“Morning,” Sharrah said as she sat next to him.
“Good morning,” Aeron replied, staring at her. Of all the people he knew, Sharrah had more knowledge about animals than anyone else.
She unloaded her plates from her tray and started eating.
“Sharrah,” he began, “have you ever heard anything about dragons?”
She nodded. “Sure.”
“Can you tell me what you know about them?”
“Well, they are large carnivorous creatures. Adults can get up to eighteen or twenty feet long with wingspans of up to thirty feet. They can weigh anywhere from three thousand up to five thousand pounds.”
Aeron stared at her, astonished. “How do you know all that?”
“Well, those are all estimates, based on observation from a distance. I came across those when I was gathering extra information that I might need if I am allowed to do the comparative analysis report.”
Aeron was still staring at her.
Seeing the look he was giving her, she explained further. “You see, dragons are one of the few creatures that attack and eat bison. So, if there are any of them anywhere near us, they can impact the herds we are looking to use to supplement the Caer. We know that there are wolves and large cats in our valley. Those will hunt bison, the young, old or infirm. And there are tales that dragons live north of us, though quite a bit away. However,” and she pointed her spoon at Aeron, “no one knows what their hunting range is, so I read up on them just in case.”
Aeron nodded at her, took a drink of his juice, and ate some more of his breakfast. “And what do you think of dragons?” he asked her a few minutes later.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, do they scare you?”
“Scare me? Not at all,” she said and laughed. “Why would they? From what I’ve read, they’re very majestic creatures, even if a little shy. They seem to keep to themselves. When observers have attempted to get close to them, they’ve flown away. It seems as if they are either afraid of us, or do not like to be approached.” She paused and drew her brows together. “Though, as large as they are, I’m not sure why they would be afraid of people.”
“Who is afraid of people?” Willem asked as he sat down.
“Oh, hi,” Sharrah said. “Dragons.”
“Dragons?” Willem asked.
“Yes,” Sharrah replied. “Dragons avoid people, so might be afraid of us. But I’m not sure that’s true. They are quite large and could kill someone very easily, so I don’t know why they would be afraid of us.”
“I was asking Sharrah what she knew about and thought about dragons,” Aeron explained further. “What about you?” he asked Willem. “Have you heard anything about them?”
“Sure, I’ve heard some things,” Willem said and took a bite of his breakfast. “For instance, there are tales that a dragon is born if a virgin’s first blood spills on the ground.”
“What? Ridiculous!” Sharrah said, indignantly.
Willem laughed, “I know, but Aeron asked what I knew about them.”
“Go on,” Aeron said. He hadn’t heard that wives’ tale. What else did Willem know?
“Obviously, that’s pure bunk,” Willem said. “There is also the story that dragons are brothers to nahual and are the ones controlling them.”
Sharrah sighed loudly. “These stories are so stupid.”
Willem chuckled. “They are.” He looked back at Aeron and said, “And then there is the tale that if you somehow catch a dragon, you can make it do your bidding, like a servant.” He scooped up some eggs with his fork.
Aeron laughed. “They aren’t servants, more like companions.”
Willem chewed and swallowed the eggs and asked, “What do you mean?”
Sharrah also looked at him questioningly as she nibbled on a piece of bacon.
Aeron’s heart skipped a beat. His big mouth again! “Well, seriously, Sharrah was telling me they get to be five thousand pounds and twenty feet long. How could you hope to keep control of something that big and make it your servant?” He nervously took a drink from his juice. “What do you think of dragons?” he asked Willem, trying to shift the focus of conversation off of himself.
Willem smiled. “They seem pretty amazing, at least in the paintings and drawings. Definitely golden. Never seen one in real life myself, obviously.”
Aeron nodded. “And you’re not scared of them? If one flew over the Caer right now, would you be worried?”
“Worried? No. I’d be running my pants off, though, trying to get a look at it!” Willem laughed.
“Why all the interest in dragons?” Sharrah asked, smearing butter on a biscuit.
“Oh,” Aeron began, trying to think of some excuse, “Master Doronal has a tapestry in his office that has a dragon on it. I see it every time I’m in his office for lessons. Plus, I’ve always liked dragons.” He shrugged. “I just thought it would be fun to learn more about the real dragons instead of just the tales and stories.”
“Well, there isn’t much more than what I told you in the Animal Craft records,” Sharrah said. “But you could go to the Caer library and check whether they have anything.”
“That’s a great idea,” Aeron said. “I think I will do that today, in fact.”
Aeron ran down the steps of the Dining Hall, mentally kicking himself. He was so stupid! He really needed to be more careful about what he said regarding anything to do with dragons.
He checked the link, and he could sense that Anaya wasn’t as deep asleep as earlier. He increased his pace. He wanted to be there when she woke up. After a quick stop at his room to grab his lantern, he attached it to his satchel and continued on to Anaya’s cavern.
It didn’t take anywhere near as long to get there as the first time because he wasn’t mapping or examining anything along the way. Still, it had to have been at least forty minutes before he got to the cavern. But at least she was still asleep.
