Chapter 2

A farm on the outskirts of Draeton

Vella

The morning sun beat down through the thin curtains, splashing onto Vella’s face. With a grumble she began to roll out of bed, wiping the sleep out of her eyes. A gentle breeze fluttered the curtains as she rose. As she started to sit up a book slid from her lap to the foot of her bed. She grabbed the book, taking care to keep it open to the correct page. She took a short ribbon from the nightstand next to the bed and slid it in between the pages. As she closed it she gazed at the crinkled cover, a shining knight on a massive dragon swinging a sword. She’d read the book dozens of times, and knew each word by heart, but it still comforted her. As she placed the book on the nightstand she muttered sarcastically, “To the adventure that awaits each day.” With a stretch and a yawn, she began to get ready for the day.

Vella tossed on her pants and shirt quickly, nearly falling over in the process. She stood in front of the dusty old mirror in the corner and began to tie her mess of hair into a simple braid going down her neck. Her reflection gazed back at her, simple and plain as Vella always thought of herself. No matter how she tried, wisps of hair escaped the braid and dangled over her eyes. The dull brown freckles on her cheeks stood out against the light tan of her skin. “Another day on the farm,” she said playfully, holding up her arms and flexing her muscles. She gave two fingers a light kiss and pressed them up against an old picture of her parents. “Miss you every day,” she said with a heaviness in her voice.

She sat back down on her bed and pulled over her boots. The leather was beaten and faded, they fit her perfectly, but she continued to worry that each day would be their last. As she pulled the laces tight and felt the leather grip snug on her ankles she felt the familiar creak and worry. As she finished lacing she heard a loud flap of wings followed by an unfamiliar squawk and the grumble of her wyrms in the stables. “I swear if one of you got out I am going to run you all ragged,” she cursed as she ran out the door. As she burst out of the small farmhouse the sun became blinding. Vella shielded her eyes as she walked towards the stable. The blurring from the sun began to fade as Vella approached, noticing a rather unfamiliar shape standing in front of her stable of wyrms.

As her vision finally came back to focus Vella saw what was causing the commotion. Standing proudly before Vella was the sort of dragon she had only ever read about in her books. “A Wyvern,” she murmured. The brilliant teal and green scales of the wyvern shimmered in the light of the morning sun. It was tall, long, and lean, a stark contrast to the short and stout wyrms Vella had at the farm. She stepped cautiously closer to the wyvern, not knowing the temperament of the dragon. She pulled a pair of thick leather gloves from her pocket and slipped them on. She wasn’t sure what kind of teeth a wyvern had, but a little protection against being bitten was better than none. Instead of reacting defensively the wyvern stretched out its long neck and brought its head close to Vella’s, staring directly into her eyes. Vella marveled at the brilliant sky blue of the dragon’s eyes, not even caring to keep her distance.

As Vella became aware of the comfort the dragon seemed to have around people she noticed the harness and saddle on it. She stretched out a hand, palm open, toward the wyvern’s face, a sign of both humility and peace to dragons. The dragon nuzzled its head into Vella’s hand in reply. “Well, aren’t you just the most majestic thing I’ve ever seen,” Vella mused. She slowly rubbed the dragon’s head and took the reins of the harness in her other hand. She led the dragon to a near-empty part of the stable and tied the reins up to a post. She started to look the wyvern over in more detail, it certainly was the most beautiful sight Vella had ever seen. She looked over the harness and then began to look over the saddle when she saw a word marked on it. “Aegis,” she read aloud. As if in reply the dragon squawked. “Is that your name girl, Aegis?” Vella asked. The saddle itself was of the utmost quality, small armor plates reinforced it. The way the saddle and reins were set up meant this dragon belonged to a very experienced rider, it was built for speed and maneuverability, a novice rider would have needed more bracing and support. “So how did you get here then?” She asked as if the dragon would answer her. Vella had spent her whole life raising and breeding dragons, preparing them for others, so she knew the sort of worth of a dragon like this. “Nobody is just gonna let you go,” she said. Vella knew that each and every dragon was trained, rider or not to return to wherever they slept. If this was a work dragon it should have returned to its housing. If this was some personal pet it should have returned to its owner’s home. Vella had trained each and every wyrm she had to do the same. That was always the first thing any dragon was taught once it was bought by a new owner.

