Alicia gestured towards one of the doors. “We’ve got to go. If we plan to reach the Nest, we need to leave soon. There are some last minute preparations being carried out, but they should be done by the time we reach the dragon kennels.” I numbly followed Alicia and Alverd through the door, lost in thought. I already had enough to brood about, I didn’t need some moral dilemma to add to that. To do so was a violation of Rule Ten anyway. But as we passed through a lavish, narrow corridor, we bumped into a familiar face.
The amazon from the Grand Ball, Eliza, came strolling down the passage, flanked by two of her guardsmen. She wore a simple outfit, mostly a leather riding suit, with mesh covering any skin not protected by the leather. And that mesh covered her whole body all the way up to her neck in what had to be skin tight fittings. She still carried her rapier, which was fastened to her left hip with a cord of golden chain. Even without armor, Eliza’s height and surety of movement made her quite dominating. I stepped to the side to allow her to pass, but she made no movement to do so.
“Mage.” I could hear all of her country’s prejudice concentrated into a single word. “What were you up to on such a splendid day?” She shifted her weight, but it was not an idle gesture; it was that of a soldier who expected action, something I had seen Alverd do countless times. I didn’t want to fight with this woman, so I looked to Alicia for support, but she didn’t have much to offer. I turned back to Eliza.
“Well, my friend and I have a debt to pay off under your Rite of Reconciliation. Got to get right on that, or else I’ll just be under your nose forever, completely untouchable, smarting off at you whenever I damn well please.” I directed my pointed remark at Eliza. I wasn’t in a gaming mood after our conversation with Alicia, so the last thing I wanted to do was get into a tussle with any of her siblings. Reminding her that her own country’s laws prevented her from doing anything to me was the quickest way to getting her to buzz off. I stood my ground, expecting Eliza to acknowledge that I was untouchable. Unfortunately, and perhaps not surprisingly, she decided that she wanted to get in the last word.
“Perhaps you should take care in how you address me, spellslinger,” she said, curling her lip in disgust. “I could kill you as easily as I would swat a fly.” Eliza turned to face Alicia. “You should keep your dogs on a shorter leash, Alicia. Someday, they might bark at something that bites back. Or are you incapable of even that?” A haughty smirk pulled at the older dragon tamer’s face. Alicia scowled but didn’t respond, so Eliza continued. “Do you think anyone will accept you as the next Queen if you continue to prove just how weak-willed you are? Even your dragon could figure that out, from what I heard…”
At that point, Alverd had had enough of staying silent. He stepped forward and placed himself between me, Alicia and Eliza.
“There’s no call for any hostility. I ask that we may pass--”
Alicia’s hand moved to Alverd’s arm, which silenced him. I knew he was only trying to be diplomatic, but this was definitely one of those times when it would fail.
“No.” Alicia’s words were directed at Alverd, but she kept her eyes on her sister.
“Ah. Your champion,” Eliza said with a hungry expression. “I would think twice before challenging such a noble warrior. Perhaps, though, he should prove his mettle against a worthier foe than our dear brother. I must admit… the prospect of a challenge is enticing.” Eliza’s hand caressed her rapier tightly.
“Back off, Eliza. You’ve made your point that you’re not intimidated by me or my servants. Now leave, or maybe Father can reprimand you? I’m sure he’ll have the same words for you as he did for Marcus after his little stunt at the Ball.”
She leaned forward menacingly, highlighting the clear difference in height between her and her younger sibling. “You can’t run and hide behind Father forever, Alicia. Someday he will be gone, and then what? Your threats are just words. And words are not the weapon of a true warrior.”
Eliza pushed past me, throwing me one last heated look as she did so, and disappeared down the hall with her escorts. After she had left, I made an obscene gesture down the hall in the direction she had gone. Alverd glared at her, his own hand sliding down to the sword at his side. Thankfully, the incident ended there, and we continued through the corridors to the dragon kennels.
