Dragons. Everywhere.

  “Wow.” Starlight lets out.

  “Outstanding.” Crile says next to me.

  “This looks like something out of a Fantasy Book.” I agree in amazement, next to the resting Emerald. I always ask too much of her... We stare at the view in front of us: cabins and stables carved in stone in several different levels of the mountain range, surrounded by torches and hey, and meat and fish, with Dragons roaming freely wherever they please. All shapes, colors and sizes too. The contrast between the white snow and the Colorful Display of the Scaled Beasts feels like a painting coming to life right before your very eyes. Existara does not cease to amaze me.

  “Well now. The main question is – what do we do with them.” Max gets us back on track.

  “I assume you’ll be taking custody.” I answer, prying myself away from the majestic sight.

  “Based on the Dragons behavior for the last hour – I can say for certain that you three seem to have been imprinted on.”

  “Say what now?” Crile jumps in.

  “Here’s the thing. Dragons are delicate, subtle and fragile creatures. A Baby Dragon needs a Parent or a Guardian to imprint on to survive. Otherwise – they die. Slowly.” Max explains.

  “Once the Dragons Mature fully – then they are able to live by themselves. But for the most part of their childhood – they need someone to look after them.” Fiery adds.

  “Aren’t you the caretakers?” Starlight asks carefully.

  “Yes and no. We look after the grown-up Dragons. Those that bear hatchlings – take care of them themselves.” Max answers. “We are called Tamers because we tame wild adults. We don’t raise the young.”

  “So then what’s a Guardian then?” I ask.

  “A Guardian is a person with whom the Dragon has a Blood Bind. It is a simple procedure that allows for the person to be tied with their dragon.” Max says.

  “Usually when a person is gifted the Right of a Dragon, they choose an adult and make the Blood Bind with it.” Fiery adds on.

  “Ok. I get that. But how can you tell they imprinted on us?” I look at the Dragons playing with each other next to Emerald.

  “They follow you with their eyes. Especially one of the twins.”

  “Twins?” The three of us gasp together.

  “Sure. See the blue and the white one. Those two are siblings – brother and sister, probably, although a thorough examination would tell me for sure, but the females have slightly different features, more gentle. The other two seem to be males. Their faces are sharper, edgier.” Max gestures with his fingers around the sides of his face.

  “Here, stand up please, one of you.” Max waves to us. We stare at each other for a good moment and Crile gets up.

  “Take a few steps over there, but don’t look at the them.” Max says and Crile moves. And so does the Black One. The little munchkin rolls over off his back, back to his feet, spreads his wings and lets out a tiny roar.

  “Keep walking in circles.” Max smiles. So, Crile walks around us and the little Black One continues to chase after him. “Ok, now crouch down and face the Dragon.” Crile does as told. The little one jumps onto Crile’s knee, clutches on with its sharp claws and climbs on. Crile picks the tiny lizard up gently and stands up.

  “See. It has chosen you.” Max continues to smile.

  “Oh this is ridiculous.” Star stands up and takes a few steps. The Blue One lets out the saddest cry I have ever heard from a reptile and runs after her. Tumbling and falling and getting right back up.

  “His rear leg is injured.” Max announces and Starlight quickly picks the Dragon up. Instantly – the cries stop.

  “Guess it’s my turn.” I stand up and the White One straightens out too. I stare right at her. She looks back at me without blinking. I take two steps to the side. Her head follows me. I take four steps to the left and she takes two steps to the left. I crouch down and pat my knee as if saying, come here. She wiggles over stretching her wings and then putting them back again.

  “I see that one has a tear in her wing.” Max says as the Dragon curls up in my lap.

  “This can’t be all that it takes.” Starlight breaks the moment of silence.

  “You feed ‘em?” Fiery asks.

  “Yes.”

  “You play with ‘em?”

  “Yes.”

  “You hold ‘em?”

  “Yes.” The three of us answer that one.

  “Congratulations, you’re a parent.” Fiery hammers in the last part.

  “What?” Crile gives her a blank stare.

  “Now what?” I ask Max.