Receiving no answers, Vella began to look closer at the saddle and bags on the dragon. As she began to paw through the saddlebags she found a Draeton insignia, specifically that of a knight. “Well that explains a lot,” she said. “Some dumb knight must have lost you.” Vella pulled off her gloves and looked the wyvern in the eyes, “You and I are going to have to head into the city. There must be some knight worried sick about you. At least I hope he is.” Vella began to walk away, turning before she left the stall, “You stay here, I have to feed the wyrms before we can go.” The wyvern looked at her as though it understood. Whether it was Vella’s perception or just that she was accustomed to the wyrms, this wyvern seemed to understand her.

Vella left the stable Aegis was in and walked over to the long line of stalls containing wyrms. She grabbed her pitchfork and started to heap hay into each stall, throwing in chunks of meat to the stalls one at a time. As she finished that she grabbed a bucket and began to fill the water troughs of each stall. This always took several trips. As Vella learned at a young age, fire-breathing beasts seemed to drink quite a lot to keep cool enough. As she finished pouring the bucket into the last trough she heard the large pen of wyrms causing a ruckus. She dropped the bucket and ran over, as she turned the corner she saw Aegis standing at the edge. Aegis was craning her neck into the pen, squawking and causing quite the commotion amongst the wyrms. Vella reached out to grab the reins and got only a tattered edge in her hand. “You could have waited instead of chewing through that you know,” Vella grumbled. She pulled Aegis along, reaching the edge of the stalls where all the riding gear was. She pulled a leather strap from one of her harnesses and attached it to the one Aegis wore. “Your knight is going to have to pay for that,” she said looking at Aegis.

Vella walked Aegis to the open space in between the sets of stables, her pulse began to race. She pulled on her gloves and tightened the laces on her boots. She took Aegis' head in her hands and stared directly into the wyvern’s eyes. “I’m going to ride you now, ok?” she said. “If you want to get home quickly I have to do this. Don’t drop me.” With a deep sigh, Vella steadied herself and hopped onto the wyvern’s saddle. Though she had spent her whole life riding wyrms she was scared to ride Aegis. Wyrms were slow creatures, durable and strong, but they weren’t capable of much in the air. If even half the stories Vella had read were accurate, a wyvern was one of the most fast and agile creatures in the sky. They were proud dragons, loyal ones, but temperamental too. Vella had heard rumors of wyverns deliberately dropping riders they didn’t think were worthy of them.

Vella felt her heart beating out of her chest as she finally pressed her heels in tight, telling the dragon to fly. With a massive thrust, the wyvern shot into the sky. Vella could feel her heart skip a beat, she struggled to catch her breath as they ascended. They climbed higher by the second, faster than Vella had ever gone before. In a matter of moments, Aegis broke the cloud cover and leveled off. Vella brought her hand to her face to shield from the sun. She looked from side to side, savoring the gorgeous view. The clouds ran out as far as she could see. Their light, fluffy texture rolled below as the sun lit them yellow as it breached the middle of the sky ahead. After a slight pause, Vella dug in her heels and pulled the reins tight. “Not every day a girl gets to ride a wyvern,” she said excitedly. In response, Aegis darted forward with a surge of its wings. Vella began to pull the reins left and right, weaving through the clouds at breakneck speeds. Aegis let out a squawk as Vella yelled with joy. Finally, Vella pulled the reins in tight, leaning as close as she could to Aegis’ body. Aegis pulled in its wings tightly and began to drop from the sky. As they plummeted Vella didn’t have a single thought running through her head, she felt so alive, so close to the dragon beneath her that worry didn’t even come close to creeping into her mind. As they neared the ground Vella pulled the reins wide and Aegis let her wings out in full width. The two shot back up into the air faster than before. When they breached the clouds again Vella let out a joyous and defiant yell, raising her arms high to the sky. For the first time in years, Vella felt truly alive.

