The Journey of a Thief, Dominique Pearce (heavenly.kaos) [ebook smartphone txt] 📗

attracted to the smell of dead fish when Aleena and Sylphi were fishing, and came for food. Seeing the opportunity to hunt, the dragon took Aleena with the fish.”
“And? What does that have to do with Sylphi’s eyes?”
“I’m getting to that.” I said impatiently. “Sylphi wasn’t taken because her eyes are green. I don’t know what it’s like in your realm here, but in Ivvana, green eyed girls can speak to dragons.”
“Really? Speak to dragons?”
“Yes, I’m quite serious. The dragon, being a 1000 year old Wyrm, is most likely very wise, and at least noticed she had green eyes. A dragon could never harm a person that could speak Drayko. It’s in their nature to reach out to people who can understand them.”
He kept on chopping wood, and for a while there was a brief moment of silence. I watched him swing the axe, and that feeling I had before started to creep back. For a while, I let it take over, let it fill me. But then I shook my head again. I couldn’t let down my guard. Not now, not ever. Such is the life of a thief.
He stopped working and put the axe down. “So, you think Sylphi can help you find this dragon?” he asked. I nodded yes. “I personally don’t see it. Simply because her eyes are green doesn’t mean she--” He paused. He looked me in the eye again, and almost stared. I covered my left eye again, in hope that he wouldn’t notice the red flecks. I let my gaze drop to the ground. “Huh.” He leaned back. “You knew to ask if she had green eyes, because you have green eyes too.”
I took my hand off my eye; it appeared my secret was safe for now. But he was right. I did have green eyes. In all honesty, I was surprised he hadn’t noticed it until now, the way my piercing bright green eyes stood out against my porcelain skin. There was no mistaking it.
In that moment, a few memories flooded back to me. I remembered being a little girl, maybe seven years old. I was the odd one out, playing by myself, no friends at all. I remembered being teased because of my green eyes. ‘Ooh, look at the dragon girl!’ ‘She’s a freak!’ I remember being beaten, kicked, pushed down, having my hair pulled. In truth, I couldn’t take it anymore. I remember fighting with a boy, one of my attackers. I remember sending him home with bruises on his arms and legs. And I remembered going home feeling guilty; for self defense.
I never saw that boy again. I figured his parents made him move, or something. But even though I managed to defend myself that day, I never stood up to them again. I didn’t like feeling guilty. And I knew it wouldn’t help. So, I stayed away from those kids. After that day, I kept my distance, and I never saw them again.
I brought myself back to reality, back to my conversation with Luneth. I tried to remember what he said, what triggered my suppressed memories. “Kitiraa?” he asked quietly. “Are... you okay?” I realized my face was feeling hot. I must’ve looked like I was gonna cry. “Yeah, I’m fine. But...” I struggled to get the attention off of me. “...I’m surprised you didn’t notice my green eyes earlier.”
“You can talk to dragons too then, huh?” he asked. “Not really that surprising, you seem to know so much about them.” I rolled my eyes. It was true that I knew a lot; but I wasn’t quite an expert. Rule #25: There’s always gonna be someone who knows more than you, there’s always gonna be someone stronger than you; so don’t get arrogant.
“Yes, but, that’s sort of the reason I’m here in the first place. I need to know where Sylphi is. I think she can help me find this dragon.” Luneth put his hands behind his head. “So,” he replied, “Naturally, you come to me first.”
“Well, yes. I don’t know anyone else here. And I figured you know the woods by heart. So, why not?” Suddenly, and out of nowhere, I heard a scream in the distance. It appeared to be coming from the woods. “Oh, no.” Luneth seemed to recognize the sound of the scream. “Kitiraa, we’ve got to hurry, that’s Sylphi!” He started running off to the woods, I guess signaling for me to follow. I ran after him fast as I could. If that really was Sylphi, that scream couldn’t be good. And I kind of need her alive.
“Luneth, how do you know that’s her?” I asked tiredly. “Are you sure?”
Another scream. Louder this time.
“That’s definitely her!” he cried. We kept on running through the trees, until we came up on a clearing. It was an ordinary clearing, grass, rocks, meadows. But in the center was a girl about fourteen, with long brown hair, a red dress, and a hungry dragon circling her. I assumed she was Sylphi, and the dragon was who I was looking for.
“Sylphi!” Luneth cried. She turned her head, and sure enough, her green eyes nearly glowed in fear. She seemed relieved to see Luneth, and confused to see me, but her fear and concern for the dragon overwhelmed both of those feelings. She turned back towards the starving dragon.