The dragon kennels were located on a subterranean floor of the castle, which was part of the volcano but not technically underground. The kennel was a hollowed out and expanded tunnel complex with various stables for the dragons that the riders kept. One such tunnel had been painstakingly enlarged to allow dragons to walk through, and I could see the light of the outside world at the end of it.
I walked over to one of the stables. True to its name, the stable was a large metal pen that housed a dragon within it. This particular dragon was as tall as three men, and it barely fit in the small confined space that was its designated home. Like a horse stable, the dragon could lean its head out in order to look around, and I noticed a feeding trough outside that was within easy reach of the dragon’s head.
A handler came by and dumped something large into the trough. I stepped away in surprise when I realized the man had dumped the still bleeding hindquarters of some livestock animal into the bin. The dragon plunged its head into the trough, and I turned away so I wouldn’t have a visual to go along with the tearing and gnashing sounds. My stomach turned, and I fought to keep my breakfast down. Only a few days ago, it could’ve been me in that trough.
I decided to distract myself by looking at the racks of saddles kept on an adjacent wall. Each was made of leather and riddled with belts reinforced with metal loops and fastenings. Several of them had been modified to accommodate multiple passengers. Yet another handler was checking each saddle, examining them for tears or other faults. I hoped he was thorough; it would be hazardous for a rider’s health if he or she fell off their dragon in mid-flight.
Another handler was outfitting a rider with a much smaller dragon. The dragon had only a small harness, and the soldier riding it had a canister slung over his back. The handler gave the soldier a large scroll who placed it within the canister. The rider patted his dragon under the neck, and it lumbered toward the opening at the end of the tunnel.
I wasn’t surprised to see that Ishmar was still using couriers to deliver messages. It was an inefficient way to do so, especially when nearly the entire world had faster means of communication through magic. Taking into consideration how much Ishmarians hated magic, it made sense that they had banned such a method. It was a matter of fear and hatred overriding common sense, something I absolutely loathed.
A small group of handlers was bustling about a group of larger dragons, fastening loads of extra harnesses to the undersides of the dragons. The riders ushered the dragons to the cave opening and they hobbled off in unison. Alicia came over to where Alverd and I were standing.
“Those dragons are going to be carrying our supplies. I intend to stay at the Nest for as long as it takes. My father has assigned twenty men to aid us in our endeavor, and we are to leave immediately. So step to it!” She walked over to one of the stables. One of the servants led the dragon out and assisted the Princess in climbing the creature by bending over and becoming a human stepping stool for her. She swung her leg over the dragon’s back and fastened the restraints to her belt. She motioned for us to follow.
I called up to the Princess as she pulled several of the belts on her restraints tight.
“So, why are we going to the Nest? Couldn’t you just take one of these dragons and compete in the Tournament with one of them? Seems like we could save a lot of trouble if we did that.” I knew already that it was a stupid question, given what I had witnessed her trying to do only the night before, but there was no need for her to know I’d been privy to that incident.
Alicia yanked the last of the belts taut to secure it before turning her attention to me.
“All of these dragons are bred for transportation and speed, Kuro. They are smaller and quicker, and would not hold up in battle against the larger breeds that are raised for war. Besides, a dragon fit for a royal must be worthy of that royal just as they must be worthy of said dragon. These dragons were trained to accept any rider, but the dragons that fight our wars bow only to those they respect. For me to have any chance in the Tournament, I need a powerful dragon. Thus, I need to go to the Nest.”
I supposed that made a good deal of sense. If I were a dragon, I wouldn’t want just any human telling me what to do. Still, it was an inelegant solution. If, by some astronomically unlikely chance Alicia managed to tame a dragon from the Nest, would it still obey her during the competition? We were talking about wild dragons. There was no way to know if they would react in the way we needed them to. I guess, at this point, we didn’t have much of a choice. I strode over to the dragon that was to serve as my mount.
Alverd had no trouble mounting his dragon. The bloody beast even lowered its head to allow him greater ease in doing so. My dragon, however, decided to be difficult. I swear, it knew about my powers and had no intention to be ridden by a mage. It took five men to calm the dragon enough to let me get in the saddle, and even then it wouldn’t follow my orders. Only after I threatened the creature with a rider’s crop did it relent. Together, the three of us shambled down towards the end of the tunnel.
