Whispers of Dragons

Chapter 3

Once again, I was interrogating dragons. At least this time I got a chair and desk. I sat slouched with my chin on my hand, writing the details of yet another dragon's trial. I dismissed the dragon after declaring it innocent. I know, shocker there. I got up sighing, and went back to my room.  

All of the trials with the innocent dragons were starting to depress me, and I knew I'd have to change something soon, preferably before I went crazy. I was lounging on my bed once more when I heard a hard knock at the door. I yelled for the person to come in, thinking it was just Jake again. When the person knocked again, I sat up quickly and stared at the door. The knock came a third time and I finally got up to answer it. When I opened the door, a set of dark gray eyes met my gaze.

"May I come in?" Conor asked with a smile.

"Sure." I said reluctantly, opening up the door. Conor strolled in and went to sit on my bed. I fumed inside at his nerve but held my tongue. Once he was seated, I closed the door and went to stand in front of him, refusing to take a seat as well. I made no attempt to hide the contempt in my glare. "What do you want Conor?" I asked coldly.

He smiled. "You're not even going to ask how I'm doing?" He said innocently. I crossed my arms and waited. That made him smile bigger. "Ok then, I guess we'll skip the pleasantries. You are aware that you are currently the only mage known to be able to communicate with dragons?" He questioned. I shook my head in agreement, wondering where he was going with the statement. "Well new information has come to light, and we might no longer be in need of your services." I stood in shock for a minute. I was the only one in all of Seleman who was known to be able to communicate with dragons. Even then, the only reason I am able to is because of the dragons themselves.

Centuries ago, dragons, mages, and non-mages lived together in Seleman in harmony. Yes, the groups were separated, but there was generally no conflict between them. One day, a group of non-mages decided to go hunting. On their hunt however, they had accidently shot a young dragon who was out exploring. Rather than apologize for their actions, they put the dead dragon on a stick and paraded it through the village, boasting about their hunting skill. The leader of the dragons heard of the awful act and burned the village the hunters lived in to the ground as revenge.

Outraged, the non-mage council declared war on the dragons. Throughout the whole event, the mages had remained silent. However, once war was declared, the mages were pressured to pick a side. After receiving a bribe, the mages chose to ally with the non-mages, and a promise was made that should the non-mages win, the mages would be able to live as equals along the non-mages.

The war lasted for over a decade before the dragons were finally overpowered and were forced to surrender. The leader of the dragons wanted to make sure that even though they were defeated, the rest of the living dragons wouldn't be hunted down by the non-mages. To do that, the dragon leader gave an unknowing mage the gift of being able to speak the language of the dragons. The rest of the dragons fled and stayed hidden for decades before they started resurfacing in remote places.

After the war, the mages were also forced into hiding. The leader of the mages had expected to be rewarded for his support of the non-mages but was instead killed by one of the council members. While the mages were in shock over the assassination of their leader, the Council declared that mages would never be equal to non-mages and should be treated as such. Many mages were killed as a result of the declaration but eventually, mages got smart and decided to hide their abilities if they could. Over time, mages had started resurfacing and in the outskirts of Seleman, had even started being treated equally, especially the mages with healing abilities. Still, some of the hatred remained.

Living on the outskirts of Seleman, the mage that had received the gift from the dragons didn't know what had happened at first, but eventually figured it out when he came across a dragon in his travels. Fearful for his life, he decided to keep his ability a secret until his death. When he died, another mage surfaced with the ability to communicate with the dragons. From then on, exactly one mage had been able to understand the dragons at a time, and upon that mage's death, another one was gifted with that ability.

Currently, I was the one who had the gift. If Conor was telling the truth, this would be the first time in history two mages with the gift existed at the same time.

"You're lying." I managed to say. Conor gave me an evil smirk.

"Would you like to meet him?" Conor said, amused. Without waiting for me to respond, he got up, dusted off his clothes, and moved towards the door. He opened it and started walking out, but stopped with one foot out the door. He turned his head back to me. "Well?" He questioned with an eyebrow raised. I stumbled in my haste to follow him. He walked out the door with a smug look on his face as I followed behind him, stunned at what this could mean.