Purple sky

There weren't always dragons in the valley.

Old legends would say there were gods flying among us or majestic creatures who'd roam the sky, day and night. And who knows maybe they were. It seems in Hestifier, anything was possible.

The kingdom of dragons as they call it!

It's blue and red sky mixed together in a purple hue as it glazed over the entire country, being the only place in the world that could form a purple night-sky. Since it was turning light purple right now, that meant it'd finally reached morning. The growing aches and pains from the lack of sleep I'd gotten seemed to ease at the shining light of the rising sun.

You see, I'd been running all night. Trying to escape a dozen of merchants, dealers and their henchmen as they chased me through these meticulous woods. With its' thorny branches that caused cuts and bruises over my mahogany skin. I'm sure my hair was in a disheveled curly mess but I had no time to fret over it. I could see the lights of their flashlights and the barks of their commands as they tried to catch up to me, but I knew I'd already made it to my destination.

Because up ahead was my salvation. I could see the sunrise as it rose over the valley of mountains and hills, peaking its head over the vast woods that I was now escaping. Running into nothing but green plains and a clear sky.

My white cape blew in the wind as I kept a frantic pace. My breath was heavy but I couldn't stop now. Not until I reached the lake in the middle of the two tall mountains in the clearing.

Although I'd gotten some distance between us, I still wasn't in the clear yet. They'd still find me eventually. I stuck out like a sore thumb in this green grassland. I bore all white with a collared white shirt and brown corset. Trust me, if I knew I'd be stealing from a bunch of merchants in a black market trade, I'd have worn something much more appropriate for the occasion. But we couldn't let them have it.

I lifted my cape to check if the glowy orb was still in my possession and thankfully it was still flickering, giving off a blue hue and a warm embrace as it sat inside my cape pocket. I continued to trudge through the grass, beginning to yell out to my comrades.

"Milos!"

"Cecilia!"

I spined around the entire valley. Gazing upon the empty spaces, the lakes beginning to form, the small rocky terrains held burn marks and scratches that were decades old I'm sure. I screamed until my throat got dry and collapsed on the ground.

Where are they!

I'd stolen this for them and now they've left me to dry! I looked back to see the flashes of the signal lights and flashlights edging closer. Before I could continue to wallow in self pity or doubt, I got up and ran to the lake. Hoping and praying I'd see the reddish purple scales or fluffy brown hair peaking through over one of the hills. My shoes began to soak as I stepped into the shallow lake. I tried to yell once more but my voice cracked from how dry it was.

I leaned down to scoop up some water and brought it to my lips, the sun gleamed onto my palm, making the clear water sparkle in my hands. As I slowly leaned in and closed my eyes to take a sip of the shiny liquid, the air and wind began to rapidly move in my direction. Making the water splash away from my hand and off the entirety of my legs. I looked up to see the reddish-purple scales and glowing pink eyes of my beastly friend look down at me.

"You were calling for us?" The fluffy hair of a boy my age peaked over the wings of the dragon that was flying above me.

Relief began to wash over me as I folded my hands to my side, "Took you long enough." They slowly ascended down in front of me, her scales making the water of the lake evaporate at her presence. She huffed at me as a smile began to grace her purple snout. I ran up to her and excitedly latched onto her stomach in attempts of a bear hug.

"Cecilia!" I yelled as I laughed into her chest. She huffed and puffed in response to me as I continued to snuggle myself into her warmth.

"Wow, I guess no hugs for me, huh?" I looked up to see ruffled Milos cheekily smiling up at me. His ashy overalls and googles remained out of place as he started to outstretch his hands, in hopes that he'd get a hug himself.

I jumped off and walked up to him with my hands crossed, "Nope you were late."

"Technically we were both late." Cecilia snorted at this because we both knew who was probably at fault for their tardiness. Milos couldn't help but distract himself with his trinkets and gadgets that he loved tinkering with.

He scratched the back of his neck but was quickly startled by the shouts that we could hear in the background, "We can talk about of my tardiness later, Do you have it?" He outstretched his hand and I quickly took out the blue orb and threw it to him.

It glowed in his palm and sparkled under the sun. He smiled up at me and gestured for us to get onto Cecilia.

"We're gonna make so much money off of this!" I ran onto Cecilia and nodded in response to him. This orb was be our meal ticket for the next ten years. The three of us had finally hit the jackpot. I mean we were pirates after all. And this orb was our ticket to the sea.

I smiled at all of them as Cecilia began to descend into the air and flying away into the sky, with us on her back. Through the purple sky.