This story is something of a continuation of my story ' Dawn of the Black Dragon'
I wrote it a long time ago but it was quite popular in its day. The trouble was that that story resolved itself leaving several contentious plot bunnies and they started to fight one another. I was forced to have them relegated to the back of the hutch. I've have bits written for several stories but time passes and other things get in the way. What i had was the makings of a story arch. Thinking of it in that way is less intimidating. Still i think it is only fair to warn you that the big picture is still out of my reach. I HATE leaving stories unfinished. This segment seems to stand on its own. I would like to post other bits as they come to me but i sadly I can not make any promises.
Revelation II: "Day of the Dragon"
Chapter One: Prologue
Adapted Anglo-Saxon words, some were used in my first story but I noted them again just in case. Other words are defined in the text.
CāsereInwidsorth: Drakes Former master, literally 'Emperor Sorrow' the name also means 'Evil Care'
Werian: An elvin healer Name means "to protect or defend"
Initium: Latin meaning "entrance" or "beginning," literally "a going in." The related English verb, "initiate" means to begin or start a particular action, event, circumstance, or happening.
Middanġeard:middle realm, middle earth
Eorth: earth
Drake Ebonshade was curled nonchalantly in a nominally shady corner of the courtyard one could almost call him inconspicuous-at least as inconspicuous as a large black dragon could be. This was notably less conspicuous than the big green dragon presently draped across the battlements—belly to the sky—rattling the roof tiles with his snores. Drake's tufted ears were flattened against his scaled head. In the black dragon's homeland of SwǽtanĒalond, exposing oneself as the green was, amounted to suicide. It was not for nothing that his kingdom was called 'the bloody isle' in the language of the ancients. Drake had been a slave there and his wings were still healing from injuries caused by flaming arrows launched at him when he fled the emperor's palace. But the green dragon was apparently a native of Kippernium and had grown up under far different circumstances. "Is he always this noisy?" the black dragon asked curiously.
"I would say so, yes" Squire Gunther confirmed not breaking the rhythm of his sword training: lunge and recover… advance and thrust… parry, riposte… and lunge…the young man stood several feet away, his intense eyes focused on his shadow dancing across the flagstones.
"Bend your knees more and keep your back straight." The elf reclining against Drake's flank directed. Until three weeks ago everyone in Kipper castle believed Elves were nothing more than fireside tales. But there was Werian in his pointy-eared, amber-eyed, glory. The Elf and his jewel lizard companion Pip, hailed from the same kingdom as Drake and they had gone to a considerable amount of trouble to find the black dragon and bring him back to lead a rebellion against his former master the sorcerer Cāsere Inwidsorth.
There had been no question that Gunther would accompany them. The aloof young squire and cynical battle-dragon were partners…bonded so closely they shared emotions at times. It seemed natural-each providing what the other most needed, it was like magic…It WAS magic. That was something else the ebony hared youth would have to get accustomed to, the existence of magic. Magic had brought Drake, Werian and Pip from the realm of Middanġeard through something called a veil and into his world, which they called Eörth. Magic would enable them to traverse the way back again. The young Squire suspected there was no way to prepare for such a thing…one just had to do it. And the time was quickly approaching when they would do just that.
Gunther corrected his stance and began the routine again. Each movement was almost agonizingly slow as he sought to memorize the way his body felt as it moved. He tried to make each transition smooth, flowing naturally from one shape to the next. -recover… advance and thrust… parry, riposte… and lunge! His muscles burned from the strain but Gunther was accustomed to the feeling. He knew the pain would be far greater if he neglected his exercises and permitted his limbs to stiffen and cramp.
When the young squire felt confident enough with the sequence he let his body move on its own and tried to shift his mind to other things… "So Werian," He addressed the elf, "If my mother was your aunt…why is it that I do not look like you?" Gunther had lived his entire life ignorant of his mother's identity…the revelation that she was an elvin noble from a distant realm had come as a complete shock. He was getting used to the idea but it was still very strange and he had many questions.
"That is an easy one," the lithe figure said twisting a strand of mottled hair between nimble fingers before tucking it behind a delicately pointed ear. "How old are you?" Werian asked the squire.
"Fourteen this past spring." Gunther confirmed the tip of his blade lowering only a fraction of an inch revealing his concentration wavered. He repeated the exercise. -Parry, riposte…advance and thrust- flawless this time.
"That is right, you are still a pup." The elf smiled showing his prominently pointed eye teeth. "Though I expect you will start feeling the change before this time next year." The elvin healer had been three months past this sixteenth birthday when he finally lost his blunt edged 'milk-teeth' and slipped into the great wood for the Initium. The changes might be a bit more subtle in his little half-elvin cousin but it seemed Gunther would not suffer the same frustrating delay Werian had. In fact, the signs were already there for those who knew how to read them.
"It can happen as early as 10 or as late as 17…15 is about average though." Werian explained idly caressing the little bronze dragon-like creature nestling in his lap.
Pip crooned in response but still tried to wriggle its head into the sling containing the elf's healing left arm. A long sticky tongue probed gently at his keeper's bruised flesh. "Fix…fix," The little jewel-lizard murmured quietly, and snuffled at its keeper's injury. Werian did his best to ignore the creature's clumsy ministrations.
Gunther ignored the little lizard too. The elf's words made him forget his drills as well, "What change? How will I know?" The boy wanted to know, "What will it be like?" he asked, not noticing his sword arm drooped till the carefully edged blade almost touched the scarred stone courtyard.