With wings outspread Vella and Aegis began to coast, heading in the direction of their destination. This was a trip that would have taken the better part of a day on a wyrm, but Vella could already tell that it would take little more than an hour on Aegis. As they soared through the sky Vella dreamed of having a wyvern of her own, of having Aegis as her own. Finally, she saw the peak of their destination protruding from the bottom of the clouds. Her heart sank knowing that her dream was nearly over. She would have to return to the farm like always and resume the mundane life she called her own.

Aegis squawked once more and Vella gave her a pat. “Yeah, I know, that’s home isn’t it,” Vella said with a sigh. Before them, now clearly visible as the clouds parted was Presidia, the capital city of Draeton. It stood in the center of wide open plains, looming over everything around. The city itself looked like a mountain from a distance. At the very center of it was the castle, reaching high into the clouds. Each ring coming out from it was another section of the city, the further out the less affluent it was. Vella had been awestruck by the city the first time she had seen it as a child. Growing up on a farm meant Vella had quite the imagination, but even that did not do Presidia justice. In the distance on the other side of Presidia was a range of mountains, but even those by comparison seemed small. Over the past few years, Vella had found less and less to love about the castle city though. Once her parents passed away she had to make regular trips into the city to sell wyrms and get necessary items for the farm. Some of the people were nice enough, but Vella had always felt cramped inside the city’s walls. She always felt most at home in the sky.

Vella knew that a girl like her with an immensely valuable dragon would be preyed upon if she entered the city normally. Fortunately, she knew where to bring the wyvern because of the knight’s insignia. Slowly gliding down Vella guided Aegis into the hangar that the knights used for their dragons.

As they landed Vella was greeted by a rather unhappy-looking knight. Vella hopped off of Aegis and tied her reins to the nearest post as the knight approached. “What exactly do you think you’re doing little miss?” the knight asked. “Taking a knight’s dragon, let alone a wyvern is grounds for high treason.”

Vella turned around, feeling her cheeks run hot with anger. She pointed right in the knight’s face, “First off, cut the little miss dung, I’m no child. Secondly, I didn’t take the dragon, I found it.”

“Know your place, little girl, I am a knight of Draeton, of the castle city Presidia. You’d be wise to own up to your crimes,” The knight blustered out.

“And you’d be best to back off Fen!” A loud low voice behind the knight boomed.

Fen, the knight, turned and bowed. “Sorry stablemaster, I was just questioning this young girl, she clearly stole this wyvern.”

The man with the loud voice walked up to Fen and gave him a smack on the head. “That’d be darn stupid of her. She’s a dragon breeder, one of ours at that. Why in the name of the gods would she steal one of our dragons and bring it back? Not to mention she's older than you are ya whelp.” Fen began to try and mumble out a response as the loud man stepped to the side and gave Fen him a swift kick on the behind, “Go muck stalls you wyrm’s dung. If I catch you harassing anyone else you’ll muck the whole hangar for a month.” It certainly wasn’t the first time Vella had been treated this way by the younger knights. They always seemed to be surprised by the young female dragon breeder. She was only twenty-five after all, but she still didn’t look quite that old even.

As Vella watched Fen run off she felt the anger run off of her cheeks. She looked up and smiled at the loud man. “Nice to see you again Aren,” she said.

“I’d say the same,” Aren replied, “But I got this feelin’ that you’re about to cause me a headache.” Aren was a sturdy, broad-shouldered man with the sort of leathery skin you’d expect from a man who spent his time at sea. He had soft green eyes and a grumble that belittled his kind nature. He appeared strong as an ox, though Vella had never seen that tested. He had a bit of a gut at this point, though it didn’t appear to slow him much. His nose was broad and squished on his face as though he’d been punched there several times. He was the stablemaster for the knights of Draeton. A position of decent stature, though not one that had all the prestige of real rank. Vella had always wondered why Aren was in the position. Her father had always talked of the stablemaster being a position old men did until they retired from work. Aren was only in his late thirties and he certainly seemed like he could have gone for higher rank. Supposedly he had once been one of the queen’s best knights, though to Vella that had only raised more questions. He rubbed the small beard on his chin as he looked at the wyvern next to Vella.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Aren motioned back to the small room that was his office and they walked off. Once in the small room, Vella gave Aren a big hug, though he seemed rather uncomfortable with it. Aren was one of the few people from the city that Vella truly enjoyed the company of. He had always treated her fairly despite the fact that she was a farm girl. “So, not that I’m not happy to have you around, but what in the world are you doing with a wyvern? You luck into an egg I didn’t know about or somethin’?” he asked.

