right motivation to listen."

Petra stretched an arm across her torso a couple of times before straightening up, attention honing in on Cara. "My bathing pool theory doesn't explain why you're still wearing wet clothes, Lady Myzanti." Cara took a deep breath in, biting her tongue to keep from saying, "For the fun of it, obviously." She couldn't afford to keep being hostile if she wanted her captors to relax, so she smiled and shrugged instead. 

"I like the bathing pools explanation. Let’s leave it at that." Cara remarked, taking a few steps away from Petra. 

"As you wish."

The Princess turned to face her head-on, and Cara realized at that moment that she didn't know what to teach the girl in front of her. Petra already learned the basics of fighting, like punching and kicking, and Cara had never exactly received a formalized education in the martial style herself. She doubted such a thing even existed and scrabbled for words. 

Luckily for Cara, Petra was still more than full of questions and ready to fire them off. "Did you think of any suitable names for your dragon yet? I could recommend a few if you’re struggling." Thankful for the reprieve from her inadequacy, Cara shook her head and looked over towards the shelf-nest. "Not yet, anyway." She said. 

"You really should name her." Petra remarked, following her gaze.

Cara slid her gaze towards the princess, knowing that the question about her own name was coming sooner or later. "Why don't you just have Ahnn tell you this information?" She inquired, looking Petra straight in the eyes. A disappointed expression that looked almost like a pout appeared on the princess's face as she shook her head. 

"Ahnn said this is my mess that I've gotten us into, so if I want to talk about you, I should do it with you." Petra rolled her eyes at the end, shrugging her shoulders. 

"I'm surprised she was so mature about it." Cara remarked dryly, thinking back to the previous interactions she had with the Kitisalian noble. 

"Oh, my Ahnn's quite mature. You just don't know it yet."

“I’ll take your word for it.” Cara shrugged, raising her hands. "Anyway, let's start with what you came for." She said, swinging a quick jab towards Petra's stomach. Neatly hopping backward to avoid the blow, the princess cocked her head and looked at Cara. 

"You haven't taught me anything yet." Petra said, confusion overflowing from her voice. 

"I know,” Cara said, straightening and placing her hands on her hips. "but isn't it hard to figure something out when someone won't give you all the information?"

The Princess let out a small exhale, lips twitching in an annoyed yet pleasant smile. "Point made, Lady Myzanti." 

Cara crossed her arms, looking up at the taller girl. "And?" She asked, voice slightly forceful. 

"And I'll think about it." Petra replied, her tone calm and controlled. Nodding her thanks, Cara widened her stance so that her feet were slightly farther apart than usual. 

"Up on the balls of your feet, your highness." She said, doing the same herself. As she balanced out her weight, the girl across from her looked up. 

"Just call me Petra while we're not at court. It's refreshing to remember that I'm a person every once in a while." Something about the dry, painful twist of the Princess’s lips made Cara not press that topic any further. 

"Cara." She said finally, quickly continuing. Petra's green eyes lit up happily, a triumphant smile curling across her mouth. "And there are not many rules that I know of for street steppeing. It's not a martial art with set poses so much as it is a series of patterns you move in to keep your body in motion." Cara cringed internally at her wording, knowing the explanation failed to fully encompass the breadth of the martial art. "I had it explained to me like this once." Cara said finally, looking up at Petra. 

"Steppe light, fight to win." Cara said, chaining a few steps back and forth. "It's all about footwork and timing, and respecting your partner, in victory or defeat." She repeated the motion, and Petra copied it, watching Cara's steps with an acute focus. 

Their lesson continued for a while after that and every morning for the next two weeks that followed. Through careful banter and forceful personality, Petra began to worm her way through Cara's walls, though she remained determined to escape as soon as possible. Throughout those two weeks, she stayed up every night, waiting for the sounds of Ahnn making her way through the hall and out into the secret passage. 

As she had suspected, the girl didn't go every night, so all Cara had to do was watch until she was sure and then make her move. The night of her escape, she waited until early in the morning or extremely late at night, but a quiet enough time that she was sure everyone was asleep. Stowing the piece of sharp metal she had priced from the collapsed tunnel, Cara took her cloak and boots and wrapped them around her excited hatchling and quickly crept her way into the entrance hall. 

The deep, rumbling snore of the two dragons guarding the castle doors more than served to muffle her footsteps, so long as she was careful to time her movements with their breaths. Cara slipped inside the closet the second she made it to the door, closing it as quietly as she could and letting out the breath that she had been holding all the way over. 

Reaching a still trembling arm upwards, Cara pressed the knot and watched as the shelves swing open, praying the next part of her plan would work. Releasing the bundle in her arms, Cara crouched in front of the little dragon, wiggling her way out of the cloth. "I'm sorry, but we've got to be quick and quiet. I need some light. Can you help me?" After a few angry snaps of her jaw, the dragon looked up at Cara, petulantly puffing out a short ray of light. 

Quickly scooping her hand into the flash, Cara created her orb of light, putting on her cloak and shoes and gently scratching her dragon's head in thanks. Together, they walked down the passage in silence until the path evened out. Parts of Cara felt guilty for leaving without a goodbye or for leaving at all, but she reminded herself that she hadn't chosen to come here in the first place, but she could choose to go home. 

With that thought in her head and the orb of light shining over her hand, Cara emerged from the mountainside and into the piney arms of a dark forest, ready to embrace her new freedom.