“Anything else, Master Dragonrider?” Ordin asked in his gruff voice, for Mkel knew he wanted to go to the tavern.
“Are there any other questions regarding tomorrow?” Mkel asked again. All present did not answer. “Good, gentlemen and lady, see you at the dining hall and tomorrow for the exercise. I wish you all the Creator’s blessing, and remember to always keep the faith.”
Everyone stood and saluted Gallanth and Mkel, and then they picked up their weapons and began to move to the dining hall. “You better contact Annan to see if she is ready to go to dinner, my rider,” Gallanth told Mkel. “Yes, I was just going to,” Mkel replied.
“Captain, I will see you in a couple of minutes. I’m going to get my family,” Toderan said to his friend as he put his large hand on Mkel’s shoulder.
“No problem, see you there,” he replied.
“Jodem, what are your plans?” Mkel asked.
“I will be joining you, for we need to talk over dinner about the Battle Point visit,” the wizard replied.
“Good, let’s walk up to my quarters and get Annan,” Mkel motioned.
“Why don’t you see if she has her seeing crystal with her?” Jodem suggested.
“Good thought,” Mkel commented.
He pulled out the flat-faced quartz crystal from his belt and spoke into it, asking for Annan. These devices were special crystal mirrors made by wizards or elves with the use of a small amount of dragon’s blood and a drop or two of the owner’s blood. They enabled the holder to see and hear another person who had a connected crystal. The image of Annan appeared on the flat smooth stone face.
“We’re ready to eat, my love. Janta and I will bring Michen down to the dining hall,” Annan said.
“Tell her that I will come and get them,” Gallanth said to Mkel. “Are you sure Gallanth?” Mkel asked. “It would be my pleasure to give Michen a ride,” Gallanth added. Mkel spoke back into the crystal, “Annan, Gallanth will come and get you.”
“All right, Janta and I will be ready,” Annan replied.
“I will be right back with the little one,” Gallanth said as he stood up and began to turn around. He quickly scanned the area to make sure there wasn’t a griffon ready to take off or land, spread his immense golden wings, and with a leap, a heft of his tail, and a downward thrust of his wings, he was airborne with a strong rush of air heading back to his ledge.
“He really loves that boy,” Jodem said to Mkel.
“Yes, I know. I would fear to be the one that would threaten him harm,” Mkel replied.
“He feels the same about you, especially since after your father died,” Jodem added.
“I know, almost to a fault. I don’t know what I would have done without him, my mother and you,” Mkel said as he felt the familiar lump in his throat and slight tearing of his eyes as he thought about his father and those he cared about. “You both have been great to me in your teaching, guidance, and caring.”
“Never compare me to your dragon,” Jodem said. “Your bond goes beyond mere friendship or even family. Yours is the bond of blood, heart, mind, and soul.”
Mkel understood his words, for he would never forget the day he and Gallanth blood bonded and thus merged souls. He never felt alone since that day, for no matter where he was, he and Gallanth shared thoughts and emotions. That day, when he was nineteen years old, was perhaps the best day of his life (save the day of his son’s birth). Having this kind of bond with a dragon, especially a gold dragon, was beyond what words can describe. Having a friend and partner that was never more than a thought away had always been the most comforting aspect of being a dragonrider (although having one of the most powerful creatures in the world as your protector and friend also helped).
Dragons were not only incredibly powerful, their wisdom and intelligence even exceeded their strength. The respect for the metallic dragons was almost universal, with the exception of a few minor factions within the Alliance population in the major cities and, of course, the Party of the Enlightened. All elves and dwarves revered the good dragons, as did most men and women.
Gallanth was now gliding down toward the dining hall, with Annan in the rear seat holding Michen in her arms and Janta holding on for dear life in Mkel’s saddle. Michen’s little face was aglow with a wide grin, and his bright blue eyes were beaming. Gallanth back winged gently before the dining hall so as to not stir up too much dust for those that were already eating. He then crouched down and laid his massive neck on the ground.
