Fan Fiction ❯ Journey of Hope ❯ Journey part 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Journey of Hope
Written by VegetandAru (lord of the underworld)
Everything is my own, Please be nice as far as criticism goes, however if you do have something about it that you don't like then don't flame, just tell me about it if you would.

This was written quite a few years ago now, but I just stumbled across it on my hard drive and I've began to patch it up, it's still not finished but I'm working on it.

Yours VegetandAru (vegetandaru@yahoo.com)

<o0@0o>

'To the world you may be one person,
But to one person you may be the world'
(anonymous)

<o0@0o>

It was still dark when Trayant awoke the next morning, heavy grey rain clouds hung in the air and a gail was terrorizing the bare dull trees that were barley visible in the distance. He looked out to sea where the last settlement of the dragons was shrouded in mist. He pulled on his boots and jacket and nudged Tomato to wake her from her slumber. He checked to make sure that her feathers had indeed dried out over night, then, when he was sure that they weren't wet, he mounted himself on her back and reared her steadily up into the morning sky. Yes, the sky. That was were he belonged. Where there were no laws and boundaries. Where he could come and go as he pleased. Where he was free to do and say as he liked without anybody looking over his shoulder, ready to criticize his every move. The air was cooler the higher up they flew and felt damp and clingy, Trayant didn't particularly like this new sensation as he flew. He was used to the warm ash blowing around him and the hot stinging air being fired upwards with every eruption. It had always been warm at the least in Tolagant, even when it was raining and as he soared in closer towards Barrack, the capital city of Tovasan, he began to feel colder and colder. This was something horrible, coldness. Was it always cold in places like this he had shivered before but never because he had been cold, often then it was because he was wet but warm which then produces a rather uncomfortable, clinging, sticky sensation. His teeth chattered and he ordered Tomato to fly higher where they were closer to the sun's warmth. Tomato ruffled her feathers and swooped further up from the ground, Trayant could tell that she was cold too, so taking off his thick jacket he lowered her to the ground and threw the coat over her back before climbing back on. As the cold air tore passed his now bare arms then he felt goose pimples rise on his skin, it made his flesh crawl.

"I'm freezing." He complained to no one in particular and to his surprise someone answered.

"Really? I thought it was quite warm today." Trayant brought Tomato to a halt and looked down at the owner of the voice. It was a boy, not much younger than himself.

"Who are you and how do you not get frost bite when it's this cold?" The boy laughed and pushed his mop of tangled, mousey hair out of his eyes before answering.

"I'm Zak, nice to meet you. To meet you nice. And you are?"

"Trayant Loi. Please to meet you Zak....umm.....what's your last name?"

"Parrow. Zakary Parrow. I like your griffin. What's her name?"

"Tomato. How did you know that she's a she?"

"You pick these sorts of things up when you travel as much as I do. Hey did you know that the average six month old dragon will eat about 10 pounds of meat a day?"

"No I didn't." Trayant looked in the general direction of Solfan, then around the area he was in, desperately looking for a place that he could sit and get warm."

"If you're looking for an inn then the closest one is in Gibin. It's only a few miles away if you'd like me to show you?" He smiled helpfully, Trayant noticed the way his teeth showed through his eager grin. It made him look rather friendly in Trayant's opinion. He nodded in pleased gratefulness and swung himself down from off Tomato's back. They talked together as they walked to Gibin.

Zak proved that he did indeed know a lot, he kept sprouting interesting facts and passing comments about the history of Tovasan. He had an air of good natured eagerness about him that made Trayant feel like he could trust him.

"So why are you in Tovasan with a griffin complaining about the weather in the middle of the summer?" Trayant blinked in surprise, shocked at the forwardness of the question.

"If this is what you call summer then I can tell that I am not going to like it here." he sighed in annoyance and began his story. "My sisters, Falla, Lee and I live in the house of Loi in Tolagant with our two family griffins, Baloo and Tomato. The residents of the house of Loi have always been the sacred guardians of Fire..."

"Oh yeah, isn't he one of the eleven high nymphs."

"Exactly. But we also guard Nadia Falvia." Zak looked at Trayant with shocked surprise, his mouth slightly ajar.

"Nadia Falvia." he breathed in deep awe. "Wow! She's an Overlord. I've heard that they're more powerful than any nymph or even one of the Gods" Trayant nodded solemnly

"Yesterday, when the ground started to move then we could feel the disturbance in the atmosphere. It was stronger than any power that I have ever felt. In all of the commotion then Lee and I went to raise Fire and Nadia to get them to help us, but Nadia lost her temper and managed to break her awakening stone. Worse than that then Fire reckons that Gillis' disturbances have been caused by Sibba Gadin. The Overlord of Darkness. So now I'm trying to settle this whole situation down. But it's way beyond my power and I don't know what I've got myself into."

"Oh." Trayant smiled as Zak passed this quiet comment. Lee was always saying 'oh' and to hear it again made him remember how much he missed his family and home. He gave a sad grimace and looked at his shoes is silence.

He heard Tomato whine and knew that she was thinking about the house of Loi too.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You just looked down there for a second. Are you sure that you are all right. You don't look very good. Maybe you should sit down."

"I'm fine." Zak's face was contorted with pleading concern for his new friend. Trayant quickly decided to change the subject.

"So do you live in Gibin?"

"Naa. It's boring. I just had to come here to pick something up for Lord Donrick. I work for him and I'm always traveling to pick things up for him from all over the world. It's really dull, but I don't have a choice. I live in Tizic-doon really and he's my Lord."

"Why?"

"What."

"Why don't you have a choice? It's your life you should get a say in what you do, so why does he have to be your Lord."

"Because..... well he just does. Before then I did have a choice but then my dad died and my mum said that she didn't want anything to happen to me so she got me a job as a squire where I couldn't get myself into trouble."

"What kind of trouble could you get yourself into with the job of your choice?"

"I was training to be a sword fighter and just as my training was complete then my dad got........ he got killed."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Come on Gibin isn't to far away now."