Mega Dragon: Harbinger of Death

THE CAPITAL

Aroha, Zhiyi, and the six guards were rooted to the ground as the wyvern flew away. It had been almost a minute and none of them could move an inch. It was a miracle they had an encounter with a Royal Wyvern and it went so smoothly. Was it because of the presence of the Renoffs? Were they respected even by wyverns? The guards saw them in even greater light. what an honor it was to be guarding such noble individuals. Of course, Aroha knew that wasn’t the case.

She heard it quite clearly. It said welcome. Welcome? To where? And why her? And did Zhiyi hear it too? She was fairly certain the guards didn’t. But if she could hear it, there was little reason why Zhiyi couldn’t. It had to be connected to their Renoff blood somehow. But that wasn’t a discussion she was ready to have in public. Yes, to her, being around those guards was public itself.

Aroha cleared her throat, thawing everyone from their mental freeze. “Can we be on the move now? It’s gone, isn’t it?” she said. The guards nodded and quickly got themselves together. Zhiyi was still quite shaken. She shivered slightly. One of the guards had to help her mount her house. They tried to help Aroha as well. It was expected that such ‘fragile’ girls would still be awestruck by what had happened. Fragile? Aroha was anything but fragile. The scorn on her face said that much. No one attempted to help her up her horse once they saw that face. They probably wouldn’t help her with anything else as well.

From that time on, Zhiyi was silent. She was lost in whatever horrid thoughts she was having. Aroha enjoyed the silence. It was a different mood than when they had left home. A serene mood. Or a terrified one? Whichever it was, as long as there was quiet. But she hated to see Zhiyi like that. All shaken up. For someone she couldn’t stand most of the time, she hated seeing her weak and vulnerable even more. Zhiyi was the perfect child. It ad to stay that way even if at her expense. Aroha cared that much even though she never showed an inch of such concern.

“Wyvern got you all quiet now? I hear the princes love strong women,” Aroha teased. But Zhiyi wasn’t responding to her tease. She was truly shaken. Aroha bit her lip. Was she taking it too far? “I’m joking alright. You don’t have to look so grim. That’s my job,” Aroha teased and Zhiyi chuckled. “Ah, there’s that smile. Keep it on, but shut up,” Aroha said sharply. Suddenly, you could hear the cold in her voice again. It almost made her concern sound like mockery.

But Zhiyi was far from not being lost in her thoughts. The wyvern approaching them was a significant event. It was either that something happened or was about to. The fact that Aroha wasn’t talking about it meant that she knew. Or at least she had a fair idea. And to make matters worse, she kept completely silent about it. that must have meant it’s importance was of great magnitude. So great that she couldn’t mention it in front of strangers. But she would try her best to look strong, just as she always had.

What Aroha didn’t know was that Zhiyi wasn’t strong. How could she know. Zhiyi was gifted and confident and loved by all. But it was tough on her. Aroha was her solace. Someone that protected her even when everyone else shunned her. She wasn’t as brave as her older sister, but for her sake she would be. At least that way, she wouldn’t have to worry about her. Zhiyi stared at Aroha occasionally without her notice. She looked so much at ease. As important as what she knew might be, she didn’t look bothered by it. But Aroha had always been like that. She was hardly shaken by anything.

The rest of the journey was quiet and by evening they arrived at the capital. It was a lot shorter than Aroha thought it would be and she was glad that the journey was finally over. They were greeted quite generously at the gates once they knew who they were. Their parents were legends after all.

“My lady, shall we go to the Renoff Manor immediately or would you like to visit anywhere else first?” one of the guards asked. It was the first time any of them spoke to them since they first introduced themselves to them before they left home. They didn’t look the chatty type and Aroha was pleased with that.

“Oh, we’re not going there. No way I’m going to live with a bunch of rich snobs. Take us to Healers Nest!” Aroha ordered, much to the guards’ bewilderment. How could she, a Renoff call her other parts of the family rich snobs. Growing up on the outskirt of the village she certainly was no snob. But that was something outsiders would say. Not a fellow Renoff.

Aroha could read their thoughts from their puzzled expressions. “Ah, don’t worry, people say it all the time,” she added. It was normal for people to just assume a rich person was arrogant without meeting them simply because they were rich. While in this case they were not far off, they were also a number of exceptions. Like Aroha and her family.

