The Dragon Slayer

by D L Colon

  Glaycol nods and shakes Logan’s hand as he says, “You have a deal.”

  Ethan and Jasorian come out of the stables with the horses they want, but when they see Glaycol looking at the Friesian they stop and look at each other.

  Not knowing what’s going on, Ethan asks, “We got our choices, what now? Did you get yours?”

  Glaycol nods as he starts climbing the fence, “You’re looking at him.”

  Logan, Ethan and Jasorian are looking at Glaycol in awe, and Ethan turns to look at Logan and asks, “Why would you make that type of challenge to him? You know he will do it, and I’m not meaning taming the horse. He will use everything in his power to try.”

  Logan nods and answers, “You are forgetting something, Ethan Iron Born, Glaycol really knows how to tame a horse. He has done it before. This time it takes more than knowledge to conquer. It takes a lot of courage to face the one horse he knows he can’t tame. His blood is that of the Hunters, not the Nobles of the Black Flame, who are not only the best horse tamers, but also the best riders on the Continent of Istagar. Possibly even the world.”

  Ethan, hearing his full name, makes him look at Logan in surprise, but Jasorian only smirks like it is something he already knew but didn’t mention. Logan doesn’t say anything else as he remembers the woman who used to hang around Bonca. Half of her leg was covered in a tattoo of a black flame. After a moment he says, “But I have to admit that the woman who was always with Bonca had an ability to tame horses that left me speechless. All she had to do was talk to it and the horse would lose any sign of internal fight or fear against her. It always made me wonder what kind of magic she used on them, but it was confirmed she never needed to use magic.”

  Glaycol walks into the pen where the Friesian is facing him, challenging him. The moment he takes a step forward the Friesian starts scratching the hard ground with his front hooves. Suddenly he sprints toward Glaycol and as soon as he reaches him he stands on his back hooves and starts snorting while attacking Glaycol with his front hooves, throwing him to the ground while blood falls from one side of his face.

  Glaycol is caught off guard by the sudden attack of the Friesian. He knows blood is falling from one side of his face, but excitement is coursing through him, too. Adrenaline is pumping into his senses, making him take on a suddenly calm demeanor. He stands up, recalling what Bonca once said: Always be calm when a horse issues a challenge. Glaycol takes a deep breath, while excitement is evident in his eyes, and takes another step toward the Friesian. He repeats the same attack, but Glaycol read his movements and is expecting it. He quickly evades and is behind the horse in one quick movement.

  The Friesian, not liking this, springs forward and uses his back hoofs to attack. Glaycol, remembering what his father said, never stand behind a horse, jumps backward to evade it, but this time is Vlumariny words come into his mind. Talk to the horse. Show him he can trust you. That it doesn’t need to be about fear. Ask him what his fears are and you shall see a miracle happen. Glaycol has a feeling that is what he should do so he decides to give it a try, already knowing that it will work.

  Glaycol puts his hand on the left side of the Friesian’s head and whispers in his ear, “Why do you fear me so much?”

  This catches him off guard, making him stop fighting, and Glaycol is suddenly assaulted by words in his mind; I don’t want to be restricted, kept as a pet.

  Glaycol is surprised that he is able to hear the words of the horse on his mind and he pictures Vlumariny smiling, causing him to smile and tell the horse, “I won’t keep you as a pet. I will keep you as my companion.”

  The Friesian grows calmer, letting Glaycol pet him and comb his hair. Glaycol smiles as he takes care of the Friesian, which causes Logan to get a perplexed look on his face. Nobody has been able to get close enough to the horse to be able to do that before now.

  Glaycol gets a saddle and puts it on the Friesian, getting it ready for him to ride. The moment Glaycol gets on the Friesian it screech’s and rears on his back hooves, trying to dislodge Glaycol, but Glaycol is not falling for it. He grabs the reins tight as the Friesian runs around, jumping and trying to throw him from the saddle.

  Glaycol is still smiling as the words of his father resonate through his mind; Stay calm at all costs. Show him that you are in control, but that you won’t pressure him. Let him get used to the feel of you on top of him. Get him tired. But then a warning pops into his mind from Vlumariny; They are not your slaves, they are your companions, son. Never forget that. Talk to him. Calm him. Show him you are not his enemy.

