FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 7

"I'm sorry"

Coriza winced, they left the oasis, yet before heading back to Warfang they made a small detour, she couldn't show herself like this in the city. First she had to get herself clean, the territory around the oasis was quite familiar to her, in fact that was the only territory she was familiar with beyond Warfang's walls.

Excluding the road back to her birthplace.

In this familiar territory was a small spring, a little round hole in the ground with slowly dripping like saliva water from a small hill. She decided to walk there, sorting all of the things that happened in the correct order and categorizing her thoughts.

When everything else fails, it was always nice to turn to logic, putting all beliefs aside you always came to a conclusion, always, didn't matter if good or bad, at least you knew where you stood.

For the first time in her life she couldn't find an answer.

She did nothing wrong, one could say it was only bad luck that put her under Iris' claws which caused all the rest of this unpleasant events.

She didn't believe in luck, her role as a priestess she believed in higher forces, not logical, but in this particular matter logic simply couldn't win.

Everything happens for a reason, all of it would be easy if Flare simply let go, he would make the situation clear, she got punished. That's it, got involved into something she should avoid, she asked for it by pressing forward.

All of it would be easy if Flare wouldn't keep apologizing all the time.

She wasn't very talkative on the way to the spring, in fact she didn't say anything else besides simple confirmations, instinct prevented her from causing any sort of disagreement and silence led to disagreement.

He had to notice it, Flare is naïve about the rules and trends of the world and civilization, but he was extremely sensitive, maybe a little too much, about social interactions, obsessed about them a little. He immediately felt something was off, especially after their recent conversation.

Being silent wasn't a good step that would make him feel that everything returned back to normal, his caring nature just didn't allow something like that.

Flare did care, his methods were special and perhaps many would find them odd, including herself, if she wouldn't be who she is the incident that happened in the oasis could be described in many other words that just weird.

Non of these words would include something as care.

She was grateful for her rational approach to life and a forgiving soul.

It hurt sometimes like now, sometimes the wound wasn't allow to heal, also like now. After some time of this relative silence his cheerfulness turned into depression and then the apologizing began.

Everyone would say that what she is feeling now is stupid and cowardly, Flare allowed Iris to bully her after all, yet all she felt was guilt, deepened and deepened by his sorrowful begging.

"I'm sorry" he whimpered again, his voice was barely hearable

She cringed, she hated pain, was afraid of pain and in that voice there was nothing but sheer agony.

Coriza turned around, opening her mouth to voice out her thoughts, but the sound died inside her throat when she laid eyes on her companion. Flare was dragging his wings and tail along the ground head hanging low, making small, weak steps which made him fall behind. He looked like an unfortunate traveler journeying through the desert at the brink of collapsing from exhaustion.

He twinkled like a match.

This sight filled her with horrible dread, no matter how betrayed she might have felt, she disliked hurting people, all of them, no matter if pure of heart or not. Never in her life she caused someone harm, what kind of cleric she would be if she would treat people as enemies.

"Don't fret Flare, please" she used the only weapon in her arsenal of social offensive, plea "I accepted your apology"

He stopped, shuffling his paw and scratching at the earth like a depressed child who got yelled on.

"You don't want to talk to me. You're mad" he whined softly, his routed mumble was heartbreaking

"Forgive me for my absence, I'm not angry, I simply got lost in the maze of my thoughts"

Flare looked up hopefully, his eyes were glistening with reverie. He was nearly her age, yet in this moment he looked like a innocent hatchling learning about the world.

"Really? You're not angry? You really mean it?"

She doubted Flare understood, maybe even heard, her excuse, all he caught from her sentence was the fact of her discarding anger as one of the possibilities influencing their relationship.

After everything that happened she was torn, she couldn't decide if the fragile mind of child is sweet or sad.

"I never lie" after hearing the nearly palpable ring of truth in her words, she wondered for a while if it wouldn't be easy just to grow up as Sparx said

Flare sprang up, making a small, joyful bounce as he lifted himself up, taught by previous experience he didn't allow joy to overwhelm him this time. It looked like gratefulness can also be a weapon, this silence that befallen on them showed him one thing, protecting Coriza didn't mean keeping the mean guys away, but also making sure that he doesn't change his role from a guardian to a torturer.

Who could have guessed that constant desire to talk can irritate your friend.

Sparx talks all the time and everyone likes him.

Maybe the better approach here was not to beg for forgiveness, instead of focusing on himself, maybe it would be better to focus on Coriza and instead of protecting her from the world, make the world protect her.