“Come on, my friend, let’s go help your wife down,” Jodem urged Mkel.
They walked past the gold dragon’s resting head. “Thank you, Gallanth,” Mkel said. “Never a problem to give our Michen a ride,” the gold dragon replied. Gallanth thought of the little boy as his own son. Dragon offspring were separated from their parents relatively quickly and sent to the central hatchling training grounds in Draconia. While there was a bond between a mated dragon pair and their offspring, it was understood that dragons had a higher purpose to serve and guide mankind. Therefore they tended to be very affectionate with their rider’s children.
Mkel jumped up on Gallanth’s thick arm and reached his hands up to Annan. She sat Michen on Gallanth’s neck and he slid down the dragon’s hide over the smooth tiny teardrop scales into Mkel’s arms. He was laughing his irresistible two-year-old giggle, which could mend a torn soul. Mkel helped Annan slide down off of the long saddle, and Jodem caught Janta as she climbed down the notched steps of the thick harness on the immense gold neck. The group walked back past Gallanth’s head, and Mkel asked Michen if he wanted to give his dragon a kiss. “Kiss, draaggon,” the infant said. Mkel held his son next to Gallanth, and the little boy then leaned his head toward the dragon’s upper cheek and touched it with his forehead. The dragon’s eighteen-inch-wide eye glowed brightly at the infant’s gesture. It always amazed Mkel that such a massive, super intelligent, and extremely powerful creature could derive such pleasure from the most simple of things, but that was what life was about, Gallanth would tell him, and that was what was worth fighting for.
They all walked into the full dining hall and sat down at the head table beside Toderan, Lupek, and the other officers and their families. Mkel always ate last, being the commander and Weirleader, unless necessity forced him to do differently. Dekeen had already left the Weir through the hidden back entrance that led out into Draden Forest to be with his family and clan. The only elves that resided in the Weir itself were the ones in the ranger platoon. Elves did not eat much, for their metabolisms were more efficient than those of humans and dwarves. In contrast, the dwarves that ate at the dining hall could consume vast amounts of food not equal to their short but stout builds.
The Weir cooks were a mix of humans and halflings; the latter were excellent in the diversity of their recipes as a result of their traveling nature. Halflings were restless wanderers, but once they established roots in a particular area, they became a fixture of the community, especially farming communities. They always shared knowledge with each other without a fault, and they were known as excellent small niche farmers and cooks. The kitchen folk had prepared a noodle dish with a spiced tomato sauce, a chicken vegetable stew, and other vegetables and breads.
Alliance farmers of all races were the most productive in the world, taking the best farming techniques of humans, halflings, and elves. No one in the republic went hungry because of a lack of available food as long as they worked for it. Grains and other foodstuffs were a major export for the Alliance as well as finished goods, crafts, and a host of other materials.
As the garrison was finishing the meal, Mkel stood up. “Gentlemen and ladies, may I have your attention?” he announced, raising his wine glass. “To the conduct of a successful exercise tomorrow, to the Weir, and to Gallanth,” he toasted.
“To Gallanth,” everyone repeated as they turned toward the resti
ng dragon, who raised his immense head and then slightly bowed as everyone toasted. All the soldiers, dwarves, and elves of the garrison knew that the power of the gold dragon had saved all their lives on many an occasion, and everyone had great respect for him.
“To you, gentlemen and ladies, thank you for your service,” the dragon replied.
Everyone then sat down as Mkel said a few words of encouragement. “I know your platoon leaders and senior sergeants gave you the briefing regarding the exercise, so I will not go into great details about it. I want you to do is to focus on the coordination with all the members of your squad and platoon and the other specialty platoons. This training ensures that all of our combat power is brought to bear synergistically, which will save lives if the need arises. Even though this is just an exercise, with the giants stirring in the mountains, there may be a real fight soon. I know you will do well, as you always have. Thank you,” Mkel finished.
