Chapter 1: Nocturnal Convergence

It was a calm and crisp night, none near us, save soft chitters and chirps of invisible wildlife. I was awake, on guard while my brother slept soundly beside me. My eyes were closed in repose, nevertheless I was fully aware of my surroundings. The recently extinguished fire laid in rest with us, the lingering embers leaving a smoldering fragrance in the air. We had laid ourselves under a seat of trees, perched upon one of the floating chunks of foliage-encrusted dirt and rock so commonly found in this area. The forest had ensnared what was aloft and what was below, vines, roots, and the plants themselves creating tethers.

My spear was tucked under my arm, relaxed that nothing had yet bothered us since we departed from the previous town. It was not a special weapon, a wooden rod sharpened to a point, but it’s durability greater than most stone. It was also our last spear, our money earned from brother playing and me singing for strangers only allowing us to procure so many to hold us from town to town. We had been alone for some time, traveling along the stone road linking the previous non-descript village to the next ones.

We had not much else with us: some food, a laughable amount of coin, a crude knife, a speech murn, and brother’s kes. Oh his kes, such sweet symphonics he could construct with his kes. Though so many others found trouble when trying to play the instrument, his fingers would glide effortlessly over the airy strings, plucking and strumming his heart's voice. His mind would fall into tranquility, letting his body move on its own. The wooden and coppered base of the kes would be stationed on solid ground, it’s draconically graven crown would raise and lower in metronomic rhythm. The hypnotic bobbing of a kes’ crown in play would alter its sound, allowing for a whole orchestra of sound to play from the solitary instrument. At that moment it was embraced by its leathery and lacquered casing.

I slightly opened one eye to stave off the tiredness. The night was still, the zuyk above casting tender light unto the land. I lazily rolled my eye over to check on our things, clutched in my brother's arm. I again closed my eye, nothing could have been wrong on such a serene night.

My eye popped open, what had I just seen, the case to brother’s kes was open! Not moving, I scanned for the thief, probably admiring what a great find they had. Nothing, no one was by the case. I then scanned our bag of provisions, the sack was sagging and vacant. With adrenaline running, my peripheral vision detected a shadowy figure. Without a sound, I swiftly reached for the remaining spear. As my eye adjusted to the darkness, I saw how lazily it carried the case away, not even thinking we could be awake. I slowly got up to position myself as my brother had while hunting. Nearly reaching the edge of the flying rock, I halted the bandits attempt at escape with a great lunge.

With motion more swift than I thought capable, I had it pinned between the tip of my spear and the decayed grassy cliff. Not entirely willing to bring harm to another, I held myself from puncturing the bandits hide. The murky figure squealed and writhed under my spear, waking my brother. He shouts into the blackened air, bewilderment held his voice aquiver, “wha-what’s going on!?”

“This thief was trying to make off with our stuff,” my thoughts permeated his hazed mind.

The creature squealed, “what do you mean what’s going on, you’re the one attacking me!” Its scales faintly glistened in the low light. A puny wyvern, no longer than my arm from snout to tail tip. It clasped onto a bag of our stuff with its talons, the bag being too heavy for it to carry easily.

Brother, faculties restored, demands of the wyvern, “leave our stuff and we’ll let you live.”

The little thing writhed under the pole, unable to slink away to its freedom. I wanted to let it go, it’s panic and pain striking my heart as though I were doing this to a small pet. Since our departure, and even before, our practice in taking the lives of game had rendered me numb to the idea of it. But this being was far more intelligent than a deer or ghrepul, and had much more a life to live than generations of nel. And on top of it, we would make quick work and use most parts we could from a hunt, not torturing it or killing it for pleasure. We hunt to keep ourselves alive, and no more than that. Still trying to contort itself to freedom the wyvern pleads to us, “Yes, yes, I’ll leave!”

“And you won’t bother us again,” brother takes hold of the spear and pushes into the tiny drake. His eagerness to cause more harm worried me, I thought he was near going to push the spear through. I know it was to drive our point home, that we were not to be taken lightly, but I fear his pushing might have pierced its thinly scaled hide.

“YES,” it screeched. “Please, just don’t kill me!” Brother relieved the pressure of the spear letting the small thing finally flee. Within a second of the relief of pressure, it bolted into the air. It’s takeoff was poor, it almost crashing back down before it managed to get ahold of what it was doing. With frantic beats of its wings, it was off, diving over the edge into the treetops below. A glittering trail was emitted from the wyvern’s tail, exploding into dozens of afterimages that flew off in anarchic directions.

We gazed at the, somehow, gorgeous sight. Despite near theft, the night’s calmness with the sparkling dust the wyvern left behind was an elegant sight. “Guess it’s about time we ran into some lowlife.” Brother picks up the bag of our pilfered belongings. “I mean, we’ve had it way too good ‘till now. Ya know Cha”

“Yeah, too good,” I assure him. We lay back down under the tree. “I’m just glad I saw it before it got away.”

“Maybe I should take the rest of the night.” He pats me on my shoulder, “you should catch some sleep yourself”

“Yeah, that sounds good. Night.”

“Night Cha.”

I didn't go to sleep right away, My mind was still lit from the action that just happened. I did try to get to sleep, yet my mind kept wandering from thing to thing for some time.

How had we only just encountered some being that wished to do us harm. We had been traveling for nearly two seasons, stopping in different towns to play for money, and get what provisions we needed to get to the next town. The roads were long, but well traveled and well kept. While other countries would terraform the vast forest of Whidyr, We embraced it and cultivated it, only tearing away at it to create the roads. The roads were a necessity, the only manageable way to move the raw materials to the refineries.

The roads were expansive, like long fields that snaked through the trees. Brother and I used these roads to move along, making them our new home. We had no true destination we were trying to get to, only to keep moving. And despite the unforgiving wilderness being fairly close by on either side of us, the roads provided comfort and a surprising amount of safety.

But they were also open, easy for anyone to see us sleeping. So we would climb the floating land off the beaten path, resting where we were not likely to be found.