The Dracones

Twenty yards out, I see a huge hole in the reddish ground. When we get to the edge I look down. It’s about a hundred meters deep and fifty meters across. Holes mark the walls as a descending circular path made of wood line the wall, provided for humans to reach the bottom. Dragons of all colors and shapes fly in and out, or just circle the air. As I realize how far the ground is below, my throat closes up. The ground sinks farther into the earth as the dragons become smaller.

I squeeze Trayvon’s arm as he starts to push the small of my back to get me to move forward. He facepalms. “Why on earth did Nylarth choose someone afraid of heights?”

“Good question.” I squeak as I take a step back.

He tries to soften his face. His dark red eyes turn persuasive and alluring. “Come on Katarina. It won’t be that bad. I promise I won’t let you fall.”

I shake my head, though I did feel like I wanted to go with him. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

He sighs. “Look, we’ll take baby steps. Okay?”

I shake my head as my entire body rebels against that idea. All I can picture is falling to my death. I let go of his arm and take another step back.

He sighs again, frustration easily heard. “Okay, Kit. May I call you Kit?”

I nod as I stare down at the ground.

Trayvon grins. “Great. You may call me Tray. Kit, I want you to look at me.” I do just that. He locks his warm eyes with mine, making it very hard to look away. In fact, I find it hard to think of something other than how unique that color is.

He holds his hand out to me. “Now take a deep, relaxing breath.” I follow his command as I wonder how he is doing this. “Good. Now take my hand.”

As I’m about to my mind recalls what he’s trying to get me to do. A harsh image of me falling through the air with nothing to grab onto greets me. “I can’t.” I cry as I take another step back, dropping my hand as I do so. “I just can’t.”

Now he’s no longer calm. “Why is this so difficult for you?”

I glare at him. “Ever been pushed off a cliff?” I demand.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

His eyes widen. “No.”

“Then shut your mouth.” I snap.

Trayvon falls silent but eventually speaks. “Why were you pushed off a cliff?”

I sigh. I’m sick of this story getting told so I give the cliff notes. “It was my first time out. I was inexperienced. Ivan messed up one of our missions. We ran and got trapped on a ledge. The bandits swarmed us. One high-kicked me as I cut his stomach, sending me over the edge. I fell for a good ten meters before I got stopped by a couple of trees.”

I lift my shirt a bit to expose my belly to reveal a long scar approximately the length of it. “If I hadn’t of been wearing a corset it would have killed me. Spent about three weeks in the infirmary.”

Trayvon falls silent but speaks after a bit. “So, your boyfriend messed up quite a bit didn’t he?” He says it jokingly. I don’t think he knew what to say to that.

I give him a confused look. “Who?”

Now he’s confused. “That Ivan guy. The one you’re always with. He’s not your boyfriend?”

I laugh and shake my head. “No, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s my sister’s betrothed and my partner. We’ve been together for six years now.”

“You have a sister?” He asks with interest.

“Yes, but I’m adopted. My parents found me in an orphanage when I was three.” I sigh. “And you had to be a jerk and kidnap me the day before I met up with her.”

He frowns. “I apologize then. What orphanage did you come from?”

I give him a curious look. “Why?”

He shrugs. “Just curious.”

I couldn’t find a reason not to answer so I did. “The Ovalngam Orphanage. It’s in Niphi City. In the far north by the Cunvior Mountains.”

He whistles. “Was it crowded?”

I shake my head. “More cold than anything. We always bunched around each other for warmth when the fire would go out at night.”

Trayvon grimaces. “How can you stand the cold and snow?”

I laugh. “The same way you can stand this hellish heat. You were raised with it, so you’ve accepted it.”

He nods. “True. Look where we are.”

I look around and find myself at the bottom of the cavern. How did he do that? “Not bad,” I say as I see a lot of caves that are about sixteen meters high. Trayvon grins at me as the ground begins to shake. As soon as I see a long black face emerging from a cave in front of me I hide behind him. This just starts making him laugh harder. I hit him in the back, but still, use him as a shield.

Soon more start coming from the caves. Tall ones, and some only as tall as me. Some have long, smashed-in faces, while others are either long or stumpy. I spot Alienis. He’s about fifteen meters high with long black gleaming scales on his upper body and legs. His belly and claws are white. I can see a smirk in his eyes as they dance with amusement. He’s the only black-and-white one. The others are mostly either red and black, red with a deeper shade of red, yellow and white, or blue and green. Well like me, we both stick out.

I yelp in surprise as I feel like a big boulder has been pressed into my back. Hot air blows as it snorts. “This one smells like strange land.”

I shudder. I’m not used to having a voice talk to me mentally. Trayvon laughs. “Very good Deliah. Kit here is from the north. We have just found her. She is to be Alienis’s charge.”

“But he’s so young.” The same deep feminine voice protests.

I look at Alienis. Young? Does that mean he is going to be getting bigger? Trayvon speaks. “He is fifteen. His mind is still immature, but Nylarth matched these two up. He has already seen things through her eyes. Judging by the way they both behave, it should be a good match.”

I balk at the great dragon as his head dips a bit. “I’m older than you?” I demand. A round of thunderous chuckling sounds in my head as Trayvon laughs as well.

Trayvon shakes his head. “No Kit. In human years Alienis was born thirty years ago. Dragons age at half the rate humans do, but they develop mentally and physically at four times the rate we do. He is the youngest in this clan.”

“Oh.” I nod. I don’t get it and I’m not even going to ask. “So why am I down here?”

Tray sighs. “Always with the questions. We’re here for your training and so the other dragons can get a feeling for you and get to know you.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Why?”

“Because we protect them.”

I look Alienis over with disbelieving eyes. “From what? A giant?”

Tray chuckles. “No. We protect them from the Adversantem. They take their souls and use them for power. They also take their hide to create armor and weapons. They also believe eating their hearts will give them a dragon’s strength. It’s horrifying.” He strokes Gracial’s muzzle. “It sickens me when one of them fall.” All the dragons bow their heads in memory of the fallen. What I want to know is; who is good enough to kill a dragon?

I give Trayvon a hard look over. He wears his burden proudly, but he’d be glad to shift it. I can see some have fallen, though he has done what he can to protect them; but there is something under there. A horrifying memory trying to resurface. Alienis directs his eyes at me as he sees this in my mind. He’s surprised that I’m this perceptive. What happened to Trayvon to make horror reach his eyes?

Alienis nudges my back. I give him a lost look as I try to figure out what he wants. He looks at Tray and then back at me. “Why do they do that?” I sure as night didn’t know what to say. I may be perceptive but I’m not sensitive.

Tray smiles at me, but it is definitely forced. “Well, it’s all true. That’s how. The Adversantem possess powers to harness the abilities of a dragon while the Dracones are limited.”

I raise my brow once more. “Limited?”

Tray grins at me, back into his masked world once more. “Didn’t you wonder how I fought off your sleeping draft so quickly or made it to the docks? We possess powers, but I’ll have to show you when I’m sure you won’t run.”

I roll my eyes. “Well then so we’re planning on never.”

He frowns. “You’re still wanting to leave?”

I give him a look that questions his sanity. “You took me from my home. Forced me into your land where I’ve been nearly killed three times. Where I’m told I’m some sort of dragon guardian. All in a matter of a few hours, and you expect me to want to stay?”

He grimaces. “Well, when you put it that way.”