Dragon Legends: The Tale of Orphius Chapter 2
#2 of Dragon Legends: The Tale of Orphius
Chapter 2
Soon after Orphius arrived at the forest he found a small clearing where he could sleep the night. Orphius tried to go to sleep when he heard a rustling noise from a bush behind him and he quickly got to his feet and turned around to see what had caused the noise. On the other side of the bush stood a sapphire blue dragoness. For a moment they both stared at each other. What Orphius was most intrigued about was that she looked about the same age as him. Soon the sapphire dragoness ran off. "Hey wait up" yelled Orphius as he ran after the sapphire dragoness until all of a sudden the dragoness came to a stop beside a lake. Orphius caught off guard by the sudden stop of the dragoness tripped over his own foot and tumbled towards the lake and almost fell in, but was stopped when he hit a bolder.
"Ouch!" yelled Orphius as he began to get up. A slight chuckle escaped the sapphire dragoness's mouth. "Are you alright?" asked the sapphire dragoness trying to suppress her chuckle. "Yep, I'm okay" answered Orphius beginning to walk closer to the dragoness. "My name is Alartra, what's yours?" said Alartra curiously. "My name is Orphius and it's nice to meet you Alartra" answered Orphius.
"Why did you run off before" Orphius asked curiously. "Because I...I haven't seen another dragon in five months" answered Alartra. "Wh...what you haven't seen another dragon in five months. What happened to your parent's?" replied Orphius with a sound of concern in his voice. Alartra began to tremble as the events began to play back in her mind and she sat on her haunches, tears beginning to stream down her face. "You really want to know?" whispered Alartra, tears streaming down her face. "Yes I do, unless it is too painful for you to remember" answered Orphius, concerned for Alartra's well being.
"Okay I'll tell you. My parents, both of them, were killed by a small group of Wyvern. Ever since then I haven't seen another dragon until you turned up. So what's your story how did you wind up here? Did the same thing happen to your parents?" asked Alartra as she tried to stop crying. "You really want to know?" whispered Orphius now beginning to cry as the image of his dead mother came into his thoughts and Alartra soon picked up on his frozen stance. "What happened please tell me" whispered Alartra knowing the pain that he was probably in.
"It...it...it happened this morning. Wyvern had attacked our cave, they where probably the same ones which killed your parents. I was asleep when the attack began, when I finally woke up I ran to the main cavern and saw my mother being held by the neck in the mouth of a Wyvern and all of a sudden the world began to move slowly. Eventually the Wyvern's retreated, but my mother had sustained severe injuries and before I knew it she was dead, but my father is still alive" answered Orphius, standing still, tears running down his face.
"Your father is still alive! Where is he?" asked Alartra, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I don't know where he is. He lead a Wyvern away from our cave so I could escape" answered Orphius, "I'm worried for his life". "Don't worry your father will probably be alright remember he is older and more learned than either of us" whispered Alartra, trying to comfort Orphius "But my guess is we would be better off staying together it would give us more of a fighting chance" exclaimed Alartra, with a smile. "I agree we would last longer together" replied Orphius, with a smile "but where could we go? It seems like the Wyvern are out to kill our species" asked Orphius, starting to think hard about what was happening.
"I guess we could head south-east there's a small island in that direction. It's a bit isolated but I've flown there once or twice in the past three months. We should be safe there" answered Alartra, as she got back up onto her feet. "It's getting late and I'm starving" groaned Orphius. "Come on follow me, there's bound to be a rabbit or two out here" replied Alartra, with a small chuckle. "Got one" shouted Alartra, her voice muffled by the rabbit she now carried in her mouth. "Took you long enough" replied Orphius with three dead rabbits sitting at his forelegs. "Lucky" Alartra whispered under her own breath. "Here take one I only need two" spoke Orphius, with a smile on his face. "Thanks" replied Alartra, a smile creeping its way onto her face. Alartra took the rabbit from Orphius and she then moved to sit on her haunches, then they both ripped apart their two rabbits. Soon after Orphius finished eating he fell asleep and Alartra remained awake looking over at his body.
Soon Orphius began trembling and started to talk in his sleep "Mother! ...No ...Mother!!!" Alartra realizing what was happening, walked over to his side, sat on her haunches and tried to wake him from his sleep. Alartra had only just touched Orphius's scales and he awoke from his sleep to see Alartra's concerned face. "You were dreaming about what happened to your mother this morning weren't you" asked Alartra trying to comfort Orphius. "Yes, I miss her so much" answered Orphius, shivering from the cold. Alartra draped her wing over Orphius. Feeling the warmth of Alartra beside him, Orphius curled his body underneath her wing and soon they both fell asleep.