"I'm sorry"

Coriza raised her paw in the air, presenting the popular stop gesture.

"You don't have-"

"In Iris' name"

She balked, after recent events she believed she sorted her thoughts enough to have her mind opened for every possibility when Flare was around, yet despite all that he still managed to find a crack.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry in Iris' name"

"This is... not how apology works"

"Sure it does!" Flare blurt out, tail wagging happily, tip drawing fiery tongues in the air "You say sorry and apologize, it works! I've tested it!"

"What I mean is that you cannot apologize in someone's name"

Flare cocked his head, confusion clearly painted on his snout.

"Why not?"

"It isn't genuine" Coriza explained with her typical, stoic demeanor, as a cleric her patience and willingness to offer guidance was like an impenetrable wall, fortified by masters of the craft "Without authenticity an apology loses the power of its credibility and that's its main trait"

Or it was yet another shade of fear, what kind of person wouldn't get at least nervous at the mere mention of the name of the culprit that put you through all this horror.

Exactly her kind of person.

A coward.

"Then how can people apologize when they don't know how to say sorry?

She straightened her posture, tried to comb her hair with her paw, but the feeling of it reminded her of stale bread and forced her unwillingly down the memory lane and towards the recent, dreadful experience.

With a gentle shake of head she ordered herself to remain focused, it worked, her whole perspective shifted towards a completely different spectrum. This snout to snout questions made her feel as if she was in the temple and debating with the pious after one of the more controversial sermons.

All manner of questions were thrown at her, from trivial to deep, no matter the weight of them she answered all of them diligently. Flare's questions reminded her of the curiosity of the children, questions that were very important to their developing mind, questions that would shape their look on the world. She took them seriously, even if for many they seemed trivial, especially if the curious party was easily distracted by a falling bird's feather.

"When remorse is in play, it is no longer a matter of can I do it?, but do I want to do it?"

Flare stared at her with his huge, confused eyes.

"What has Iris to do with all this stuff?"

"I doubt Iris is familiar with the concept of regret"

"No, no! She is sorry, I know she is, deep, deep down, but she is! It's just that she can't defeat the Beast and it kinda takes over"

Coriza frowned, once again taken by surprise.

"Beast?"

"Yeah!" Flare's fiery body parts spat out thrilled flames "She's trapped with it in the cage and gets beaten up. I know how it feels, I've been there too. Clean slate helped me, I don't have to listen to it anymore"

The dirty priestess winced, looking hurt, displeased and ashamed of her lack of understanding.

"Forgive me, but the meaning of your words eludes me"

"I'm trying to say that Iris likes you! I know she was mean, but she doesn't know any other way of showing care!"

"She does? If this is how she shows appreciation I can't even begin to imagine what she does to people she dislikes"

Flare chuckled, nodding his head.

"That's simple, she kills them"

To say that she felt insecure in this moment wouldn't even begin to describe what this statement made her go through. A combination of dread and amusement, for the very first time in her life she was glad that someone beat her up, how stupid it may sound.

"Ask Cynder, Iris wanted to kill her"

"That's horrible. Cynder is your friend Flare, how can you speak so casually about it? Iris tried to murder your friend"

Flare scratched his horn, mouth twisting into a sour line "I know how it looks, but it was not her! It was the Beast"

"Did you ever wonder Flare that perhaps Iris is the Beast?"

This was her moment to strike a blow of surprise, her fiery companion jumped back, his flashing flames from earlier lowered their intensity. He was shocked, obviously such a possibility never occurred to him before.

She should probably feel some kind of satisfaction by opening his eyes to more possibilities, but as she looked at him she couldn't stop but wonder if she didn't shatter his dreams.

"B-B-But, t-t-the slat-t-te"

Before, speaking about her nemesis didn't bother her, but now after hearing Flare stammer she wanted nothing else, but to cut the conversation about Iris. She didn't know what Flare was thinking about right now, but she felt with that question she made a crack in the foundations that should never be touched, because if they fall, all the horrors they kept locked will break through.

It was a scary thought, but it seemed Iris was like pollution, she didn't have to be around to cause harm, the effects of her toxic presence are still being felt even after she is gone.

