Chapter Two: Darkness Opens Your Eyes

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Adapted Anglo-Saxon terms:

Grēne: 'Green'meaning the race of green dragons native to Drake's homeland.
Cynn: 'kin family, kind, race' meaning other dragons
Cāsere Inwidsorth: Drakes Former master, literally 'Emperor Sorrow' the name also means 'Evil Care'
Drēorsele: the name of the place Drake lived, literally 'Hall of sorrows'
Swǽtan Ēalond: the kingdom Drake was from, literally'Bloody Island'
Translations of any other A-S terms will be supplied within the text.
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Dragons have keen hearing Drake heard the tentative footfalls stealthy approach from the tunnel. So he did not fall after all, Drake snorted.
"I-I-I am not afraid of you Dragon." A quiet voice called.

"You should be." The Drake said with a draconic smile showing his sharp fangs. "I am not at all like that beast of yours. I could kill you easily."

'My beast?' Gunther wondered then it dawned on him, 'That is right, MINE!' It was a gamble but it just might work. "I will have you know that Dragon and I are great friends." the apprentice knight called out from around a twist in the tunnel. Gunther tried to make his quavering voice sound as intimidating as possible, "He would not like it a bit if you hurt me."

"You are sadly mistaken if you think I would be frightened by the likes of that scrawny lizard." Drake snorted. "He is not even average for a Grēne. I have killed Dragons far greater than He."

"Y-you have K-killed other dragons?" Gunther asked stunned.

"Of course…Men too, plenty." Drake scoffed. He was a war beast; that what they did. Not that he had ever been given any choice in the matter. "Is it not so…with your…um…friend?" the dragon wondered. The thought of friendship between their two species seemed a blatant impossibility to him, but that HAD been the term the young human had used.

To Gunther the dragon's comment seemed so casual, so…for lack of a better word, 'human.' That and the implication that—where he was from, others of his kind not only existed, but existed quantity—intrigued the young man intensely. Gunther felt his fear evaporate and found himself skulking back into the cave to get a better look at the creature he was addressing. "We did not even know there WERE other dragons." The apprentice-knight admitted quietly. "Dragon says he has been searching for hundreds of years and he has never found a one. Where DID you come from that your experience is SO different from his?" Gunther eyed the beast speculatively. He WAS impressive there was no denying it. He lay coiled like a cat; Ebony scales gleaming like diamonds reflecting the light of the fire down the entire length of him. This creature was easily a third larger than Jane's Dragon, leaner and clearly of a fiercer sort.

Gunther felt those gold eyes studying him as well. Measuring him, a bit like his father did. Some small voice in Gunther's mind balked at the comparison…for some reason he hoped this creature would not find him as much of a disappointment as Magnus did. Gunther tore his gaze away self-consciously. For a few heartbeats he examined the large natural cave. Gigantic stalactites and stalagmites, the bones of the earth, cast eerie shadows about the cavern. "I am Gunther, by the way." He said quietly. It did not even occur to him that the dragon might find it more difficult to eat someone he knew by name.

"Drake." The dragon said, taken quite by surprise at the human's affability, especially given that he had made it more than clear that he was a consummate killer. Still what the boy had said troubled him. Communicating with other war-beasts was expressly forbidden and the punishments were especially severe. Of the dozen or so Dragons stabled in the great hall Drake knew only a handful by name. Never-the-less, he could not even imagine being completely cut off from other members of his Cynn. It was practically inconceivable to him that this other 'Dragon' had been alone so long he did not even have a proper name; his species was enough to define him.

Clearly, Drake did not know where he was at present, or in fact, how he had gotten here…except to say that it involved magic. His master, Inwidsorth, was a sorcerer of great power and had spent much of the day conjuring on the tower heights. Drake watched, as dusk fell on the battlements the sky took on unnatural hues of green, violet and turquoise a clear sign that he was shaping dangerous magiks.

When night fell and the unearthly hues faded into the darkness the master's power took on a new form culminating in the mother of all storms. There had been no rain but Drake had never seen such lightning. One strike was close enough to tag the chain that bound him. Before he was thinking clearly he wrenched it apart and leapt from the platform in the dragon-hall. He was an instrument of death to any who stood between him and the quickest route to the sky. The archers filled the air with fiery bolts but he still made good his escape.

Then the winds screamed and tore at him. He battled them as furiously as any creature he had ever faced on the field of battle. Twisting, turning, diving…every second he had all he could do to prevent the breath from being driven from his lungs. His vision was red and spots danced before his eyes but somehow he managed to outdistance the unearthly storm. All at once, the wind vanished and Drake found himself plummeting earthward through the clouds trying every trick he knew to arrest his fall. It felt as if he had been tossed him from one end of the sky to the next, still he clung to the one brief hope that storm had surely carried him far from Drēorsele and the war torn plains of the Swǽtan Ēalond.

So it was, that the three natives happened upon him meadow still shaken and in considerable pain. In his experience, strangers were enemies and even allies were apt to take advantage if they knew you were vulnerable. If Drake had been in top form, he likely would have been more congenial toward the strangers. And why not, he would have been able to deal with them easily had they proven false. As it was, the black dragon had been in no condition to take the chance. So he had driven them off. Shaking off his revere, Drake shifted his great bulk into something more approximate to a sitting position.

The movement caught the boy's attention once more "Zounds!" Gunther gasped, "What happened!" he practically sprinted the fifteen to twenty feet that separated them to get a better look at the dragon's forelimbs; iron fetters bit deeply into them and the flesh beneath them was torn and bleeding. The dark haired boy drew the dagger from his belt and attacked the restraints with fervor; tears blurring his vision. "Who did this to you!" he demanded.

