Dragonlinked

by Adolfo Garza Jr.

  He turned back to her and saw her eyes glittering in the light from the lantern, gold orbs filled with curiosity and wonder and love. She just sat there on her haunches watching him intently, her forepaws loosely clasped, small ears perked, waiting. He couldn’t help but smile.

  Of course he loved her! How could he not love this absolutely adorable creature before him? Yes, he was nervous, as well he should be, but he’d find a way to care for her, to be with her.

  I’m so very happy you chose me, Aeron said. He leaned forward, stroked her neck, and told her, You’re the most beautiful dragon in all the world, you know.

  You really think so? she asked, looking down at herself.

  I know so, Aeron said, and smiling, he stood. I want to get a look at all of you.

  Anaya spread her wings wide, and Aeron was again struck by her sheer beauty. Goose-bumps covered his arms, all the little hairs standing at attention. He stared at her in awestruck, giddy wonder. Her wingspan was at least seven or eight feet, wingtip to wingtip. The supple membrane of her wings was supported by graceful, yet strong limbs. Sitting on her powerful haunches with her wings around him, she had been a little taller than he on his knees. Now, raised up on her rear legs and with her head lifted proudly, she was well over a foot taller than him where he stood.

  You’re magnificent, he said, taking in the sight of her. He could feel her pleasure at his assessment through the link. And her hunger.

  I’m so sorry, he said, abashed, I keep forgetting that you’re hungry! But all I have left is an apple.

  What is an apple? she asked, settling back down on her haunches. She folded her wings on her back and watched him with interest, ears perked forward.

  Let me get it. Aeron walked over to his satchel and removed the apple. He turned and found Anaya right behind him.

  Oh! Not hiding behind the eggs anymore, I take it? he asked, grinning.

  We are one, she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. I have no need to fear anything anymore.

  Not if I can help it, Aeron agreed, gently scratching her head. He sensed that she itched along the ridge above her eyes. The ridge ran from just above her eyes, where it was very small, over her head, along the top of her neck, and down her back, all the way to her tail.

  She made a happy crooning noise as he scratched.

  He held out the apple to her. This is an apple. What do you think? I find them quite tasty.

  She leaned forward and sniffed it, dubiously. I do not think I like . . . apples.

  Are you sure? Here, let me cut you a slice. Aeron used his belt knife to remove a slice of apple and offered it to her.

  As she leaned forward, her small ears swiveled to face the rear. They lowered somewhat as she gingerly took a bite of the slice, careful to avoid his fingers.

  It is different, she said, sweet. But I will leave the apples for you. She sat back on her haunches.

  Aeron sighed and ate the rest of the slice. I don’t have any more food.

  She looked past him, at his satchel. The meat was good, the jerky. You do not have more?

  No. But hang on. You like meat, right?

  She returned her steady gaze to him. I do. Meat is delicious.

  Aeron smiled. Then I think we need to do some hunting.

  Hunting! She sounded very excited. I love hunting! She rose up partially on her haunches, clasped her paws together and asked, What is hunting?

  Aeron burst out laughing. Come on, let’s walk along the passages in the caverns and hunt some cave rats!

  It didn’t take long before they found some ‘meat.’ They had made their way back to the sinkhole when Aeron spotted a cave rat.

  Alright, there’s one. Do you see it? Aeron asked, pointing to the creature ahead.

  I do, she replied, eyes locked on the rodent. Anaya suddenly lowered herself to the ground in a stalking posture, ears forward. To Aeron, she looked more than anything else like a cat stalking a mouse, or a rat, as it were.

  The unsuspecting cave rat was sitting at the base of the rubble ramp ahead, nibbling on something it had scrounged up.

  Aeron watched as Anaya slowly and carefully made her way toward the cave rat. Once she was ready, he saw her hind quarters tense up, and suddenly, she sprinted for the cave rat.

  She was fast! Aeron couldn’t believe how quickly and sinuously she moved. She was like a tawny bolt of light.