"Let's focus on here and now, please" she grabbed her mane, eyeing the strand as she twirled the caught disheveled hair in her paw, demoralized whine whizzing from her sealed lips. Dirty doesn't even begin to describe the state of her mane "The spring is not far"

She let go of the strand, sniffing at the palm that held it and jerking her head back with a snort of repulsion. She couldn't put a proper description of the scent of her hair besides calling it smelly.

"Care to keep me company?" she asked with a warm smile

Flare immediately perked up, body bursting with such fierce flames that it was surprising that he didn't torch the place. He grinned, broadly, an embodiment of happiness if there was any.

He pranced in her direction, rocking like a toy horse.

"Yeah! Let's go!" he dashed past her, taking the lead even if he didn't know where he was going, the cheerful flames wafting from his body forming a protective barrier

One such spark touched her cheek, grazing it like the tip of a whip.

The warmth of her expression turned into shock.

What just happened?

Did she really ask the boy that betrayed her to escort her? The boy that broke his promise?

Did she really cheered him up?

Did he really break his promise?

Why she doesn't feel any disdain towards Flare?

Ancestors.

Why she doesn't hold any grudge against Iris?

Didn't the Ancestors punish her enough? Didn't she learn her lesson? After everything is she really stabbing divinity again?

What is she doing?

She didn't know, she simply didn't know.

This was for sure her cowardly nature, it had to be, the only difference was that she, in this moment, didn't know where she was running to.

"Coriza!" Flare exclaimed, waving at her "Come on!"

She moved, not even an ounce of hesitation in her steps. Refusal wasn't in her nature, she had no choice.

Lie.

It was her idea and the Ancestors...what?

Logic.

If she believed the Ancestors punished her, why she doesn't stop? Faith is important to her, if it would be in danger she would do everything that's possible to avoid it. Yet here she is, following Flare.

Maybe she didn't stab the Ancestors in the first place?

She didn't know.

Coriza!"

She felt a strong tug, gasp shot from her throat.

Flare giggled, letting his friend go after he pulled her away from the unavoidable collision.

"You were walking straight into a tree. Didn't you see it?"

Coriza mumbled something incoherently, her eyes wide and blurry, she couldn't see anything, lately it seemed like she couldn't see many things. She shook her head, vision returned to normal, the feeling of groping in the dark remained.

The tree really was there, as was the grass trampled by her paws.

"Oh my" she licked her lips apprehensively

"You think too much! I never do and I always know where I'm going!"

She couldn't help herself but smile, a pinch of innocent, enthusiastic naivety had its charm.

"I will try to restrain myself"

The peculiar appeal didn't abandon them through their whole walk towards the spring, the pond while unable to match the oasis beauty had its own attractiveness, most of it was the result of the ability to provide privacy.

This particular spot was very lush, lacking the tame allure of the more popular places in this world. The nature of this place was wild, long, sharp grass and weeds played the main role in depicting this scenery. It was like a small part of a jungle from the Tall Plains got sowed in a place it didn't quite belong to.

Like the popular black sheep in the family tree of Nature.

While the oasis was her favorite place, representing the values she so much cherishes in her life, habit basically, this specific piece of land was the place she really could identify herself with.

After all she was also a black sheep among her kind.

She liked the feeling of the wild grass on her paws, it had the perfect amount of roughness her sensitive flesh tolerated, it was like her cosmetics, she can't wear them all the time, but when she finally does it feels fantastic.

"Whoa" Flare gasped, walking forward and making slow spins, absorbing every detail "This place is so cool"

"It doesn't match the oasis, but I find its unique charm fascinating"

For him the whole world was special, as prisoner he didn't have any opportunities to examine the outside world, it was always the same walls, so similar to the caves of that place where they fought with the bugs.

Those mines were the only place he didn't like, they reminded him too much of his past life. Everything else was cool, he couldn't decide what was better since he was always accompanied by his friends and they are more important than every piece of the world.

He lost interest in the spring as fast as he gained it, he couldn't focus on the wonders of the world when he was too busy making it protect the miracle he was accompanying.

The spring sang softly in the middle of the lush land, water flew lazily in between the rocks of the small hill like blood from a wound.

"We're here" Coriza announced, reaching the small pond, its bank was made of wet sand. The spring was like an overflowing bucket, water dripped onto the bank from the pond.

She tapped that stretched out wing of water and immediately withdrew her paw with a wince, curling her claws.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, considering to evaporate this water if it dares to hurt his friend again

"Cold" she shook her paw, flicking droplets of sand and water

"Aren't you an ice dragonesses like Iris? You shouldn't be bothered by water I think. I'm a fire guy and barely flinched when I got locked in a smelter"

Coriza looked at him in horror, her whole frame cringed.