Aeron looked at her in wonder. A sudden feeling of love and pride warmed his heart. He couldn’t get over how amazing she was. Where had she even come from? He glanced over at her empty egg.
He didn’t want to wake her, so he walked as quietly as he could over to the enormous eggs. He removed his belt knife and gently tapped each of the eggs that had not hatched with the butt of the hilt, listening for anything. There was no response from any of the three eggs. They were probably all dead. He wondered why they had not survived. Was it because their mother was nowhere to be found? But Anaya had survived, so maybe that wasn’t it. Whatever the reason, he was sad for their deaths.
To the right of the egg bed was a small section, the far right end of the ledge, mostly covered with debris from the collapse. Being as quiet as he could manage, he pushed and shoved the gravel, course sand, and soil into a pile at the back of the ledge, while the large and small rocks he shoved over the lip. When he was done, he looked at the corner. It would make for a not-too-bad toilet. Anaya could shove gravel, sand, and soil over on top of her business each time she was done. It would be temporary, he hoped, until he could figure something else out, somewhere better for her to live. He walked back to check on her. She was still sleeping.
He started walking to the end of the ledge for a look down below, but then he stopped abruptly. He had been stupid again, he realized. The end of this ledge could very well collapse too. For instance, when he had been shoving rocks off of it.
After several seconds, his heart slowed and he could think clearly again. It had been a boneheaded mistake that could have cost him his life. He shook his head at his foolishness. He had to be more careful in the caverns from now on! He had Anaya to protect now. He couldn’t afford to be so dumb.
He removed a rope from his satchel and made his way to the upper ledge where there was a column formation to which he could tie it. He tossed the other end of the rope down to the second ledge, being careful to avoid hitting Anaya. He was glad he had purchased some very long, strong ropes. They were turning out to be quite
handy. After making his way back down, he tied the rope around his waist and made sure it was secure. Now, if the ledge did give way, he wouldn’t plunge to his death on the cavern floor below. He carefully made his way to the edge and looked down. It was pitch black.
He shielded his lantern and let his eyes adjust to the dark and looked again. He could just make out patches of light on the cavern floor far below. It was a long way down to there from where he stood. Ninety feet? A hundred? More? He couldn’t be sure. But it was far. He could see no way down either, no ramps or anything. If he knew how the walkways were made, though, he might be able to make a stairwell down to the cavern floor.
Behind him, he heard movement.
Aeron?
I am here, he said, quickly making his way to Anaya.
I am hungry again, she said, a little petulantly.
Not to worry, we can go catch some tasty cave rats again.
Ooooh, she said suddenly. Pretty! She stood and quickly padded over to the mushrooms near the ramp and touched them with her nose. She then noticed the small pool of water, sniffed it as well, and then drank.
Were these here last night? she asked of the mushrooms.
Yes. But I had my lantern unshielded. The lantern is so bright that you couldn’t really see the light from those mushrooms and plants.
He noticed that the sparkling of her eyes was also more pronounced outside of the lantern’s light. He wondered what the sparkles were. Through the link, he could feel her hunger.
Let’s go get you something to eat, he said, untying the rope from his waist.
Okay!
After half an hour, they had found two cave rats, and Anaya announced that she wasn’t hungry anymore.
Excellent. I want to show you something I made for you while you were asleep.
You made me something? she asked, excitement in her voice.
Well, sort of. Come on, let me show you.
When they got to her makeshift toilet she sat down on the pile of gravel and sand, looked at the small cleared part of ledge and asked, What is it?
It’s a toilet.
A what?
A place for you to, ah, poop.
For me to . . . poop?
You know, after you eat and your body digests the food, eventually your body has to get rid of what’s left over. And. . . . you poop.
Oh. Evacuation.
Uh, yes. Exactly.
She stood up, walked over to the middle of her toilet, and pooped.
“Oh,” Aeron said, taken by surprise.
Anaya looked down at her accomplishment and then looked up at him.
I did it! she announced, with some pride.
Yes. Yes you did, Aeron said, staring at her work. Now, you can shove some of this pile of dirt on top of it. Being careful, of course, not to get any of that on you.
Do you need to poop before I cover it?
No! Aeron was aghast, but quickly got control of himself. He didn’t want her to think there was anything wrong with her, ah, taking care of her business. No, thank you. I already did earlier.
Anaya cheerfully shoved some gravel and sand over on top and then walked happily back to her bed, lay down, and yawned.
I think I will sleep, she said.
Alright, I’ll head off then. See you tonight.
Aeron made his way back to his room and dropped off his lantern. He glanced at the chronometer and noticed he had a little over two hours before lunch. He decided to see what he could find out about dragons at the library.
The Caer’s library was in the southern part of The Residence. A large building, the northern two-thirds, which were three stories tall, held offices, meeting rooms, the large event hall, and Lord Baronel’s living quarters. The southern third, only two stories tall, held the school and library. The school occupied several small rooms on the first floor at the front of the library.
Aeron walked down the central hallway past the classrooms on his way to the entrance of the library proper. He glanced around, examining everything as he walked. He remembered his old school with its wood paneling and rich tapestries along the walls, very much like this one, and smiled. The school had been the one place at Caer Iron where he felt like he fit in. The teachers he had were the best.
