Chapter 17: Ch.13: Leaving Part I

The dragon-touched, or Scions, as they later came to be known, were the people of hominid races that volunteered to acquire the blessings of the dragons in our war against the Fiends. Though many did not survive this, as they were the linchpin that dealt the finishing blow, they live on through their offspring, the dragonkin. We will eternally remember their sacrifice... -Journal entry from records of the Fiend Wars by an unknown soldier.

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Arthur went to the bedroom that had been his residence for a while. But how much time has passed? He wasn’t sure though, as Aeskyre did not keep a calendar. All he knew of dates was that the calendar was Antecian, the same way he’d had Gregorian back home. Some books he read also referred to the Antecian Calendar as the Antefall Calendar. After what Fall, he had no context. Supposedly, the Sylvani also used the calendar of their forebearers, the Illvari Calendar.

Nonetheless, he had other things to worry about, even if time was one of them. Especially becuase the keep had innumerable rooms, but he had never gotten around to exploring any part of it. His routine had seen him visit the gazebo at the room where he had the first sit-down for tea with the draconic woman; the same place that was within reach of Aeskyre’s library. Sometimes he would move some books to the study whenever he wanted to make notes. There was also the kitchen, which was self-explanatory, the training yard and then the workshop.

His host cared not for most creature comforts except for food. She had no use for a bedroom. She barely even slept in her simulacran form because her main body was hibernating while she walked around. Whatever fatigue and sleep she would feel would be diminished.

And when you put her size into perspective, you could understand why. A dragon’s perception of time was too vast to compare with a human. Or a former human. Arthur did not know what having dragon blood flowing in his veins made him.

The youth cast around for his mana-powered sailing craft and found it leaning against the wall at the head of the bed. The sail was hoisted upright beside it. His sleeping quarters were large enough that he could afford some clutter. However, his duffel bag and a couple of books in a dresser were the only things in the room.

Running his fingers along the body of planed ironwood, he traced the flow of the grain and then picked it from its resting place. He carried the craft weighing less than a quarter of his mass to the skin rug of some bear like creature that had three pairs of legs .

Pulsing [Detect Flaw] and [Diagnostics], Arthur checked if the board was still functioning and both skills returned a positive. He also thought that he really needed to do something about the name of his invention,

‘Surf board, nope that’s too generic; aer board? Nah, doesn’t roll off the tongue like I want to; hoverboard or a hover? Eh too corny but it could work. Alright then hoverboard or hover it is,” he thought, slapping his knees. Azure Surfer was just his personal name for the board.

It had been a while since he’d taken out the hoverboard, if at all. He just hadn’t realized it. Besides, staying cooped up had brought a yearning for more than just the keep. There was an entire world out there! He could just grab his hoverboard and fly off but no, there was another issue that had been bothering him for a while—the mana storms.

They were too unpredictable, and their reach was indeterminable from the keep. Sooner or later, Arthur was going to leave, to see the world outside and maybe find out if there was a way of going back home. After all that time, Arthur would never have admitted that he was still hung up on the idea of whether he would live out all his days on Eryth or find a way back.

Nevertheless, knowing it was a long shot, he had his fingers crossed on the matter. In fact, he didn’t even know if he wanted to voice the question. Maybe it came from the sense of security that starting over from a clean slate gave him. Anyway, that was something future Arthur would have to contend with; the present Arthur wanted to find a solution to his current quandary.

Before he realised it, Arthur was sitting in introspection, dissecting every angle of the mana storms and their effects on the Mark II engine test like a forensics expert.

‘Everything was performing as expected during the test. Although I didn’t check for flaws on account of fatigue, there was no way any of the components were at fault since Aeskyre fabricated them. I should have realised the mana storms cause spikes in mana concentration around the keep.

That I didn't notice is because casting a spell personally is so different from having a machine extract the mana from the air for a magical reaction; mana crystals are not like mana cores.’ He committed that to memory and vowed to add it to the technical specifications of the next mana engine.

‘That leaves me with one choice I haven’t tried out. The purpose of mana sail is to sustain a long-term magical reaction for long voyages. According to the blueprints, an aership should still have enough mana for an emergency landing even if its mana sails are disabled on account of its aerofloats.

An aerofloat was the portmanteau of aerostatic and float, and it rolled off the tongue well, so Arthur adopted that instead of the long-winded aerostatic float.

However, an aership cannot leave port from a stationary position, until at least one of the mana sails is unfurled. In most cases, this might be the smallest forward sail-the flying jib.’ He knitted his brows as he puzzled this, the pieces were all there—he just needed one more clue to get the whole picture. Once again, he looked at the Azure Surfer.

