"D-don't move!" the boy shouted.
The drake blinked at him, curious as to why the boy's hands were shaking. Was he scared? It was an odd thought to the drake; to be scary.
"Oh, what am I saying?" the boy mumbled. "This beast can't-"
"Why?" the drake asked, letting the word form slowly so that he would pronounce it correctly.
The boy's breathing stopped sharply; even his hands stopped shaking. He stared at the drake. The two looked at each other, measuring the other, though with clearly different emotional patterns.
"What?" The boy almost sounded apologetic.
"Why should I not move?" The drake elaborated, speaking a bit faster this time.
"It can speak? You can speak." The boy said faintly.
"Sort of." Again, he was a bit slow, making sure to put pronunciation first.
"How can you speak?"
"Practice." He replied reasonably.
"But dragons don't speak!"
"Then I'm obviously not a dragon."
Wow, the drake could really sound intelligent like this! Without the guttural noises of a mindless beast, there was actually some sensibility to communication. Oh, the conversations he could imagine now!
"You look like a dragon!" The young boy protested, raising his spear, whose point had dropped before.
"But I'm missing something, aren't I?" the drake said, getting up to stand as best he could. The young boy shouted in surprise and backed up, tripping over himself, but the drake made no move toward him.
"Y-your front arms." The boy realized finally, standing up again.
"Precisely. I am a drake, not a dragon."
"What's a drake?"
"Need you ask?"
Just then, a roar from above rumbled the earth. Both boy and drake flattened on the floor, peering anxiously from their hiding places. A large shadow passed over them, and the drake just barely recognized the hellkite from before. He shivered, suddenly remembering how close to death he had been.
After the shadow passed and the heavy thud of wingbeats faded, the drake turned to the young human boy.
"What is your name?"
"What? Oh, Jek. What about you? Do drakes have names?"
The drake looked around. He had never had any need for a name before. What would he call himself? His eyes glanced over the brush, his ears twitching at telltale signs of rat-like goblins not too far away, his nose picking up faint scents. Then he looked skyward, and remembered a word from a language he couldn't quite place.
"I am Draetur."
"Draetur?" The young boy scoffed. "Everything about you is strange."
"It is not a good name?" Draetur worried.
"How would I know?"
The slightly unnerved human boy cautiously made his way out into the opening, looking around. Draetur followed him after unconsciously using him as bait, waiting for the young one to get snatched up as food by some creature the drake couldn't sense. The two checked their surrounding for a bit before daring to speak again.
"Why are you alone?" the drake asked. "I am aware you are supposed to become a warrior, but alone is always suicide."
"I got separated from everyone when that giant dragon attacked."
Draetur looked at his human friend, remembering the giant blaze that the dragon had cast. It was less likely the boy was separated, and more likely he was the only survivor. The thought gave way to an emotion that the drake couldn't recognize yet, but that the rest of us would recognize as pity.
"Perhaps I should help you find your brothers." The drake suggested.
"What? No! I can… handle myself." The boy said defiantly, yet uncertainly.
"Somehow I doubt you're a great warrior." Draetur said wryly, eyeing his human companion. "That claw was taken from someone else, was it not?"
The sudden glare startled Draetur, actually managing to make him flinch back. The boy's hand enclosed his treasure, and he put it quietly under his shirt, a strange look in his eyes. The drake couldn't figure what he had done wrong. Were all humans this vulnerable?
"I can manage on my own." The boy mumbled eventually.
"Jek. I will accompany you until there is another set of humans who can care for you."
"You?" Jek scoffed. "You're barely bigger than our beasts of burden. Can you even fly?"
"Would you like to find out?" Draetur asked, his wings snapping open.
The boy flinched back from the drake, eyes wary. Then, after the sudden movement, he realized what Draetur had exactly said. The drake could see Jek almost daring to hope.
"Are you… saying I could fly?"
"Perhaps." Draetur said, folding his wings almost moodily. "But perhaps not, if I am truly as tiny as you say."