The Renoffs owned a manor in the capital where the family used to stay before a number of them followed Gero and Miya to relocate to Juza after the armistice was formed. There were others still in the manor and Gero’s instructions were specifically to take his daughters to the manor. It was safer there before they got to know the capital better.

“My lady, your father instructed us to---” one of the guards started but Aroha promptly cut him short. She was in no mood to engage them in a conversation.

“Fine. Take us there. Once we arrive there, your job will be done and we can do whatever we like,” she retorted.

“My lady---”

“That will be all,” she interjected once more. And she called the others rich snobs like she was any different. “What do you think, Zhiyi,” Aroha asked. Zhiyi wasn’t yet quite her normal self.

“I don’t think I want to stay in the manor either. We’ll be cut off from so many people and fun stuff---” Zhiyi was getting excited till Aroha voiced in.

“People? Did you say people?” Aroha asked dreadfully.

“Well yeah. In other parts of the capital, we would have to mix with a lot of people. Maybe even more people in the Healers Nest. But in the manor, we could just avoid people. No one would even know we were there. But you already knew that, right?” Zhiyi was clearly baiting Aroha. She knew that Aroha wouldn’t live in the manor otherwise. But there was also no way she would survive the Healers Nest. There were simply just too many people to stay with. On her own, Zhiyi would be just fine. She had no problem staying with many people. Bur Aroha’s life would be a living hell, in turn making her own life a living hell as well.

The Healers Nest was the home of the healers in the capital. It was big enough to be called a manor but no where near as fancy as one would be. Plus, most of the healers lived there. That was more than the number of people you would normally find in a manor. There always had to be a certain number of healers in the healers nest just in case of emergencies. So, most times, they took shift for those who had families of their own or didn’t want to reside there permanently. Eventually, Aroha and Zhiyi would still have to stay there for some time, but it was better as a temporary situation that a permanent one. It was bearable at least.

Aroha didn’t argue after Zhiyi brought that point to light. How could she not have seen that? What was she thinking? She knew Zhiyi was baiting her. The annoying tone she used when saying all that said that much. But it was a trap she would walk into with her eyes wide open. Crowds were just not for her.

In a few minutes, they were at the manor. It had been years since she last came there. Not much had changed since then. The dull paintings and solemn windows still looked the same. But there wasn’t a single happy child running about like they used to when they lived here. Maybe they all grew up. Whatever it was, good riddance, Aroha thought to herself.

Aroha and Zhiyi were far too excited to wait till the next day to sign up to be healers, but the head of the manor who welcomed them advised them to refrain from such. The healers nest wasn’t so accessible at that time of the night. While exceptions would have been made for the sisters because of their family, it was better to put it off till the next day.

Immediately they were done packing, Zhiyi ran straight to Aroha’s room. Aroha was filled to the brim with frustration. Why was she bothering her already? But Zhiyi wanted to talk to her as quickly as possible regarding the incident that transpired on their journey to the capital.

Aroha recalled the incident like it was happening right in front of her eyes. At least the part that Zhiyi didn’t already know.

It was moving in circles above them, which was an unusual flight pattern for wyverns. Suddenly, a familiar feeling crept through her body. It was the same as when she meditated in the forests. She could feel the wyvern at a deeper level, almost like they had a connection. Suddenly, she could hear its breath, the air around it as its powerful wings slashed through it. She could feel the motion of its eyes. And she could have sworn that she could hear its thoughts. And a voice rang through her head. “Welcome,” it said.

Zhiyi was shocked. Not only did a wyvern speak to Aroha and she heard it, but what it said. welcome? Neither of the sisters knew what it meant. They hadn’t even the slightest clue. So, they decided to put it off until they had written to their parents about it. If anyone would have an idea about what was happening, it would be them.

***

The next morning took too long to come for the girls. Despite how exhausted they were, they hardly slept a wink. It was the moment they had dreamed of for so long. They would finally be healers. Aroha and Zhiyi ran straight to the Healers Nest even before they had breakfast. It was something they eventually regretted doing. But nonetheless, they were excited.

To their surprise, they weren’t the only ones who were as excited. There was a ridiculously long line ahead of them, with men and women who were applying to join the Nest. Even after showing their stamps and explaining who they were, they were still asked to be on queue. Apparently, there had been many cases of impersonation before them. Had they come with the head of the manor like they were supposed to, they would have been granted admittance.

Annoyingly enough, someone seemed to just waltzed past them and everyone else on the queue. He smelled of royalty alright. But they, the Renoffs were on the queue. Who did he think he was?