7 Draxis

Nightfall a few hours before dawn, on the edge of the dark forest

Directly outside of a hidden city.

"What do you wanna do first."

A young girl was happily talking to a young boy. They were heading towards a large gate guarded by two men.The boys name was Oren, He was riding atop a large green serpent named Emera. The girl was named Esholyn, she was the princess of the city Oren lived in as a toddler. Oren had met Esholyn in the forest where He lived, at that time she was accompanied by Her Mother, a woman named Abigail who apparently was the cities Queen. The two ladies were being tracked by bandits. Oren helped the women by defeating the bandit leader, and they invited him to Come back to the city.

"I don't know I haven't been in the city, since I was a baby I don't know much about it." Oren responded to Esholyn.

"Esholyn we must first get Oren proper lodgings." The Queen had spoken, she was behind Oren and Esholyn, following them as they made their way into the city.

"Yes Mother" Esholyn said.

When Oren stepped through the gateway, his heart nearly stopped from the astounding sight in front of him. This city was enormous. The roads and, buildings where all completely made from an odd bluish gray stone. There had to be at least ten thousand people in Orens direct field of view alone. The people where all bustling and, moving, busy as bees. Some who noticed the Queen and Princess bowed slightly before carrying on with their business, but the people who saw Oren sitting on Emera, couldn't help but look at that giant snake and move faster. Oren just smiled at these people.

He was still dumbstruck by the sight of the city, He could see houses lining the roads everywhere. The skyline was decorated with skyscrapers and tall towers.

The streets where lined with shops as far as the eye could see. There where multiple restaurants, Clothing stores, Weapon and armor stores, Medicinal shops, even bookshops. The Queen watching Oren take in the sights couldn't help but, think to herself that, She had made the right decision to help this wild child, who she came across in the forest.

"Oren!" The queen called out, snapping him back to reality, "uh.. yes miss" He responded.

The queen chucked at Orens seemingly lost demeanor, before speaking, "you will need to get cleaned up, afterwards I will host a formal banquet, where you will be Introduced." Then after the proper arrangements are made, Esholyn," she turned to her daughter, "you will be able to show him around the city."

"Ok mother." The girl spoke. She was very respectful towards her mother.

One could tell her mother was pretty strict with her.

"Ok good." The Queen said as she flagged a cart. The cart driver who was waiting for the Queens signal, immediately pulled a carriage drawn by two horse type beasts directly in front of where they where standing. One of these horse-like creatures had fur that was all black, its mane was made of brilliant red flames. The other was slightly smaller, but, it had snow white fur while, its mane although not made of fire, was a luxurious royal blue color, it crackled and, sparked from very powerful electric currents.

"Oren you can ride Emera alongside the cart, when we reach the castle we will proceed with the arrangements." The Queen spoke as Her and Esholyn boarded the cart.

"Yes mam." Oren responded.

After the Queen and, Esholyn entered the carriage, the group pushed on,

the two ladies in the cart, and Oren riding atop Emera.

As the group made their way through the city, Oren couldn't help but be amazed. He could only remember bits and pieces of his time in the city, He could only imagine the rest, but, this was beyond anything he could have possibly dreamed. This city was gorgeous, Oren could see dozens of giant warrior statues, even, some beast-warriors, all either wearing armor, or wielding weapons.

some of these statues where adorned with all types of stones and, jewels

Oren was very familiar with the stones, and jewels he saw, as he was seeing them he was naming them to Emera.

"Oren how do you know so much about stones and rocks," Emera voiced seeming intrigued by what Oren was saying about the stones he saw.

Emera was a beast she normally wouldn't care about jewels she only saw them as rocks.

Although some beasts were skilled in gemology, most of them where very close to humans in likeness, and so, like humans they also had a use for gems, while usually they just used them for their magical purposes.

Oren responded, "Well,....." Oren paused for a moment focusing his mind.

Emera realizing what she just did, was just about to voice the words never mind, but, Oren didn't breakdown.

"Well my dad was a miner, we used to sell jewels here in the city, He had a shop somewhere, but, I don't remember where it is." This time Oren spoke calmly when talking about his dad, Emera felt It was as if He was another person. She didnt say a word, she just listened to Oren while he spoke. She could sense a great change in his attitude.

Oren told Emera about the things he could remember, He even suggested that later they try to find his dads old shop. Emera of course agreed.

As they where talking, the carriage the Queen and Esholyn were in came to a stop.

They were now deep in the city, they had stopped at the front gate of a huge castle. It was also made from that same weird bluish gray stone just as all the other buildings, but it was created beautifully it was much more magnificent than those other houses and buildings. The castle had a large courtyard, where there was a fountain in the center, surrounded by a maze of flowers, the front gate which was the only way to enter castle grounds, was even adorned with all kinds of gemstones. The castle was surrounded by a stone wall on all sides, although, this wall was a lot smaller than the walls surrounding the city. From the outside alone, you could tell this castle could hold thousands of people.

The Queen along with Esholyn stepped out of the cart, Oren seeing this slid down from atop Emera.