Alicia led the way. As we reached the end, she spurred her dragon on faster and faster until its beating wings lifted it off the ground. Dragon and rider shot out of the tunnel mouth like a bolt from a crossbow and Alverd and I followed suit. We joined the twenty riders and four supply-bearers already waiting for us and flew northwest in the direction of the Nest.
The four supply-bearers were an interesting sight. The four dragons were slightly larger than the rest of the convoy’s out of necessity. Each of the four were carrying large crates dangling from their underbellies by rope harnesses. I guessed that all of our food and camping supplies were stored in those crates. I began to wonder how long we were going to be out at the Nest. Alicia needed to find a dragon soon, so haste would necessitate that we wouldn’t be there long.
The other twenty riders rode two to a dragon. Each of them were wearing the traditional charcoal armor of the Ishmarian royal guard. I saw that they also had the number eight painted on their shoulders; these were Alicia’s personal soldiers. I was slightly reassured knowing that we weren’t going alone into wild dragon territory without backup. Granted, twenty men weren’t exactly the ideal backup I had envisioned, but it was better than nothing.
According to Alicia, it would take us about four hours to reach the Nest seeing as how our dragons could circumvent the treacherous canyons and other obstacles that would’ve plagued a journey by ground. I questioned having a capital so close to a place overrun with wild dragons, but I suppose the Ishmarians considered it a sign of their reckless bravery.
I was shaken from my thoughts when my mount flew through a draft. The dragon navigated through the change in wind pressure with no trouble, but I was utterly unprepared for it. I was slammed in the face by what felt like a solid wall mid-air, and I felt the back of my head smack against the back of the saddle as I was twisted backwards. Even worse, I yanked hard on the reins in my left hand and my dragon immediately barrel-rolled in a counterclockwise corkscrew before nosediving, taking me with it.
I screamed, but I could barely hear it over the sound of the wind rushing past me. My world kaleidoscoped around me as the rocky canyon below and the empty sky above revolved wildly. My only hope was to grab the other rein and pull my dragon out of the death spiral I was in, but I couldn’t overcome the force of the wind. I reached out feebly for the rein, my hand fumbling feebly.
Then something snatched hold of the rein, ending the roll. Alicia had launched into her own nosedive and was now flying next to my dragon, and by sheer force of her own strength, had forced my dragon into a straight flight. With minute but calculated adjustments to her own flight she pulled close enough to me to place the rein in my hand, then grabbed me by my collar and wrenched me forward. After placing my free left hand on the saddle’s grip, I yanked back on the rein in my right hand and pulled out of the nosedive. As I leveled out, I saw that I was coasting less than thirty feet above ground. Alicia had saved me in the nick of time.
Alicia had a mean scowl on her face, but I could tell it was more out of concern than anything else. “Pay attention next time! You never doze off in the middle of a dragon flight. A proper dragon rider can go for hours without sleep in the saddle! What kind of man are you?” She harrumphed and then angled off to return to the formation. I could see Alverd looking down at me with a look that simply said “be careful next time”.
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I scrambled to reinforce my grip on my saddle; my complacency had very nearly killed me. I wondered how much longer it would take to reach the Nest. I would rather fight these bloody things than ride them. Facing down dragons? I could do that. I mean, I knew how to do it. As if that wasn’t enough, Alicia had assured me that her twenty soldiers would be able to hold their own as well. With them, Alverd, the princess, and myself, we weren’t in any danger of being killed by any wild dragon. Each of the soldiers sent with us had experience in handling dragons, and each one was armed to the teeth.
I tightened my grip on my harness and checked to see if my belts were still secure. When the next draft hit, I was ready for it; the dragon flew through it and I held fast to the saddle, closing my eyes tight against the wind, gritting my teeth. Every subsequent draft after that was handled in the same fashion.
