Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 27 – Practice

Previously, while Paullu and Drezara were waving at Byia and going to Drezara’s house, Nayima Fiet crossed the gate and glanced at Guyi before swimming with her friends in the opposite direction. Byia elbowed him with a weird smile. “Way to go, lover boy! She is crazy about you! It seems she likes to be mistreated, and you mocking her and calling her so many bad names made her start to get interested in you!”

“What are you talking about? As if you could ever know something like that! You never noticed how every young male in our School stares at you as you swim by! Even the older ones! Moron!”

Byia frowned and punched Guyi’s left shoulder. “Who are you calling a moron, dumbass? Stop teasing me; there is not one male in School who does that!”

Lodon mumbled while staring into the horizon, “I can totally understand why they stare at you…”

“What did you say, Lodon? I heard you mumbling something weird! Speak out! You want to mock me as well?”

Lodon jolted and quickly explained, “No, I… wasn’t mocking you! I just said I understand why they stare! Your skin has a nice color, and the way your eyes change with your mood, it’s… well, pretty, I guess.”

Byia frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. “I think I must always stay like this when you are near me, or I might get tempted to slap you. It is better if you look for someone else to mock because I am in no mood to hear anything from you.”

Guyi gently tapped the head of the surprised Lodon. “Yeah, she is this dense. You will get used to this, don’t worry. She never notices the effect she has on males, and she sometimes throws a sexy bomb without noticing. Like when she smiles while tilting her head or laughs while holding your paw, stuff like that.”

Byia slapped Guyi’s head with her tail and warned him, “Go call dense to your mother, moron! I am not dense!”

“Yeah, right… better if we go home. I want to see how good Lodon is with those throwing daggers I gave him yesterday. You can practice for a bit in my backyard, but you will need to find a place in your home to use as a target. Maybe that tall plant on the back, or you can make a target from an old board if you find one in the Recycling Building.”

Lodon nodded while smiling, and Byia found it weird: “You gave him a set of throwing daggers? How come? Wasn’t he supposed to be the bait in case we were in trouble? Why would a bait need weapons?”

Guyi poked her nose, only to almost get a bite. “Hey! Stop doing that; you are not a child anymore! I gave Lodon the daggers because, as bait, there could be a time when he must fight for a while for us to escape. Without weapons, he will only gain us a couple of seconds. With throwing daggers, we will have minutes to get away. Who knows, he might even survive to fight another day! And if he gets really good, I will give him a pretty crossbow and arrows. He will need to learn how to make more arrows and to practice a lot, and like that, he might be useful instead of just an easy target for our enemies.”

Byia rubbed Rodhy’s head and began to swim home. “Yeah, that’s actually a good idea. Maybe he becomes so good with those throwing daggers and the crossbow that he won’t make me feel ashamed for being near him! I won’t join you in that throwing practice because I want to practice something else.”

Guyi and Lodon stayed behind, and while Lodon was too dumbfounded to speak after such a direct hit to his pride, Guyi gently tapped his back and said, “Yeah, you will have a lot of work ahead to make her see you as a possible partner. She will eventually see you as her friend, and from there, you might have a shot at her heart. Let’s get going, or we won’t have time for anything.”

While swimming after Byia and the tail-waving Rodhocetus, Guyi asked, “By the way, how did your parents react when you told them you had a part-time job? Or you didn’t speak to them yet?”

“I did this morning at breakfast. They kept asking what kind of part-time job it was because I gave them so much money. I was in a pinch, but then I said I was working as a servant at the Explorer’s Guild, and that was also the money from my tips. Probably I shouldn’t have given them half of the money at once; maybe it would be better to give in parcels, like two pearls now and then.”

Guyi shrugged and spoke while trying to keep up with Rodhy and Byia’s speed: “Yeah, you could do that because so much money like that is suspicious. I guess we can talk with the Guild Master for her to confirm it if your parents go there to ask something. Who knows, she might even offer you a real part-time job in there for when we are not doing Quests.”

“That would be cool… it would be an enormous help for my parents, that’s for sure, but I don’t know if she will agree with that.”

“Probably not, but it doesn’t hurt trying, right? Just don’t get your hopes too high; she could say there is no need for more servants or that you don’t have any experience.”

Lodon nodded and continued swimming after those two high-speed swimmers who seemed to be doing a race. At Byia’s front gate, Lodon and Guyi waved at her and continued to his house.

Byia quickly took care of Rody’s food and went inside the house. A quick search and she found out that her mother was not home yet.

