Strachana, Judy Colella [top 10 novels to read .TXT] 📗

trusted, naturally. He was pleased with your responses, and will not kill you.” Welan was only partly serious about that.

“I see.”

“They’ll be here tonight, in fact, so I have to come up with yet another project for your noisy fellow-apprentice. Any ideas?”

In the end, they agreed that a sleeping-draught would be the perfect solution. Once Fleck was snoring at his desk, they carried him to the shed behind Welan’s cottage and tucked him in among the gardening implements and sacks of grain. After the scribe’s family was gone, they would bring him back to his room to sleep off whatever effects of the draught remained.

Shortly after the moon was at its height, Kavin followed Welan outside to the large field beyond his property to witness the arrival of his daughter, son-in-law, and their family. The young man, only a little nervous about this because of Welan’s assertion that Neri would, in fact, kill any human that threatened his wife and children, stared up at the sky, hands clasped tightly behind his back. Thus far, he’d only seen J’nah and Vorel, whose odd yet strangely beautiful appearance had entranced him. He’d never seen a dragon, however, and wasn’t sure what to expect. But then something massive covered the moon for a few seconds, and with an almost violent swoosh of air, that something clarified into the winged, scaled forms of two gigantic creatures that landed with only a minor seismic thud on the turf.

Welan gasped. He started forward, calling out, “J’nah? Is that you, boy?”

The dragon that was somewhat smaller (but impressive, nonetheless) bent its head in acknowledgement, displaying a wide array of teeth as it dragon-grinned. Then, tucking in blue-tipped wings, it inhaled deeply and with no discernible transition, became the young man Kavin had met in the cave several days earlier.

“You’ve done it!” exclaimed the scribe, enveloping J’nah in a tight embrace.

“I have, indeed, Grandfather.” The boy’s words were somewhat muffled by the older man’s shoulder, but the delight in his voice was unmistakable.

With another intake of breath, the larger dragon became a tall, attractive man that Kavin didn’t recognize. He certainly looked nothing like the “Opsola” he’d met the day before. This man had long, pure white hair pulled back in a pony-tail secured with a silver clasp. His features, handsome in the extreme, looked as if they’d been chiseled from ice by a master-sculptor. Eyes the color of light blue sapphires glistened at the group as he smiled, mainly at Kavin. And then a woman stepped from behind him and grasped the man’s hand in one of hers, giving Kavin a curious look as she did so. She was human, looked to be in her late twenties, and was pretty. Kavin frowned. “Where is Vorel?” He’d only muttered it, not really asking anyone in particular, so was surprised when the white-haired man replied.

“She is with her consort, friend Kavin. You and I met yesterday, but I was in a slightly different form. This is my wife, Zela. She is Welan’s daughter, as I’m sure he told you. And my son, J’nah, you’ve also met.”

“I – this is…what an honor it is to meet you and the rest of your family, sir!” Suddenly elated, Kavin bowed at the waist, his grin huge enough to look painful.

“A rare thing it is to meet another human who has no hostility toward dragonkind or their kin,” said Zela. She smiled now, too. “At first we were concerned about your presence in our home, despite J’nah’s assurances that you were a friend. Vorel, too, tried to convince us that you would be loyal, but then my husband failed to tempt you into betraying us and, well, all is as it should be, I think.”

“Right now,” Welan interjected, “I think we should get inside. My other apprentice is currently fast asleep, but that could change – his constitution might be stronger than anticipated, and I’d hate to curtail your visit.”

As they went back toward the cottage, J’nah caught up with Kavin and whispered, “What did he mean by that ‘constitution’ remark?”

“We gave him a sleeping-draught.” Kavin shrugged, grinning.

“Clever.”

Once inside, Kavin was treated to a better view of the family in the brighter, more personal light of Welan’s many candles. With their urging, he told them his story – how he came to leave Marclor in search of his future, his life-long curiosity about dragons, his pursuit of literacy that enabled him to become the scribe’s apprentice. In turn, they told him the story of Neri and Zela, and how it was Lord Gravnel who all unwittingly had made their life together possible.

“Wait – does he still sacrifice virgins? I mean, I somehow can’t see you as a maid-munching monster, sir,” Kavin told Neri, “but I feel I have to ask. Besides, there could be other dragons who would enjoy that kind of sacrifice.”

“He does,” said Welan, surprising the young man. “However, no dragon devours them.”

“That’s a relief!”

“It shouldn’t be,” the scribe added, his tone dark. “Gravnel has his executioner retrieve the poor victims the next day – still alive but terrified – and brings them to the castle where he…er, they become servants of a sort, I suppose you could say.”

Neri sat straighter. “You never told me this, Welan. Are you saying he, that they, that…” He cast a worried glance at his wife, as if unsure about finishing his thought aloud.

“Yes. He does and they do. It’s awful. Eventually they get locked away forever, or they disappear. Either way, no one ever sees them again so everyone still believes you’re killing them.”

