Enmity of Atlas

“Whatever,” he shrugged, “GODFREY! TO ME!”

The great beating of wings echoed behind them, the wind kicking up to a wild tempo. Trenton could see it just barely out of the corner of his eye, a great mass swooping down underneath them. Just as they began to fall, they landed hard, the man keeping them stable with his mighty grip. Trenton squirmed, angling his head to the side to get a better view of what had just happened. He couldn’t see below them, but he could see a titanic draconian wing off to the side beating against the air to keep them aloft. They were atop the red dragon, the one that was rampaging through the city seconds ago. It was almost too impossible to believe. Had this whole event been orchestrated? Surely not. The man’s smile was almost iridescent now, his eyes still just beyond view. He continued holding on to everyone as they flew away from the city, the man keeping an impressive balance atop the shifting dragons back.

“So much for meeting at camp!” A guttural voice called out from beneath them.

“Sorry, sorry. I realized that it would be a cooler exit if we flew out together. That and I didn’t want to fly myself. I’d have to take off the cloak, and we both know I’d lose my head if I had to tell the boss that I ripped another cloak,” The man called out, casually walking across the dragon's neck to sit cross legged on its snout.

It had an array of spines covering its neck and head, which made it difficult to sit down anywhere else. The back would be a good choice, there being enough space to sit, but talking over the wind would be more difficult. The man set everyone down on the snout, the dragon's head providing a solid backboard in case anyone lost their balance. Sitting now atop the dragon, Trenton realized he was actually wrong about the size of the dragon before. Its head wasn’t the size of a peasant’s hut, it was much more comparable to the size of one of the middle class men’s multi-tiered houses. They easily found perch on its pronounced snout without even having to block either of its eyes, which themselves were handily larger than Trenton’s entire body. Trenton looked forward, taking in the scenes from on high. It was beautiful, truly, the trees and rivers below diminished to nearly nonexsistence, the clouds far above giving them excellent shade, the cool night air a nigh divine experience. It was quite calming in a way, a solid means of cooling off after the intense battle they’d just wormed their way out of.

“You could’ve left it behind. You’ve no obligations to wear any signifying raiment,” the dragon said. “Don’t tell me the reason you insisted on wearing the cloak was just for some grand character reveal.”

The man began to laugh, rolling onto his back, “Come on! I’m taking this seriously! I even followed the script he gave me, more or less.”

“That you even needed a script says everything.”

“First introductions are important! And, I just so happen to be really bad at them. You can’t judge me until you at least introduce yourself first-”

The two of them kept bickering back and forth, Trenton tuning out of the conversation after a bit, instead focusing on the newcomer. He recognized everyone there except for one little girl, the little blond currently standing next to Kiva. She looked young, blond with blue eyes and the smaller of a child about 14 or so. Did they really have another child traveling with them? Trenton inspected her closely, trying to quickly make a decision on the sudden influx of people. She held her own pretty well, and used…some type of magic back at the gate. Someone her age reasonably shouldn’t have nearly the level of control over their magic as she did, much less the sword skills, which meant she was probably a half elf. They were always hard to pick out, but as soon as he looked for it, Trenton noticed the slight spike in her ears. At least he was getting better at checking. Since she was a half elf and looked about 13 to 14, she was probably actually somewhere in her 50’s, an absurd thought just looking at her, but a much more reasonable estimate for her talents. The 6 of them: Trenton, Millie, Leo, Garrote, Kiva, and the half elf girl all gathered together in a quiet little circle, everyone seeming too stunned to speak. Introductions were needed, but it was a little hard to focus when they were currently flying through the air, who knows how fast, on the head of a colossal red dragon.

Finally, Trenton decided to break the ice, taking leadership for the group of shocked mostly children, “I’m familiar with everyone here, but I’ve never seen you before,” Trenton said, tilting his head towards the girl.

“Oh thank gods you said something, I’ve got no clue you most of you are,” Garrote chipped in. “Trenton, Leo, and Millie I’ve got, but who are you two?”

“I could say the same thing! I only heard about a geomancer and a pyromancer, but now a water spirit and a graviturgy mage?” The blond girl said, waving her arms towards Garrote and Millie.

“It sounds like we’re all a little lost here. Let’s go around the circle, and do introductions: name, magic, and a fun fact-” Kiva said, suddenly getting interrupted by the blond girl.

“Fun fact? Is this the first day of kindergarten?”

“Do you have a better idea? If we’re all going to be traveling together, we should know about each other right?” Kiva retorted.

“I…no not really,” the girl said, defeated.