  The cave rat, somehow sensing its impending doom, turned toward them. Aeron felt a short pulse of magic both outside of and through the link, and the cave rat froze. Anaya had cast a spell! She pounced on the immobile creature less than a second later, devouring it.

  Aeron could sense the meal Anaya was having, the crunching of the bones, the warm blood, and her pleasure in it all. He shivered and distanced himself mentally from the link, lessening the sensations coming through.

  Sorry, she said, a little guiltily.

  No, no, Aeron said, enjoy your meal. You certainly earned it.

  I will try to keep those types of things from coming through the link. They seem to trouble you.

  Well, if you can, I would appreciate it, he allowed. But if you can’t, I’ll get used to it, I’m sure.

  After she was done with the small meal, she sat cleaning herself. That was delicious, she said and walked back to Aeron. Are there more?

  Aeron watched, entranced, as she walked over to him. She moved very fluidly, with sure steps. Yes, cave rats are everywhere in the caverns. You should have no trouble finding more. I saw many of them as I made my way along here earlier.

  Anaya stopped walking, mid-motion, and looked up at him. You are not going to hunt with me?

  Oh, I will tonight, he said. Because tomorrow starts the weekend, I don’t have to be up early. But I might not be able to all the time.

  She sat down and her ears drooped. You might not be able to?

  Maybe not. I have chores I have to do every day, plus I am studying my craft.

  Your craft? Anaya sounded very forlorn.

  Yes. Aeron watched her for a moment, but seeing—and feeling!—how sad she was, he knelt down and hugged her. Hey, I will always be there for you. You know that, you can feel it. Always.

  She looked at him, and her ears perked up a little.

  Aeron sat back on his heels. But I have responsibilities to others as well. Like my friends. Sometimes they need my help. And the Caer that allows me to live and work here. I do chores to help keep the Caer running smoothly. And I also have duties for my craft. I am an apprentice sorcerer and am learning how to use magic so I can help with magic where I can.

  Anaya titled her head and asked, Can I come with you then, when you do chores and study?

  I think it is safer for you here. At least for now. People are not used to dragons. I don’t want anything to happen to you, so I don’t want to let anyone know about you just yet.

  Aeron stood up and stroked Anaya’s head. I will come see you every chance I get, so have no worries on that account. And maybe, maybe I can figure something out where you don’t have to stay here in the caverns, so we can be together a lot more.

  That would be very good, she said.

  I agree. Aeron smiled at her. Now come on, there are a lot more cave rats we can hunt, and I can feel that you are still very hungry.

  Anaya stood and then bumped her head into his hip, rubbing her body and wing along it as she headed off. He smiled and followed, walking farther into the caverns in search of more food for her.

  Soon enough, they had found two more cave rats for Anaya, making her pleasantly full. When she finished the last, she let out an enormous yawn.

  Aeron laughed and said, It looks like you are ready for some sleep.

  I am suddenly very tired. She slowly blinked a couple of times in surprise.

  Well, you have had a very full and eventful evening, what with being born, or hatched, and the Bond and all, Aeron pointed out.

  That is true, Anaya agreed, nodding sleepily.

  Come
on, let’s head back to your cavern.

  He spent several minutes, Anaya yawning occasionally as she watched, making another smaller bed for her from the debris of the collapsed ledge. He built it near the middle of the ledge, to the left of the eggs. When he was done, Aeron dusted off his hands and stepped back, admiring the bed.

  Not too bad, if I do say so myself, he said. Try it out. Is it comfortable?

  Anaya walked over and climbed on top of the bed. It was roughly half a foot tall. She admired it a moment before circling the middle a couple of times and lying down.

  This will do, she said, sleepily. She looked up at him. I wish I could go with you.

  Aeron squatted down and placed his hand on her cheek. She turned her head slightly into his hand, and he stroked it lazily with his thumb. I know, he said, I wish you could too. I’ll tell you what, though. I usually spend the evenings after dinner studying. I can do that with you. After dinner each night, I will come here, and we can do that together. What do you think?

