Querencia World Book3: The Mystery of The Mermaid Fortress

Chapter 11 Dragon’s Sanctuary

I cannot see anything in the height where we reach; only clouds are visible around us. Cynr glides as the cloud fades. I see he is gliding, in those high mountains.

The rock formation of the mountains sculptured by nature; each of the rock is unique and beautifully carved.

An island gets my attention, Cynr slowing down. There are flying dragons here and there, different colors, and they are vibrant. There are small ones, medium size, and big ones, but none is as huge as Cynr. The dragons look different; some fly fast, glide here and there, and some fly slower.

In the land, there are small breathing dragons who do not fly; they are playing. There are sea dragons who swim in the sea, but none is like Raiden, None is as colorful and as enormous like him. Those are sea serpent but a different kind.

Raiden is a Knucker, the deadliest serpent in the sea, his kind are all killed, and they are extinct because of the war. The Elders targets strong dragons. They eliminate them first to weaken their powers.

Cynr is a fire breathing dragon, a wyvern, and the only one left in his kind. Most of the dragons left in the sanctuary are the weakest kind of dragon. They are harmless. They can attack and defend themselves, but their power to give damage to their opponent is low.

When I met Raiden, I go to the mermaid’s library, spent an hour a day reading books about the kinds and types of dragons. I do not want to be naive about the dragons' World. Now, seeing those dragons becomes real in front of my eyes. I am glad I read those books.

Cynr flaps his wings: one, two, three, then flaps, and he is preparing to land, his claws slide through the soil as he lands swiftly. I manage to hold tightly in the strap for me not to fall.

Some of the dragons are in their human form, and they welcome us. Master Xavion get off the dragon, he guides me to come down.

Master Xavion lift Raiden by his arm and slump it over his shoulder and hold him.

Cynr immediately transforms into his human form. He is larger compare to Raiden; he is more bulk. Cynr’s hair is also long and straight; his eyes are black. He quickly give commands. “, Get Raiden and take him to the room that we prepare,” his authoritativeness felt in his voice.

Two of his men quickly move to get Raiden off Master Xavion and walk him to his room. We all watch as his men take Raiden.

Cynr stands in front of us, and a gorgeous woman stands by his side.

“Welcome to the dragon sanctuary,” Cyrnr baritone voice crisply heard.

Cynr holds the waist of the woman by her side; she warmly smiles at us.

“This is my wife, Rebecca. She is an ice dragon.” Cynr introduces short and swiftly.

“Greetings, It is rare for our place to have a visitor, especially not our kind.” Rebecca is amazed at the fact we are different creatures.

“Our sanctuary is far from Human and mythical creatures. We are isolated. It never crosses my mind that a wizard and a mermaid will come and be our visitors,” Rebecca's tantalizing eyes sparkles.

“It is warm to feel a friendly welcome, but I might break your expectation, I will not stay here. I will leave Raiden, and this woman for I have a Passage to Guard. I cannot be away for too long,” Master Xavion declares

‘I understand,” Cynr acknowledge.

“Master Xavion, I am grateful for saving my friend, Raiden. He may cause troubles many times, but he is like a family to me. I am in debt to you that you help us to get him back in our sanctuary.”

“No, I am not the one you should give your gratitude. The woman here is a mermaid, exiled by the Maiden in their Fortress for siding with your friend. She is a reliable person, willing to protect his friend even if it causes her trouble, the reason Raiden is still alive. Her name is Miara, and I expect you will take care of her in the times she will stay here in your sanctuary. She has a great mission to fulfill in the future. Please protect her. She will help me with my plans. The time will come that she will leave your sanctuary till that day comes. I entrust her in your care.” Master Xavion, giving important reminders before he leaves.

“I keep that in mind, Master Xavion,” Cynr assures him.

“I make sure she is safe, nor be in trouble while she stays in our sanctuary,” Cynr pledge.

‘I take your word, Cyrnr. I trust you.” Master Xavion replied calmly.

Master Xavion faces me and stares at me, “ I am going, I leave you here. I come back at the right time you should return to your Fortress,”

I am trying to decipher what Master Xavion thinks, but I guess I have no way to know.

I nod. Even if I am afraid of what the future may bring, when will the time I can come back in our Fortress. I may fear the uncertainty, but I do not have the power to question Master Xavion. I smile timidly; I must trust Master Xavion.

Raiden fulfills my dream to be the Maiden, my tail color, and my mermaid appearance change. I also acquired new skills that only Maiden has. Master Xavion confirms my wish granted. I need to look after Raiden; he is still weak. At least I have to make sure he recovered. I hope when all is well. I can come back.

‘I will take you in the Passage, Master Xavion,” Cynr offers.

“No, I have someone will take me there,” Master Xavion speaks, and the Kraken he rides in our travel to our Fortress appears in the sea.

Master Xavion rides the Kraken and gives his final words to us,

“Till we see each other again, Miara,” Master Xavion utters as the Kraken dive in as it makes a wave.

Rebecca gaze at me fondly, she quickly hooks her arms with me.

