The Dragon Tamers

The Dragon Tamers [3]

The sun had set by the time I had left the temple; I knew what I needed to do now. As I walked to my chambers I reflected on my 500 years of life, I have seen many wars; all were initiated by the humans, their greed and ambition to rule the whole of Atheron, to rule over all the Dwarves, Elves, Orcs and Shapeshifters has reshaped politics. I personally can not stand the humans, not after a previous High Lord murdered my father during the last war. Although I felt some pride as I remembered how my mother, seeing her husband’s decapitated corpse, leapt off the back of her dragon in mid flight as it flew low over the army and plunged her sword into the skull of the High Lord. I hope I am at least half the elf my mother is.

I decided that I should make a late night trip to the Dragons Keep to visit Beogin. I remember when we were both younger; I’d sneak inside the Dragons Keep, saddle Beogin up and go for a late night ride, one time the stable master caught us, goodness, he shouted and screamed at us! Mind you, I was just a young girl and Beogin was half the size he is now. I smiled as I remembered the mischief we got up to, harassing my mother and father and playing tricks on Fenwir. Growing up with my dragon definitely made our bond stronger, I can’t imagine life without Beogin, I confide my greatest secrets in him, and he relies on me to be a strong rider.

The town of La’laish is quite small, it didn’t take me long to reach the keep. Now I was queen, the stable master no longer scolded me if I came into the keep at extreme hours. It was either he respected me too much, or gave up trying to tell me off! I could hear a low, deep chuckle in the back of my mind, Beogin had chimed in.

“Are we going on a late night ride, Luna?” His telepathic voice felt like silk caressing my brain. He affectionately called me Luna when the occasion was less formal.

“If you’d like, I really just came for you advice Bee.”

“Still calling me Bee after all these years.” I could feel his mental smile. I slowly opened the small door to enter the keep, careful not to disturb the other dragons. Cobblestones lined the walls and floor of the building, it made the air cool inside, beneficial for these fire breathing dragons. Their naturally hot bodies relish the cool air; it must feel soothing to the lungs to have cold air rush over the hot tissues.

The keep many, many levels, each level had large pens designed to house the dragons comfortably during the night. Beogin, being such a high priority dragon, was housed on the bottom level. The stable master was fast asleep in the opposite corner, his chair backed up against the wall to rest his head on it, a tendril of drool hung off the edge of his chin.

I came to the door of Beogin’s pen, there was a huge door for when Beogin needed to get out, and much smaller door for us elves to get in and out of. I opened the door slowly, Beogin was lapping up water as I entered.

“It’s good to see you on a more casual occasion, rather than today’s fiasco.” He verbally spoke to me this time, telepathic communication is fun and all, but it seems more personal to talk to someone face to face.

“Yes, it’s been a while since we’ve talked in a more social setting. Unfortunately, I really came for your advice, old friend.” I felt a little bad that I hadn’t come to talk about life and its mysteries like I usually do.

“I sense you have a lot on your mind Luna, don’t feel bad. War is imminent; my scales tingle at the thought.” Dragons have a the wonderful ability to sense how their rider is feeling, some say that the dragon and the rider form a connection between each other’s souls, allowing them to sense the others feelings and presence. Beogin had the natural ability to sense imminent conflict, it was strange how it worked, both of us were confounded by it.

“Well, your scales haven’t been wrong yet, Bee.” I gave him the best smile I could muster, it must have looked pathetic, I shouldn’t have tried to smile, it only confirmed my distress. “I prayed to The Great Mother not long ago, she told me that we have potential allies in Atheron. I can see where she’s coming from, but we never really communicate with the Orcs or the Shapeshifters, would they even come to our aid? The Great Mother basically told me that I needed to give them something in return for them to help us. The Orcs do not dabble in magic and have never been interested in Elvish culture, and the Shapeshifters already have magic, and are a pretty self sufficient race.” I shook my head as I realised how bleak the situation was. “What bargaining chip do I have exactly?!” I punched the nearby wall weakly, the stone was so cool it almost felt wet.

For the second time tonight, I cried.

“Oh Luna, it’s not as bad as it seems. The Orcs have always been kind and courteous to us in the past, their hatred for humans should definitely sway them to our side. The Shapeshifters are magic-touched humans, rejected by their families, their hatred of the humans is also great. Perhaps we can play off this and use it to our advantage, reminding them how humans have caused so much suffering from past wars. I think they’d rather see us the victors of this war than the humans, I mean, if the humans won, they’d be free to attack the Orcs and Shapeshifters. We are the only race able to stop them.” I loved hearing Beogin speak, his deep, powerful voice felt like velvet in my ears. I almost tuned out for a moment while he spoke, hoping to get lost in his voice. I snapped myself back to reality very quickly once I realised Beogin was onto something.

“That’s very true, Bee, I think you’re onto something there.” I wiped my tears away with the sleeve of my gown. “Maybe we could offer to teach the Orcs some basic magic, especially healing spells and we could offer supplies to the Shapeshifters, or get a few of the non-combat dragons in there to help them for a while!”

We Elves generally kept combat ready and non-combat dragons, these non-combat dragons were utilised around the Veil, helping farmers plough the fields and bring in the harvest, helping builders lift heavy items into place and move materials from one site to another. These dragons are the backbone of our society; we owe them for the advancement of our race.

“Now you’re thinking!” He chuckled as a genuine grin spread across my face. I felt relieved that I had a plan, a shaky plan, but a plan none the less.