Fate of the Forsworn
Chapter 6
Chosen One
Niev turned to see Caryn running towards him, a newly hatched dragon infant in her arms. The youngster was a brilliant yellow in colour, except for its' viridian eyes. Caryn panted as she came to a halt before Niev, the dragon hatchling climbing out of her arms and onto the damp earth, clumsily walking towards Niev. Caryn smiled as she got her breath back.
"When I was about halfway through the egg cave, this one hatched for me. I can't believe it, I'm a Dragon Rider now, just like you!"
Niev smiled and ruffled Caryn's hair.
"Well, congratulations. Although you ought to keep inside for a while, at least a week, until your dragon grows a bit. Vroengard harbours a few strange creatures, and not all of them are friendly to ones as small as your dragon. Have you thought of a name for your dragon?"
Caryn scooped up her dragon, somewhat awkwardly, and frowned in concentration as she pondered various names. Finally she looked up again at Niev.
"What is the name for 'scales' in the ancient language? A descriptive name might fit my dragon well."
Niev shrugged as he ran over the name in his mind.
"Well, describing your dragon by scale colour alone may not be the best idea. If you insisted on it, and if your dragon agreed, then 'Gold Scales' in the ancient language would be 'Kuldr Skul'. But like I said, wait and see what your dragon thinks of any potential names. Kyvoster was maddening when it came to deciding his name."
A rumbling snarl came to Niev and Caryn's ears. Turning away from his meal of shark flesh, Kyvoster turned a brilliant red eye on his Rider.
I wasn't 'maddening' Niev, I simply knew what I wanted.
Caryn smiled, obviously having been privy to Kyvoster's mental speech as well. Her dragon squirmed in her grip, giving mewling cries as the young girl let it climb up to lean on her forearm. Niev smiled at Caryn.
"Take your dragon to the dining hall and see if they can spare any food. I'm pretty sure they'll have enough to…"
Kyvoster roared deafeningly, cutting off any further speech. Flying down out of the sky was Kialandi and her dragon. Kialandi's dragon roared in response, and soon landed nearby. Kialandi elegantly climbed down from her dragon, and walked silently up to Caryn, bypassing Niev pointedly. Her face showed no hint of emotion as she looked at the dragon in her arms.
"So. You have joined the ranks of the Dragon Riders."
Caryn nodded, a broad smile spreading across her face. As she was about to speak, Kialandi slapped her hard, cold anger in her eyes. Niev was between the two in an instant.
"Kialandi, what are you doing?! Caryn is a member of our order now, and not to be treated like that!"
As the two Riders argued, Caryn edged towards where Kyvoster had been eating, her dragon mentally urging her to take it to the giant steaks of meat it could see and smell. When she was close, Kyvoster snarled, frightening her, but also scaring away the multitude of gulls pecking at the loose pieces of flesh. The baby dragon sensed Caryn's pain and feeling of dejection, and reached up to her on its' skinny legs, licking the tears from her eyes. Caryn gave a hiccupping laugh at her dragon's antics, and rubbed her eyes. Satisfied that its' Rider was more cheerful, the baby dragon tore into a gobbet of shark flesh with just as little decorum as Kyvoster had. The red dragon watched, as if trying to decide whether or not he minded Caryn's dragon sharing his kill, and then resumed eating himself, taking care to eat from a part of the carcass far away from the hatchling.
Niev glowered at Kialandi, red-faced and hugely angry with both her and himself. He almost wanted to call back the elven Rider, but common sense told him not to, and Kialandi was soon a mere speck walking towards Doru Areaba. Her dragon had left long since. He sighed and walked towards where Caryn was sat on a rock, watching both their dragons eating. A red mark showed where Kialandi had slapped her, and as Niev drew closer, he could see that the youngster was crying. He sat on the rock next to her and put an arm around her waist. Caryn looked up at him and leaned in closer, sniffing as she did so. Niev looked down at her.
"Caryn, you'll have to learn to ignore or stay away from Kialandi."
Caryn spoke in a small voice.
"Why does she hate me so much? I've only just met her, and already she's willing to slap me and deride me."
Niev sighed. Kyvoster stretched his wings and resumed eating.
