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I awake to Sgaeyl shifting in our nest.
<Fierceness, stay with me, it’s still early>, I murmur as I reach my wing out for her.
<Oh I can’t, Hot stuff, I have to get Xaden early, today is Threshing,> Sgaeyl replies.
<Ugh, threshing> I grumble. <Codagh can stick the whole thing up his fat cloaca!>
Sgaeyl chuffs heartily. <You can always fly by and broil some assholes.>
<No thanks! I’m gonna get some good eats today. I’m tired of all the farmed sheep the humans give us. Today I’m going to hunt something tasty, maybe some deer or a moose.>
<Oh, bring me back a deer please, that’s my favorite!>
<Anything for you, my love.>
After a lovely morning hunting I sun myself while digesting my moose. It never saw me coming. Not many threats to a moose except me. I will be sure to snag Sgaeyl’s deer before I head home so it is nice and fresh. She is going to be ravenous after Threshing. So glad I’m not having to deal with that bullshit. No more riders for me. I have had some incredible riders in the past, but the new cadets don’t compare. Most are muscle bound, brainless, power hungry twats. Let those jerks get roasted or picked up by some Orange. War is a game to the orange ones. They will pick any old idiot with delusions of grandeur and have fun flying and fighting until their rider dies in some gruesome way then start all over again next year. That is not for me. A nice morning hunting, now that’s the life.
<Tairn!>
My mate’s call rouses me from my slumber.
<You have to come quickly, the little gold one is in trouble!>
<What?! What is she even doing there? Ok, I’m heading that way to save her!>
<Hurry Tairn!>
I scan the scene as I approach the field. Sgaeyl is there with Shadow Boy. Of course they can’t do anything because of rules. Andarna is sitting there in the middle of the clearing growling at a threat. In front of her is a tiny little girl with silver tipped hair holding off a boy three times her size. Another large boy is lying to the side unconscious. Shadow Boy moves like he wants to try something, even though they will kill him if he breaks this rule. He’s gonna be the death of me.
I land immediately behind Andarna and sweep her under my wing. The silver girl stumbles and the large boy pisses himself and backs away.
<Golden One, what just happened here?>
<Three bullies were threatening to kill me and the silver one came to defend me>
<Three, huh? Only one left and he is going to die>
“Step aside, Silver One”
The silver one blinks and looks up at me in surprise.
“Yes. You. Move.”
I breathe out flames and broil that asshole. That actually felt satisfying.
I look down and study the girl. She looks right up at me, chin held up. So feisty! She is injured in a couple places but I can tell she isn’t letting that get to her. Her body is small and weak, smaller and weaker than most humans. But deeper, there is more, more intelligence and mental discipline than the vast majority of humans.
<She is the one I waited for Tairn>, Andarna calmly states.
<You waited a little too long, Golden One. You aren’t ready for a rider.>
<You can help me Tairn.>
<Hmmph>
<Sgaeyl, what do you think?>, I question my mate.
<She is fierce and determined and quite innovative. Look at what she did with the gauntlet.> Sgaeyl shows me her memory.
<Ouch! I can see she doesn’t think like a rider. That mind will be useful.> I note. But then I see a little more of the memory. <Wait, don’t tell me she is Shadow Boy’s crush?!>
<Umm…> Sgaeyl looks down at her feet.
<Malek’s hell, woman!> I can’t believe we are going to have to deal with stupid human mating crap too!
<I should go,> my mate mutters.
<Yeah and take Shadow Boy with you before you two get any other bright ideas!> I thunder. Can’t believe I’m getting wrapped up in one of that kid’s schemes.
I speak again to the girl.
“You should end the enemy at your feet”
She startles and shakes her head. “I can’t kill an unconscious man.”
“He would kill you if given the same chance.”
“Well that is a statement on his character. Not mine.”
I blink at her. She has a rare level of honor. This is going to be dangerous.
“You’re bleeding. Stop it.” I command.
“It’s not that simple when you’ve been run through with a —“ She shakes her head. “You know what? That’s a great idea.” She stops to tie some fabric to bandage her wound and stop the bleeding. “There, Better?”
“It will do,” I tilt my head down at her. “Your hands are bound, too. Do you bleed often?”
“I try not to.”
Hmmph. “Let’s go, Violet Sorrengail.”
“How do you know my name?”
“And to think, I’d almost forgotten how loquacious humans are,” I sigh. “Get on my back”
“Get on your back?” She squeaks. “Have you seen you? Do you have any idea how huge you are?”
I’m too old for this shit. “One does not live a century without being aware of the space one takes up. Now get on.”
<Golden One, you sure you still want to do this? This has never been done in our history.>
<Yes, Tairn, she is the one we need.>
<Alright, be prepared for trouble. Go fly to Sgaeyl and watch for us to arrive on the field.>
The golden one moves aside. The Silver One watches with concern.
“I can’t just leave it,” she says. “What if Oren wakes up or Jack comes back?”
