The Dragon Tamers [9]

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We landed with a gentle thud on the soft grass, I was quick to unsaddle Beogin, I knew he couldn't wait to roll on the grass. He growled in delight as he rolled around on his back, it was ridiculously funny to witness, the ground shook as he smacked his head into the ground enjoying the cool grass between his scales. We wasted no time setting up our tents, they weren't anything fancy, just tightly woven, double layered canvas, it kept us warm and the rain out.

As I finished hammering in the last peg, I grabbed an oil lantern and headed inside the tent, already full of supplies. My sleeping bag was already unrolled and looked terribly inviting, sleep was ready to claim me and I was quite willing to go too, until my stomach growled in protest.

I fished in a pack until I found some dried meat, bread and wine. I headed outside the tent to eat with the soldiers and was pleasantly surprised to find they had already started a fire. It was delightful to sit by the fire, the cold had begun to stalk us, nipping at our skin with small, painful, frequent bites.

Beogin sauntered up behind me, he nudged me ever so lightly in my back, to inform me he was there, it was very reassuring, he had my back all nice and toasty. I turned and stared into his big brown eyes, it never ceased to amaze me how strong the bond between Dragon and Tamer is.

Unfortunately, the Elder Dragon had been finding less and less men and women to become Tamers. Only certain people are allowed to raise, train and bond with Dragons, the Elder Dragon once told me that people chosen need to have a natural way with Dragons. He told me that royal blooded children always had a natural gift with the Dragons, hence every royal child has raised a Dragon.

I remember my Father's Dragon, Beogin's mother, Yaenah. She was a beautiful Dragon, bright orange with flecks of black on her scales, she used to let me slide down her neck to get from my balcony to the ground quickly. I also remember my mother's Dragon, Rooksha, a strong, unflinching male, his beautiful steel grey scales shimmered blue in the sun. He was an amazing Dragon, undivided loyalty to my Mother, I remembered he used to follow us closely when Mother and I took excursions outside of The Veil when I was a girl, always watching for danger.

Sadly, the life force of both Dragon and Tamer are so tightly connected that if one of them dies, the other dies too. It sounded quite sweet, hopefully I will grow old and die naturally cuddled up to Beogin, however with the volatile Humans around, I fear I will be slain in war far before I grow old. Sometimes I wish those darn Humans would just drop off the face of the Earth, they're so blood thirsty and unwise, so rash and abrasive!

I scolded myself mentally, I should not be so resentful, The Great Mother would probably tell me that everyone has their place in the world, it is unjust to eradicate them just because they cause friction every hundred years or so. As much I stuck by my faith, I couldn't help but feel angry, serious rage, for the Humans. War is a terrible period for both sides! It strains the economy and with the leaders away dealing with battles and whatnot, anarchy always seemed imminent. Citizens don't like war, leaders don't like war, no one likes war! You'd have to be pretty sadistic to enjoy war and the brutal murdering and bloodshed that accompanied it.

I grunted and chomped on a piece of dried meat, messily slurping some wine out of my flask. If I were a Dragon (and I think I would have been a fantastic Dragon in another life) I'm pretty sure flames would have been seeping out of my mouth, mirroring my fury.

I can't recall how long I sat there hunched over, seething, but Fenwir's commanding voice broke my trance.

"To bed soldiers! You two," he pointed to his left, "can take first watch."

Fenwir moved over to me when the soldiers had left and the two chosen soldiers had started their border patrol. I felt his gaze on me, I continued to stare into the flames, hypnotized by their beauty, I secretly hoped Fenwir would know of some miracle weapon to fight Uck empowered soldiers with.

"How's it healing?" he grabbed my arm lightly and unclasped my bracers, revealing my blue-black bruises. "They seem a little better." he tried to stay upbeat even though we both knew the bruises had gotten worse and wouldn't heal for many weeks.

"I've got some bad news..." I frowned, staring at my boots.

"I had a feeling something bad was troubling you." he placed is index finger and thumb under my chin and raised my face to meet his. "I grew up with you silly, I know you better than you do."

I tried to mirror his smile, but I think it turned out rather pathetic.

"The Humans are consuming Uck." I chewed my bottom lip. "Beogin noticed as well, Thirus is not an overly physically strong man, but look at what he did. The soldiers eyes glowed red and Thirus had the fowl stench of that vile liquid on his breath. I...I'm not sure, but I'm thinking that the Humans have promised the Dwarves Uck in exchange for an allegiance."

Fenwir remained silent for a fair while, his eyebrows knitted tightly together, a distinct line formed in the middle of his forehead. I think he was trying to fully grasp the new severity the war had reached. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke.

"Well, this certain does make things a lot harder," he tried to laugh at the situation, but the reality was that our small shard of hope just shattered. "We will find some way to fight this, there must be some... antidote or weakness behind this stuff. I mean, they might be stronger soldiers, but they're not smarter or invincible."

I had to agree, Fenwir did have a point, but everything just seemed to be crashing down around me right now, I could not believe there was anything to be done. Memories of terrible nightmares flooded my head again, I hugged my knees and rested my forehead on them; I didn't know how much stress I could endure - how much weight can the Dragon's back bear before it breaks?

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