Eloise and Jaxtor were trailing behind them as Tranley skipped his way down halls and up stairwells. Kaden was breathing heavily just trying to keep up with the excitable man. He knew where they were going that time. He had seen all the dragons flying to the very top of the temple. This meant there were going to be a lot more stairs he had to climb.

The three of them were wheezing by the time Tranley stopped. He pushed open large double doors and led them into the open plaza. There was a deep pool of water in the center of it that spanned the entire top of the temple. There was a walking path on either side, designed to look like a riverbed. Inside the pool was something that looked extremely familiar to him. It was the same algae that had been in the cave.

The temple still had many buildings that were built around the pool. Jaxtor nudged him and said, “one of those rooms is yours.”

“Welcome to the Stables,” Tranley said with his arms wide.

He let out a laugh and shook his head. They were the furthest thing from actual stables. He knew they all had to have known this, so he could only assume that was the joke. The mages could be funny on occasion, it seemed.

“Well, go ahead,” Tranley waved toward the circling dragons above. “Call them down.”

He was being put on the spot and wasn’t sure if he could perform like that. His eyes widened as he looked down at the algae growing in the pool. He wondered if it would glow, too. Maybe the azure dragons liked glowing algae. He didn’t recall ever hearing about the fact that dragons could glow before. He wondered if these ones did it or if it was just the wild ones.

Tranley poked him as he was losing himself in his distraction. Sighing, he looked up at the sky to see if he could spot Zuma. There were so many dragons up there, he wasn’t sure which was which. They all varied in sizes. The tower extended higher into the sky with different levels of arches and pillars. Various dragons were perched here and there on them. He could only assume that’s what they were there for.

Closing his eyes, he tried to reach out and see if he could feel Zuma’s presence. He was hit with an overwhelming force of every dragon in the area. He howled in pain, doubling over. Eloise ran to help him up, but Tranley stuck his arm out, stopping her.

The noise, the pressure of all their magical essences pressed down on his senses, filling him was a chaotic energy. There were so many, and he was feeling every single one of them. If he didn’t close it off, he would be swallowed by their life forces that were echoing in his head.

He had to find Zuma in the mess. Trying to focus in on their connection, he found a string in his mind, hiding deep under all the noise. He plucked it and it vibrated. The other dragon energies started to become muffled in his mind, quieting down. Focusing again, he found the string stretched across space, more clearly this time. He plucked it and it vibrated again, giving off an eerie, almost unsettling energy.

Focusing his will, he asked for Zuma to join him. They all heard a roar above and, from the very top of the temple, a dragon that was perched on one of the tallest pillars jumped off and dove toward them. It was Zuma. They had a flare for the theatrics.

The wind whistled around them as they dove, only opening their wings moments before they hit the pool below. Their feet skimmed the top, splashing water across the plaza as they flew toward them. Skidding to a stop, they shook their wings out in front of the group.

Tranley’s eyes were wide as Zuma showed off their blue scales. They were deeper in color than the others there. The other dragons there all shone with a lighter blue that Kaden sometimes thought made them blend into the sky. Zuma, on the other hand, they were a deep royal blue.

“Oh, look at their color,” Tranley said in marvel. “It’s so rich! This is definitely not one of our dragons. Not even a northern temple dragon. Theirs are a little greenish in color.”

He ran his hands down Zuma, surprising Kaden that Zuma wasn’t bothered by the touch. He ran his hands over the lightning scars and asked if that was from the trap he had mentioned. Nodding in return, he showed his hands that had a matching set. Tranley firmly grabbed his hand and compared the two sets of scars.

“I would not believe it, not believe that you two had been healed had I not seen this evidence myself.” He tossed his hand down and went back to examining Zuma.

He rubbed his scaring. “The matriarch healed us when they gave me the blessing. I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Heal? Oh, all azure dragons can heal things. It’s just what type of damage that matters. If it’s something of the heart? You’re on your own for that one!”

He looked to Eloise for a translation, but she just shook her head and shrugged. Tranley was such a strange character. He had never met someone as blunt and direct as he was. It was endearing. It was no wonder to him now that they had given the man such a warm greeting.

“I like your dragon,” he declared. “You can stay with them in one of the stables. I think it would be fine. At least until you do the thinking I told you to do.”

He smiled and shook his head, “what even are the stables?”

Tranley gave a little jump and started quickly walking away. Noticing they weren’t following, he waved his hands at them. “Come, come. I will show you!”

They followed him up more steps until they reached a building that was built out over the edge of the temple. There was a large gaping door that was only covered by strips of silk that blew in the wind. It was large enough for Zuma to walk in, which they did without hesitation.

Tranley followed Zuma inside. Jaxtor pushed Kaden forward and in they went as well. It was a home. Not a stable. There was a loft that was built overlooking the bottom of the room where there were several extremely large fluffs of pillowed bedding that Zuma plopped themselves on top of.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Climbing the ladder up to the loft, Tranley ordered them to follow. It was a perch above where the dragon could lie. There was a table, a bookcase, and even a little stove and sink. A smaller pillowed bed set off to the side. They had made a place for a dragon to stay in luxury while their rider was able to stick close by.

“You can have this one,” he said as he pulled up a chair to the table. “The bookcase should have enough room for your new books.”

“What,” Jaxtor whined, “he gets his own loft?”

Eloise nudged him and said, “we can’t fit Zuma in the dorms.”

Clapping suddenly, Tranley stood up and said, “That is that! I will get your robes and see you tomorrow. Have a nice day!”

He just climbed down the ladder and strolled out of the large room with nothing else said. Kaden looked at his companions with wide, confused eyes, and they just burst out laughing.

“That’s Tranley for you,” said Eloise.

