“A dragon isn’t going to eat you, Lyric, you are dragonblood,” said Sibylle with a chuckle.
“Sure, but what about other dragons? Maybe they are jealous and think “I should just eat the skinny little dragonblood.” Or perhaps they think I’m extra tasty? Nope, I think avoiding dragons is a great plan.”
Sibylle shook her head. “Really? A skinny runt like you is not going to be tasty. Too much bone and sinew, not enough meat.”
4
His cave had a strange smell, Apophis said it was a bear which had been living in the cave. From the lessons Apophis and the other elder dragons had given, Kemoth knew bears were a large creature, dangerous to young dragons, but not nearly as dangerous as trolls and some of the other creatures that lived deep in the mountain ranges.
For full-grown elder dragons like Apophis and Nelarth, the only true dangers came from humans. There were other creatures that could kill a full-grown dragon, but they were incredibly rare, or at least they had been a hundred years ago when dragons left the world to end the war between humans and dragons. Apophis had warned Kemoth and his friends, Ovalia and Leomaris to never assume anything. Droll was one of the original homes of dragons and had once been a safe place, but the world had changed.
A shadow flew over the entrance to his cave, then plopped down on top of the opening. A head ducked down and looked inside. “What are you doing in your cave still?” asked Ovalia as she stared at him.
“Cleaning,” said Kemoth. “It still smells like bear in here, and it’s dusty.”
“You should just wait for the bear to come back. Make a meal out of it,” said Ovalia.
Kemoth wrinkled his purple and black nose. “I’ll stick to fish, thank you. If the smell is any indication, I don’t think I would like the taste of bear.”
Ovalia chuckled. “I agree. We should make Leomaris eat a bear. Come out of your cave, I want to go sun bathe.”
“Is Apophis back yet? I need to talk to her,” said Kemoth. Something had happened to him during the flight from their old home, the magical dragon isle, to their new home deep in the mountains of the far northwestern corner of Droll. They had been flying the last stretch of the journey at night over the populated areas of Droll to avoid scaring the humans when he felt something strange. He thought it might have been the shark he’d eaten off the coast of Solotine as they flew past that continent, but a full day had gone by and he still felt strange. It wasn’t indigestion from eating the shark.
“Yes, she’s talking with Rythin and Bryma now.”
Kemoth stepped out of the cave and into the light.
“Woah,” said Ovalia. “What happened to you?”
Kemoth looked at his wings. Yesterday his color had started to change, and it kept changing during the night. He’d spent a good portion of the day cleaning out his own cave, and had been so dusty that it wasn’t as noticeable, but now he was cleaner and it stood out. His light purple skin was darker now, and his black trimmed scales were dark, almost glossy. “I don’t know. Let’s go find Apophis and find out.”
They flew further up the mountain to Apophis’s caves. The entire section of mountain was filled with caves, some natural, but mostly dragon made. This had been a dragon lair for thousands of years. Apophis said an uncle of her’s had lived here before the dragon wars. It was a secluded section of Droll that was far from any humans. Apophis had chosen the mountain for their new home for exactly that reason. Of all the old dragon lairs on Droll this one was the most secluded and hardest to reach for humans. The chances of running into a human here was remote. Kemoth and Ovalia landed on the wide ledge in front of Apophis’s caves. The old white-gold dragon was sitting on the ledge with her two lieutenants.
“How are your caves coming along?” asked Apophis as the two young dragons landed.
“Clean,” said Ovalia. Unlike Kemoth’s cave, hers had been blocked off. Either the dragon who’d lived there, or lucky coincidence had knocked a large boulder in front of the entrance. Once Ovalia removed the boulder it had been an easy job to clean the cave out.
“Mine still smells like bears,” said Kemoth.
“Not surprising,” said Apophis. “A hundred years is a long time. Bears have moved into our territories. They fear humans like they once feared us.” Apophis eyed Kemoth carefully. She could see the changes in Kemoth’s colorings. “How are you feeling Kemoth?”
