Disclaimer: I alas do not own Harry Potter I wish I did but I don't. All I own is this computer I'm working on and a few other items in this room of mine.
A/N: Hey people sorry this toke a while but his the next chapter and so you all know wands are about 100 years away before being used so all of Harry's magic is wandless and runes remember that also Dragon Lords feather hand to hand fighting over magic seeing that most Wizards arrant use to it. Anyway on with the show.
Chapter 7: The path of the dragon.
Parseltongue
Telepathic
501 BC (2 Year)
Harry was sitting at the mouth to the cave he had called home for the past two years and across from him was Silvenestri who had grow another four to five feet over the passing years. She was sunning herself on a large flat rock just out side the entrance to the cave.
After looking at her for a moment and admiring the sunlight glinting off her new scales Harry walked back into the cave and started to gather the silver scales she had shed last night. The scales were no bigger than Harry's thumb and grading down to the size of his little finger nail but each scale was very hard to the touch.
After gathering together all of the scales Harry entered the smaller cave to one side of main cavern. Over the intervening years since the dragon's birth he had set up in this small cave the makings of a blacksmith's shop. He checked the forge carefully, using the bellows to bring the coals to full heat. It took a great deal of heat to melt dragon scales, even the scales from so young a dragon.
Harry grabbed one of the smoulder pots and placed it into the fire, allowing it to heat and began to add the scales a few at a time. Watching the scales begin to glow from the heat and gradually melt Harry smiled, thinking how well his friend was growing. He looked over to the wall where he hung the long threads of silver he had made over the last year. It had not been easy at first to get the combination of heat and magic just right to produce the perfect thickness of the strands but he was quite proficient now.
"Well, with this last shedding of scales that should be enough for me to make the cloak." Harry said as the sound of clawed feet scrabbling on stone echoed within the cave.
Harry turned to see Silvenestri standing at the entrance to the smithing cave. What are you doing here? I thought you were still enjoying the sun, Silvenestri. Is there something wrong? Harry asked in Parseltongue knowing that it would be at least another year before Silvenestri would be able to understand English but looking forward to being able to speak with her in English. He still felt uneasy using parseltoungue.
Sun gone so I see what my friend was doing. Silvenestri replied while trying to manoeuvre her bulk through the hole into the cave but her wings stopped her from entering, her efforts threatening to wedge her in the opening.
Harry walked over to Silvenestri and started to rub her eye ridges, calming her. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Harry? I am getting some things ready to make a cloak. Harry said while with one hand he was patting Silvenestri and keeping her settled and with the other he waved his hand and fingers in a complicated pattern. The scales had melted in the crucible and using his magic he shaped the melted silver into the delicate hair thin threads he needed. With a deft stroke of his fingers and sway of his hand he directed the threads to hang with the other threads carefully arrayed so as not to tangle at the far wall.
Silvenestri looked at the silver threads then at Harry Why do you need the silver thread, Fri ... Harry? She asked backing up a step so that her wings would not be damaged.
It's all part of the cloak I am going to make. Now that I have all of the silver all I have to do is get the wool and silk and then I'll have a new cloak to wear. Harry replied and after backing Silvanestri up enough to slip past her he walked out into the main cave.
Everything he needed for a hunt was quickly gathered together and he left with Silvenestri gambling not far behind. Her bouncing around and sniffing into every cluster of bushes reminded him of a dog being let out for a walk, not a dragon on the hunt. It was endearing watching the large silver creature go into raptures over a butterfly trying to escape being inhaled by the curious dragon and he decided he would miss her innocence when she matured. Over the next year she would grow quickly, both in size and in intelligence.
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08 August 1996 10:30 AM A.D
Tonks was sitting on Harry's bed her arms warped around her knees and her head resting on top of her arms while looking at the place Harry had been standing when he had left over five hours ago. "Not long now." Tonks said to the room, missing how she and Harry had flirted. It was nice remembering how she had flirted with Harry and how he had begun to flirt back. It was something to kill the time.
Just then the sound of the floo working was heared from the living room and with a sigh Tonks looked to the door to see who had shown up. She did not feel like moving and waited in silence. After a moment Mrs Weasley stood in the doorway looking back at her.
"Well, Dear. I was told to see how you were doing in finding out when Harry had gone in time but I see that all you have done is sit here waiting as if you think he will come back himself." Molly said walking over to Tonks who had turned her head back to the spot again.
Molly was about to say something more when Tonks spoke "He will be back in less than three hours. I know it."