Oh, Malek, just kill me now! I need more patience for this one than any of my others. Hmmph!
Andarna takes her sweet time stretching. I need help for this one too. Sgaeyl had better step up, this is her mess!
<Andarna. Go. Now.>
<Yes, Tairn!> says Andarna as she takes off.
“Get. On,” I growl.”
“You don’t want me,” she argues “I’m–”
“I’m not going to tell you again.”
She hobbles over and starts fumbling around my leg scales. She is very short and just can’t reach high enough.
“You are a rider, are you not?”
“That seems up for debate at the moment”, she stammers in fear. Her heart is beating out of her chest.
“Errrrrr,” I grumble. This whole debacle is without precedent anyway, fuck it, I’m gonna have to help her before she stabs my leg. I stretch forward and bend my leg down as a ramp. If any dragon mocks me, I'll claw their eye out.
Good girl, she clambers right up.
“Sit,” I command.
She sits on my saddle, then I feel her hands on my pommel. She is so light. I hope she can stay on.
“My name is Tairneanach, son of and Fiaclanfuil, descended from the cunning Dubhmadinn line”. I stand to my full height. “But I’m not going to assume that you’ll be able to remember that once we reach the field, so Tairn will do until I inevitably have to remind you.” I launch into the sky.
“Holy shit!” she exclaims. Then she slips off my back.
A brief thought flashes through my mind: is she worthy to be my last rider? I remember the look in Andarna’s eyes and what I saw when I looked into her heart. I dive down and catch her in my claws. Silver One will be my final rider. But I am not coddling her; she will become strong.
“You’re making us look bad. Stop it.” I admonish.
“It’s not like it's easy to stay on your back when you’re doing acrobatics,” she shouts.
I peer down at her, lightly clutched in my claws. So tiny! But so much fight. We have to make this work.
“Simple flight is hardly acrobatics,” I reply as I raise my brow scale.
“There is absolutely nothing simple about you!” she shouts.
I could say the same thing about her.
Let’s see if she does better a second time. I flip her up in the air and catch her on my back between my wings.
“Now get in the seat and actually hold on this time, or no one is going to believe that I’ve actually chosen you,” I growl.
“I still can’t believe you’ve chosen me!” she yells to me. She crawls along my back to the seat, then grabs my ridge. I can still barely feel any pressure.
“You’re going to have to strengthen your legs. Didn’t you practice?”
“Of course I practiced,” she again shouts.
All this yelling is getting to me. Doesn’t she know that dragons have extremely sharp hearing? Or that I can hear the thoughts of the one I am bonded to?
“There’s no need to shout. I can hear you just fine. The entire mountain can probably hear you.”
I pick up thoughts of wonder and astonishment. I need to keep her mind on task.
“Grip harder with your knees. I can barely feel you back there.”
“I’m trying,” she says in a more reasonable tone of voice. “I’m just not as strong as other riders.”
“I know exactly who and what you are, Violet Sorrengail.
Silver One has the kind of strength that counts. Any idiot can work hard and build up muscle. But you can’t just learn honor, cunning, or strength of character. I can help her with her physical limits. And I will tell Sgaeyl to tell Shadow Boy to help her build muscle. The boy can be useful for once. I reach out with my magic and hold her legs steady with bands of power.
I sense feelings of guilt rise up in her. She feels terrible that I have to use my power to keep her in place. She shouldn’t though, as it is just a tiny portion of my capacity.
“I’m sorry,” she sighs, “I just didn’t think I’d make it this far.”
I sigh in reply, “I didn’t think I would, either, so we have that in common.” Gone are my dreams of a lazy retirement napping and hunting game. But the way the world is going I would have been roused from those dreams soon whatever I did. I am strong, and I will end this life strong and fighting. I will make my ancestors proud and leave a better place for my descendants. I will train her to be a weapon in the upcoming fight, but I won’t let her compassion and bravery be ground down by this place. But first we need to impress the crowd of dragons and humans. They don’t see her strength yet but they will.
“We’re going to have to put on a show.”
“Awesome,” she groans.
“You will not fall. I will not allow it.” I extend the bands of power to hold her hands steady on my pommel. “You will trust me,” I command.
“Let’s get it over with,” she says with resignation. Guess I will have to impress her as well.
I climb upward, over the highest peaks. I hang there for a second for her to catch a glimpse of the majestic view. Then I dive downward and twist in a tight coil. I turn and turn again. Many dragons half my size don’t have my agility. The Empyrean needs to remember my power and strength. The humans need to be awestruck. And Silver One? She needs to believe in me and in herself.
I can feel her thoughts, first there is fear. But then I feel excitement rushing up into her. Yes, Silver One, this is going to be more fun than you ever imagined. I can’t see her face but I can just feel her smile. I hear her thoughts “There is nothing like this.” Mission accomplished.
