“Delno Okonan,” Brock said, “this is Craig Carver. Craig has been a Rider for about fourteen hundred years and has studied extensively with the elves.” Then he turned to Craig and said, “This is Corolan’s grandson.”
Craig grasped Delno’s hand and said, “Well, except that you’re a good foot taller than your grandfather, you look enough like him that I have no trouble believing it.” Then he looked over Delno’s shoulder at the dragon and said, “You must be Geneva; I’m so pleased to meet you.”
“I was just going to introduce you,” Delno said, “but since you have already done so: Geneva, this is Craig Carver.”
Delno wasn’t sure exactly what was different about this man. He had a different kind of energy to him. Whatever it was he didn’t feel threatened by it. In fact, he felt he rather liked the fellow. It was strange; kind of like meeting an old friend for the first time.
“We will have to hurry,” Brock said. “The boys and their parents will be there soon. It wouldn’t look good if we were late.”
They all helped Rita and Delno stow their gear before mounting.
The flight to Orlean only took about an hour. Delno was surprised when they followed Brock to the garrison.
At his look of inquiry, Brock said, “It’s Gina’s first clutch. She’s a typical over-protective first time mother and insisted on settling her eggs in the garrison courtyard for protection. She almost didn’t fit inside, and then we had a hard time getting her out again. I was surprised that she left long enough to go with us to fetch you.”
Brock had been right about nearly being late. They had barely arrived at the garrison when the boys and their parents showed up at the gate. All of them were shown inside to the livery stable where the eggs had been moved.
Delno wasn’t sure exactly how this should all go and would have been content to let one of the other Riders handle it. However, everyone looked to him to make the first move.
“Brock says that as the Partner of a lineage holder and bearer of a Dragon Blade you should take the boys to the eggs,” Geneva informed him. “Just show them the eggs and let them get close and touch them. Give them a few minutes with each egg and see if there is any reaction.”
Delno nodded to the boys’ parents and then led the boys to the clutch. Everyone else stood back a bit and watched. Both boys seemed reluctant to touch them at first, as if they were afraid that this might somehow harm the little dragons inside. After a bit of urging, they finally approached close enough to touch the eggs. At first, as had been pretty much expected, nothing happened. The boys touched the eggs and knelt near them but there was no hint that either would bond. Then they switched which eggs they were kneeling next to.
Tom got pretty much the same reaction, but as Jim got up to leave, he suddenly went completely slack jawed like he had been momentarily stunned. Then he knelt back down and began to caress the shell possessively with one hand while absently rubbing his right lower leg with the other. He had bonded to the dragon while she was still in her shell.
Tom knelt back down next to the other egg hopefully, but again nothing happened. Finally, he turned to Delno with a tear on his cheek and said, “I’m not getting anything, sir.”
Delno knelt down beside him and said, “It’s all right, lad. We didn’t really expect you to. Bonding with a dragon while she’s still in her shell is extremely rare, but we give the candidates the chance. It doesn’t mean you won’t bond to her once the shell cracks. You should come back and spend time with the egg every day until she hatches. Talk to her and try to listen for her to respond. She probably won’t, but it could still happen, and when she does come out maybe she’ll already be used to you. Just don’t lose hope; the dragons all say you’re a good candidate. They wouldn’t say that if it weren’t the truth.”
Tom smiled at him and said, “I’ll spend all the time with her I can, sir, I promise.”
Delno patted him on the shoulder and got up and walked back to the parents.
Jim’s parents were elated that their boy had already bonded and were edging nearer to him and the egg he was hovering over. Delno quickly explained to Tom’s parents that not bonding at this point meant very little. Bonding with a dragon before she hatched was extremely rare, and they only brought the boys because they always offered the chance to do so. While they were pleased that Jim had bonded today, they actually hadn’t expected it from either boy. Robert and Mary were somewhat reassured by his words, but they still had trepidations as they looked at Tom, who was obviously disappointed.
“The eggs will hatch within the next couple of days,” Brock said. At Delno’s look of astonishment, he explained, “Because it is her first clutch, Gina misjudged her time and actually laid the eggs down south, nearer to the Elven lands, while we were waiting for Craig to join us. We had to transport the eggs here after they were laid.”
“I should have made myself available to you in the Dream State so that you could have told me. I would have figured out a way to leave Corice earlier.”
Brock smiled and said, “What would you have done? You still would have had to meet us here, and it wouldn’t have hastened our trip any, especially since we had to take extra care because we were carrying the eggs.” Before Delno could say anything to the contrary, he added, “Relax, everything turned out just fine.”
Just then Tom cried out in alarm. Everyone turned back to the stall where the boy was watching the egg wide eyed with worry. “Something’s wrong!” Tom shouted.
All of the Riders ran to see what was happening. Tom was nearly frantic as he watched the egg rock back and forth. Brock and Delno, the first Riders to reach the stall, both laughed, and Brock said, “Nothing is wrong, son, the egg is just hatching. Stay close and see what she does as she breaks loose from the shell.”
Mary whispered, “What if she doesn’t pick Tom once she’s hatched?”