"And how do you know this?" Molly said seating herself next to Tonks.
With a small sigh Tonks looked at her and then pulled out her wand and summoned the two dairies to her. "Harry told me." Tonks said handing the two books to Molly. "Read the last entry in Harry's diary."
Molly Weasley placed the second book on the bed and leafed through Harry's diary quickly until she reached the last entry in the diary.
Dear Tonks
If you are reading this then I have cast the spell I found in the back of the copper Dragon Lord's diary and am now some where in the past. Don't worry about me. If my research is right then I will return within seven to eight hours. Do feel free to show anyone else the Dragon Lord's diary now. The time spell will have vanished from the last page with the casting of it.
Love Harry James Potter.
Molly looked up and picked up the second book from the bed and flipped it open, frowning as she stared at the strange writing. She looked at the two books for a moment and then looked up from the dairies and looked at Tonks. "Why didn't you tell Dumbledore about this?" Molly said after putting the books down on the bed.
"I don't know. I just couldn't tell him. I just couldn't" Tonks said lowing her head back down to her knees, a single tear rolling down the side of her face at the thought of not seeing Harry again if anything went wrong, either with the casting of the spell or somewhere back in time.
Molly looked at Tonks for a long moment then getting up she picked up the books and started to walk out of the room but Tonks called out just as she left. "Thanks for checking on me, Mrs Weasley and please, feel free to tell Dumbledore what I've been doing."
Molly nodded and left the house via the floo while Tonks turned her gaze to the clock to see it tick over to 11 o'clock.
"Soon." She whispered.
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500 BC (1 Year)
Harry was standing once again out side the cave as he admired Silvenestri. In the year that had passed the dragon had grown, both in size and intelligence and at this time was in the air flying back and forth stretching her wings and building the muscles needed to keep her in the air. This was only her third flight but she never the less was graceful, lacking only stamina to remain long in the air.
Harry was now dressed in black leather pants and vest and a white shirt, his cloak was a silver shimmer draping from his shoulders and down his back to end just above his ankles with a rim of grey runes on the hem. The inside of the cloak was of black silk and was enchanted to enable him to carry his sword in a secret sheath on the left hand side. The right side had many pockets heavily enchanted to enable them to hold things of many sizes and weights that might be needed at some time without ruining the lines of the cloak or hinting that they existed.
With an indulgent smile as Silvanestri rolled onto her back and snaked her neck and head around playfully and then flipped right side up and swooped over the trees Harry turned and walked back into the cave. He strode through the main cave and into his little black smith shop to run his hands lightly over double blades of the twin scimitar almost ready now for use. He needed only to embellish them with gold and he would be done, the magic already infused within them. With a sigh he turned to the forge and the two crucibles almost glowing with the heat emanating from the forge. The first contained the gold he would use to complete the decoration of his weapon and the second held the left over silver he would use to begin work on his armour.
Harry had just started to put the finishing touches on the sword with the gold when Silvenestri managed to work her head into the workshop. Her voice sounded like that of a teenage girl as she spoke to him in flawless English. "Harry come out and play. Come fly with me on my back. I want you to feel the wind on your face with me and to feel what it is like to fly."
Harry chuckled, looking over to Silvenestri and inclined his head to the sword under his hands. "Let me finish this and then we will go and fly for a while, ok?"
Silvenestri nodded and then lowered her head to the floor between the workshop and her room of the cave, her nostrils and snout just within the workshop. She stared at Harry, from the dimness of the cave her eyes gleamed like pale blue jewels while she watched Harry go back to work humming a tune he had heared back in his time.
"You won't be long will you?"
"Not if I am left in peace to work." Harry replied, already knowing that she planned to annoy him until he gave in.
To an accompaniment of sighs, snorts and dragon pouts Harry focused his attention on the work before him, ignoring the dragons every attempt to get him out and into the air before he had completed his task. Briefly he wondered if he had ever behaved like this impatient adorable creature and winced at the thought. Maybe he had been impatient but he had certainly never had the saving grace of being adorable.
Harry had just finished putting the last of the gold on the hilt of his new weapon and uttered a cooling charm to set his work when a feeling of fear swept over him. Looking out of his workshop Harry saw Silvenestri walking backwards from the cave mouth and deeper into the main cave, her tail lashing around to the front of her for protection as she backed up to the rear of the cave. He sucked in a deep breath of anger at the tall form that was silhouette there. He had hoped not to have such a confrontation until Silvenestri had grown a bit more.
