by Lola Ford
Graith sighed in relief. He still didn’t understand why he cared about the dragon - he should want to kill her.
I’ll be home as soon as I can.
All right, Graith.
Graith turned his full attention on Ralph and Sarah. They had handed him a bowl of stew and a large chunk of bread. He thanked them and as they ate, they talked about the year’s harvests, the upcoming winter, and the foals that would be born come spring.
They joked with Graith about why he had yet to get married, and if he would ever choose a woman to help him with that farm of his. Not long after finishing their meal the fire was banked, the dishes done, and a spare sleeping mat and blanket were brought out for Graith. He thanked Sarah and Ralph and laid down to sleep.
Graith? He heard that voice again. This time it there was a strange aura in his mind. The best way he could conceptualize it was a pale gray cloud oozing from her mind into his. She sounded scared.
Yes Azelia? Is everything alright?
Yes. It’s just, I was thinking about my eggs.
What about them? You said they’d be safe.
They are… I guess I’m just worried.
There was a long pause and then, Graith, why do men hate dragons?
He lay there, silently thinking of a way to answer. Honestly, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t understand. It seemed men reacted to dragons in fear only. He thought she was a beautiful creature, and just wanted to see her and her hatchlings flourish.
They are scared Zel. They think they’re the top of the line predators, and then dragons come along. You are capable of killing me, of many men, if you so choose.
Zel? Why did you call me that?
Graith blushed in the dark. He hadn’t even realized he had done it, let alone think she would have noticed.
Ah, well, friends have nicknames, and we are going to be spending a lot of time together, so I thought it would be all right. I won't do it again.
No, it’s okay. I want to be your friend. Zel. I like it. What should I call you then? Gray?
You can call me whatever you like, Zel.
With that, Graith drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
Graith
Graith woke as the sun crested the eastern horizon. He folded the bedding and washed his face at Ralph’s water pump.
It was going to be a long day.
As he re-entered the house, Sarah greeted him with a lump of cheese and a chunk of yesterday's bread. He sat at the table eating while Ralph went to check on the horses. As he finished eating, he stood and hugged Sarah. Thanking her for the food and bedding, he headed out to see Ralph.
“So, what do you want for the gelding?” he asked as he rounded the corner to see Ralph.
“Just the male you brought back with you, I take it you didn’t want him any longer?” Ralph said.
Graith stared at his friend, then shook his head.
“The gelding is a much finer horse than the beast you saddled me with last time! I insist I pay you the difference!” he said.
“I think not Graith. You’ve kept him fit and well fed, and I don’t understand the temperament issues you were talking about.”
He was standing, petting the nose of Graith’s horse.
“He became downright mean about my new animal.”
“What was it? A wolf?”
“Something like that.”
Ralph gave him a speculating look but left it at that. He would accept no more coin for the gelding, nor for the saddlebag or hospitality.
“You’re my friend. I will not charge you for a favor!”
Graith shook his head but pressed it no further. He had things to do, places to be.
“Thank you, Ralph.”
He moved his saddle to the gelding, needing to tighten the girth much less on this horse than his last. It just watched him in interest out of the corner of its eye. Graith did not mount, as the baker lived in walking distance, so he just led the horse by its halter.
“Morning Gloria!” Graith greeted the woman.
She merely looked up at him and continued kneading the bread she was making.
“What do you need Graith?”
“A little more than the usual. I need several days of travel bread.”
At this she looked at him - interested - but still continuing her work.
“Aye, I have some. Maybe a dozen loaves, will that be enough?”
“Should be. As long as I don’t break the outer crust it’ll keep for quite a while, right?”
She nodded, “Aye, close to two weeks.”
“That’ll do then.”
She motioned to the shelf behind her where the loaves were cooling on a rack. He took the whole tray, went out to his saddle bag and carefully loaded them in. He returned the tray, thanked Gloria and set off for the butcher. He mounted this time, the butcher’s building being on the outskirts of town. The smell of blood in the summer could be overwhelming so it had been built with consideration for the rest of the village in mind.
The butcher was outside, gathering a pig he was about to slaughter. He looked up when he heard the sound of the gelding’s hooves on the packed dirt as Graith approached. He frowned, as he was another one of those people who for some reason just didn’t like Graith.
“What can I do for you?” he asked before Graith was able to dismount.
Once he was on the ground, Graith answered, “I’m here for some of your dried meat, Byron. About five pounds.”
He knew it wasn’t much, but with the bread and cheese, it should last him if he only ate a little a day. The butcher sneered but led Graith inside. He went straight to the back where he kept the dried meats.
“Going on a trip are ya?” he asked as he sat a sack on the counter, pulling out dried pieces of meat and adding them to his scale. Graith looked up in surprise.
“What makes you ask?”
“You come in like clockwork, every week for meat. Today is not one of your normal days. And you are asking for dried meat, not fresh.”
“Well, yes, I am. A very short one. Only a few days,” Graith answered, looking around the shop nervously.