“I feel strange,” said Kemoth. “Am I sick?’
“When did it start?” asked Apophis.
“The other night, when we were flying over the middle of the Isle,” said Kemoth.
Apophis sighed. She had known flying over the Isle was a risk, but she’d wanted the young ones to see the land they would be calling home, and she’d wanted to see what areas of the isle were now populated by the humans. It was always a possibility that she or one of the dragons would bond with a human since they were traveling so close, but a dragon could live a lifetime of flying over humans and never bond. Only so many humans were destined to be dragonblood. It didn’t surprise Apophis that there would be one of the chosen humans in Droll, but the middle of the isle wasn’t a highly-populated area compared to the larger cities along the coast lines. It had seemed a minimal risk. And it wasn’t that bonding with a human was bad, quite the opposite, she knew that peace between humans and dragons would require communication. Dragonblood humans had always been a vital link in those communications. However, Kemoth was one of the youngest dragons in the herd. She had hoped one of the older dragons would bond first. “Kemoth, you have imprinted on a human.”
Kemoth’s eyes opened wide. “I have?”
“Yes. That is why your colors are darker now. It’s a sign of your imprinting.”
“But I thought you said it would take years before any of us bond with a human,” said Kemoth.
Apophis shook her mighty head. “No, if you’d been paying attention in class you would remember I said it might take years. We avoided the bigger cities on Droll to reduce the risk of it happening now, but it seems that there is at least one dragonblood human in the interior.”
Kemoth was shocked. He knew it was always a possibility, but to bond with a human? It was a strange feeling, literally. He was changing, but to what? “What will happen now?”
The ridges above Apophis’s large eyes scrunched up as she gazed towards the young dragon. “I think it best we wait here and not encourage this bond. When the time is right you can go out and seek your human. But for now, you still have much to learn and I still have much to learn about what is going on in the human world. Much will have changed since we left and human politics are volatile at the best of times.”
“Okay,” said Kemoth, quite happy to avoid dealing with the human. “But what about me? What other changes will happen to me?”
“That is a good question,” said Apophis. “In my life span a purple dragon has never bonded with a human, and not all dragons are affected the same. Not all change color, some have their magical powers enhanced, others learn magic from their humans. Other than the obvious fact that you have changed colors, I would suspect your magic will change, those two have traditionally gone together, but again purples aren’t normal dragons. We will have to keep an eye on you, and see what transpires.”
Apophis’s words did little to soothe Kemoth’s angst. He thanked Apophis and headed back towards his cave. Ovalia stayed and spoke to Apophis.
Kemoth was glad to be alone. He needed time to sort out his feelings before Ovalia and Leomaris started hounding him about being imprinted with a human, something he was sure Leomaris would find amusing and tease him mercilessly about. Even if Leomaris was jealous and wanted a human of his own, the young dragon would never admit it. Kemoth sighed. Returning to the land of their ancestors was always going to be an adventure, but he hadn’t anticipated this.
5
Talon Horne entered the Pig’s Ear Inn after the dinner rush, although looking around the room you would be hard pressed to imagine the bar being much ful
ler. Many of the crowd from the tournament had made their way to Middale and would spend the night before returning to their homes in the morning. Many of the nobles had gone directly home and left staff to organize, pack and transport their tents and other gear. Talon recognized the colors of the tunics of many of the men in the bar, but there were several tables that looked like they were locals. It wasn’t too hard to tell the difference if one paid attention.
Not normally one to associate with low-born, Talon put on his best smile. His father had trained him at an early age to hide his true feelings. Tyree Horne didn’t care if his son was happy or not, only that he could pretend to be when the right nobles were around. That skill would work on lowborn just as easily as it did his fellow nobles.
Talon made his way to the bar. He recognized Blair, the bar owner from previous tournaments. It amazed Talon that a warrior who’d been talented enough to win tournaments would lower himself to such a position as bartender in a backwards little village like Middale, but that mattered not. Little men with little vision were of no use to Talon. But tonight, he needed to at least be pleasant to the former champion while he scouted the locals out for a possible spy. “Greetings, Blair. I want to congratulate you on an outstanding job. Your training of young Lyric was first rate.”
