THE DRAGON LORDS OF ELEBOR - MIHIGO EMMANUEL (red seas under red skies txt) 📗

Before them was a secluded area of clearly undisturbed nature. The grass was a shimmering green and the surrounding shrubs a serine olive. Across from them a pond of sparkling blue water rocked with small waves from a slight cool breeze. In the center of this pool with roots bursting forth from the unseen depths of the pond, a humungous tree of girth nearly ten men wide rose; soaring hundreds of feet into the air before broadening and draping over a ten meter circumference. The gray slab of stone Mihigo had seen when they first arrived shimmered with the embedded crystals in it from the other end of the pond.

Alexandria gulped a mouth full of air. “Mihigo, do you feel that?” she asked “Yes, I can. This is the heart of the infinite city.” Alexandria smiled “Wait until the other’s see this.” She mused aloud. “I doubt they will or that we will be able to return here.” Mihigo stated; to Alexandria’s bewildered expression he explained. “This is the infinite city, is it not? I doubt that name was given effortlessly; surely someone must have tried to find the end of this place; and yet for some reason here we are at the heart and staring at the wall no less.” He gestured to the gray slab of crystal embedded rock.

“You mean to tell me this place moves?” she inquired. “Yes,” Mihigo replied “not fast or suddenly enough for us to notice, but it does. As we were walking I noticed subtle changes in the environment; and the distance we traversed was too great yet the time is not equally spent. I have a theory. All inanimate objects brought to life by magic infusion have no emotions to guide them; as such they tend to be unpredictable.” Alexandria stared at Mihigo “What are you getting at?”

“You said your dad told you stories of this place; my guess is only those of royal blood can find this place. In other words, you can keep your secret from the people but not from the city.” Alexandria stared into the clear yet seemingly infinite depths of the pond. “How about you how are you here; are you royalty.” Mihigo laughed freely, the first time she’d heard or seen him laugh since their journey begun. This caused her to smile as she felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

“You flatter me princess, even though I were of royal blood, which I am clearly not;” at that he bowed mockingly “I am not of your royal blood. This city is a part of Elebor and recognizes you as its princess. I am only here by the mere chance that I held on to you as the doors to the heart were opened to you.” Alexandria smiled again “Nothing is by chance, at least not around you. If the city didn’t want you here you wouldn’t be.” Mihigo nodded “Agreed. Now, tell me more about this place.”

Mihigo undid his shoes and walked barefoot across the grass, sighing as he dug his toes into the dirt then smiled sheepishly at Alexandria. She rolled her eyes at him “I believe the term used to describe you on earth would be tree huger, yes?” Mihigo gazed longingly at the large tree at the center of the pond. “Is it wrong to feel at home in the arms of Mother Nature?” he asked. Alexandria sighed exasperatedly “Just don’t go stripping, ok?”

Mihigo walked up to the edge of the pond and sat down, slowly dipping his feet into the water, a blissful expression on his face. Alexandria joined him but kept her feet out of the water, though she too was now bare foot.

“I remember one story I asked my father to tell over and over, one he did not get tired of. This is how he told it.”

‘We are raised to be told what love should be but never understanding how love feels; listen closely my dear for this is a story of the heart and magic of the bond that holds us together.’ She then went on to tell her favorite story; weaving an elegant tale with words that captivated and trapped her audience.

When she was finished she looked over to Mihigo only to find him with his eyes closed and a faraway look on his face “Hey! It couldn’t have been that boring. You better not be asleep,” she balled up her fist because I will give you a wakeup call you will never forget.” Mihigo chuckled. “Fear not princess for I am here.” He said. Alexandria dropped her fists “Eh?” was her only response as Mihigo got to his feet “Come, the sun will rise soon and we have training.” He held out his hand and she took it. As he hoisted her up she spoke “I told you not to use my title.” Mihigo smiled a devilish grin. “What, princess?” Alexandria turned bright crimson. “Not when you say it like that.”

Mihigo laughed freely once again “Come on, we should go.” Mihigo gazed up above him into the seemingly endless void above, punctuated in millions of tiny twinkling lights.

And so they stood outside of an opening in space and watched it mend back together and seal away the treasure behind it.

Morning arrived with Ntende jogging laps around their cabin. He wanted to be in tip top shape when they began their training and couldn’t wait to see what he could do with magic. The more he thought about it the more his heart thundered and drove him on; soon he was sprinting more than jogging and by the time he returned to the cabin Mihigo was awake and by the dining having breakfast.