It was really none of Byron’s business. The butcher finished weighing out the meat and pulled out a second sack for the meat that was going with Graith.
“That’ll be a gold and three silver,” he tallied up.
Graith simply handed him two gold. The man started to get the change, another seven silver, but Graith waved him off. The man, even though he was no fan of Graith’s still grabbed the bag he held and tossed in several more good-sized pieces of dried meat. Nothing more was said, and then Graith was on his way out the door.
Graith mounted his new horse turning to make his way back to his farm, and to Zel.
He had been quite embarrassed when she had asked him about calling her that. He hadn’t meant to, but Zel was just so much easier for him to say. Or in that case, think.
He did so now, thinking out at her, mildly wondering how far away they could communicate.
Zel, I’m on my way back. I need to replace one of the cotter pins in the wagon, and then we can be on our way.
Alright. I ate your cow - like you suggested. I’m feeling much better.
I’m glad. You were a mess yesterday.
Others have seen worse, she told him. But I thought I had gone far enough away that I would be safe in the mountains.
You were seen and men wanted you dead. They weren’t going to stop until they found you, no matter how far out you had gone. I’ll be home soon - within half an hour.
Good. I’m going to stretch my wing and leg by walking around.
Don’t go far from the barn, my land is large, but not so extensive that you can fly without being seen.
I wasn’t going to fly! he heard her pout.
Silence other than the clip clop of the gelding hooves filled the short trip.
It wasn’t very long before he saw his barn - and the outline of the dragon flapping her wings. Her motion loo
ked more like a harassed chicken than a dragon. He looked around worried but saw no one in any direction.
I’m back.
Oh good! I thought I smelled a horse. It this one better tamed than the last?
We’re about to find out.
For as he said that, he rode the gelding toward the dragon, and waited for him to react.
Nothing.
He rode directly to Zel’s side. She reached out and sniffed the horse. The horse sniffed back and then put his head down looking for grass. Graith let out a breath he hadn’t realize he’d been holding.
“Alright Zel, I have the rest of the supplies. You ate and drank enough while I was gone?” he asked as he dismounted.
He removed his saddle and new bag.
I did. Can’t you tell?
He looked over at her, she was indeed a much darker navy than the last time he saw her. More like the dream he’d had of her. She almost twinkled where the light reflected off the tips of the largest scales on her side.
“I can. You look much better.”
He placed the saddlebag in the wagon with the others and threw the saddle over one of the half-wall partitions on the inside of the barn. No need to bring it when he had the wagon. Any other riding could be taken care of bareback.
He replaced the single cotter pin that had rotted since the wagon’s last use the year before and hooked the horse to the front. Again, the gelding did nothing more than watch and look for food on the floor around him.
“Alright Zel, we are ready,” he said.
The dragon’s long tail lashed in excitement. She was still missing the tip, but it did look as if it were going to regrow. She hummed her pleasure and gave him another lick like she had the day before.
Let’s go get my clutch!
She seemed ecstatic and relieved to be moving. As they left the barn Graith had to wonder how well hidden her eggs actually were - and if there were men still looking for her in the caves or mountainside.
With that thought his mouth turned downward. He was not a fighter. Not even a hunter.
“Zel, I have no way to protect you or your eggs if we encounter other men.”
She looked at him and gave an uneasy huff.
I will do so then. I’ll protect us all. If something happens to me, just promise me you’ll get my clutch to safety?
“Aye, I’ll do that.”
They were passing his house, when he sighed, halting them.
“One moment. I’m useless with it, but I have a bow, and a few quivers full of arrows. I’ll bring them, just in case.”
He pulled the gelding to a stop, and it again just looked for food. He ran inside the house to retrieve the bow. As he stepped out of the house, he locked the door. He looked at the chickens and reckoned they could take care of themselves. He only kept them in a slightly gated area, and they could get out - had gotten out on more than one occasion - if they so chose.
He hopped back onto the wagon seat and urged the gelding forward once more. With that, they were off. Zel trotting in front of the gelding - looking back at Graith every so often and doing what he could only imagine was a draconic smile.
CHAPTER SIX
Graith
They were in the woods, heading towards the base of the mountains. The nearest mountain was a full day and a half from Graith’s farm, but Zel had informed him that they would then need to go north along the ridgeline to reach her cave system. They had been traveling all day at a brisk trot, and between the tree cover and the shadow of the mountains it was fast approaching full dark.
Zel, we need to stop for the night.
Her tail gave a lash of annoyance, but she responded evenly, I smell water. I’ll lead the horse to it, and we’ll camp there.
She had been walking in a straight line this whole time, but now veered off to the left. The gelding - Graith really would need to name him soon - followed her without the reins to tell him so.
While they trundled through the underbrush Graith decided to broach a subject he had been thinking about all day.
Zel, tell me about yourself? Graith asked. He had given up speaking aloud several hours ago, as it only made him hoarse and honestly there was no need.
I am a dragon! she said quite proudly but did not elaborate.