Blair nodded. “Thank you, milord.”
Talon placed a small handful of gold coins on the bar. “I shall be drinking to young Lyric tonight, and to celebrate the return of dragons, but I would not drink alone. Everyone’s drinks are on me tonight,” said Talon in a loud voice that could be heard across the bar.
Cheers went out as the crowd recognized that they would be drinking free for the rest of the evening, or as long as the noble’s coin lasted. Men quickly made their way to the bar to order another drink and to give Talon their thanks.
Talon smiled and laughed. He told jokes and was friendly with everyone. Some of the servants and men at arms who knew him were shocked and eyed him suspiciously as he was acting so out of character, but the locals and others who didn’t know him better thought he was friendly and handling his defeat exceptionally well.
As the night went on the crowds thinned out. Many of the servants and men at arms went back to their rooms and to the tents they had set up on the edge of the village. They would be returning home at first light and wanted to be well rested.
Talon found himself at a table of local young men. He had picked them because every time he’d offered up a cheer to the tournament winner they had been less than enthusiastic. He hoped that one of these men was the one he was looking for. Talon raised his mug. “Lads, it is a pleasure to sit with you. It is a changing world with the return of dragons. I mean just look at how it changed your young Lyric. I would have thought him too skinny to be dangerous, but he moved with such speed I am still in awe. You all must feel so blessed to have one of your own be dragonblood. I regret losing such a beautiful prize, but at least it was to someone special.”
“Not all of us feel that way,” said Terrance, one of the locals sitting with Talon. “You are not the first man to lose a fight to Lyric over a girl.”
“Shut up,” snarled Jamison.
Talon almost smiled, but instead he frowned. “What do you mean?”
“He’s a dirty little foreigner and he cheats,” swore Jamison under his breath.
“Terrance laughed. “You will have to forgive Jamison. He had a crush on Celine but she wanted Lyric. Jamison and Lyric fought. It didn’t go well for Jamison.”
Talon scratched his jaw as if deep in thought. “He already has a woman?”
“Sure,” said Lawrence. “Celine. She’s a witch, but darn cute. Her and Sibylle both like Lyric.”
A witch? And a jealous local man with a grudge. The gods were smiling on Talon tonight. “That is unfortunate. But he is dragonblood, and the ladies champion. Surely, he will now disavow his friendship with the witch. The king would not look favorably upon such behavior.”
Jamison shook his head. “He won’t. Celine’s aunts are the ones that brought him to Middale.”
Talon couldn’t believe his luck. He’d struck gold. Jamison was obviously harboring ill will towards Lyric and the fact that Lyric was consorting with witches was the perfect fuel to flame the fires of distrust with the king. His father’s plan might work. “Well, I’m sure he will do what is right. Now, let’s talk about something else. Tell me about yourselves gentlemen.” Talon deftly steered the conversation away from Lyric. For the next couple of hours, they drank and told lies about their sexual prowess and victories in battle. As the night grew later more of the bars patrons headed home, finally Jamison rose to leave.
“Thank you for the drinks, Talon, but it is time I crawled home,” said Jamison.
“The pleasure was mine. I’m going to say goodnight to our host, make sure I’ve paid my tab then call it a night myself.” Talon raised his mug and finished his drink.
As Jamison walked away, Talon went to the bar. Blair was cleaning up. “I just wanted to check and make sure my tab is covered.”
“The coins you gave me earlier more than covered the drinks, Lord Horne,” said Blair.
“Excellent. In which case I thank you for your hospitality.” Talon waved at Blair as he walked away.
The second he left the bar, Talon looked around. Jamison was only a few yards away. Talon quickly caught up to the drunk local.
“Jamison,” said Talon as he approached the man.
Jamison turned around. “Oh, Lord Horne. Are you lost? Where are you staying? I’ll point you in the right direction.”
