The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

65

       I gave Tahli a puzzling look. At first I thought she was joking, but it quickly became clear that she meant what she said. Amy seemed to sense that we were talking about as she gave me a concerned look before looking back to the dragons.

"There's no way to know for sure if Veracon will allow someone knew to bond with him. In the past, dragons had many riders during their lifetime, but there were many cases of dragons not accepting certain people as their rider. If the dragon senses that the person is a coward, or not worthy to make them their mount, it won't allow the bond to form. It may even kill the person attempting to bond with them. That happened several times as well." I said.

"Why wouldn't Veracon allow Amy to bond with him? He already lost one rider, and his brothers both have riders. Why wouldn't he allow a new one?" Tahli asked.

"After what happened, he will probably hesitate to accept a new rider. If he real feels the need, he may even kill her." I said.

Tahli stroked her chin in thought.

"Well, we have her, and we have a riderless dragon. It's worth a shot. If she doesn't try to bond with the dragon, its likely she'll die fighting anyway. It's worth a try." Tahli said.

I sighed, unsure of what to do. I watched Amy as she walked along side Doron as he slept, rubbing her hand down his side.

"If he doesn't accept her, it could go bad. Really bad." I said.

"I know, but it's either that, or she'll fight along with the rest of the army on horse back. Maybe ride with one of us." Tahli said.

"Okay. Let's give it a try. But if something... Goes wrong, we have to get her away from him. Understood?" I said firmly.

"Understood." Tahli replied.

We both turned our heads and looked back to Amy as she sat beside Doron and picked the grass. Tahli nodded her head, and I started towards Amy.

"Amy, we need to talk." I said.

She turned and stood up as I approached her. I could see that she sensed something major was going on.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Amy.... You said that you never thought you would ever see a living dragon. Now, you may have your own."

She gave me a puzzled look, before turning around to see Veracon resting behind Doron.

"Him?" She said as she looked back at me.

"It's worth a try." I said.

Just as I said this, Veracon snapped his head up and looked over Doron's back. He crawled over to wear we were standing. He seemed to sense what was going on as he lowered his head down and went eye to eye with Amy as Tahli and I backed away.

"Put your hand out." I said quietly.

She put her hand out cautiously as Veracon moved closer and closer. Doron and Ragon came up behind us. Veracon paused, and looked over at me. He turned and came towards me for a moment. He nudged at my bow with the massive claw on his wing, before returning to Amy. He looked down at her momentarily, before spreading his wings and going air born. Doron and Ragon followed him up as he circled over head. 

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"I'm not sure. But at least he didn't try to kill you." I said.

"He seemed interested in your bow Jess." Tahli said.

"Yeah, not sure what that was about." I replied.

"Maybe he doesn't think that I can't use one properly."  Amy said.

Tahli and I looked at each other. I raised an eyebrow.

"Both of us can fight, we know how to hold our own. Micha did as well. You, on the other hand, cannot fight in the slightest. Dragons are smart, perhaps smarter than we give them credit for, and it looks like this one is choosing his rider carefully." Tahli said.

"So.. What can we do?" Amy asked.

"You need to prove yourself to the dragon. You need to learn to fight." I said.