"W-well, what I meant was that-"
He cut off as the two heard shouting in the forest. Both of them listened well, trying to discern what creature it was. It obviously wasn't goblin, the drake knew right away. Nor was it the strange tongue of the lizard people who roamed here. Jek's face lit up as he recognized his own village mates.
While Jek was celebrating as quietly as he could, the drake heard a strange noise behind him, and then a sudden pressure near the end of his tail. He turned to see a goblin, which he assumed had just come out of the hole behind it. The little creature had attacked him with its pickaxe, and its devious expression changed suddenly as it realized it had just attacked one of its gods.
"Perfect. I was getting hungry." Draetur commented casually before reaching over and snapping the little creature's neck.
"Draetur, thank you for your offer, but- ugh."
Jek had been about to say goodbye as kindly as he could, but he caught sight of Draetur's little snack. Now the drake was munching on the creature, and it seemed to make Jek lose his enthusiasm entirely.
"I see." Draetur said after swallowing a mouthful. "So you won't be wanting to fly, then?"
The idea struck Jek, and he looked with disappointment to the rescue party that was still searching for him.
"Well, perhaps we could… fly over there?" he offered.
"Knowing your people, they would think you are either a dragonspeaker, or I am a pet. Something tells me they wouldn't seriously consider the former."
Jek would have been offended if he hadn't noticed the peculiar sight Draetur was. As Jek watched the drake eat the goblin while crouched, his wings folded lazily, his tail curved around the snack with the end flicking occasionally, and his blue eyes showing no intention to attack Jek, a hunter, the boy suddenly thought Draetur looked like nothing more than an overgrown cat on a hearth rug.
"They certainly would think you are a pet." The boy commented absently.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The drake growled through his food.
"Jek!" Came a female voice from the distance. Jek turned suddenly, running his hand through his hair. Briefly, he became preoccupied with his appearance, cleaning off his filthy self as best he could. He ruffled his own hair, and then turned to the drake.
"Perhaps it is best that we part ways here. My brethren would probably try to kill you. Solemnly, I must leave you." the boy said in a strangely deeper and more serious tone. Trying to look as manly as possible, he strode into the woods.
Draetur tilted his head to the side, staring at the retreating human figure. As soon as the boy had heard a female's voice, he pretended to be brave and strong. The drake puzzled over it, but could find no connection. In fact, he wondered if all humans were that strange.
Darkness soon fell upon Jund. All creatures knew night was a dangerous time, best spent hiding. The drakes lost their ability to blend during the night, so they all returned home. Draetur followed suit, though he was one of the last to land on the ledge. His mother immediately set to preen him, which felt more like he was being pummeled. Despite the young drake's attempts to escape, he had to eventually accept that he was stuck with it.
The family was the same as normal. Some fought over scraps that others had found for them, others had quarrels over other things. For the life of him, Draetur couldn't remember what was so important for them to quarrel about. A wrong step could set off his family.
Even his father seemed badly tempered, although the young drake could at least rationalize that. The large drake had gotten a smaller than usual count for food, with smaller prey brought in. Also, Draetur smelled like human, and he had brought none home. In fact, the smell seemed to alienate some of the other drakes, and fewer little ones slept on him that night. It would have been a nice change if the one that seemed to like sleeping on his wing had also left.
Things returned to normal, much to Draetur's disappointment. He kept flying about, watching both sky and ground apprehensively. But he spotted no humans and certainly didn't find Jek again.
It was a shame in Draetur's eyes. He had enjoyed talking with someone else who could talk back. The conversation, though filled with ordinary subjects, was fascinating to the drake, and the humans themselves had suddenly found a new draw on him. Draetur was disappointed, therefore, that he could make no contact with them. He even fancied jumping into the middle of their camp and saying 'hi', but the scenario in his head did not end well for him.
Perhaps it was Draetur's constant thoughts, centered upon the Jek and the rest of the humans, which brought them near each other one day. Truly, for any other young creature of an 'inferior' race, running in with the humans would not have happened. But as it just so happened, the young drake was very curious, and so the roars of a creature made him change his course in the skies.