  “Now you name ‘em.” Fiery answers instead.

  “A Blood Bind cannot be made without a name.” Max adds again.

  “Is there no other way?” I ask staring at the curled up scaled ball on my knees.

  “Clearly – not anymore.” Max answers in a gentle tone.

  “Before we do anything.” I begin and find my hand stroking the Dragon without my awareness of it happening... “Tell me more about the Poachers. What’s this about digging up ditches and hunting Dragons?” I look up at the two Tamers.

  “Well. It started fairly recently...” Max begins hesitantly.

  “The killings he means.” Fiery takes over. “Before they were hunting Dragons to tame them and sell them to whomever is willing to risk it and afford it.”

  “Right, you said that choosing Dragons is not easy.” Crile sits back down again, with his Dragon climbing all over him like a kitten. Star joins him with her scaled friend clinging onto her chest. I remain where I am.

  “Yes, well, not everyone cares about that...” Max has not raised his eyes to us so far.

  “Clearly.” I cut in. “You said the killings started recently?”

  “Yeah. The Poachers are the ones who kill the Dragons. The Wranglers just sell them to the highest bidder.” Two terms to remember for later. “We don’t know how or why it started, but somehow people began buying Baby Dragons as pets...” Max has clear difficulty speaking.

  “How does that work?” Crile asks chasing his Dragon all over his body with his arms.

  “It doesn't. That’s the problem.” Fiery takes over again. “Poachers need to kill the adult parents to either steal the eggs or the hatchlings. Once the eggs are laid the Mother never leaves the nest. It is the Father’s job to provide food until the hatchlings learn to fly.”

  “About that – these don’t seem to know how yet?” Star says carefully, raising her hand.

  “Yes. Dragon wings are too weak in the first year. They tear easily and if the damage is severe enough – they won’t heal. Rendering the Dragon completely flightless.” Max explains. I guess he’s more comfortable with the technical stuff.

  “You said this one has a torn wing?” I point to mine.

  “Yes. But with a bit of tending to – she will be fine.” He smiles at me.

  “Does this mean these are fresh hatchlings?” Starlight makes a good point.

  “I believe so, yes. Maybe about 5-7 months? Like I said earlier – a thorough examination will tells us more.”

  “Ok. So. Pets?” I press on.

  “Like I said;” Fiery goes on; “you need to kill the parents to get the kids. Fighting both dragons at the same time requires man power and resources. Hence where the ditches come in. Of course, it is a lot easier to take down the Mother alone first. She will not move from the nest as long as the hatchlings can’t fly. Even if they can – they aren’t as powerful to fend for themselves, so they are easily picked off one by one. Either way – either one or both parents end up dead and the kids get sold off as toys to the dumb, rich kids.”

  “However. Because the children are so fragile – they often do not survive. Even with a Blood Bind that is forced upon them.” Max cuts in.

  “If the Dragon sold is a Teenager – it's even worse.” Fiery continues. “They get out of control and go on rampages.”

  “That’s when we are called in.” Max’s voice gets weak.

  “To tame and retrieve? Right?” Star asks, hopeful, yet somehow, I doubt it...

  “Right!” She urges one of them to answer.

  “To put them down.” Fiery answers. I knew it.

  “For the past decade, the Dead Dragon Body Count has been the highest ever recorded...” Max turns his eyes away.

  “There have been several attempts on our Base as well.” Fiery adds. “Luckily the Dragons are loyal and territorial – the adults fend off most of the attackers.”

  “Yes, we’re fortunate in that way.” Max lights up for a moment. “The Dragons know they are safe here, so they protect us in return for taking care of them. We have generations of Dragons living here.”

  “Generations?” I cut in.

  “Yes. See, our primary goal is to keep the Dragon population alive. Sure, they are able to survive in the wild, but this way we also can monitor their health and development and any changes that occur. For example, did you know that centuries ago there where Serpent-Dragons that could fly and swim without wings. They would simply slither through the sky riding the air currents.” Max mimics the slithering motion with his hand in the air.