Brock was about to make a reply when a long crack appeared in the shell. Everyone watched silently as the egg rocked more violently. Then the young dragon’s nose poked through a hole she had just made in the end of the shell. She shook herself fiercely and widened the fissure that was now nearly splitting the egg in two lengthwise. One last shudder and the egg broke into several pieces, and she was free. The little blue dragon took a moment to orient herself to her surroundings.
Tom’s parents actually held their breath as they watched. They were obviously worried that their son would be rejected after having his hopes raised so high. The dragon, however, had no trepidations what so ever. She immediately went straight to Tom and butted him on the waistline just above his left hip. The boy went glassy-eyed for a few seconds and then knelt down and cradled his Bond-mate’s head in his hands. He looked at his mother and said, “Her name is Karla.”
Just then Robbie, who had been called by one of the men when the egg started hatching, came in and said, “I’ve ordered some men to raid the kitchen stores and bring meat. I remember reading that a newly hatched dragon is usually ravenous. We don’t have too much on hand, but two of the sergeants and four of the men have gone to procure enough cattle to keep them both fed for a few days at least.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Delno said, noticing that Robbie was wearing the new insignia of rank. “Just one of them has hatched so far, but the other will probably break free of her shell soon.”
“Just one?” Robbie asked. “How long until the other hatches, do you think?”
“That is quite impossible to tell,” Brock replied. “You see, unlike most creatures that hatch from shells, the baby dragon actually has some choice in her time. It usually takes about a fortnight once the egg is laid, but the dragon may decide that she wishes to come sooner or later. I’ve seen them stay stubbornly in their shell for nearly a month before hunger forces them to hatch.”
“If there’s one thing I’ve been able to figure out about dragons,” Robbie responded, “it’s to never believe you have them figured out.”
Brock and Delno both chuckled but also nodde
d in agreement.
“Well, we had best let Jason and Lawrence help Tom get settled,” Delno said to Brock. “We have much to discuss, and I would prefer the privacy of Pearce’s house.”
Chapter 27
After making sure that the new dragon and Rider were being helped, they walked quickly to the healer’s house. Missus Gentry was delighted to see them, and quickly served refreshments in the sitting room. After they had all gotten something to eat and drink, Delno, Brock, Rita, Craig, and Pearce closed themselves in to talk.
“I take it that Connor is flying patrol?” Delno asked.
“Yes,” Pearce responded, “he takes his duties quite seriously.”
“Good, I have much to tell you all, and I prefer that he not be here for most of it.”
Brock looked at Delno and asked, “Do you think the boy might have been swayed by Simcha after all?”
“No, nothing like that,” Delno replied, to Brock’s obvious relief. “He is just fourteen and anxious to prove himself. We need to make plans to head south, and he will be upset when he finds out that I plan on him staying here.” Then he added to Brock, “Of course, you are the boy’s father; if you want him to go south with us, I can’t exactly refuse to allow it.”
“No,” Brock sat flatly, “I would prefer to keep him here doing his job rather than risk his life in Horne.”
“Hopefully, my friend, we won’t be risking his life by leaving him, either.”
In response to the puzzled looks from the three who weren’t aware of the events in Corice, he quickly explained what had taken place up north. They were all especially astounded about the wild dragons who had found Bond-mates. Pearce was pleased that Nat had bonded, but looked just a little jealous that he hadn’t been given the chance.
“So,” Delno added, “that is why I plan to leave Jason here to assist Connor with training the new Riders. That way Connor can still do his job while he trains them, and he will have another trusted Rider with him if Warrick turns his attention to this area.”
“Do you think Warrick will scatter his forces further to make trouble in this area?” Brock asked incredulously.
“I don’t see where it will give him any advantage, but he is so convinced of his invulnerability that he may see doing so as a ploy to divert our attention rather than scattering his forces. He knows who I am and that I am working against him. He may choose to move against places that he thinks I have an interest in to keep me from confronting him directly while spreading our forces thin.”
“So how high do you think the probability is that he will try something here?”
“Not very high at all, which is why I am leaving Connor and Jason rather than just transporting the hatchlings and their Riders to Larimar. I believe they are safer here in the long run.”
“So, we are now certain that Warrick is alive and the master mind behind all of this trouble. That is very interesting.” Craig observed.
“You may as well fill Delno in on everything, Craig,” Brock said.
At Delno’s nod, Craig began. “As you may have heard, I spend most of my time studying with the elves. I have learned a great deal in their libraries, and even after hundreds of years of study, there is still much where I have not done more than skim the surface. The elves have come to trust me as much as if I were one of them.” He paused to give Brock a chance to add something if he wished. When Brock merely nodded, Craig continued. “I have lived among the elves for over a thousand years and been given full access to all of their knowledge. We, meaning the elves and I, have not troubled ourselves much with the outside world for some time. That all changed about three years ago.”
At this point, Brock added, “That was near the time the Roracks got very quiet and people in Horne actually started to believe that the beast-men had given up raiding or moved on to someplace else.”