  Glaycol takes a deep breath and lays his hand on the Friesian, trying to calm him as he says, “I am not your enemy,” over and over again.

  The Friesian keeps fighting back for a while, but after a few moments he comes to a complete stop and starts walking slowly. Glaycol suddenly hears the Friesian’s voice in his head again You promise?

  “I promise. I will treat you like my companion, and not as my slave. I will ride you, but I will trust your judgment. I will hear you and I won’t treat you like some people treat their horses. I will take good care of you.”

  The Friesian walks for a few minutes then starts running, letting Glaycol lead the way. He is snorting happily, while running, and with that, Glaycol has finally tamed the Friesian. The untamable.

  Ethan, Logan and Jasorian look at Glaycol in surprise and Logan asks, “What just happened here?”

  Jasorian smile and answers, “You, my dear friend, have just lost your best horse.”

  Chapter 12

  “Do you have name, my new companion?” Glaycol asks the Friesian as they ride around the pen he was in.

  I have never had a name. He answers honestly and snorts loudly.

  Glaycol thinks for a moment then asks, “What if I give you a name as a sign of our friendship?”

  The Friesian’s ears stand up and Glaycol hears; Sure, but I will decide if I like it or not.

  Glaycol nods and thinks for a while before he says. “I understand. What about Zodiac?”

  The Friesian starts nodding happily, showing his agreement, then Glaycol hears; I really like it.

  Glaycol smiles and gets off Zodiac. He walks toward the owner of the stables and sees the dumbfounded expression on his face as he is talking to Ethan and Jasorian. Glaycol, with a big grin on his face, approaches them and says, “As you have already seen, I have tamed Zodiac. Now Zodiac will be going with me free of charge. Have Ethan and Jasorian chosen their horses?”

  Ethan and Jasorian are nodding, and Logan smiles, “That’s what you named him? Zodiac? Sounds like a fitting name for such a powerful horse. I can tell you will give him the treatment he deserves, but as you know, before this war begins you must bring him back so he can choose a mate. We must continue the bloodline. The other two horses are 40 gold dracones, and that includes the best saddlebag for each horse.”

  Glaycol nods and pulls out the money. Handing it to Logan, he says, “I will bring him back, but if we use any other type of horse for the mating process, doesn’t that mix the race?”

  Logan puts the money in his pocket before he answers Glaycol’s question, “Not the Friesian race. It overpowers any other bloodline. The moment they mate with another horse their DNA will take control at birth and the baby will be a full-blooded Friesian. The mother’s race will determine what sex the baby is going to be. Don’t ask me how they do this, but that’s what’s been passed down through generations.”

  Glaycol nods his understanding and says, “Then I will bring him under one condition. Zodiac will choose his mate, not the other way around.”

  Logan nods and turns to go get the saddle bags for the horses. After a few minutes he comes back and says, “You must be in a hurry. I wish you all the best, Glaycol. Take care of yourself and know that your dad is proud of you.

  Glaycol, Ethan and Jasorian all nod as they saddle their horses then mount and leave at full speed.

  Once they are out of the city Ethan asks, “Where are we
going, Glaycol?”

  “We are going to your home, Ethan.”

  Ethan nods and says, “But it will take a long time to get there.”

  Jasorian responds to this, “It will take two days. Even with making the stops to eat and rest. If we were on foot it would have been a lot longer, but since we are on horses, it will take two days,”

  Ethan just grumbles as they ride deeper into the forest.

  Meanwhile in the capital

  It has been two days since the noble that went to collect the money from the one of the many cities the Dragon Empire is made of, left to return to the capital. He has returned with something unusual, the package that was given to them with the letter to give to Hyglarur. Once he arrives at the palace the Ice Queen is waiting for him with a stern face. The Dragon Emperor installed a lot of fear into the people when they took over the Continent of Istagar, the continent the Royal Family of Ice ruled for generations. The moment the dragons appeared with their thirst for knowledge that all changed. It didn’t take long for the dragons to show their true self and attack the continent. Once the battle was over, they put the royal family in the dungeon, where her father, the true king, was held for two years. They have kept him well fed because they know that the moment her father is not well taken care of she will no longer be under their control. For that same reason they have recently moved him back into his chambers so he can watch whatever happens and see how powerless he truly is in this situation.

