Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor)

by Robert Barton

  Shira reached around and steadied the boy in front of her settling him back against her chest. “You don’t dance much do you?” She added sarcastically.

  “No, I fall a lot when I try.” Said the boy under his breath where he thought only Shira could hear it.

  Cyerant mounted his horse. And just before Veer also mounted he handed a book up to Jolss, with a smile.

  As they rode along Jolss began to read the book and discovered that it was made up of tales about dragons but they were not like fairy stories or children’s tales. These stories were more like something that you would read in a history book for scholars. He started the day attempting to read out loud but Cyerant shushed him because as small as he was his high little voice could certainly carry a great distance. Jolss contented himself the rest of the morning to read in silence only occasionally telling the others when he discovered something new and exciting about dragons.

  From time to time while riding along Veer would glance over at the boy and feel the pain of remembering his own little brother but somehow having Jolss there also helped to ease the pain a bit.

  Veer was concerned about Cyerant because the boy had the same dark hair and dark eyes as the young noblemen and Veer knew that Cyerant had also had a couple of younger brothers who had died in the attack on his family. Veer didn’t know if having Jolss there would make it worse or better for his friend. Veer smirked out loud at that thought, he and a lowland noble were now friends. An irritating noble, who always took charge as though he was meant to be in charge assuming that everyone would just follow. What was even more irritating to the young Hillfolk man was the fact that when Cyerant took charge and made decisions it felt natural to follow him and do as he decided. There was just something about Cyerant which made him a natural leader and Veer could feel it and it was irritating. And each time he had silently resolved that he would not follow the nobleman next time Cyerant ended up being right about whatever the next thing was.

  Cyerant rode along all morning avoiding looking at the boy sitting on the horse with Shira. Jolss was quietly – well mostly quietly reading. Jolss just looked so much like his two little brothers had looked. Well, actually three little brothers had looked. Black Drakes the nanny had called them all. Black hair and very pale skin with red cheeks just like their father. It ran in the family and everyone called them Black Drakes, something to do with their blood line long ago. Old nanny, she had been so nice to him until she took his next youngest brother away as a baby. When they found her she said they would never find the baby and laughed as she died. The crazy old woman had most likely thrown the child in a river to drown. Cyerant could barely remember the toddler that had been stolen a dozen years ago. It just hurt too much to look at the boy sitting there happily reading and occasionally wincing from the jolting of the horse. But even though it hurt, Cyerant would also feel a bit of a smile when he caught sight if the boy.

  Shira rode along keeping Jolss on the horse in front of her. She could feel the boy tighten and wince when the horse took an especially jarring step. But mostly he seemed to be happily in his own world reading about dragons. Shira also noticed that both Veer and Cyerant were very quiet this morning which was a bit odd. Usually they would talk a little bit or even snap back and forth at one another from time to time. It was like earlier in the journey when they had first met and both young men were so quiet from their grief. But they had been getting better until today. She reckoned that it had something to do with Jolss, Cyerant and Veer had both said that they had had younger brothers so Jolss must be reminding them of their families. Shira began to think about her own family, well her Da and Talenger who has visited all of the time and wintered with them in the cabin.

  Around mid day Cyerant halted the group at the edge of a fire meadow where they could let the horses eat and rest while the, now four, companions rested in the shade of the forest edging the meadow. As they rested, drinking water and eating a very light mid day meal the dragons rested also. Green Eyes was making her usual unpleasant noises in the trees as she scolded and threatened anything that moved near her. Corth was now the size of a big colt and curled up on the ground beside Cyerant with his head leaning against the leg of the young noble. Cyool was the size of a hunting dog and was lying across the lap of Shira. The dragonet had become a bit too big to be a lap dog but didn’t seem to know it. Drace was the size of a very large guard dog and was starting to really show thick armour plating and horns. The heavy dragon was curled up beside Veer but would occasionally try to sneak himself across the lap of the young man who would patiently push the leg or tail or wing back off of him and soothingly pet the young dragon. The newly bonded dragon was still very small and she was curled up near Jolss who was still a little too afraid to have even a baby dragon in his lap.

  “Prin, that’s it, Prin.” Exclaimed Jolss and as the other three turned quizzical looks on him he continued. “Her name, Prin,” he said pointing to the little grey dragon.

  “Oh,” said Shira. “And, what did you find out about dragons so far?”

  Jolss looked excited to share and began to tell them about a noble from the Dragon Wars who led the armies in battle. “And he had a black dragon which he could ride in battle and it was even big enough that it could fly with him on it. The noble had black hair and dark eyes and they called him the Black Drake and he was a northerner too. He was a baron but he was the best general in a war so he was in charge over higher nobles.”

  “Sounds like your family, Cyerant,” said Shira. “Did your great, great grandfather ride a dragon?”

  “It’s just a tale,” the young noble responded.

  “What are the other books about?” Jolss asked Veer.

  Veer nodded toward the spot where the packs and saddles were sitting and said. “Look at them, one is blank and the other is in some language none of us can read.”