When He walked towards them, he noticed there was a man in a small one roomed building right on the other side of the gate. Oren didn't notice it till just now because of where he was positioned.

"Emmanuel, open the gate." The Queen called to him.

There must have been a lever inside the room, because, immediately after she commanded him the gate opened.

"Thank you Jeffery," The Queen said to the cart driver, She then handed him a golden coin, the drivers eyes shown with gratitude when he received the coin. "Thank You my Queen" He said, with a bow so deep He almost fell out of the driver side of the cart, causing Esholyn to giggle a little.

The Queen responded, "no problem the pleasure is mine." She then turned to Oren saying "well lets go inside."

Esholyn grabbed Orens arm and, led him forward through the gates, The Queen and Emera following closely behind them.

They walked up a pathway, in the distance they could see a lone soldier was walking down. They determined he was a soldier because he was armored.

When the soldier got closer Emera voiced to Oren, This soldier is a light type beast-warrior, I can sense the beasts' aura within him.

Oren spoke back to her, "Can you tell how strong he is."

"His Aura is slightly weaker than Leos' was" Emera voiced.

Esholyn suddenly spoke, "Oren what language are you speaking when you talk to Emera, does she really understand you? Does she really talk?"

"Um....Language what do you mean," Oren confusedly said.

Hmppf..... if you wont say then I wont ask, Esholyn pouted.

Apparently she thought Oren was speaking in a different language when he spoke to Emera.

Which He was! Oren, even Emera didn't realize that when they communicated, although Emera was speaking through a type of mental link, Oren was not. Subconsciously, in fact He was speaking in an different language. Oren didn't realize this, but the Queen and Esholyn did, it would be weird if they didn't.

"Leave him be Esholyn," The Queen spoke out from behind them. She was also curious as to what Oren was saying, when talking to the snake. She however, she did not feel that it was something to be concerned about, so, she left it alone. Neither Oren, or Esholyn spoke again.

As the guard or soldier passed by, the Queen stopped him, she then whispered something into his ear, the guard nodded and kept walking. No one cared about this, as it was normal for a Queen to have secrets. The group moved on further, finally reaching the castle.

The castle doors immediately opened as the Queen approached.

As they entered the castle, Oren couldn't help but freeze for a moment, the inside of the castle was absolutely marvelous. The floor was covered in a dazzling red carpet, while the walls, although made of the same gray stone as the outside, was decorated heavily with jewels, small versions of the giant warrior statues, and paintings of all kinds of things.

"Esholyn" The queen suddenly spoke, "take Oren to the room we spoke of, then show him the place where Emera can stay."

"Yes mother" Esholyn said once again grabbing Orens' arm, as she led him and Emera away,

Esholyn chatted merrily, as she became more childlike now, that she was not in her mothers' presence.

Oren just listened to the girl talk about the many places in the city She also told him the city's name was Draxis, named after a man who was said to be able to slay True Dragons. He in return also told her about his fathers' old jewel shop, and of course, just like Emera, she offered to take him to see if they could find it. As the two spoke they approached a large door, "this is where you will be staying Oren."

She then started walking again, a little further away was another room, but, it had no door

upon further inspection, Oren realized it was not a room but instead it was a gigantic greenhouse,

it looked like someone put a rainforest in a mansion, "Oren this will be Emeras room, my mother is quite fond of nature, and so, this place is called a nature zone. Mother has said, that Emera shall stay here, She has other nature zones in the castle, but this one is uninhabited by other beasts and, also, the only one with a caretaker room beside it." she looked down the hall towards Orens assigned room, these two rooms where the only two rooms in the corridor.

"Ok now," Esholyn continued, "Oren in your room is a bathroom along, with a closet full of clothing you can change into. After you shower and dress return to the main hall, Me and mother will meet with you then, and you must not wander the castle come to the main hall as soon as you are down, Ok.

"Uhh...yes no problem," Oren said uneasily, He didn't know why, but for some reason being around Esholyn made him nervous.

When Esholyn finished speaking, she turned around and left.

"Emera, so what do you think about all of this." Oren asked Emera, although He had longed to be with humans, He hadn't really asked Her how she felt about leaving the forest.

"It makes no difference to me, but Oren,....Im still hungry," Emera answered jokingly.

She really didn't mind, She didn't care about humans, but She had already decided, since the day she met Oren, She would follow him. After all how many humans have ever defeated her in a fight, this human even understood Her, He was definitely someone worthy of being her companion.

Oren and Emera spoke shortly then retired to their rooms.

Orens room was rather large he had a small closet a pretty decent sized bed and the bathroom was also spacious, Oren hadn't seen a shower in a while and so he didn't really how to use it.

He fumbled with the knobs and the shower started flowing.

... After Oren showered then dressed, He then left his room and made his way over to Emeras.

Emera really did have it better out of the two them, Her room was beautiful it truly looked no different than a forest. The plants and trees naturally grew right out of the ground, the grass was long and unkempt.

Oren called to Emera...A few moments later She emerged from the room.

"You ready Emera?" Oren asked.