“Neri, no.” Zela had laid a hand on his arm, her tone firm with warning and command.

“Well I can’t simply allow that disgusting creature to keep hurting young girls in my name, Zela!”

“And what will you do, beloved? Slay him? The King will only send another in his place to rule his lands, and perhaps his replacement will be worse.”

“Or better.”

“Or he might be inclined to try and slay you instead of continuing the practice of sacrificing virgins, and that would be…horrible!” This from Kavin, who had leaped to his feet, face flushed.

The dragon family regarded him with raised eyebrows.

“Other than Welan,” Neri said, “we’ve never met another human who felt that passionately about protecting dragons.”

“What would you suggest then, Kavin?” Zela gave him a hopeful look.

“I – I don’t know, but, I – oh, for heaven’s sake! There has to be some way to resolve this!” He began pacing. “Maybe if the families of the girls he’s ruined were told of his evil practices they’d rise against him and force him to stop.”

“Force him. How?” Neri shook his head. “These are merchants, farmers, servants – they have no army with which to stand against Gravnel’s soldiers and would be slaughtered.”

“And if we attacked him as dragons,” J’nah added, “we’d be exposing ourselves to persecution, something Father tells me has been avoided for many, many years, but that could easily be sparked by any open aggression on our part.”

“A rekindling of the Dragon Hunt would force us out of our home. No, friend Kavin, we have to find another way, but find one we will. I promise you this. Remember, we can shape-shift into anything we wish, and with the help of others of our kind, we may well discover a means by which to stop this terrible man.”

Kavin sat again with a sigh. “All right. But if I think of anything that would fit such limitations, may I tell you?”

“Of course! Now that we have formally met, you may feel free to visit us whenever you wish, or have Welan inform us of your thoughts.” Neri’s smile returned and he sat back.

After this, they enjoyed more pleasant concourse, sharing mead, bread, cheese and fruit as they talked about Vorel’s new love and her ability to shift, as well as J’nah’s developing shape-changing skills. They laughed about Fleck and his infuriating writing habits, grew serious about the many ways in which the world seemed to be changing, and talked at length about magic.

At the end of the night, Kavin told them that he’d learned more in those few hours than he had in his entire lifetime. He accompanied the family back to the field shortly before sunrise, waving a farewell as they winged into the sky, rapidly dwindling in his sight to the size of sparrows, then specks, then nothing. On their way into the cottage once more, he and Welan retrieved the still-slumbering Fleck who they installed in his bed next to Kavin’s. Exhausted but happy, the newly-titled Dragonfriend (a designation conferred by Neri, which he translated from the harsher draconic words “Darastrix-thurirl”), slid under his blanket.

He was asleep even before he could finish saying, “Good night, Master Welan.”

More tired himself than he wanted to admit, Welan smiled and retired to his own chamber, deciding that if Fleck had the bad grace to wake him before he’d gotten enough rest, he’d stab the boy in the groin with his own quill. He fell asleep grinning.

ACHTFASH

 

Five months had passed since Vorel and I’gra-Nar had chased each other across the sky.  Spring had begun making its appearance by this time, and Zela gratefully removed the huge tapestry from over the cave’s opening. J’nah helped her by himself this time, but had no difficulty handling the cloth. Unlike his efforts the years prior, when he’d needed his sister and father to get the task done, he was now fully able to shift. So in dragon form, he pulled gently at the pegs securing it to the top of the opening, using his impressive teeth, strong jaws, and powerful neck muscles to release it. Once on the ground, he returned to his dragonkin shape and helped his mother fold it.

“Looks like we can leave it in the sun for a while,” said Zela, glancing at the cloudless expanse above. “I believe we got the…oh! Oh, J’nah, look!” She pointed upward.

He stared past her finger and saw two specks that looked like they were coming out of the sun. As they grew, he recognized them as dragons, but even his draconic senses were no match for maternal instinct, and he found himself wondering what his mother was so ecstatic about. A few minutes later, he had his answer.

“It’s Vorel and I’gra-Nar!” he shouted unnecessarily.

Beside him, his mother laughed and then ran out to greet the two as they landed with a graceful thump in the field. Her child was home, and nothing mattered beyond that, not the tapestry, not the odd bulge around the smaller dragon’s middle…she stopped short.

As soon as she did, both dragons transformed, and Zela’s suspicions were instantly confirmed. She continued forward and gathered Vorel in a happy, if careful, embrace. “Oh, my daughter, my love, how I’ve missed you!”

She kissed the woman’s cheek, pulled back, and grasped her mother’s hands with joy. “I missed you, too, Mother.”

“When you weren’t busy with other things,” said J’nah who had trotted up to them. He was giving Vorel’s midsection a significant stare.

“Silly boy!” She grinned, one hand caressing the bulge, and turned her head to glance with adoration at her consort.

“Oh, I’gra-Nar, how good to see you, too!” Zela released her daughter and gave the young man a hug.