He was left with one choice anyway, so he decided to jump in with both feet. He activated [Draconic Sight], one of the skills that had rarely seen any use and looked through the insides of the small engine mounted on the rear. Sturms Keep was a mana volatile environment and tended to blind him sometimes.

He traced the mana conduits, dimly glowing like a guttering flame against a washed out background of mundane components. If he could compare it to something familiar, Draconic Sight functioned like heat vision goggles, but for mana. He did not notice that not only did his blue gold-flecked irises glow, but his pupils became slitted the more he concentrated.

As he looked on, he noticed the mana conduits were unsuccessfully trying to siphon mana from the room but only minute amounts reached the aertherite canister and the gem that served as the focus. The aerostat floats were also in the same state, twinkling past the whorls of the wood like green pinpricks of light. He presumed it was barely enough to keep it charged but not functioning.

‘Ah, so mana crystals have the ability to self-recharge, but the process is inefficient with ambient mana.’

The nullsteel canister containing the Aertherite crystal simply appeared as a gray patch in this magical vision, a result of its nullifying property.

With an idea blooming in his mind, Arthur extracted Aer mana from his mana well and channeled it to the palm of his hand, whereupon he placed it on the pedal switching mechanism that acted as controls for the hoverboard. The control runes in contact with his palm sucked in mana like a [Void] spell. Barely a moment passed as the mana conduits were rekindled, blazing to life in his [Draconic Sight] as they fed into the canister.

The Mark I sputtered like a parched drunk, then with a hum, it started churning out thrust, levitating the hoverboard. Arthur face-palmed at the revelation that had been in front of his eyes all along. He started drawing up new plans, but before that, he needed to go stretch his legs as he’d planned.

Deciding that he’d test the hoverboard while at it, Arthur carried the Azure Surfer under the crook of his arm and strolled out of the keep. He passed by the main cavern that held Aeskyre's hoard, catching a glimpse of the hibernating dragon behind a barrier that shimmered like a soap bubble.

Despite its deceiving appearance, it was not as invulnerable as it seemed. A feline eye tracked his progress as he walked around the barrier, and Arthur would barely stop himself from flinching even as the eye closed.

The youth took the old route that had led him to stumble upon the lair. Passing through the tunnel, he noticed that it had been cleared of the skeletons and their broken armaments in the illumination of the blue moss that clung to the walls. His eye’s drank in every detail, sharper than they had been before.

He noticed the other denizens of cavern walls, which he had missed in his flight from the catfish-axolotl creature skittering around in the shadows. He was no longer afraid of the creatures, and was far removed from the man he was when he encountered them.

Arriving at the cave he’d first found himself, he encountered the pond just as he had left it. Crepuscular shafts of the overhead sun illuminated the lone seat that he’d left behind on the tiny island, like a mythical artifact waiting to be claimed. It looked weather-beaten and mold was starting to show in places, but otherwise looked undisturbed.

Arthur made a note to reclaim as a memento. It was too good a thing to waste, even if it didn't have genuine leather upholstery. He could even carry it around in his magical storage and use it as a camping chair. Nothing else stirred in the cave, apart from the breeze coming from his destination. Wresting his eyes from the scenery, he left.

---

Arthur’s excursion led him to a cave system he’d never encountered before. It had a ledge jutting out from the cavern’s lip and spread to either side of it. There were balustrades showing it had been some sort of viewing platform or balcony, crawling with blue flowered vines that looked like a cross between an iris and an ivy.

One side had a set of worn stairs clinging to the side of the aersland’s mountain. He followed, curious about where it led whilst toting the hoverboard . He’d been walking for a while and hadn’t seen the end of the stairs when he came to an impasse. A section of the stairs had collapsed, dropping into an outcrop below, separating the rest from where he stood.

Arthur looked at the hoverboard he’d been lugging around and shook his head,

‘Sometimes I forget where I am.’

Arthur got off to a running start and infused the Azure Surfer with his mana. Letting it go from his hands, he jumped aboard just as it was going across his side of the divide and coasted across the breach.

He gave a cathartic whoop as he scaled the oncoming stairs in a skater’s creep as the wind beat against his face. Giant boulders and bonsai-like trees that had gnarly trunks and tenacious roots grew from the stairs as he whizzed past, coming to a stop as the incline plateaued.

The place commanded a view of the surrounding aerlands floating in the sky; a breeze pulled at his shirt. The normally stormy weather had retreated from the keep, baring glimpses of the land below whenever a gap in the clouds below opened.

It was a dizzying scene, of land so far away that even his improved eyes could not pick it out. He let his hoverboard stall to make an impromptu seat and sat down to relax―and think.