Finally, as the sun climbed into the sky to mark midday, we reached a massive canyon hewn into the base of a mountain range. There was a clearing just outside the ominous-looking valley, thick with an unnatural looking fog. The entire congregation alighted in this area, kicking up dust in all directions. I was quite eager to get off my dragon, and it was equally happy to be rid of me. Within moments, the soldiers had all dismounted and were setting up a base camp, checking their personal weaponry as they did so.
Their weapons lacked a metallic sheen to them. Although I could see reflections in them, like any metal, they had rough finishes that gave them dull appearances, unlike the bright shine on Alverd’s sword. I called over to Alicia, who had yet to dismount.
“Say, Princess. Those weapons don’t look like any kind of metal I’ve ever seen.”
Although she was in the process of unfastening her safety tethers, the Princess had no trouble answering me as she did so.
“That’s because the weapons carried by the royal family and their personal guards are made from dragon fangs. We pull a special material from the center of the tooth and use a unique forging process to turn it into a weapon that’s superior to steel, but doesn’t weigh more. Our family’s national treasure, the Sword of Evros, was said to be the first sword forged in this way with the metal taken from the fang of the great Evros, the dragon that was mother to all.”
Alicia launched into the story. “Evros is the greatest and most powerful of all dragons. She is said to be hundreds of years old with a hide so thick that no arrow or spell can pierce it. Her wingbeats can unleash hurricanes, her breath can melt mountains, and her teeth and claws are so sharp that nothing in this world can survive them. She is the Progenitor, the birth mother of all dragons.”
She hefted her two-handed maul, and I could see that, despite its fine craftsmanship, it possessed the same properties as the guards’ weapons. “Our legends say that the first King of Ishmar was a barbarian chieftain, one of the first to tame dragons for domestic use and warfare. His ambition was to rule all of the barbarian clans, so he set out to prove his worth. He decided to seek the favor of Evros herself. With her blessing, he would surely be accepted by the other clans as their king.”
I thought back to the statue of Deyovar in the city square and his depiction in the historical tome Alicia had provided me. The book had provided me with Deyovar’s history, but I wanted to see what Alicia thought of him, so I kept my mouth shut and listened to her narration.
“After much searching, he found Evros. She tested his bravery and resolve and found him worthy. She gave him one of her fangs, and told him how to pull the metal from the interior to forge a sword with no equal. It was a blade capable of slicing through common steel, peerless in every way. She taught him how to extract the metal in the teeth of dragons, and to forge that metal into weapons and armor without equal. With her blessing, the barbarian set out to conquer the land.”
Alicia smiled, as if she found the telling of her tale amusing. “For ten years, he slowly fought his way across the volcanic plains, uniting the clans. Finally, every chief bowed to him, and he was crowned the first king of Ishmar. But, in his efforts of conquest, he had forgotten the secret to forging weapons like the Sword of Evros. Yet, the method had not been lost entirely, and that is why when a soldier is entrusted with a weapon made of dragon metal instead of regular steel, it is an honor of the greatest magnitude.”
I had noticed that not every Ishmarian had the same weapons as Alicia’s guard. The men who roamed the halls and stood guard over doors or such had standard steel weapons and armor. Alicia confirmed my guess that a large amount of metal was needed to make a single weapon or suit of armor, so it wasn't a standard issue. And a good thing, too. Ishmarian steel was already dangerous enough. I shuddered to think how different today’s world would have been had they been able to harness the full power of dragon tooth metal. Armies of soldiers with blades that could carve through enemy swords, armor that could shrug off magic as if it were a light breeze… such power would have been unstoppable.
A soldier dropping a crate snapped me out of my reverie. Our group had taken a great deal of equipment and provender, far more than a few days’ worth. Alicia had anticipated that we would be here longer than just a day or so, but that troubled me more than it should have. She only had about three days to catch a dragon, right? So why so many supplies? Surely we had brought enough food and water, but there were still a few bundles left over that had yet to be unloaded. I still had no idea how she was planning to tame a wild dragon, but I figured now was as good a time as any to find out.
“So, Princess. How do you intend to tame one of the most vicious creatures to ever crawl out from under a rock with just a handful of men?”