“We could talk a bit about our history, where we came from and whatnot,” Leo piped in, uniquely somber.

“I’d…rather not. It’s a bit of a sore subject,” Garrote said, rubbing his neck.

“Which means it’s back to my idea. My name is Kiva. I’m a druid. I’m actually from Elteran.”

“That’s your fun fact? You have so many more interesting things you could say,” the girl chirped.

Kiva lightly smacked her across the head, “Don’t be difficult. That’s my fun fact,” she pointed to her left, towards Trenton, indicating he was next into their little sharing circle.

“Right. My name is Trenton. I’m a geomancer. A lot of people want to kill me right now.”

Garrote snorted, “Little on the nose, don’t you think?”

Trenton shrugged, “It’s the elephant in the room, best to get it out of the way early,” Trenton nudged Millie.

“Huh? Oh yeah. My name is Millie! I’m a water spirit. And…hmm…I’m a water spirit? I think that counts for both.”

“I’ll allow it,” Kiva said, pointing to Leo.

“My names, uh, Leo. I’m a pyromancer. And,” Leo froze, his whole face seizing up. He always did have some social anxiety, but this was something else entirely. Trenton knew Leo pretty well, really well, actually, so he was able to guess at what was plaguing Leo in this moment, even if no words were said. He figured it was much the same thing that happened to him. With everything going wrong in their lives, it was hard to mention anything that was actually right, didn’t make the group sharing easier. “...I don’t have a fun fact,” Leo said, curling up into a ball. Trenton scooted over, putting his arm around Leo’s shoulder while looking at Garrote.

“Garrote. Graviturgy. My family hates me.”

“Wow, I really thought you guys would have some happier things to say. That’s fine. That’s fine. Uhh, your turn,” Kiva said, elbowing the girl to her right.

“My name is Silavie, Sye for short. I’m a chronurgist. I’m looking for Walibeld right now. Kiva told me he was supposed to be at some wizard's house, but everything started going wrong before I got there. I still really need to see him,” the blond girl finished, everyone falling into an uncomfortable silence.

“How about we try this again tomorrow? Leo, Garrote, Sie, and myself will all think of some better fun facts in the meantime. Kiva and Millie you’re fine. You two did great,” Trenton said, looking at all of them, Millie beaming at the simple praise.

“What was wrong with my fun fact!?” Sye said, throwing her arms up.

“That’s just a personal goal. It’s not really a fun fact. You only said that because you were going to mention it anyway,” Kiva said.

“It’s important!”

“It could wait.”

A sudden movement in front of the dragon caught Trenton’s attention, the first hint of trouble since they’d left Wyrm’s Perch. A dark figure barreled over the dragon's nose, traveling the same direction as the dragon for a moment, presumably having jumped up from beneath them, before the wind took hold, rapidly pushing them onto the dragon's snout, the figure sliding to a stop several feet in front of the strange man who had yet to introduce himself. It was Walibeld making about the coolest entrance he possibly could. Looks like he finished up whatever business he had with Polias. The cloaked man stood up, facing Walibeld.

“Walibeld, lovely for you to drop in!” The man said.

“Yuleye. I don’t suppose you stopped by just to lend me a hand.

“No, I didn’t. Well, kind of. I’ll get to it,” the cloaked man turned around, throwing his arms up, “Alright! The gangs all here…and some stragglers, but that’s alright. Was there a specific direction you were planning to head?” The man said, turning back to Walibeld.

“East. We’re going to the docks,” Walibeld replied

“You’re going to sail up the Liafer?”

“We are.”

“Good luck with that,” the man turned to the group of them sitting off to the side, the dragon changing its heading to the east, “Well, I’d hoped for a more eventful reveal, but this will have to do. My name, even though it was just said and kind of ruined,” he said, pulling back his hood to reveal his long brown hair tied into a messy ponytail, and his eyes, which glowed a brilliant fiery hue. That must’ve been where the glow came from before. He smiled, throwing his arms wide, “is Yuleye the dragon tamer! I’m known by many other names, but I think you’d know me best by my official title-”

“You’re Yuleye!?” Sye shouted, ripping her eyes away from Walibeld to stare at Yuleye, everyone else having already figured it out by now. Who else could command a dragon as large as this one? Not to mention Walibeld just said it outloud. Was she not paying attention?

“Let me finish! Where was I? Right, by my official title–the second guardian! It’s a lot less cool when you interrupt me halfway through. I even spent so long-ah whatever,” Yuleye walked over to them, their circle expanding to allow him to slip in.

“And I am Godfrey. We came on behalf of the first guardian, the Bulwark, bearing a message,” the dragon growled from beneath them.