"I suppose you should know, since you'll be with the Dragon Riders for a long time. Bear in mind that I'm not telling you everything because it isn't my place to; the Council will assign you to a Master to learn from. Originally, the Dragon Riders consisted of just dragons and elves, mostly as a means of communication between them. The dwarves have always held dragons with a mixture of awe and fear, and never asked to be part of the pact which made it possible for dragon eggs to hatch for a possible partner. When humans first came to this land, they sought to be made a part of the Dragon Riders as well, and after a lot of thought, we were, as you can see. However, several elves had violent arguments with the ruling Council at that time, saying that humans weren't worthy of being granted this honour, and that valuable dragon eggs would be wasted on weak-minded beings. Kialandi was one such Dragon Rider, and she has always had, at best, a scathing view of all human riders."
Caryn nodded slowly, looking up at the older rider. Niev pulled the small girl into his lap and hugged her warmly.
"I won't let Kialandi push you around, Caryn. You're worth more than she is. I'll always be your friend, from the first moments of your training until the time you become a fully fledged rider like me. How does that sound?"
Caryn smiled broadly and hugged him back. Kyvoster looked up from his meal and gave a brief snort of amusement before checking again on Caryn's dragon. The youngster's belly was bulging from the amount of meat it had eaten, and looked as if it could barely stand.
Niev, you should tell Caryn her dragon is more than a little full.
Niev looked up and saw exactly what Kyvoster meant. He nudged Caryn, who promptly looked around, and saw just how fat her dragon had made itself. Giggling, she walked up to her dragon and lifted it up.
"Let's go back to the city now, little one, we'll see if the Masters can give us a place to sleep. Who should I ask for, Niev?"
Niev was looking out over the ocean, staring as if he could see every distant land. Kyvoster snarled to gain his attention, prompting the man to turn around.
"Oh, sorry Caryn. Just go into the Council building and ask for the quartermaster, he'll point you to a room."
Caryn nodded and held her dragon a little higher up on her torso. Before she turned to walk back to the city, she walked up to Niev and kissed the older Rider on the cheek. Niev smiled at her, looking slightly embarrassed at her show of affection. Caryn smiled back.
"If it hadn't been for you, I'd have never been a free girl, or a Dragon Rider. I'll always be in your debt, Niev."
Niev gave a laugh as he mussed Caryn's brilliant blonde hair.
"Well, I try to make a difference where I can, Caryn. Kyvoster and I are just lucky we scanned the pirate nest for magicians and discovered you had such power. Otherwise, we would have just plunged straight in and ruined any chance of making a fine addition to the Dragon Riders."
Caryn smiled and turned to go. Before she had gone more than a dozen steps, she turned back to look at Niev.
"Before I go to the quartermaster, Niev, I'd like to ask you two questions. May I?"
Niev looked over his shoulder at where Kyvoster was still ravenously eating.
"Certainly, go right ahead Caryn."
"How many Dragon Riders are there in the world?"
Niev was silent for a while as he mentally tallied the numbers in his mind.
"I've been out of touch for a while, watching over Gil'ead, but the last I heard, there were just over three hundred."
"Secondly, what are you thinking about?"
The older Rider looked surprised.
"What do you mean?"
Caryn shifted so her baby dragon was resting on her shoulder more peacefully.
"I can almost sense your thoughts, although not what you're thinking exactly. I can see a lot of pain, regret, and wondering running through your mind."
Niev shrugged.
"It's nothing to worry over, Caryn."
Caryn didn't look convinced, and looked at the older Rider for a while, but eventually gave up and walked back to Doru Areaba. Soon, Niev and Kyvoster were alone on the rocky beach. The red dragon gave a loud belch and moved away from the half-eaten shark, laying himself down near to his Rider.
Ghosts of the past haunting the halls of your mind again, Niev?
Niev gave a brief snort of laughter and reached out to stroke Kyvoster's snout.
"I swear, every other sentence you come up with is quoted from something one of us has read. And your mind and mine are all but fused together; you should know what I'm thinking of."
Kyvoster looked up at Niev and growled softly.
You don't have to dwell on it alone, you know.
"I know, and you know I'm eternally grateful for your companionship."
Niev's fingers began to scratch the scales on Kyvoster's long, crocodile-like snout. The red dragon visibly relaxed and exhaled deeply. For the rest of the day, both dragon and Rider barely moved from the rocky beach, in spite of the stench of rotting shark flesh, the screaming of the scavengers fighting over the carcass, and the incessant roar of the tide. Only when night fell did Niev climb onto Kyvoster's back and let his dragon carry him where he wished. As Kyvoster flew over the island, Niev dozed in the saddle.