  I would like that.

  He smiled at her. Okay, that’s the plan then.

  He watched her, curled up on the sandy bed, for a bit.

  Anaya? Do you think there are others that are linked like us?

  She opened her eyes, raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes appeared to sparkle more, the iris of each eye shifting, her pupils dilating. Aeron began to get worried, her pupils had expanded to almost cover each iris entirely. Only a thin gold band now surrounded each pupil. But a moment later her eyes returned to normal, and she said, I do not believe so. I do not remember any others like us.

  What do you mean, ‘remember?’

  If I concentrate, I can remember things. From before.

  Before?

  From before me, she said, and yawning, she lay her head back down.

  Aeron thought on that a bit. Anaya was full of all kinds of surprises. Alright, get some sleep. I will come over for a bit after breakfast in the morning, and then I will see you again after dinner. Good night.

  Good night, came her muzzy reply.

  Aeron grabbed his satchel and lantern and headed up the ramp trying to be as quiet as he could. He hated leaving her here. But he had no idea what kind of reaction people would have to her. And there was no way he was going to do anything to endanger her.

  He would definitely start looking for information on dragons, see what was out there, what people thought about them. Everyone had heard of them, sure. He’d heard mention of them himself, and he wasn’t anywhere near what he would consider well traveled. Dragons were common knowledge, but was common knowledge about them correct? Though he had always loved them, they just sounded amazing, he had never really tried to find more information on them. He would have to remedy that.

  It was fairly chilly at the sinkhole, with the cold autumn night air. Soon he would need to bring a jacket or coat along with him or run really fast through this area. And speaking of cold, he remembered the water he’d have to walk through, the soaking wet smallclothes, and he frowned.

  He thought about the water section for quite a while as he continued along the passage. This time, he decided, he was going to strip from the waist down. He didn’t want to go through the whole process of mostly drying his smallclothes and shoes with the spell and walking around in them until the remaining dampness dried. Bare skin would dry faster, and he wasn’t sure that Tikhon’s Thermal Shift wasn’t doing some kind of damage to his shoes and clothes. Better to just drip dry for a few minutes as he walked along and get dressed after.

  So, when he finally got to the water, he didn’t even hesitate. Pants, socks, shoes and smallclothes all went into his satchel and he carefully headed through the water. He was halfway through the water section when he laughed. He could just imagine what Willem and Sharrah would think of him wading through here mostly naked.

  He paused as a thought struck him. What would they make of Anaya? Would they be scared of her? When would he tell them about her? Would he tell them? Would he tell anyone? He had some tough decisions ahead of him, and soon.

  “Love?” Methon muttered, half asleep. “What is it?”

  Dellia was sitting upright in bed, trembling. Her movement had awakened him.

  “I had a vision,” she replied. She stood up and walked to the sideboard where, with unsteady hands, she poured herself a glass of water. She took a sip and turned to him.

  Methon sat up, rubbed his eyes, and tried to clear his head. His wife had seen a vision? He needed to wake up. Her visions were never wrong. Hard to interpret sometimes, but never wrong. And from the look of her, this was not a good one. He waited, giving her time. She would tell him of the vision when she was ready.

  She put down the glass of water and sat on the bed next to him. “I saw a creature, or rather, I felt it. It was not visible. But it was there. I could sense its evil. It was searching for me. It wanted me.”

  She shook her head, eyes searching. “No. That’s not right. It didn’t want me, it wanted something I had, something in me, a part of me. I don’t know exactly how to explain it.”

  He placed his arm around her. He knew what he had to do, they had a routine with visions.

  “Was it day, or night?” he asked her.

  “I could see the stars in the clear night sky.”

  “Could you hear anything?”

  “Yes. I could hear night birds, owls. And I could hear its movement and its breathing when it was close.”

  “Do you remember anything about your surroundings?”

