Incoherent Perspectives
Chapter 6 - Shadows Among Us

"How far is the council from here?" Cassius asked. "Take a look for yourself," I responded. I pulled out the map and opened it on a tree stump. We were near the coastline between the Sunburst Aether and Shadow Flare councils. The Irisalis Council was still quite a distance. We would begin the trek there tomorrow as it was already fairly late. I found it funny. I haven't been sleeping on an actual bed lately, just rocks and I didn't have anything to complain about. I guess because my ancestors long ago lived in caves, therefore, I was kind of used to it.

Further along the coastline, the moonlight revealed a hidden cove nestled between towering cliffs. Intrigued, we descended a winding path and discovered a secluded alcove with a sandy floor. The rhythmic melody of the ocean waves created a soothing backdrop. In the heart of the cove, a natural rock overhang provided shelter, resembling a makeshift bed under the canvas.

This was the first cave that seemed completely uninhabited and no cryptic messages on all the walls. I sat on a ledge near the back of the makeshift cave. Cassius lay near the entrance, perfectly camouflaging in the dark atmosphere. Helia seemed too worried to sleep, she was just pacing back and forth seeming worried. "Would you pick a spot to lay down?" Cassius said, looking exhausted.

"What if they find me?" Helia muttered to herself. Cassius looked at me, expecting me to know the answer. He sighed and patted a spot on the ground next to him. Helia looked around, worried before sighing too and lying next to Cassius. She snuggled in next to him, a lot closer than he anticipated. But didn't seem to care. He laid his head on his front talons and drifted off to sleep, Helia was still awake, I guess trying to stop worrying about the dragons who killed her mother. I would be too if I were her.

Late that night I was awakened by the sound of leaves crunching just outside the alcove. Cassius and Helia were still cuddled up close, fast asleep, leaving me to investigate the mysterious sound. I hopped off the ledge and left the alcove. I climbed up a slight hill and looked around, expecting to see something out of the ordinary. I could see some kind of blue glow deep in the forest leading to the Coastal Regions. I was debating whether I should follow it or not. I decided against following the light as I debunked it as some kind of Thundersea or Aqualis out on patrol but why would they be glowing?

I went back into the alcove where the makeshift cave was. Cassius and Helia were still snuggled close together, fast asleep. I climbed back onto the rock ledge and fell back to sleep. The rustling was a little strange and the same for the blue glow I saw deep in the forest. The next day, the sun shone through the entrance of the cave, bathing it in a gentle glow. Cassius was awake but he couldn't really move without waking Helia, who was still sleeping and I couldn't go anywhere until she awoke. To be fair, it was early morning. I mean, at home I wouldn't wake up this early either.

While we waited for Helia to wake. I had a question to ask Cassius. "Why me?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Why me? Why choose me? What did Queen Galaxia see in me?" Cassius looked at me with a skeptical look until he finally caught onto what I was asking. "You're wondering what she saw in you? That's probably something you should ask Aurora, not me. Aurora is her daughter after all," he responded.

"What about that light?"'

"Light?" he echoed.

"That blue glow I saw last night," I responded. It didn't quite make sense. Yeah maybe if there was no glow we could debunk it as a Thundersea or Aqualis out on a late-night patrol but it made no sense to me... Why the glow? Weirdly enough though, the graze of a dragon's tail on my leg made me jump. At first, I thought it was Cassius but he was on the further side of the outcropping, I was at the back of it. I had to be sure though.

"Cassius. Did you graze my leg with your tail?" I asked.

"No. Why would you ask?" he responded.

"I don't know, I thought I felt a cold reptilian tail graze my leg. Are you sure that wasn't you?"

"How could it possibly be me? I am being used as a pillow right now." He was right and only proved my point further. How could he when he is on the other side of the outcropping? But if it wasn't him then who was it? A little while later, Helia woke up. Allowing Cassius to move freely again.

Helia stirred awake, blinking against the morning light that filtered into the alcove. Cassius carefully extricated himself from the impromptu cuddle, and I slid off the rock ledge to give them some space. As Helia stretched and yawned, Cassius greeted her with a nod.