  The noble, seemingly unafraid of all the dragons, approaches Glaceila. “Hello, Glaceila, or should I address you as Ice Queen? I have collected the taxes and I was given a package for Hyglarur.”

  Glaceila rolls her eyes at the insolent little man and responds, “It doesn’t matter at the moment, but come, I shall take you to his majesty.”

  As they are walking toward the cave where Hyglarur is located, Glaceila grabs the noble by the throat and looks at him with clear, blue eyes as she says, “For your information, I am your Queen, and you shall address me as so. I am the Ice Queen.”

  The noble feels like his neck is being frozen and he stares at her with his mouth wide open as he trembles in fear of the power of the Ice Queen. “Understood, my Queen.”

  Glaceila lets go of his throat and they continue to walk toward Hyglarur. Glaceila drops the temperature of the cave where Hyglarur sleeps and they hear a deep voice coming from deep inside, “Why have you disturbed my sleep, Queen of the humans?”

  Glaceila replies, “I have brought you a noble who has received a package that should be given to you, Emperor.”

  Suddenly they feel a strong gust of wind surround them and the Noble trembles while Glaceila leans against the wall, waiting for him to come down. Once Hyglarur appears in front of them, his son, Glarur, arrives, flying and calling to his father, “Father, the Dragon Slayer attacked your Commander, but I don’t know what happened to him. Commander Zaz sent me to let you know that he will bring to you the remains of the Dragon Slayer personally.”

  Hyglarur looks at his son for a moment before he looks at the noble again, “Well son, let’s see what gift was sent to us by the city under Zaz’s control. Bring me what was sent to me, human.”

  The noble scurries and a moment later he returns pulling a small, covered carriage. The moment the carriage is close to Hyglarur his nostrils picks up the strong smell of dragon blood. He squints his eyes and bares his teeth at the noble in anger, “Do you know the contents of the carriage, you fool?”

  The noble, taken aback by the outburst of anger from the Dragon Emperor, takes a step back and responds, “No, Emperor.”

  “What’s the letter in your hand? Give it to that Queen of yours to read it to me.”

  The noble hands the letter to Glaceila and as soon as she opens it she is surprised by the content, but she reads it anyway,

  Your Esteem Holiness, Hyglarur,

  The Kingdom of Tagglar has now declared their sovereignty from the Dragon Empire. We are no longer under your control and are now an independent nation. You may try to attack us, but we sent you a package and that package is our insurance that we have friends where you never expected us to have. We have chosen a new King and Queen and this is the last time you will hear from us. Next time will be when our declaration of war is issued.

  Ah, on a side note; this is just the beginning. Everything you own will crumble.

  PS. The Dragon Slayer sends his sincere and best wishes, Motherfucker!

  Thick smoke rises from Hyglarur’s nostrils as he looks at the noble and orders, “Take the cover off the carriage.”

  The noble snaps his fingers at a guard standing nearby and the guard hurries over to remove the cover of the carriage. As they disappear from view, Hyglarur sees the content of carriage. Commander Zaz has fallen by the sword of the Dragon Slayer.

  Hyglarur, no longer holding his breath, unleashes the furious fire breath on the noble and Glaceila. You can smell skin of the noble being burned to cinders and his screams echo through the caves.

  Once he is finished he sees a barrier of ice covering Glaceila, and he snorts. “Your puny Revolution will die as quickly as it rises up, Ice Queen. Heed my words. Now leave!”

  Glaceila turns around and leaves. Once she is out of Hyglarur’s view she smiles and internally celebrates the blow that has been dealt to the Dragon Emperor.

  Chapter 13

  Two days later

  Glaycol and his group are close to the Elven Kingdom. They are going through the forest that leads to the kingdom, but something doesn’t feel right. Glaycol feels something is off on the road so he raises his hand, signaling them to stop. Zodiac senses it, too, and he turns his head toward Glaycol. Something feels off. I sense a foul presence nearby. Glaycol, do you feel it, too?