I walked closer to the dragon, and held up my hand to tell Luneth that he should stay where he was. At first, I hurried a little bit, but as I got closer to him I slowed down. I held up my hand towards the dragon, and he turned his attention towards me. I began to feel that all too familiar feeling of delirium, as his thoughts merged with mine. I could hear what he was thinking, and he could hear my thoughts as well.
I got closer, and turned my eyes to Sylphi, silently telling her to run. She didn’t seem to get the message, she stayed where she was. Maybe she was just frozen with fear, I don’t know. I tried to keep my attention on the huge dragon.
He was an enormous, hulking creature. He must have been 20 feet tall, and 40 feet long. His wingspan was rather impressive, broad and wide. The scales that covered his huge, muscular body were large and dull red. Judging from the sheen of them they looked rather thick; physical attacks ineffective. The fangs in his mouth were sharp, pointed, and menacing. He had an old scar over his eye, and several others on his face and arms. Strangely enough, his eyes were an oddly deep shade of chocolate brown.
I placed my hand on his nose. “What is your name?” I asked with a quiet voice, almost a whisper. “Why are you here?” He became docile and calm. He took a few steps back; I followed, keeping my hand placed on his snout. “Why are you attacking these people? Why are you taking their loved ones?” An answer came, but the voice was different than what I expected, what I had heard from other dragons. It sounded older, more mature, and weak. It was a little threatening, but I stood my ground. And from that voice came a single word.
‘Isaaru.’
“Isaaru? Is that your name?” I asked. Before I could get an answer, I heard a scuffling behind me. I turned my attention to the sound, only to find Sylphi finally decided to take my advice and run. The loud noise broke my concentration, and before I could stop him, the dragon bolted. I watched in shock as the dragon raced towards Sylphi and snatched her in his talons. He flew away, and all I could hear was the screams of the poor girl being carried off.
“Dammit!” I shouted. I ran my hands through my hair, worried on what to do. Sylphi was my only lead. I’m so screwed. I turned to Luneth. He had a confused look in his eyes and a horrified expression on his face.
“So,” I asked him. “What the hell are we gonna do now?”

Chapter 4
Luneth
I tried to catch my breath. The dragon escaped with Sylphi in his arms. We had been chasing him for a while, futilely. After we ran out of breath, we hunched over with our hands on our knees, trying to breathe. “Okay,” said Kitiraa. “It’s obvious that... trying to... catch up on foot... isn’t going to work.” She leaned up against a wide, smooth tree and slid down until she was sitting on the ground with her back against the tree. I went over next to her, and did the same.
“So,” I asked her. “What... exactly are we... going to do?” She breathed a heavy sigh. Softly she said, “Luneth...”
I looked at her. She had a troubled look in her eyes, and she simply stared at the black sandals on her feet. “Luneth, you need to choose.”
“What?” I had to choose? What was she talking about?
“I mean, you have to decide if you really want to help me.” She turned to me and saw that I wasn’t following with what she said. “Look!” It appeared she was getting frustrated that she couldn’t find the right words to say. “I need to find this dragon! And soon! I need to know if you’re going to help me or hurt me!”
There was a brief pause. She regained her breath and tried to keep calm. “If you come with me,” she started, “I won’t lie; things are going to be rough. You already know about the beasts and other obvious dangers about this place. You’ll have to keep up with me, no doubt you’ll find that difficult. Also, there’s the chance you may have to go very, very far away from home. I judge it would take only a few weeks, but the way things have been since I got here, it may take even longer than that.” She paused again, then added the thought, “And there is always the chance you may die.”
That shook me. I could die? I knew I wasn’t ready for that. But... there was something about the way she said it, something that made me wonder why she added that last thought. What did she mean by that?
But then I thought about Sylphi, about all of the other villagers. The dragon was a danger to everyone, not just me and Kitiraa. I remembered my mother and little sister back home. My poor mother, she was frail enough after Father died, and Kirima, she’s only eight years old. I didn’t know what I would do if anything happened to either of them. And Sylphi... my old friend. Someone had to help her. I couldn’t simply sit around anymore. That damned dragon has officially made it personal!
I turned back to Kitiraa. She was just staring at me while I was deep in thought. Her face was sad, but by now it wasn’t so unusual. She always seemed sad, to me anyway. Sad or angry. Even though I’d only known her for a day or two, it made me wonder if she was ever happy. Suddenly, she looked away from me, and turned her attention back to her feet. Her face was even sadder than before. She sighed. It was a sound of sorrow, of grief.
“I’ll come.” I said suddenly, to break the silence. Her face jolted back up to me, full of shock. I suppose she wasn’t expecting me to say yes. “I want to help. No matter the cost.”