The blades flickered as they danced around each other, lunging and clashing together, each straining to break down the other's defenses. The metallic ring of steel on steel reverberated around the clearing as they locked, slid, then broke free again, circling each other. Stuck in a death-waltz, each was failing so far to fell the other, to break through, and their strokes became desperate. Finally, one blow was swung too hard and the other whirled away across the clearing, sticking firmly into a tree.
The elfen boy whose sword it was spat contemptuously at the feet of his opponent and stalked over to the tree. He yanked it out, sheathed it and stomped back to his tree, leaving his opponent standing, dumbstruck. He couldn't believe any elf could be so rude. He hadn't even bowed after their sparring. Manners in elfen society were of utmost importance.
The victor bowed his head and wandered back to his tree, deep in thought. As he did so he felt the lightest brush on his mind and instantly recognised the touch. How did it go, Matt? the voice asked, massaging his consciousness in the way that Matt loved it so. I defeated him. It wasn't easy, but I have the victory, he replied. The voice returned. I thought I felt you feeling triumphant. Ahh, how he loved that voice, the voice of Mithril, his dragon.
He rubbed his hands through his long, shaggy hair, and massaged his temples. They rand inwards and tugged at the corners of his bright blue eyes. Mith, I don't understand. Why was he like that? What was up with him? I mean, Dominic's never liked me, but why behave like that in public? he told her as he fed a stream of recent memories to her. He rounded a corner in the road, and came to his tree. He looked up and there she was, her purple scales shimmering as he shimmied up the trunk and settled on his favourite branch, next to her, her blue eyes staring deep into him. She would understand. You'd talked to Shadowback often before this, hadn't you? What did he say? he asked her.She sighed. Shadowback is as elusive as his rider. However, he did mention that Dominic was very desperate to best you today for personal reasons. I could not see why, though, his mind was too well shielded. Or he was expecting it, she replied. He hummed as she tickled his neck with her tail. Personal reasons, pah. I think he was just trying to boost his ego, said Matt, suddenly feeling a lot more jubilant. Let's get some food, he spoke again as his stomach grumbled loudly.
A while later at the dining hall, seated next to Chris and his dragon, Shaiya, and they had stuffed themselves full of roasted boar and mulled (non alcoholic) wine, they were talking animatedly about the new swords that the smith had started making. Matt and Chris were best friends, but they were complete opposites.
Chris was tall with long, curled hair, golden-brown eyes and a big smile that lit up his face. He was built rather stockily for an elf, but that didn't stop him from possessing superhuman speed and co-ordination. He was cheerful and easygoing, and very protective of those he loved. His dragon shared much of his personality. Shaiya was a big golden dragon, big to match his rider. He was also very stocky, but quite clumsy and often tripped over his tail. He was of the four-legged kind, as was Mithril, and had a large collar of spines around his head which clicked together when he shook his head, as he often did. The pair were formidable in the mock fights set up for them by their trainers, but were so kind hearted that they wouldn't hurt a fly outside of a battle.
Matt on the other hand, was very small and slender, with somewhat shaggy hair that was somewhere between black and brown. His eyes were large and they were an intense, burning blue, the kind that would knock you off your feet, steal your soul, then set you down again in a heartbeat. He was quiet and shy, but also very protective, especially of Mithril. She was the only one who understood him fully, knew all his secrets. She had large wings and a slim body, like her rider. Her tail was very long and in general, she was beautiful, also like her rider. He eyes were large and blue and he scales a mottled mix of purple and blue. Unlike Shaiya, she had two long, sweeping horns on the back of her head. And unlike Shaiya (and Chris for that matter) both of them had found themselves in trouble more times than was healthy. Or maybe it was healthy, because it was how they'd become friends.
It started four years ago, when they were both at the tender young age of twelve…
The first day at the new dragon academy and Matthew was already in trouble. It wasn't easy, having been a shapeshifter all your life and then suddenly having that taken away from you. But it had, as the dragonling peeking out of his tunic showed, and now he had no way out. It also wasn't easy being so small and pretty, as he was often picked on by the thuggish elder boys at the academy who were just trying to prove themselves to each other.
This was how he'd found himself backed into a corner, his new baby dragon squeaking in fright. Usually, he'd leap forward and shift to his alternate form, that of a wolf, and escape. But as he was fully aware now, his bones no longer had the magic in them to warp and crunch to take on his lupine form. The loss was worth it, though, for Mithril had chosen him and their bond was very strong already.