  “It is said that the two and four-legged Dragons evolved overtime as the Serpents were not able to cross mountains. You know that Dragons can’t fly between continents?” Max continues without letting anyone say anything.

  “Well, the Serpent-Dragons could do that because they could swim too. We see the Serpent creatures in bigger lakes or seas to this day. It is believed that those are the devolved Dragon Descendants from the Old Times. Anyways, the theories are that because of the gained wings and legs – Dragons have lost their ability to travel long distances. I personally believe that the aerodynamic bodies before, which resembled a snake, allowed the dragons to cut through water and air like a knife, but now they are bulkier, edgier, the surface area has increased tremendously and if you look at them from the side view, you can almost see how the shape of the Dragon evolved into a more passenger friendly shape and –”

  “Enough. You never shut up once you start.” Thank you Fiery.

  “Yes, well, pardon me, habit.” Max gets slightly embarrassed and smiles clumsily. “As I was about to say – our goal is to make this the Primary Dragon Breeding Grounds. Dragons are quite self-sufficient, but because of their fragile nature – they need their parents. As long as we take good care of the adults – the Dragons do the rest for us. There have been cases where our Dragons leave and come back with a mate and settle here. Our job is to simply look after the system.”

  “Now I see what you mean by Generations.” I finally get a word in again.

  “Here’s what I don’t get.” Crile jumps in too. “Such a treasure as Dragons are getting dropped like flies left and right and nobody cares? What’s Araneum doing then?” He has a point. Hold on.

  “Now I get it. You got the orders down from the highest chain of command and decided to use us to your advantage.” I give the two Tamers a look.

  “So?” Fiery doesn’t even blink. Max has his eyes worshiping the ground again.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “We’ll get back to that one later. For now, explain to me why there are no Tamers stationed nowhere near the Royal City.” I pose the question.

  “As a matter of fact, now that we know how grave the situation is – why aren’t there more Tamers stationed all over Existara in general? Why isn’t there a network built to, oh I don’t know, monitor and prevent these attacks?” Crile hits them hard.

  “Ask Araneum that yourself.” Fiery fires back and Max shuts up again behind her. That answers the major question.

  “I see. Well. Next question. If and this is a huge if, there was a way to establish a protective system – would the Tamers be willing to help?”

  “Yes!” Max answers swiftly. “We simply don’t have the resources and the manpower to do anything alone.”

  “Question.” Starlight cuts in carefully. “How do Tamers get chosen?”

  “They don’t, we’re born here. And lately there haven’t been many of us born.” Fiery gets that one in a heartbeat.

  “That does complicated things.” Crile agrees. Clearly. The Base is kept secret for a reason. However. Right now, it seems that that same reason is killing it. Of course, I understand that the secrecy was needed to protect the Dragons, but what will happen to the Dragons once the last Tamer is gone...

  “I know I will regret asking this, but I must know.” I begin and choke up. “Do Dragons get killed for parts too?” I see the look. Max knows what I mean and it disgusts him. I don’t blame the man. It disgusts me just to ask.

  “Yes. Fiery answers blunt. Scales and talons mostly.”

  “What about their meat?” Crile kills it.

  “It’s fed to something, but not humans. Thankfully it tastes repulsive enough to leave them off the menu.”

  “I won’t even ask how you know that.” I draw the line at that.

  “Not that it helps to stop the killings.” Max whispers.

  “I have another question.” Starlight raises her hand again. “How do you know that the light ones are siblings?”

  “I forgot about that.” Crile mumbles.

  “Oh. Simple. Please, place the Dragons down together.” We take our balls of scales and place them in the middle of the room between us and the Tamers. The Blue One quickly rushes over to the yawing White One and they huddle up together, leaving the Black One yawing and curling up alone.

  “That’s as simple as it gets.” Max smiles again. “Only siblings allow each other to cuddle up like that. It’s because Dragons are territorial – they do not easily allow outsiders in. These two clearly come from the same nest.”

  “Does that mean there are at least four dead Dragons?” Star nails the lingering question in.

  “Possibly so...”

  “Most definitely.”

  “That’s just...” Star chokes up. I take over.

