Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 16 – The Calla Bloodline

After retrieving the best leaves, they spent two hours relaxing, eating some food, and playing with Byia’s Rodhocetus. When there were only a few people in the Park, they escaped from there, using the bigger plants and piles of rocks as hiding places.

At the main doors of the Guild, Byia and Guyi looked at each other and faked their best-tired looks. When they both agreed that they looked like two kids that went out most of the night in search of the leaves, Guyi opened the door and entered right after Byia, with the Rodhocetus waving his tail behind them.

Inside, the Receptionist was sleeping over the desk, and only two males were sleeping at a table in a corner. Byia gently squeezed the Receptionist’s left paw, and when she was rubbing her eyes, Byia opened her bag and placed on the desk the leaves they picked, with the three leaves that Indeth Ignyter lent them inside a neat and safe package, together with three High-Grade leaves.

Byia made a forced smile, pretending to be dead tired, and spoke with a ragged voice, “Here… The leaves for the Quest… and a package with the leaves that Indeth Ignyter lent to us, with a few more as thanks… Can you give them to Mister Indeth when you see him?”

“Yes, I can. Unbelievable! So many tried to fulfil that Quest and you did it on your first attempt! There are… sixteen high-grade leaves that are worth sixteen silver-colored pearls. Where did you find this? They are of excellent quality; not even one dent on them!”

Byia frowned and pointed an accusing finger. “Hey, I don’t see on the Quest Form that I had to tell! What do you want — to tell others where to find the plants that make these leaves? We want to return there in a few days to get more, but if someone else finds out, they will for sure be greedy and totally destroy the plants!”

“Oh, no, sorry! I was just surprised! Wait, a minute; I will return with your money, and I will stamp the Quest Form to put on your file.”

She left, and Guyi was puzzled. “Stamp the Quest Form to put on our file? It’s for some sort of archive, or what?”

“Yeah, my father told me about that. Every Quest that is fulfilled gets a Guild stamp on it and goes to the file of the Party that did it. Or, in our case, to our individual file. It’s for National Statistics and Guild prizes by the end of the Tide. You saw in my house all those prizes that my father won when he was an active Explorer, right?”

The Receptionist returned with a small purse and gave it to Byia with a smile. “Here, check if it’s all there, please, and sign this receipt. Here… and you, here… I will sign them… and stamp the Form… All done. Have you already choose another Quest or do you want to do it next time? I took the liberty of getting this one for you. It’s hunting yellow-doted snails; the picture of them is on the Quest form. They are very elusive because they tend to live in dark places, but when they find a good spot, they spawn like a plague. I bet your animal would like to eat them because they are rather tasty and very used amongst the high-cuisine chefs.”

Guyi looked at the Quest and nodded. “Yeah, that’s the one I saw the other time we were here. I guess we can try it.”

Byia took a quick look at the picture of the snail and continued counting the money. She made a slight smile and signaled Guyi. “If there’s nothing more, we have to go. It’s getting late, and we must return home without being found out, or we will have a lot to explain.”

The Receptionist waved them as they exited the Guild, and as soon as Byia was outside, she mounted the Rodhocetus and Guyi held his left paw before departing home at great speed.

They stopped at the back of Byia’s house, and she took eight silver-colored pearls and handed them over to Guyi. “Here is your share of the Quest. Not bad for a couple of hours of work, right? Hide these for an emergency or you will have a lot to explain!”

“Yeah… My parents would have to work for three or four days to get this amount! We were lucky because Rodhy was with us.”

Byia looked to the Rodhocetus, who had his head tilted while looking at Guyi. That word was weird, and he wondered what that Dragon offspring meant. Byia made a big smile. “That’s a wonderful name, Guyi! I couldn’t find a good one for him, but Rodhy sounds just about right. What do you say, you pretty thing? Rodhy, my pretty and smart Rodhocetus!”

The Rodhocetus made a big smile. Now he got it; it was his name! The workers at the Farm used to call him ‘stupid animal’ or ‘wild beast’, and despite the fact that he didn’t quite understand what those words meant, he knew they were not good words, because they were said with a shout or angry looks. That funny little Dragon offspring was calling him ‘Rodhy’ with a beautiful smile and glowing eyes, so for sure it meant it was a good name for him.

Byia rubbed Rodhy’s snout and hugged him with a big smile, and Guyi gulped. He always had trouble stopping himself from hugging her when she smiled like that. Instead, he turned away and said goodbye when he was already in his backyard.