'Hey, pretty boy with the pretty dragon, what are you scared of? Aren't you just gonna, you know, go werewolf on us now? I thought nobody could touch you,' the older boys sneered, dragons beside them. He threw his head back and howled loudly, mocking all that Matthew had ever loved about his life until now.
'Or maybe you're just going to take us on, here and now, with the wolfish strength and power that courses through you, huh?' Matthew drew his dagger, in case the worst came to the worst, but this just got more scorn.
'Ooh, he's getting mad now, boys, we'd better run! Look at his mighty blade, he's gonna run us through,' they sneered, drawing full bladed swords. Matthew trembled in his little boots. Usually it didn't get this bad. What should he do? He could feel Mithril trembling inside his tunic, and he knew he had to keep her safe. Should he yell? Fight? Run? He decided yelling was the best option. They were much bigger, stronger and older than him, he'd get beaten to a bloody pulp on the ground.
He backed further into the corner and opened his mouth, preparing to scream. But as he did so, a deeper voice sounded behind him.
'Excuse me, but what do you think you're doing?' Matthew gaped as his classmate, Chris, appeared, lazily leaning on the wall, his little gold dragon in his mess of wild curly hair.
'Ooh, look, we've got company,' the elder three laughed scornfully. The baby in Chris' hair puffed himself up and blew a tiny cloud of smoke at them, and they laughed hysterically. Then Chris straightened up, and they quailed slightly at seeing that he was taller and slightly bigger than them. He edged forward with a confidence that Matthew envied badly.
'Look, chums, I'd really appreciate it if you left him alone,' he said softly.
'Huh, big guy, what makes you think you can just ask and we'll do it?' the lead bully smirked, with a more threatening air.
Chris paused, smiled, then reached into his tunic and walked very close to the bully. He smiled broadly, then drew his hand out in a fist and laid it very close to the bully's throat, then opened it.
'This.' The bully took one look at what was in the palm of Chris' hand, blanched, turned in the opposite direction and ran, the graceful, powerful, efficient lope that all elves possessed. The others scarpered as well, leaving them quite alone.
Matthew was amazed, and very thankful.
'T-thankyou, Chris,' he stammered as he struggled off the ground. Chris paced forward and helped him up, the little golden dragon on his head squeaking happily, its tail entangled in the mess of hair up there. 'H-how did you g-get them to m-move so quickly? Wha-what was that?' he asked shakily. Chris flashed him a big smile, then opened his other fist. Matthew craned his neck to see, then uttered a little squeak and jumped backwards. Chris laughed.
'Yes, not many people are easy around her, but she's my little weapon,' he said.
'H-how are you not, you know,' Matthew swallowed. 'Uh, dead?' Chris laughed again.
'I was bitten by one when I was young, but the healers got me, so now I'm immune. She's my pet now,' he told him.
Indeed, the deadly scorpion that Chris had tucked up in his top was not to be taken lightly. Strong as the elves' bodies were, one sting from it would have them dying a horrible, painful death as the toxins burned through their bodies. It took less than a day.
'Well, uhh, um, thanks I guess. I'd better go,' muttered Matthew, even though he had nowhere to go to. Mithril was squirming around on his shoulders now, Chris watching with interest and laughing softly as the little dragon's head appeared over Matthew's pointed ear.
'No, stay,' Chris replied. 'You don't have anybody to go to,' he said, softer this time. Matthew looked at him, dumbstruck.
'How do you kn- oh,' he said, ashamed. Chris smiled gently and tapped his forehead.
'It must be really hard for you, having that suddenly taken away,' he told Matthew, who nodded.
Now that he wasn't a shapeshifter anymore, people had access to his thoughts. Previously, he'd lived in secrecy, being able to retreat into his mind by himself and not share it with anybody. Now he was forced to keep his mind constantly under guard, to protect his emotions, memories and thoughts. Everybody else had lived with this open access for their whole lives, and Matthew didn't know how they would have done it. Usually he could feel it, but he wasn't as sensitive as others and it only took a light brush of contact from somebody like Chris to have gleaned outside information off him and he wouldn't even know.
