Festival of Soul

William's Perspective

I stared at the sky as dragons of all shapes and sizes flew toward the open mountain. Roars echoed throughout the sky. My back shivered at my father's words. We can go to the festival. We can see the dragons.

The Festival of Souls.

A festival for Omara, a testament to her. She allows the Dragon Riders and the Order of Drake to exist, fueling the power of all riders. She is the reason we can stand against the Blight.

Despite wanting to join the Order, I wasn't so crazy about the religion itself. Heck, even Barren wasn't either, and he is the Knight Commander of the Order itself and of the kingdom, serving next to the King, who surprisingly wasn't a rider.

"When can we go?" I turned around to await my father's answer. I couldn't help but see Lord Dimmal holding his head up with his hand. He furrowed his brows as if he were in pain. "Lord Dimmal? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just a minor headache." Lord Dimmal waves me off.

Letting go of his head, he approaches his dragon and mounts it. "I have my duties to tend to. I hope you both enjoy the festival."

A lightning spark goes off in the streets, and thunder echoes throughout the sky despite thunder clouds now anywhere. But people throughout the city cheer loudly. We see a dragon fly over us, and a trail of lightning follows behind it.

Seeing that dragon made me excited. I can't wait to see more.

Chuckling to myself as Lord Dimmal's dragon climbed back up the building, pulling some of the bricks out as it raised its wings to take off. The wind barrels down at us from the dragon's mighty wings as it joins the rest of the dragons flying toward the mountain.

Before I could turn, my father pulled me into his arms. "Come. Let's go get our money from Cryken. Can't be part of the festival without money."

I chuckled loudly as I tagged along with him, excited to finally attend the festival. My father never allowed me to go with my friends.

Walking down the city blocks, spotting people of all life varieties walked along and past us. The street is filled with beasts pulling carriages or people riding them. Street lights are lit as the sun starts to go down, turning clouds into a very bright orange color instead of their usual grey. The streets and sidewalks were filled with cobblestone, trimmed and cut to a fine block, neatly organized. There are apparent signs of weeds growing between the blocks and signs of weathering and mud staining the cobblestone roads and walkways.

The buildings, too, were changing. Since we were near the guild and closer to the gate, the buildings were designed mainly out of brick. A form of protection in case the guards must establish a new base or defendable position.

Now, the buildings had signs of wood, brick, and stone. Mainly using stone as the foundation for the house, most of the walls had only brick lined with wood above them. The trims of each building are lined in fascinating patterns using wood, which is sometimes used as support pillars, depending on the building. Tile rooftops were everywhere, designed to be a diagonal slant on the buildings, mostly chipped due to all the dragons. Many of the towers, which were more often than not everywhere, were explicitly made out of brick and stone used for the dragons. Plenty of rooftops could hold up the dragon's weight, but there was the tower where the buildings couldn't. Dragon towers, we called them.

I spotted a few people wearing cloaks and wands, walking farther down the street. Noticing a few suitcases following behind them, floating in the air.

I was in awe; imagine how useful that must be. I wished I had that so I didn't have to push a damn carriage.

As my father and I continued walking down, I noticed a sign hanging from a building. The sign was made of wood, swinging from a chain connected to a metal rod attached to the building. The sign appeared to have a pig on it that was cut into pieces while surrounded by a C.

It was Cryken's Butcher Shop.

I asked my father, "Am I allowed to come in this time?"

He sometimes lets me in, but he gets mad at me when I ask questions about what we hunted or gathered. Like the time when I found out we hunted a group of animals that barely fetched a price, my father intentionally made us hunt those creatures that day.

I was so mad at him. It's no wonder why we are broke. Then there was the time we chased a particular lizard that had magical scales that could be sold for material, and we didn't harvest them. We just sold the body as it is. Just thinking about it made me want to scream.

Hearing the sounds of jingles, my father tosses me a silver coin, quickly catching it. The silver coin was cold to the touch, solid, and smooth, engraved with a K on each side. If I recall correctly, the K stands for Kalos, the name of our world.

"Go get us some masks; I'll meet back up with you." My father patted my back as he went inside the shop. Leaving me alone for now.

Sighing as I turned back around and took a left down an alleyway, heading towards the mountain. People of all ages and varieties were running there as well. The road started to curve downward as I continued walking the pathway.

The sky started to turn orange as more light posts throughout the city turned on. Children were jumping around as bards sang their songs. I even see them using magic to make musical notes float in midair.

Watching one of the music notes float up from the musical instruments as they grow bigger and bigger. Its magical green color vibrantly glows, pulsing as it wobbles up and down the street as children run after it. I followed them, but not with the same childish enthusiasm to run after it.

I'm not some child.

People continued to walk down, hanging lights everywhere as many magicians started to show up. They conjured up specters of all shapes and sizes.

My gaze soon turned to an eight-legged horse taking off into the sky as people screamed joyfully. Soon, two dragons dove after the horse as it ran through the air.

I chucked out loudly as the specter and its pursers vanished.

Continuing to walk down the street, a crowd formed as vendors littered the road. I took in the moment as I saw people starting to wear masks.

The masks themselves only covered the eyes and up, but nothing more. They were all different styles and ornaments. They were designed to be based on both current and old dragon knights. But not riders.

I jumped as the loud crowd howled behind me. Turning around, I immediately ducked as two dragon riders chased after a glowing red man with a cowboy hat on top of the same eight-legged horse galloping in the air. The man was carrying what seemed to be a red orb.

My heart was pounding, startled by the riders' recklessness. I stood back up, only as another rider swooped down to us, shouting at the crowd. The rider howled in enthusiasm as he flew away from us.

My lips were curved into a big smile, I baring my teeth. From what I understand from some of the people I have talked to, this was a common occurrence.

They could've fooled me.

Flying this low was very unsafe. But then again, I don't have wings, so it might be safer than it appears to be. After all, the dragon does the flying, not the rider. But I'll find out for myself when I become a rider. I do know one thing. If we were meant to fly, we would've had wings.

A loud, thunderous sound blasted into the sky, making me and everyone look toward the sudden noise. I stood in awe as blue lights burst outward, showering downward as they flickered in the sky. Then, I saw two more riders flying up to the lights, their dragons pushing the lights away.

From where I stand, I can see the two riders have stopped in the air, having mid-conversation. One laughs out loud as they toss an orb into the sky, only to detonate as another burst of lights appears where the orb once was. The sky rumbles with a thunderous roar, making me flinch as red lights burst into a heart shape, slowly dimming as the sparks that made the heart go down to us.

I and everyone else stood there in awe, hearing the crowd "oooooing" at the spectacular as I felt waves of warmth from the sparks hit my skin. I tried to reach out to the flickering flame that floated down towards me, only for it to flicker out.

My skin tingles at the sudden temperature change as I watch one of the rider's dragons start to breathe fire out toward the empty sky, running straight into a fully developed ball of fire. I almost fell over as I watched anxiously, wondering what happened to the rider as he flew into the fireball. I, along with everyone else, jumped up as the rider flew out of the smoke. I could barely stay in my shoes as I watched, laughing out loud as they perfumed their displays and clapping my hands as the music started to play even louder.

Turning to my side, I see more people putting up stalls to sell goods or food. I can already smell the fresh season of herbal meats with a pinch of salt. Turning to the source of the smell, I see a stall with what appears to be slices of cut meat on a stick, with a slight pink in the middle of the meat itself.

Women dance alongside children and men, moving with the music. I never knew people had this much fun here.

I understand why, but I never participated in the Festival of Soul or saw what took place. Only standing afar to see what I know to be fireworks. So, this was a whole new experience for me.