The Next Morning
I awoke as the suns light began shinning through the thin skin covering Doron's powerful wing, forcing its way between my eyelids and bringing me back from my restful sleep, to the reality of life. I emerged from under the giant wing and was greeted with the sunlight piercing through the trees lining the top of the valley wall, mixed with the cool morning air and the dew covered grass, sending shivers up my legs with every step I took. The sounds of birds chirping in the early morning was quickly dwarfed by the sound of dragons breathing, and shifting their position on the ground. I looked over to Temano, who sat in Veracons massive shadow cast by the early morning sun. Magar sat facing Doron, dwarfed by his massive head. I stood in the cool morning air, taking in a deep breath as I prepared for the journey we would have to make, before my ears picked up a shuffling sound off to my right. I turned back to Temano as she propped her head up, with Jules slowly crawling out from under her and making eye contact with me.
"Good morning." She said as she rubbed her eyes.
"I take it you slept well?" I replied.
She chuckled slightly.
"If you want to call it that, then I guess so." She said.
Just then, Temano silently started to approach the two of us with her head held low to the ground, purring quietly.
"She's already grown rather fond of you. I'm surprised." I said.
Jules looked up to her dragon and smiled.
"Yeah, she reminds me of my mother. She's very sweet, calm and collected. Very caring and seemingly protective over me. Are all of these creatures like that?"
I thought about my reply for a moment, as I had never really thought about that.
"Honestly, dragons were extinct for a long time, before Doron, Veracon and Ragon graced the world with their presence. The dragons that exist in the world now likely behave much differently to the ones that once covered our land from coast to coast. Doron is the most dominant, and he was raised by me, Tahli, and my sister. Not by other dragons. Being raised by us means that they are far less aggressive than they would have been if they were raised by others of their kind. And the other dragons that have come to exist since then were either raised by him or his brothers, or one of their off-spring. No matter what, it is likely that dragons will never again be the truly violent and aggressive creatures they once were, instead replacing their unhindered aggression and desire to kill with compassion, and a deep understanding for the well being of their own kind, as well as ours." I said.
Jules gave me a strange look.
"Your sister?"
I froze for a moment as I looked away briefly. I remained silent for a moment before turning back to her.
"In the beginning, it was just my sister Micha and I. Our father gifted us what we thought were the last dragon eggs in the world. We escaped our home and found a place to live in the mountains, where we hatched the three eggs. I formed a bond with Doron, and Micha bonded with Veracon. We found Tahli and she formed a bond with Ragon. In an attempt to bring down the king who had tormented and abused us for so many years, Micha was hit by an arrow, and Veracon shot down. Though the dragon recovered, Micha died from her injury. It was only after her death that Amy took Micha's place along side Veracon." I said through my shaky voice.
Jules said nothing for a moment as she placed her hand on my shoulder. Doron seemed to sense my stress, as he woke from his sleep and turned towards me, moaning and grumbling as he nudged me over playfully.
"I'm alright. Don't worry about it. We have to wake the others. We have to go." I said.
I turned to Doron and nodded my head slightly. On cue, he let out a roar that carried through the endless valley, echoing off its walls and bringing the dragons scattered between them to attention rather quickly. As the groups dragons awoke and started moving around, the group slowly stumbled to their feet and one by one, gathered around me awaiting instruction.
"Good morning. I hope you all slept well, because we have a lengthy travel ahead of us." I said as Tahli tossed me my bow.
"We're leaving now?" Ryder asked.
"You made it clear that we haven't got time to waste. We leave at once. Gather your weapons. And don't hold us up." I said firmly.
"She's right. If what you say is true, we must leave. Now." Bailey added as she joined us.
I turned and to Amy as Tahli gave the group their weapons back.
"Stay close, if you see anything, wave." I said.
"Should we not gather support from a few of the near by villages?" She asked.
"There's no point in putting more people in danger. They're on ships. They can't out maneuver a dragon. We'll be fine." I replied.
I hugged Amy tight in my arms for a moment before I turned and started up Doron's wing. I watched as Amy and Tahli mounted Veracon and Ragon, followed by Jules, Lucy and the rest of their group mounted their dragons, with a considerable struggle.
"Fly."
Just like he had done so many times before, Doron spread his wings, and with a single, powerful flap, took to the air, with the others close behind. We ascended towards the clouds, and soon rose to just below them as we glided through the air with the cool breeze whipping my hair back, cleaning my field of vision. I held my bow tight as Magar flew up alongside Doron, with Bailey placed proudly on her back. I scanned the horizon in the direction of the coast.
"Alright. It's up to you now. Take us there, and do what you do best." I said as I patted Doron on the back of his neck.