The man before him, threatening his dragon, was carrying a large axe and wearing armour made from the hides of the six prime dragons or as Harry knew them, the greater dragon Red, Blue, Black, Silver, Copper and Brass. The man's axe was a huge two-handed weapon. The axe blades were made from what Harry recognised as the great canine teeth of a dragon, shaped to balance the great axe. The man's face was hidden by the full helmet he wore only his eyes would be visible through the visor slit and crafted from the scales of a blue dragon. His backpack was adorned with skinning tools strapped to its sides and protruding out of the top of it. The tools were crude but effective devices, no care being taken on cleaning or maintenance other than to sharpen them and ensure they were effective at the task he set them to.
With cold dread and simmering rage Harry recognised the man for what he was. Dragon Hunter.
Stay there, Silvenestri! Keep away from him. I'll deal with this man. Harry spoke directly to his dragons mind, using the ability he had rarely used to talk with Silvenestri. He had mainly spoken to her aloud, needing to hear the sound of voices as it had been so long since he had had company other than the wyrmling.
Be careful, my Harry. This man smells of death. Silvenestri said back and then back up as far as the cave would allow her, lashing her tail around violently to keep the man away from her. She bared her teeth at the armoured man and hissed at him in anger, trying to hide the fear she felt.
The man had by then walked past Harry's workshop and had not taken his eyes from the young dragon. Harry glared but grinned at this negligence, using that mans preoccupation with his dragon to his advantage.
His eyes were glued to Silvenestri and the helmet made his voice sound hard and colder. He grunted as he stalked closer to the gleaming creature. "Only a baby. Hmmm ... Ah, well an easy kill and easy money in my pocket." He sneered walking slowly toward Silvenestri thinking that this one's rider must be out of the cave, possibly hunting. All the better as he would not need to kill another old fool this day.
Harry grabbed his cloak and put it on quickly in a swirl of silver and then pulled the hooded up to conceal his face. Taking a deep breath he walked out behind the hunter with out trying to hide and coughed gently. "Something I can do for you sir?" Harry said holding his new weapon to his side and concealed in the folds of the cloak, ready for anything this man might do. His free hand was tracing a rune under his cloak to give him the advantage of extra speed and strength to fight this hunter. He was not going to take chances with the life of his dragon on the line.
With a grunt of surprise the man spun around his axe slipping from his shoulder to the ready position, eyes narrowed to see Harry standing just out of his range, his cloaks hood hiding his face. For a moment time seemed to freeze as they glared at each other. The man looked Harry up and down and then lunged forward into an attack his axe coming in high and fast as he determined to take out this old fool and claim that flashy shimmering cloak for himself.
Harry fell back a step to get himself out from under the swing of the axe, his free hand tracing another rune, this one in mid air and in plain sight of his attacker. A bolt of lighting flashed from the glowing rune and streaked toward its target. Harry heard the hunter grunt in pain but knew from the glow that emitted from the helmet and the section of armour that had once belonged to a blue dragon that the magic had been at least partially turned by the draconic magic of those scales.
Harry cursed silently having hoped that the hunter had destroyed that quality of the scales when crafting his armour and pulled back to the cave mouth. With a swirl of the cloak to cover the movement he used to draw his weapon he arced the sword around to follow the line of the cloak. As the folds of the cloak fell away the hunter had only an instant to see the blade before it hit the man on the side of the helmet. It was not a blow designed to kill but to enrage and humiliate his target, to draw this Dragon Hunter away from Silvenestri. Harry grinned at the hunter, settling into a fighting stance, his twin-bladed scimitars at the ready as the man attack again, backing carefully toward the main entrance of the cave.
The Hunter, seeing Harry fall back continued the attack, leaping forward with his axe swinging. He had fought other Dragon Lords and it had taken no effort to defeat them. They were old and no doubt in their prime they had been terrifying fighters to face but in their old age they were easy enough to defeat, weakened by age and their dragons were useless to defend them. He had faced this ones like before and he knew how to fight them.
Harry had backed out of the cave and was now blocking the great swings of the axe, turning aside all the attacks this Hunter threw at him. He felt as though his arms would break at each blow that he blocked but he would not permit this hunter to touch his dragon and the man could not swing so wildly forever. He need only last until the man paused and then he could get through his attacks. The problem with using the axe was that it was a great offensive weapon, but it was woeful as a weapon of defence. He would bide his time.
After a time of watching the huge hunter swing at her rider Silvenestri moved carefully toward the cave mouth. She feared the human but she feared that her friend who fought him would be hurt and she would wait and take whatever chance presented itself to help Harry if she could.