  “I was out in the open. But there was something behind me. A large building. Men were asleep inside. And in the distance ahead, large empty areas covered in snow. Fields perhaps? I do not know where it was.”

  “And were there any scents?”

  “Yes,” she said, eyes losing focus. “That is, at first, no. But then I began to smell a terrible stench. I don’t know how I forgot about that smell. It was revolting. It smelled of corruption, but not the normal putrid smell of decay, there was more to it than that. A deeper layer of evil. The creature gave off the stench.”

  She stood up, walked over and retrieved the glass of water and returned to the bed next to Methon. He placed his arm around her again and asked, “Do you remember how you felt?”

  She took a sip of water, shivered and said, “Cold. The night was clear and cold. And I was also afraid. I wasn’t paralyzed with fear, but I was afraid of the terrible creature. It meant me harm.”

  “What do you remember of the creature?”

  “It was a nahual.”

  Methon’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure?”

  “I could sense that it was. And it was after me.” She looked in his eyes. “It was without form, and yet, it tread upon the ground. I could hear its footfalls, see its tracks in the snow. It had to have a body of some kind, but I could not see it. It was invisible.”

  She looked at the glass in her hands. “I could sense that it was nahual and that it was different. And it wanted something from me.”

  Methon kissed her temple. “It was a vision. It might not even have been you it was after. You know how the visions are. They are only a foretelling of something that will happen, and you are a witness to it. More than likely, the event is not going to happen to you.”

  “Something else was there, too,” she said, quietly. “It came after the nahual, was looking for it.”

  “Oh?” he asked her. “What was it?”

  She looked up at him, puzzled, and said, “I can’t quite remember exactly. It’s a little muddled. I remember oddly mixed impressions. They don’t make sense. I felt that it was friendly, though, not an enemy. It was chasing the nahual.”

  Her eyes lost focus as she thought back to the vision. “The hunger the nahual felt was intense. It needed something from me, was driven to get it. There is something that nahual, and this new kind, nahual-ton, need from people. That is why they attack.”

  “Did you get a sense of what the creature needed?”

&nbs
p; “No.” Her gaze returned to Methon. “It has to be something specific to people, though, but what?”

  “People? What do yo mean?”

  “We share most of our body parts, organs, blood, and such, with most animals, yes? So nahual could get those from any animal. Why go after us? Why attack people? We must have something they can’t get anywhere else, or at least not anywhere as easily as from us.”

  “Can we be sure that they don’t attack animals as well?”

  “I haven’t heard news of mysterious animal deaths. I’m sure if there had been any, we would have heard. And besides, the way nahual attack, the way they leave a body, if anyone had seen an animal that way, the connection would have been made.”

  “Yes. You’re right. So then, what is it they want?”

  “I do not know. I do know that nahual-ton are coming.”

  “You called the creature that before, nahual-ton. Nahual More, or Greater Nahaul?”

  “Yes,” she said. “They are more than nahual. The very least of their differences is that nahual-ton can make themselves hidden, invisible.”

  “If nahual are changing, gaining new skills . . . ”

  “How can we defend against what we do not know?” she asked, completing his thought.

  “We will figure something out,” he said. “As long as they have existed, this is the first change in them I’ve heard about. We can hope that they won’t change again for another century or three.”

  “That is little comfort.”

  “At least now we are forewarned. Once we arrive at the Caer, I will have a message sent to Lord Baronel. He can decide what to do with the information. And I will double the guards on duty.”

  Chapter 11

  Leday, Duody 23, 1873

  Morning

  Aeron carried his breakfast to a table, sat, and started eating. He had over-easy eggs with chopped tomatoes, pan-fried potatoes, bacon, toast, and a glass of juice. Everything was probably delicious, but his mind was on Anaya.

  Every few minutes he would check the link to see how she was doing. As she had been all morning, she was deeply asleep. He had been thinking about what to do with her since last night and still had no ideas. But he figured a good first step would be to see what people thought about dragons in general.