Page 10 of The Divine Shallows
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Elowyn exclaimed aloud this time, uselessly shouting at the empty air where her sister had been seconds before.
Now facing a wall of clouds, Elowyn grumbled as she leaned down. “Come on, Bane. Let’s get ‘em.”
Elowyn knewBane loathed the idea of defeat, so she was confident he’d rise to the challenge. Together, they plunged into the billowing white clouds inpursuit of the other two. Amidst the clouds, their vision blurred by the dense mist, they pressed forward. Despite the obscurity, Elowyn caught sight of Stryx’s bristly tail, spurring Bane to accelerate and close the gap. As they drew nearer, Elowyn could distinguish Stryx’s form and her sister’s silhouette. She had a sense that Bane would emerge victorious today.
Just as Bane was on the verge of overtaking Stryx, the duo veered sharply upwards and vanished from view. Bewildered, Elowyn scanned the sky, her thoughts racing as she speculated her sister’s intentions—but she realized her mistake too late.
Emerging from the foggy clouds, Elowyn and Bane were met with a towering mountain ahead, mere seconds away from to crashing into it. Panic gripped her as she scrambled to devise a plan to avert disaster.Was that always here? How come I’ve never noticed it before?
Bane’s massive frame made it impossible for him to mimic Stryx’s upward arc. With the mountain looming ahead, their only recourse was to descend rapidly. But before Elowyn could react, Bane took matters into his own fate. He folded his wings tightly against his body and dove sharply downward.
The sudden descent threw Elowyn off balance, and despite her desperate attempts to hold on, she began to slip from Bane’s back. She clung to his spikes with all her strength, but the force of the drop was unrelenting. Her body gradually lifted away from him until she was left dangling in mid-air, her arms straining to keep her tethered.
Fighting against the pull of gravity, Elowyn struggled to regain her position. As Bane banked left towards a clear patch of sky, she seized the opportunity to swing her legs back around his spine and pull herself back onto his back. With a sigh of relief, she settled back into place as Bane leveled off, narrowly avoiding the mountain.
Cursing under her breath, Elowyn shook off the rush of adrenaline. Elyria’s antics bristled her. Scanning her surroundings, Elowyn spotted a streak of white bursting from the narrowly-missed mountain’s peak. Stryx emerged into view and Elyria wore a wide grin. As Elowynwatched, the mountain began to fade away, dissolving into a shimmering mirage.
“You have no shame!” Elowyn jabbed her finger accusingly at Elyria. “Summoning an illusion like that is beyond low, even for you!”
“If you paid attention, you would’ve noticed something was off. I conjured an entire mountain, for Goddess’ sake,” Elyria tutted loudly. “Anyway, Stryx and I have a finish line to reach. See you there!” With a chuckle, Elyria flew off.
As her opponents took off, Elowyn crossed her arms and muttered to Bane, “So much for integrity. I guess we’ll have to abandon ours, too.”
The two of them surged forward. Bane’s wings beat thunderously with grit, and he released an ear-splitting cry. Beneath Elowyn’s touch, the column of his throat began to rumble and grow warm. The base of his neck began to smolder with the glow of burning coals and Elowyn smiled when she realized what he had planned. Bane reeled his neck back and released a blazing pillar from his throat that shot towards Elyria and Stryx. The inferno scorched the skies, aimed directly at them.
As the fire approached, Elyria yelped and huddled closer to Stryx, who skillfully dodged the flames. Bane huffed victoriously, knowing his tactic would slow his opponents. Though Stryx was immune to fire, Elyria was not. In the chaos of shielding her, Stryx was thrown off course, providing Bane with the opportunity he needed. With a powerful thrust, Bane launched himself towards Stryx, his massive body colliding with the white dragon as he sent his competitors careening, plummeting downwards.
Elowyn cheered triumphantly with a fist thrust into the air and laughed, “Way to go, Bane!”
As Stryx and Elyria struggled to regain control, Elowyn soared past them with Bane, heading towards the Bay of Stags, leaving her sister trailing behind.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” Elowyn giggled to Bane, pattinghis hide proudly. “If her eyebrows are singed off, I’ll make sure the butcher serves you an extra portion of mutton tonight.”
Bane responded with a deep rumble of approval and the two of them sailed onward for a long stretch of sky.
As they soared, Elowyn checked behind her from time to time to see if Elyria and Stryx had caught up to them, but Bane’s tactic must have slowed them down significantly because they were nowhere to be found. The corner of Elowyn’s lips curved up as she took in the view around her.
There was nothing quite like soaring the mountains of Eriden on a dragon—nothing would ever come close to it.
As they approached their destination, a mountainside covered in foliage came into view. Elowyn recognized the landscape, knowing they were almost there. Elowyn could see hundreds of small sprigs rooted in the soil; their bare branches grew in patterns resembling smooth antlers. This stretch of terrain was aptly named the Bay of Stags.
Bane dipped down, aiming for an area free of branches. With a deliberate beat of his wings, he landed gently on the ground.
Filled with excitement, Elowyn jumped off Bane and rushed to embrace his chest in a hug. Her arms barely wrapped around his torso, but she pressed the side of her face against his rugged breastbone.
“We did it, Bane!” Elowyn exclaimed to the dragon with glee. “Looks like we finally beat them this time.”
Suddenly, Elyria emerged from a grove of trees behind Elowyn. “Took you long enough, I was starting to get bored waiting for you both,” she remarked flatly.
Elowyn whirled around in disbelief. “No! When did you get here?”
“A while ago,” Elyria replied, skipping towards them with an innocent smile. “My eyebrows are intact, by the way. But I think Bane deserves an extra portion of mutton regardless.”
Elowyn shook her head in betrayal. “I don’t even want to know how you heard that. And you’re a real wretch for letting me believe I won.”
“I didn’t want to ruin your fun,” Elyria said sympathetically. “You seemed so happy.”
“I was, until now. I guess you win again, you dirty little cheat,” Elowyn declared.