Silvenestri growled softly in her throat as the men danced in homage to approaching death. One would die here this day and she did not want it to be Harry. She roared in protest when the Hunter managed to bring his axe down and Harry mistimed his turn from the blade. The axe rang like a bell as it contacted the swirling cloak protecting Harry's back. The hunter roared in success, thinking he had taken down the dragon rider who unlike all others he had faced had stood against him for more than few seconds. Harry grunted at the impact and Silvanestri lunged forward and hit the man in the back with her chest. Her head ducking down and her sharp teeth clamping around his arm, gripping the axe and flinging him out of the way so that Harry might have at least a few seconds to recover.
Harry gasped for air, winded, desperate to recover from the blow. Curiously while it hurt it did not hurt so much as he had expected and a quick look over his shoulder enabled him to see that the cloak had blocked most of the blow. There was only a small tear visible in the enchanted material and he thought that maybe his back would be cut but there was little blood and he hoped it was a shallow wound. Sucking air into his lungs he turned to see Silvenestri had pined the Hunter and had locked her jaw around his right arm stopping the man from any chance of swinging that axe again in attack.
The Hunter looked up into the blue eyes of the creature, noting the shine that brought to mind star light and at the gleaming teeth that held his arm. 'You won't do it.' he thought staring into those jewel eyes and seeing the innocence there. 'You can't do it. You have not killed more than animals for your food and I doubt it is in you to start now.'
Harry by then had clawed his way back to his feet and gotten his breathing under control again. He would not permit his dragon to kill for more than her food when he was there to protect her. He staggered a step or two before he steadied and strode to Silvenestri's side. Thank you, Silver. Thank you for my life. Let him up now and go back in the cave.
Silvenestri growled deep in her throat but nodded her head, giving the hunter a stiff shake before she released him and leaped away, toward the cave before he could recover and strike at her. From the shelter of the cave the dragon watched as Harry and the Hunter faced off and glared at each other. A quick tensing of muscles and they attacked at the same time.
Back and forth across the clearing in front of the cave they struggled, first axe and then sword staff appearing to have the upper hand. Silvenestri's growls punctuated the fight as she urged her friend on, snorting with fear when it looked as though Harry was in trouble. The crux of the battle came when the axe and sword locked, both weapons seeming to jam together and the men struggled for dominance, each pushing and pulling to free the interlocked weapons. With a snarl the Hunter lunged forward, twisting on the weapons, trying to free his axe head and with a grin Harry released his weapon, turning aside in a fluid movement.
The unexpected move set the Hunter stumbling forward and he staggered, going down to sprawl onto his chest as in the same movement Harry completed his spin, grasped his sword and in a swirl of silver drove the blade into the gap between helmet and armour. With a gurgle the hunter jerked.
The body twitched and with a sigh lay still. Breathing heavily Harry knelt, heaving air into his lungs, trying desperately not to be sick. He had never become used to killing, even in the days when he had been a mercenary he had tried not to kill needlessly and after a moment he had himself under control again. Removing his weapon he wiped the blade carefully clean before he returned to the cave.
Moving into the cave he began packing, using magic to speed the process, wanting desperately to get himself and his dragon away from this area. Where one hunter had come another was sure to follow and he would not expose Silvenestri to danger. He would travel light but he must be certain to take everything that he and the dragon would need.
"Friend Harry?"
"Silvenestri would you wait for me out side, please? I need to get the rest of that silver I melted down and a few things from the forge then we will fly to a new home. "
Silvenestri nodded and slipped out of the cave and waited for Harry. The Dragon shied away from the body of the Hunter, choosing to stand as far from the corpse as she could get and still be close to the cave mouth to wait for her friend. When Harry emerged from the cave he had a backpack slung over one shoulder and a couple of carefully wrapped bundles floating along behind him.
"Where are we going, Friend Harry?" Craning her neck around she watched as Harry mounted her, settling into his place just above the heavy wing muscles and muttering the charm that would enable him to stay mounted without fear of falling.
Harry looked at the cave and the clearing, remembering the days here where for more than three winters he had struggled to feed a voracious wyrmling, where he had felt strangely carefree and content, even though it was a time consuming task to rear a dragon. It had been home. A home he had loved.
He refused to look at the body lying before the cave.
"We go north to where a castle will be built in approximately 1,490 years." Harry whispered.