“Nope, if I did, don't you think I would have told you one of these times?” Vella replied.

“Well yeah, I suppose,” Aren responded. “Same time though, I don’t know what sorts of other dragon breeders or traders you hang around with. I only ever meet with you here.”

Feeling very solitary Vella replied, “We’re not the most social community Aren, it takes more time than we’ve got to be social.”

“Same with raising a bunch of dumb young knights,” Aren said with a chuckle, “I’m willing ta bet that it’s pretty much the same as raising wyrms.” They shared a laugh for a moment before returning to the matter at hand.

“Like I was telling that Fen, I found the wyvern, or it found me is more like it,” Vella said. “I woke up and found it standing outside my stables.”

“Well that’s darn odd,” Aren said.

“Yeah,” Vella replied. “I’ve had dragons return to the farm before, but I knew each and every one of them. As far as I know, my family has never had anything as fancy as a wyvern. Who am I kidding, we’ve never had anything but wyrms.”

“Well that might not be true,” Aren said. Vella looked at him confused. “If she came back there it probably means that’s where she’s from originally. Something musta spooked her real bad to make that happen though.”

“But Aren, I know back at least three generations my family has only ever had wyrms,” Vella replied.

“That’s why she could have come from your farm,” Aren said. “Not exactly the most well-known fact, but wyverns live a mighty long time, if they actually manage it they can live a couple hundred years. People just don’t know that 'cause there are so few of them and the ones that do exist are used for the best knights.”

Vella let that sink in for a moment, “So you’re saying Aegis is a few hundred years old?”

At the mention of the name Aren’s eyes shot open with concern, “What did you just call her?”

“Aegis,” Vella replied. “That was the name on the saddle.”

Aren’s head sank and he put his hands over his eyes, “That’s not good,” he muttered.”

“What’s wrong, Aren?” Vella asked.

“Aegis, she was the mount for my best knight, maybe the best in all the kingdom. His name was Fenir,” Aren replied. I sent him out maybe three days ago to do some business. If Aegis came back to you it means…” his voice trailed off.

“Oh no,” Vella said. “I guess that explains what would have spooked Aegis.”

“Ain’t even the half of it, Vella,” Aren said heavily. “I’m gonna need you to come with me”

“To where?” Vella asked. “I have to get back to the farm, I have wyrms to tend.”

“They can wait a little, this is a bit bigger than some hungry wyrms,” Aren responded. “I’ll get you back to the farm as soon as I can. I wouldn’t be asking this of you if I had any other choice.” Aren looked at Vella with heavy, sad eyes and she didn’t have the heart to argue. He’d been nothing but kind to her and he’d never looked for anything in return. “We best be going now,” he said as he stood up.

Aren led Vella out the door of the office. She waved at Aegis who squawked in reply as she followed behind Aren. Vella had to keep a quick pace as she walked behind Aren and every one of his steps seemed to be two of hers. He muttered some things under his breath, though Vella couldn’t make out much. She was concerned as she’d never seen anything rattle Aren like this in the past. They walked through the barracks attached to the hangar. The large room was filled with bunks with knights all around them. As Aren walked by each and every one of them attempted to look busy, though most were clearly just avoiding his gaze after they heard him chew out Fen. When he reached the door to exit the barracks Aren stopped for a moment and cleared his throat. “Each and every one of you better find something to actually do. If I get back and find any one of you lounging you’ll be mucking the stalls on night shift for a month!” he bellowed at them. Vella laughed as she watched all the knights scatter like bugs out of the room. With a tense chuckle, Aren turned to look at Vella. “I swear half of them are useless in anything but a fight,” he said, trying to break the tension.

They walked out of the barracks and into the city. The hangar and barracks were in the middle level of the city, the one that housed all of the knights and other military members of Presidia along with some of the local government officials. “You ever been into this part of the city?” Aren asked Vella.