  “While we decide what our next move is – will you please examine them?”

  “Of course! My pleasure! Would you like to attend?” Max gets up.

  “Of course.” Crile says standing up, picking up his Dragon.

  “Oh well, then wait right here, I’ll get my equipment in here then.” Max bows out and leaves the room.

  “What would you like to do if you had the option?” I ask Fiery and Crile sits back down.

  “Leave. I hate the cold.”

  “You sure live up to the Balli characteristics.” Crile teases her and Fiery leaves the room entirely, without another word.

  “Was that rude of me to say that?” Crile whispers to me.

  “You can be a lot worse when you want to.” I answer him and turn to the side.

  “What do you think we should do, Emerald?”

  “Don’t you already know the answer, Child?”

  I sigh. “In that case – what would my Father have done in my place?”

  She opens one eye. “Same thing he had done with me when he found me in a ditch.” She closes it. Right...

  “Guys.” Ammi calls out. Her voice changes when she’s scared. “Aren’t we about to make a life changing decision? A commitment for the rest of our lives?” She speaks soft and quiet as she stares at the Blue Dragon.

  “Well, you know Starlight, I am honored you feel that way about me, but I only have eyes for Breeze, you know that.” Crile reaches for Star’s hand. Instead, she gets up and kicks him in the shoulder, he flops to the side.

  “For ONE DAMNED MOMENT CAN YOU NOT!” She clutches her fists.

  “You deserve that.” I tell him.

  “Ok, look, I’m sorry, the whole doom and gloom seemed too much.” He pushes himself off the ground and back into an upright position. “I can’t say I’m not thrilled about the idea of having my own Dragon, but what happens to them when we go back? We just leave them behind? Give them to someone else? Like who? I look at this tiny creature in lap and I can’t bear the thought of parting with it and we only had them for two days!” Crile looks up at us. Star’s biting her lower lip still...

  “To be honest, I don’t think we have much of a choice left. I can’t bring myself to kill them no matter how I think about it...”

  “Exactly...” I agree.

  “I think the real issue for us now is that our budget just ran out.” Crile tells us.

  “What do you mean?” I look at him slightly confused.

  “Obviously, we need bigger stables. That’s gonna cost extra. And we need to inform the brigade as soon as possible about the changes.”

  “Oh damn.” I close my eyes.

  “Does this mean we’re keeping them?” Ammi crouches down beside me.

  “Can you leave him here?” I ask her, nodding to the Dragons. She shakes her head.

  “Then it’s settled.” I smile. “We’re keeping them.”

  “Excellent!” Max comes back with a heap of items in his arms. Something falls and wakes the Dragons up. “Glad to hear that! I advise you think of names for your Dragons.” He sets up. “Now then, who’s first?”

  “We are.” Crile gets up. “And why do you say that?”

  “Oh, the Blood Bind does not work without a name for the Dragon.” He answers, taking the Black One.

  “How does it work, exactly?” I add.

  “Well, the Ceremony itself is simple and short, all you do is cut your hand lightly, put in on your Dragon’s chest and say: The Name of the Dragon, I, state your own full name, if you don’t have a family name I suggest you invent one and continue with – am now your master and your are – state the Full Name of the Dragon and finish with – serve me well. That’s all. The Blood Bind acts as a shield and a beacon. It protects the Dragon from being stolen by someone else unless they know the dragon’s full name, then they can overwrite the Bind by repeating the Oath. Otherwise, the person trying to rewrite the Oath gets a shock to the hand. Kind of like a miniature lighting strike. Have you ever experienced anything like that?” Max struggles to make Crile’s Dragon sit still, so Crile cuts in and chops the little one gently on the head. That seems to do the trick and the Dragon stops hissing.

  “No.” The three of us answer together and both Crile and Star give me a look. I pretend not to notice.

  “Fascinating.” Max mumbles looking at the wings over the light.

  “And the beacon part?” I jump in before the Primerian side of him takes over again.

