by Kay Murky
Chapter Six
Dani had sunk himself into his work, although he had been aware of when the man had spoken to Marteen, lurking in the man’s mind as Marteen had done with him the day before. But Dani had not expected them to use the language of the Empire though, and he wondered what had been said.
He had to wait for his shift to finish before he could go past Kirosh, where he was stretched out with his team mates next to a small cooking fire.
“Barakish.” Dani greeted the whole team, who responded, before continuing with whatever they were doing.
{: Kirosh? Did you manage to do as I requested? :}
The black dragon turned his head towards Dani and lifted his upper lip. {: That, and more. A report went to Aghtiro Hammar this afternoon, about your ‘pet’. He will arrange that the mage Elder there will be present when you take the human to him. And he is already making arrangements to have you transferred back to Marzanhammas tomorrow afternoon. :}
Dani had not expected that. He had just thought to offer the human refuge with his Cavern. {: Why? :}
Kirosh puffed softly. {: My halshin thinks you should look the human in the eye. He suggests it would be a good bonding. He read the man’s thoughts, and his heart, and as you said… the Warrior of Tears is a good man. :}
Bonding… for a moment Dani did not know how to respond. He had to admit that he had secretly thought that he should offer the man fehrarhalsh - partnership. He had not even considered trying to bond with him. A bonding was not something one could force. It either happened, or it did not. For some it took years, for others, like Karragh, it seemed pre-destined. And rarely someone like Kirosh came along, who had been bonded from birth.
Why had he not thought of trying to bond with the man?
Dani sighed. He knew why. He was scared that it would not work.
{: You should, you know. My partner thinks it’s pre-destined, like Karragh and his partner, and usually I am the one with premonitions, not he. So when my halshin says he has a premonition, I usually listen. :}
Dani looked at the younger dragon in disbelief. But Kirosh was not to be silenced. {: And the other thing, Dani old boy, is that if you do manage to bond with him, nobody can say anything about him being with us. :}
Half a mark later Dani, instead of flying, walked slowly through the camp to where he had left the man. He needed time to think. What if he tried to bond with Marteen and it did not work? What if he asked the man and he refused? The other option would be to just attempt it, without telling the man what was involved. But even just the idea of that went totally against the grain of Dani’s personality.
Marteen was awake and waiting for him, sitting on a rock next to the shelter instead of lying down underneath it.
“You’re tired.” The concern in the man’s voice was obvious, and it made hope flare up in Dani’s breast.
“I am.” He sank down next to the little shelter that Kirosh’s partner had extended, and rested his head on the blanket which was spread out on the ground. How was he going to approach this?
The man grunted as he got up and carefully moved back to the shelter, equally carefully lowering himself again to sit on the blanket next to Dani’s head. Dani did not move, just followed Marteen’s movement with the eye closest to the man. Then Dani huffed a sigh and closed his eyes.
The touch was tentative, as if the man was scared as to what his reaction would be, but the hand rested warmly behind his ear. “I wish I had the energy to pass on to you, to help.” The tone of the voice was wistful.
“Thank you. The thought alone is appreciated.” Dani felt the gentle questing mind touch, and was tempted to lower his shields. But he could not do it yet.