First, he needed to think about his future. He’d hardly gotten the time to take stock of what he wanted to do with his life now that he had found his bearings. There was the issue of his missing memories, but those would come back with time even if he didn’t go mucking around in his own mind with magic.

There had to be mind specialists in Eryth because... magic. If Aeskyre could bring him back from the brink, there had to be a way to recover his memories when and if he wanted them. He was not in a hurry. Either that or he was just afraid because he didn't know who or what kind of person he was before he came to Eryth.

‘Surely, it can’t be that bad, right? I am still me, with or without my past.’he chuckled to himself.

He squinted against the glare of the late afternoon sun, forming a prismatic halo in the layer of clouds rolling overhead like a flock of fluffy sheep.

‘Who am I kidding? My past will come calling either way. I still get dreams of places and people I should know and every day they become clearer and clearer. I can’t keep on coming back to this time and again’. He rested his cheek on his knuckles. A dour scowl darkened his expression as he gazed somewhere his sight could not reach.

A thought came to him unbidden, and reluctantly, he retrieved his phone from the inside pocket of his aviator jacket. ‘Maybe I should just use [Diagnostics] and [Basic Repair] on my phone and get it over with. I should have done this earlier,’ he thought as he palmed the outline of the device.

There was crack spider-webbing from the corner of its blank screen where a little moisture had condensed to form a rainbow effect. He inspected the rest of the device and found nothing else was out of place. He depressed the power on button, a battery empty tone answered him.

‘ Huh? Figures―’ he sighed.

As he prepared to put the phone away, a voice startled him.

“When are you going to fix that?” Aeskyre called out as her footfalls came within hearing range.

“You keep looking at the mundane thing as if it contains everything you hold dear; I would have thought you would have restored it a lifetime afore.”

‘Oh, You have no idea.’

Arthur didn't turn around to retort, rather he returned his gaze to the gadget in his hands. The man shook his head wryly. Tracing the hairline cracks with his thumb he said,

You are reading story Eryth: Strange Skies at novel35.com

“ There’s something missing. I am sure If I use [Diagnostics] it’ll tell me that the circuitry is okay. “ But you know, I don’t know―sometimes I wonder if I should even do that, because if I do, I will be opening a door that I won’t close... likePandora’s box.”

“Oh, I get the allusion to a vessel of horrors. But why?”

“Huh? That’s how the World translates it?” He chortled mirthlessly. “I wonder if I’ll be the same person after seeing whatever this thing contains. It might contain a record of my life, people I know, people lost to me.”

“It’s not my place to say,” she said, looking towards the cloudy sky. Still standing, she added, “ If there is anything I’ve learnt it’s that you will always be you, impetuous and stubborn to a fault.”

“ Hey!” Arthur protested.

“Come what may, you have proven yourself able to claw your way from whatever pit you find yourself in. I think you have an indomitable strength of will.” She grinned impishly as she turned her gaze to the distance.

“I’ve always wanted to ask why you took me in?”

“Mmh? Mayhap because you looked like a lost wee babe. Besides, you were practically harmless; you had no weapon save for that mundane knife of yours...”

“There’s more you’re leaving hanging in the air. That's half of it. A dragon would not just pick up a stray like you would say... a cat off the street. Humans are practically beneath you.”

Aeskyre swiveled her face and fixed him with a look. But Arthur did not shy from her gaze, as if he dared her to refute it. She terminated the contest of wills when she saw that he was not backing down and snorted in amusement. Breaking eye contact, she replied, “I am half a millennia old.”

“That does not tell me anything.”

“In dragon years, I am a juvenile just entering their prime.”

“Er, I don’t know what to say. I mean, I did not see that coming.

“What? You thought I was ancient just because I am of the elder races?” she shook her head looking like she’d taken umbrage. She seemed to gather her poise and then replied in a voice that was practically a whispered growl.

Arthur had never heard her attempt to speak so conservatively; ‘attempted to’ being the key word. And it looked like it hurt her just to say it.

“It was on a whim—” she shrugged as she muttered under her breath. “Dragons are supposed to be strong, majestic, regal, and all those words you non-elder races like to use just because we are beings beyond your ken.

Unlike the Primals, few of us are acts of nature who can afford to temper how they react to the world around them. Some of us may be closer to your level of fortitude than you think. We did not choose how we came to be…”

“Oh—”

“Let me finish, Arthur. I may not have a chance to repeat what I am about to say.” She wrung her palms as if dredging uncomfortable memories, “When I hatched from my egg all those years ago, I almost died because what was waiting for me beyond my egg’s shell, was a weyr of the confounded wyverns,” she spat.

‘So that’s why you have a vendetta against them’ Arthur realized. He kept silent and let her continue.

