Torin the dragon rider (TOME 12 of the TIAMAT'S WARS SERIE)

Zat

Zat was lost and the two little girls were consoling him.

"Why are you crying so hard? Are you looking for your mum?

Zat : "Zat didn't know mummy. Zat follow Grim, big sister shaman! Grim say what to do!"

They arrived at the house and they took Zat in their arms and he smelled the cave and the reptile.

Machinically, they went to the bathroom and when Zat saw the bathtub.

"Please... don't bleed Zat! "

But luckily the girls and mum spoke English, their dad being English and working in the parliament in Brussels.

"Zat.. it's a bathtub!!! don't you wash in a bathtub??"

"Mistress Valtrax throws spell to make Zat clean!!!"

Girls: "Mistress? Valtrax??? isn't that your dragon mum on the farm??"

"Zat slave Mistress Valtrax!!!"

"MAMAANNN MAMAANN come quickly... we have a problem!"

"Honey... I'm on the phone at the farm..."

but Sophie snatched her mum's mobile phone and switched it off.

Red with anger, she took it back...

"NOOOnnnn don't call the farm !!!! there is a serious problem!!!"

The mother got serious again...

"What!??"

"Zat... his mum is not at the farm... Valtrax is his mistress... he says he is a slave!!!"

"WHAT????"

The mother rushed to the bathroom where she saw little Zat without his clothes.

He was all red, covered in scales and Mary was with him in the bathtub. She had soaped him up and was rubbing his scales, which were getting shiny and bright again.

Zat was crying and squealing like a child. Zat was a child too and Grim was almost a teenager.

Florinne (the mother) took Zat in her arms and stroked his back.

"My poor darling..."

She comforted him.

"That's all... no one will hurt you anymore. You stay with us!"

Zat held Florinne in his little arms... Tenderness and warmth being foreign to his life in the caves.

To tell the truth, they did nothing for Valtrax who let them play in his den and kept them out of Exodus' politics and ambitions. They were the ones who had been self-appointed slaves for generations.

In fact, they lived in the shadow of the dragons to benefit from the mana and especially the protection they provided against the wild beasts and humans who hunted the kobolds for their skins and monster crystals. Few of them reached the age of reproduction after all.

The dragons were their gods..and anything that came close to "parent".

In exchange, they would wash the lair, repair supplies and clean the treasures, store them and sometimes make bags, clothes and items for their grandmasters.

It was a symbiotic relationship. And for the dragon, they were companions to converse with or even play with, but also a first-class alarm. They cleaned up the leftovers from the meals and enjoyed them greatly. Moreover, they were trusted companions for the dragons who never betrayed their masters.

Mum was mechanically looking for traces of blows or whips on Zat's back and on his small membranous wings.

After washing, he smelled good and Florinne looked for ponchos and breeches.