00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Thank you to the following reviews:
athenakitty, uten, Danny boy, Cycla, Silverscale, shadow of the black abyss, Lonely Magician, Kathryn Black, padfootstwin2, lucas13, Moony Lycanthropic, TopQuark, daisy, Egyptian Flame.
A/N: Hey people sorry this toke a while but his the next chapter and so you all know wands are about 100 years away before being used so all of Harry's magic is wandless and runes remember that also Dragon Lords feather hand to hand fighting over magic seeing that most Wizards arrant use to it. Anyway on with the show.
Chapter 7: The path of the dragon.
Parseltongue
Telepathic
501 BC (2 Year)
Harry was sitting at the mouth to the cave he had called home for the past two years and across from him was Silvenestri who had grow another four to five feet over the passing years. She was sunning herself on a large flat rock just out side the entrance to the cave.
After looking at her for a moment and admiring the sunlight glinting off her new scales Harry walked back into the cave and started to gather the silver scales she had shed last night. The scales were no bigger than Harry's thumb and grading down to the size of his little finger nail but each scale was very hard to the touch.
After gathering together all of the scales Harry entered the smaller cave to one side of main cavern. Over the intervening years since the dragon's birth he had set up in this small cave the makings of a blacksmith's shop. He checked the forge carefully, using the bellows to bring the coals to full heat. It took a great deal of heat to melt dragon scales, even the scales from so young a dragon.
Harry grabbed one of the smoulder pots and placed it into the fire, allowing it to heat and began to add the scales a few at a time. Watching the scales begin to glow from the heat and gradually melt Harry smiled, thinking how well his friend was growing. He looked over to the wall where he hung the long threads of silver he had made over the last year. It had not been easy at first to get the combination of heat and magic just right to produce the perfect thickness of the strands but he was quite proficient now.
"Well, with this last shedding of scales that should be enough for me to make the cloak." Harry said as the sound of clawed feet scrabbling on stone echoed within the cave.
Harry turned to see Silvenestri standing at the entrance to the smithing cave. What are you doing here? I thought you were still enjoying the sun, Silvenestri. Is there something wrong? Harry asked in Parseltongue knowing that it would be at least another year before Silvenestri would be able to understand English but looking forward to being able to speak with her in English. He still felt uneasy using parseltoungue.
Sun gone so I see what my friend was doing. Silvenestri replied while trying to manoeuvre her bulk through the hole into the cave but her wings stopped her from entering, her efforts threatening to wedge her in the opening.
Harry walked over to Silvenestri and started to rub her eye ridges, calming her. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Harry? I am getting some things ready to make a cloak. Harry said while with one hand he was patting Silvenestri and keeping her settled and with the other he waved his hand and fingers in a complicated pattern. The scales had melted in the crucible and using his magic he shaped the melted silver into the delicate hair thin threads he needed. With a deft stroke of his fingers and sway of his hand he directed the threads to hang with the other threads carefully arrayed so as not to tangle at the far wall.
Silvenestri looked at the silver threads then at Harry Why do you need the silver thread, Fri ... Harry? She asked backing up a step so that her wings would not be damaged.
It's all part of the cloak I am going to make. Now that I have all of the silver all I have to do is get the wool and silk and then I'll have a new cloak to wear. Harry replied and after backing Silvanestri up enough to slip past her he walked out into the main cave.
Everything he needed for a hunt was quickly gathered together and he left with Silvenestri gambling not far behind. Her bouncing around and sniffing into every cluster of bushes reminded him of a dog being let out for a walk, not a dragon on the hunt. It was endearing watching the large silver creature go into raptures over a butterfly trying to escape being inhaled by the curious dragon and he decided he would miss her innocence when she matured. Over the next year she would grow quickly, both in size and in intelligence.
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08 August 1996 10:30 AM A.D
Tonks was sitting on Harry's bed her arms warped around her knees and her head resting on top of her arms while looking at the place Harry had been standing when he had left over five hours ago. "Not long now." Tonks said to the room, missing how she and Harry had flirted. It was nice remembering how she had flirted with Harry and how he had begun to flirt back. It was something to kill the time.
Just then the sound of the floo working was heared from the living room and with a sigh Tonks looked to the door to see who had shown up. She did not feel like moving and waited in silence. After a moment Mrs Weasley stood in the doorway looking back at her.
"Well, Dear. I was told to see how you were doing in finding out when Harry had gone in time but I see that all you have done is sit here waiting as if you think he will come back himself." Molly said walking over to Tonks who had turned her head back to the spot again.
