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Chapter Six-_ A Discovery_

"Celsko, we're still... friends... aren't we?"

The dragoness sighed.

"Of course we are." She spoke the words oh so quietly, and I was afraid she would start sobbing again. "I just... I care about you, Nimbus, and when I see you do something like that it..." Again she gave an exasperated sigh, lowering her head, "it really scares me."

I wanted to say that I cared about her too, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

We walked for some time, not saying a word to each other. My head hurt terribly, throbbing in time with each step I took. Celsko had made me stick my head in the water repeatedly, then had caringly and meticulously, to my great discomfort, licked the wound clean. The gash ran diagonally from right above my left eye to the base of my right horn, and oh, how it had bled!

Celsko, do you know? You want me to be happy and all I have is blood for you!

I hadn't the slightest clue why we were walking. We had ventured quite far from the colony, walking through a thick part of the forest along a small, fast moving brook. It was a place where nary a drake had ever been, for, in accordance with the Provider's laws, no drake was allowed to leave the valley. We hadn't yet come to the boundary, but nonetheless, I felt as if I was doing the Colony an injustice. Celsko had insisted we walk. She had said that it would help calm me. She had said that she wanted to talk with me about, of all things, my feelings.

If I dared tell her my actual feelings I would speak of the guilt and regret I felt. Never had I felt anything like it, it ate away at me it did! Knowing that, for a mere moment, the broken part of Nimbus actually thought of hurting my one and only friend made me want to vomit. More so, though, it made me just want to kill Nimbus. How could he ever think such thoughts?!

"The Provider doesn't like it when we go too far afield. I think we ought to turn back..." I said after a while.

Celsko's frills drooped.

"I like it out here, it's so quiet and peaceful." She warbled, this time so quietly her words were barely audible.

Ha! I know no peace!

"Your cave is quiet and peaceful, we could've just stayed there..."

"I've never been this deep into the wood, I think it'd be nice just to explore." She glanced over at me, "What do you think of the wood, Nimbus?"

I mused over the question.

"I quite like it." I answered after a moment of thought, "I don't see why we had to walk all the way here though, flying would've taken only a matter of minutes."

"Flying wouldn't of given us time to talk." her voice, though directed at me, sounded far off. "Besides, I don't think you should fly right now."

"Why not?"

"I'm afraid you might... do something horrid." She looked at me and a sudden expression of worry crossed her face, "Oh! You're bleeding again!"

She tried coming close to tend to me, but I shrunk back.

"It's fine, Cel." I insisted, not wanting her to have to clean the wound once more, "I'm fine."

She gave me a worried look and warbled.

Caving to her persistence, I turned and trudged to the edge of the brook, "Here, I'll wash it myself! Bloody, bloody mess it is!" I grumbled.

I submerged my head in the water, clenching my jaw as dull pain creeped down my spine. When finished, I raised my dripping head and turned to her.

"Why do you say that?" She inquired, turning her head just enough that the sun glanced off the golden ring.

"Say what?"

"'Bloody, bloody'." She said the word as if it was something awful, "There isn't a need in the world to say such things..."

I looked down awkwardly and said nothing, seemingly finding my claws quite interesting. She didn't care! I knew she didn't! Besides, I didn't want to look at my friend after what had happened back at the cave. I didn't deserve a friend like Celsko. No, no, Celsko, you needn't waste your time talking with Nimbus! Run along with your other, normal friends.

"Hey," She soothed, drawing near yet again. This time I didn't shy away. "You know, if there's anything you would ever like to talk about... I'll listen." She whispered the words in the most soothing and kind manner- the very thing I did not deserve. No, Nimbus deserves no friends! He deserves nothing!

The only thing Nimbus deserves is to die. Yes, yes! He deserves to be a big, fucking bloody mess, he does!

I looked up at her, and for a moment our eyes met. In that moment I felt a slight glimmer of... something. Something that told me I should tell her, tell her everything. That I should just release all this anger, this self-hatred, the loneliness, how I just want to die, the sadness-- everything.

Would it actually help me? Would she even care? Why should she, nobody would want to hear my maddened ramblings. I am not a selfish drake, her pity would mean nothing to me. She oughtn't waste it upon an odd drake such as myself anyway. No, no! Much more important things deserve your pity, Celsko! Nimbus deserves nothing more than death, he does! That is his only wage! For the good of the colony his death would be, lest he be a martyr for it! Would a drake question one such proposition? Neigh, nary one would!