  Jolss gingerly got to his feet and went over to kneel by the packs and look for the books. “Then why did you get them?”

  “They all came from the same crazy old man who thought that he was a wizard. And they look like they were made together so they should to stay together,” answered Veer.

  Jolss looked through the packs clumsily with one hand since his left arm was still too painful to move. He found the other two books and pulling one out he held it up and looked at the cover. “This is the one with the language that nobody reads.” Placing that one on the ground he pulled out the last book. “Training the Magus it says. I thought that you said there was a blank one.” The boy stood and carried the two books over to Veer.

  Veer took the books from the boy and looked at the covers and held up one of them and said. “This one, it’s blank.”

  Jolss took the book and sat down on the ground and began to turn through the book. “No, I can read it, well the cover and the first page at least. The rest of the pages are blank. Here is why. The first page explains it. Only apprentice mages can read this book and only as much as they are ready for and the rest of the book looks blank to them and the whole thing looks blank to everyone else.”

  “So why can you read it?” Asked Shira. “Are you secretly an apprentice mage?”

  Jolss looked disconcerted and continued to read the first page. “It says that the book reveals itself to the apprentice as the apprentice is ready. A new lesson is not revealed until the previous lesson is mastered. The book can be given by the master to the pupil or the book may come to a Natural Apprentice. And finally it says that lest the art of the mage be lost when there is no pupil the book will seek the Natural Apprentice.

  “What else does it say?” Asked Shira.

  “That’s it on the first page and the second page is blank.” Responded Jolss who continued to look at the blank second page and then he notice words starting to appear where there was only blank parchment moments before. As he was able to make out the words taking shape on the page the young man suddenly went pale and slammed the book shut. “It, it knows my name. How can it know my name?”<
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  Shira said, “maybe you’re the Natural Apprentice.”

  Cyerant interrupted. “We need to re-saddle the horses and start moving again.” Motioning to Shira and Veer to help him he lifted his saddle and went to get his horse.

  With only one arm and knowing nothing about horses Jolss would be of little help in getting the animals ready so he slowly opened the magic book again and started to read.

  ‘Jolss will begin

  Query: What is the first tool of the mage?

  Answer: The mind.

  Query: How is the mind directed?

  Answer: By the will.

  Query: From whence comes the will?

  Answer: From the mind.

  Query: How may a mind rule itself?

  Answer: Through discipline.

  Query: How may a mind discipline itself?

  Answer: It must know itself.’

  ‘Jolss will learn to place his mind in a state of apathia which is a calm detached state of mind. It is through this state of apathia that all magic is mastered.’

  ‘Today Jolss will…………’

  Five questions and answers, then the short lecture and instructions on an exercise to train and focus the mind and that was all there was on the second page. The strange thing was the exercise was specifically on how to meditate and focus the mind while riding on horseback.

  “Wake up Jolss, I said that I will help you up,” said Cyerant as he lifted the boy who was coming out of a daze.

  Jolss noticed that he was being lifted onto the horse in front of Veer this time. “I thought that I was to ride with Shira because we are the smallest.”

  Cyerant responded. “Now you ride with Veer, and later with me. It isn’t fair to put two people on one horse all day. Sometime soon we will get you a horse and teach you to ride by yourself.”

  “Oh” was all that Jolss said as he noticed that there was no blanket folded and hanging across the shoulders of the horse in front of the saddle this time. As they rode along Jolss began doing the meditation exercise that he had learned from the book and so the afternoon ride was much quieter than had been the morning ride.

  There was a short late afternoon stop to let the horses rest and water and then Jolss found himself being lifted by Veer onto the horse ahead of Cyerant for the remaining miles of the day. Again the companions rode until nearly dark. When they stopped the dragons all vanished into the brush and forests to hunt and the horses were set to graze in the small meadow while the companions made another cold camp with dried meat and some of the bread. Jolss knew nothing about setting up camps and with his cough and single good arm he was not of much use so he sat and used the fading sunlight to read over the exercise from the magic book. When the boy opened the book he started to re-read the exercise only to find that it had changed and become an exercise on how to use the stars in the night sky as focus points for meditation and training the mind.

  The companions were tired from their long day at the new faster pace and the length of the journey was starting to wear on them. There was little conversation that night and after dividing the watches three ways, sleep was the order of the night. Jolss lay on his back looking at the star filled night sky for at least an hour before sleep came to him. Just as the lesson instructed he focused on the bright star in the north which seemed to never move.

  Cyerant had taken last watch and just before the birdsong hour he saddled the horses. When the birds began to sing their prophecy of dawn the others woke and they quickly packed their bedrolls and loaded everything onto the horses. They were mounting and starting to move south just as the sky began to lighten toward dawn. Upon waking, the dragons had all disappeared into the brush to hunt and as the companions travelled the young dragons slowly rejoined the party as it moved.

  It was still early morning when Shira glanced back over her shoulder and said, “I wish that I knew where that woman is.” And as she said this Cyool leaped into the air and spread her wings and began to fly to the south sweeping back and forth as she gained altitude. Green Eyes, with her usual scolding call leaped into the air and began to follow her larger sibling. Shira swayed in her saddle and looked very confused. “Oh,” she said as she brought her horse to a halt.