“I mean not really,” Vella replied. “Whenever I’ve come to the city it’s either to drop off wyrms or to go to the lower market. I don’t think I’ve ever been outside the hangar on this level.

“Well then, you’re in for a bit of an experience today,” Aren said with a smirk, “Ain’t anything on the ball of mud that is quite like the upper parts of Presidia.”

Vella looked up and down the streets, as they walked past. The cobblestones on the roads were nice and seemed freshly cut. The buildings had fresh paint and the whole ring of the city smelled like freshly baked bread, which Vella assumed was because of how many knights and soldiers needed to be fed at this level. She noticed how much cleaner and larger the buildings were than any of the lower levels of Presidia she had been to. There was one part that made Vella immediately uncomfortable though. This entire part of the city was almost always in the direct shade of the central spire. You could tell the people who had grown up in this ring of the city because they had sickly pale complexions. Vella certainly seemed out of place as they strolled down the streets, though so did Aren for that matter.

“So where are we going, Aren?” Vella asked.

"To one of the local officials, he may reside on this ring, but position-wise he could be up a few rings. He just stays here 'cause he likes it,” Aren said. “I’m pretty sure it’s just cause he likes the gossip and the bread. This ring does have the best bread ya know.”

“Why are we seeing him? Vella asked.

“Well he’s the most connected person here and he can get a message to where I need it to go fast,” Aren replied. “All goes right I’ll be able ta let ya go home after that. If they don’t, well I don’t want to fret bout that.”

Vella stopped asking questions for fear of agitating Aren, it seemed like he had enough on his mind at this moment. They walked in silence for a few more moments before they reached their destination. Aren stopped as they reached the largest-looking building Vella had seen in the ring. It was a stone building with very ornate decorations lining each window. The stones in the building were perfectly cut. Frankly, the decorations in the window seemed out of place compared to the very pristine, subdued-looking building.

“Best to warn ya, he’s a bit of a collector, don’t go touching anything,” Aren said. Aren opened the door and walked in with Vella right behind him. Vella saw an old woman sitting at a desk in front of two large doors. She had a very sour look on her face. Her dress was bright and colorful, though it was worn in a manner that made Vella believe she’d been wearing the dress for many years. She had the pale skin of someone who grew up in this ring of the city and the attitude to match. “I’ll be needing to see the official now,” Aren said.

The woman glared up at Aren as though he’d just interrupted something very important. “You know the rules stablemaster, no appointment, no meeting,” She said harshly. Her gaze then fell onto Vella, “And what’s this you have with you? Sunburnt skin, freckles, and that awful hair, she can’t be from our Presidia, can she?”

“That’s enough Mags, she’s with me and you don’t need to know no more than that,” Aren said, standing up straighter to make himself seem more commanding. The old woman locked eyes with him, neither relenting. Letting out a heavy sigh and relaxing his posture Aren spoke, “Look Mags, I know normally I need an appointment. I wouldn’t be coming here if it weren’t important. You know I wouldn’t be coming to see his royal idiocy if I had any other choice.”

Finally, a wrinkly smile cracked Mags’ lips and she laughed. “Yeah, I suppose that’s true, after all, he’ll make you do your little parlor trick if he sees you.” Aren rolled his eyes, though Vella wasn’t sure what Mags meant. “Go on in, he’s not busy, gods above he never really is he just wants me to pretend that he is.” Mags waved her hand and with a faint blue hum, the doors opened.

As Vella and Aren stepped into the hall and the doors closed behind them Aren began to speak. “You’ll probably get asked a few questions, just answer honestly. This guy’s a bit of a nut. He’s an acquired taste, I’ve known him for years and I still haven’t acquired it. He’s invited me to all his parties over the past chunk o years cause he wants to use me like a darn attraction, make me tell my war stories, and any other entertainment I can provide.

Aren stepped into a room cluttered high with all sorts of random objects and antiques. Sitting behind an oversized desk was a rather round man who was nearly half asleep. Aren cleared his throat to make his presence known. The man startled to awareness, trying to pretend he’d been paying attention the whole time. “Well, well, stablemaster, it is a surprise to see you, how are you? I didn’t notice you at my last party,” he said.

“Yeah, sorry bout that,” Aren said. “I was under the weather. Next time I guess.”

