Chapter 2-4

Zrathanzon healed quickly, and it was not long before they were traveling again. Within the space of a couple weeks they reached the foothills of the mountains. Almonihah was amazed by how big they actually were, now that they had reached them. They seemed tall enough to touch the sky, and it seemed something in him wanted to reach up and touch it with them.

“Are we going up to the top of one of those?” Almonihah asked his mentor, pointing to the tallest peak he could see.

Zrathanzon chuckled, then answered, “Maybe someday, Almonihah. You've got quite a ways to go before you're really up for climbing that high, though.”

Almonihah was silent, but disappointment was clear on his face. This brought another laugh from Zrathanzon, which was only intensified when Almonihah frowned back in response.

They made good time, traveling further into the night to reach a campsite Zrathanzon knew of nearby. They managed to reach it not long after the sun had gone down. They quickly made camp, and then went to bed.

And that night, Almonihah dreamed.

It was not a dream like he'd ever had before, however. It was no thing of confused shadows mixed with painful memories, but rather crisp, vivid, almost as if he was living it rather than dreaming it. He was just stepping out of a cave on a mountain much like the one he had been wanting to climb, stretching his wings, looking forward to the morning's flight. After testing the wind for a moment, he bounded forward, leaped off the cliff, spread his wings, and flew.

He glided out over the forest, his keen eyes searching for prey. Soon, he saw a herd of deer in a meadow, peacefully grazing. He flew over towards the clearing, making certain that his huge shadow didn't warn them of his approach.

Just as he was getting ready to dive, a voice startled him, telling him to wake up. That seemed kind of silly—after all, he wasn't asleep, he was hunting. It called again, and this time he did wake up to see Zrathanzon standing over him, telling him to wake up for his morning drills.

Almonihah got up rather more slowly than usual, the sensations of flight still fresh in his mind. He couldn't recall ever having such a vivid dream, nor one that so involved all of his senses. It seemed almost like a fresh memory. His introspection continued throughout breakfast and into his morning drills.

After observing his young companion for a little while, Zrathanzon asked, “You all right, Almonihah?”

Almonihah nodded in response, then added a “Yeah.”

Zrathanzon looked closely at his young companion, clearly not convinced. After a moment, then, he said, “All right, then, you must not have any excuses for why you were so much sloppier than usual on that last drill, hm?”

“Oh,” Almonihah responded, his little head-fin drooping a bit in shame, “...yeah, I don't”

“Let's see you do it again then, and show me that you've actually learned something this time,” Zrathanzon said sternly.

Almonihah did focus better on his lessons that morning, but his dream remained with him throughout the day as they headed closer and closer to the mountains. Something about the mountains seemed to call to him, awakening a longing in him to climb to the top of one of them, step off, and fly over the forest below.

“They're really something, aren't they?” Zrathanzon broke into Almonihah's thoughts.

“Huh?” Almonihah, distracted again, was caught off guard by the ranger's question.

Zrathanzon nodded his head in the direction of the nearby peaks and clarified, “The mountains. They really make you realize how big the world really is, don't they?”

“Yeah...” Almonihah's tone was still a bit distracted, and his gaze never strayed from the snowy peaks in front of him.

Zrathanzon looked up at the mountains, too, and his voice grew softer as he spoke again. “They kind of call out to you... like the dragon part of you remembers living in some lair in a mountain like one of these...” Zrathanzon's voiced trailed off, then he seemed to shake himself out of his reverie and said, “At least, that's how it seems for me. Not sure if it works the same way for you.”

“Yeah, it...” Almonihah hesitated for a moment, thinking on his dream and whether or not he should tell his mentor about it, then finished by saying simply, “It does.”

“Well, I guess we'd better get used to it. We'll probably be staying around here for a good bit of the winter,” the ranger said, his tone more normal.

Remembering where they were going, Almonihah asked, “So when are we going to meet your friend?”

Zrathanzon pointed up the little creek they had been following for the past few minutes. “You see how this goes up into the mountains? He lives up there, but he tends to move around a bit up and down this creek. We may meet him today, and if not, he'll see our campfire and meet us in the morning.”

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Well, sorry it's been so long, but, well, homework happens. This post has been written in two or three brief sessions whenever I could find the time to write (and didn't play a video game instead...), so hopefully it all flows. I think it does, but I haven't gone back through and revised it very much.

I was realizing I hadn't mentioned Almonihah's head-fin/frill/whatever you want to call it very much. In time to come, it's actually more expressive of his emotions than his face at times. If you can't really picture what it looks like... here's a picture of a D&D bronze dragon. You see that frill thing that goes down its neck? For some reason, Almonihah has a frill like that on his head. Why? How am I to know how shapeshifting magic messes with inheritance?

This next little bit is actually something I hadn't known about Almonihah's past at all before. Looking back, I should have known there was something like this, but... well, Almonihah's not exactly the kind of guy whose past you pry into. Especially not when you have to live with him in your head every day.