“At that time, three young Riders I didn’t know came and asked to use the libraries.” Craig continued. “The elves don’t hoard their knowledge; they simply want to ensure that their books are treated well and not taken away from them. They would even allow everyday humans to read them if they were asked politely. At least, they would have then, but that has changed, and the libraries are now guarded, and access is restricted to only elves or those they have known long enough to trust completely.”
“What did these young Riders do that caused the elves to begin guarding their libraries?” Delno asked.
Craig looked pained as he continued. “There was a fire in the section of the library that the three of them were in. We managed to put it out and save the books, though a good friend of mine was killed in the process. When we took inventory, we found three books missing.”
Delno asked, “You’re sure they were missing and not destroyed?”
“Oh yes, quite sure. The only books damaged by the fire could be identified. The fire was started as a diversion to allow the three to escape with their prizes.”
“Let me take a guess,” Delno said. “One of the books was on the making and control of magical beasts, another was about wild dragons, and the third was most likely about how the dragons create and maintain the Dream State.” He made it a statement not a question.
“Exactly,” Craig said, “how did you know?”
“It wasn’t really that hard to figure out. I first met Warrick when I was pulled into that Dream State he had created. Though his control isn’t as absolute as he thought, he is powerful there, since it is his creation. Then there are these new cat-men; or Felanxes as he calls them. We had thought that he and Orson had gotten the knowledge of creating them from Jhren, but even he is limited in such matters, so that knowledge had to come from somewhere else. Also, that “compelling stone” he mentioned wasn’t something Jhren had first-hand knowledge of either. As for the last book, he has tried to “compel” the cooperation of the wild dragons. It didn’t work, but the magic he used frightened them enough to make them fight back. So knowing what three volumes he stole is no great feat of clairvoyance, just a bit of deductive reasoning.”
“Well, that isn’t all that was stolen,” Craig said. “When we realized that the Riders had stolen the books, we began looking for other things they may have taken also. They took quite a few medical supplies, including one particularly potent poison. The poison is used in medicine in extremely small quantities. It isn’t as dangerous to elves as it is to humans, but it still must be handled with care or the results could be fatal.”
“Yes, we’ve run across some of Warrick’s assassins who were using it. That explains where he got it, which is good because we didn’t want to believe that he had Elven allies. Knowing he stole it puts that to rest.”
“I’m glad that you were willing to give the elves the benefit of the doubt and not just assume that they were working with Warrick,” Craig said.
“I don’t know any full-blooded elves, but the one half-elf I do know is a man I would trust with my life. He was reluctant to place any blame on the elves, and I was willing to accept his judgment until real evidence to the contrary could be found.”
“I appreciate your open-mindedness,” Craig replied. “Now then, to finish up with what I am doing here: that poison wasn’t the item that upset the elves the most. The worst thing, even worse than the books, was a piece of stone that was a part of an ancient artifact from a time when mages sought to make and control beasts to gain more power through the use of them. The stone had some power over plants and animals. It was used by the elves to make plants grow and mature faster, especially when making new hybrids. If what you have said of this “compelling stone” is true, then Warrick must have found a way, using magical theory from those books, to use the stone to control the beast-men he commands. I have left my studies to seek you out and ask you to help us recover that stone.”
“That puts everything into a new light,” Delno replied. “I had feared that Warrick had somehow gained some incredible advantage on his own during his six years in hiding.”
“Getting ho
ld of those items and putting them to such good use makes him pretty powerful, as far as I can see,” Rita interjected.
“Yes, when you put it all together, he has become a powerful force. However, it is because of items in his possession, not because he himself has learned some new way of increasing his personal power,” Delno responded to her.
“The difference seems to be a moot point,” Brock added.
“No, not really,” Delno said while Craig shook his head in disagreement with Brock’s last statement.
At the looks of inquiry from Brock and Rita, Craig said, “You see, controlling items is different than controlling the magic you use to make a spell. If you make the spell, then you control it. Someone can attack it and negate its effects, possibly even turn it back on you, but he can’t take complete control. He can take control of the energy you send out and even reverse it, but you can then release it and do something else to counter that or shield yourself, and the energy of the original spell will dissipate. That is why a shield has to be overpowered; since you are just maintaining an energy field, the opposing magic user can’t take control of that energy, so he has to batter his way through it. An item, however, is imbued with magical power. Someone can control that item, but they can only work within the parameters of the item. Warrick can’t use that compelling stone to control humans because it was never meant to be used that way. Also, since he doesn’t form the magic that the stone uses, even if it draws energy from him, he can’t stop someone else from trying to take control away from him, though if he is more powerful than the person trying to wrest the control away, he will prevail.”
“Also, the more he has to control, the more his power is scattered and the more vulnerable he will become,” Delno interjected. Brock looked quite impressed with Delno’s knowledge, so he added, “Though Jhren accused me of daydreaming during my lessons, I really did pay attention.”
“Even with all of that, you can’t afford to get complacent,” Pearce said. “Remember that Warrick has had two thousand years to practice magic; he won’t be easily defeated.”
Dragon Blade Page 22