Dragonia

By Dixxy

Chapter Six: Dragonia

(Lucky)

"I'm. . . I'm WHAT?"

I looked at Rowen in an all new light. He was my Tamer! I had a Dragon Tamer! I flipped around in midair in excitement and joy. I had a Tamer! Rowen was my Tamer! Now I could find Melody and save her from whatever it was that took her away from me! I was in paradise!

Then I remembered I had OTHER problems.

Ryo and Rowen were both dumfounded. My Tamer was staring at me with wide eyes and a dropped jaw, one hand clenched tightly around his sword. He almost seemed like he was a little confused. Ryo, on the other hand, was wringing his hand nervously like he wasn't sure what to do with himself. He took a sudden interest in the grass and shortly there after began running his hands over it. He pulled up a piece and began to fidget with it.

I landed on the grass directly across from Rowen. He looked down at me, closed his eyes, and sighed heavily. "Well, what next?" he said. Ryo stopped fidgeting with the grass to look at Rowen. The blue haired youth nodded once. "Here we are in some strange place, I find out I'm Lucky's Tamer, and Mia and Yuli are in the hands of a madman."

"Well. . . I think we're in Dragonia, if it help's any," I said. I flew up to Rowen's shoulder and took a perch there. "These trees look familiar to me. Maybe not these EXACT trees, but I know the species, and it's a Dragonian one." The humans stood, looking around as if trying to see if this breed was from their world as well, in which case we wouldn't know where we were.

"I think we should trust Lucky on this one. I've never seen leaves like this before, but then again I never looked very far into the study of trees. So I'm guessing we should try to get out of this forest and see if we can find anyone," Rowen suggested. He lifted blade a little, looking it over. He turned his head to look at me. "Any suggestions as to where I should put this?"

"Um. . . you need to get a sheath," I said.

"Wonderful," Ryo said. "Come on- maybe we can find an information center or something. I've got some change in my pocket so we might be able to buy some sort of supplies- even it's just a few bottled waters." I stared at him for a moment, then nearly fell off Rowen's shoulder from laughing so hard. Ryo glared at me. "What so funny?"

"Ryo, I don't think that Dragonia has all that. This is a world that's based off of magic- their technology probably isn't that far advanced yet," Rowen pointed out. I nodded, confirming his observation. Rowen nodded at me. "But supplies isn't a bad idea- still we don't have any of this world's currency."

Ryo sighed, leaving against a tree and placing his hand on his face. "Great. Mia and Yuli have been kidnapped, we're stuck in a new world- save Lucky, of course- and we don't have any money! Unless we can find Mia and Yuli real soon we're screwed! We won't be able to survive long in this world without some way to pay for supplies or barter!"

"Barter?" I asked.

"That rules out that option," Rowen said dryly. He turned to me. "Lucky? Any thoughts?"

"Well, like we said earlier we should start walking," I said. The humans nodded and began to walk into the closest thing to a path we could find. "Dragonia is a continent on this world- there are other continents, but this species of tree is exclusive to Dragonia so we won't go into those continents yet. Depending on what country we're in we'll be better off. North Dragonia is where most of the Dragon Kin live. The Dragon Kin- hence you, Rowen- are treated very well unless they're trying to free-load or do something disgustingly wrong. West Dragonia is a mountainous snow-capped country. There's a lot of mines there that harvest everything from precious stone to iron ore- find a few rocks and we're set for a few months, but it doesn't look like we're here. South Dragonia is a peaceful, neutral country that makes up most of the artisans and artists of Dragonia. Stuff is pretty cheap there because it's all made there, but you'd need to get money fist. And East Dragonia. . . let's hope we're not THERE."

"Why? What's so wrong about East Dragonia?" asked Ryo.

"East Dragonia is not exactly a cheap place to live. The merchants from the East buy from the South at low prices, then turn around and sell it to their customers back home for very high prices. Not to say they're bad people, but they've evolved into a very greedy people. At least that's the way it is with the merchants and the royal family. The middle class and the lower class are a little stingy because of how expensive everything they need to buy is, but most of them will spare a morsel of bread or a drop of water if someone shows up at their door on the verge of starvation."

"So. . . idealistically, we're in the North or the South. We're probably not in the West because that's a cold, mountainous area. We hope we aren't in the East," said Ryo. He paused. "What's in the center of Dragonia, or do they all kind of. . . meet at one place?"

"Ah. There's a really, really big forest in the center that doesn't really belong to anyone. I don't think we're there because it's supposed to be dark, full of monsters, and made of super tall trees," I said. I squinted ahead. "I think I see light up ahead. Hopefully we're coming towards the end of the woods and not another clearing."

"I don't want to be stuck in these woods the whole time we're here!" Rowen said. He cleared his throat after his mild complaint. "So, what would we do in the South, the North, or the East to get by until we can get back to the Mortal Realm with Mia and Yuli now that we know what they're like?"

"In the South I'm SURE someone would give you guys at least a change of clothing- lately a lot of Dragon Kin have been coming from other worlds and they don't always dress like the people here. From there I'm sure you guys could easily work off a good amount of supplies and then head off to fight Demone or head to the North. In the North we'll probably get a LOT of freebies. If you register with the Dragon Kin, Rowen, you'll get a monthly allowance to survive off of. In the East. . . ask directions to head North," I said dryly.

"Allowance?" Rowen asked.

"It isn't a huge allowance- maybe a few hundred plinkos at the most. Dragon Knights, Maidens, and Matrons get paid more, Lords and Ladies a LOT more, and the Dragon Mage and Sorceress live for free- they don't NEED the allowance at all!" I said. "Normally I wouldn't say this but. . . I don't think it would be a bad idea for you and me to try and get you promoted from Tamer to Knight, Rowen."

