The Dragonriders

Chapter 34

A Marriage Of A Dragon

Tara'li

As we land on a ledge at the top of the valley Trashkanir motions inside. I see he had a cave system all for himself, though it does feel sparse. As I look around I don't see anything remotely saying this cave is inhabited. That is until I see him spit fire at the center of the first room and a small fire is lit. 'Welcome to my house, my queen. It is not much but it is home.'

I see a single tunnel at the back of the room, though it is dark. The cave itself is worn smooth by something or other and slightly tilted towards the back, I don't know why. I sit down with slumped wings on the floor. 'We could not have arrived any sooner. My wing muscles hurt...'

He walks towards my back. 'Please remove your armor. I'll try to help you out a bit.'

With some hesitation I take off my chest piece. With full access to my back Trashkanir starts rubbing the back of his claws against my back, working around the small bone spikes to not snap them off. While he rubs against my back I feel the bone armor is not fully healed yet, though it is one piece. When he is finished with the muscles on my back he pulls my wings slightly towards him and works my chest muscles the same way. Then he steps over to me. 'Better, my queen?'

I nod. 'At least they don't ache and hurt at the same time. Now it just is hurt. Well, as far as it isn't my bone armor that hasn't healed fully yet...'

He nods. 'Now, are you ready to see the rest of the ca...'

He gets interrupted by another dragon rushing into the cave. 'King Trashkanir! The Riders are here with their fake dragons! What should... THERE IS ONE HERE?!'

As I get up and turn to the dragon I see it is one who is hostile towards us. I put my hand on my sword and grab my shield though I don't draw either yet to not provoke anything. The king takes over. 'This is queen Tara'li of the Elves. She is my bride. Her squad followed us to attend our wedding...'

The dragon, a white one with some small golden accents, spits a flame at me. Quite quickly I raise my shield to protect myself from it though the flame doesn't reach my shield. Then he speaks in disgust. 'You cannot be serious, king Trashkanir. The Riders are frauds and to take... an ELF as your bride? Why would you do that?'

Trashkanir grabs the dragon by its throat. 'Many reasons, one among which is she killed the master of arms in ceremonial combat. Now go before I let her give you the same favor. I'll deal with this issue myself.'

The white dragon, when let lose, runs out the cave like a beaten dog. Then Trashkanir walks to the entrance. 'Please take a moment to rest. I'm going to make sure your squad will be treated well.'

It is a little while before he returns. He carries some meat with him and sighs. 'Sometimes I wonder why I even try to lead the dragons. Some are so stupid... your Rashter got challenged to ceremonial combat.'

I get up. 'Please tell me he didn't accept the challenge. He may be a real dragon but he hasn't fought properly in a very long time.'

Trashkanir rolls his eyes. 'He accepted and won, but his armor got beaten up good. Luckily that is the worst of it. However as it seems like the Elves forged that armor... you may have some issues replacing it.'

I grumble. 'Yeah. That armor cost the royal treasuries quite the coin. I can't explain this to the High Elves without getting scolded quite hard for it.'

I check on Rashter now, through whom I learned he actually accepted the challenge for one of the other dragons. He got some scratches but the armor is gone. So is one of the Wild Dragons. I sigh loudly. 'To think I so far thought I got some sense into that thick head of Rashter. Why does he do this to me...'