In most cases, the drake would have lost interest after sighting the Scarland Thrinax. It was a hulking creature with a rounded back that was dominated by large plates, giving it an appearance almost like a hedgehog- though Draetur hadn't seen one of those this early in his life. Yellow-orange eyes glowed maliciously while a roar revealed teeth, sharp and long as daggers. The creature was standing over a bed of eggs on short, sturdy legs. Apparently, it had eaten most of the eggs, but had been interrupted by a set of humans.
In truth, the drake was thrilled to see the humans again, although one seemed to think it best to keep an eye on the young, blue, foreleg-less dragon, and traced Draetur's flight path with a crossbow. Despite discouragement, however, Draetur hovered as close as he could. He watched as the humans preoccupied the beast with their spears, much like they had done before with the dragon. However, this time the tactics were changed up a little, and the drake witnessed a human climb up on the violent creature's back and shove his sword underneath the plates on its back.
With a hideous screech, the Thrinax began bucking, and then ignored those with spears so that it could roll. The man jumped off the beast before he got simultaneously squished and speared. Now, though, the Thrinax stood again to look directly at the smallest of the group- someone Draetur recognized as Jek.
Jek had a look of determination upon his face, his claw medallion twitching every time he did. The rest of his hunting mates realized his sudden bad position, and began to swarm the Thrinax. But Draetur saw a problem that they could not avoid in time. All of Jek's fellow hunters were behind the beast, in the least vulnerable spot imaginable. They wouldn't be able to even distract it before Jek was hurt or even mortally wounded. With the sentry that once found Draetur interesting gone, the young drake let out a bellow, and then dove.
Most creatures but the Thrinax hesitated, and the humans hesitated, besieged by the choice as to which threat was the worse one- the frighteningly tough Thrinax before them, or the swift dragon that was about to gobble up the same prey. In retrospect, Draetur was thankful for this hesitation. It gave him just enough time to swoop low, grab Jek by the scruff of his clothing, and then tilt sharply up and away from the Thrinax. A sharp movement of the drake's head, and Jek was flying through the air, shouting for all his worth, until he came to land on the base of Draetur's neck.
"Ow! Careful how you land." Draetur shouted back.
"Oh my- D-, uh… Draetur, is that you?"
"What other talking drake do you know? Now, let's take care of that problem down there."
Beneath them, the Thrinax was upset that it had lost its prey. It rammed a few trees before turning to find more fleshy bipedals. The thing roared bad-temperedly, sauntering forward with heavy footsteps and mad eyes. The humans did as they usually did, and focused on the initial threat, the one they could control at the moment. With their brother believed to be lost, they focused on saving themselves.
The drake looked and examined the situation. What could they do? A flash of red hide caught his eye for just a brief moment, and suddenly it became much more important to finish the conflict here. Without warning, the drake folded his wings again, and he dove, extending his feet so that when he pulled up, he also ripped out the sword that was still shoved in the Scarland Thrinax's back. The Thrinax screamed its rage and pain, but Draetur focused on a quick maneuver, which handed the weapon off to Jek- Jek, who barely caught it.
Things seemed pretty obvious from there, though Draetur was smart enough to tell Jek to go for the eyes once he dismounted. Then the two dove again, but this time Draetur smashed down upon the Thrinax's back and his claws gripped the plates tightly. Jek hopped off, doing exactly as he was told, though he was thrown off the beast right after he achieved stabbing one eye. Now the Thrinax's line of defense against Draetur was the same against the humans. There was something on its back, so it tried to roll to get it off. Draetur, suspecting this line of action, let go after little resistance, and then landed firmly on the Thrinax again when it was on its back. Only a snarl was forewarning of the vicious act afterward that took the Thrinax's life. All in a day at Jund.
"I'd ask if I could take this one home, but I think we have more pressing matters." Draetur said casually, trying his best to sound intelligent, though he was certainly on the wrong plane for that. Nobody cared here.
"Back, you devil!" the head of the hunters shouted, bearing his spear against the drake.
"How rude." was all Draetur seemed to be able to think of in response.
"No, no, no! Ther, don't! He just saved all our lives." Jek said, managing to put himself in between the spear and his drake friend. From behind, the drake found amusement in Jek's ruffled hair, a tribute to their fast flight.