"What?" Rowen asked.

"Well, if you become a Dragon Knight-"

"No, not that- you said a lot of names there."

"Oh. Those are different rankings. Tamer is the base rank. Knight, Maiden, and Matron are the next rank up- Knight refers to males, Maiden refers to non-married females, and Matron to married females. Lord and Lady are above that level. Mage and Sorceress are as high as the ranks get, and there can only be one of each- they're the leaders of North Dragonia," I explained quickly. "So. . . would you be up for the challenge?"

"I don't know about this, Lucky- what exactly goes into becoming a Dragon Knight?" asked Ryo, giving me a skeptical look. "I don't think they just let you gain rank like that- if you get a bigger allowance and, well, leverage, I guess, then it can't be something easy to do."

"In our situation it wouldn't be a bad idea to try. Where you two stand now you don't have enough power to stand up to Demone- you couldn't even call up your armors," I said. "Now that Rowen's a Tamer, you're a little stronger, but not by much. If Rowen became a Dragon Knight, he'd be welding a LOT more power. And no, it ISN'T easy, but the benefits are worth it IF you last the whole test."

"A test? Rowen aces tests all the time!" said Ryo.

"No, no, no, not a written exam- well, there IS a written exam, but that's small beans in comparison with the rest of the test. It's a field test," I explained. "A field test that involves some dangerous tasks. Some tasks aren't so dangerous, just tedious, but others can be LETHAL. Tests are mostly done in groups of around thirty would-be Knights, Maidens, or Matrons. About ten will probably end up dropping out. Five or six more will simply flunk out- they just don't cut it and for their own safety they're asked to leave. That leaves about fifteen or so- at least ten of them are more than likely crippled, seriously injured, or killed. Those who survive gain rank."

Rowen bit his bottom lip. "Well, I'm not an inexperienced fighter. I DID fight against the Dynasty and a lot of strategy was involved with that at times. I could probably try out for it- I probably SHOULD try. As we are with just the three of us we probably can't stand up to Demone. If I get the extra power from becoming a Dragon Knight we might stand a chance."

"But are you willing to risk that? If you get killed or something there's no way I could face him by myself!" said Ryo. He frowned. "Rowen. . . you're all I have left unless we get Mia and Yuli back. I don't have a family, Sage, Cye, and Kento are gone, and. . . I'm afraid of being alone."

Rowen gave Ryo a weak smile and a hug. "I wouldn't leave you, buddy," he said.

"We won't let you be alone, Ryo," said Lucky, stretching his arms to TRY and hug us both.

The three of us stood in the woods likes that for at least a minute, sealing our promise. If we could help it, we wouldn't loose each other. We were all each other had. It was just the three of us against Demone, and the whole world. Time seemed to stop for us, letting us know that maybe we could do this after all. We'd lean on each other and help each other. This was all we had.

We were going to take the test.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves on the edge of what appeared to be a small farming town. The houses were all smallish and cottage like with thatched roofs and red brick fireplaces. The dirt paved road snaked along the main strip, which was dotted with small carts selling food, jewelry, and other supplies. Horses, cattle, and a few dragons were amongst the people going up and down the street, going about their everyday business.

When Rowen saw the people, he got an idea as to how far the people of Dragonia went with technology as compared to their world- not very. They weren't by any means in a Stone Age, but he guessed they were comparable to Europe circa 1400 or 1500. The dress in this town was main a tunic, boots, pants, and a leather belt, most equipped with at least one knife and a small pouch that he guessed acted as a wallet. Even some of the woman wore clothing like that, but most wore plan dresses and aprons.

"Well, doesn't look like we should ask for directions to the nearest McDonald's," Ryo said dryly as we walked closed to the village. A few people stopped to stare at us, then went about their business. My friend turned to me with a very interesting question. "Do you think they speak our language?"

"Nope," I said. "They don't. They speak what you guys would call English."

Ryo laughed. "Ha! Now I see a REASON for all those English classes I took!"

Rowen laughed. "In the Mortal Realm's society it's considered good practice to learn a second practice. Ryo and I both chose English, although I'll admit I've studied some Latin and a little bit of French," he said. He shrugged. "We should be able to get by well enough, and the complete immersion will definitely help out a lot."

"Oh good- I don't want to play translator," I said in English.

"Wait- how did YOU speak Japanese?" Ryo asked, also in English.

I paused and made a face. "I don't know- I didn't even notice I was speaking another language until just now," I said. "It was probably some weird adaptation to find Rowen because he speaks Japanese as his primary language." Ryo and Rowen both gave me a blank stare. "I don't get it either."

The three of us walked into the town, were Ryo and Rowen received a few stares. The people here were obviously used to strangely dressed strangers with dragons, so to them Rowen was just another Dragon Tamer trying to figure out what he was going to do next. Only he brought an equally confused friend with him.

"Ah, a new Tamer I see?"

The three of us turned to see a plump, middle aged woman in a plain beige dress standing off to the side. She had short, curly brown hair and a wide, happy smile. Rowen nodded politely at her. "Hello," he greeted. Ryo gave a shy, quiet wave in greeting. "I, uh, need to find someplace to. . . er. . . I don't know."

The woman stared at Rowen for a few second, then threw her head back and started to laugh. "Oh, you poor deary," she said, waddling over to Rowen. She smiled widely, placed a chubby hand on his shoulder. "Let me take you and your little friend to my home and get your some more appropriate clothing- my brother-in-law is a Dragon Tamer from another world and I know that when he first came here he didn't know what to do with himself either."

Rowen smiled. "Thank you, ma'am- we appreciate this."

"Follow me- I'll get you some food as well."

"Yeah! Food! Thank you a million times over!"

". . . your friend is a bit. . . unstable?"