“Morning,” he said.

Helia looked around, slightly disoriented. “Where are we?”

“We found a cozy alcove for the night,” I replied, pointing towards the entrance where the sunlight painted the sandy floor with a warm glow.

Helia turned her attention towards the alcove and where I slept on the rock ledge. "Oh, that makes sense." Helia shook her head slightly as her eyes were still adjusting to the bright light. I looked back at the ledge still a little frightened by the mysterious dragon who randomly grazed my leg. Were we being followed? Was the same dragon who was in the alcove with us responsible for the strange blue aura I saw in the woods last night? There were so many questions and so little answers. "Let's hit the trail," I said, not taking my attention off the ledge until we walked away from the Alcove. Cassius and Helia looked back at the ledge too with confused expressions on their faces.

"Are you two coming, or what?" I asked, standing on top of a nearby hill. "Yeah... We- we're on our way," Cassius said. Cassius and Helia followed me up the hill and we crossed a border into the region of Tageo. To get to the Irisalis council we had to go through three regions. Tageo, Alcove Forest and Eastern Falls. There was one council in between it all and that was the Spiritualis Council. But I doubt we'd be allowed to cut through their council. Cassius, Helia and I kept walking through Tageo until we heard the sound of wingbeats in the sky. Instinctively, I jumped behind a rock in case it was an imminent danger.

Only it was Aurora and Asteria... Without the Ignisarbor. "Where is she?" I asked them

"Who, Dawn?" Asteria said. Cassius recognized the name instantly and not in a good way. I gave Asteria a look of frustration in fact, we all did. Aurora, Helia and I. Asteria knew she messed up and hung her head low. "Did you say... Dawn? As in King Clockwork's Daughter?" Cassius asked. Asteria nodded slowly.

"We can't bring her along, my mother will freak if she finds out I interacted with an Ignisarbor and I'm pretty sure her father would freak too."

"We must bring her," I said before continuing, "The prophecy calls for an Ignisarbor who is the daughter of a king at war, Dawn... Daughter of king at war. You said specifically when we met, 'Do as you must to end this strife between my mother and King Clockwork.' This is what we must do or there is no stopping the war. We don't even know how we ar-" I was abruptly interrupted when I noticed a pair of white, glowing eyes in the bushes just staring back at me. I began slowly approaching them. When I arrived at the bushes, I swiftly pushed them aside and there was nothing, until I saw a shadow make a swift right turn. "After that dragon!" I shouted.

I ran, following the mysterious figure. "Is he crazy?!" Cassius shouted. "I don't know, but I like where this is going," Aurora responded with a cocky grin. Lifting off, she flew forward at incredible speeds to keep up with me. Helia looked toward Asteria and Cassius with a shrug before lifting off too, chasing the mysterious dragon. Cassius soon turned his attention toward Asteria who decided against chasing after us. "Typical," Cassius said in a frustrated tone. Cassius debated it but flew forward as well, chasing Helia who was chasing after Aurora who was chasing after me chasing the mysterious dragon. "Wait!" Asteria shouted after them before lying down on the grass.

Cassius caught up to Helia and flew next to her. "What are they doing?" He asked. "Honestly, I don't know. But we gotta try our best to not lose them because we all know Aurora is quite possibly the fastest heir out of all thirteen in Pyrix. And the human, he runs like the flash," Helia responded.

I continued chasing after the dragon. I could hear them running for it as well. Why not fly? But I didn't complain about it. I knew Aurora, Cassius and Helia were chasing after me too, which I ignored. I somehow hadn't lost my breath as I kept running. I was tripping over roots, stumps and who knows what else. But I kept running, at this point, I was right on their tail, literally. I could see a head moving through the bushes and trusting my instincts I lept forward, tackling the mysterious stalker to the ground. There was a hill right then and when I tackled the dragon to the ground we kept rolling and rolling down the hill. Eventually, when we reached the bottom, I had them pinned to the ground and I could see their face.

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