“No, that isn’t it. I just wanted to speak to you in private without any prying ears around,” said Talon. “I got the idea earlier that you had concerns about young Lyric.”
Jamison spat on the ground in disgust. “Dirty foreign trash. It is wrong that he come here and take our women.”
“Yes. That is a sentiment I share. Unfortunately, while he is in the king’s good graces I cannot say or do anything about it.” Talon paused for a second. “However, if it were brought to the king’s attention that the new husband of one of Droll’s royal women was consorting with witches, well he might just not be in the king’s favor much longer.”
Jamison’s eyes narrowed and a smirk crossed his face. “If Lyric was no longer in the king’s good graces would bad things happen to him?”
“If someone witnessed the boy being untrue or consorting with witches, especially young pretty ones, it would likely mean bad things for young Lyric.” Talon reached for Jamison’s hand, he slipped a couple gold coins in it. “It would also be very profitable for someone if he found that information and brought it to me in the capital.”
Jamison nodded as he looked at the coins. “Expect to see me in Wilmborne.”
Talon smiled. “I look forward to it.”
6
Lyric ducked to the side as the end of the staff came hurling towards his head. He then twisted his body and lifted his leg to avoid the sword blade slicing towards his leg. As he turned he examined the eyes of both his opponents. Their eyes gave away their next attacks before their bodies ever moved.
Lyric was learning how to use his new powers to their full advantage. His improved speed and strength was great, but it was his reaction time that made the most difference. He could see his opponents moving in almost slow motion and put his own body into action before they finished their attacks. Now that he was learning to watch the eyes and anticipate the attacks the results were even more impressive.
Swinging his leg around, Lyric tripped the first opponent then jumped off the falling warriors back, somersaulting over the top of the second warrior, landing behind him. Lyric tapped his practice dagger on top of Sir Roberts head as he flipped over him.
From the ground Sibylle looked up in awe. “I can’t believe you beat the two of us with only a dagger.”
Lyric laughed. There had been a time when either Sibylle or Sir Robert Godefrey, her personal protector, would’ve easily defeated
him. Now he could handle them both at the same time. “Dragonblood,” said Lyric sheepishly.
Sir Godefrey shook his head. “No. It isn’t just dragonblood. I’ve read some of the history books and spoken to Azina about her coven’s record of dragonbloods. Your reaction time and ability to anticipate is beyond that of many of the dragonblood warriors of legend. There is something else at work here. Are you sure you have no magic?”
“Azina tested me just the other day. I couldn’t even light a candle,” said Lyric.
“Interesting, but there is more than one type of magic. Perhaps your dragon magic is different than the warriors of legend.” Sir Godefrey shrugged. “Sorry, I realize that doesn’t help you understand what is going on. We’ll have to see if any of the Daxrah are still active. They would be the ones with the most complete records, aside from Azina’s coven of witches.”
Lyric frowned. “Daxrah? What is a Daxrah?”
“The Daxrah are warriors, just like knights but their loyalty isn’t to kings and queens but to dragonbloods like yourself. They are the sworn protectors of dragonbloods. They were once a strong and powerful force here on Droll, but the war took a heavy toll on their numbers. And once the dragons left the dragonbloods disappeared as well. Those that didn’t die of old age were hunted by groups like the Sacred Blood who believe dragons must die for humans to survive.”
Azina had told Lyric some about the Sacred Blood. What she’d mentioned made Lyric shiver. The stories of great battles, attacks in the middle of the night, torture and assassinations was frightening. “Are there still Sacred Blood in Droll?”
“If there aren’t there will be soon,” said Sir Godefrey. “With almost every noble of note in the kingdom being here for the tournament there isn’t a part of Droll that doesn’t now know dragons are back. Even if they didn’t realize you were dragonblood, everyone saw the dragon flying overhead.”
“What will happen if Sacred Blood come here?”
Dragon Magic: Lyric's Curse 2 (Dragonblood Sagas Book 4) Page 4