Ling looked up at the palace almost sickened. Apparently in this world (or whatever it was)
Browin wasn’t the elder of the West.
Instead he was the elder of the Northwest. Which was very off-putting to her. She wondered if Val and Zek were the leaders
of their areas still or if there were different elders. A part of her also wondered where Kana and
Kyler were…
She took a deep breath before making her way for the
doors. She’d left Lyf back in the hut
with the woman to watch and made the day and a half journey to the Northwest on
her own. As uncomfortable as she was
leaving her drackling behind, she couldn’t bring her there. Lyf was still hurt and the last thing Ling
wanted was to have her child be in danger.
She trusted the woman enough. She
just hoped she was making the right choice.
Besides, if Browin was different, she didn’t want Lyf to see
him.
Carefully, she went to the doors where two very large
muscular male dragons stood. They
narrowed their eyes at her, and one even bared its fangs. “Who dares enter on our territory?” He hissed.
Ling stayed calm and collected. “I am Ling.
A visitor from the far East. I
wish to speak to the elder in this tower.”
Jeez she was tired. Since their
accident, she’d barely slept more than a few hours. Her body was still sore, she was hungry from
not being able to stomach anything, and she was constantly worrying about
Lyf. She had to appear stronger than she
was, and pray a fight didn’t come about.
The dragon guards both raised eyebrows and looked at one
another before looking back at her. “And
what purpose do you have speaking with the elder?” The other one asked snorting.
“A proposition,” Ling said with a tiny smirk. “But it is for his ears only. A way to expand his land. Surely an earth dragon would like to have
more dirt under his claws.”
The dragons once again looked at one another but nodding,
“very well. You may enter. But he might not want to talk to you,” the
first one said matter-of-factly.
“Somehow, I get the feeling he will,” Ling said walking past
them. Even if she wasn’t technically an
elder here, she still radiated power and dignity. She had too much at stake right now and she
wasn’t about to blow it.
She entered the tower and looked around. Rocks.
Rocks everywhere. And dirt. She wrinkled her nose. It reminded her of how his room back home use
to be before she moved in and cleaned it up.
She started to look around, trying to find any sign of the old Browin
but honestly there wasn’t much to go off.
It was strange to her how quiet it was. Browin wasn’t typically a loud dragon but she
still expected something. Then again it
was still early in the day. He was probably
still sleeping. And as much of a hurry
as she was, Ling knew better than to disturb him. Maybe that’s why the guards let her in so
easily. They were counting on her waking
him and having him rip her apart. She
wasn’t about to let that happen though.
Being use to his brooding attitude in the early hours, Ling
made her way to the kitchen to get something to drink. Some tea to calm her nerves would be
nice. As soon as she walked in however,
she was greeted by a familiar face.
“Dill?” She asked stunned.
The overly fluffy cat turned and looked at her, flicking his
tail impatiently. He frowned and raised
an eyebrow, “who the hell are you?” He
asked in a huff.
She almost sighed in relief.
Same old Dill. She smiled and
bowed politely to him, “my name is Ling.
I traveled here from the far East and would like to speak to the elder
who resides here. But I understand he
does not like being awoken. I was going
to make myself some tea and perhaps a snack.
Would you like me to make you something?”
The cat seemed surprised, flicking his tail some more. “What would you make for me?” He asked thoughtfully.
Ling just smiled, “I thought to make you some jasmine tea
with extra heavy cream so that it’s more like milk with an after taste of
tea. Would you like that?” She asked.
The cat perked up right away but quickly caught himself and
tried to play it off like he didn’t care.
“I guess that’d be alright,” he said shrugging. Ling laughed softly and went into the
cupboards, starting to get out what she would need. For a brief second, it reminded her of being
back home. She loved being in a kitchen,
even if she didn’t get to do it often.
That wasn’t her area of expertise.
It didn’t take long for her to make them their tea and like
she promised, she gave the cat extra cream in his. He sat there, happily drinking it. She even thought she heard him purr a few
times. She said nothing as she sat and
waited, checking the clock every now and again.
He should be up soon.
“You hurt?” Dill
asked breaking the silence.
Ling looked over at him, noticing he was eyeing the bandage
on her right shoulder. Shyly, she rubbed
at the wound, “it’s nothing. Just a
scratch,” she said. And it was just a
scratch. “I was attacked while
flying. It’s nothing to worry about.”
“Huh,” Dill said thoughtfully, drinking some more of his
tea. “Ya know, Bro is good with
medicine. Bet he could fix you right up
if you wanted.”
Ling smiled weakly, looking down at her teacup, staring back
at her own reflection. “I’m sure he can
fix all sorts of things…”
