The War of the Isles

25. Dhara

The world was spinning. That is usually how the world works, but putting science aside, I could actually feel it spin. That is the beauty of being high. Sometimes, the beauty turns into a curse. On good days, which are most days, I spin along with the world and have a wonderful ride. On bad days, I feel like I'm about to be thrown off from a Merry Go Round. 

Today was such a day. I had perhaps smoked up a bit too much. Add to that the pain of an absent Fredrick, the loss of my letter and the ridiculous politics of Medini - you have a mouthbreather desperately breathing out the immeasurable fear out of her. 

Thank the Divine Mother for Ursula Baumer to have pulled me out of that blasted tent and into the Sun. The heat helped calm me down. Despite having spent my years in Fjodharan cold, I knew that I was the Devotee of the Sun. 

The Devotee.

Tee

Tea

I felt hungry, and looked at Ursula with perhaps drooling.

"Dhara? Focus!"

I blinked and saw Ursula's pockets again and sensed a movement. 

I had forgotten something, had I not? 

That's when I heard a crack.

"The chickens!" I exclaimed. "Hatch!"

Wait that was wrong. 

"The Dragons!"

Ursula looked cross. 

Dhara! What do we do? Where do we go?

"Charlie's Room," I replied. 

I do not remember how we made it to the room but when we did Ursula placed the three eggs on the bed and sure enough, one was cracking.

"This is it!" squeaked Ursula in excitement. "The first dragon I raise on my own!"

I observed as the little beast within the egg continued to crack the shell. Then slowly and steadily, one piece of the white shell fell, then another, until the top of the eggshell pieces crumbled and the head of a bird emerged.

A bird? Surely I cannot be that high!

But Ursula confirmed my suspicion. "That's not a dragon!" she squeaked in disappointment. 

This was where my anxiety dissipated and my ribs felt ticklish.

"BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" I laughed in ecstasy! "So much for keeping this a secret. Ursula, you have picked up bird eggs! Congratulations Birdie Mama!"

Ursula looked cross. 

"But they were gently placed under Wentallion hole. I have never heard of a bird laying its eggs in a dragon hole!"

"That's alright Ursula, mistakes happen!"

Ursula looked at me angrily. "I have just become the Captain of the Dragon Fleet in the Forty Second, and I cannot even fucking distinguish birds eggs from Dragon eggs!"

I realised that I might have crushed her confidence by laughing. But I still couldn't help but jest. 

"Hey, don't worry. We still have two more. You never know which one might end up being a dragon! Perhaps, we could play roulette the next time you look at eggs! Call it a game of one breathes fire and the other gets fried in fire!"

This time, even Ursula couldn't suppress her laugh and snickered. So I decided to continue.

"Look at it this way. In the best-case scenario, you become a dragon tamer for the two remaining eggs. In the worst-case scenario, we have a barbecue and a meal for three!"