The City

Brand gazed up at the blue monstrosity that was before him and took a deep gulp. The wyvern Thuum was sprawled out on all four limbs waiting for him to climb up. The dragon's scales glistened with the sunlight shining down from the gaps in the trees. Calreme and Alreya were already sitting at the base of Thuum's neck. "Will you hurry up and climb on?" asked Calreme impatiently. "I would like to get you both to Ragash before the sun begins to set."

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." said Brand still looking at the massive creature right in front of him. Taking a deep breath, Brand grabbed a hold of the dragon and felt the strange texture of its scales. He began to climb up one of the wings of Thuum. He lost his footing and almost slipped when he was near the top, but Alreya leaned over and grabbed him, pulling him up the rest of the way. "Thanks." he said situating himself behind Alreya on the back of the dragon.

"No thanks necessary." Alreya said as she smiled back at him. "You might want to hang on." There was a saddle on Thuum, but it was only big enough for Calreme alone. Alreya was seated behind him hanging on to the saddle, with Brand behind her. Brand took her advice and grabbed Alreya around the waist after making sure his satchel was secure. Alreya's wings were folded neatly into her back to avoid Brand crushing them. Brand was so nervous at the prospect of flying, he had forgotten to be nervous about invading Alreya's personal space.

"Everybody hold on." Calreme yelled back to the two passengers. "Alright Thuum. On to Ragash!" Brand looked to the side and held his breath as Thuum's massive wings started to flap. The huge reptile began to rise slowly from the ground and just as Brand was about to start breathing again suddenly shot into the sky. Brand would have screamed if there had been any air in his lungs. After climbing for a minute the dragon leveled off and began to fly straight. Brand's short, dirty blonde hair was all blown back and his eyes were open wide.

"Can you please... loosen your grip?" Alreya gasped out. Brand noticed that he was squeezing Alreya's waist about as hard as he could. He quickly loosened his hold and muttered an apology. "It's alright." Alreya assured him. "I am just glad you did not squeeze all the life out of me."

Brand looked around and suddenly felt extremely amazed at the experience. He looked up and could see clouds very close over their heads. When he looked down, his stomach became a little queasy, but he still admired the view. There were trees as far as the eye could see. "This is really incredible." he said hoarsely.

"Yeah." Alreya replied over the whooshing air passing them by. "It really is."

Their journey in the air lasted a couple of hours until Calreme let them know they were about to land in Ragash. They descended rather quickly and then Brand finally saw it. Ragash, the capital of the Ostish Forest.

The city was enormous and it was right smack dab in the middle of the forest. It looked like it extended for miles and miles. There was a clear distinction where the forest ended and the city began. There were large, gray stone walls that separated the wild trees from the city beyond. Brand could see large buildings that were carved from trees like in Masarch, but these buildings had all the branches and leaves cleared away. There were also what looked like stone buildings and buildings made from wood that was actually cut down and turned into building material. Most of the buildings looked like they were painted green or left their natural color like brown or gray. Although the most striking building looked like a stone castle on a hill near one end of the city. It had its own walls and guard towers.

Unlike Masarch, there were actual roads that had some semblance of a pattern to them, looking vertical and horizontal to each other forming noticeable squares throughout the city. Brand could see that the city looked crowded with mostly elves when they flew closer, either walking or flying to and fro. He also saw different colored dragons flying around outside or over the city. All of them looked like they were wyverns. As they flew closer to the wall Brand noticed that guards dressed in green armor were positioned up and down the wall. Flags were placed at different intervals on the wall displaying that tree symbol that had been burned onto his hand during the citizen ceremony earlier that week.

When they passed over the wall, Brand felt a tingly feeling run up and down his body. He shivered and asked "What was that?"

"That was a magic force field." Alreya answered him. "It was made to keep unwanted dragons out. It is one of the things that Ragash is most famous for."

They flew for a bit more until they finally landed outside the front of one of the big tree buildings without leaves just as the sun was setting. When they landed, Calreme and Alreya unfolded their wings and flew off the dragon while Brand climbed off looking a little ridiculous in the process. "Follow me." Calreme told them and they followed him inside the building.

The inside of the building reminded Brand of one of those nice hotels downtown that had a giant space that stretched to the top of the building with rooms on various floors encircling it. When Calreme started talking with the elf located at the front desk, Brand was a little surprised to find out it actually was a hotel. One that was reserved for dragon rider candidates from across the Ostish Forest until the ritual began. The elf behind the desk was wearing a blue shirt that matched his blue eyes and hair. He raised an eyebrow when he peered around Calreme to look at Brand. He then turned around and grabbed a couple of keys. "Please follow me. I will show you to your rooms. And welcome to the Watergrass Hotel."

Before they were lead away, Calreme pulled Brand and Alreya and said "Alright. I got you to Ragash. Now the rest is on you. I must go back and guard the rest of the caravan as they return home. Rest up for the ritual and do not let Masarch down. Good luck." They then shook hands and Calreme walked out the front door. Brand and Alreya turned back and followed the hotel attendant.

"If I had known we were getting a human candidate I would not have given away all the first floor rooms." the attendant said. "Honestly, a human dragon rider candidate from the Ostish Forest. That has to be a first does it not?" He continued talking to himself as they followed him up the rarely used stairs. When they were on the second floor, the attendant lead them to adjacent rooms. "These are your rooms, and these are your room keys." he said while handing them each a metallic key. "The hotel serves three free meals a day for candidates in the dining cafeteria on the first floor. You can get the meals at any time, just go to the cafeteria, give them your name, and tell them what you want from the menu. This hotel will host you for free until the ritual is complete. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask whichever elf is at the front desk." After his explanation was done, the attendant flew off the balcony and back down to the first floor.

Alreya and Brand looked at each other and then Alreya spoke. "I suppose we should get situated in our rooms first, but after we do would you like to meet in a little bit to get some dinner from the cafeteria?"

"That sounds good to me." Brand answered. With that settled, they both took their keys and entered their respective rooms.