Molly was about to say something more when Tonks spoke "He will be back in less than three hours. I know it."
"And how do you know this?" Molly said seating herself next to Tonks.
With a small sigh Tonks looked at her and then pulled out her wand and summoned the two dairies to her. "Harry told me." Tonks said handing the two books to Molly. "Read the last entry in Harry's diary."
Molly Weasley placed the second book on the bed and leafed through Harry's diary quickly until she reached the last entry in the diary.
Dear Tonks
If you are reading this then I have cast the spell I found in the back of the copper Dragon Lord's diary and am now some where in the past. Don't worry about me. If my research is right then I will return within seven to eight hours. Do feel free to show anyone else the Dragon Lord's diary now. The time spell will have vanished from the last page with the casting of it.
Love Harry James Potter.
Molly looked up and picked up the second book from the bed and flipped it open, frowning as she stared at the strange writing. She looked at the two books for a moment and then looked up from the dairies and looked at Tonks. "Why didn't you tell Dumbledore about this?" Molly said after putting the books down on the bed.
"I don't know. I just couldn't tell him. I just couldn't" Tonks said lowing her head back down to her knees, a single tear rolling down the side of her face at the thought of not seeing Harry again if anything went wrong, either with the casting of the spell or somewhere back in time.
Molly looked at Tonks for a long moment then getting up she picked up the books and started to walk out of the room but Tonks called out just as she left. "Thanks for checking on me, Mrs Weasley and please, feel free to tell Dumbledore what I've been doing."
Molly nodded and left the house via the floo while Tonks turned her gaze to the clock to see it tick over to 11 o'clock.
"Soon." She whispered.
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500 BC (1 Year)
Harry was standing once again out side the cave as he admired Silvenestri. In the year that had passed the dragon had grown, both in size and intelligence and at this time was in the air flying back and forth stretching her wings and building the muscles needed to keep her in the air. This was only her third flight but she never the less was graceful, lacking only stamina to remain long in the air.
Harry was now dressed in black leather pants and vest and a white shirt, his cloak was a silver shimmer draping from his shoulders and down his back to end just above his ankles with a rim of grey runes on the hem. The inside of the cloak was of black silk and was enchanted to enable him to carry his sword in a secret sheath on the left hand side. The right side had many pockets heavily enchanted to enable them to hold things of many sizes and weights that might be needed at some time without ruining the lines of the cloak or hinting that they existed.
With an indulgent smile as Silvanestri rolled onto her back and snaked her neck and head around playfully and then flipped right side up and swooped over the trees Harry turned and walked back into the cave. He strode through the main cave and into his little black smith shop to run his hands lightly over double blades of the twin scimitar almost ready now for use. He needed only to embellish them with gold and he would be done, the magic already infused within them. With a sigh he turned to the forge and the two crucibles almost glowing with the heat emanating from the forge. The first contained the gold he would use to complete the decoration of his weapon and the second held the left over silver he would use to begin work on his armour.
Harry had just started to put the finishing touches on the sword with the gold when Silvenestri managed to work her head into the workshop. Her voice sounded like that of a teenage girl as she spoke to him in flawless English. "Harry come out and play. Come fly with me on my back. I want you to feel the wind on your face with me and to feel what it is like to fly."
Harry chuckled, looking over to Silvenestri and inclined his head to the sword under his hands. "Let me finish this and then we will go and fly for a while, ok?"
Silvenestri nodded and then lowered her head to the floor between the workshop and her room of the cave, her nostrils and snout just within the workshop. She stared at Harry, from the dimness of the cave her eyes gleamed like pale blue jewels while she watched Harry go back to work humming a tune he had heared back in his time.
"You won't be long will you?"
"Not if I am left in peace to work." Harry replied, already knowing that she planned to annoy him until he gave in.
To an accompaniment of sighs, snorts and dragon pouts Harry focused his attention on the work before him, ignoring the dragons every attempt to get him out and into the air before he had completed his task. Briefly he wondered if he had ever behaved like this impatient adorable creature and winced at the thought. Maybe he had been impatient but he had certainly never had the saving grace of being adorable.
Harry had just finished putting the last of the gold on the hilt of his new weapon and uttered a cooling charm to set his work when a feeling of fear swept over him. Looking out of his workshop Harry saw Silvenestri walking backwards from the cave mouth and deeper into the main cave, her tail lashing around to the front of her for protection as she backed up to the rear of the cave. He sucked in a deep breath of anger at the tall form that was silhouette there. He had hoped not to have such a confrontation until Silvenestri had grown a bit more.