“However, I discovered that I had a half-formed imprint and, by some stroke of luck, I barely made it after fighting tooth and claw. The fact remained; I was still alone and I never knew another dragon.”

“Erm, you don’t have to say it—” Arthur tried to insist. Things were getting awkward fast.

“Don’t patronize me Arthur Wade O’reilly!” She growled. Her eyes went wide as saucers when she realized her outburst. She almost walked off, but she held herself back. Aeskyre bit her lip with her draconic fang. Resigned, she let herself sit, leaving a little gap between the two of them.

The Azure surfer barely bowed under the weight. They stayed in companionable silence before she spoke again. Arthur was wondering when and how long the woman had known his full name. He hadn’t told her at any point until he realized that she might have had magic for that too. He shelved that for later.

“—battered and bruised I happened upon this Archipelago of Storms as it later came to be known. Here, I found shelter in Sturm’s Keep, an old dilapidated Eldevalli fortress. Later on, I awakened to all of my affinities. Fate or whims of the Primals, I know not, but the World chose to favour me thus.”

“I survived by hunting rogue wyverns, stranded by the storms way before any aerships graced the skies; food was hard to come by.” She paused and then her voice dropped to a whisper as she fought her racial pride

“I never knew my parentage nor clutch if I had any. I didn't even know where to begin looking. What if I’m the only dragon left in these skies?… I had no one to show me what to do or how to live—”

“When you stumbled into Sturm’s keep, I felt a sense of camaraderie when I saw the look in your eyes. We are the same in more ways than you realize, you and I. That’s why I picked you up, as you say, like a stray cat off the street.”

Arthur could only nod at that.

“I don’t know how you do these things hereabouts but—,” Arthur started. Aeskyre furrowed her eyebrows. Arthur swallowed thickly and went on, “When someone shares a part of themselves that they’ve fought to reveal, it is courtesy to do the same.

Usually that is between friends, but sometimes, people who have shared a drink do that too.” He paused, spying a faraway cloud.

“ Even though I lost my memories, one’s parents are not so easily forgotten, it seems. I never knew my mother and my father either. If I had a sibling, perhaps that’s with the memories I do not have...so, I guess you’re right.”

Rolling her eyes, Aeskyre turned to regard him from her perch on the Azure Surfer, “What are you doing Arthur O’reilly?”

Arthur shifted a little under the dragon's gaze. That was so non-sequitur. It wasn't what he'd expected.

“How much longer?”

“Mmh?”

“Aeris breath! I asked how much longer you’re going to stay, you flightless fool.”

“Uh…” Arthur stuttered.

“Arthur!” Aeskyre snarled as she stood up abruptly. She turned around and leveled him a heavy glare, eyes literally smoldering with lightning sparks. She looked ready to bring down the hammer of the gods on his head. “And do not attempt to misdirect me; I have noticed the way you seem to long for the outside.”

“Alright... alright, I hear you.” Arthur tried to pacify her, seeing as the clouds overhead had begun to mirror her emotions. Once she’d calmed down, the skies cleared.

He bit back a grimace like he’d tasted vinegar, “In a week, give or take a few days—It's tentative; I have to plan a route, acquire supplies, and get more training before then." I have to make sure I finish the new engine before I leave.”

“Oh. very well then,” Aeskyre scowled grimly.

Arthur scratched his hair in shame, “I am sorry. Humans are just not used to staying cooped up for very long. I wish I could stay but I have a fear of missing out. I know?—why don’t you come with me? We could travel together, you and I.”

'What am I saying? Bringing a dragon to civilization when she’d killed many?’

He looked for an agreeable response from her but all he got in return was a smile that did not reach her eyes. “Hmph,” she snorted. “ If wishes were gold… “ she rubbed her arms as if staving away the cold. She looked lost, “Out there is no place for a dragon who's well behind their heritage. The age of dragons is long past.”

“Wha—” Arthur tried to respond, but the words died in his throat. He closed his mouth, opened it and closed it again. Her countenance had fallen. Now that he knew she was not just a dragon but a teenager in her dragon years, it really put things into perspective. Her grandstanding and mood swings. Sometimes she acted mature, like she had the wisdom of ancients, and sometimes she was normal, like an ordinary human girl if a bit rough around the edges. The fault of her half-formed imprint.

Aeskyre turned around, giving him one last forlorn look .Before Arthur could conceive of what she was about to do she dropped off the cliff and glided away with her dress trailing behind her.

“Wait!” but Arthur was a couple of blinks too late. She had disappeared into the layer of the clouds meandering below

‘Jeez, way to go, Arthur. Just had to go and eat your foot. Add some salt while at it, why don’t you?’ Arthur heaved angrily as he pulverized a bunch of rocks with a [Thunder Bolt] spell.

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