  Glaycol nods, as he feels the Berserker armor pulsating around him, signaling the presence of a dragon nearby. His body language changes as he turns toward Ethan with a tight-lipped smile and squinted his eyes. “What’s the meaning of this, Ethan?”

  Ethan looks at Glaycol with wide eyes, not understanding what he means, and asks, “What are you talking about, Glaycol?”

  “I thought you wanted dragons out of power, but there’s one in this forest.”

  Jasorian interrupts, sounding like he’s had too much to drink, “Well, why don’t we kill it?”

  Ethan looks as stunned as Glaycol as he shakes his head. “I did not know that a dragon was in our territory.”

  The moment they turn to head in that direction, an arrow comes flying their way out of nowhere. Glaycol is able to sense the killing intent coming from the archer’s location so he is able to grab it before it reaches his face. He grabs his small knife, and with quick reflexes he throws it toward the location where the arrow came from. Instead of aiming at the person shooting, he aims it at the trunk of the tree right beside the person’s face. Then he hears the screams of someone falling to the ground.

  Glaycol runs toward where he heard the screams. Taking his short sword out, he stops in front of a female Elven archer who is looking at him with disgust, while trembling in fear. She knows this could be her last day alive since she missed her shot, which was aimed to kill, and missing means death for the Elven archers.

  Ethan and Jasorian come running toward where Glaycol is standing and Ethan sees the female Elf on the ground looking at Glaycol with disgust, but her fear is evident and Glaycol is feeding from it. Upon seeing Ethan, Glaycol casts him a malicious look. His body language showing intent, but also displeasure. “It seems our welcome party has already started. This means I can have my fun now right, Ethan? I have never seen a female Elf naked and I think I deserve to. After all, the alternative is death. I was attacked I have the right to defend myself.”

  Ethan, after seeing who it is, starts laughing, knowing that despite how twisted it sounded coming from Glaycol’s mouth, he wasn’t being entirely serious.

  After the female Elf looks in Ethan’s direction, she immediately gets on her knees. Showing reverence
, she stammers, “Your..Your..Your Majesty, pardon me. I didn’t notice you were with this brute.”

  Ethan, with a calm expression, looks at the female Elf and says, “Don’t forget that this man who you called a brute, is the Dragon Slayer and he could have killed you if he wanted to when he threw the knife in your direction. Not only does your life belong to him now, but he also made you miss your first shot in your entire life as the watcher of the gate to our Kingdom. Didn’t you make a commitment to the Kingdom, and to yourself, that you would marry the one person, friend or foe, that made you miss a shot? That person is Glaycol Master, the Dragon Slayer, Vlamarine.”

  Realization comes crashing down on Vlamarine and she can’t help but blush at Glaycol. For some reason she is more aware of his presence and masculinity now. She looks at him and something inside of her stirs. She doesn’t know why, but the moment Ethan let out what she promised, her whole attitude changed toward Glaycol. The same man who has been hunting dragons for the last two years for himself, the same man who mercilessly kills anyone who tries to attack him, isn’t looking at her like a female. Instead, he looks at her a like a warrior who almost tried to kill him, and she wants to change that bad experience for him and for herself. After all, what Ethan said is true. She will marry him.

  Vlamarine stands up and walks to where Glaycol is standing, stopping in front of him as a blush creeps up her neck and to her cheeks. She can’t help but notice how tall he is and how small he makes her feel. Just being in his presence makes her lose all train of thought, but she musters up her courage and introduces herself. “I am Vlamarine Stone, the best archer this Kingdom has seen. I want to apologize for my behavior. It was inappropriate of me to try to kill you, Glaycol Master, also known as the Solitary Berserker and the Dragon Slayer. As Ethan Iron Born said, I made the vow to the whole Kingdom that if I miss a shot or if my arrow didn’t hit its target, I would marry the one person who made that happen. You, Glaycol Master, made that happen, and I will follow you for the rest of my life.”