  “What’s wrong?” Asked Veer as he too came to an abrupt stop and had to steady Jolss to prevent the younger boy being thrown from the horse.

  Shira recovered her composure and answered. “I could see two things for a moment. I could see everything that I am seeing now but there was a flash where I could also see us from above like I was flying. Oh, there it is again only it’s just trees and hills. I just felt really strange.”

  “It’s your dragon, Cyool,” said Jolss. “There is a tale in the book that talks about tracking dragons that bond with hunters or scouts. In the story the first rangers were made up of dragon bonded scouts and hunters. Maybe that story is true then.”

  Cyerant cut them off. “Shira can you ride now?” When the girl nodded in response Cyerant turned his horse back to the south and started to move again as the others followed.

  “What else does the story say?” Shira asked Jolss.

  He responded. “Before the dragon wars the king called together some dragon bonded scouts and hunters and formed the original rangers. They could track and hunt very effectively because of their dragons. These rangers could see tracks where no other person could, even after many days and after heavy rains. They could even smell what they were tracking. But sometimes they could see through the eyes of their dragons. Well not really see but they could get momentary glimpses of what their dragon was seeing if the dragon thought that it was important. Tracking dragons never get very big, they stay the size of a hunting dog, which is what most people see when they look at them. I thought that it was a story but maybe it is real. What if those stories are all real? What if that book is a history book instead of a story book?”

  “So I am bonded to a tracking dragon? Mused Shira.

  “Makes sense,” said Veer. “You grew up learning woodcraft from a hunter and even from a ranger. What better kind of dragon for you to bond with?”

  Cyerant spoke back over his shoulder. “Jolss, forget about that magic book for a while and finish that dragon book. Find out everything that you can about these dragons. And make sure that you let us know if you read about any dragons like ours.”

  Shira and Veer looked at one another quickly, each making sure that the other one noticed that Cyerant was acting strangely. Shira suddenly spoke out very loudly. “She’s north of us but a bit closer to the edge. And she has some soldiers with her.”

  Cyerant stopped and spun his horse around. “Did you see that? How far away are they?”

  “Yes I saw it but only for a moment; just a quick glimpse and it was gone. I can’t tell how far away they are. I just saw them there. No. No wait they are that way.” Shira pointed to the north east but a bit more east. “It is as if Cyool heard me wanting to know how far they are and now I know. They aren’t very far – maybe half a day.”

  “Ride” Cyerant snapped as he turned his horse to the south and set off resuming the fast pace that he had set.

  Cyool felt so very happy with herself after she sent the image of the woman to Shira. Cyool had found what Shira wanted and now she turned to fly south to re-join her bonded. Even the scolding of her ever unpleasant sister could not spoil her satisfied feeling. There was that other group of people which was much closer to her bonded and one of the men was pointing up at her. Cyool could tell when a human could see that she was a dragon and not some big bird. But even that could not spoil her good mood. She had done what her bonded wanted and she was very happy.

  “Damn” Cyerant said as he stopped. “We are going to have to get down and walk the horses. This brush is getting too thick to ride through. Lead you horses.”

  “We could start using some of the trails.” Offered Veer

  Shira answered. “Not with those foreigners searching for us on the trails we can’t.”
r />   “Shira, can Cyool search ahead of us on the trails and make sure that they are clear?” Asked Cyerant.

  “I can try but this is all very new to me,” said Shira. “But if we use the trails we will be easy to track.”

  Cyerant said, “But we can move faster and if this brush gets much thicker as we go south we will be stuck. Could you and Cyool scout ahead on the trails and then behind us to see if we are being followed? If anyone gets on our trail we can either run for it or take back to the wilds.”

  As Cyool caught sight of the companions she started to let herself lose altitude to land by her bonded. Then she felt the desire to know what was ahead of her bonded and so she kept flying past the companions far below. And she started to search for a trail. She found a trail running across the path and she felt the desire to search it to the west.

  “Just ahead of us.” Said Shira pointing.” I saw, or Cyool saw it running east and west so it must be a cross trail between the Furway and the Edgeway and I can see that it is clear all the way to the Furway. It should take us about twenty minutes leading the horses to get to it.”

  Veer said. “Have her look for any bands of foreigners or soldiers.”

  “She is looking along the Furway right now and it is clear to the south for a long way. I can see it. She doesn’t see anyone. Wait she did see some strangers behind us, she is remembering. They are close really close one of them pointed at her. Why didn’t she show that to me when she saw them?”

  Cyerant answered., “because that isn’t what you asked her to find. You wanted her to show you the woman so she did. She could have passed right by lots of others and never showed you anything. We have to move. Stay quiet.” Cyerant led the way forward through the brush.

  Shira could tell that Cyool was getting tired and couldn’t stay in the air much longer. Shira wished that Cyool would land on the trail ahead of them where the companions would be coming out of the forest. Cyool was very happy when she landed on the trail to wait and rest.