As usual, she was probably taking care of something that could very well wait for the next day. Byia took a few leaves from a corner of one of the many kitchen cabinets, regretting the moment she did it because there was now a big hole waving at her mother as soon as she arrived home, and swam straight to Paullu’s room. She even knocked at the door, and she then slapped her own forehead and said, “Stupid of me…”

As soon as the door slid into the frame, Byia went to the game console on top of a pedestal and pressed a few buttons. The big white wall in front changed into a black screen, with a few lines of runes indicating the available games.

She pressed on the downward rune on the console and searched for a particular game. “Where is… so many games. How does that guy manage to find time for all this? Oh, I found it! Now, contacts list… too many… where is that funny guy? Oh, here he is! And he is logged on. Cool. So, a quick press here, and two here…”

Byia waited, and after a couple of seconds, the dark screen changed to a rock-brownish wall with a young and serious Surface-Dragon in the middle. A round head with yellow eyes and pointy ears turned to face her, with pointy small horns on his head instead of flocks of fur like the Water-Dragons, a rough dark yellow scaled body, and a mouth full of sharp white teeth that opened in a big smile the moment he recognized who was calling.

He signaled with both paws to where Byia was, making circles and pointing to his ears. She immediately nodded, because she completely forgot that for them to talk, she couldn’t be with water all around because she wouldn’t be able to hear the Surface-Dragon, and he would have a lot of problems understanding her because the water would modify her words.

Byia concentrated and made a large circle with both paws while saying the spell ‘uisge air leth’ and ended the movement by placing both paws at five centimetres from her head as if she were gathering the water while saying ‘lann uisge’.

At Byia’s first spell, all the water inside Paullu’s room was pushed out, and the next one created a helmet of water all around her head so that she could breathe. She then smiled and spoke in her best Surface-Dragon accent, “Sorry for interrupting your peaceful day, Orhaj Lorem. I need to ask one thing, and I thought you could help me. I also need to practice your language if you have time.”

“For you, I always have time, Byia. Your use of Magic got really fast. You also look funny with that bubble on your head; it looks like a scary helmet! Paullu normally makes a bubble around his entire body. How much air do you have in there?”

Byia shrugged while smiling. “Not much, but I can hold my breath if needed. Or make a new bubble. So, I tried to find some information around here but couldn’t find any. Do you know if, in this World, there was ever an Ancient Language? Because I read about it in an old book that has been in my family for generations, but I couldn’t find any other book that remotely spoke about a different language from our ones.”

Orhaj Lorem rubbed his chin with one claw, thinking. “I see… I once heard a story in my childhood from my grandmother. Something about the beginning of Nend Ardhon: when the first Dragons arrived, they spoke a different language, which evolved into two different languages when our races split. One group chose to live underwater and the other group on land, and that made the sounds of the Ancient Language change according to the new environments. I always liked that story, because she basically used it to explain that we all came from an ancient group of Dragons that arrived from the stars. Well, it also became a firm belief among my people, which helped when the war tore us apart. I don’t know if this helps.”

“Yeah… not much, actually. I just can’t understand why it says that in my family book. Oh, even better, some of my ancestors spoke that Ancient Language, or at least could understand it.”

Orhaj continued rubbing his chin and mumbled, “Strange… probably as a Skill… but how to unlock that Skill? And why? Very strange… It is just a story passed from parents to their children for ages… Oh, I have an idea. Why don’t you ask Sare Andri? He is not your average Nayga; he also has a strange interest in our History. He is my age, but his knowledge of Nend Ardhon and its inhabitants through time is way above that of any Scholar we have around here. I believe there is not one Water-Dragon or Surface-Dragon Scholar that can rival him in his knowledge of the History of our World!”

Byia gulped and swallowed more water than she should have. She held her breath and made another water bubble around her head while trying to disguise her nervousness. “Well… I also need to practice my Nayga speech… but calling him just like that, I don’t know…”

Orhaj Lorem grinned. “You like him! You think he is pretty! You want to kiss him!”

Byia turned bright red and vigorously shook her paws. “No! You are mistaken! I am not into…”

“Yeah, right, you keep saying that with your yellow eyes, and see if I believe it. You forgot that your eyes betray you, Byia. They always change to yellow if you get too excited. Next, you start to glow, and if you get distracted, Paullu will have to clean his room again. Remember what you did the first time you saw Sare Andri? Paullu was angry for days, and he couldn’t play our game because you destroyed his console and the entire wall!”

Byia awkwardly smiled while feeling her heart try to come out of her chest. She took a few deep breaths and did her best to remain calm. “That was a long time ago. I am older and more in control of my feelings and my Magic, so I think I can…”

“It was only three Big Moons ago, Byia… I doubt you got better in such a short amount of time. If you want to talk with him, it would be better if you remain calm, or Paullu will kill you if you destroy his room again. By the way, where is he? I haven’t seen him online for a while.”