His footfalls were muted on the woven runners that ran atop the wood floors, and he could hear the muffled sound of a teacher somewhere giving instruction to her class. He smiled at the memory of his years in school. Lord Baronel had styled this school very much after the one at Caer Iron. Which wasn’t too surprising, Aeron supposed, because it was Lord Baronel’s father’s Caer, and Lord Baronel had probably taken some classes there when he was a boy.
Eventually, Aeron stood before the two large doors of the library. He pulled on the left one, and it slid slowly and silently open. After entering, Aeron carefully closed the door. Inside, a young man sat behind a desk. Aeron walked over to him.
“Hello,” the attendant said in a quiet but steady voice. “My name is Darrel. How can I help you?”
“I was wondering whether the library had any information on dragons?” Aeron replied.
“Ah, yes,” Darrel said and smiled. “Many a young man has expressed an interest in dragons. They are quite the popular topic at times.”
“I’m more interested in actual facts about dragons, rather than any tales of fancy,” Aeron said, a serious expression on his face.
The young man’s entire demeanor became somber, though there was still a twinkle in his eye. “Oh, yes, well. A dragon scholar, are we? Right this way, young sir. We have a few tomes on the draconic species.”
Darrel stood up and quickly headed off between two of the enormous free standing bookcases in the room, which all seemed to be at least fifteen feet tall. Aeron had to move fast to catch him.
“I don’t know much about them myself,” Darrel said over his shoulder when Aeron had caught up, “but we do have four books that discuss dragons.” He glanced over his shoulder again. “To be sure, we have several books about dragons in the tales of fancy category, but these are more serious discussions about dragons and are, I would say, in the research or documentary category.”
After taking a few turns and going up some stairs, they finally arrived at their destination.
“Here we are,” Darrel said, taking the books down from the bookcases. One of them was rather large. “It’s somewhat funny, you know.”
Aeron looked questioningly at him.
“Girls, for the most part, at least those who come into the library, love tales of horses or unicorns or noble knights rescuing damsels in distress. Boys? It’s all about the dragons.” He placed the books on a table at the end of the bookcase. “You may read them here. When you are finished, please leave them on the table and let me know. I will put them back on the shelves.”
“Thank you,” Aeron said, eyeing the books.
Darrel wrote the titles of the books on a tablet he carried and held it out to Aeron.
“Place your hand on this, if you please.”
Aeron placed his palm on a small metal plate at the bottom of the tablet and felt a slight tingle. It was an identification plate. It was used to track who had used books so that if there was any damage, the perpetrator would be known. After the books were returned, examined, and found to be undamaged, the plate would be wiped, ready for use again. Books were exceedingly valuable, and Lord Baronel wanted to protect his investment in knowledge.
Darrel bowed slightly and left Aeron to his reading.
Aeron opened his satchel, removed a pen, a bottle of ink and some small pieces of parchment, and then hung it on the back of the chair by one of its straps. He sat down and pulled the first book over to him. Myths, Legends and Wives’ Tales: The Truth About Dragons, by Journeyman Archivist Umvell. A smile spread across his face. This sounded like just the book he was looking for! He began reading it eagerly. His smile didn’t last long.
The format of the book was pretty straight-forward. The author would recount a
myth, legend, or wives’ tale about a dragon, and discuss its merits. Which, at first blush, did seem to be exactly what Aeron was looking for. However, the discussion was nothing more than the opinions of the author as to whether parts of the tale were true, could be true, or were based on something else entirely. The author never questioned anyone else about the details of the legends, never referenced any research pertaining to the legends or to dragons, never went in the field himself to study the legends or dragons themselves, and never did anything at all other than to give his opinion about everything. The book was garbage. Aeron shoved it to the side and grabbed the next.
The next book was better. Dragons, A Watcher’s Guide, by Adept Zoologist Berban. This author had spent many years in the field studying dragons from afar. Although it still didn’t offer much in the way of specifics that would help Aeron with Anaya, it did have information as to where dragons were. Some were found in a couple of different areas around three hundred miles to the north, and according to rumors and legend, far to the south in the desert lands. The book also mentioned that dragons tended to stick to their own groups, and only ventured forth for two things, the first being to bear their young. For reasons the author didn’t know, many dragons left their warrens for that, some traveling fairly far, returning later with their young. He was quick to point out, and rightly so, that because he never entered into the warrens, he could not be sure that all dragons followed the behavior of bearing young away from the warrens.
Aeron was interested to note that the author never mentioned that dragons lay eggs. Apparently the researcher had seen female dragons fly off on their own and return later with their young. He never knew that dragons arose from eggs. Although, Aeron realized, perhaps it was best that he had not intruded on the mother dragon. Mothers tended to be very protective of their children. Who knew what would have happened to him had he tried to follow a mother dragon to see the whole process. It might have ended badly.
The author maintained that apparently mating occurred within the warrens. He stated that he never witnessed the process, so it must have transpired within. Unwilling to travel into the warrens to provide definitive information, he nonetheless had a few theories about how the process worked. Very detailed theories.
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