Ordin spoke up, as he usually did. “To our success,” he growled.
“To our success,” everyone echoed.
“All right, gentlemen, there are some final preparations and last equipment checks to perform before the exercise. I suggest that you see to them and then spend a little time with your families,” Toderan finished.
With that, the dinner was officially over and everyone started to get up and leave to go back to their barracks and their quarters.
Mkel shook Ordin’s hand and bid him a good night. He headed to the stairway that led to the caverns and tunnels under the Weir that housed the dwarf community. “Good night, my friend,” Mkel said to Toderan.
“Just a few things to look after, Captain,” he replied.
“No, we can do the final checks tomorrow morning, Senior Sergeant,” Mkel chided. “There will time before the exercise; just have to have faith, my friend.”
“All right, I’ll see you early tomorrow in the meeting room,” Toderan said. “Have a good night.” He turned and walked toward his quarters.
With that, Mkel picked up his overactive son and gave a nod to Annan and Janta to follow him over to where Gallanth was resting.
“Are you ready, my dragon friend?” he asked. “Let me get a drink first,” the gold dragon replied, raising himself up on his four tree-trunk-sized legs. He turned slowly so as to not hit anyone with his huge tail, walked over to the lake in the center of the Weir’s ground inside the mountain, and lowered his massive head down to drink. Hundreds of gallons water rushed down his throat, after which he lifted his head and walked back to Mkel and Annan. Gallanth knelt down, and Mkel positioned Annan and Janta, climbed up on the saddle, and held Michen after he secured the flying straps.
“All ready,” he spoke to Gallanth. The dragon turned to the far side of the Weir and spread his wings; with three steps and a downward stroke of his wings, they were airborne. In no time, they landed on the platform that housed his sleeping chamber. Gallanth’s ledge was basically a huge carved cave that connected to Mkel’s living area to the left side and Jodem’s quarters and laboratory to the right side. “Thanks Gallanth,” Mkel said as his dragon turned around and lay down on his bed of coins and gems.
Gallanth actually slept on the Weir’s treasury reserve. First to keep it safe, and second because a dragon’s hide is so tough the layers of gold and silver, being very soft metals, actually feel like laying on a comforter or a mattress to the immense dragon. Over the years, the dragon’s weight made a nearly perfect imprint of his forty-five-yard-long body on the pile of coins. “Rest well, Gallanth,” Mkel said. “Have a good night, my rider, and good night little hatchling,” he replied, giving a last wink to Michen and closing his huge eyes.
Mkel carried Michen into their living quarters, with Annan closely following him. They told Janta to go and get some rest. Her room was down the hall from their main chambers. Michen ran to the room and jumped on the resting elf hound. The two-hundred-fifty-pound-dog gruffed slightly with the impact, raised its imposing head, and licked the infant’s face as he rolled around on the canine’s side. Elf hounds are bred by the elves to serve as fierce, dependable guards. This special breed, aside from having the normal canine alertness and excellent hearing and sense of smell, could see perfectly at night and could detect invisible entities. They could also change the color of their coat to blend in with their environment for a perfect camouflage. Slightly more intelligent than the average dog, they made perfect guardians. Unless an individual was fully armed and armored, one of these large dogs could tear limbs off of the average man, although they were gentle and very tolerant of children.
“Come, little one, it’s time for your bath,” Annan said.
“Baath,” he repeated, getting off of his guardian dog and running into their bathing room.
“Do you have the towels and soap, dear?” Mkel asked.
“Yes, it’s all laid out,” Annan replied. “What’s the news from Lupek?” she continued.
“The fire giants are gathering for something just east of the Gray Mountains, between us and Eladran Weir, as well as many chromatic dragons and other Morgathian types,” Mkel explained.
“This doesn’t sound good,” Annan said with a worried tone.
“Don’t worry, we will handle it; Gallanth always looks out for me,” he assured her.
“This might produce a lot of casualties; how will this affect your trips to Battle Point and Draconia?” she asked.