It was the dragon that had done it. The bond they'd formed immediately as she'd hatched had sapped the magic he used to shift and used it for something else, which happened to be the secure mental link between their minds. He wasn't going to complain though, because he knew every elf had to have a dragon to share their life with and he would be outcast if he didn't. So he just had to adjust.
He and Chris looked away from each other awkwardly.
'So, do you, um, want to come back to mine? I could, er, teach you some stuff, I found some new spells the other day and they're pretty good, um, I could show you how to do them, and uh-' Matthew cut him off.
'I'd like that,' he said, and Chris' easy smile returned. Then, quieter, Matthew continued.
'I've never had a friend before.'
Two hours later, they'd made themselves comfortable in Chris' big tree. He'd made it more 'himself' by adding hammocks and ropes everywhere, so it was almost impossible to fall. They had been practicing their spells seriously for a while, then Chris had tried to teach Matthew some mental defense tactics, but in the end they'd ended up messing around and making up stupid spells with their energy rings.
'Iliae jahrlens- AAAIEEEEEE!' Matthew squealed as a giant ball of feathers erupted in his tunic, having been summoned and spirited there by a smirking Chris.
'Ahh, get them out, do you have any idea how ticklish I am? I- HA!' Matthew had an idea. While he was wriggling away from Chris, he closed his eyes, tapped into the dwindling supply of energy in his ring, and muttered a little spell. With a loud 'poof' all the feathers in his tunic had appeared in Chris', and Matthew was laughing so hard he nearly fell off his hammock. It felt so good just to be able to relax with somebody, to mess around and be a fool with them and not be judged. Chris' suprised bellow upset the dragons, who were snoozing on a high branch, and they awoke with a squeak. Matthew giggled madly as Chris ended up hanging upside down and shaking them out of his tunic.
Both exhausted, they lay back on the two hammocks, just enjoying the other's company. Then Matthew decided he wasn't tired enough, and, lying back and pretending to sleep, he reached out with his mind and poked Chris'. His eyes shot open and he pulled an evil face at the giggling form of Matthew, and poked him back a bit harder, memories and emotions brushing together in a more forceful way that Matthew found unsettling. He retreated back inside himself, scared at the contact with another consciousness, and Chris sighed.
'You know, Matthew, you're really going to have to get used to that,' he said gently.
'I know,' Matthew sighed. With that, he thanked Chris for having him, collected Mithril, who squeaked at he slumber being interrupted, and headed back to his own tree.
Three years had passed, and there was a new boy in their year, which meant a new dragon. Their names were Dominic and Shadowback, and both were as mysterious and elusive as each other. Matt (as Chris now called him) and Chris' relationship had become as strong as ever, and the two (or four, counting the dragons) were inseparable.
All the dragons had grown, and were now big enough to be ridden (but not flown). They'd also grown in mind, and were vastly more intelligent than the elves themselves, with is a big statement. So now it was a circle of four, with a leg total of twelve. They'd spend days together, training with practice swords, practicing their spells, grappling and reading. They would go over and over and over the same spells, techniques, passages from scrolls to make sure they got everything right when it came to tests and exams, and as a result of their teamwork got very good grades.
Matt had grown much stronger mentally, thanks to his endless drilling with Chris, and now he would be able to tell if anybody was in his head. He was still physically very small though, and still pretty, although with a certain ruggedness to him now. Both their arms had become hard and toned from endless hours of sparring, and although Chris usually won because of his superior size and strength, Matt would sometimes find a way to wriggle under his defenses and get in a few taps.
In short, for Matt and Mithril right then, life was pretty good. She had grown considerably, and they held sophisticated conversations about the origins of magic and other such topics when they were restless. Shaiya was big now, heavily built, and he and Mithril often had play-fights, battering each other with their wings and using small amounts of dragon magic on each other, to prepare themselves for when they'd have to hunt. But, as they were currently smaller than all the prey (which probably says something about the size of the prey) in the forest, they would have to wait.
However, Matt was intrigued about this new Dominic boy. He was only a little larger than Matt, and he was new, so why wasn't he being teased? And more importantly, why did he hang around with… nobody? He remained quiet and secretive, preferring his own company.
One day after class, Matt tried to approach him, but he sprang nimbly onto the back of his dragon and they ran away, as if they were scared. But who could be scared of little Matt, the one everybody else picked on? He was very confused, and told Chris so.
