The Dawn’s Dusk - 14. Chapter 14- Struck, part 2

I was startled awake with vertigo still curling about in my stomach. Where was I? As I looked at my surroundings, they were downright foreign. How far was I from the Troth Season grounds? Hunched over, I took slow, measured steps, wary of everything. However, there were no amphipteres to be found.

The area was shaded, and the closer I walked towards the center, the brighter it seemed to be. My head tilted up high. Walls that were made of curled stone rose in circumference around springy grassland. They provided a cool shade towards the edge. A gap in the center of the area overhead was where the light shone through. The negative space appeared like the outline of a stylized star.

"Just where am I?" I repeated aloud, choosing to remain in my squill form, as it was smaller and less conspicuous. As I continued to walk, I noted small hills, farmland, and animals. In the distance, I saw wyverns in both forms, along with the petite forms of squills. They were not wyverns in squill form but real squills. The variety of colors reminded me of a field of wildflowers.

No one else seemed to be alarmed. Yet, I couldn't manage to get my rapidly beating heart to settle down. I was alone in a strange land, and no one back home knew where I was. As one of the squills approached me, I realized that it was the first time I'd talk to one face to face. My older brother used to converse with them at the beach whenever he bought me arecs, but I had never spoken to one myself.

"Don't be scared," the petite squill spoke in a bell-like tone that only wyverns exposed to squills in infancy managed to emulate. I had heard it spoken from a distance, but I never tried to match it. The Ziulish that we spoke when donning that form was a slight variation. "I promise there's no one scary here."

It had long, wavy hair in a bright green hue, dark brown skin, and an effeminate tone of voice, but I dared not guess its gender on that alone. Wyverns were easy to tell apart by scent, voice, and other specific features. But, the majority of squills were androgynous. I didn't want to offend anyone.

"M-My name's Rhyad. I'm a male wyvern. H-how may I address you?"

"Call me Clover. I'm a mixed squill, and I go by she or her," the squill responded without missing a beat. She then pointed towards another mocha-skinned squill in the distance with even longer purple hair in two braids. "That right there's my male cousin, Violet, and his wyvern partner Shire." As though the wyvern brunet could hear us from a distance, he sent us a grin. His eyes were a startling sky blue that caused a slight tug on my heart as I thought of Emery. "We're all remnants here. Remnants of the powers our dragon ancestors had before us."

A loud sneeze startled us both. But, the spontaneous fire that surrounded a squill a few feet away was all the more surprising. As quickly as the flames erupted, they dissipated.

"A-are they alright?" I gasped.

"Oh, she's fine. Some of us just have more of those remnants than others," Clover concluded. "Her name's Amber. She's my squill partner. Plants don't come out of my nose or anything when I sneeze, but when that girl sneezes? That's why our little house is mostly fire-resistant."

"Has your name always been Clover?" I asked. Though clovers were rare in areas near the estate, Emery had managed to get his hands on them. I wondered if other such plants were native to squill lands.

The round-faced squill scrunched up her face in disgust. "My birth name was Gertrude," Clover confessed. "Do I look like a Gertrude to you? No offense to other Gertrudes. In this valley, we decided on our own names." Her green eyes narrowed as she glanced toward the wyvern Shire, who merely smirked and wiggled his olive-hued fingers at her in greeting. "Most of us, anyway. My cousin-in-law over there likes being a rule-breaker, even if it's just ideas we come up with ourselves..."

"Forgive me," I stated, interrupting her flow. "D-Do you know where the Vesper or Tesran Estates are from here? Or even the Nere region?"

"I know the general direction, but I'm sure Shire can tell you. Are you already homesick?" the green-haired squill questioned. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh! Your long hair distracted me from it, but is that a mate mark? Are you already bonded, Rhyad?"

I nodded and lifted my hair away so she could have a better look. "My mate and family are surely worried by now," I responded. "I have to get back to them."

Clover tilted her head as she looked me over. "The amphipteres usually bring unmated wyvern and squills here in the hopes that we keep the elemental remnants of our past going in newer generations. I mean, in our particular cases, we can't do that." She motioned towards the other houses and the people walking around. "But, there are many other mates that formed families here, wyvern whelps and baby squills sometimes grow up in the valley and stay here. We've expanded."

"I am like you and your family. I can't provide more elemental whelps since my mate is a Dusk beta..."

"Amphipteres are a mysterious bunch, but they always work with purpose. Maybe they brought you near our home so that we could befriend each other," Amber suggested as she approached and wrapped a pale arm over Clover's shoulders.

Her amber-hued hair was short and wild. It reminded me briefly of Owin, and my stomach quivered in anxiousness. He must be going crazy looking for me.

"I don't mind returning," I admitted. "This valley is beautiful, and I'm sure my mate and my brother would love to visit, too. But I need to let them know I'm alright. What is the right direction to walk back?"

"Walk?" Shire scoffed. Clover's family members came over one at a time instead of all at once. Did they do it out of consideration of me? "Wyverns don't walk. We fly. Where are you off to?"

"I need to get back to the Vesper estate. It's east of the Nere region," I replied.

"The Nere region? That's pretty far," the olive-skinned wyvern pointed out. "About a 6-hour flight just to reach the shore. It's only 2 hours for amphipteres. But, those guys tend to leave us alone for a few days after dropping us off here."

My face fell, and I wrapped my arms around my stomach and curled in on myself. A six-hour flight was nothing to a wyvern. But, no one could carry me for that long, especially when there was no place to land and rest. Tales about amphipteres flying further and faster than wyverns were apparently true.

"Are you ok?" Amber asked, reaching out to touch my shoulder.

I shook my head and took a deep breath, straightening back up. "I...I can't fly." I explained. "Too terrified after being struck by lightning." The laughter that came out of me was a mixture of frustration and sarcasm. "And, wouldn't you know it? My element is lightning."

"Hey, life has a way of messing with us at times," Amber said as she held up the back of her left hand to my eyes. A darker scar covered most of her fair skin. "You think that just because I'm a fire remnant, I never burned myself? It's ok to be mad. You can't keep it all inside, or it'll burn you there, as well."

"Y-You're right. Thank you," I whispered. Amber grinned in return, and Clover kissed her on the cheek. Seeing that tender display of affection, I found myself missing Emery.

"Violet, love," Shire called as he turned towards his squill mate. "Didn't you say that the Walker family taught their youngest whelps to fly?"

"Yes, just last week," Violet answered. "I'll go see if they're not too busy."

"Right. Then, Rhyad, was it?" Shire asked. When I nodded, he motioned towards a large field. "Come with me."