"Humans," Drake spit the word thoughtlessly. The boy's actions stunned him so completely he found it difficult to even imagine this Gunther one to be of the same species as his former master. Maybe the boy was an Ælf, Drake reasoned…or a half-elf at the least. They were hard to find these days but it was the only explanation that made any sense at the moment.

"I am sorry." The youth whispered. "Humans can be cruel," He admitted. Then his voice turned suddenly defiant, "I hope you killed them!"

"Some of them," Drake confessed. "But mostly I just wanted to get away."

"You are braver than I am." The boy told him absently as he worked the fetter loose and moved on to the iron band half-grown into Drake's opposite forelimb.

"Who hurt you?" Drake asked sensing the pain in the boy's voice.

"My father…But I keep going back…keep hoping he will change." Gunther sighed forlornly. "He will not change though, and I will still get hurt the next time…and the next." He said with a shiver. Gunther had been having lessons at the castle for almost five years and he had never breathed a word of his private pain to anyone. He had known this creature for less than an hour and had already spilled his guts…Even so, he did not feel the least bit ashamed, and that surprised him. Drake understood. That made all the difference. Under his continued ministrations second fetter soon fell away. "There, I expect that feels better." He said.

Drake stretched and gently massaged his tender flesh. "It does." He said bobbing his head in thanks.

"I wish I had some salve or something to help heal the marks…I do not know if the scales will grow back."

"It does not matter." Drake shrugged thinking that perhaps he had been right not to eat this particular human. "I imagine you will want to be going back to your friends soon anyway. They are likely missing you by now."

Gunther looked away. Knowing what he said earlier had been a lie. He did not exactly fit in with the others at Kippernia Castle. In fact, his so called 'friends' probably would not even miss him. He was a loner. Somehow it had not really bothered him, till now. He could somehow sense Drake felt the same. "Would you have me leave you here all alone?" Gunther asked. "Is that REALLY what you want?"

"I-dunno." Drake mumbled sullenly scratching in the cave floor with one razor sharp talon. He had never been completely on his own before. Freedom was a bit intimidating. Hunting on his own with no one telling him where and when to make a kill he might make the locals angry then they would hunt him down. Drake had had enough of senseless bloodshed. "What are you offering?" he asked.

Gunther gathered up his courage and gently placed a hand on the lizards flank. It was warm to the touch and that surprised him. Despite his bold words earlier, Gunther never actually touched Jane's Dragon. Considering all the time Dragon spent basking in the sun he had just assumed they were cold-blooded like snakes and frogs. Of course Jane's dragon may just be lazy. Gunther suspected Drake was many things and lazy would not be classed among them.

The apprentice knight rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels as he reasoned out what he was about to say. "Jane's dragon… that is the Green you met earlier has a whole mountain of his own. It is full of caves like this one. He lives up there all alone. Of course He also spends a lot of time down at the castle with Jane. He is an orphan you see and has never been around others of his kind." Then nervousness overcame him and his words came out in a breathless rush, more characteristic of Jester than his own naturally reserved ways. "You might consider sticking around some. If you want to that is. You would be free to come and go as you like of course. Jane and the Green go on patrols for the king. I would understand if you did not wish to. You have likely had your fill of that sort of thing. But if you just, you know, want to talk about…things. I can listen." Gunther did not know what he would do if the dragon said no…and was equally worried he would say yes. It was true he competed with Jane about pretty much everything as it was. But this was not just a ploy to best dragon as well. He wanted a friend…a real friend. And it seemed like Drake needed one too.

"Perhaps…for a while anyway," the dragon answered thoughtfully. "From what you said, this seems like a relatively peaceful kingdom with no call for a war-beast like me. It is only fair I contribute somehow….I do not think I would mind flying you on patrols. If that is what the green does to earn his keep, I suppose I could do the same; provided, of-course that YOU are the ONLY one to mount me." Drake regarded him critically. "Do not think I would willingly submit to a handler anything like I had last time."

"I would not dream of it!" Gunther assured him, "And I will not let my father get his hands on you ether."

"You seem to assume I would let your father get his hands on YOU." Drake told the boy firmly then grinned showing his fangs and let twin tendrils of smoke curl from his nostrils. "I can…ah…handle him."

"I bet you can! Together we could give him quite a scare." Gunther was grinning too now. "And if that does not work you could always eat him…I expect he would be oily, Might give you indigestion, but it could not be that bad."

"I have eaten men for far less you know." Drake agreed then playfully added. "Come Elf-Boy it is time to fly."

"Elf-Boy?" Gunther echoed raising an eyebrow incredulously. "Did you just call me ELF-BOY?"

"Well you are certainly not like any human I have ever met. Therefore, you must be at least half-elf." Drake grinned widely showing his long fangs. "As a rule I do not eat elves." The Black Dragon had to admit that elf or no, he genuinely liked this boy. If his friends were anything like him, Drake reasoned they would get along nicely.

"Good to hear it." Gunther said, sounding something less than pleased…First Jane's Dragon thinks he is the tooth fairy and now, Drake calls him an elf…Jane would never let him forget it. The apprentice-knight sighed. Not for the first time Gunther wished he knew just who his mother HAD been If for no other reason than to settle the matter once and for all. Ah well, that was a matter for another time--As the big lizard had said, "It was time to fly!"
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