"You got locked in a smelter?"

"A couple of times, the purple dragons wanted to test the limits of my resistance I think"

"This is beyond the bounds of possibility, I'm not fluent in the art of metalwork, but even a dragonesses like me knows it takes a considerable amount of heat to shape steel. With no magical barrier no fire dragon would stand such heat, your scales would melt off"

Flare shrugged.

"I dunno how it works. I didn't melt and I wasn't using any barrier or whatever"

She knew that Flare was just satisfying her curiosity and had no ill will, but his words about his endurance made her feel even more worthless as a dragon. She would also like boast about her strengths, dragon worthy strengths, but she had none, she couldn't even properly take a beating.

She looked at the ground in shame, at her flinching in discomfort wet toes.

"That is praiseworthy"

The flames surrounding his body lessened their fiery aura, he hated to see his friend sad.

"Don't be sad Coriza, it's nothing. You are way more cooler, so what if you don't have resistances, you have other strengths nobody else has and they are BIG"

She smiled weakly, it was no surprise that he wanted to comfort her, she expected as much.

"I appreciate your words, but I'm aware of my limitations of my draconic origin"

"Who cares about that?" he slammed a paw into his chest, the thud nearly kicking the breath out of him" You forgave me, I screwed up so many times already and you still talk with me like nothing happened. I don't know anyone who could do this. You have all this thoughts going on inside your head and yet you are still here, keeping true to your muse like nature that's so special. You don't see it, but I do and this... whatever that is, it's there in you, it's very powerful. I've been forced to respect strength, I recognize power when I see one and you Coriza radiate strength"

She raised her head, the true, loving touch of an Ancestor's whisper was back in his voice. Flare was known for his genuine approach, it made her feel so worthy, even if she didn't understand what he was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

He scratched his mane in confusion.

"I don't know how to call it, it's there tho, believe me! I asked you if you trusted me, you nodded, I knew I messed up, but I know your trust is still there. Not for everything maybe, but for this case, it's there, I know it, it's part of your power"

He raised on his hind legs, spreading his fores wide.

"Who cares about the world, as your friend is my duty to help you and I will do it by making the world protect you. You want to clean yourself in this pond? No problem! I'll make it warmer!"

He dropped on the ground, marching confidently towards the spring.

"Flare you really don't have to put yourself through so much trouble, I can bare through it I'll wash myself on the bank"

"No way I'm going to put you through such annoying stuff!" he entered the water, going straight to the middle, the water reaching barely above his legs

For some unexplained reason she found Flare's constantly burning body parts surprising, she didn't know why she expected normality and thought that the water would kill his natural flames.

"You deserve a proper, warm bath and you're going to get one!"

He turned around to face her, tongues of flames spread from each of his burning body parts, already she could see the delicate trails of heated mist dancing in the air.

"Touch the water Coriza and tell me when I should stop. It's not hot yet"

This was like a dream.

It all felt so strangely unreal, Flare's will to live a grateful life was intoxicating, she knew what dedication to assist someone meant, she became a cleric to follow that principle, yet she lacked the charisma of Flare. She knew helping was important, but simply couldn't show it through her serious personality, she couldn't show the joyful values supporting someone brings.

This is why she did as he said, forgetting for a moment about everything, all that mattered was to taste the energy she lacks in her own life.

She dipped one toe into the curtain of water dancing on the sandy bank.

She shivered, the water wasn't cold anymore, becoming comfortably warm with each passing second. She didn't have tell Flare anything, the moment nothing came out of her mouth, he took that as a sign and kept heating the water.

Until it was perfect, like a bubbling bath in a tavern.

"It's wonderful" she moaned

His tail made a happy swing at hearing that sound.

Remembering well what kind of discomfort his closeness brought her before he stepped back, moving to the end of the pond and stopping at the small, rocky hill, right next to the slowly flowing stream.

"Come on in!" he invited her eagerly

"I can't swim" she whined pitifully

"It's not deep! I'm at the lowest point and look where is the water. You don't have to come here, just find a place where you can lie down safely. Nothing will happen, promise!"

She felt stupid for letting her cowardly nature speak up, of course it wasn't deep, Flare was at the end of the spring and water was reaching his underbelly. As a coward however she had to ask, certainty was the ingredient for her survival.

