Last of Her Kind

Chapter 1 ALORA

The grass was scratchy and uncomfortable, Aleno kept complaining as he rolled around in the meadow trying to find a good position to lay in. He had always hated wearing this skin, it was far too small and rode up in all the wrong places. Plus it itched. Not on the inside. On the outside. Everything made this thing itch. The grass. A feather. The slightest breeze. If it hit right it itched, and Aleno hated itching.

The sun was sinking deep in the sky. It was about time to get home for the night.

“Are you almost done here?”

He rolled over to look at the young woman sitting next to him, her dark hair was falling down to frame the front of her face as she glared back at him with one striking, emerald eye.

“Why are you always in such a rush?”

“Because this stupid skin itches. And also, because we really shouldn’t be out after dark.”

“Well you don’t have to come with me you know. We aren’t that far from the caves. I’ll be alright all by myself.”

“None of us should be alone, especially not you.”

“Then you can wait a few more minutes.”

Aleno rolled back over and groaned. “Fine.”

The young girl rolled her eyes and turned back to continue watching out over the trees of the forest in front of them.

A few more minutes passed as the sun began to kiss the horizon. A small gasp escaped the girl’s lips and she smiled. Aleno sat up and saw, lighting up like fireflies across the the sea of trees, the city readying itself for the night.

“Finally. Can we go?”

The girl shot him one more dirty look and got to her feet.

“Fine. You can take the magic out of everything. We can leave.”

“Can’t take the magic out of us.”

She marched off in a huff, leaving him to catch up.

Aleno jogged a few steps so as to be in line with his companion. “You know I have to look out for you.”

The girl didn’t respond. Aleno turned her to face him.

“Alora.”

She met his eye. “I know you’re just trying to protect me. I just wish it didn’t have to be this way. I wish our world hadn’t come to this.”

Aleno pulled her into a big bear hug, and kissed the top of her head, “Me too, sis, me too.”

The two continued on in silence as they hiked back up the mountain. After twenty minutes, they approached an unusual rock formation. Alora stepped forward and raised her hands. The rocks began to rumble as they spun apart to reveal a tunnel. The two entered and the rocks returned to place behind them.

The caves were dark ahead, but for the two of them, it's nothing. They took each turn with grace and ease, knowing which turns led to false promises and which ones held rewards. They traveled for miles, deep into the black cold of the earth. Finally, they reached another set of rocks that needed to be moved.

As the rocks shifted to the side, a great cavern opened before them, reaching hundreds of yards in either direction, and stretching at least two miles above their heads. The entire room had been carved out into a small city, with halls and rooms going off in every direction. And in the center, a large cathedral like structure stretched high as it tried to touch the immense ceiling. It was from the cathedral the two saw a man approach. Behind him, they heard the roars of a beast in pain.

“Thank the gods you’re back. It’s Elysia, something has happened.”

Aleno cursed loudly, “What do you mean, ‘something has happened?”

The man burst into sobs as he sputtered out, “She-e w-w-went on th-th-the h-h-h- on the h-h-h-”

“Spit it out, Elysor, what happened to her?” Aleno, grabbed the man by his collar as a cloud of smoke billowed out of his nose in a huff. Elysor’s eyes grew wide as Aleno’s became slits.

“Sh-she went on the hunt. I b-b-begged her not to go, b-but she ref- sh-she ref-f-fused to listen. Th-they were at-t-tacked by a group of slayers. She t-t-took a spear inside one of her haunches.” The old man started crying again as Aleno let go of him.

“What about the slayers? Did they follow them back?”

Elysor continued sputtering through his tears, “I-I-I d-don’t know.”

Aleno cried out in frustration as another cloud of smoke came out from both his nose and mouth. Alora stepped forward to place a hand on his arm to quiet him down.

“You need to stretch. Go calm down while I check in on Elysia. Everything will be okay.”

Aleno nodded and walked off a few feet. Alora and Elysor turned to give him privacy as he began removing pieces of his clothes and dropping them off behind him as he walked. Then a loud cry came out of Aleno as a small gust of air began to engulf his body and forced his abandoned clothes to fly off.

As the wind blew, Elysor took Alora by the arm and raised his voice up above the sound, “There’s something else you have to know.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear as the blowing began to calm down. Her eyes welled with tears as she looked back at her brother, now a towering, winged lizard looking down from above her. She approached him and rested a hand on his dark green head. Alora looked into one of his large, slitted eyes, the same emerald as hers, and their mother’s.

“Be safe,” she whispered.

Aleno raised his head and shook his front shoulders, stretching them out. He then unfolded two large, leathery wings, beating them a few times as if to make sure they still work. One more full body stretch, and into the air he went. Circling up high above, he wove in and out, dodging the stalactites that hang precariously above.

Alora went to gather up her brother’s clothes for him and then turned back to face Elysor.

“Now, let’s go check on your daughter.”

Inside, the Cathedral was open and immense, like the cavern itself, with rooms and stairways set off in the outer walls all the way up and a large open room right in the middle of it all. Alora followed Elysor into the great room to find the giant dragon form of Elysia, crying out in pain as two others work on dressing the wound in her back left haunch.

Alora shooed the others out of her way as she went to inspect the injury. It was beginning to pus with infection. The scales around had started turning from their beautiful silvery blue to an ugly black. “Why hasn’t it started healing yet? Her powers should have been able to mend most of this by now.”

Elysor started crying again. “The spear had s-some s-sort of poison on it. Neither h-her body or h-her magic has been able to s-s-stop it from spreading”

Alora stood up to comfort the old man. “Elysor, I know you have lost a lot over these years, but I need you to stay strong if you want to see Eylsia through this. She isn’t gone yet, so you have to stop acting like she is. You are the only elder we have left, you have to be able to guide us.”

Elysor nodded and pulled a handkerchief out of his trouser pockets and wiped his face off. “We put the spear over in the lab if you want to inspect it. I haven’t been able to make out it’s main components yet, but it seems to have slowed down a bit since we removed the weapon.”

“Thank you. I think you should go get some rest. I can take it from here.”

Elysor pulled Alora into a great hug. “Thank you, Alora. I believe you can save my daughter” he whispered. He patted Alora on the shoulder once again and turned to leave the cathedral.

Alora called back the two men who were tending to Elysia’s wound. “Bring me the spear she was hit with, and water. Lots of water.” She looked Elysia in the eye as she rubbed her hand on the small head scales behind Elysia’s jaw. “You’re going to be alright. You’ve got eggs to lay.”

 From up above, Alora could hear the mournful cries of her brother as he continued to circle the through the cave.