'You know, not everybody wants to have friends,' Chris said. 'I knew you were lonely, so I helped you. He's lonely, but he…' he searched for the right words. 'He revels in his loneliness. If you were more inquisitive, you'd learn things like that.'
Matt still wouldn't believe it, and tried to approach Dominic again. Again, he was brushed off and ignored. The next time he tried, he was met with stormy grey grey eyes burning with not hatred, but something close to it. He never tried it again.
Time marched on, and still Dominic was never seen with anybody other than Shadowback. Matt was still as confused as ever, but he was shy and didn't want Dominic's eyes looking at him like that again. They made him feel like he was the only one in the world, standing at the top of a mountain in a wasteland. He did not like it.
He really isn't making an effort to fit in, thought Matt. But then again, maybe he doesn't want to. But just the thought of another new boy enduring what he himself had to go through made Matt's stomach squirm, and he racked his brains for something else to do. He thought of nothing, and wasn't brave enough to confront Dominic again. So he let it be.
As they got older, the boys in the academy started having sparring matches among themselves. It was a fair way of evening out disputes (dragons were NOT allowed to help in any way), and was quite popular entertainment. Some, of course, did it only to impress girls, and some did it for fun. Chris had been in a few, walking away victorious every time, but Matt was too timid. He'd watch and cheer for Chris, but had never crossed swords in something like that before. There were also random matches often set up between two boys for a prize, and this was how Matt found himself in a face-off with the eyes that scared him so much.
He'd been feeling brave one afternoon, and put his name down for a fight with a randomly chosen opponent the next day. Of course, his 'randomly chosen opponent' had to be Dominic, and he ended up winning. Dominic was never nice to him, but Matt was sure he didn't quite have to be so downright rude after the fight. Matt walked away with an expensive silver ring, which fit perfectly around one of his beloved Mithril's horns, so he let her keep it.
'I think he really hates me now,' he mused to Chris, who chuckled.
'I am quite sure of it,' came the reply. Matt absent-mindedly reach up and scratched the soft scales under Mithril's chin and she purred. Definitely. Shadowback will probably hate me now too, oh well, she said. Do we need them to like us? asked Matt. He was shocked to realise that he wanted Dominic to like him, or at least approve of him. You know what you want, not meaning to sound dirty, she said and he rolled his eyes. For a young dragon, she had an extremely sick mind (but that was probably from hanging around teenage elf boys). Hm, he mused. Maybe not. After all, I'm hated by just about everybody in the academy, so why not another one? He chuckled and she hummed with him, then suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes and quailed.
Stormy, smoky eyes, were right in his face and they were burning with actual hate. Straight blonde hair framed a furious face. A straight nose scrunched in wrath was set above a mouth with a full lips curled up with straight white teeth bared. It was the scariest thing Matt had ever seen and he unconsciously backed away.
'You. Stay. Away. From. Me,' Dominic rasped in his face, then swept away, stalking to the serving tables and grabbing a side of boar.
Matt trembled in his chair and instinctively reached out for the reassuring touch of Mithril's scales.
'Uh, Chris, I'm, er, going back now, see you tomorrow,' he said, then they hurriedly wound through the streets back to their tree.
Once safely nestled in its branches, Matt spoke to Mithril in their minds. Great. Now how am I going to get through classes? She sensed his fear. It's okay, little wolf. I'm here. I won't let him touch you, she said in her honeyed voice. He crawled over and snuggled up to her side, just feeling her breathing and listening to her mighty heart send lifeblood coursing around her. She smiled a toothy grin as he pulled her great wing over himself like a blanket. Soon we'll fly on these wings, she told him, and he thrilled at the thought. She was everything to him now, the memories of ever being able to change form in the blink of an eye faded and distorted. He was so lucky to have her, just to hold him close and protect him. She could soothe his pain, dismiss his fear, ease his distress with just words and a touch of her smooth scales, and he did the same for her. Mithril, he said sleepily. Yes, little wolf? came the reply, and he smiled at the use of her pet name for him. Don't ever leave me, he said. Matthew, you know I would die if I had to leave you, she replied. Content with this answer, he snuggled closer until he lay against her side. Then he slept, warmed by Mithril's hidden fires, fires deep inside her that had not shown themselves as of yet but would do any day now.