Rime within the Embers

A continuous clanging reverberated throughout the room as metal slammed down harshly, yet precisely upon metal.

I stood off to the side as I watched my father hard at work at his anvil, pounding out the last impurities of his latest project. He shot me a glance, queuing me to move the large container of water closer to him. I watched in awe as always, as he inserted the red hot blade into the clear liquid. Upon contact it sizzled profusely as it disappeared behind a cloud of steam.

My father turned his partially scaly head towards me. "Did you catch all of that Rime?"

I nodded quickly. "Yes father! Thank you for the lesson!"

He let out a bellowing laugh. "You are more than welcome, my boy! But you know you are already doing quite the fine job with your training. You did not really need this lesson, as we have covered it on numerous occasions."

"I- I know, I just...I wanted to make sure I had all of the techniques right…", I awkwardly smiled, fidgeting with my little tail

This time my father let out a smirk, before patting me on the shoulder. "Of course my boy. Say, could you do me a favour while I finish up here?"

"Of course I can!...Wait, what is it?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows in anticipation

He gave me a toothy grin before speaking. "I need you to go and map out some ore outcrops that look to have some promise for me."

My eyes widened in excitement. "Really?!"

My father nodded. "Yes, I think you are ready. It should be a little bit north of our usual spot. Got that?"

I nodded hastily, quickly packing a few writing utensils and some parchment. I bounded up and down as the tip of my scaly tail swooshed back and forth in excitement and anticipation, my father slipped my pack over my little wings as I did so.

"Now, Rime. You are still a child, so you need to be careful."

"Yes father, I know…"

"And what do you do if you are approached by someone you do not know?" He asked expectantly.

I sighed loudly. "Avoid them or run away, but be polite about it…"

"Yes, good good." My father said as he smiled. "Now get going, before the sun starts to set. I believe in you and I will see you when you get back. Who knows, maybe I will even have something waiting for you here when you do."

My unimpressed look from his previous safety lecturing quickly morphed into an excited and determined smile.

"I promise I won't let you down!" I announced excitedly as I sped out the door with a spring in my step.

I dashed through the village, quickly waving to those I knew passing by. I started to make a list in my head, to make sure I didn't forget anything before I got too far from my father's forge.

In and amongst my thoughts I suddenly felt a wall of pain, followed by being forced backwards by some unforeseen force. My thoughts of confusion and pain were quickly interrupted by a familiar burst of laughter. Only then did I realize that I was sitting in the dirt and said 'unforeseen force' that knocked me onto my behind, was no unforeseen force at all. It was in fact a very visible pillar that made up the archway of the village gate, that I totally just tried to walk through while lost in thought.

More annoying, yet all too familiar laughter cut through my train of thought once again. I sighed loudly and begrudgingly looked to my right. Zaarkos Summerscale, my beyondly irritating next door neighbour. He always seemed to make it a point to bother me whenever he visited my father's forge with or without his parents. It unfortunately seemed like he was on guard duty today as he stood in between the archway in his usual guard attire.

"Hello Zaarkos…" I said as I stood up, brushing myself off. Agitation clearly resonated in my voice.

"Oh look out Rime! There's a pillar!" He exclaimed loudly, bursting into a fit of laughter. My cheeks flushed out of embarrassment.

I crossed my arms and furrowed my brows as my agitation only rose, my anger and embarrassment clearly written all over my face.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!" I cried out, almost coming out like a growl. "You...you stupidhead…" I murmured quietly.

Zaarkos smirked at me, obviously having heard my little murmur. I was hoping it would fly over his head.

"At least I didn't walk straight into the massive gate pillar that even the old timers with eye injuries can see!" He blurted out laughing.

I bared my little canines, trying my best to calm myself. "Could I please just pass?"

Zaarkos wiped away a tear, still giggling a little to himself. "Where... where do you think you're going on...on your own?" He asked, his pauses filled with snorting-like giggles.

"Running an errand for my father, if you would really like to know." I stated bitterly, my eyebrows still furrowed at him.

"What?! But you're still just a kid! He must really have alot of trust in ya then...My folks only let me venture outta the village after I unlocked my primary element. Even now, they're super controlling about it…"

My sadism kicked in as I heard the jealousy in my neighbour's voice, sounding distant and his eyes looking off to the side.

"Zaarkos you're only like three years older than me!" I giggled alittle to myself as I spoke. "But yeah! He asked me to do him a favour while he finishes up in the shop!"

My excitement seemed to turn his distant expression into a smirk. "What even does he have you doing? I can smell the ink from here."

"I'm mapping out new ore places for my father!" I announced smugly.

