Aniya byuna

Look at him, Ake thought. Look at the weak, pitiful thing.

Ake Huffed and threw Karos' arm away from himself. He did not want to be anywhere near him as much as he could possibly allow. Strands of his red hair covered his eyes, causing Ake to push them back. Even after his nt-so-gentle rise from the ground, Karos still laid fast asleep.

Time and time again, Ake had saved his life only to be repaid with such ingratitude and resentment. The human dared to sell him, challenge him, and drown him in ice cold water all within a day's time. He still had yet to forget that night and, more than likely never will. He was a human. What had he expected? All humans were the same and he would do best not to forget that.

After a moment, Ake's eyes softened as he noticed Karos reaching for his warmth that was no longer there. Karos proved himself stronger and more resilient than any human he had encountered before. That was one thing about him he could acknowledge.

"Levan." Ake went on and nudged him with his foot. "Levan. Nu," he growled only to receive a yawn followed by a moan. He said some words and slinked back in to his sleeping position.

The human was frustrating, Ake thought and continued to nudge him a little harder each time until, finally, he rose. Drool was speckled over the sides of his face and his matted black hair was tussled going each and every way. Ake was quick to purse his lips, stifling a laugh.

"Aniya byuna…"

His utterance caused Karos to look up and give him a shy smile. He spoke words Ake could not understand, but through his intonation, he could comprehend the bit of meaning behind it. It was his way of saying good morning, even though they were well into the evening.

Stupid human, he thought again, but this time with a smile tugging at his lips. How could he have survived for so long when he was as empty-headed and vulnerable as this? Every night he lacked body heat and every night Ake had to lay beside him sharing the heat that came with each dragon-born.

Humans were such weak things, so fragile and easily broken. Ake watched him get up and dust off his pants. Before long, they are gone, living not even a fraction of a life he and his kind had. What a fruitless existence.

He wanted to take him to one of his human hovel-like towns and find someone who could understand him. Karos needed to give back what he had taken from him. It was his only way back home and back into his form of a dragon.

As they proceeded to walk on, Ake put those thoughts to the back of his mind and allowed for Karos to catch up beside him.

"Aniya…"

More words he did not understand came after, but the first one caused his head to turn. A small smile graced his lips.

Karos tried at it again. "Aniya… Byuna…"

He posed his words as questions that followed, causing him to furrow his eyebrows and look at him with pure amusement.

"Aniya Byuna."

He gave Ake a wide grin before shouting words full of excitement at his correct pronunciation. Funny that his first Eunarian words would be 'Stupid human'. He laughed a little and gave him a nod.

"Le... Van... Levan." The human said with perfect pronunciation once again.

This caused Ake to smile widely at his unexpected interest in his language. He made a gesture of his hand rising.

"Sevan." Down. His hand lowered.

"Le miname se Ake." My name is Ake. He pointed to himself hoping he would be able to catch on. If he learned a bit of his language, maybe the process would go a bit faster, he thought.

He watched as Karos' eyebrows furrowed before he bit down on his lip.

"Levan...up. Sevan...down." He made a gesture of his hand raising then lowering.

"Le...mina...me...se...Karos." My name is Karos. This halted Ake in his tracks as he stared at the human who could almost speak his language perfectly.

Him understanding him was the greatest part of all. His translation into his language soaked into his mind as he thought on all of this. Karos went on to speak more words in his own language before grinning with a sure smile plastered on his face. All Ake could do was look at him with some sense of uncanny interest.

"Ake," Karos called out warily.

There was a ruffling of dried, dying grass crunching under a couple pairs of boots. Soon they turned into dozens. They came with the perfumed scent of the tent they had escaped not too long ago.

Fighting was impossible without putting the human's life in jeopardy. He grabbed Karos' wrist and started for the waterfall not too far off. They were shouting now, but Ake ignored them and continued to the edge of the land halting. He saw the reluctance in Karos' eyes. With no other choice, Ake coaxed him forward. However, Karos continued to waver. It looked treacherous, with sharp rocks buried under the gallons of water.

"Patal mo," trust me, Ake said as sincere as he could muster. Karos' eyes darted back and forth still unsure. Ake turned and saw the men gaining on them causing his patience to wear thin.

"Jana!"

As soon as Karos jumped, Ake followed close behind with a dive of his own. The stupid human. He gritted his teeth and reached for Karos flailing in the air. They hit the water not long after Ake had him pressed against his chest causing him to take the majority of the impact.

He, along with Karos, popped up after a couple seconds breathing out heavily. Silver liquid oozed to the surface causing him to look at Ake with some concern. He shrugged it off with a roll of his eyes and padded his way back onto land.

The jagged rocks had sliced his left arm a couple times leaving some deep cuts and scratches, but nothing to worry over. He gave the human a look of pure annoyance before walking on, drenched once again. An occurrence that tended to happen more often than not, since making his acquaintance.

Karos was saying something he knew, yet Ake never bothered to turn around to feign like he was paying him some mind. His body was becoming cold and frigid as the minutes passed. The silver blood leaking from his arm poured from the wounds, down to his hand. It pooled and drip to the ground.

Again, the human spoke irritating Ake more than most days. He was tired and stricken because of the cursed human. His life meant nothing to him, he knew, yet his life meant everything to him. Maybe that was the true cause of his unruliness.

As he looked up, he saw Karos blocking his path and soon started to approach him. It did nothing but cause Ake to squint as the feeling of uneasiness filled him. He tried to touch his arm, but he moved it away before he could. The human touch was a strange thing. He could feel every nerve, every breath, and the very blood circulating through their bodies. However, those were not the things that caused Ake to shy away.

The human was persistent despite his obvious distaste of it. Before long, Karos had his arm in hand and looked at Ake with eyes filled with some form of guilt and responsibility.

It was the link being tethered with him. He could not stand the thought. Not for disgust, but for fear.

Karos spoke again, low, this time, not bothering to meet his gaze. He pointed further into the dense forest and looked at Ake this time then spoke. An apology, he gathered. It only made Ake snuff and veer away from him.

His eyes soon narrowed as he smelled a human approaching far from them. He looked to Karos who filled with some form of happiness causing his eyes to narrow even further.

An aged man came from out of the forest, leaning against a wooden cane. It was decorated with a thin layer of gold already peeling off from years of use. Besides that, the cane was quite plain, along with the man. He looked like any other dying human. Grey hair, thin of body, weak with age, and little time.

"Karos!" he heard the old man cry. Already his eyes were filling with water.

Ake looked at Karos beginning his run to the dying man. He wrapped his arms around him causing his eyes to squint.

"Olidus!"

They spoke in the language he did not know of and not a moment after such spoken words, the man's gaze was fixed on to him. He allowed for the weak human to approach him, even passed the level of comfort he had given to Karos.

"You must be quite tired with all you have suffered and journeyed," he spoke in his language causing his eyes to widen and his throat to tighten. The man hobbled to one knee balancing his weight against his cane.

"I have been expecting you for many, many years, Ake. By God of Miracles, look at the lights. The sky calls for you."