Byia guided Rodhy to the low fence with a small empty house that she prepared for him and kissed him goodbye on the big and fat cheek. She carefully swam to her room window and slowly opened it. She quickly and silently took the books from her bed and placed the purse with the money in the cavity where her egg was, protected by a powerful Magical Shield that her father created, which she kept in perfect working condition by occasionally infusing some of her Magic.

Since Byia had changed the command word many Big Moons ago, only she could open it. Like that, there was no danger in stashing the money in there because her mother would never find it, hidden behind the egg.

Byia went to sleep, happy for her successful first mission. She mumbled right before falling asleep, “I will become strong and powerful, father; you will see…”

…

In the morning, Byia got down to have breakfast, doing her best to disguise her tiredness. Her brother was already there, and her mother was putting Byia’s food on the table. Teera smiled at her and pointed to a book on the table. “Hello, sleepyhead! You used to be the first to come down! I guess school is tiring you. Look, I have a very special book for you to read. Be very, very careful with it. It is a family heirloom, passed from mother to daughter since thousands of Tides ago. It has been in my family for generations, and I was waiting for you to grow up before handing it to you. This book has many secrets, and a lot of people would probably kill to get their hands on it. You need to hide it very well, maybe behind your egg or in a hole inside your Rodhocetus house.”

Byia frowned and opened the book. She opened her mouth wide when she saw the first page. She quickly flipped the pages, and her jaw dropped even more at each page. There it was: the Calla Bloodline History. Each section had the name of one of Byia’s ancestors, together with their Skills and the things they did to unlock them.

There it was on the first page right in front of her eyes: ‘Rigeko Calla, the Peacemaker’. The one who stopped the war between the Water-Dragons and the Surface -Dragons that almost wiped out both races. Her Skills, the way to unlock them, and which Skill was needed to unlock the following one.

A few pages ahead, ‘Voidhide Calla, the Protector’, the one who invented the Shield Dome to protect the underwater Cities from the Tides that used to destroy a lot of buildings and kill many Water-Dragons. Byia smiled when she saw a familiar Skill under the list, the ‘Mathematical Mind’ that Guyi also had.

Several pages ahead, ‘Rithokro Calla, the Space Explorer’. The first female scientist to develop ‘Faster-than-Light’ motors and was the cause of the exploratory Tides that followed her, with several colonies spread on the nearest planets that had water.

More pages, and there it was: ‘Igarka Calla, the Dreadful’, the most powerful female fighter that ever existed, leader of the Space Fleet and the cause of the peace treaty signed with the strange Nayga Race, another exploratory race in the same quadrant of space the Water-Dragons were colonizing.

The Nayga Race had upper bodies with a round head, two strange arms and paws without membranes between the fingers, and a serpentine lower body. Able to live on both land and water, they valued a perfect balance between the body and mind and saw the Water-Dragons as trespassers.

The war that followed the first encounter lasted for several Tides, until ‘Igarka Calla, the Dreadful’ invaded their home planet in secret and killed the entire Royal Family, the leaders of their race.

During the following negotiations and after huge efforts from each side to understand the language of each other, both races realized that they were not as different from each other as they thought and a long and cooperative peace was still in effect, with numerous interchanges of knowledge and people still happening.

It was common knowledge that on other planets where there was more land, the Nayga Race built huge Cities near the shores, connected by flooded tunnels to Underwater Cities where the Water-Dragons lived.

Byia quickly flipped the pages, glancing at the list of Skills, and smiled at the next section, ‘Senpyia Calla, the Healer’, her great-great-grandmother, the greatest Healer that ever lived, and the developer of several medicines and procedures that forever changed the health of the Water-Dragons, making them more resilient to changes in the Water, diseases, and age. She could also develop some medicines that were used by the Surface -Dragons and by the Nayga Race, making the Calla Bloodline well known everywhere.

Byia went through the list of Skills, recognizing many that she also had, and when she flipped the page again, there were only blank pages, and the book was still in the middle. She looked at Teera with a surprised face and said, “Mother… why are you giving me this? And why is your name not here?”

“Because, my dear daughter, I never had those color-changing eyes you have. I told you last Tide. That is an indicator that you are the heir to the Calla Magic. This book can help you find the Skills that can help you become the greatest ‘Rodhocetus Trainer’ that ever existed, or some other peaceful job, instead of the dangers that your father underwent before you were born. You can become whatever you want, my sweet daughter, but please try a safe occupation. I loved your father very much, but I always hated it when he left on a Quest, and I had to wait without knowing if I would see him again or not.”

