Start - small story

Finding yourself between two men who are at odds with one another is a bit complicated but when one is thirty-two and the other is eight years old it can be downright stupid.  Especially when the eight year old is a ten foot dragon and them being “at odds” is a serious understatement.  

“I shall bring you all to the court of the Elders!” yelled Zallin, thirty-two and senile.  He was a self proclaimed “teacher” and “warrior”, though he never did any of the fighting because no dragon would let him ride them.  

“We made allowances’ with you, Mike,” he snapped rounding on me, “but we will not have a child raised by dragons!  That child needs to be raise by her own kind!”

“It’s too late,” I said shrugging, irked at his attitude, “She’s already been living here for eight years!  And Dane here will bite your head off if you try to go in and get her.”

Eight years before Mother Hess, a large black dragon, left her newly hatched dragon to go hunting and found instead a human new born in the arms of its dead mother.  Taking pity on them both, Hess raised the human baby girl next to her own son, Dane.  The hidden village of HTAA  had always supplied the dragons with riders and help on their war.  However they just got wind of this and were now in conniptions.  

I for one didn't care.  The little girl was wild, like any other child.  And the anomalies weren't anything to be too concerned over, in my opinion.  Also, it was amazing how the child had boosted moral.  Baby dragons were happy for the dragons, but seeing a human baby had been a first for many of the riders who had grown up among adults and with a sword in their hands.  

“There still may be time,” Zallin said gritting his teeth.  “A human has never before been raised by dragons.  Dragons are creatures of pure magic and mystery; every part of their body would enhance any type of magic!  Who knows what would happen if a human drinks its milk!”

“She’s not deformed, Zal,” I said rolling my eyes.  I looked at Dane who was still crouched in front of the cave entrance glaring daggers at Zallin.  “And she’s not breathing fire, or even black magic.  She’s a child who still has to realize she’ll never grow wings like her brother.  But we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  For now, if you insist on kidnapping Hess’ baby girl you’d better go get back up before she gets back.”

Zallin fumed but walked away.  Even he wasn't fool enough to mess with a mama dragon.  I patted Dane on the nose.

“Next time, Dane, don’t even waist your breath,” I said chuckling.  Dane was still young and when he got excited and shouted he tended to blow a lot of sulfuric smoke.  

“But he called Rose a creep,” Dane hissed, still peeved.  “And he wanted to take her away!”

“Where is the little she-devil?”

“She’s in the treasury reading those old journals Hess refuses to throw out,” he replied throwing his head back.  “Ever since you taught her to read she’s been doing nothing but that.”

“Stop pouting, you may be a loving brother, but you’re a dragon,” I said, “suck it up.”

“Mike,” Ka’ar, my dragon, came up to us, “We’re on patrol this evening.”

“Oh, joy,” I responded with mock enthusiasm.  I preferred work in the morning and rest in the evenings, but the list was the list.  

*

The dragon’s island was vast.  The Elders’ magic kept most people from seeing the island and also repelled them if they got too close.  However every once in a while someone would wash ashore and before we could find them and get rid of them, they’d either become friends with the dragon hunters, to have been killed by them.  Our job of patrol was to make sure the enemy wasn't sneaking up on us and to scout the beach area for outsiders.

I was often too lenient on outsiders, initially being one myself, so my patrol ring was up close on the mountain to keep the enemy out of the rocks.  

The evening was cool and I loved flying.  Ka’ar was small where dragons were concerned, but he was very fast and agile.  He was gray in color and his wings transparent.  I nicknamed him my ‘ghost glider’.  He pretended to hate it, but I knew he was just embarrassed.  

Relationships between a rider and dragon were sacred.  We shared our minds and hearts- moving as one entity.  There was a small amount of time I had to be separated from Ka’ar, and I nearly went mad; I thought my brain would melt and my heart would implode.  The leaders of the HTAA were not happy about that.  They thought they had separated us before we had ‘connected’, but they had underestimated the similarities between Ka’ar and me.   At that time we both had been feeling the loss of our favorite people; his previous rider, and my fiance.  When I washed up on shore he’d been there mourning, and- after he scared the crap out of me- we found comfort in each other.  

“Mike,” Ka’ar spoke in my mind and sent me the view he was seeing.  Using his eyes I saw the area close the mountains cliff edge clearly even though it was in shadow.  We focused and saw three large shapes hiking up one of the narrower ledges; which didn’t make sense.  A few feet to their right was a much easier rout, so why take the hard was that veered left?  We looked ahead of them and noticed a smaller shape scaling the narrow cliff side like a spider.

“Is that-“

“Yup,” Ka’ar sighed, “That’s Rose.”

“What’s the she-devil doing out this late?  Hess is going to have a fit!”

We dived intending to pluck her off the side, but the little brat made it to the top and started running along the edge.  I had to hand it to her, she was very sure footed, but so were her pursuers.  They reached the top and started to gain ground.  

Ka’ar landed on the narrow ledge like a squirrel on a branch, separating the chasers from their target.  I got off and called out to Rose.  She stopped looked back and ran to me.  I didn't understand it myself, but she seemed to like me a lot.

“We have a problem,” Ka’ar said quietly.  I walked back to my dragon with Rose close behind me.  Looking past him I saw two men and a woman, they all wore the HTAA crest on their clothes.  I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.  This was getting really stupid.

“We have orders,” said one of the men, he looked to be the one in charge.  “Step aside rider.”

“Mmmm,” I replied pretending to think about it.  “No, I don’t think so.”

“Rider-“

“I've got a name, ugly, and a job,” I snapped.  “I don’t take orders from the likes of you or your kind.  My job is to protect those in the village, and I will.”

I picked Rose up and put her on Ka’ar.  Normally a rider would die before letting someone else ride their dragon, but Rose was the exception.  I climbed on after her and looked back down at the HTAA morons.  They didn't dare come near a dragon even though they were angry enough to spit fire themselves.  

I finished my patrol and took Rose home.  She’d fallen asleep almost immediately after takeoff.  Even though I tried my best to be quiet, Hess was waiting for me when I walked out of Roses room.

“She needs a leash,” I whispered.  Hess blew a puff of smoke in agreement.

“If only I knew how she was getting out,” Hess replied.  “This is happening all the time now and I’m not sure how to stop it.”

“Look,” I said shaking my head.  “I may have baby sat a time or two when I was a teen, but this and that are different.”

I had been the only living soul on the mountain that had any idea of how to care for a human baby when Hess had brought her back; now Hess was asking for parental advice- that was way over my head.  We walked to the entrance to their cave as we talked.

“Is it- what you call- a phase?” she asked.  “Humans grow up so slowly.”

“Well, look on the bright side,” I grinned.  “Be grateful she’s a girl; men never grow out of their ‘phases’.”

“You keep making those jokes, Mike,” Hess shook her own head.  “I can’t say I understand them very well either.”