In the minutes it took to reach the bubbly little stream and a clearing, she still did not answer.
As Graith unhitched the horse, it meandered over to the stream to drink. Zel was wading in, flapping her wings like a bird in a birdbath.
Deciding to push the conversation some he said, Well imagine that. I meant about your life. Do you have a mate? Why are you here alone with your clutch?
She was silent for a long moment. Her movement in the stream stilled as she looked at Graith, her eyes an icy blue.
We dragons are quite similar to you humans. We can take a mate for however long we like. We can have trysts or romances for the ages. I thought I had found a dragon mate who would love me the same way I loved him.
While Zel talked, Graith turned away, setting himself the task of preparing a fire. He walked around the clearing, picking up dead fall and rocks to build a fire ring.
We mated. Dragons know when we will have a clutch, and we knew as soon as we mated that we had conceived. Not a full moon later, he left me. He said he was not prepared to be a father.
She paused again, leaving Graith to wonder if she was finished. Unsure, he returned to the with his small collection of rocks. As he arranged them to make a decently sized circle, she started speaking again.
I was hurt - angry, and quickly growing big and full of eggs. I ran away.
Another pause, and Graith he turned his focus on the wood. He didn’t want to rush her as she was obviously struggling to tell him this. While the dead fall would be sufficient for starting the fire, it would burn quickly and need to be tended often. As he searched for more substantial fuel for the fire she started speaking again.
There are stories about why our kind does not live in the north western mountains. I ignored them. I thought they were just stories, why would a human be able to hurt me, or my clutch? Why would they want to? So, I flew and flew, exhausted but seeking out a cave to call my own, to raise my hatchlings in alone.
Graith thought she might be done speaking as she had finished in the water and was curled up near the soon to be fire pit. The gelding had positioned himself back in between the bars of the wagon, and promptly went to sleep. When she spoke again, it was much quieter.
I was heavy with eggs, so I flew much lower than I normally would, which is probably why I was seen.
Her tail lashed, and she was silent. Graith knew this time she was done.
Graith finished stacking the wood and went to fish his fire-starter out of one of his bags. Before he found it however, there was a fire crackling behind him. When he turned to look in surprise, he found Zel with a little smoke curling from around her lips and doing her strange grin.
Not in the mood to cook, Graith cut off a chunk of his hard cheese, and took out one of the loaves of travel bread and a piece of the jerky.
He was getting ready to sit on the opposite side of the fire when Zel asked, Do you not want to sit with me?
Startled, he jerked back upright, and moved over next to her. She patted the ground behind her foreleg with her tail, motioning for him to lean against her. He hadn’t been that close to her since he’d tended her wounds - now that she was looking healthy and powerful - he had a moment of hesitation.
She noticed, and told him solemnly, I’ll not harm you Graith. You’ve shown me more compassion than anyone, save for my grandfather.
He slowly sank to the ground, and then very gingerly leaned back against her. She was warm, almost as warm as the heat of the fire from his spot. He ate and listened to the sounds of the woods. It was unusually quiet, but that didn’t worry him, as he was with a dragon. They were the top of the food chain after all, no creature in its right mind would come poking around.
He grad
ually snuggled up against her, and drifted off to sleep, using her forearm as a makeshift pillow. He’d thought about getting his new cloak, but between the fire and her body heat, it wasn’t needed.
He awoke slowly the following morning, more comfortable than he was used too. He had yet to open his eyes, but he smelled something he couldn’t quite place. It was a musky smell, with the smell of fresh grass, and smoke… Smoke!
His eyes popped open, but all he could see was a luminescent navy blue. He turned, and the navy lifted off him, and he was almost blinded by the bright morning sun.
It had been Zel that smelled of smoke. His heart calmed from its frantic racing, and he noticed that Zel had used her tail to tuck him against her body, and then covered him with her wing. He vaguely wondered if that was how she watched her eggs. He stood, and she watched him, for she was already awake.
Zel, you could have woken me when the sun was rising, he admonished.
I could have, however you seemed like you needed the rest.
He sighed, he had. He’d not slept well the night before at Ralph’s home.
Let’s continue our journey then.
He led the horse - who he’d decided as he fell asleep last night to name Mero - back to the water to drink before hitching him to the wagon.
They set off, once again in a straight path for the nearest mountain.
***
They reached the mountain around noontime that day and then turned north for the next several days. They continued their pattern of stopping for camp when the sky darkened and moving when the sun rose.
The third morning of their trek Zel became anxious. She rustled her wings, lashed her tail, and swung her head from side to side. She was in a state of constant vigilance for nearly an hour.
Zel… Graith started finally, unable to deal with the yellow cloud of anxiety oozing from her mind any longer.
She cut him off, They are near.
Who?
The men who attacked me. I can smell them.
Graith pulled Mero to a stop and listened, however he couldn’t hear a sound. No dogs barking, or the sound of wagons being pulled through the underbrush. No yells or shouts from men.