  “Oh, that, well, the Blood placed upon the Dragon stays intact for as long as the Master is alive. If the Master is critically injured the Blood Bind weakens and the Dragon returns to their Master no matter where they are.” Max dies down and mumbles something inaudible under his nose. He makes a few more scribbles and gives the Dragon back to Crile.

  “He’s all ok. Next?”

  “We are.” Star walks over and gives him the Blue One.

  “Does that mean that every Dragon here is under a Blood Bind?” I ask again.

  “Oh heavens no. We don’t dare to. Dragons are intelligent creatures, they are well versed in the good and the bad of the world. As long as we treat them with care and respect, they return the favor. There is no need to bind them down to this place.”

  “Then how do you talk to them?” Star tries to interrupt Max’s muttering.

  “Oh, ah, well here we simply call the Dragons by colorful nicknames.” He smiles. “Ouch.” His finger gets bitten and Max stuffs it into his mouth. “Please hold his head for me, I can’t get to the leg like this.” He asks Ammi and she helps.

  “Meteor!” Crile exclaims.

  “Say what now?” I turn to him.

  “What? He’s black like one.” He picks his Dragon up.

  “Then call him Charcoal!” Star hisses. “It’s just as black.” She mocks him. Nice to see the mood finally lifted.

  “No way! That’s dumb!” Crile pouts. “Although... Coal... or... C-O-L-E. Yeah, that could work!”

  “Ew, no.” Starlight protests. “Don’t call him by a person’s name that’s just ridiculous.”

  “Fine! You have any better ideas miss-no-fun!”

  “Yes!” Star snaps back. “No!” She waits. “I don’t know!”

  “We’re all done here.” Max cuts in and Star picks up her boy, looking him over.

  “Sky.”

  “That has a nice ring to it.” I quickly cut in before Crile can say anything silly.

  “Meteor, Sky, so, what should I call you then?” I pick the White One up and hand her over to Max.

  “Let’s see those wings now, shall we?” Max stretches out the torn wing over his Light Stone. “Ooooh, my my...” He begins his mutters again... “I see... Huh... This feels different...” He takes the wing between his thumb and index fingers and rubs them together. My Dragon does not seem to be impressed by it.

  “Is there something wrong?” I ask.

  “Not sure. Her wings feel... How to say... Different. I can’t quite understand why.” He continues to examine the entire wing all over with one hand, while squeezing carefully all over the rest of the body with the other hand. The White One pulls her wings out, raises them both up, shrieks once, beats her wings down once and I cover my face with my hand. Immediately I feel a sting in my palm.

  “Never have I been so happy to be short sighted. She could have taken my eyes out if not for my glasses.” Max takes off his glasses and shows them to me. I notice a few needles barely sticking into the glass. I flip my hand over and see the same needles in my palm. I pluck them out and stare at them.

  “The shape is more like a...”

  “A scale yes.” Max agrees taking out a new pair of glasses from his back. He notices my look and smiles. “Don’t worry about it, I break mine often.”

  “What just happened?” Crile walks over.

  “Take a look.” I hand him a scale.

  “Where did it come from?”

  “Her wings, I believe.” Max answers for me. “Dragons have special abilities in their wings. We’re not sure how or why it happens, but it does. The only thing we know for sure is that those abilities are hereditary.”

  “You’re kidding.” Crile’s jaw drops.

  “Not all. Dragons don’t bear many offsprings at once. They can have multiple over time, but not in one term. These two;” he points to mine and Star’s Dragons; “are definitely siblings, so it is safe to assume they are from the same term and they both have the abilities their parents had. Which belonged to which – I can’t say – these things are random.”

  “Wait, you’re saying Sky has some kind of a super power too?” Starlight asks in daze.

  “You can call it that, although I did not notice much difference. Perhaps his abilities are activated differently. We’ll have to wait and see. However, I can tell you that this estimates the Dragons’ age at about 8-10 months old. You see, the abilities usually begin to form around the 5th month and fully develop at around 18 months' time.”

  “Right, because you said they can only fly at about 12 months.” Crile catches on.

  “Correct.” Max nods overly enthusiastic.