The man before him, threatening his dragon, was carrying a large axe and wearing armour made from the hides of the six prime dragons or as Harry knew them, the greater dragon Red, Blue, Black, Silver, Copper and Brass. The man's axe was a huge two-handed weapon. The axe blades were made from what Harry recognised as the great canine teeth of a dragon, shaped to balance the great axe. The man's face was hidden by the full helmet he wore only his eyes would be visible through the visor slit and crafted from the scales of a blue dragon. His backpack was adorned with skinning tools strapped to its sides and protruding out of the top of it. The tools were crude but effective devices, no care being taken on cleaning or maintenance other than to sharpen them and ensure they were effective at the task he set them to.
With cold dread and simmering rage Harry recognised the man for what he was. Dragon Hunter.
Stay there, Silvenestri! Keep away from him. I'll deal with this man. Harry spoke directly to his dragons mind, using the ability he had rarely used to talk with Silvenestri. He had mainly spoken to her aloud, needing to hear the sound of voices as it had been so long since he had had company other than the wyrmling.
Be careful, my Harry. This man smells of death. Silvenestri said back and then back up as far as the cave would allow her, lashing her tail around violently to keep the man away from her. She bared her teeth at the armoured man and hissed at him in anger, trying to hide the fear she felt.
The man had by then walked past Harry's workshop and had not taken his eyes from the young dragon. Harry glared but grinned at this negligence, using that mans preoccupation with his dragon to his advantage.
His eyes were glued to Silvenestri and the helmet made his voice sound hard and colder. He grunted as he stalked closer to the gleaming creature. "Only a baby. Hmmm ... Ah, well an easy kill and easy money in my pocket." He sneered walking slowly toward Silvenestri thinking that this one's rider must be out of the cave, possibly hunting. All the better as he would not need to kill another old fool this day.
Harry grabbed his cloak and put it on quickly in a swirl of silver and then pulled the hooded up to conceal his face. Taking a deep breath he walked out behind the hunter with out trying to hide and coughed gently. "Something I can do for you sir?" Harry said holding his new weapon to his side and concealed in the folds of the cloak, ready for anything this man might do. His free hand was tracing a rune under his cloak to give him the advantage of extra speed and strength to fight this hunter. He was not going to take chances with the life of his dragon on the line.
With a grunt of surprise the man spun around his axe slipping from his shoulder to the ready position, eyes narrowed to see Harry standing just out of his range, his cloaks hood hiding his face. For a moment time seemed to freeze as they glared at each other. The man looked Harry up and down and then lunged forward into an attack his axe coming in high and fast as he determined to take out this old fool and claim that flashy shimmering cloak for himself.
Harry fell back a step to get himself out from under the swing of the axe, his free hand tracing another rune, this one in mid air and in plain sight of his attacker. A bolt of lighting flashed from the glowing rune and streaked toward its target. Harry heard the hunter grunt in pain but knew from the glow that emitted from the helmet and the section of armour that had once belonged to a blue dragon that the magic had been at least partially turned by the draconic magic of those scales.
Harry cursed silently having hoped that the hunter had destroyed that quality of the scales when crafting his armour and pulled back to the cave mouth. With a swirl of the cloak to cover the movement he used to draw his weapon he arced the sword around to follow the line of the cloak. As the folds of the cloak fell away the hunter had only an instant to see the blade before it hit the man on the side of the helmet. It was not a blow designed to kill but to enrage and humiliate his target, to draw this Dragon Hunter away from Silvenestri. Harry grinned at the hunter, settling into a fighting stance, his twin-bladed scimitars at the ready as the man attack again, backing carefully toward the main entrance of the cave.
The Hunter, seeing Harry fall back continued the attack, leaping forward with his axe swinging. He had fought other Dragon Lords and it had taken no effort to defeat them. They were old and no doubt in their prime they had been terrifying fighters to face but in their old age they were easy enough to defeat, weakened by age and their dragons were useless to defend them. He had faced this ones like before and he knew how to fight them.
Harry had backed out of the cave and was now blocking the great swings of the axe, turning aside all the attacks this Hunter threw at him. He felt as though his arms would break at each blow that he blocked but he would not permit this hunter to touch his dragon and the man could not swing so wildly forever. He need only last until the man paused and then he could get through his attacks. The problem with using the axe was that it was a great offensive weapon, but it was woeful as a weapon of defence. He would bide his time.