“However, something tells me pulling out a letter at this speed would be a bad idea. So I’ll wait for us to land. In the meantime, do you have any questions?” Yuleye asked, looking at them intently. Sye stood up, completely ignoring Yuleye’s presence and walking over to Walibeld, which seemed to dampen Yuleye’s chippy mood somewhat.

Once upon a time, Leo might’ve peppered Yuleye with questions. How did you become a warrior? What was your youth like? What’s your training regiment, and so on? But now, he just sat there dully, his mind full of unknowable horrors.

“How did you know where we were?” Trenton asked, trying his best to break up the silence.

“Well, we’ve been doing some investigative work, the guardians I mean, not me personally. Not only did we figure out what happened at Aria, but we learned who is hunting you, Trenton. Most of our findings were from the 4th guardian, to give credit where credit is due; her work was remarkable. However, all of this is discussed in the letter I’m meant to give you, so I won’t bother explaining it now. As for how I knew your exact location, everyone on the streets was talking about it. You were attacked in the middle of a busy square, word spreads fast,” the man tilted his head, considering something for a moment, “Oh, right! You probably don’t know who that was, do you? The man who attacked you I mean,” Yuleye said, looking over at Trenton and Leo.

“No, I don’t. He wasn’t wearing a guards uniform, though,” Trenton siad, Leo looking a bit lost.

“That’s because he’s not associated with your enemies, at least not directly. He’s a mercenary, a freelance fighter known as the hunter. As far as mercenary’s go, he’s pretty much top of the charts, top dog, etcetera. He was the one that attacked me while we were leaving Wyrm’s Perch, must’ve been paid a fortune for this job,” Yuleye shrugged. “He shouldn’t be a problem moving forward, unless he’s paid to come back.”

“Didn’t you kill him?” Garrote asked.

“I…gave him a swift reprimand for his behavior, but it would’ve taken too long to kill him. You were my first priority, so I kind of just…threw him really far away and ran. It’s a remarkably effective strategy,” Yuleye remarked, looking rather impish. “Any other questions?”

“Wait, what’s stopping him from chasing us down!?” Kiva shouted out, pulling the hair out of her mouth. The winds were not being kind to her.

“Common sense. Swift reprimand is me putting it lightly. I suppose I’ll say that once upon a time he had 4 limbs, and that is no longer the case. Take that however you will.

Trenton nodded, satisfied with the explanation, and grateful he didn’t divulge the details in front of Millie, “Is that all you’re here for? Delivering a letter?”

“Yes and no,” Yuleye said, searching for the right words.

“We’ve business out west, so we were already headed in this direction. The Bulwark simply gave us a message to pass along while we did so. It was a small detour,” Godfrey pitched in.

“Exactly right. It was also safer to hand deliver it, less chance of the message getting intercepted. That you happened to be in need of help was pure happenstance,” Yuleye finished.

“I thought the guardians were supposed to remain neutral. I don’t imagine the Conqueror will take kindly to his city being attacked,” Trenton remarked.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already sent a missive explaining the situation. We didn’t kill any citizens or city guards, so everything should be above board. The only thing we really did was cause some property damage and freak a couple people out, hardly a severe offense. You did keep restrained, right?” Yuleye called out to Godfrey.

“Damages were minimal. I’d be surprised if any citizens were killed in the assault,” Godrey replied.

“Weren't you ramming into the buildings?” Leo said, Trenton thinking back to the sight of Godrey holding Filyinir in the air.

“Several of the enemy's hideouts were disguised as regular buildings, which is how they were able to spill out onto the streets so quickly. I was certain to take those points out without damaging other parts of the city. ”

Leo looked quizzically at Trenton, who simply shrugged in response. Suddenly, Walibeld appeared behind Yuleye, leaning down so as to keep his voice low, “This should be far enough.”

“You sure?”

“Certain.”

Godfrey tilted gently down, making a steady decline to the surface. When they were just above the treeline, Godfrey leveled out his altitude, looking for a clearing to land in, which only took a couple minutes of coasting. Yuleye and Walibeld helped everyone off of the great dragon, Godfrey laying down on the ground next to them while they finished up business. Yuleye opened his deep pocket, pulling out a finally sealed letter adorned with runes, which he quickly nullified, allowing the letter to be opened safely. When the letter was safe to open, Yuleye handed it to Trenton. Finally, they would know what the hell was going on. The anticipation was actually getting to him, a mix of fear and apprehension. Did he even want to know? No, he didn’t, but he had to know. With trembling hands, he opened the letter, reading its message aloud.