Incoherent Perspectives
Chapter 4 - Bonds in the Making

Behind me in the doorway stood Asteria, she looked like she felt awful for the ordeal. "So, what's the punishment?" I asked. "Not as bad as I thought, she banned me until the Sunburst Aether election though, Queen Galaxia wants me gone by sunset," Asteria responded, relieved.

"Oh, by the way since you are both here, I have a question for the two of you." Asteria tilted her head slightly, and Aurora inched slightly closer to hear better what I had to say. "Both of you are Embers of the prophecy. Asteria your line goes An Ignius Noctern, daughter of Xiotern, wise and fair of face. Yours, Aurora, reads An innocent Stella Alis, heir to their queen’s palace, pure of heart and grace. I was hoping the both of you could settle your differences and aid me on the rest of this long journey,"

Asteria and Aurora looked at one another reluctantly. It was a long pause before they both sighed and agreed to it. That was a lot easier than I anticipated. I thought. I guess because of the fate of their world lied in. If something isn't done it can lead to the whole world being torn apart by war and not just two regions. Although that was easy I knew attempting to get an Ignisarbor and Shadow Flare to get along for the prophecy would be ten times harder. Those two breeds hate one another profoundly.

We soon ended up passing through the throne room and Aurora mentioned she was a part of the prophecy to Queen Galaxia. She knew Aurora wasn't going to be back for quite a while. Queen Galaxia smiled and wished us good luck, she even wished Asteria good luck which not only surprised me but her too. Asteria and I looked at one with confused faces as we left the palace and began heading to the coastline. The final four councils were across the ocean. More flying... I guess. I thought. "Now, Louis. Are you going to be stubborn like last time or what?" Aurora asked. I shook my head which garnered a positive reaction from Aurora. "Great! Now stay true to your word and don't be difficult."

"I think I'll sw-" I said in a joking manner.

"No! Don't do this again."

"Haha, I was just messing with you."

"Thank goodness. Alright, remember the alpha's rock?" I nodded my head. That's where we saw Asteria's bio. What did that have to do with this though? It is on the other side of the ocean. It also dawned on me, how did an Ignius Noctern get here? Especially the queen's daughter, their council is across the ocean, next to Tageo. It was very confusing and I didn't fully understand it. What was the point? The point of flying across the entire ocean only to get banned from Ta'Chi and the Stella Alis council. "Hop on, we got a long journey ahead of us," Aurora said.

"It's not that long," I responded. Aurora rolled her eyes... Playfully this time. My guess was because while we were on the Alcove Coast, she was the one saying it's not that long of a journey and I was the one saying it would be. We just switched roles. "Stop being a goof and let's go," Aurora said with a chuckle. I couldn't help but notice Asteria's smile. She found this exchange amusing. I could tell. Which I found ironic because prior she scratched the heck out of Aurora, and even though it was one swipe, the aftermath was still nasty. Why didn't they give Aurora some kind of bandage though?

I headed over to where the two dragons stood. Aurora was still gesturing to her back which I knew what it meant now unlike prior. I just hoped she wouldn't get used to it. Only across the oceans and that was it. It was practically midnight at this time. There was a full moon reflecting on the water and stars dotted the skies like thousands of little fireflies. Once we head back over to the other side, we needed to replace a place to spend the night. Whether it'd be a cave or not. I climbed on, a little less reluctantly than last time and the instant I did, Aurora soared into the night, Asteria close behind.

"Jeez! Warn me next time, you nearly gave me a heart attack," I said. "I'd think you were used to it by now," Aurora responded.

"Seriously. This is only the second time you've done this." Asteria went from being behind and managed to catch up. She was flying next to Aurora who was flying at like 80 km an hour. I had to admit, I was impressed by the speed at which these dragons could fly without getting tired. Especially Aurora, who was carrying me. I mean I was fairly light for my age, clocking in at 100 pounds. It was still a lot of weight to carry, especially for a 45-minute flight.

"Do you think you'd get along this great for the Irisalis of the prophecy? It's said that she must be quite similar to Aurora, being outgoing, friendly and innocent," Asteria asked out of the blue. "Not just the Irisalis or Stella Alis. I'd say I could get along greatly with all six embers. Including the Shadow Flare and Ignisarbor," I said.

"That's dedication," Aurora blurted out. I had no idea what she meant by that. Eventually, we landed on the coastline of the Shadow Flare Council, which wasn't where the alpha's rock was located, that was over on the Alcove Coast. There happened to be a conveniently placed cave in the water where we could spend the night. I had to admit, that sleeping on rocks wasn't going to be the most comfortable thing in the world. I went to check and the cave seemed to be unoccupied. Asteria and Aurora followed me into the cave. It was small but it was big enough to fit three dragons. I was no dragon so we were fine. I sat against a back while Asteria and Aurora lay on opposite sides of the cave. There appeared to be an old firepit in it that still had sticks in it.

I began quickly bashing rocks together to start a fire. "What are you doing?" Asteria asked curiously. "Trying to create a spark to get this fire started," I responded. "Don't bother." She had done some kind of spitfire move which lit the old bonfire. "Show off," I said. Asteria just shrugged before saying, "Work smarter, not harder." Afterward, Asteria rested her head on her forelegs before almost instantly drifting off. It was just Aurora and I awake. We shared some stories and soon Aurora rested her head on some kind of leaf pillow before draping her wings over her face and also falling asleep. I was still awake, trying to figure out how I could sleep on these rocks without waking up in the morning with a sore back.

Eventually, I finally got comfortable and fell asleep myself. Throughout the night I could hear the wind blowing in the distance and the sound of ocean waves crashing on the shore. The next day, however, things went downhill really quickly.

The sun rose casting sunbeams into the darkness of the gloomy cave. I was the first to awake and noticed some weird cravings in the walls and I heard some footsteps outside in the sand, coming this way. I jumped up and ran behind the cave, completely forgetting about the two embers still sleeping inside the cave. I could see the figure approaching slowly. I ran back into the cave and woke up Aurora and Asteria. They knew it instantly and ran behind the cave, I wasn't so lucky.

Just as I was about to leave the dragon entered the cave. I jumped behind a rock in the corner and watched trying desperately to stay silent. I noticed they headed to a wall that said targets and it had a list of names below it. Some of them had Xs drawn over them to signify the target was killed. I soon noticed the figure cross out Queen Eleni before they left.