“You know we always do everything we can to minimize friendly casualties, but if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. You can accompany us to the capital if you want,” he said with a smile. “Although you will have to share the seats on Gallanth’s rig with Ordin, for he wants to see his cousin from Ferranor.” Mkel was teasing, for he knew that she did not like the gruff dwarf.
“He can’t go with anyone else?” she said slightly irritated.
“No, you know that he likes Gallanth and has known him longer than both of us have been alive. Besides, he will only fly on Gallanth, for as you know, the only thing dwarves fear is flying,” Mkel chided back.
“All right, but he must sit in the rear seat in back of Janta,” Annan demanded.
“I’m sure he will not mind,” Mkel said, smiling again and lifting his wriggling son out of the bath while he pulled the drain plug. He handed Michen to Annan, who waited with fresh towels to dry him off. “We need to put him to bed now, for tomorrow will be an early day,” he added. They put his nightclothes on and carried him to his crib. “Night, night,” he said to the infant.
“Night, night,” Annan echoed.
“Nigh, nigh,” the little boy said, looking at his parents with his wide deep blue eyes as they handed him his bottle.
“Good night, my little hatchling,” Gallanth said from his landing.
“I thought you were asleep, my friend,” Mkel asked.
“Just wanted to wish the little one a good night; we will be ready for tomorrow morning,” Gallanth replied.
Mkel and Annan walked into their bedroom. “How’s Silvanth?” Mkel asked.
“She’s been gorging and sleeping mostly. I think she will rise to mate in another two or three weeks,” she replied.
“Will you will be riding her tomorrow for the exercise?” Mkel asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I will have to ask her tomorrow. I know she will fly for the training, for Gallanth already had her agree to that,” Annan added.
“He’s hard to say no to,” Mkel said.
“You should be so lucky,” Annan said with a wry smile.
“I get your point, dear; get some sleep,” he replied and gave her a kiss as he lowered the cover on the lighting crystal.
CHAPTER II
War Games
Morning came quickly. Gallanth stirred and telepathically called Mkel to rise. Wake up, my friend, or we’ll be late for our own exercise, Gallanth�
��s words echoed in Mkel’s head. “I’m up, Gallanth,” he answered. “Let me take a quick bath and I’ll meet you on the ledge in twenty-five minutes.” All right, I will go down to the lake and be right back, the dragon replied as he stood up and outstretched his massive wings before flying off the ledge. Mkel walked into the bathing room and turned on the water and adjusted it to the proper temperature.
The infrastructure of the Weir was impressive indeed. The water was supplied from two massive tanks that rested on the top tier of the Weir. The water was heated by one of the quartz heating crystals that Gallanth created by adding a bit of his blood and then blowing a line of fire at it. These heating crystals were placed at the point of use and could heat up the water almost instantly. They lasted for years depending on the type of crystal or stone used, with corundum being the preferred mineral and quartz being second. Gallanth made hundreds of heating crystals a week, and Silvanth made cooling crystals.
These crystals were for the military and also for sale to the general public. The dragon’s blood absorbed into the very structure of the crystal and then took the initial energy from their breath weapons, being fire, cold, or lighting. The stone then radiated heat, cold, or light upon contact with a human or other creature. Each crystal was enough to warm a large room, a small house, or a large tank of water, with smaller ones even woven into clothes to warm or cool the wearer. Legion soldiers could wear full armor in the middle of summer and not be overheated, or they could stay warm on the coldest of days.
The tanks that supply the Weir with fresh water held at least ten thousand gallons apiece; they were glass-lined, reinforced-steel vessels. They were supported by large steel beams and connected to the distribution pipes that went to all the Weir’s rooms, food preparation areas, bathing facilities, and stables. They were fed by pipes that collected water from the upper tiers of the mountain and by water from the spring that also fed the Weir’s internal lake.
Dragon Alliance: Rise Against Shadow Page 8