The four of them fell silent; the glow of Guinevere’s wings momentarily alternated between yellow, blue, and purple before settling on green as she met the young dragon’s gaze. Hesitantly, she asked, “How exactly do you know it was my friend who was killed in that vision…?”
“I foresaw his visit with you like an hour and a half ago,” the earth-seer hybrid answered a bit nervously. He remembered what Gretel had discussed with him on their return to the den. Guinevere won't be cross with me if I tell her the whole truth. “I didn't hear anything you two said, and I didn't mean to use foresight–it was an accident. I don't know how to stop it once it starts, either. But he was the same black poison type who died trying to save me in my vision last fall: maroon wings with white tips, blue-violet fin-sail and stingers…”
“Gale…” Her light transitioned to a mix of blue and purple. She sat, her ears pinned back and her tufted tail wrapping a bit firmly around her paws in a self-soothing embrace.
Gadalik felt guilty for causing her such distress over a future that was avoided, but he had already decided that she should know what they were up against if the murderer ever returned. He glanced at the others, hoping they understood his motive wasn't to upset her. The wyvern seemed a bit awkward from the tension, but she noticed his uncertainty and nodded at him assuringly.
To his surprise, Glacia stepped past him, the facultative bipedal water dragoness sitting on her hind legs in front of Guinevere… before she pulled the latter into a hug. “I saw what that evil seer was capable of; I stumbled upon the aftermath with Gadalik’s parents when he was an egg,” the red-eyed adult empathized. “From what he told me of that vision with Gale, I wasn't able to do much to save anyone, either.”
The pale blue fairy type leaned slightly into the hold as if to comfort Glacia despite being the one hugged. “It's not your fault…”
“And not yours, either,” she pointed out, letting go to look Guinevere in the eye as proof that she meant it. “But things have changed a lot in the seasons since then. You're here on our side, now, after all.”
“So is Gretel,” Gadalik added.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
His friend perked up at that. “Yeah! Seers are dangerous in close-combat, but that isn't how wind dragons fight. I could chase him off easily! There's no way I'd let him hurt you guys.”
Guinevere looked between her companions, the yellow-green of her wings portraying surprise and thoughtfulness. “That's… true.” The tension in her furred body visibly ebbed. “Thank you… All of you.” She turned to Gadalik in particular, adding, “I'm glad you told me. I sensed your apprehension when you mentioned foreseeing me and Gale... Please know I do not hold that against you.”
He released a relieved breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding; that was what had worried him the most about telling her in the first place.
“See? I told you she wouldn't be mad,” Gretel teased him.
He chuckled. “Yeah. But I still wish I had better control of my foresight… I can use it on command, but sometimes it happens on its own.”
“That's a good thing,” his adoptive mother said. “If it hadn't happened on its own last fall, we would have been killed instead of hiding safely in the cenote.”
Gadalik blinked. Huh… I never thought of it like that.
“We all contribute in own our ways,” she continued, begrudgingly admitting, “even Gretel.” She rolled her eyes when the wyvern grinned at that. “I guess we have our own little society here together, y'know?”
“Yeah!” Gretel agreed happily. Then her smile dropped and her pink eyes looked at the moss-lined ground of the den. “But actual societies… just can't see the worth in different contributions like that.”
This was a circle back to their previous conversation regarding social types’ hatred of hybrids. Gadalik paused. “Wait… They hate purebreds too?”
“If they're misfits, then yeah,” she said. “And by ‘misfit’ I mean a different dragon type than the ones in the society. A purebred wind type wouldn't be easily accepted into a revealer society, for example.”
“Revealer?” That's oddly specific, he thought. Nobody mentioned revealer dragons… Just as he was about to question it, her stomach audibly growled.
Glacia gave a slightly amused laugh, appearing grateful for the distraction.
Gretel did not. “I'm gonna go eat… See ya tomorrow,” she said before leaving the den.
Just like before, Gadalik pursued her out of concern, only for his friend to have flown off again. He cursed inwardly for not being able to fly, but quickly reminded himself that wind types were too fast for even flighted dragons to keep up with, so it didn't matter that he couldn't.
He sighed, defeated, then reflected on everything. Glacia once told me that revealers live in the Highlands south of us here. But Gretel said she's never been here before we met… She also recounted electric types living on southern islands, while Glacia said they lived in the wetlands here. I guess the same dragon type can live on more than one land.