Saving Anezmae

I continued to run into the black night, only the light of the full moon, and my intuition to guide me to where the lady was. After about 5 minutes I could no longer continue to motivate myself to run. How had she ran so long, and with nearly no effort at all? I bent over at the waist, hands on my knees and took a much needed deep breath. I then continued winding through the maze of a forest, marveling at the pale glow of the green leaves in the moonlight. I continued like this until I reached a spectacular meadow. It had the most beautiful roses, daisies, lilies, in an assortment of colors; and tall yellow, green grass, that tickled my bare legs as the soft cool wind of the night forced them to brush against me. I noticed the ground was littered with miniature little blue, purple flowers that covered the meadow in large patches. The meadow almost seemed to shimmer in the night, completely captivating me. In the middle of it, bathed in moonlight, a woman stood with her back turned to me. Slowly she turned to me with a brilliant smile, her sapphire eyes soft and kind. “mesmerizing isn’t it?” she asked,
“Yes.”
“Come, we must get there soon.”
“Where are we going?” I asked her as I struggled to keep up with her stride.
“Algaisha, the one piece of land where the Oligarchy has no control of.”
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“Of course you haven’t. Your school only teaches what the government wants to be taught. Why would they teach about a place that houses rebels, and refugees? The place is covered by a dome-like shield of magic, makes the place invisible to those with an impure mind.”
“What is considered as an impure mind?”
“One that agrees with the Oligarchy’s ways.”
“Oh, and who’s going to train me?”
“Jared, he’s a rider, like you.” my eyes grew in size at this.
“I’m a rider? As in a dragon rider?”
“Yes.”
“But, they’re all of the Dragon race! I’m human! On top of that I’m a girl! They’ve all been men!”
“We know of this, but Malagar, the last surviving magician, picked you to inherit the rider trait.” I thought for a moment, about to ask her a question, when she interrupted me, “You know you have yet to ask of my name?” She stared at me blankly, expecting some sudden reaction. “Oh, well, yeah, I guess I did…”
“Why? I thought you humans were especially curious?”
“We are, wait-what race are you?”
“I’m an elf.” I immediately shot my eyes to her ears, inquisitive to see if elves really did have pointed ears, and just below her paper white hair, on either side of her head, a small pointed lump protruded outwards. She smiled at my sudden curiosity. “Oh, um…” I pulled my hand behind my head, “I guess I still don’t know your name?” I managed to squeeze out a puny, awkward laugh.
“Alaeya,” We continued walking quickly, the only sound to accompany us was the constant crunching of the fallen leaves beneath our feet as we subconsciously mimicked a march with a fast paced tempo. “Alaeya?”
“Yes?”
“Can you tell me what happened to Anezmae?”
“Of course,” time seemed to blur around me as she recalled Anezmae’s most famous war.
---
[300 years into the past]
-Alaeya’s point of view-
It was early one morning, when an exasperated lieutenant burst through my door, and interrupted my slumber. “Lady Alaeya, Wake! Wake!” my eyes snapped open, and while sitting up, I asked, “Yes, lieutenant?”
“Four of the riders have declared war! We must prepare ourselves for the coming onslaught!” It was then I noticed the paleness of his features, and the cold sweat that hung on his forehead, the riders must have quite an army awaiting for a lieutenant decorated in as many medals as he has, to be utterly terrified. I then followed him into the palaces court room, where a mandatory meeting was being held. In the court sat the king, with the council of magicians surrounding him, in a shape like a half-moon. The king looked directly at each and everyone of us, “Ladies, and gentlemen... it has begun.”
----
The cry of a general sounded off, “Go my men! Fight for your beloved Anezmae!” A chorus of several thousand yelled in response, with their shields held up to their faces, anticipating an attack. I’ve heard their death march for several minutes now, but as the seconds ticked by, fear would squeeze my heart more and more, until the pain became almost unbearable. I looked up at the orange, sunset sky, only moments before it turned into a sky shrouded in black. “Brace yourselves! The arrows are coming!” the stomp of ten thousand united men hit the ground in a silent understanding; in a matter of seconds several hundred of these men would die, who would go back to their families, and who would breathe their last moments of life here? Still looking at the sky, I spotted some of the arrows burst into orange, and yellow flames, with the rest erupting behind them.
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[present time]
-Melody’s point of view-
I followed her, taking a few moments to think, with my jaw hanging open. “how old are you?!”
“four hundred twenty-five years old, why?” I squeaked,
“No reason…” and then we continued to walk in silence like that for several minutes, before she said anything else, “Your dragon is currently in my bag beneath my cloak.”
“Why were you carrying it before? When you were running?”
“That was in the beginning of my journey to find you, the magician gave it to me in his last breaths, told me your name, where and when to find you, and told me to run.”
“So you’ve been waiting for me for almost three hundred years?”
“Yes,” I whistled, blowing my side swept band up into the air,
“Sucks to be you.”