“I think we made our point,” I tell her as I level off and bank towards the box canyon of the training fields. Andarna is waiting for us, hovering just before the training field.
I feel anxiety rise up in Silver One as we approach the field. “Why did you choose me?”, she questions.
“Because you saved her.” I slow so Andarna can keep up with us.
“But…” Silver One shakes her head. “Dragons value strength and cunning and ferocity in their riders.”
What have they been teaching her in that death academy? Many dragons are staying completely away from it as the program has shifted from a grueling and dangerous test to select the best riders to a ritualistic watering of the fields with young human blood. It gets a little worse each year, but a stark difference is apparent if you saw what training was like 100 years ago.
“Please, do tell me more about what I should value,” I reply sarcastically.
She takes a deep breath as she sees the mass of dragons gathered. Feelings of awe almost overtake her. Two lines of dragons face each other in the valley, and hundreds more perch on rocky mountain ledges.
“They are divided between those in the quadrant who chose in years past and those who chose today,” I inform her. “We are the seventy-first bond to enter the fields.”
The dragons roar my name in deference, as they should. They part to make room to land. I hover over the landing spot and release my bonds on Silver One. She still can’t believe all of this and still believes she is not worthy. I need to settle this before we land.
“You are the smartest of your year. The most cunning.”
She gulps as I continue, “You defended the smallest with ferocity. And strength of courage is more important than physical strength. Since you apparently need to know before we land.”
She startles as she realizes I read her thoughts.
“See? Smartest of your year.”
She grows embarrassed thinking about the lack of privacy.
“You’ll never be alone again.”
“That sounds more like a threat than a comfort,” she thinks.
Hmmph, if she only knew.
Golden One catches up to us and we all land together. Thankfully Silver One at least keeps her seat on landing.
“See, I can hang on just fine when you’re not moving,” she says.
She is a sharp little one, almost as bad as Sgaeyl. I look back and roll my eyes.
“You need to dismount before I rethink my selection, then tell the roll-keeper–”
“I know what to do,” she interrupts. “I just didn’t think I’d be alive to do it.”
She moves to my right along my scales. I shift and angle my leg so she can slide down and not further injure herself. I hear the dragons muttering. I don’t give a fuck what they think, but Silver One seems self-conscious and wondering if dragons are really muttering.
“They do and they are. Ignore it,” I direct her. She needs to ignore all of them, dragon or human, and believe in herself.
“Thanks,” she whispers, then proceeds to slide down my scales on her butt. She slid on her butt?!
“That’s one way to do it.”
She lands and practically shimmers with joy as she looks around the field. She turns to talk to Andarna.
“I’m glad you made it,” says Silver One, “But maybe you should fly off the next time someone suggests you save yourself.”
<Tairn, she doesn’t get it, does she,> says Andarna directly to me.
<No, Golden One, it is up to us to teach her. For a smart girl she is pretty clueless.> I reply.
Andarna blinks then says directly to Silver One in her sweet high voice, “Maybe I was saving you.”
Silver One’s face goes slack with shock. “Didn’t anyone tell you that you’re not supposed to speak to humans who aren’t your rider? Don’t go getting yourself in trouble, Goldie,” she whispers. “From what I hear dragons are pretty strict about that rule.”
Andarna just tilts her head and looks astonished.
<I won’t let her forget about you Golden One.>
Silver One limps her way across the field to the roll keeper. The General and the Commandant approach her. The General who is her mother but has not a bit of motherly tenderness. My Fierceness was more tender to our younglings long ago than this mother.
Silver One is rightfully angry at her leaders’ doubt and her mother’s lack of care, but she disregards them and moves forward.
The roll keeper looks at me in shock and motions Silver One forward. “Violet Sorrengail,” she states as she writes in the book of riders. “Nice to see you made it. For the record please tell me the name of the dragon who chose you.”
Silver One lifts her chin in confidence. “Tairneanach”
“Pronunciation could use some work,” I tell her in her head.
“Hey, at least I remembered,” she replied to me.
“At least I didn’t let you fall to your death.”
“I can’t believe he bonded,” gushes the roll keeper. “Violet, he’s a legend.”
Yes I am, and never forget it. I nudge Golden One, it's her turn.
“Andaraurram,” she says into Silver One's mind. “Andarna for short.”
Silver one looks woozy. “Excuse me?” she exclaims.
“Violet, are you all right?”, asks the roll keeper. All the humans are now interested and leaning into Silver One’s space.
“Tell her,” insists Andarna.
“Tairn, what am I supposed to–” Silver One implores.
“Tell the roll keeper her name,” I echo.
“Violet? The roll keeper repeats. “Do you need a mender?”
Silver One turns back to the roll keeper. “And Andarnaurram,” she whispers.
“Both dragons?” squawks the roll keeper.
Silver One nods.
The humans erupt in pandemonium.
The dragons start calling mentally for anyone close by to return to the vale for an emergency assembly of the Empryrean.