Dragon Rider (ON HOLD)

Chapter 8: Sharing My Secret

All the hatchlings were fed before seven.  The mother dragons, which now included T-S, had had their exercise and the training dragons had had their morning workout which was done by dragon master.  When the bell on the bell tower was struck eight times I took off my gloves, I had been helping prepare the brunch time snack for the dragons but now it appears I won’t have time to feed the dragons as I had planned, and told Dragon Master good day and ran to the elders cot.

“Come in, come in.  My is it eight already.  I have prepared a fresh pot of tea.  Go, sit on the couch please.  Ah watch your step you almost stepped on my growing plant.”

“Why, Mrs. Vaein! Where did you get that plant?  It’s so strange and unlike any plant I’ve ever seen before!”

“Why, my very dear older sister Samantha gave me that plant so many years ago.  I haven’t seen her since the incident with one of the village boys, why about three years before you came to live among us.” I had never know that the elder had had a sister but that name, Samantha, sounded so familliar.

“Samantha?"  Then it clicked.  But how do I ask?  I mean it's not everyday you hear a child say 'oh your sister is my mom, she's alive in the woods, along with my father'.  I needed to approach this slowly and carefully.  "Um, Mrs. Vaein, do you remember that man?  The one who had the incident Samantha was caught up in?  Do you remember him?  What his name was?”

“Well let me think......  Why yes I do.  His name was Christopher Mase... um Mason, yes Masin that's it!  Christopher Mason.  He and Samantha had been in love for quite some time.  Then one night he went missing.  He came back the next morning raving on about something about an old witch in the woods.  Saying the woman had cursed him or something or another, and something about the Fire Heart dragons.  We thought he had gone mad so the village elder before me banished him, saying he was crazy and could be a danger to anyone. Then warriors drove him out and Samantha was forbidden by father to go looking for him.  It was quite sad really.  She started screaming and yelling, and she told father that if her Christopher was banished then so was she and that she wouldn’t spend another moment without her lover.  She left immediately to go and find him I haven’t seen her since.  I’ve missed her so much.  I wished she would have stayed.  That plant is the last thing I have to remind me of her and I will never let anyone hurt it until they day that I am dead, but enough about me were here to talk about you!  Why do you have such an interest in Christopher?”

“Well I think we’d better start with something else because anything about my night time wanderings will lead to him eventually.”

“Ok then now when did your little game start?”

“Well it was about 5 years ago when Dragon Master was teaching T-S, D-B,T-T, and N-T, to fly.  I was helping him put the saddle on one of the dragons and I turned around and saw the flying trainer go to a small white box push a button and come back then the dome got a long straight crack down the middle.  We went flying, with Dragon Master teaching me how to hold on and other stuff that I needed to know so I wouldn't fall off.  I had wanted to go flying again when Dragon Master said no, so I went back after night fall and played around with the buttons until I found the one that opened the dome. The next night I waited a little later and took T-S for a ride after every one had gone to sleep.”

“So what do you do on your adventurous flights?”

“Well I usually take T-S because we have a special bond between us and she’s my favorite and the most corporative of all the dragons we have in the center.  We fly over Drageth for a while and then when the beauty of the village fades away then we head over in the direction of the forest.”

“Have you seen any wild dragons when you go to the forest?”

“No.  Well actually I saw one the other night but he’s not wild and when I flew over the same area last night he was still there it was like he was waiting for me or something like he knew I’d be there.”