She got into the water, with great attention watching her every step, making double sure she won't step on anything that would make her trip and drown. She always panicked in the face of danger, the recent episode with Iris made it clear that she didn't grow out of it.

The water reached slightly below the elbows. She decided that this will be her comfort zone. She looked up meaningfully at her companion.

He nodded with a smile and turned around, giving her privacy she so valued. He didn't want to make any more mistakes in their relations, with that in mind he kept channeling his magic, maintaining the same temperature of the water.

Coriza laid down, another shiver running through her spine when she dipped more of her body into the water. It was nice to see Flare learning from his mistakes, it made her slightly more comfortable. He was still a long way from reaching the level of trust she has with Sparx, with everything that happened in mind there was a chance that he would never do that, nevertheless it was important and crucial that he was at least trying.

She began washing herself slowly, the knowledge of water erasing all that dirt and signs of recent abuse was a wonderful feeling, Coming close second right after the sensation of inhaling the serene atmosphere of a temple.

She made awkward push-ups, getting the water to cascade down her flanks and letting it wash off most of the dirt from her body, head, bigger part of the wings and the top of her back were the only places that were still untouched by the somewhat cleansing liquid.

Impulsively her eyes landed on Flare, they spent quite some time together already, the relationship developed certain habits, like the one of having their jaws constantly moving. Conversation was always present, in fact she got used to it so much that she didn't even acknowledge when they were speaking.

With that habit still burning like a fresh brand she found the silence divisive, she wasn't the one that starts conversations, despite her profession she approached people only when they really looked like they needed help, every other dialogue was stirred by strangers beginning conversations.

"This is very nice. Thank you" she voiced out her appreciation, gently splashing another wave of water on herself

Flare remained where he was, back facing her, she didn't see his snout, but a glance at his widely swinging tail was enough to tell that it was undoubtedly trailing the form of his invisible, happy smile.

"I'm happy you like it. Do you need something else? I'll do anything"

He wouldn't do anything, she learned that part rather painfully, but without Iris around, Flare's willingness to make her happy drastically increased. She couldn't really decide if this is actually a good or a bad thing.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to.

Thoughts again.

There was too much of that lately.

She took a deep breath, held it inside, closed her eyes and dove her head into the water, twisting her body slightly catch the untouched parts of her figure. Paw shot up, hectically scrubbing the hair.

Fear began crawling its way to her heart.

She hated being underwater, as a coward it was in her nature to avoid any sort of danger, having her head below water was the most terrifying things someone like her could go through. One unfortunate choke was enough to end it all, the perspective so much more frightening when she was aware of her clumsy inclinations.

The more improbable the scenario of getting hurt, the bigger the chances were that she would actually fall victim to it.

She withdrew her head from the water, gasping for air and spitting out whatever part of the pond that managed to slip through her tightly sealed lips.

"Coriza?" Flare blurted out worriedly, his body twitching nervously, with great difficulty fighting off the instinct to turn around

"I'm fine" she mumbled, cleaning the watery tears from her eyes and giving her mane another scrub "Be grateful that you are not seeing this. It's not pretty"

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a bath"

"I...don't understand. Why bathing is not pretty? Especially when you are the one doing it?"

Coriza smiled to herself, her cleric, preaching soul coming through.

"Do you have nightmares sometimes Flare?"

He shrugged carelessly.

"Not anymore"

When you offer guidance as a priest, the usual rule is that you dictate the tempo of the conversation and lead it wherever you want it to go by simple suggestions. Giving people hope was always making them believe it exists, that conclusion however they need to make themselves and there was nothing more inspiring, then a steadfast cleric giving them strength.

Flare however had beaten her off track, everyone has nightmares, you can't just block them out, they happen, they might not be of the same caliber like the ones when you were a child, but they were there, always, under a different shape. When you grow up you start fearing other things.

It was unnatural to prosper otherwise.

Steadfast Coriza.

Steadfast.

"When... when you had nightmares" she swallowed the unexpected lump in her throat, she couldn't understand why she became so nervous all of a sudden "You dreamt of monster didn't you?"

"Maybe, I'm not really sure, dreams couldn't really scare me, what could they show that I already didn't go through?"

She should really have figured it out by now, she wasn't talking to some normal dragon, standard tactics won't work on him. What kind of horrors one must face to render nightmares to the level of a fairy tale.

"Differently then..." she dug a claw into her hair, making small, thoughtful circles and twirling the white and blue strands around it "Imagine your worst horror, you see it chained and presumably tamed"

"Ok, I see Diazen, what now?"