The Princess looked annoyed that she had to entertain my curiosity, as if her plan was patently obvious. There was a short pause as she considered my question. Then she responded with a smug look on her face.
“Ever the inquisitive one, eh Kuro? I assure you, I know what I’m doing. Once the soldiers establish our base camp, I’ll inform both you and Alverd of the plan.”
She strolled away to begin giving orders to her men. Alverd came over to where I was standing, and already I could tell he was lost in thought.
“Remember when your mother told you that your face would freeze like that if you kept making it, Alverd? I guess she was right after all.” I barked a laugh, remembering the exact scrunched-up look his mother used to make when she scolded her son. It looked as if someone had replaced the sugar in her recipe with salt. It was hilarious.
My sarcastic remark elicited a chortle from my friend. However, he quickly grew quiet. I knew I’d put my foot in my mouth far too late. Alverd had lost his family shortly after being knighted. The death of his parents was still a poorly healed wound, and I’d gone and poked at it without thinking.
I had never known anything about real families. I had no parents, no brothers or sisters. Nobody even knew what happened to my parents. They never left any note, never told anyone why they were leaving me, and never told anyone where they were going. I was left at an orphanage as a baby, and that was that. Or it would have been had I not been born with the ability to use magic. After four years of suffering at the hands of the other children, they finally pushed me too far. One day I caught one of my childhood bullies throwing rocks at a defenseless fox, a pitiful little creature I’d fed and befriended in secret. I remember lunging onto his back, scratching at his eyes in utter fury. When the scratching didn’t do anything, I opened my mouth and sank my teeth into his shoulder, biting him hard enough to draw blood. He threw me off and picked up a rock to bash me in the head.
Suddenly a golden lightning bolt launched him through the air, like a kite on a windy day. It had been purely by instinct. One second he was standing over me, the next my hands were in front of me. I felt pain in my head, and some force expelled itself out of me. The little dastard landed in a heap about thirty feet away, his leg making a horrendous snapping sound as he landed at a funny angle. He screamed and cried, and the other children nearby called for the head of the orphanage. As I watched, the fox seemed to regard me with something like approval before disappearing into the nearby brush.
That was the only thing I’d cared about, really. That the innocent animal had escaped, not that I’d nearly killed another kid. To this day, I still felt the same way. Even if that kid had been crippled for life, I wouldn’t have cared. If he didn’t want his leg broken, then maybe he should’ve thought twice before bullying something that couldn’t fight back.
The incident was sufficient enough for the orphanage to call for Professor Farnus to take me away. He quickly spirited me away to join the small school he taught for Marevar’s magically inclined children. He brushed off the idiot orphanage keeper’s claims that I was dangerous and instead chose to listen to my side of the story first. He concluded I had acted in self defense and shown compassion for defending the fox, and that I was to be commended for showing the courage to stand up to a bully without knowing I had magic.
Farnus had understood me in a way few people did. He inducted me into his school as soon as we arrived in the capitol. It was tough, but I was ready to meet the challenge of learning magic. I wanted to repay this man for placing his faith in me, and the best way to do it was to not squander the chance I’d been given. I took to my studies with gusto and learned to read, write, and learn what little magic I could.
Thanks to that school, I met Alverd and Laura, the only two bright spots in my unremarkable life. Laura’s parents ran a pretty popular bakery and they were constantly donating baked goods to the children, since Professor Farnus’ school was a bit of an orphanage itself. They became my family in a way. After magic lessons, I found myself drawn to Laura’s bakery where I would while away the hours in good company with the only two people I had ever called friends. That’s how I eventually learned that their two families had been old friends for as long as they could remember.
It also didn’t take long for me to learn about Laura’s interest in Alverd. Even at a young age, I could see her eyes linger on him while he helped out around her bakery. When Alverd enlisted as a page, she quickly did so too, despite her parent’s protests. Unfortunately, Alverd was a bit thick in that regard. He devoted himself to his knightly training, and Laura eventually ended up becoming a huntress, one of the finest I’d ever known.