Ntende walked over to him panting while dragging his feet along with a trail of dust and gravel that had caught onto his shoes. Mihigo looked up from his plate of roasted stake and red vegetables, gulped down what he was chewing and gave Ntende a condescending look. “You do realize we now live here right?” Ntende nodded while clutching a stitch in his chest “So then you also realize who will be mopping the floors?” Ntende gazed at his feet then back at the trail he left leading into the cabin, he then shrugged and took a deep breath.

“Forget the floor, are you ready to do magic?!” he declared “I am ready to watch you get hurt.” Mihigo answered. Ntende glared at him. “Dear Enzo, you have no battle experience and can barely make a few rounds around a cabin. Do you really think you can run for miles while carrying which ever weapon is in hand at the time?” “Tsk, tsk, we handled ourselves just fine in the ambush.” Mihigo chuckled “During that fight we had two magicians an archer and God only knows what Amber is though she was comfortable in the forest.” “Well you sure seemed comfortable as well.” mumbled Ntende. “What was that?” asked Mihigo “Nothing.” answered Ntende before sitting down at the dinning; then stabbed his toe against the granite wall. “Ouch! Who builds a dining table out of rock any way, and without any leg room?” Mihigo smiled and Ntende huffed.

Once they had both finished breakfast, bathed and changed into the new garments that had appeared the previous night; they walked down to the town to meet Alexandria and Amber then head to the training area.

“I suppose Amber already left for the town.” Commented Mihigo “Yes, I didn’t see her in the morning and I woke up pretty early this morning.” answered Ntende. “By the way how did our new cloths appear, not to mention the breakfast? I was too hungry at the time to ask but it did appear right in front of me right?” Mihigo smiled “There are runes on the plates and in the wardrobe that facilitate magic transportation.” Ntende sighed “I suppose you know this since you went through the entire cabin?” “There is that, but I also asked Alexandria about it.”

Ntende looked intently at Mihigo “On a first name basis are we now?” just as he finished his question, an arm suddenly wrapped around his neck. “Who is on a fist name basis with who?” asked a feminine voice. Ntende jerked and turned to find Amber by his side smiling. “Jesus Amber, you nearly gave me a heart attack!” he exclaimed. Amber considered him for a moment curiosity in her eyes then asked “Who is Jesus?” Mihigo chuckled lightly “Good morning Amber.” He said and she once again smiled “Good morning Mihigo.” She answered.

Ntende suddenly came to a halt. “When did we get to town?” he asked “I thought our cabin was on a…” looking back and up the hill he could see the cabin but it seemed a great distance away. “Hill?” he finished. Alexandria then joined them. “Good morning everyone; why are you staring at the hill?” she asked. “Enzo just noticed what we discovered last night.” answered Mihigo. Alexandria smiled “Oh, he’ll get used to it, I think. I still haven’t though.” Ntende turned to her “What are you talking about?” he asked “This entire place is actually alive and it moves.” On hearing this, Ntende’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Good morning everyone.” cried a whiny voice “Oh, Good morning Amber.” answered Alexandria with a smile. “Oh so it’s Amber now. Why couldn’t you greet us by our names before? We are not some peasants you’re waving at from a palace balcony princess.” Alexandria’s lips twitched as she bit back her retort then, smiled. “Your right, I should pay attention to the pets as well… house cat!” Amber recoiled. “What!” she lunged at Alexandria as the princess raised her arms in defense; but, before they collided a loud smack filled the air. Amber and Alexandria turned to Mihigo who was smiling but for some reason seemed terribly scary. “We are going to be late for our training so how about you take it out on each other there?” Alexandria shuddered and grabbed Amber’s arm while nodding and started off in the direction of the training area. “What’s with them?” Ntende asked. “It is to be expected. We were thrust into situations that required us to work together no questions asked. There has been no time to bond our personalities.” Ntende nodded “and the crack?” Mihigo gazed confused at Ntende then recognition dawned on his face. “Oh that, I just clapped my hands.”

On arrival at the training center they found a group of about a hundred people, male and female with a tall broad man who distinctly stood out by mere age difference. He looked over in their direction and scrutinized them from head to toe. “You’re late.” He said.

Ntende walked up to him “My apologies sir, it won’t happen again.” He said, though the man did not show any inclination of having heard him. Mihigo and the others walked up silently behind Ntende. The rest of the students along with them were standing in a circle around him. The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath then spread his arms slightly out ward. A magic circle appeared at his feet and spread outward to encompass all the students. A bright light burst forth from the circle and when it