The official finally stood up, Vella saw crumbs rain down from his clothes as though he’d fallen asleep after eating. “Well you had good timing, I just finished attending to some important business, what brings you to my humble collection this bright day?”

Vella tried not to laugh at the insinuation that a post-lunch nap was important business. “Well I need to get a message to higher up and you’re the fastest way for me to do that,” Aren said.

“That will cost you stablemaster,” the official replied with a grin. “If you want me to send a message you’ll have to show me that eye of yours.”

“Please, it’s a serious matter,” Aren pleaded.

“And so is mine,” The official said. “A serious matter of coin.

“Fine, if it’ll get this moving fast just do it,” Aren said as he rolled his eyes.

The official opened a drawer and pulled out a large rolled-up piece of cloth. As he unrolled it he pulled two very ornate daggers from it and placed them next to each other. They were identical and Vella gazed at the detail in the hilt and the shining edge of each blade.

“They are both fakes,” Aren grumbled.

The official smiled, “Quick as ever Aren. It took me a bit, but I did recognize them as fakes. Quite good ones though.” The official pulled one more cloth bundle from his drawer and unwrapped it. Inside the bundle were two small pieces of golden metal, one a broach shaped like a dragon, the other a ship on the sea. “What do you think of these?” the official asked.

“The dragon ones worth more melted down than as a broach. The gems in the dragon’s eyes are fakes. That’s just a cheap forgery from Chirock,” Aren said. He then picked up the small broach of the ship and held it in his hand. “This one is worth quite a bit though, haven’t seen one in ages.” A light blue shimmer came from Aren’s hand and the metal began to ripple below the ship, creating a constant wave. “They used to give these out to the wives of naval commanders from Lazzure, could fetch a nice price back there.”

The official clapped his hands together, “Splendid, splendid. You are so good. I don’t know how you ended up a knight with an eye like that. You should have been part of a trading company my friend!”

Aren ignored the praise and pushed into the serious business again. “There, I did what you wanted, so now you get my message to move on.” The official nodded before Aren continued, “Aegis came back.

“So what’s the problem then” the official asked.

“He came back without his rider,” Aren replied grimly.

“Oh, that’s not good,” The official replied.

“Yeah, something spooked her real good,” Aren said. “Spooked her so bad she went to her original farm. Lucky for me this is the breeder that found her and she already does business with me. Lucky she didn’t go someplace else or she’d be sold again.”

“That’s all quite unsettling news, I’ll get the message going,” the official said. He grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill from his desk. With a snap of his fingers both the parchment and quill began to glow a deep purple color. He began to write quickly. Vella watched the letters disappear as he finished. After a moment new words appeared on the paper in response, though she couldn’t make them out from the angle she was standing. After a few moments of back and forth, the official looked up. “Lucky you, you get to go meet higher up,” he said.

“Great, there goes my whole day,” Aren grumbled. “I’ll get you going and then I’ll take care of this then Vella.”

“Oh no, no, no,” The official said. “They want both of you to go.”

“Well you tell whoever is asking that the girl doesn’t need to go,” Aren replied.

“I won’t be doing that,” the official said, “I’m not to argue with the queen.”

“The queen, you don’t mean…” Aren began to ask.

“I do my dear man, it is the queen who you are about to go see and I think you’d be wise not to try and argue with her,” The official replied. “The message said urgently, so you’d best leave now. Head right to the rails as quickly as possible.” The message seemed to rattle the official as suddenly he was pushing Vella and Aren out of the door and off onto the street. “Give the queen my regards,” he mumbled as he pushed Aren out and shut the door.

Vella looked up at Aren as they stood in the street for a moment. “Aren, what just happened?”

“We’ve been summoned by the queen, that’s what happened,” Aren replied as he rubbed his temples.

“And what exactly was that glowing stuff?” Vella asked.

Aren let out a low booming laugh, “Oh my, that musta been the first bit o magic you’ve seen isn’t it?” He gave Vella a pat on the back, “This is gonna be a real interesting day for you Vella.” he said as they began to walk off. “Might be a little while before you get back to those wyrms though,” Aren said not knowing how true he was.