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.”
“Has it attacked you? Have you been hurt?!”
“No, it just sat there and watched us fly over.”
“Well if it hasn’t attacked maybe it’s not aggressive. Do you mind showing me this dragon? I’ve never seen one in the wild before?!”
“Well I guess I could. I mean you are the elder after all! Ok we can go tonight! I think you might be shocked by what you see. I have one condition though!”
“What?”
“Do not tell me what to do while we are out there. I know the forest and I know what I’m doing. Neither of us will be in any harm tonight I promise. You just need to let me what I need to do tonight. That is my only condition.”
“Of course. Now do you know what type of dragon it is?”
“I do but why tell now? Not knowing is like making it a surprise.”
“Fine ok. So..... How does all this lead back to Christopher and Samantha?”
“I met a man in the woods one night and he said his name was Christopher and that he was my father, he also spoke of Samantha. So I believe that Samantha was my mother and Christopher was my father. Here why don’t we wait till tonight and then I’ll explain everything.”
We finished our tea and she told me more about Samantha and my father Christopher. I had to leave around 3:45 so that I wasn’t late to work with the dragons. I went to the kitchen to get the specially made food for the mother dragons. I went straight there so I could spend a little time with T-S. I hadn’t seen her since the day before and after the training session they had mover her to the mother dragon area. It was secluded and peaceful. Instead of cages this section of the center was outside with a dome covering a large area of land and only a selected few were allowed to enter. I myself am only allowed to enter during mealtimes. I walk in to the mother dragons’ area and start setting out their food and water. T-S had stayed in the far end of the area for most of the day but flew over to me as soon as she saw me. I would have said she was attacking me if I hadn't known her so well.
“Yeah girl I missed you too! Hey! Calm down! You’re going to get me in trouble!” She was running all around and causing such a ruckus that she had the guards checking to make sure that nothing was wrong. “It’s all right, she’s just happy to see me. Sorry, I’ll try and calm her down.” They were staring at me then shifting their gazes to T-S and then back to me.
After I got her calmed down the other mother dragons had already started eating. I got T-S’s food and water bowl and took it out to the very end of the field. T-S ran behind me, jumping around. The farther away we got from the other dragons the calmer she became.
“Hey girl, how’s it been just hanging around not doing nothing?” I knew she understood me not just from the look in her eyes but also because I’m half dragon which means all dragons can understand me but I can’t understand them until next week which really sucks.
“I’m going to miss flying with you. Tonight I’m taking D-B. I’m also taking Mrs. Vaein, you know the elder. She’s asked me to show her a wild dragon and you probably know who I’m talking about. I want to show her my parents, and I want her to let them come back to the village. I need them to come back to the village. I can’t lose them again.” I said. My voice was low and I felt a tear roll down my cheek, staining my face. I quickly reached up and wiped it away. I shouldn’t be crying but that was all I could do to show her how much I needed this. T-S looked at me with her sympathetic look. She knew I was upset and that I needed her. She curled her tail around me in a hug like motion, when she moved her tail back I felt a chill come from the wind she had blocked. Wait! Wind? I looked up and the dome was coming down. It was gone in an instant. I looked over and saw the elder. She had ordered the guards to grab all the dragons except T-S and make sure they didn’t fly away while the dome was down.
She walked over to me and waited. “Well,” she said, “are we going or what?”
"I have to get a saddle and a harness before we can even attempt flyig out of here!"
"Not to worry I had one of the guards go get one from the trainers, it will be here momentaraly." as soon as she stopped talking a guard walked in the enclosed area and had with him a double seated saddle and two harnesses.
"I won't be needing the harness but do you have a first aid kit in the saddle? I always use the same one so I don't know if there's one in there. I'm not leaving witho--"
"Don't worry I had him put a kit in there everything's set to leave. All we need to do is put the saddle on T-S and attach our harnesses." Mrs. Vaein said inturupting me.
"I already told you! I won't be using a harness. Remember my conditions? I'm in charge. Now you go get a guard to help you with your harness and I'll get the saddle ready." I was kinda annoyed wiht Mrs. Vaein at the momment. She was putting T-S in a situation she shouldn't be in. She need to be perfectly healthy when the time comes for mating. What if somthing happened to her?
I told T-S what was going on. It was still only about four in the afternoon so all of the people in town were going to be outside still because the sun was up.
"Elder?" I had just finfished wiht the saddle and they were tightening the harness around her so she wouldn't fall.
"Yes?" she said without looking in my dirrection.
"It's only 4 o'clock."
"And?"
"AND everyone's gonna be outside! we can't go flying now! They'll all see me!"
"Don't worry. I told everyone that there was a dragon siting near the edge of the forest so they should all be inside right about now. And any dragon flying over head will scare anyone ehough to where they won't notice two people on its back."
"Ok." I hooked up Mrs. Vaein's harness and tripplnotted it just to be safe. The saddle was a bit bigger than usual, and heavier, not including the second person on her back, so it took T-S a bit to adjust to it. Once she had we were gone.
Mrs. Vaein was a good traveling companion even if it was for a short distance. She never complained about how unconmfortable the seat might be she just sat there and took it.
"Hold on Mrs. Vaein! We're about to drop!" I warned her. She gripped my mid-section tightly and I tightened my grip on the reigns. T-S started the slow descent. We reached the ground and before we even got off T-S's back I had called out to him.
"Come out Fireheart!" my father would know that I wanted the dragon and not him just yet. I heard the elder gasp as the dragon started to reveal itself from the forest.