"I'd also like to do it again, if you'd let me."
"Is no one else here preoccupied with the fact that this dragon talks?" exclaimed another hunter worriedly.
"Who cares? Just kill it!" shouted yet another.
As was common in Jund, there was a rather loud roar, which gave pause to all but Draetur, who was unsurprised. He judged, though, that the roar did not belong to the hellkite he had formerly run into. This allowed him to relax. Marginally.
"Not another devil." The lead hunter mumbled.
"That was what I was hoping to warn you against." Draetur said somewhat smugly, happy to know something the humans hadn't. "Something's stirred up the dragons."
At that moment, something red and with wings swooped low over the forest, making those beneath its canopy flinch. Draetur growled despite himself, recognizing the foul stench of the dragon. It wasn't the hellkite that had tried to destroy him before. No, this particularly smaller dragon was known as Tarox Bladewing, and he hated all of his other brethren, who were named the same. They were an evil spawn in Draetur's mind, and they fought all other living creatures just as hard as they fought each other. But what could have called them up? Bladewings were usually too busy fighting and feasting on each other to make appearances up here.
There were a few moments of silence as the hunters all listened. The sounds carried on the wind told them all that there were many Bladewings out there, and that they were fighting each other, but not as much as usual. Something had stayed their hate. The group looked at each other now, reading their ally's features.
"We can't see anything from down here." One man said finally. "We'll need a higher vantage point. Let's move."
The rest of the group began to gather the most important parts of the Thrinax, all eyes upon the sky, just in case. Jek, however, turned to Draetur after making a glance at a female whose scent Draetur recognized from the first time he had met the boy. Perhaps Jek was going to try and impress the female. However, the drake decided against this when he saw the expression on Jek's face. It was one of worry.
"I've never seen the dragons this stirred up. Ther needs a vantage point. Can you help?"
"I can't carry him. As it stands, you're the lightest one here."
Jek eyed Draetur, suspecting a joke, but he didn't find the drake cracking a dragonish smile, so he decided to move on.
"They're already suspicious enough of me as it is."
"However, if two endeavor to venture into dangerous territory for recon, surely at least one will survive."
"Alright, what did you even just say?" Jek exclaimed, looking worried that a drake knew more words than the humans that made them.
"What he's saying is that the chances of one surviving a scout mission increases if two go." Ther said, approaching from behind Jek, who jumped a bit and moved so he wasn't between the muscled Ther and Draetur. "And I agree."
Draetur snorted his surprise, but found this seemed to make Ther unhappy. Perhaps the hunter thought drakes could breathe fire like dragons. Regardless, the drake decided to not do such things that would liken him to dragons from now on, in the best interest of his life.
"I don't like you, dragon." Ther said firmly.
"Drake."
"Whatever. You look too much like those scaly beasts that have killed so many of my loved ones."
Now was about the time that Draetur took notice of all the scars on Ther. He wasn't just the muscled stereotype of a hunter that the young drake had always imagined or seen from a distance. There was a history here that he had never noticed. The man's skin was darker, tough, and leathery, a testament to being weathered by the elements and beasts alike. Every scar had a story; the drake would bet on it. Now that he thought about it, Ther probably did hate Draetur. How many could he have lost to the dragons?
"However, you seem a mite more intelligent than those dumb brutes, and you're willing to help. It'll take us half an hour to reach a proper vantage point on foot, but it'll take you perhaps five minutes to fly high and then report back in to us. Will you do it?"
"Sure." Draetur said without hesitation.
"Jek, get to it." Ther said immediately, startling Jek.
Draetur decided that Jek really wasn't made for this whole 'hunter' thing. He was too jumpy. However, the boy did as he was told fairly quickly, and Draetur barely had to help him onto his back. This time, however, the drake instructed the boy to sit on the dip at the base of his neck instead of the middle of his back. It would be more comfortable for both of them, although it made Draetur nervous to know that the boy was that close to a vulnerable spot on the drake's physiology.