"Well, your voice will shift for one, just as would be expected from your human half. I expect you already have difficulty managing a convincing battle cry." The elf guessed. It was providential Werian discovered the boy when he did. He knew the transition was difficult enough for a full blooded elvin youngling with the support of his kin. It would surely have been difficult for Gunther to be alone and ignorant of his heritage when the change took place.
"Can too!" The squire scowled defensively… last month he practiced his warrior shout every day for almost a full week, He just HAD to have made SOME progress.
"I beg to differ—" A voice said from behind, startling him so completely, he nearly dropped the blade. Gunther turned to see Jane, the unorthodox female squire, smirking back at him. "—Sir Ivon said you could stop, because your attempts were giving everyone within earshot a splitting headache," She finished.
"You…you are no better, you know" Gunther sputtered, "You scream like a…like a girl."
"I am a girl." The flame hared squire smiled back at the flustered boy. "I might as well use what nature gave me. Princess Lavinia provided a few helpful pointers as well. Speaking of nature, your wolf-howl is not exactly third rate—maybe you should stick with that." Jane enjoyed sparring with Gunther whether it was with practice blades or with words; he usually gave as good as he got. But ever since she, Dragon and Drake rescued him from the abuse he had been subject to in his father's house the boy had not quite been himself.
Gunther had been badly mistreated. The painful truth had shocked everyone, but Jane believed the best way to get the dark haired squire back to normal—was to treat him normally—which was not always easy. "I am flying on patrol," she invited casually then half-turned holding a hand to her mouth she called up to the dozing Green, "If I can find a certain lazy frog to fly with!"
"Ohhh…I am asleep…you see me asleep…tell her I am asleep Drake." Dragon groaned, holding a great forepaw over his closed eyes. The green was always loath to vacate his favorite basking spot when the sun was high.
"Come on Lizard lips." Jane goaded. "Sir Theodore wants us to check the south road again…now." She did not say – 'To see if there is any sign of Gunther's father' though everyone knew that was indeed what she was doing. Magnus the merchant had not been seen since Drake half tore down his manor house in effort to locate the missing squire… in the process freeing the elf and jewel-lizard, who had also been imprisoned there.
It was still unknown what the king would do once they did locate the merchant but one thing was clear Gunther would no longer be in a position to take the man's abuse. In addition, Drake had been quite clear that if the merchant should try to lay a hand on the boy (or in any way seemed threatening) the man would be eaten without delay. Which seemed a very good reason for the oily merchant to make himself scarce 'till the situation cooled down.' Gunther was still not sure how he felt; not knowing where the man was and what he was about…meant he could be anywhere-doing anything, and that notion unnerved the young man a bit more than he cared to admit. He sighed.
Subjected to the flame haired girl's continued entreaties, the green dragon sighed forlornly and rolled off the wall, stretched his wings, and yawned expansively. "Short-lives…do not appreciate a perfectly good napping opportunity." Jane just rolled her eyes at dragon and climbed up to her usual position straddling his great scaled neck directly behind his head.
When Gunther flew with Drake he perched between the larger beast's wings. The black dragon was a war-beast trained in combat flying and knew how to keep a rider safe even in the most difficult of circumstances; While Jane's dragon had been solitary, seemingly the last of his species. Drake likely knew more about flying than Dragon did. Even so, Jane was not ready to concede that Gunther's way was any better than her own. It was a matter of personal pride, hers and Dragon's. If it worked, why change things? She reasoned.
That was a question Jane found herself contemplating more and more frequently as of late. Gunther would be leaving with Drake, Werian and Pip and she and Dragon would be setting out on a quest of their own soon thereafter. The female squire would do anything for her green friend. There was no doubt about it. But she had never thought she would be called to do something as monumental as helping Dragon un-lock his magic.
The mighty black dragon told them that magic is the Maker's gift to all Dragon-kind their birthright and the only way to kindle the mighty 'second fire' within them. According to Drake, mature dragons should be able to fly or flame with barely a thought through mastery of their innate magic. Dragon did both, without any perceptible use of magic instead he carefully manipulating the gasses his body produced because of a mostly vegetarian diet. The black dragon revealed that a freeborn fledgling dragon might gorge himself on vegetation to play at being a mature wyrm…but at 300 Dragon should have outgrown the need for such artificial means long ago. But dragon had never had the benefit of others of his kind to teach him so it was understandable he was a bit…immature.
The pronouncement seemed a bit presumptuous to Jane. Physically Drake and Dragon were quite different and they were admittedly from two different worlds. Who could say what was true in one world was true in all? The two dragons had only been acquainted a matter of weeks. Jane had known the green lizard for years. She knew Dragon would be devastated if Drake was wrong in his assessment. He'd lived without magic for a long time…he had been quite reluctant to admit it even existed. But now he dared hope…and Jane did not want to see him hurt.
The young girl tried not to let either dragon know how worried she was about the upcoming adventure. Dragon was a perceptive beast and guessed something was wrong but she told him it was nothing more than a knight's concern that the kingdom would be unprotected while the four of them were off questing.
In fact, she very much wished Drake would delay his return to his own world long enough to guide Dragon on his kindling quest. In her heart she knew the decision to have her be the one to help the green was not just for reasons of friendship; it was expedience. Drake could not delay his return to his own world and Dragon was far too impatient wait till the others completed their quest in Middanġeard. Dragon wanted to prove himself every bit as capable as the larger beast; Now.
The trouble was, Jane could not see how she could in anyway fulfill the roll of a parent dragon. Drake had never been a parent either…but at least he was the proper species and had undergone the quest himself. He would know what Dragon needed far better than she.
"Do be careful Jane." Gunther said…so quietly she almost missed the remark. Before she could reply the green dragon leapt into the air. As the wind rushed past she was left to ponder how strange the other squire had become.