"Imagine that Diazen's mouth is wide open and you are sticking your head in between his spread, sharp teeth. Chains that hold it in place rattle all around you"

She noticed Flare shivering, wings twitching uneasily, from the looks of it he had a rich imagination, momentarily creating the described picture before his eyes.

"That doesn't sound really safe"

Coriza nodded, weak smile drumming at the corner of the lips, her own words intimidating her. The satisfaction she felt after luring Flare in the right direction was unbecoming of a priestess. She couldn't really say what was behind it, perhaps it was the doubt, the mental struggle she was going through.

Whatever it was, it felt good to accomplish something the cleric way, it meant that she wasn't completely lost.

"Precisely, this is exactly how I feel about bathing. This is what takes the charm out of it, the maw of the beast is the water and I'm slowly putting my head into it"

"I can he-" he instinctively began to turn, water rippled and splashed all around him, but then as if an invisible hand would smack him he made a twist in the opposite direction, tail dropped in between the legs "I mean, I'm here if you need me"

"Thank you, I appreciate your concern, but I hope it won't come to that" with those words she dived again, repeating the same tactic of holding breath and closing of eyes

She pulled it through, successfully judging by the state of her hair, it glued to her head, strands of her mane dangling in front of her eyes, dripping wet. Coriza made two more dives until she finally decided that the amount of water flowing from her hair is enough to say that she washed it clean.

Flare looked behind his shoulder when he heard his friend paddling through water.

Coriza stepped out of the water, bending slightly she shook her body, drying off her wet scales and hair, droplets of water shooting everywhere like splinters from a hacked wood.

By the time she was done her head stood in every direction, she looked as if she got electrocuted, many of those strands flew down, covering her snout like a hood.

Flare chuckled.

"You look so funny!"

Coriza pressed her paw to her snout, moving a part of the wet noodles that was her hair now and uncovering a single, glistening like sun eye. She offered her companion a kind, toothless smile.

"This is why it is very urgent I return home to change and prepare myself. While I find your joy because of my state sweet, it is very unbecoming for someone on my profession to look funny. Any sort of humor is mostly frowned upon"

"Really? This sounds very boring, you can't even laugh?"

"Of course we can, but it is inappropriate to do so. I see how it may be tedious for someone who isn't in our priesthood circle, but we are used to this kind of duty. I personally try to satisfy my amusement needs on my own accord, many don't however and I honestly see nothing wrong with that"

Flare winced.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you"

Coriza's gold eyes glimmered warmly.

"Your surprise is perfectly understandable, no offense taken. Come Flare, I must return home, I'll dry off on the way to Warfang"

*

"Priestess, finally!"

Coriza swallowed uneasily, this was not the first time and most likely won't be the last when people call her out by her profession title, even if she wasn't currently wearing the garment, never before however it happened right in front of her house. Not to mention that judging by the relief in the voice, people waited for her for some time already.

Four female moles were standing at the doorstep to her house, judging from the circle they formed and the energetic twiddling of claws they were in a middle of a very live debate.

The demanding, full of hope eyes that were aimed in her direction didn't help in calming her nerves at all. Flare stepped from behind her, the group of moles rearranged their goggles, making cautious steps backwards.

The demanding eyes grew more fierce, hope shifted into disappointment.

"Can I help you?" to the best of her ability she tried to mask the tone of fear that got mixed in her usual melodic voice

"I've been searching all over for you priestess!" one of the mole's stepped forward, she seemed to be the oldest of the bunch "I've been to the sacred temple, thanks the Ancestors the blessed Seeker was there and told me to not waste my energy in my futile search, he told me you weren't at work and told me where to look for you!"

She gulped, the swallow was so audible that it drew Flare's attention and forced his head to cock in mild shock. The Seeker told this women where to look for her, he knew she was missing, while the caretakers don't have strict working schedules, most of them treat servitude to the temple as their daily life, being present in the temple during the morning usually meant cleaning work to prepare the temple for visitors.

While it was not needed for everyone to be there, there is enough people living in the temple to take care of the chores, it was only appropriate to show dedication to the duty you swore your life to.

Seeker knew she wasn't there, he knew of her neglect.

For the first time in her life a terribly scary thought crossed her mind. For the very first time she didn't want to go back to the temple.