Byia made a big smile and made a proud pose by placing her fists on her waist and looking at him sideways. “If you want to know, my amazing older brother got himself a very pretty girlfriend, and he went to meet her parents.”

“No way! A female managed to catch him? I want to meet that girlfriend! She must be truly amazing!”

“Well, she is a bit crazy, but she seems to like him very much.”

Orhaj Lorem grinned again. “More than you like Sare Andri? I hope that girlfriend doesn’t blow up like you, or Paullu will have a hard life!”

“I don’t like… You know, I won’t argue with you about that. How do I call Sare Andri?”

Orhaj Lorem approached the console near the wall from where he was seeing Byia and answered while pressing a few buttons, “I can make him join here; I want to see this… Hehehe!”

“You are mean, Orhaj…”

The screen image was divided into two. On one side was the smiling face of Orhaj Lorem, and the other was now showing a light-yellow background, full to the ceiling with shelves and books upon books.

From the left of the screen, the smiling face of Sare Andri appeared, and his face changed from a big smile to a surprise when he saw on his screen Orahj smiling at him and a very nervous little Water-Dragon. Byia was staring at him in absolute silence.

Like every member of the Nayga Race, Sare Andri had a round head, lizard-like smooth light grey skin, and two small eyes at an odd distance from each other because of the flattened large nose with tiny nostrils. He had two round, dark grey eyes and a bifurcated tongue that kept popping out, making him look funny or threatening, depending on who was looking at him.

While many Water-Dragons always found the looks of a Nayga funny, there were still a few that always feared them and their tongue. For the average Water-Dragon, the Nayga Race were all strange beings, but Byia liked the looks of the Nayga, and she always thought Sare Andri was beautiful.

She took a few small breaths and greeted him in his hissing language, which she liked so much to hear: “Helloss, Sare Andri. Rememberss me? I wantss to ask you a questionss if you have timess, and I alsoss need to practicess my Nayga Language.”

“Hello, Orahjss! Byia Callass, long timess no see! How aress you? I am gladss to help with anythingss!”

Orhaj Lorem almost burst into laughter and did his best to speak calmly, “Yeah, evenss if sshe assk somethingss weird? You loverss boy, youss!”

Byia did her best to remain calm, even with the cute, puzzled look on Sare Andri’s face caused by the mocking of the laughing Surface-Dragon on the other side of the screen.

She made a forced smile while feeling her cheeks becoming hotter and hotter and asked, “You knowss if in thiss World there wass ever an Ancientss Language? I read aboutss it in an old bookss my mother gavess me.”

“Wellss… I know there iss a religion regardingss that in Orhaj Loremss side of the Worldss, saying that a differentss race of Dragonsss arrived in Nend Ardhonss and they spokess a strange languagess. Some of themss went to live underwaterss and otherss remained on landss. Eonss passed and twoss different languagess appeared. No provess were left behindss, but I alwayss liked that story. If there were indeed an ancient racess of Dragonss, they are longss gone, and timess erased everythingss they could havess left, except the Orhaj race and yourss, Byia.”

Byia nodded and went silent, thinking. Sare Andri waited for a while, and he then asked, “Orhaj, where isss Paullu? Why iss he not playing anymoress? It’ss because of Schoolss?”

“He now hass a girlfriend. Yeah, canss you believess it? Byia toldss me only momentss ago.”

Byia was thinking, but she couldn’t reach a conclusion. If it was indeed just a myth that the Surface-Dragons used to turn it into a religion, why did her ancestors have that Ancient Language Skill? What’s the point of having a Skill if there are no Ancient Languages?

She finally looked at the screen again and thanked the two laughing males who were still talking about Paullu and his girlfriend, “Thank you for thiss. I still find it oddss for my ancestorss to be able to speakss an Ancient Languagess, but maybe I canss find somethingss about that in the futuress. For now, I canss only practicess your languagess and my Meditation. I gainedss a very neatss Skill, Camouflagess, and I need to trainss it to find out how to use itss. Can I callss you guyss more often? I really needss to practicess your languagess!”

They both agreed and, after a final wave, they disconnected. Byia quickly deactivated the spell that kept the water outside, and it came rushing in, making a few books and games fall from the shelves that Byia quickly put in place.

She then swam to her room and, while seated on her bed, entered a deep state of meditation to train her Camouflage. She thought before starting that meditation wouldn’t be the best way to level up the Camouflage skill, but until she figured out what would do it, it wouldn’t do any harm to meditate to calm her heart and stop the heat all over her body.

All that time looking at and talking with Sare Andri was still making her too nervous to go to sleep.