1x1 Coffee Dragon

[DragonDream]

✴Phlegethon✴

Fear rose along his spine. Seraphine had seemed confident in all other matters, and seemed to know a lot about everything. The fact that she was at a loss now, when it seemed to matter the most, terrified him. He said nothing else, knowing that it would do no good to voice his fear. All he could do was wait.

[ColorCoffee]

||Seraphine||

Hours seemed to pass, but no one ever came. Seraphine was beginning to think they were being left to starve to death. Every part of her wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. The sensation of longing for home and comfort was strong. For a moment, all she wanted was her mother. Odd, she hadn't felt like this since she was a child. Even though the desire to cry was strong, she knew she couldn't. If this silver chief walked in and saw that she was weak, they would probably kill her on the spot. Instead, she laid there, staring at the torch.

Her head jerked up at the first sound of footsteps. It sounded like several people. A group of soldiers entered the room. They appeared to create a barrier. For a moment nothing happened, but then, the soldiers up front stepped aside, making an entrance for who Seraphine could only guess to be the Silver chief.

"Thank you gentlemen, you may stand down."

Seraphine was shocked by the voice. Based on the first encounter she had, she was expecting another tall, strong, scary looking soldier. Instead, what stood before her, was a stout, old woman. Her hair had been done in two braids that framed her rather round face. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth gave her a softer feel. Just looking at her made Seraphine relax.

The woman stepped closer to Seraphine. "Oh my, I do apologize for the way you have been treated. You must understand, it has been centuries since we have seen outsiders. When we saw the torch we were afraid you may be out to hunt us, and well, we can't have that. I am Silver Chief, Anaka. You must be Seraphine." The lady made an effort to help Seraphine sit up.

"Wait, so you're not going to punish us?"

"Well, we were, but after going through your things and having a discussion with the grand counsel of elders, we decided that a group consisting of a young girl, a child, and their dog, was of no threat to us." She cut the ropes that bound Seraphine.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you people?"

"We are the Sarduo people. Keepers of the Yauntoo Mountains." she said as she made her way over to Phleg.

"How come I've never heard of you before? I thought Krogestede was uninhabited."

The lady stopped and turned around, "Krogestede?"

"Oh, that's what this country has been named."

"I see, well, as far as I know, this lands name is Aarkov."

"I see."

The woman finally made it to Phleg, "I'm afraid my grandson was very rude in not asking for your name young one." She looked up at him and her eyes grew wide as they met Phleg's. She gasped and stumbled backwards. "Men, bind the woman immediatley!"

"Wait! I thought you said we weren't going to be punished!"

"That was before I found out you were with him! Quick, someone go and call the Oracle and the witchdoctor. Tell them to come now." One of the soldiers made a dash out of the room.

[DragonDream]

✴Phlegethon✴

Just when he thought that they were in the clear, he once again had to be the cause of their trouble and anguish. He was unsure what to do, not knowing if it were to be better to keep his mouth shut, or to try and defend himself. He settled on keeping quiet, looking to Seraphine with a wide-eyed expression.

[ColorCoffee]

||Seraphine||

The woman waited, pacing back and forth, giving the occasional glance over to Phleg. After several moments had past, the soldier had returned with an older man with a large head piece, and a young woman with a large bag at her side.

"Oh good. Come quick, over here. What do you suspect this creature is? Is he some sort of evil spirit?"

The old man was the first to step up. He grabbed Phleg's chin and moved his face around, studying his face in the shadows. "Not like any evil spirit I've dealt with. Too solid for that. He appears to be some sort of cross between goat and man. Perhaps the girl performed a strong spell." He trotted over to Seraphine, bones clinking from every part of his outfit. He sniffed the air, "No, that's not it either. There's no stench of the shadowcraft about her, however it was strong on the creature."

The silver chief bowed, "Thank you witchdoctor. What about you, what can you detect?" she turned to the girl.

The poor girl seemed nervous and carefully made her way over to Phleg. She reached in her bag, pulled out a headdress made of different types of flowers and twigs and items Seraphine couldn't identify. She placed it on Phleg's head, then pulled out another and placed it on her own head. After that she took a powder from her bag and sprinkled it from Phleg's head to her own. The last step she took was grabbing a crystal sphere and holding it in her hands. She looked to Phleg, "Please, place your hands on top." After he did so she closed her eyes and began concentrating. Nothing happened for a while, then all of a sudden tears began streaming down her face. She opened her eyes and looked at Phleg in sorrow and grief, "I- I'm so sorry." She placed the ball back in her bag then grabbed his hands. "She's looking for you. She won't stop till she finds you. She misses you so much."

[DragonDream]

✴Phlegethon✴

Through the ritual he sat very still, saying nothing as the other humans went about trying to figure out what he was. A part of him wanted to save them the trouble, but wasn't sure if they would even believe him. He did as he was told, placing his hands on the crystal when he was instructed to by the girl. He could see the emotions distorting her face, wincing as she began to cry. However it was her words that forced the icy dagger deeper into his being. His mother was still looking for him. Tears spilled out of his own eyes and began to stain his cheeks. In a soft and choked voice he managed to whisper "Thank you," to the girl. It was the first real connection that he had, and the first real hope that he had been given.

[ColorCoffee]

||Seraphine||

"Well, what did you see? Anything?"

The girl wiped her tears then turned to face the others. "He is no evil spirit. He is one of the divine celestials."

At these words everyone shuddered. "So you're the one responsible for the omens that we've been receiving from the heavens and earth."

"No, not him. Someone else. He was forced here against his will. His mother is furious and is prepared to stop at nothing for his return. Even if that means a complete tear between the realms, destroying the mortal world as we know it."

The Silver Chief turned in fury to Seraphine, "You! You're the cause of this!"

[DragonDream]

✴Phlegethon✴

"No!" Phleg said, a momentary sense of authority in his voice that faded as he continued. "She wasn't the one that brought me here. She was only trying to help me get back and keep me away from the people who did."

[ColorCoffee]

||Seraphine||

The silver chief turned to Phleg. "Who are these people? Why would they want to disrupt the balance like this?"

Seraphine chimed in, "We don't know much about these people. All that is know about them is all rumors, none of them good. As far as why, we aren't sure why they did this. We aren't even sure how they did it."

"I see." she rubbed her chin. "This is not good. Ulicia, did you pick up on anything else?"

the girl shook her head, "No, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you did what you could. Go get some rest."

Ulicia nodded her head and walked off.

The silver chief shook her head. "We need to figure out how to get you back soon. I fear your mother will not wait much longer. Men, untie them both and bring them to the heart." She walked out of the room as the soldiers untied them. as soon as Seraphine was free, she made her way over to Phleg. "Are you alright?"

[DragonDream]

✴Phlegethon✴

”I’m fine,” he answered, brows furrowed. “Are you hurt?” he asked in return.

[ColorCoffee]

||Seraphine||

She smiled, "I'm fine. A little shaken up, but fine." she lied. Everything seemed to hurt. She wasn't sure how long she had been left upside down. Her head was pounding and she could tell she was going to have bruises from the ropes.