A Dragon's View [Book 1 in Rising Dragons]

Chapter XXVII: Fighting Strength

"Fáelán, listen, I swear I just need-"

"No, no, no," the elf said, cutting me off. "I do not do favours or debts, and I've helped you enough already. I don't want to get caught up in this war either." The pale-skinned elf leaned back and crossed his arms, brown eyes glaring at me.

"C'mon Fáelán, I don't even need that much, just-"

"I do not care," Fáelán replied slowly.

"At least hear me out," I responded.

Fáelán shook his head, "If I hear you out, I'll start debating whether to help, which would mean I'm breaking my own rules and I can't do that as I'll go out of business. Therefore, I can't help you, so you might as well leave."

I slouched further in the chair and opened my mouth to speak when the door behind me was thrown open. "Galchobhar Aldrys! What is the meaning of this?" Fáelán demanded angrily, standing up to tower over me. "I'm with a customer. You can't just barge in whenever you feel like it!"

"Sorry," came the only slightly apologetic reply.

Fáelán sighed and his body lost the line of tension it had been holding. "It's alright," the black-haired elf replied, sounding softer than I had ever heard him sound. "Just... try to avoid doing it next time, alright? You ruin my image."

"I wouldn't say your image is ruined as such Fáelán," Aaron's voice came from behind me, and I twisted to view the people behind me. "I'm with her, after all."

Next to Aaron stood a short elf, looking to be in his late teens. "It all worked out then, would you look at that, Fáelán, seems I'm not doing too badly today."

"Who's your friend?" Fáelán asked.

"His name is Aaron, we met some time ago – two years? Sounds about right, he and his rider helped me out when I got in a bit of trouble. We've kept in contact since. They were the reason you had information regarding the academy situation, and why I organised supplies to be smuggled in," the other elf responded. He turned to face me, "My name's Galchobhar Aldrys by the way, but everyone calls me Rys or Aldrys."

"Sit down," Fáelán said with a wave of his hand. "If you've helped Rys out, I'll help you out. Aaron, right? Good to meet you."

"It's good to finally meet you as well," Aaron replied smoothly as he shook Fáelán's hand before sitting down. "I have heard much about you from Rys."

Aldrys slid in to sit next to Fáelán, who moved his arm to wrap it around the shorter elf's shoulders. "Alright, so what do you need to know Rya?"

"I was hoping you'd know where we could find Rako and Daruka or – at the very least – a way to contact them quickly," I replied.

"You wouldn't happen to be the leaders of this mysterious Eggja, would you?" Fáelán said instead of an answer. "I've heard interesting rumours regarding that rebellion."

Aldrys rolled his hazel eyes and threw an arm around Fáelán's shoulders. "Plenty of rumours that have a hint of truth," he responded. "Just answer the question Fáe, it'll make everything easier. These guys will play fairly without the court conversation."

"I hope you aren't like this when you're undercover," Fáelán said with a sigh.

Aldrys grinned, "I'm not like this at all, but I don't come here to hide and pretend I'm someone else. And I shouldn't need to if I'm around you."

Fáelán sighed. "Alright, Rya, I can give you a rough location of where Rako and Daruka were last. They should be near the cliffs that the Muse runs into. What information can you give me in return?"