Warm sunlight struck the blue membrane of Aleau's wing, under which I was laying. I softly stroked the leathery wing, and waited for my dragon to let me out. She lifted her wing slightly, and I wriggled free, trying to not further wake her. She muttered a lazy good morning to me, then snuggled closer to her white mate, Hyporean. Goose bumps appeared on my arms as the chilly mountain air greeted me.
I pulled my black travelling cloak on, and the cold air began to lose its frigidity when I left the cave, the sun was halfway up, lighting the fog in the mountains with beautiful colors. I slowly made my up above the cave, to where a small overhang was. I sat here, and leaned back on my arms, watching the sunrise.
My hand strayed too my pocket in which was a small branch of a flame wood box elder tree. Ale'au had asked me to make an amulet out of the red streaked wood. Pulling my knife out of my boot, I began shaving of delicate curls of wood. Stroke after stroke, the wood began to take its shape as a small octagonal pillar. I made a pyramidal top for it, then smoothed the wood with a spell.
"Gwres!"(heat) At my command, the tip of my knife glowed cherry red. Using the knife, I burned my name, Hyporean's and Aleau's names into the wood. Upon finishing this task, I stood and brushed the wood shavings off of me. Using my foot, I pushed the majority of them off the overhang.
I head a sneeze from below, and Hyporean growled watch it. He shook his head a couple times, then spread his massive wings and jumped into the air. I watched him until he was but a speck in the sky, then climbed down to the cave.
Ale'au was stretching when I reentered the cave, her wide open mouth displaying lots of razor sharp, serrated teeth. She walked over to me and nuzzled my chest, pride and love rebounding through our mental connection.
Did you finish it? Her curiosity was unmistakable.
Yes, I finished it. I showed her the pendant, then walked over to the wall where a dyed blue steel chain hung. I threaded the pillar on the necklace, then hung it around her neck. She had to practicly laydown so I could reach the back of her neck. When I closed the clasp, she pulled my into a warm dragon hug.
It was know that I was still important to her. The look she gave me after that made me nix the idea.
Ohh little one. You know that a mate will never replace what we have. Even if.. her voice craked her, and hurt washed through our link: even if I have a child, you have been and always will be my rider.
Just as she let me go, Hyporean sailed into the cave with two deer clutched in his ivory talons. He laid one of the deer before me, saying, take what you want. All traces of early morning irritation gone. I nodded my thanks, the hacked off the hind leg. Ale'au looked on with the fondness of a mother when her offspring get a long. Hyporean picked the deer back up, and padded out side. Ale'au followed her mate out, only stopping to picked up a deer.
For a second, my thoughts turned towards my friend, Corlean shut'urgal. It had been almost a full year since I last visited him. I kind of missed him. Aside from the occasional traveler, we had almost no visits at our cave. There were no warring kingdoms, no civilizations, no anything that would disturb me and my dragons.
We lived a happy, carefree life, where we did whatever we wanted. We never had to do hard labor, unless we wanted to.
I did not follow them, knowing Ale'au valued her time with her mate. Instead I set about cleaning the meat that I had been given.
"llosgi"(burn) The small pile of logs I had gathered instantly set alight. By that time en I had stripped all the hide of the leg, so I put it on a spit over the fire. I could have cleaned and cooked the meat in seconds, but I knew how much Al'eau's time meant to her.
She was sad, and there was naught I could do about it. Despite the two years she had been with her mate, they had been unable to produce an offspring. It was a problem that no one could fix. As the delicious smell of roasting venison filled the cave, I found my eyes unwilligly drifting closed.
Confusion ran rampant in my dreams. Someone was screaming in pain. The scene flashed to two dead dragons laying in a mudslide. The filth was so thick, the color of their hides was indistinguishable. Freezing rain poured down, soaking the boy who sat beside the dragons, his head crained back in a howl of internal agony.
I suddenly felt my partner-of-the-mind swoop in and push the dreams away. It was only a dream, little one. Her voice was calm and gentle. She squeezed me, reassuring that I was okay.
A dream I echoed waking to find myself pulled tight against my dragon, her tail curled around me. I shook my head, trying to forget the strange dream. Throughout the entire exchange, Both dragons remained staring off into space, their eyes clouded over. Realizing they were having silent conversation, I sat back chewing slowly on my roasted venison.
Even though my mind was closed to her, I could still feel the general sence of her emotions. a background of sorrow, flit through with slashes of determination. Passion and love where also present. her thoughts where dwelling on her infertility and inexistent posterity.
I patted her leg, vaguely trying to comfort her. As I did so, she tightened her tail around me, and said Thank you, little one.
I was genuinely confused when I asked what for?
For understanding. Only seconds later she and her mate rose and padded lightly out of the cave. As I watched, I knew she would be in a much better mood when she returned.
Branches smacked my face as I ran through the woods, clutching the blue egg to my chest. A massive beast behind me was tearing apart the forest to get at me.
Must protect the egg flashed through my mind, pushing me on faster. I had already used magic to hide my trail, but the enraged dragon behind me was not fooled. I suddenly cleared the woods, and found myself back peddling to keep from falling off the mountains edge. The dragon emerged from the trees, moonlight glinting off its scales.
Anger, and rage contorted its face, but there was another emotion there, could it have been fear? Snarling, the beast advanced, obviously confident that I could go nowhere. Trusting the river to be deep, I made one of my snap decisions I would later come to regret. The dragon roared in fury as it watched it's prey disappear.
I woke with a start as I hit the cold water. Stars glimmered outside the cave, old observers of the ether. I could feel the scaly leg of my partner-of-the-mind against my back. The fire was burning low, casting dim light over the dragon at the cave's entrance.
As I rose to go to him, I tried to cast off the dream. Only problem was that it wasn't a dream, but a memory. The most frustrating part was that I couldn't remember why I was running, or where I was running to or from. I couldn't even remember where I had gotten the egg. I stood there for several minutes, struggling internally when Hyporean touched my mind.
His voice resonated with hurt as he asked: How do you do it? I knew exactly what he wanted to know, but I feigned ignorance anyways.
I see the pain in her eyes, and it tortures me. You see and feel it, yet never fail to lift her spirits. i…I cannot give her the one thing she wants. Tears spilled from his eyes as he finished. I was completely flabbergasted
I finally managed to get out that, well, that's my job.
Job? He inquired after a moment.
As a rider. An awkward silence ensued. It's not your fault, these things happen. The dragon remained silent for almost a full ten minuets, then returned to the cave to lay beside his mate. I slumped to the ground, watching the starts turn as I considered the problems facing me.
The next thing I knew, Ale'au was gently shaking me awake. I could see the mid-day sun behind her, casting her face in deep shadow.
"ss morning already?" my slurred speech was product of my thick tongue. I coughed, my parched mouth reminding me of how dry the air was here. I stood slowly my cramped body unused to sleeping in such a fashion. A slight dragon smile appeared on her lips as I stretched, wincing when several muscles pulled. Feeling much better, Ale'au bent down so I could climb into the saddle.
Did you wear this all night? Her excitement at spending the entire day with me surged through our being, washing away each indivuiduals pains
Today was for us.
Ready? I could feel the excitement coursing through her as I strapped my legs into the saddle. In a single bound, she took us off the mouantin side. The wind whipped through my hair furthering the feeling of ecasty that filled me. Here at the top of the world, we were the rulers, and nothing else mattered.