But yet this desire within me drove me to the brink.

I quite nearly did. The words aligned themselves just right in my chest and rose up my gullet like some sort of hellfire. Just as they reached my head though, I spotted something strange in the woods behind the dragoness. In that very second all concentration was lost, I crashed from my high, and the words came to a screeching halt, never to be cast forth. I remained Nimbus, the silent drake. My thoughts and feelings hidden within me; their burning hellfire tearing me apart.

As this all happened within me, my eyes remained transfixed on what was in the wood. I couldn't tell what it was from where I stood, but an overwhelming curiosity rushed over me like a great torrent of water. What a stupid drake you are, Thought I, Thinking of whatever is off in the woods whilst you are slain by your own rage!

I still wished oh so dearly I could tell her what was killing me, but could only articulate the words, "There's something off in the wood."

She gave me a quizzical look, probably thinking about how fucking odd and stupid I am, then looked in the direction I was staring.

Whatever it was now had my full attention. What I saw was a of bright blue , like that of the sky. Only it wasn't the sky. For a moment I thought it was but my broken mind playing tricks upon me, but when I saw that Celsko too was straining her eyes to see it, I knew it had to be real.

The dragoness suddenly turned, her movement so fluid it reminded me of water. She began walking towards it, as if there was some sort of unknown force that held her, pulling her forward.

I watched her and furrowed my brow, before giving a slight bound to catch up. We trotted, each of us spurred on by an immense amount of curiosity, towards the strange thing. As we got closer I began to smell smoke and, strangely enough, fish.

Finally, with the anticipation almost unbearable, we pushed through a thick wall of pine boughs and out into a clearing. What lay before me had me gasping in awe.

Never before had I laid my eyes upon a stranger sight. Strewn about the small clearing were various objects that I had not the words to describe. A strange, rectangular object sat on the ground. On the front side of it it was covered in round pebbles of the brightest reds, it reminded me of Quartzite's blood. A few paces away a stick lay. But it was no a normal stick. It was a sleek black and had odd protrusions, which I assumed were where it's branches once were. Across the clearing a great, blue sheet of something indescribable was stretched taught, forming some-sort of cave. It was as if a piece of the sky had fallen! In the center of it all was a fire. Fire was something every dragon was taught to fear since breaking from his egg. Fire was something that could destroy the forest in one brutal swoop. But this fire did not rage out of control, but rather smoldered, contained within a small circle of rocks.

Something lived here.

Being the coward that I was, every instinct told me to turn and fly home to my cave. But before I could, Celsko stepped forth and crept slowly towards the pebble-box.

"Celsko!" I yelped. Curiosity will kill you and the colony! That was what our dear leader had always told us, and I feared greatly for my friend.

Despite my remark, the dragoness ignored me. She sniffed at the box with great circumspect, before gently rubbing her cheek against it.

Nothing.

Upon seeing that all was safe, I too advanced. Rather than go to join Celsko to inspect the pebble-box, I trotted briskly to the black stick. When I got close I realized that this was no stick, for it was not of wood, but instead some unknown material. Only after touching it did I realize that it was metal. The only metal I had ever seen were the ancient Elven jewels that a fortunate few possessed, Celsko being one. The metal-stick was wedge shaped at it's base, and incrementally tapered to a thin rod, possibly this girth of a sapling. From its middle a long, thin rectangle stuck out. Below this rectangle a small ring of metal sat. Inside the ring was an ever smaller curved strip of metal, giving the whole thing the look of an eye.

I looked around the ground, when suddenly my eyes fell upon something that had me gasp. It was another one of those clear cylinders! This one had an odd red band scrimshawed with markings encompassing it and a minute amount of brownish liquid in the bottom. Stranger still, atop the cylinder sat a small red covering which, when I knocked the thing on it's side, stayed put. I sniffed at it and grimaced; unlike the one Celsko had, this one possessed an utterly bitter odor to it.

"Cel, come look at this!" I beckoned, not looking up.

There was no reply.

"Celsko!" I again called, this time raising my head to look.

I froze.

Celsko stood, nearly shaking with fear, eye to eye with a creature I had never seen. The creature was bipedal, and held, in it's outstretched arm, something silver to my friend's head.