After a time of watching the huge hunter swing at her rider Silvenestri moved carefully toward the cave mouth. She feared the human but she feared that her friend who fought him would be hurt and she would wait and take whatever chance presented itself to help Harry if she could.
Silvenestri growled softly in her throat as the men danced in homage to approaching death. One would die here this day and she did not want it to be Harry. She roared in protest when the Hunter managed to bring his axe down and Harry mistimed his turn from the blade. The axe rang like a bell as it contacted the swirling cloak protecting Harry's back. The hunter roared in success, thinking he had taken down the dragon rider who unlike all others he had faced had stood against him for more than few seconds. Harry grunted at the impact and Silvanestri lunged forward and hit the man in the back with her chest. Her head ducking down and her sharp teeth clamping around his arm, gripping the axe and flinging him out of the way so that Harry might have at least a few seconds to recover.
Harry gasped for air, winded, desperate to recover from the blow. Curiously while it hurt it did not hurt so much as he had expected and a quick look over his shoulder enabled him to see that the cloak had blocked most of the blow. There was only a small tear visible in the enchanted material and he thought that maybe his back would be cut but there was little blood and he hoped it was a shallow wound. Sucking air into his lungs he turned to see Silvenestri had pined the Hunter and had locked her jaw around his right arm stopping the man from any chance of swinging that axe again in attack.
The Hunter looked up into the blue eyes of the creature, noting the shine that brought to mind star light and at the gleaming teeth that held his arm. 'You won't do it.' he thought staring into those jewel eyes and seeing the innocence there. 'You can't do it. You have not killed more than animals for your food and I doubt it is in you to start now.'
Harry by then had clawed his way back to his feet and gotten his breathing under control again. He would not permit his dragon to kill for more than her food when he was there to protect her. He staggered a step or two before he steadied and strode to Silvenestri's side. Thank you, Silver. Thank you for my life. Let him up now and go back in the cave.
Silvenestri growled deep in her throat but nodded her head, giving the hunter a stiff shake before she released him and leaped away, toward the cave before he could recover and strike at her. From the shelter of the cave the dragon watched as Harry and the Hunter faced off and glared at each other. A quick tensing of muscles and they attacked at the same time.
Back and forth across the clearing in front of the cave they struggled, first axe and then sword staff appearing to have the upper hand. Silvenestri's growls punctuated the fight as she urged her friend on, snorting with fear when it looked as though Harry was in trouble. The crux of the battle came when the axe and sword locked, both weapons seeming to jam together and the men struggled for dominance, each pushing and pulling to free the interlocked weapons. With a snarl the Hunter lunged forward, twisting on the weapons, trying to free his axe head and with a grin Harry released his weapon, turning aside in a fluid movement.
The unexpected move set the Hunter stumbling forward and he staggered, going down to sprawl onto his chest as in the same movement Harry completed his spin, grasped his sword and in a swirl of silver drove the blade into the gap between helmet and armour. With a gurgle the hunter jerked.
The body twitched and with a sigh lay still. Breathing heavily Harry knelt, heaving air into his lungs, trying desperately not to be sick. He had never become used to killing, even in the days when he had been a mercenary he had tried not to kill needlessly and after a moment he had himself under control again. Removing his weapon he wiped the blade carefully clean before he returned to the cave.
Moving into the cave he began packing, using magic to speed the process, wanting desperately to get himself and his dragon away from this area. Where one hunter had come another was sure to follow and he would not expose Silvenestri to danger. He would travel light but he must be certain to take everything that he and the dragon would need.
"Friend Harry?"
"Silvenestri would you wait for me out side, please? I need to get the rest of that silver I melted down and a few things from the forge then we will fly to a new home. "
Silvenestri nodded and slipped out of the cave and waited for Harry. The Dragon shied away from the body of the Hunter, choosing to stand as far from the corpse as she could get and still be close to the cave mouth to wait for her friend. When Harry emerged from the cave he had a backpack slung over one shoulder and a couple of carefully wrapped bundles floating along behind him.
"Where are we going, Friend Harry?" Craning her neck around she watched as Harry mounted her, settling into his place just above the heavy wing muscles and muttering the charm that would enable him to stay mounted without fear of falling.
Harry looked at the cave and the clearing, remembering the days here where for more than three winters he had struggled to feed a voracious wyrmling, where he had felt strangely carefree and content, even though it was a time consuming task to rear a dragon. It had been home. A home he had loved.
He refused to look at the body lying before the cave.
"We go north to where a castle will be built in approximately 1,490 years." Harry whispered.
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