Draetur did not wave goodbye like Jek tried to, his focus centered on the girl, a grin on his face. The drake lurched upward quickly, cutting off the quiet boasting of the boy. They climbed their way into the air, staying cautiously low to the trees at first, eyes looking in every direction. The dragons seemed scarce in this area, but Draetur's sharp gaze caught sight of many red bodies around the skies, and he shuddered when he noticed a couple hellkites had been summoned as well.
When the coast seemed clear, the drake worked his way up high, so that he might take advantage of his light underbelly and blend in with the sky, as the rest of his family was fond of doing. Up high, he circled, and both the drake and the boy viewed the world below. Dragons were flying everywhere, scouring for something. Now and again, they would burn areas of forests, as if to scare up something. Hellkites didn't participate in these strange activities, instead seeming to just overlook the others, reserving their energy for something else.
Jek was easily stunned by this entire ordeal. It was going to be nigh impossible for his hunting group to make it back home without being burned in a random fire from a dragon and tell everyone the danger. Draetur barely held onto calmness. But then he saw something that made his heart plummet.
Living in a family of drakes, beasts that weren't commonly known for being eloquent, had given Draetur some trials after he had become intelligent. They could be as cruel as dragons, despite their smaller stature, and only large showings of emotions were sufficient enough to explain what was and was not allowed for the family. Still, they were his family. And a group of dragons were heading straight for his mountain.
The drake turned without warning and folded his wings briefly, allowing himself to speed toward the ground before he extended his wings and maneuvered as cleverly as he could to the ground, Jek hanging on for dear life. Landing was a bit startling, but they both held out. Dismounting, Jek smacked Draetur's neck.
"What the hell was that for? No dragon for miles around had seen us!" he exclaimed.
"Be quiet. We each have our own families to take care of."
At this moment, the rest of the hunters came into view, walking through the brush as quietly as they could.
"How's it look up there?" Ther asked.
"Pretty bad." Jek turned from Draetur reluctantly. "There are dragons and hellkites everywhere. The dragons seem to be looking for something and hellkites are supervising. I don't know what's going on. It's going to be hell getting home in time to warn everyone."
"Isn't that the truth. They seem to be burning parts of the forest, too." Another hunter mumbled quietly.
"You should be less concerned." Draetur said as calmly as he could. "The dragons are not aiming for your village, it seems. They're all migrating to the swamp just southwest of here, as well as the mountain that rises from its bogs. They should move away from your people soon enough. However, I have to leave. It was nice seeing you again, Jek."
"Wait!" Jek shouted, catching Draetur with his wings half raised. "Are you saying your family is in that mountain?"
"Who cares?" A hunter said. "It's not our family. Let him take care of his own, and we'll take care of ours."
Jek suddenly rounded on his larger village mate. He surprised everyone with a fierce stare and a strongly disapproving frown. Suddenly, his stick-figure presence seemed a lot bigger.
"'Who cares?' He helped us! Despite the fact that he had nothing to do with the Thrinax, with the fact that I was about to die, he came in and saved not only me, but probably some of you, too. And you know what? I'll bet he won't forget me the moment I'm dead, like you, my brothers."
Some seemed struck by Jek's words, like Draetur. Did Jek really think of him that highly after two meetings? Or was he merely a better option compared to the way of life on Jund, which was easily symbolized by his brethren? The drake acknowledged that death and the threat of death was constant, but was he the type to care about it? Or would he just keep moving? The thought had never entered his mind before.
"You would rather side with a dragon?" the woman said finally.
"He seems to give a damn about my existence. I honestly can't say the same for anyone here."
Draetur was struck by the pain on Jek's face. Receiving no assurances from his family,- which struck the drake even more- Jek turned to Draetur and, using both the drake's knee and his wing's arm to get up, again sat on the dip at the base of the drake's neck. The drake examined his companion a moment.
"Well?" Jek said bad-naturedly, wanting to just leave. However, the drake turned to the humans.
"Drakes are different from dragons." He said calmly. "We're not all brutes."