"I've been walking around the temple for so long that I fear I might have woke up the dead in the Catacombs with the thudding of my boots!" the mole rubbed her knees "The pain in my legs must be my punishment, I should know by now that these legs aren't meant to walk for extended periods of time any longer"

"Ancestors bless the Seeker for his generosity, without him I would never find you priestess! All those young souls taking care of the temple are so devoted to their task that they hardly speak, I didn't have the heart to pull them away from their divine duty" the old mole gasped, grasping the cloth of her outfit that covered her heart "Ancestors bless us all. Without the holy Seeker I would be lost, all I had was your name and a rough description, we moles weren't granted a renowned sight, roughness when it comes to faces is the best we can get"

She raised her hands into the air, aiming her weak sight at the sky.

"Let's be grateful for the Ancestors divine plan that included the Seeker to be sent back to us as the conduit for their will. A mole no less, the weakest of the races granted such honor. Divine plan is unfolding before us!"

Flare stared at the speaking mole with one raised eyebrow, so many words were coming from the mole's mouth and yet he couldn't understand where they led, not to mention that it seemed like Coriza fell off from the point of interest.

This was amazing.

"This is so cool" he admitted in sincere awe "I didn't know you could talk so much and say so little"

All four moles gasped, Coriza merely winced, trying to the best of her ability to remain neutral and pretend that nothing happened and hope that her presence alone will be convincing enough. She was relatively prepared for Flare's inconsiderate remarks, even if he found a crack in her defense she didn't allow herself to be bothered by it. She had an open mind and cowardly nature, she wouldn't be able to stand up for herself even if she wanted to.

Most of people didn't have her type of problems however.

"Such obscenity!" one of the moles exclaimed in what could be described as terror

"Your parents didn't teach you anything young boy? What they would think if they saw you now?"

Flare's eyes widened, his surprised yellow orbs jumping between every more, he didn't understood much, but he understood anger. He said something wrong again and it turned the moles hostile. He cringed, hiding slowly behind Coriza, after everything he made her go through, getting into a conflict with her guests wasn't in his plans.

"Sorry" he mumbled, pleadingly looking up at his friend

With the way he was cringed, keeping his body low and trying to hide behind her paws, he reminded her even more of a little hatchling that tried to cover in behind his mother's legs after he got spooked.

His attitude put her dormant motherly instincts on alarm.

She found his natural innocence charming.

Something unexpected stirred within her, a weak intention of stepping out in his defense,

"Who could expect anything else from the spawn of Shadow?" the third more blurt out

"The Seeker will cleanse the taint, the time when darkness is allowed to roam free and corrupt everyone will be over" the mole that previously committed herself to the monolog pointed a withered claw at Flare, yet her eyes landed on the cleric

Coriza flinched, understanding the hint and who they think exactly is becoming the victim of the taints plans.

"Please" she begged "Let's not fight, this is not...aggression is unneeded"

The moles backed away immediately, something that didn't escape Flare's attention.

No matter how fragile Coriza may seem, as a draconic cleric she had much respect among the pious, especially the moles who revere dragons, normal dragons. Priests were basically walking gods to them.

A simple plea was enough to scare the moles away make them realize their mistake.

It made him proud to see Coriza triumph, even if she didn't truly acknowledge that.

"I won't be able to assist you if the aura of hostility remains intact. Anger is a defiler of understanding and I believe that understanding is the treasure we all seek"

"Naturally priestess" the oldest female bowed

"Forgive us" the rest followed

"You're so cool" Flare mumbled, voice full of veneration, not able to pull his eyes from the moles, such subordination he saw only in tortured subjects with broken minds

Coriza achieved the same effect by simply being her usual, sweet self.

Her paw impulsively rose up to give Flare a playful scratch on the burning mane, she stopped herself in the last moment, claws landing instead on the side of her neck.

She smiled warmly.

"No harm was done. Tell me miss if you would be so kind, why you sought me out?"

"I'm Fink's mother, I..."

The mole's voice faded away in an instant, every muscle in her body tensed to the very limit, she felt as if she literally swallowed the stick Sparx kept teasing her about. Blood drained away from her snout, turning blue scales practically white.

She felt like a kid who just got caught eating a cake that was supposed to be a snack for the upcoming birthday party

The only difference was that the cake didn't smell of chocolate, but ash.

For some unexplained reason guilt gripped her spine tightly.

She felt as if she was being strangled, she felt a clawed paw on her throat, it was choking her.

"Priestess?"