Jaxtor shook his head. “He’s a little off, but he knows his shit. He’ll help you out, you just have to take him as he is. If you fight his weirdness, you’ll get nowhere.”

“A lot of people don’t like him,” Eloise said. “I love him! He’s so fun. I always have a great time around him and he is great to talk to about runes.”

They talked a bit about what the stables were, how things were up there with the dragons. Kaden learned that most of the dragons that were hanging out up there didn’t belong to anyone. They just lurked around.

Taking him back outside, they pointed out all the other stables and rattled off who was staying at which ones. He learned that there were a lot of empty ones for the riders that travel. There was only a handful that stayed at the temple and it was likely that he would meet them soon.

Pointing to the far end of the roof, Eloise motioned to a massive cave.

“That’s where our matriarch likes to hang out. You’re not allowed down there, regardless if you’re a rider or not. Access to her is limited. She doesn’t like to be bothered. They only bring in new people for a blessing every few months. Otherwise, we don’t get to see her,” advised Eloise.

It was strange to him how the dragon matriarch would shy away from everyone. He had no idea how the blessing worked at the temple, but he had a feeling it was wildly different from what he had gone through. His eyes lingered over the cave before they pulled him away.

They were determined to give him a more thorough tour. Eloise skipped away as Jaxtor grabbed his arm and shoved him along. He was in awe of the place as his eyes followed all the details carved into stones and all the statues built out of marble. There was an order to it that he hadn’t fully understood. Looking to the dragons once more before he went back into the temple, he felt a longing to be with Zuma before he was once more whisked away.

The rest of the day was Eloise giving him an educational tour of all the important locations around the building. She told him every detail and the historical context that went with it. He didn’t think a bathroom needed context, but she gave him one for that, too. There was only so much he could absorb and stories about bathrooms were not it.

Jaxtor looked bored by the tour, but he continued to follow them. Eventually, she led him into an open garden. Three very small dragons skittered across their path. He recalled seeing small ones in the cave, but they still surprised him. He watched as they ran away under the green canopy. It was so exciting for him to be in a place that worshiped dragons so much.

“They like the gardens. You’ll probably see some of them in every garden you visit,” she explained.

“Don’t bother them, though. We’re not allowed to touch the dragons unless the dragons touch you first. You can’t just walk up to them, they’ve got to come to you,” Jaxtor explained.

Eloise kneeled down, making herself look less threatening. Two large eyes popped open underneath a bush. They tilted in thought before deciding to make a run at her. She straightened her arm out and it crawled right up it and curled around her shoulders.

Turning back to them with a wide grin on her face, she said, “maybe when this one grows up we can be bonded.”

She scratched its chin, and it stretched its neck out, attempting to get a better angle. Petting it for a bit, it eventually decided it had enough and crawled back down her arm and quickly scurried away, back under the bush. A happy glow radiated from her smile as she motioned for them to move on.

Following her down another hallway, she started once more on her tour descriptions, “this next room is probably the most important room you’ll ever be in here in the temple.”

Jaxtor laughed and pushed open two double doors. The room was gigantic and already full of people. Several long rows of tables filled the area. There were a handful of smaller ones and even some in the corners for more privacy. It was a great hall.

“This is where we eat!”

Jaxtor didn’t wait for any signal that time. He was already off and away, shaking hands and making small talk with other mages. A few mages came up to Eloise and gave her hugs, welcoming her back. Not knowing anyone but the two of them in a room full of people made him feel nervous and small. He tried his best to keep next to Eloise as she pushed her way through talking crowds.

They reached a table furthest from the door they entered from. There were four people seated there, all of them looked at least 10 years older than himself. Eloise bowed before them and nudged Kaden to follow. He gave an awkward bow and one of them laughed.

“These are your fellow riders,” she explained. “Fellow riders, this is Kaden Berthoff. He’s from the eastern providence. And he’s your newest rider friend!”

“When did we have a blessing? I don’t remember a blessing,” an older man with a scar across his nose said.

With a flourish of her arms, she motioned to Kaden while shaking her hands as if she was presenting something wondrous. “He was blessed by a wild matriarch!”

All four of them stopped moving and stared at him. One’s fork even fell out of their hand, clattering to the plate below.

He shifted nervously. Eloise laughed and dipped away, leaving him there to be gawked at. Kaden felt a heat well up inside of him. He was anxious and nervous and now four experienced dragon riders were all examining him.

A dark-haired woman who looked to be well into her forties leaned forward and said, “a wild matriarch, is that right?”

He nodded in response.

Another woman tilted her head, letting her red hair bounce as she did so, then said, “I thought there weren’t anymore matriarchs outside of the temples.”

The man with the scar scoffed, took a swig of his ale, and said, “apparently there are and our boy Kaden here was lucky enough to be blessed by one.”

A younger woman closer to Iratoi’s age sat behind them and said, “how’d it happen?”

Kaden could feel the eyes around him, staring intently. It wasn’t only the riders that were waiting to hear what he had to say. Everyone around them had quieted down, waiting for his tale. Shifting his weight again, he mumbled something.

The scared man said, “louder boy, we can’t make out what you said.”

Kaden didn’t know what he was allowed to even say. He didn’t know if they wanted him to tell everyone about the traps. Although he was in a public place, he knew the topic was extremely sensitive. He had to pick and choose how he revealed his blessing.

“I found a dragon hurt while on a hunt and I helped them get free. Then I stayed with it while it healed up. A matriarch came along and,” he trailed off.

“A hurt dragon,” the red-haired woman said with disbelief. “Dragons don’t just get hurt out there.”

He caught Eloise out of the corner of his eye, making motions at the riders. She was signaling to cut it off. The woman took the hint and stood up before motioning to a chair that was at their table.

“Come join us over here and tell us more,” she said while grabbing his arm to pull him over.