Then, with a strong downward stroke, they launched into the air and again began skimming the tops of the trees. Checking the areas around them, they found that most of the dragons had disappeared from sight, as well as the hellkites. Draetur made no hesitation in turning toward his mountain home, and Jek stayed where he was, sullenly quiet.
"What is wrong, Jek?" Draetur asked finally. "I thought it was bad for your health to throw in your lot with dragons."
"You're not a dragon." Jek insisted bad-temperedly. "And anyways, I've never really been a part of my village. I've always been the outsider. I'm not muscley or tough, and I don't even look intimidating."
An outsider, huh? Draetur thought about it. Jek certainly never seemed to fit in. He wanted to impress a mate and become a recognized hunter, but Draetur had only ever seen him in awkward and life-threatening situations where he was about to get destroyed. And Draetur… Draetur could identify with that.
It's not to say that Draetur was always the strange one in his family. He had fit right in with little fits of rage until he suddenly started wondering at this. It had happened so suddenly, wondering what humans were doing when they were making noise, that he had startled himself. And then, his family had noticed the change. However they did it, he had become the strange one; the outcast.
Even compared to most creatures on Jund, Draetur was strange. He was small because of his age, and the tan scales on his stomach hadn't faded out yet. Draetur wasn't big or intimidating, and he didn't breathe fire like the frightening dragons. He didn't even have a large appetite or anger issues, which knocked out unpredictability. Now that he thought on it, it was a miracle that Draetur was even still alive. The same went for Jek. Was there some reason?
"I understand." Draetur said finally. "We're not exactly the cream of the crop, are we? We're both small and strange. But I think we can use that to our advantage. I may be small, but I'm smarter than most of these brutes, and I'm fast. Perhaps you can find something you're better at as well."
Jek grew silent, and the drake could only assume the boy was thinking. They would be at his home soon, so he didn't bother disturbing him. There wouldn't be much time to think later, since the mountain peak was already in view.
However, something caught the young drake's attention, and it started to make him growl. There was a human on a small rise in the land, shouting and waving his arms about, babbling some prophetic nonsense. Despite the stench of the swamp below, the drake recognized the scent of dragons about him. The drake knew this was a human who called himself a 'godtracker', referring to the dragons as his gods. Anger swept the drake downward, and he grabbed onto the human with his claws and dropped him into the bogs of the swamp. Then he landed down by the human, wings raised for intimidation and lips pulled back to reveal ivory daggers.
"Where have you tracked your gods to, human?" he growled.
Jek seemed confused- the drake felt him shift nervously on his back- but he kept silent and watched.
"To an infestation." The human smiled, and a short roar erupted from the drake's long neck.
"An infestation?" He exclaimed. "What infestation have they found?"
"A swarm of insect wretches that don't belong here." The human said, eyeing the form of the drake, noticing his blue scales and missing forelegs. "They came from another world and mimic the form of dragons, but aren't truly my gods. They lack forelegs and have blue scales, as well as an unfamiliar scent to this world."
"And what do they intend?" The drake's voice was just a low, threatening growl now.
"To rid this world of the infestation, at the command of the great hellkite Belnair." He laughed, obviously insane.
This finally pushed the drake off the edge, and he arched his neck up before striking with the amplified strength and precision of a snake. He spat out the taste of the swamp waters before lifting off into the air again and leaving the corpse there, for scavengers to find. Now, more than ever, he hurried toward his home, where he could see fire and swarms of blue figures dashing around larger red ones. And when he was close enough to see the familiar red figure, his heavy wing beats thrumming through the air, he drew in a deep breath while the figure on his back unsheathed a weapon from his belt.
"Belnair!" The fury exploded from his voice, and the giant red head turned, smiling, a glint of bloodlust and victory in his eyes.
Cards Drawn: Goblin Tunneler, Scarland Thrinax, Tarox Bladewing, Swamp (Dan Frazier), Godtracker of Jund
Shieb: This turned out quite a lot longer than I had intended, but I guess that's because I found Draetur's life story is a bit more detailed than I had originally expected. Regardless, I hope I wrote it so things don't drag on, and so you'll become apprehensive about the next battle coming on. What will happen? In some ways, even I don't know.