When Marevar was attacked, the first thing Alverd remembered was his home being set ablaze by dragons. Much like the rest of his part of the castle town, it had been burnt to the ground during the initial part of the attack. He didn’t even have time to see if his parents had been evacuated or not because he had to report for duty and hold the castle wall against the Ishmarians. My insensitive jab had drudged up some unpleasant memories. I started to blurt out an apology.
Of course, Alverd knew what I was thinking before I did. He clapped his hand on my shoulder, and gave me a reassuring look. The benefit to having a friend like Alverd for so long was that he knew when I said things purely by reflex. The two of us sat in the shade of a large rock, watching the royal soldiers scurry about like ants. Finally, Alverd broke the silence.
“She’s a strong one. Hard to believe she’s still so young.”
My friend’s expression was wistful. I looked into his eyes, and a surge of hate that had been buried since our discussion from before came roaring back. I had managed to stifle it for a while, but it was still there, like the bitter aftertaste of cheap ale. I couldn’t figure out why Alverd could be so nonchalant toward this girl. But then it finally clicked.
I was so completely selfish. All I ever worried about was my own hide. It was easy for me to fall into such a habit, since I didn’t have any loved ones to lose. Alverd had figured it out from the beginning. He had made the choice to treat Alicia as innocent long before I, the supposedly smart one, could come to that conclusion. Hell, she’d even admitted she’d been too young to be involved in the invasion five years ago. I was a fool. I would have killed an innocent girl simply because she was a daughter to the one I hated. She was completely innocent of that crime, but I, blinded by my hate and anger, had been unable or maybe unwilling, to see that. Alverd had figured it all out long ago.
Having apparently finished ordering her peons around, she trotted over to the two of us. She stood before us, one hand holding her intimidating maul, the other holding some kind of odd instrument slightly resembling a whistle or flute. I had to admit my curiosity was piqued.
“Are we going to lull a dragon to sleep with that? Soothe the savage beast and all that nonsense?”
She snorted. “No. This flute attracts dragons. It produces a sound very close to a mating call. We will lure a dragon out of the Nest and attempt to tame it.” She fiddled with the strange instrument.
Oh. So there was a plan. That was good to know. It still seemed pretty slipshod to me, but at least there was a plan. Alicia strode purposefully over to the hole in the cliff near our camp, and raised the strange instrument to her mouth. She blew into it, but no audible sound came out. But as soon as she lowered the horn, an eerie silence descended on the camp. Birds stopped chirping, critters went silent, bugs seemed to stop buzzing. Suddenly, it occurred to me that using a calling device was a bad idea. I mean, we were sitting outside a canyon infested with wild dragons, right? Using the flute was probably going to work, but would it work too well? If more than just one dragon emerged, we were going to die. Twenty heavily armed men or not, we were going to die, and then be eaten.
Unfortunately, the damage was already done. The soldiers gripped their weapons tight as the last of the ambient noise faded. We stood there in the shadow of the rock face for minutes that stretched on for centuries. I finally began to think that the flute must have been broken or something.
Then came the screeching of a dragon. Then two. Then three. Countless other cries filled the air. The domesticated dragons in the camp raised their heads and roared as well. From the cliff face, the biggest dragon I’d ever seen emerged, its malevolent red scales gleaming, smoke wafting from its fang-laden mouth. At nearly two-and-half stories high, it dwarfed any of the domesticated dragons we’d brought with us. Its claws were easily longer than Alverd’s sword, and probably a lot sharper. The dragon opened its jaws wide, revealing rows of serrated teeth meant for only one purpose. The soldiers realized that their enemy was far bigger than expected and beat a tactical and hasty retreat.
I took one look at the giant beast and lost my capacity for rational thought. I’d been up against a dragon before, but never one like this. It was huge, far bigger than the one Alicia had lost control of, and tasty little humans were scurrying around beneath it. I snapped out of my trance when the ground shook beneath me, and without any further ado, turned.
Professor Farnus always told me I wasn’t a typical mage. Why? Because I could actually run.