  “Now, see here.” The Tamer takes the wing again. “The scales here are loose and brittle.” He plucks one. The Dragon shows no reaction. “But. If I try anywhere else.” He takes a pair of tweezers, squeezes a single scale on the back and pulls, rather hard, I have to say. The Dragon roars and squirms. I frown.

  “Apologies.” Max lets go. “For some reason her scales seem to be shedding, which is rather impossible. The Dragons only shed their skin similar to how reptiles do it, but not entire scales.”

  “I’m sorry, skin?” Crile cuts in.

  “Yes, a thin coating of a transparent, paper-like layer that acts as a barrier between the scales and the skin where the scale is connected to the body, this coating keeps the skin moist and the scales flexible, well, not the scales themselves, but the connecting tissue, I’ll spare you the details for now, anyways, the barrier dries out over time and is replaced by a new layer and that is what the Dragons shed. However. It appears that this one;” the Man points back to my Dragon; “is able to shed her entire scales.”

  “Is she able to control them at will or are they falling out at random?” I cut ahead.

  “Because she’s still in her developmental stages, I’d say the shedding is happening at random, but I do believe she should be able to control the discharge at will or on command, of course, if trained well.”

  “I believe our stay here has just extended.” Crile sighs. Apparently so. We’re going to have to learn how to tame our Dragons...

  “Those abilities you speak of, do they only appear on the wings?” I look at Max.

  “Correct.” He nods again. “We haven’t figured out why, though.”

  “Maybe because it’s furthest away from the Rider?” I answer. “If it were on the tail or anywhere else on the body it would pose a threat to the Rider’s safety. You said that the Dragons evolved over time, maybe their abilities evolved as well?”

  “Fascinating! Absolutely fascinating! Never have I thought of it this way! Oh, that does make a lot of sense! I have to inform the others!” Max scrambles around and I sit him back down on the ground by the push down of a shoulder with my hand.

  “We’re not done yet.” I remind him.

  “Oh! OH! Why yes, of course, how silly of me, about that.” He points to the tear. “All we need is for a Cleanser to cast a spell and that’s it. I’ll go get one.”

  “No need.” Starlight stands up. “If that’s all she needs – I'll do it. I assume that means Dragon cells heal the same way as ours?” She hovers over Max.

  “Yes.” He nods and she sits down. “Hold it out for me.” I take the wing now and Star begins to chant. The water slithers out of the opened pouch and engulfs the wing fully. A hint of blue light sparkles for a second and the water merges with the wing.

  “Wrap it up please. The Heal needs time to absorb into the body to replace the damaged lining.” Star gives her instructions.

  “I can do that”. The man nods and quickly follows the orders given.

  “Storm. Her name is Storm.” I tell the others.

  “Sounds lovely.” Star smiles at me.

  “So, we have Sky, Storm and Meteor.” Crile says.

  “Along with a Star, a Treasure and a Shadow.” Starlight adds and the two of them giggle.

  “Do I not know something?” I stare at them.

  “No.”

  “Nothing at all.” Crile winks at me.

  “Uh-huh.” I give one last confused look and get back to the Tamer.

  “Run it by me again how’s that ritual done?”

  “Wait, now?”

  “Already?” Crile and Star stare at me now.

  “Why not?”

  “Excellent!” Max lights up again. “I’ve never seen one before!”

  “Say what now?” I grow at him.

  “Oh no worries, the Ceremony is legit, just as I described it. Who shall go first?”

  “I will.”

  “No.” Starlight stops me.

  “Let’s do it together. All of us.”

  “I’m game.” Crile agrees.

  “Fine.”

  “Oh my, this is so exciting!” Max’s face just keeps on getting brighter and brighter. We place the Dragons next to each other on the ground and kneel down in front of them. Crile takes a knife out and gently cuts our palms for us. We place our hands on the Dragons’ chests’ and repeat the Oath as instructed. Our voices echo in the stone room. The three Dragons roar together, our blood coils up into our initials on their chests and the Dragons light up in a feint dark red glow. They stretch their wings straight up and lower them back down when the light fades completely.

  “Congratulations, you are now Dragon Masters.”