“Do not worry, Miara, I make sure your stay here is not boring. I take you to beautiful places in our sanctuary. This island may be small, but it is the top-notch among the other islands. This place is not like the other island you visit before,” Rebecca brags.

“But, I do not have any comparison; this is the first island I visit,” I shyly admit.

‘Oh, I thought mermaids are free creatures,” Rebecca, blurted out,

“I do not know before, but in these days. I guess not. We only swim within our borders,” I explain.

‘The war changes everything,” Cynr sudden remarks,

“We do not know any news from the Royal Family and the Five Kingdoms; we are not part of them anymore. We live far away from any creature, for there is a lot of misconception in our appearance. Humans mostly thinking, we are using our power and enormous size to dominate the life form. It is sad, they threatened in our existence. We want to coexist with the others, the human has a lot of fears,” Rebecca sadly, expresses her sentiments for humans and other creatures for years.

I hold Rebecca’s hand, “, I dream for the day that we can understand and accept each other,” I give her a warm smile.

“Come, I take you to your room,”  Rebecca urge me to hurry.

I come with her as Rebecca walks me around, she leads me to my room. We enter one of the holes in the rock mountain. Inside, there is a warm bed, and the entrance hole decorated by veins that serve as curtains. The room is simple.

“I can provide your clothes. I only made my clothes. I sew it by my hand. I will lend you some of mine,” Rebecca sweetly smiles. I can feel she is in glee to have some visitors.

“you may take your rest now. I call you when its time for dinner,”

“Dinner,” it slips in my mouth,

I read in the book that dragons, eating different food according to their kind. Cynr, as a wyvern, is a flesh-eating dragon; he eats fish and raw meat from animals.

Some dragons only eat fruits and vegetables; sea serpents eat seaweeds, plants, and herbs. They also eat squids and some crustaceans.

I was a mermaid who only eats seaweeds, herbs, and plants. I do consume human food. In Mermaid’s Fortress, human food served for the pleasure of their victims.

“see you in dinner,” Rebecca mouthed as she leaves me in my room.

I squint my eyes, looking around the room; it is empty suddenly, I feel alone. I miss my family and our Fortress.

I lay in bed. I feel the tiredness that I ignore all along. I fell asleep. I do not know how many hours had passed.

I wake up in noises and loud growls; I rub my eyes and stretch my hand. I slide the vein curtains. I stand in front of my room, observing.

The dragons are in their human form, gathering around the bone fire that lights up in the middle of those dragons.

 The women are sitting in a long table made in the rock. They are watching the event and patiently waiting.

The men are loud; they are growling. I wonder what the reason for that noise. The dragon men are in line.

Cynr as the Leader sits prominently in the rock placed in the middle of the crowd, facing the bonfire. He is waiting for the man in line to stop in front of him. Each one carries a barrel. They stop in front of Cynr and pour the content; it is the fish they caught.

If the fish they caught is more than the others. The men growl; it is the sign that they are boosting their fellow dragon's ego. It is a battle of who has the most catch fishes.

I am puzzled. I see in the long table; there are fruits, different kinds of plants, even sea herbs, and seaweeds, and crustaceans served.

The only one not served is the meat. I am pondering if Cynr intentionally creates the competition for he can eat bountifully. The last thing I want to think of is badly about Cynr since it is my first day here.

I relax and shrug those ideas. I treat it is a harmless activity for the sake of fun and entertainment of the dragons.

In the book that I read about the dragons, they are naturally competitive, and they like engaging in the activity that will test their ability. They like being praise in their skills and willing to show off what they got. Those activities are friendly competitions, but they acknowledge the power of someone who always wins the game.

The dragons praise the number one winner and respect him. As they announce the winner, Cynr seems to takes pride in the skills of the dragon who wins the competition.

“Xynirre, you win. You prove over again no one can beat you in any game,” Cynr stands up and claps his hand to praise the winning dragon.

Each woman eye’s filled with admiration as they clap their hands. The men make noise and growl once again to celebrate the dragon’s win.

I walk in their place; Cynr recognizes my presence. Everyone gazes at me as I walk in and get everyone's attention. Others who see me arrive are not startle with me anymore, but others who do not have any idea; widen their eyes in surprise.

“Good evening,” I bow to Cynr.

Rebecca quickly comes to me and stand by my side.

Cynr speaks, “, This is Miara, our visitor. As you all know, Raiden comes back, and that is because Miara helps him escape her daughter's cave. Miara is a mermaid but even if she is not our kind, treat her like she is not different from us. She will stay here as long the time permits till the day Master Xavion comes to fetch her. I promise to Master Xavion that we will take care of her as she stays in our sanctuary. I hope you get my words, clearly,”

The dragons all made the same sound; it is like a howl and growl combines. It is a sound that dragons can only produce.

I turn to Rebecca as she smiles gently to me, “, that means the dragons agreed,”

Copyright:

This story is solely my ideas and creative thinking. Please do not copy, use, distribute, or reproduce.

© January Garneth.2020. The Mystery of the Mermaid Fortress