A Place to Belong - Chapter 13
#14 of Malakye's Story - Part 1 (A Place to Belong)
Chapter 13 of 'A Place to Belong'. Unlucky for some, but Malakye and Rose seem to be having a great time.
As you may have noticed I'm posting pics with a chapter of the story below, each of the pictures are a commission I've gotten from various artists of characters from the story and I'm still requesting more.
If anyone fancies doing a picture or piece of fan-art from the story using any of the characters or places then they are welcome to do so, let me post the pics with the story and I'll give a link to your user-page when I use it.
All the pictures I've used so far and more are available to be viewed in my gallery with info on the relevant artists that drew them for me.
I'd like to give a big shout out to 'Roderick the Rhodesian Ridgeback' (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/zizixmp3/) for proof reading my story. He's a great fur with a big heart and I can't thank him enough for doing all he's done to help with the story,
You may notice a few words have been highlighted and an explaination of what it is is given, these are words that only exist in this story and are there to help you understand whats happening, these descriptions only appear the first time they are used and won't appear in future chapters but soon I will be posting an encylopedia of sorts contain all of these word and more allowing you to discover many things about the world that may not even appear in the story. If you feel like I've missed a word then please let me know and I'll make sure to add it to the chapter and/or the encyclopedia for future reference.
Chapter 13
"Now what can I... ROSE!" Zalamar cheered when he saw Rose he leaned over the counter to give her a hug, one which Rose happily returned. I on the other paw, stood behind Rose, trying to remain invisible. "How are you today sweetie? You look a hell of a lot happier than you have been lately."
"Oh I'm doing great! And it's all because of this guy." Rose said, indicating to me. Zalamar looked at me and his smile disappeared. "Zalamar this is Malakye. Malakye, Zalamar."
"Hi." I said, raising my paw in a pathetic wave, feeling incredibly uncomfortable. I wasn't able to meet Zalamar's gaze.
"You're that kid from before... look, I'm really sorry if I offended you last time. It was a bit of a shock to hear about your heritage." Zalamar said with an unmistakable tone of apology.
"So, you don't hate me?" I asked timidly.
"Hate you? Why on earth would I hate you?"
"Because I'm part wolf?"
"No! In fact, after I got over the shock I was kinda happy. You represent how life should be kiddo. This feud the Wolves have with us Dragons is bloody stupid. It is a rare thing for a cross breed to occur between species, and even more so for one to happen between a Wolf and a Dragon! They say that Shal'Naresh must be moved by the love that two members of the opposing species have for each other before they can have a child together. You're parents must have loved each other very much."
"Yeah, they did." I said with a mixture of happiness and sadness.
"That is what this world needs more of these days, love. Pure untainted love." Zalamar continued.
"Zalamar! You're doing it again!" Rose mocked.
"Hey! Give a guy a break for being a romantic at heart! Now then what can I get you two? It's on the house."
"YAY!" Rose cheered. "We'll have two of my usual."
"Coming right up. You two go sit down, I'll bring it over when it's ready."
"Thanks Zalamar." Rose said, giving the older Dragon a hug.
"Yeah, thanks a lot." I said with a smile, feeling a lot better now that I knew he didn't hate me.
"Think nothing of it. You make my Rose happy, that makes you a friend of mine. So long as you keep her happy, consider yourself family as well." Zalamar smiled, placing his right paw to his chest. I remember Eric explaining that gesture, it was the gesture of trust and loyalty. it wasn't commonly used but did pop up from time to time. I returned the gesture showing my appreciation and followed Rose to one of the vacant tables.
"So what do you think of Zalamar?" Rose asked.
"He's certainly an interesting guy." I replied with a slight smile. "I guess I was wrong about him." Rose smiled back at me and I felt my heart flutter, she was so beautiful and her smile seemed to brighten up the room. We just sat there looking into each other's eyes until Zalamar placed our food on the table in front of us. Without a word, we began to devour our meals... both of us being hungry from the morning's activities.
We left after saying goodbye to Zalamar and Rose dragged me to the market place where we began to browse the various stalls full of clothing, jewels, food, crafts and other trinkets. I could see the various cultures represented in some of the items, and even if I didn't have a clue myself of which, I could see the diversity in them. Fascinated, I made a mental note of finding out about all these cultures someday.
At one stall that was full of jewellery I saw Rose staring at a pendant hanging on the back wall. It had silver chain, and the pendant's base looked as though it was made of silver as well. It was oval and the edges were carved the shape of a feral dragon, wrapped around a dark blue jewel -possibly a sapphire. I watched Rose stare at it, and the glint in her eye told me that she wanted it deeply. With hesitation she stood there for a good couple of minutes before tearing herself away and moving to the next stall. I remained behind, quickly motioning for the owner of the stall before Rose noticed my absence.
"How much for that?" I asked the female feline. She was all black, slender, and wore fine clothes, she was obviously well off money wise. I guessed she was a panther, Eric told me that Panthers rarely came this far north from the southern forests on the edge of the Tribal lands. The Pantheress looked at the pendant and smiled as she lifted it.
"For the pretty dragon-lady?" She asked, her voice was thick with an accent I had never heard before. It made her sound superior, but her eyes showed an understanding.
"Yes." I whispered, glancing over to Rose who was busy examining some clothes nearby, she thankfully had her back still turned to me. "How much?" I asked, reaching for my money pouch, expecting to have to give her everything for it. It was a fine piece and obviously was not going to be cheap.
"Do you love her?" She asked. I was taken aback by the unexpected question but quickly composed myself. I didn't even get to answer her, obviously she had read my reaction to the question. "Then take it." she said placing it in my paw and closing my fingers around it.
"Really?" I asked shocked, the Pantheress nodded and smiled.
"It is rare. Where I come from the dragon represents a fiery and protective spirit. I got it from another Panther, whose wife had passed away. All he had asked was that it would be given to someone who's loved one needed protection. I can see in your eyes the love and concern you have for her...you should have it. Love should always be protected." She said. I smiled and thanked her before jogging over to Rose who was still examining some clothes at the stall.
I sneaked up behind her and placed the pendant round her neck, tying it quickly in place as she turned round in fright. She calmed as soon as she saw it was me and looked down to see the pendant. Her expression was priceless. The surprise as she tentatively picked up the pendant around her neck and lifted it to examine the craft. She looked up at me and smiled and I saw hints of tears form in her eyes as she hugged me and kissed me. I closed my eyes as our lips came together and the hustle and bustle of the market place slowly fell away to silence. A whistle brought us out of our little world. Looking round I saw Jason giving me a big thumbs up and everyone else was standing at the stall just behind him, looking at us and smiling. Laughing, Rose and I made our way over, hand in hand.