“She said she’d love to join us!”
His grin faded when he spotted the dragon.
Jahrra jumped in immediately. “Senton, this is Kehllor. He’ll be joining us for a few hours before we head back home. He’s a friend from the Coalition.”
“Oh, hello, nice to meet you,” Senton said.
Jahrra had been watching Kehllor, not missing his flinch of surprise when she had introduced him as a friend. She grinned inwardly but then felt a pang of pity splice through her. Did he not have any friends? She knew what that felt like. She gave Dathian a knowing look but the elf very successfully hid his feelings on the matter. She would have to discuss this with him later.
For now, she took a deep breath and said, “So, where to now?”
She was surprised when Kehllor spoke up, “I know of a good place to view the midnight ceremonies where we won’t have to deal with the crowds.”
“Excellent,” Torrell said, rubbing her hands together. “I say we go fetch some hot cider and something to eat first though, I’m famished.”
They threaded their way back through the pressing mass of people. The night was growing late and the smells of rich food and pungent beverages mixed with the scents of sweat, dust and horses bombarded their noses. It wasn’t too unpleasant but Jahrra was sure it would start to bother her after a while. They stopped by the nearest vending stand and bought hot cider, warm fruit cakes and skewers of roasted meat, then Kehllor led them to the edge of the city and began climbing a narrow path up the side of a sparsely populated hill.
They climbed for a good fifteen minutes, passing by revelers up to mischief and pranks within the shadows of the tall trees. They were even surprised by one of the people dressed in a very convincing goblin costume.
“See!” Senton hissed, holding his hand over his heart. “I’m going to have nightmares now!”
The goblin didn’t stick around to torment them, however, and Jahrra gave Kehllor the credit for that. Who would want to risk the ire of a dragon?
Finally, once they were higher than the tallest buildings, Kehllor led them out onto a flat open ledge on the hillside. From there they could look directly down into the city’s heart, where people had started gathering massive pieces of wood for the traditional bonfire. The dancers and participants, dressed in the vivid and ornate costumes of the season, were frolicking around the circular fire pit, drawing the men and women of Lidien ever closer for the big finale.
Torrell and Senton chose to sit on a flat rock where they could dangle their legs and Dathian, sensing that Jahrra would want to pick Kehllor’s brain, leaned against a tree on the edge of their small meadow. Kehllor made himself comfortable, lying down and tucking in his feet beneath him the way Jahrra had often seen Jaax sit.
“Thank you for bringing us here,” she said as she moved closer to the dragon.
Kehllor blinked and looked down at her. Was that a smile on his face?
“Of course,” he said, indicating Jahrra should sit down next to him.
Not wanting the invitation to grow cold, she hurriedly found a comfortable patch of earth, close enough to talk with him but not too close that either of them would be uncomfortable. She drew her knees up to her chest and flung her mask over her shoulder. Her muscles felt a bit fatigued from the sparring contest but she ignored their achy complaints.
“So, Kehllor, how did you come to be part of the Coalition?”
She knew it might be a sensitive question, as bland as it was, but she really did want to know. To her great surprise and delight, Kehllor opened up like a fountain having been clogged for far too long.
“Shiroxx found me when I was younger than I am now, wandering around the abandoned wilds of Soahna. I don’t remember much before that,” he shrugged and gave a pained grin, looking down at Jahrra with a dark blue gaze, “I must have been injured. I have the scar to prove it, but the injury must have also caused me to lose most of my memory.”
He paused, as if he had never meant to say any of this and had forgotten to keep the secrets to himself. Jahrra didn’t dare breathe or say a word and she was highly tempted to shush the people far below them, making all that ruckus as they started to light the great fire. Fortunately, Torrell, Senton and Dathian were remaining rather silent, enraptured by the activity in the city far below them.
Finally, Kehllor spoke again, “Sometimes I have terrible dreams, dreams of suffering and dragons screaming. They are familiar to me, but unknown.” He hissed in a breath of exaggeration. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, sounding gruff as he cast Jahrra a pitiful glance, “you don’t want to hear any of this.”
Jahrra surprised herself by reaching out a hand and touching his shoulder, closer to the ground than Jaax’s usually was.
“No, it’s okay. I know what you mean. I have dreams like that too. It’s like someone is trying to tell me something and the only way they can get my attention is through the nightmares.”
Kehllor blinked and nodded. “That’s exactly what it feels like.”
Jahrra smiled and took a steadying breath, trying to calm the erratic beat of her heart. Its rhythm had been relatively steady until he had mentioned the dreams, so very similar to her own.
He looked away and spoke again, “I owe my recovery to Shiroxx. If it wasn’t for her, I would still be lost in the dry deserts of Soahna, confused and angry, if not dead.”
He ground his teeth together, fighting his past or his guilt at feeling resentful towards Shiroxx. Jahrra understood that. He felt indebted to the female dragon and if he did resent her, as Jahrra suspected, then he would feel guilty.
“If it makes you feel any better,” she braved, “I sometimes feel the same kind of attachment towards Jaax.”
It was not quite a lie. She didn’t resent Jaax, not anymore, but she did at first. Not necessarily for taking control of her life and insisting on being her protector but more for his omission of the truth for so many years of her life. If he had told her who she was earlier, and hadn’t thrown it on her just after Hroombra’s death, perhaps it would have been easier. She shook her head. No, she would not hold it against Jaax; he was trying his best and had done everything as honorably as he could. But it wouldn’t hurt to let Kehllor think that, just a little bit, he had someone who understood him. And, at least in regards to having a troubled past, she could relate.
Kehllor looked down at her, his eyes full of questions.
“I would think it would take a lot of courage to resent the dragon Raejaaxorix.”
That was not what she’d expected to hear and she couldn’t help snorting in laughter.
When she was slightly recovered, she said, “That is very true now that I think about it. But look at it from my perspective; I’ve known him, more or less, since I was a very young child. I know no other way to respond to him.” She shrugged. “He’s not nearly so frightening, once you get to know him.”
“He’s an excellent leader,” Kehllor murmured.
Jahrra felt a thrill of pride course through her at the obvious respect in Kehllor’s voice. Suddenly, she liked him all the better for it. He may be inconveniently and uncomfortably attached to Shiroxx but he had a mind of his own, that was for sure.
“He would be glad to hear that,” Jahrra said, “but I think he would like to hear it directly from you.”
He sighed. “Perhaps someday, when I feel it is my place to approach him.”
Jahrra would have argued with him about that, telling him that Jaax would never turn him away if he wished to speak with him, but she thought she had said enough for now.
“I can tell you will be an asset to the Coalition, Kehllor,” she said instead, “and I’m glad I got up the gumption to introduce myself to you, even if it meant flying out of the meeting hall to chase you down in the plaza.”