Byia felt her heart pumping like crazy, and she disguised her guilt by looking at the pages of the book while eating her breakfast. Paullu mumbled while eating, making Teera burst into laughter. “She is going to be so full of herself… Why the males in this family never had those eyes? Annoying little brat…”

That last remark granted him a tail slap from Byia, and she forced a smile, trying to disguise the way she was feeling about her mother’s words.

When they all finished eating, Byia quickly swam to her room and hid the book behind her egg. She made a slight smile and mumbled, “I am sorry, mother; it is already too late for a peaceful job. One like that would never help me find out what happened with father…”

She rushed downstairs and followed Paullu to the gate. Outside, Guyi was forcing a smile, looking dead tired, right next to a happy Drezara Forgge that was rubbing the left ear of Byia’s Rodhocetus. “Good morning, you two! This guy came out as soon as he heard us. I guess he knew it was time to go to school. You are very smart, aren’t you, my pretty Rodhy? Yes, you are!”

Paullu glanced at Byia and asked, “Rodhy? Is that the name of that weird animal of yours?”

“He is not weird, brother; he is very smart, and if you keep calling him that, one of these days he will bite your tail. Guyi chose that name. I think it suits him, and he seems to like it. We also learned something very useful, and we don’t need you to take us to school; you can enjoy your swim with Drezara all alone. Be polite and don’t make her angry with you. You hear me?”

The last sentence was made very close to Paullu’s eyes, with Byia staring at him with a warning look. He quickly nodded, and Drezara spoke, making Byia leave Paullu alone. “You were right, Byia. My mother was ecstatic when I told her that I had met you. As for my father, well, he had a minor accident when I told him that he made a mistake with his new equation. He frowned, but when I handed him the paper that Guyi gave me with the equation corrected, he studied it for a while, and he then fainted, hitting his head on the edge of the table. He broke the table and his head, and we had to call the Healers. I know he is still at your mother’s Clinic, doing a few tests to see if everything is fine. He wasn’t looking very good; he seemed really worried.”

Byia shrugged. “It’s good if he is worried. It is better than causing the death of an Explorer or a Scientist, because of his carelessness. Your father is very intelligent, but his ego gets in the way. He should be humbler.”

“Yeah, I think he will try. I heard him mumbling over and over, saying, ‘That little kid did it again. I am so, so stupid…’. Maybe he learns something from it.”

Byia mounted Rodhy, and Guyi grabbed his left paw. Rodhy swam at great speed, leaving behind a strong current that pushed Drezara straight into Paullu’s arms. She smiled awkwardly, but thanks to her Skill ‘Calm Heart’, she remained calm, even with him holding her tight.

He made a gentle smile that almost destroyed her Skill and asked, “Are you okay? That animal sure is fast. Yours is also like that?”

Drezara answered while looking at him very closely, “I guess… He is older and more muscular… You aren’t so bad yourself with these strong arms… and chest…”

Before Paullu realized what was about to happen, Drezara kissed him. He remained perfectly still, looking at her closed eyes, and after a couple of seconds, he also closed his eyes and hugged her while kissing her as well.

Drezara slowly backed away and caressed his left cheek. “Sorry, I said I was going to slow down and wait for you, but I couldn’t resist the moment. It was too good to let the opportunity go by. Are you mad at me?”

“No… It was… good, I guess.”

Drezara tilted her head. “Just good? I don’t kiss every young male that I see, but no one has complained until now. Do you mind telling me what you didn’t like? Maybe I can improve on our next kiss.”

“No… I mean, it’s not that I didn’t like it; it’s just that I don’t have any comparisons. It was… my first…”

Drezara had her mouth wide open and asked while swimming next to him, “No way! Really? A gorgeous guy like you? How is that possible?”

“I suppose it’s my fault. I told you before that I never had any patience or time for females. I was always reading, studying, or training with my sister. Not much time for kisses. I know. I am too weird, right?”

“Yeah, but in a funny way. It makes me happy, you know? You gave me your first kiss. I wonder what more you are going to give me for the first time! Hehehe!”

Paullu smiled, thinking that Drezara was indeed interesting. And extremely beautiful. And she even smelled nice. He felt his heart pumping like crazy, and he found himself looking at Drezara’s curves and the reflections of the light on her scales. She noticed his interested looks and pretended not to see them. She disguisedly smiled and felt warmth all over her body.