It was the paw of one of the Ancestor's, they finally decided to punish her for her disobedience in the most straightforward way possible. They-

"Coriza?"

She blinked, there was some kind of power in names, even if sometimes those names are the same, names that can be shared among two people that may live on the opposite sides of the globe, they still had that magical, identifying value.

Names are the things that put the soul into you_and _I.

Coriza blinked, wavering breath leaving her mouth, lips dry, whole body quaked by a gentle shiver. If she didn't knew better she would say that she was freezing.

She looked around in confusion, every eye aimed at her as if she some kind of an actress that forgot her part in a play that was the main deal in a big event.

She cleared her throat, feeling small and insignificant, paw went up to twirl a strand of bluish hair around itself.

"I apologize, I didn't hear your question. I...don't know what happened"

"Have you seen my son, Fink?" the mole inquired "Every time he finished his task in your home he came back for a good breakfast. I just want to ask if maybe you had seen him? It's already so late in the day and he didn't give any sign of life"

"No, I haven't, I'm sorry"

The female mole rearranged her goggles as if trying to zoom them in on her to check if she wasn't lying.

A protective mother.

"I've been waiting for Fink like every morning before going to w-" she ended, falling into a fit of coughs, she still didn't show up at work, it would be unfair to mention it

"Sorry" Coriza gently tapped her chest, to get the air track working again "What I was trying to say is that Fink didn't come with a visit today. Unusual for him, but I simply came to a conclusion that something more important must have came up"

"Of course!" one of the other female moles exclaimed

"What is it?" the worried mother blurted out

"Don't you have a birthday tomorrow honey?"

"I do, but what does that have to do with anything? My birthdays were always modest and I'm too old for celebrating. In my age you no longer worship birthdays, they just remind you just how old you are"

The mole who came up with the exciting idea waved her hand dismissively.

"Don't be such a baby, how many times you celebrate ninety years? I'm sure Fink will be back in the evening, when he prepares everything"

"If he didn't plan to go to work today, he at least should have informed his customers, and our dear priestess here doesn't know anything"

"Fink only takes care of my wardrobe" Coriza explained "In all honestly we drink tea, most of the time the inspection ends on a quick look over. This ingenious device rarely malfunctions, I'm very careful with it and Fink is a genius for making it so resilient to my clumsy self. Regular visits are nice, but not crucial, if some other responsibilities occupied him then he had all the right to shift priorities. No harm done"

The excited mole clapped her hands together.

"See darling? There's nothing to worry about, I'm certain of it. Your son is preparing a surprise for you, you two are so close after all"

The mother crunched her blouse tightly as if she would be holding her own heart, other hand landed on top of the first, blunt claws tapping a soft melody against shriveled hand.

"Maybe you're right" there was no confidence in that mumble

The cheerful mole embraced her friend.

"Of course I'm right, you'll see. Now come, let's not bother the young cleric anymore" the mole bowed "Ancestors guide you priestess

"Ancestors guide you" the rest of the group added soon after

"Ancestors guide you" Coriza replied, mimicking the same gesture

Flare looked over his friend and the group of leaving moles as of they were victims of some sort of plague.

"Why do you keep repeating the same thing?"

"It's just a greeting and farewell when addressing someone of the clergy" Coriza licked her lips "Do you know Fink Flare?"

The question was unexpected, it threw him aback a little, an image of the past flashed before his eyes. In the same manner purple dragons interrogated him, asking strange questions, already knowing the answer, but just seeking a chance to force him to admit. For some unknown reason.

He didn't like that memory.

"N-No"

The nervous stammered she heard brought her back to her senses, the accusing echo of her last sentence stabbing her heart.

Why did she do that again?

"I apologize, I didn't mean to startle you. I just feel... lost, there is so much on my mind right now, I can barely cope with it" she rubbed her forehead, seems she is having the first signs of a migraine "So there was no mole around my house when you came to me this morning? Was there anyone? You slept at my doorstep, you had to see someone passing by if they planned on visiting me"

"Nope" Flare shook his head fervently "No mole, no one, nothing was here besides one, small worm"

There was some strange feeling eating at her, it was as sickening as the first symptoms of food poisoning, she couldn't really explain what was causing all of this, most likely it was the stress. Iris, Flare, those moles, Fink, Ancestors, Seeker and even Sparx, she felt as if everyone she knows turned into a falcon's talons, blades of which were set on getting her.

The dilemma was however which of those talons wants to pluck her from water before she drowns and which intends to rip her to shreds.