A snort escaped his lips. "That sounds beyond tedious, if I'm being honest. But hey, you seem excited. To each their own I guess."

I cocked my head to the side. "Tedious? What does that mean? And what do you mean by 'to each their own'?" I asked cluelessly.

Zaarkos let out a little laugh. "Don't worry about it Rime," he reassured me. "You just go and enjoy your little errand."

"Okay! Thank you!" I said aloud with a wide smile. "I hope you have a good day guarding!"

He responded in a groan. "Thanks, I'll try…"

I excitedly waved goodbye before running through the gate and down the path leading into the forest. After multiple wrong turns, I finally reached the untouched area my father asked me to go for my errand. I looked around, seeing the various rocks poking out of the ground's grassy soil. The area was relatively open for being in the middle of the forest, with the sun breaching through the canopy at some points through the thick trees that surrounded me.

I grinned ear to ear as I pulled out some parchment, a bottle of ink, and some quills out of my pack. I laid them all side by side in the grass. I rolled out one of the parchments I brought and dipped a quill into the bottle of ink. I then drew little symbols of where the outcrops were in the area according to my position and where I could see them, to the best of my ability.

After just over twenty minutes, I finished up my little map, looking around one more time for subtle outcrops I might of missed.

Just then, an alarming scent drifted through the air and into my nostrils. My already developing keen draconic sense of smell sent goosebumps down my little body as the realization of the scent set in.

"No- is that?...Fire and Smoke? Something's burning...it's not forest fire season...i think…" I spoke aloud in a panic as I followed the faint scent.

After a few moments my eyes widened and even more goosebumps formed upon my skin where scales were absent.

"The village...the smoke is coming from the village…" I murmured to myself, finally piecing things together.

I let out a quick child-like gasp, "Father! He might be in danger!" I yelled out.

In a panicked haste I grabbed and packed my things. Jolting to my feet, I dashed through the thick forest with nothing but my father's safety on my mind.

I stopped dead in my tracks, the scent had gone cold in a flash. Utterly confused I stood on my tip toes trying to get a scent, any scent, but nothing came. I childishly pouted at the air.

"Heeeeeey, get back here scent! I need you!"

No scent returned. I felt my little temper rising.

After I angrily stomped my foot against the forest floor I yelled out at the air, "I said, come back!!"

As if responding to my protectively induced temper tantrum, the whole forest shifted and twisted, the whole ground shaking like an earthquake. I shot down into a crouch shielding and hiding my head out of pure fear, shaking uncontrollably as I let loose a shrill squeal.

"I'm sorry forest! I'm sorry I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you...please don't be mad at me...my dad might be hurt is all. I'm just...I'm really scared something might of happened, so...I'm sorry…" I pleaded to the forest, still shaking as a tear rolled down my cheek.

The shaking suddenly stopped, and after a few moments I took a few shaky breaths before raising my head. To my confusion and surprise the twisting forest was gone, I found myself instead back in my father's workshop as if the forest responded to my plea. I let out a relieved, but still shaky sigh.

"Thank you!!" I said aloud with a smile, intended for the forest.

"Father?!" I yelled out, hoping for a response, but there was no answer.

I walked through the room, stopping at my father's desk. Unfamiliar designs were scattered across it, the ink still wet on a few.

"What are these? They're so complex...and confusing." I murmured to myself as I picked up a few. "Elemental...infusion? What in the world is that?"

I kept flipping through them, noting the very complex techniques for various weapons and armour that I still have yet to learn. Seeing this 'elemental infusion' every so often.

"Are these what my father's been working on?", I interrupted myself with a gasp. "Or is this what was waiting for me after my errand?! Maybe he was going to show me some of these complex techniques!"

The sudden sound of the floors creaking nearby startled me. I squealed alittle and clumsily threw the designs in the air from the initial scare.

"H- Hello?!" I fearfully said aloud, my heart beating rapidly.

The designs fell to the ground around me like leaves falling from a tree. I took a deep, shaky breath before I hastily picked them up. I carefully placed them back on my father's desk with shaking hands.

"Father?! Is...is that you?!" I yelled out, trying to look around the dark room.

No one was there, only my father's desk and various weapon and armour designs pinned to the wall above it. A chill passed through me as the scent of burning made its way up my nostrils once again. My eyes widened with fear, but not for myself, the few hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

"The village! It's burning!" I yelled out before hesitating. "But, where...where is father? He should be here…"

In but an instant everything vanished into darkness, all but a lone feather floating in this sudden void and a whisper in my ear.

"Run. Forget about me and just run." My father's whispers echoed in my head. "Save yourself...or get help. But whatever you do...don't let them capture you!"